Chapter 9 | Hello, Is This a Letter Addressed to the Demon God Fortress?

Just like that, Theia temporarily joined Lin Gui on his journey.

With this Transcendent Ranger of an elf traveling alongside him, crossing the peril-laden Audo Canyon became unexpectedly smooth.

Lin Gui gripped the reins tightly, feeling the steady strides of the giant lizard beneath him.

At the same time, he did not miss this opportunity to witness Theia's true strength.

Especially her terrifying eyesight.

When Theia suddenly raised her hand to signal a halt, pointing toward a seemingly peaceful hillside in the distance and clearly detailing the exact locations of three lurking basilisks four kilometers away, Lin Gui could not help but click his tongue in secret amazement.

Without any obstruction, her gaze could actually pierce through such a vast distance.

She was simply a natural-born, top-tier scout.

Under Theia's precise guidance, Lin Gui steered the giant lizard along winding, hidden paths.

She occasionally tilted her head to listen to the wind, and at other times, narrowed her crimson eyes to gaze into the distance.

She always managed to detect potential threats dozens of breaths in advance.

By cleverly utilizing the terrain for cover, they actually managed to perfectly avoid all demon activity zones.

The relatively open field of vision in Audo Canyon allowed Theia's long-range vision to be utilized to its absolute fullest.

After only half a day, they arrived at their destination—Caran City.

The massive city was cleverly nestled among rolling hills.

Its towering city walls gleamed with a cold, hard luster under the sunlight.

It was like a crouching giant beast, ready to awaken at any moment.

After showing his adventurer badge, the guards did a cursory check of the conspicuous, stuffed envelopes in his backpack and did not hinder him much.

Lin Gui followed the endless stream of people, passing through the magnificent city wall, which was over fifty meters tall and built from giant blocks of pitch-black obsidian.

He had officially entered this true city-state.

As soon as they entered the city, Theia was the first to turn around.

The cool shade of the city gate and the first warm ray of sunlight casting down inside the city intertwined upon her, outlining her slender figure.

She beamed a smile at Lin Gui, her blood-jade eyes appearing exceptionally clear in the light.

“It's your first time in Caran City. How does it feel?”

Passing through the final checkpoint, Lin Gui looked around, his sharp gaze sweeping over every detail.

Aside from being several times larger than New Covenant City, there didn't seem to be much of an essential difference.

A wide main thoroughfare, paved with massive stone slabs, stretched straight toward the Lord's castle on the distant hill.

On both sides of the main thoroughfare were countless narrow, potholed muddy alleys that branched out like blood vessels to every corner of the city.

Alongside the alleys, makeshift stone and wooden houses were crammed together, huddling tightly against one another and looking dark and damp.

A roaring cacophony of various sounds filled his ears—the hoarse cries of vendors, the rumbling thunder of wheels rolling over stone slabs, the crude laughter and curses of mercenaries, the impatient neighs of magical beast mounts, and the never-ending clanging of ironwork coming from a blacksmith shop in the distance...

All of these sounds intertwined, composing a chaotic urban symphony.

Numb-faced commoners carrying heavy goods walked with hunched backs, dodging and giving way to patrolling guards with evasive eyes.

Wind-worn adventurers openly put their arms around scantily clad, hollow-eyed streetwalkers, laughing and joking without restraint.

Obese merchants sat in palanquins carried by ragged slaves, covering their noses with silk handkerchiefs, utterly repulsed by the surrounding filth.

It was all the same; there was no difference from New Covenant City.

“No difference.”

Lin Gui's voice was calm, but an imperceptible trace of annoyance flashed deep in his eyes.

“The same squalor, the same chaos... the same level of...”

He ultimately didn't say the word "annoying."

Composing himself, he pulled his letter-filled backpack to his front and hugged it tightly with both arms.

Here, he had to be extra wary of those omnipresent light fingers.

This action made him look like a country bumpkin who had just arrived, but he didn't care in the slightest.

Lin Gui's reaction was somewhat outside of Theia's expectations.

She tilted her head slightly, her silver hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall.

“Aren't you from a small town? Seeing such a massive city-state, shouldn't you feel a bit of novelty?”

Her tone carried genuine bewilderment.

“Novelty?? Heh.” Lin Gui gave a disdainful laugh.

Talking about novelty to someone who had once lived in a modern metropolis?

Theia nodded as if understanding something, then beamed a vibrant smile.

“Do you need me to show you around? I've lived here for five years, after all.”

Her words held a touch of self-deprecation, but she quickly returned to her relaxed demeanor.

Hearing this, Lin Gui did not refuse.

Having a local lead the way was far more efficient than asking for directions the entire time.

“Is there a labor dispatch center in Caran City?”

He asked directly, his gaze finally shifting from the surroundings back to Theia.

“Of course, it's in the slums in the southwest of the city.”

Theia replied, then looked at Lin Gui in confusion.

“What are you going there for?”

“The commissions there are specifically for the poor. The pay is pitifully low, barely a few coins.”

Her tone carried obvious confusion, as if she couldn't understand why an adventurer would go to such a place.

“To find someone,” Lin Gui said succinctly, offering no further explanation.

Theia raised an eyebrow but didn't press further, simply gesturing for him to follow.

“Let's go then, though that place isn't exactly nice.”

Led by Theia, they walked through dirty, muddy alleys that occasionally emitted a sickening stench.

They entered Caran City's slums.

The buildings here were even more dilapidated, with garbage piled up on the streets.

Sewage flowed sluggishly along the roadside ditches.

Fortunately, with the giant lizard clearing the path and a half-demon elf by his side, the crowds along the way actively avoided them, unwilling to court bad luck.

The looks people cast toward Theia were filled with fear and disgust, but no one dared to openly express their displeasure.

Before long, they arrived at their destination: the Labor Dispatch Center.

It was a wooden multi-story building that looked rather spacious but was very old and simple.

A crooked sign hung at the entrance, with the words "Labor Agency" blurred upon it.

At this moment, the interior was already bustling with noise, packed with commoners looking for work.

The inside of the Labor Dispatch Center was even more crowded and noisy than it appeared from the outside.

The smell of sweat, cheap ale, and despair mixed together, condensing into an indescribably stuffy, turbid air that was almost suffocating.

Lin Gui stood at the doorway, his gaze scanning the interior.

Rather than a dispatch center, this place was more like a noisy, chaotic labor market.

A dense crowd of heads bustled about, mostly sallow, emaciated, and raggedly dressed commoners.

They squeezed in front of a few small bulletin boards, straining their necks as they tried hard to make out the few yellowed sheets of paper pasted on them.

Those were the precious few job opportunities available.

A fat man in a greasy apron stood on a stool, shouting at the top of his lungs in a raspy voice.

“Heavy lifting! Includes lunch! Eighty copper coins a day, paid daily! Only taking twenty! Come quick if you've got the strength!”

As soon as his voice fell, the crowd erupted like a boiling pot, and countless arms shot up frantically as people jostled forward.

“Me! Choose me!”

“I'm strong, Boss!”

“Seventy copper coins! I only want seventy!”

The price was instantly drowned out by the self-exploitative shouting.

Eighty copper coins, in a Caran City where black bread had risen to twenty copper coins a loaf, was not even enough to buy two barely filling meals for a family of three.

This was the tragedy of a walled city-state.

The limited land could not produce enough food, yet the taxes of the noble lords and the threats from the wilderness never decreased.

In the era of city-states, the value of commoners was pushed down infinitely, and human lives... were often the cheapest things of all.

Lin Gui watched this scene in silence.

A frail youth was knocked to the ground by the crowd, yet no one bent down to help.

A grey-haired old man stretched out a withered hand, his voice hoarse as he tried to catch the attention of the staff.

Theia's voice softly sounded beside him, carrying a hint of imperceptible indifference, as if she had long since grown accustomed to it.

“It's like this every day. To survive, people are willing to do anything.”

Immediately after, she suddenly took a step forward.

An invisible surge of energy faintly erupted from her body, lightly rustling her silver hair.

She raised her head, her clear and somewhat indisputable voice instantly overpowering the noise of the hall.

“Make way! An esteemed adventurer is here to do business!”

Her voice clearly spread throughout the noisy hall.

Quite a few people instinctively turned to look.

When their eyes fell upon her signature, eerie, blood-jade-like slit pupils, their expressions instantly turned to shock and terror.

“O-Oh my God! It's that half-demon!”

“The red-eyed harbinger of disaster... why is she here?!”

“Quick, back away! Don't catch her bad luck!”

The crowd, which had been packed like sardines, parted as if sliced by an invisible blade, instantly retreating to both sides in a panic and carving out a narrow path.