Chapter 33

"Are the gold and the permanent residence permit offered together, or is it a choice between the two?" If she had to choose, gold would naturally be the best. She's only staying for ten days, and she can afford to pay 100 grams of gold. All those materials are made of gold.

"No, you can only choose between a residence permit and ten thousand taels of gold."

"Oh. What do you usually eat to fill your stomach?" Fu Le asked, glancing at Su Qun.

"Cacti are also the easiest food to grow. If the harvest is good, we can exchange them for millet with the city guards. However, millet is relatively expensive, so we can't exchange much each month."

Cacti? As food?

How often do cacti ripen?

“One month,” Su Qun replied truthfully. Even though Fu Le’s question was quite common, she wasn’t surprised. Lone travelers wouldn’t care how ordinary people lived, so it was normal that they didn’t know.

"Are you familiar with the situation in the city?" Seeing no planted soil around, Fu Le suppressed his curiosity and changed the subject.

“Of course, I was born inside, and I was only recently kicked out by my stepmother and brother. I know every corner of it.” This explained the reason why her eyes were full of life.

Because there is hope, we dare to take that brave step.

"Was that middle-aged man also from the city before?" Fu Le was referring to the first man who stood up and spoke to her.

Fu Le turned her head, and the man still smiled gently at her.

Su Qun glanced at the man. "Yes, he used to be a teacher there, but he was expelled because he offended the son of the city defense captain. However, he knows a lot of knowledge that no one else knows, and he is highly respected even on the outskirts."

"Oh? You know about knowledge?"

“Yes, Lord Lone Wanderer, he is very learned.” After a pause, Su Qun still spoke frankly, even though she was worried that Lord Lone Wanderer would replace her.

"Does he have character issues? Or are you close to him?"

“He’s a good person, he takes good care of the children, and he plays with them when he has time. He’s very popular. But I don’t know him well. He only talks to the children and doesn’t really talk to the adults around him.”

"Then come with me. Go and have him come over." She needed to turn the materials in her ring into something usable, and she had to ask around on her own.

Su Qun went over and said a few words to the man. The people around the man looked over in surprise, while the man's face changed to one of delight.

"My lord, thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you." The man spoke in a refined manner, with a touch of ancient scholar's air.

"What's your name?"

"Bai Ji, Lord Lone Wanderer."

"Let's go into town."

At the towering city gate, dozens of guards stood, all riding 'horses'. These 'horses' were twice the size of normal horses, but they had ox horns. They resembled horses but were not quite horses. Their legs were thick, strong, and long, making them look very powerful. The guards, mounted on their horses, looked down at the flow of people entering and leaving the city gate, exuding a strong sense of intimidation.

Apart from the guards and patrolling soldiers, there were two stone tables next to the heavy bronze door. Someone was bending over, making a record on a cloth, and occasionally asking the seated guards something.

"Fu, please wait a moment, I'll go explain the situation to them." This was Fu Le's request, to let them call him Fu directly, just like the Lama people, for convenience.

Soon, Bai Ji returned after finishing his conversation. The guard who had spoken with him stood up and looked at Fu Le.

"Fu, the city defenses want you to send the bird's beak over there."

The appearance of the Kui bird's beak caused a commotion. The guards riding beasts immediately came over to maintain order, and in doing so, they also surrounded the three of them. Their cold, condescending gazes were clearly on guard against something.

Upon hearing that Fu Le wanted to choose ten thousand taels of gold, the city defense staff looked regretful. If the lone traveler who could kill the Kui Bird could join the city defense team, it would increase the city's combat strength. It was just a pity that he didn't want to join.

Soon, someone came and took away Fu Le's beak, and gave her a palm-sized voucher with the words "ten thousand taels of gold" on it, stamped with an incomprehensible red round stamp.

It really is Chinese characters, and traditional characters at that. Could this be the future world?

If this is true, wouldn't it prove that the entire civilization was destroyed? Or is it another ancient dimension?

I dare not think about it...

The three were soon allowed to enter the city. The city guards explained the exchange process in detail and informed them that the 30-gram entry fee would be deducted from the exchange amount.

Fu Le had no objections.

The scene inside the city was completely different from the outside, as if entering another country, with completely different architectural colors.

The houses here are all made of sand-aggregated bricks, less than three meters high, in their original color and condition, all square, mostly two or three rooms, and all one floor, looking like upside-down cardboard boxes. The ground has been hardened, but it is still sand-aggregated ground.

In a daze, Fu Le had the illusion that the house, the ground, and the sky were all the same color.

The houses in the city are crisscrossed, row upon row, closely packed together. Some have courtyards, and the walls of those courtyards are also close to the walls of the neighboring houses. The houses are closely connected, but the roads in front and behind are four or five meters wide, allowing the patrolling beasts to pass through without worry.

The city residents were dressed much neater, their greasy long hair was all tied up, and some who found it troublesome had shaved their heads. Although the short hair was combed, it was still greasy, but at least their beige clothes were clean and tidy. However, they had an unpleasant smell, and it was obvious that they were dehydrated.

“Fu, the exchange shop is at the end of this row of houses,” Bai Ji whispered.

The houses at the exchange point are different from ordinary houses; they are quite large, with a height of about four meters, a width of more than twenty meters, and a diameter of about twenty meters.

Upon entering, one sees rows of black iron boxes stacked behind the counter, against the wall, reaching all the way to the ceiling, somewhat resembling a modern bank. However, unlike a modern bank, the counter is not enclosed by glass, allowing staff to easily retrieve gold from the iron boxes.

At that moment, someone was also exchanging gold at the counter. Gold bars were stacked on the table by the staff with expressionless faces, almost blinding Fu Le.

Aren't you afraid someone will steal it?

The man who made the exchange received the gold, but as soon as he touched it, the gold disappeared.

Fu Le: Holy crap!! Are spatial rings everywhere now?

“Fu, this gentleman is a lone traveler like you. His storage bracelet was probably bought in Suicheng, as it's only sold there,” Su Qun said, noticing Fu Le’s gaze.

"Oh? Suicheng? They don't sell it here?"

“No, Suicheng is the foremost of the three cities and the leading city in the Doomsday Realm. Only there are space masters, and only Suicheng has the right to sell storage bracelets.” Bai Ji took over the conversation and gave a brief overview of Suicheng.

Fu Le landed on the black bracelet on the man's left wrist; it was neither wood nor iron.

It turns out that this world not only has martial artists, but also space masters, beast tamers, water masters, weapon masters, and sand builders. Compared to other systems, sand builders are the most numerous and the easiest to awaken. Their ability is to aggregate sand into sand bricks for people to buy to build houses, and they also manage the city walls and defenses.

Therefore, the reason why the city wall is a single piece is not because it was coated with cement, but because it was built by the skill of sand builders.

Fu Le: I've learned something new!

Since everyone else has storage bracelets, it's not surprising that she has a storage ring.