55: Chapter 55 Gathering Information

Zhang Mu had overlooked a detail.

Potter and his senior had both told him that Kas Town was only a day's journey from Bala City, but that was assuming one had a means of transport!

From nightfall until the first light of dawn, he had only covered a third of the way; Zhang Mu's scalp felt numb from the walking.

He thought about flagging down a carriage or something, but because of a monster tide nearby two days ago, no one dared to come to Kas Town recently.

Helpless, he returned to the real world, bought a small gas-powered scooter, and brought it into the Other World using his inventory.

This was much faster. When the sun climbed to its highest point in the sky, Zhang Mu saw a city wall built of stacked stones, over thirty meters high, from a distance.

The scooter couldn't be seen by people of the Other World. Thinking it wasn't much further, he decided to just walk the rest of the way.

He stopped on the spot, put the scooter into his inventory, hung the storage bag Potter gave him on his waist, and trotted toward the city wall.

It didn't look far, but it was like 'seeing the mountain kills the horse.' After running and walking, he finally arrived before the towering city gate an hour later.

The city gate was wide, enough to accommodate four cars driving side-by-side, with a bustling crowd constantly entering and leaving.

After a couple of glances, Zhang Mu stepped into the city.

"Ten copper coins to enter the city." A Guard on duty reached out to stop him.

Looking down at his Blue Star clothing, Zhang Mu smiled, reached into the cloth bag at his waist, and took out his staff: "Is this okay?"

"My apologies, Mage Lord." Perhaps because Guards in big cities had seen more of the world, he didn't panic much despite stopping the wrong person. He apologized with a flat tone and stepped back.

Regarding this, Zhang Mu, whose concepts of status were very different from this world's, didn't feel offended.

He didn't have a mage's identity plate, wasn't wearing a robe that represented a mage's status, and wasn't wearing Potter's badge; it was normal for the Guard to misjudge.

Passing through the city gate, the clamor instantly rang in his ears.

The sides of the wide flagstone street were packed with vendors. Some pushed small wooden carts, while others simply spread linen cloth on the ground, set out their goods, and began hawking.

The foot traffic was quite large. The crowds picking out goods were squeezed so tightly that not a gap could be seen; a lively atmosphere rushed toward him.

Zhang Mu looked around curiously. In the carts and on the linen cloths were all ordinary daily necessities, vegetables, low-quality pottery jars, and the like.

Seeing this, he, who didn't much like crowds, turned to leave.

Bala City was an average-sized city and couldn't be called very prosperous, but it was a city after all. After wandering for a while, Zhang Mu got directly lost.

Where was he supposed to go to ask for news about the dungeon?

Standing on a strange, quiet street, Zhang Mu scratched his head. This seemed to be a residential area; places with good information like taverns probably wouldn't be open here, right?

Just as he was getting anxious, a small boy happened to walk out from a corner not far away.

He had short brown curly hair, delicate features, was only waist-high, and wore ordinary linen short sleeves and shorts.

"Hello, little friend," Zhang Mu hurriedly raised his hand to greet him. "Do you know where the taverns in Bala City are?"

"There are three taverns in Bala City. Which one are you asking..." The little boy turned his head, and his gaze landed on the staff in Zhang Mu's hand. He froze for a moment.

It took a long time for him to snap out of it. He was a bit nervous and, imitating a knight's salute quite properly, bowed to greet him: "Mage Lord,

is this your first time in Bala City?

Then I suggest going to the Clover Bar; all the Adventurers go there."

He pointed to the intersection on the right: "It's very close. Go out from there, turn left and go straight, and you'll be there after three intersections."

"Thank you." Zhang Mu nodded with a smile, reaching into his cloth bag, thinking of giving him something as a reward for helping.

"Kid! Don't approach strange mages!" At the corner where the boy appeared, a Middle-aged Man with a bulbous nose shouted.

"Sorry, Mage Lord, I have to go!"

He hurriedly ran over and followed behind the Middle-aged Man toward the street exit.

"I warned you, strange mages are all very dangerous. Don't approach them casually."

"Uncle Gia, this is inside the city; he wouldn't hurt me. Besides, that Mage Lord is a very good person."

"You know that after just two sentences?"

"That Mage Lord even said hello to me."

As the two walked away while chatting, their voices grew faint, and Zhang Mu could no longer hear them clearly.

The wariness people of the Other World had for each other seemed even more severe than what Potter had explained.

Zhang Mu pondered as he walked toward the Clover Bar the boy had mentioned.

It was indeed quite close. After ten minutes and three intersections, he arrived at the entrance.

Compared to that nameless tavern in Kas Town, this tavern's storefront sign was much more grand.

The double doors were painted wood-color and looked brand new.

Pushing the doors open and entering, Zhang Mu looked around, and his expression became strange.

The hall wasn't small, with over thirty round wooden tables laid out. The gap between the tables was huge; he felt a Jeep could pass through.

This was quite ridiculous.

Normal businesses would try to minimize the gap between dining tables to fit more tables, all to increase the capacity during the same period and indirectly increase income.

But this in front of him...

Even inside the city where conflict was forbidden, were they wary of each other to this extent?

With a face full of oddity, he found a booth in the corner, ordered a wheat ale from the waiter who came over, and scattered his attention to the surrounding drinkers.

It was indeed as the boy said; everyone here was an Adventurer wearing robes or light and heavy armor—in other words, people of the Other World who possessed supernatural power.

Perhaps because it was daytime, the tavern's business was average right now.

Counting himself, there were only five tables of drinkers, and the seats they chose were very spread out.

Just then, an Adventurer Group with five members pushed the door and entered. The spot they chose was a table against the wall, as far as possible from the drinkers who were already there.

Zhang Mu picked up his glass and took a sip. The taste wasn't great, and he didn't like alcohol much himself, so he put it down and didn't touch it again, concentrating on eavesdropping on the drinkers' conversation.

"How many gold coins do we have left?"

"Forty. To prepare all the potions for entering the dungeon, we might be a bit short."

"How can that be?"

"News of a dungeon opening in Bala City has been out for a long time. The black-hearted Shop Owners of the potion shops have all taken the opportunity to raise prices; they've already doubled.

Moreover, the number of arriving Adventurer Groups is still increasing. If we delay any longer, we won't be able to buy potions even with gold coins."

"These damn greedy merchants!" After a curse, this person asked his companion, "How much longer until the dungeon opens?"

"According to the announcement from the Church, in half a month."

"While there's still some time, let's go hunt some monsters to exchange for gold coins and try to prepare as many potions as possible before the dungeon opens."

His companions agreed. They raised their glasses, downed the liquid in one gulp, and stood up to leave the tavern.

Zhang Mu leaned back against the chair, his gaze thoughtful.

Indeed, as the number of Adventurer Groups increases, potion prices will inevitably rise, and even the supply will become scarce, making them unavailable even if one has the money.

I need to go back to reality and bring some herbs over to cultivate, and brew some magic potions and healing potions necessary for the dungeon myself.

Also, the dungeon opens in half a month, and my passport will be ready in five days. There's time to go abroad and get some firearms ready.

The only trouble is, looking at this state of mutual wariness among the Adventurers, I'm afraid I can forget about inquiring for news about the dungeon.

Common knowledge from Avril's little class—the dungeons that appear throughout the Saul Continent, besides showing different forms externally, some being towering giant trees and others being underground caves,

have a certain commonality in terms of internal monsters and places where treasures are hidden.

Zhang Mu had originally thought of spending gold coins to buy intelligence about the dungeon. The types and strength of monsters didn't matter, as he had the revival function.

But he absolutely needed to know about the places where treasures were hidden, otherwise he might brush past them.

But after sitting in the tavern for a while, he gave up on this idea.

If he really tried to talk to those Adventurer Groups, those with better attitudes would probably just stay silent and move away, while the nasty ones would likely just curse and tell him to get lost.

After some pondering, he didn't have a good solution for now. He would deal with the herbs and firearms first.

If all else fails, aren't magic potions and healing potions in high demand right now? He could brew more potions to exchange for dungeon intelligence.

No sooner said than done. He stood up to settle the bill at the bar, then pushed the door and left, preparing to find a deserted corner to return to reality.

"Is that... Ms. Avril's junior?"

In the middle of the stairs leading to the second floor on the right side of the hall, Frederica had her right hand on the wooden railing, her mind recalling the hurried back she had just glimpsed striding out of the shop door.

"Is Her Highness talking about the two mages we met in Kas Town the day before yesterday?" Vag was at the top of the stairs on the second floor. "You must have seen wrong.

They were being hunted by a peak third-tier Thunder Wolf Leader, and their own magic power was exhausted. They surely died under the wolf claws."

Thinking of what happened the day before yesterday, the memory of almost being surrounded and killed by the wolf pack surfaced in his mind.

Vag felt a bit irritated in his heart. They shouldn't have gone to that crappy little town. No matter how many humans died, what did it have to do with Elves?

Those human Adventurer Groups all gave up on accepting the quest because they thought the reward was too low.

They are of the same race as the townspeople, and even they don't care about the townspeople's lives. Do we Elves, as a different race, need to care about this matter that has absolutely nothing to do with us?

We even consumed a large amount of our potion reserves for it.

Frederica didn't argue with him, a smile always hanging on her exquisite face.

Seen wrong? No.

Hmm... those two mages seemed to be Classmates?

Compared to the humans she had met before, the scent emitted from their bodies didn't have the decay of a soul eroded by greed.

Moreover, Ms. Avril's junior is clearly a mage, yet she couldn't sense any magic fluctuations from him.

The magic he released was only at the apprentice level, yet the power seemed much stronger.

A mysterious and interesting human.

"Your Highness, we must hurry to the potion shop to ask if the magic potions have arrived."

Vag urged: "Although we luckily shook off the wolf pack, more than half of the potions we reserved for entering the dungeon have been consumed."

"Mhm." Frederica woke from her thoughts and nodded, her long emerald hair swaying gently.