"Don't be fooled by the fact that this place looks simple and shabby, but the rent is three taels of silver every month!" said the water carrier.
"Just one bed? You can buy a tent and find an open space to set it up yourself, which can save a lot of money." Wang Xiaohai felt that this was a five-person room and it was really a bit expensive. It would be terrible if someone snored. Living there for a long time would cause mental breakdown.
"No, you can't set up tents at will. You can only live in designated areas. If the patrol team sees you, they can confiscate your tent and everything inside at any time." The uncle carrying water shook his head.
"Does this desert still belong to the patrol team?"
"Others are powerful, so you have no choice but to obey. This is the rule of this world. If you don't obey, you will be beaten to death. Besides, there are people guarding outside to prevent fire and theft."
The water-carrying uncle quickly stuffed the wooden barrel under the bed and left the tent with Wang Xiaohai.
The two walked for half an hour and came to a luxurious three-story wooden building with a sign on it that read: Desert Trip.
Wang Xiaohai saw that the area around the hotel was fixed in place with huge logs inserted into the sand and tied with ropes and chains.
"This hotel is the most luxurious hotel in the green alert zone. A businessman spent more than two months transporting huge logs from outside to build it." said the water carrier.
"Not bad, you have quite the business acumen," Wang Xiaohai said. "But many people have that acumen. It all depends on whether you have the strength and capital. The strength is what allows you to build a hotel here without being driven away by patrols, and the capital, of course, is the silver needed to transport the huge logs here using steam locomotives."
"Then I'll leave first. There is a steam RV behind this desert hotel, which sells daily necessities." The water-carrying uncle said goodbye to Wang Xiaohai.
Wang Xiaohai didn't say anything. He could have found the place himself, and the hiring was just to ask a few questions. He walked towards the Desert Journey. The name was quite good, it had a bit of a gun vibe to it.
"Welcome!"
Wang Xiaohai had just pushed open the double doors of the hotel when a row of waitresses in waitress uniforms bent down behind the door and said.
"Uniform hotel?" Wang Xiaohai saw several girls in maid uniforms mopping the floor behind the door. The living room on the first floor was where guests ate, and the second and third floors were where guests stayed. Although the entire hotel was expensive to build, it only had fifteen guest rooms, seven on the third floor and eight on the second floor. In addition to the restaurant, there was also a black steam generator on the first floor. Two people were observing the flame in front of the standard steam boiler. They would add coal when the temperature was low to ensure 24-hour power supply for the hotel.
"Sir, you've come at the right time. A distinguished guest on the third floor just checked out yesterday. He can get a room right away if you check him in now!" The receptionist walked towards Wang Xiaohai in a high-necked dress. She had an unknown perfume on her body. Wang Xiaohai hurriedly held his breath.
"Oh, how about the rent here?" Wang Xiaohai asked.
"One thousand and two taels of silver a month, including three meals." The receptionist answered with a smile. She had been trained.
This is comparable to the price of a top-tier hotel. A water carrier might have to work for eight years straight to afford a month's stay. It's truly expensive! It seems the hotel owner is aiming for the ultimate in luxury, but spending it on a three-story wooden building is a bit wasteful. Ultimately, the guests pay for the wool, not the sheep. But Wang Xiaohai has a lot of "shit" right now, so he doesn't care.
"Stay for three months first." Wang Xiaohai threw thirty taels of gold to the receptionist.
"Okay, please follow me to the front desk to check in." The receptionist turned around and walked towards the front desk with her butt wiggling.
Wang Xiaohai followed immediately. He was now playing the role of a nouveau riche traveler, the only difference being that he had no servants around him.
"Name?" asked the girl taking notes at the front desk.
"Wang Xiaohai."
The girl who was recording wrote in the notebook: Room 303, March rent paid, Registrar Ruth.
"This is the key to room 303," After finishing recording, Ruth handed a bunch of keys and copy paper to Wang Xiaohai.
Wang Xiaohai took it, stuffed it into his pocket roughly, and walked up the stairs to the third floor.
The stairs and rooms of the Desert Journey are carved with various patterns, and exquisite oil paintings are hung on the walls and corridors, and the characters in each painting are lifelike.
Wang Xiaohai noticed that there was an oil painting among them with the name: Tribute to Pope Ding Wen!
In the painting, a man in a gold and red robe is sitting on the throne. Below him, eight Holy Knights stand in two rows, looking at the fifty kings in the middle who are presenting treasures. Each king presents the treasure by holding it up or lifting it, kneeling on the ground. The oil painting vividly depicts everyone's expression - some kings are afraid, some are angry, some are nervous, and most are excited and cheering.
"Is this man Ding Wen?" Wang Xiaohai stared at the Pope intently for half a minute. He knew the Pope was the equivalent of a law enforcement captain on the previous continent, and the Holy Glory Knights were the equivalent of law enforcement officers; all were Awakened. He didn't know how many kings each Pope had under him. It depended on the continent's size, the number of countries, and the number of Popes. The average person wouldn't know this; the average person probably wouldn't leave their diocese in their lifetime. He could only find out by consulting high-ranking officials or knowledgeable scholars.
"Who painted this oil painting? But it looks like a replica." Wang Xiaohai felt that the lines of the painting were too smooth, without any pauses in the outlines, as if it was copied from the original. The original must be extremely precious and would not be hung casually on the wall of a hotel.
Wang Xiaohai used the key to open the door of Room 303. The air in the room was a bit stuffy, probably because it was sealed too well. If there was even a tiny gap, the red sand floating in the wind would get in and dirty the room.
Thinking of the sandstorm, Wang Xiaohai suddenly felt a pang of alarm. Would the sand in the Red Alert Zone be blown away by the wind? And then everywhere? The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became. It was possible that the radioactive red sand could be swept up into the air and fly far away, or perhaps even get onto a steam transport in the Green Zone, which could then carry the radioactive red sand back to his own country! Yet, over a year had passed, and no country had experienced a major outbreak of an infectious disease.
At this moment - in the capital of the Kingdom of Lorraine, a steam bus slowly drove into the city. It belonged to a certain earl in the city. His youngest son took it to the desert transportation of the Marquisate of Sien to make money. He did make a lot of money, but the earl discovered it and angrily took back the steam bus. The top of the steam bus was very flat, and it was now stained with a lot of red sand and had not been cleaned in time.
The busiest street in the kingdom's capital was teeming with people—Lorraine's most popular singer was performing in a commercial at a street mall. The cacophony of screaming fans made even conversation inaudible. The Count's steam bus honked its horn as it pressed forward. Suddenly, the crowd ahead dodged as a steam patrol car, lights blaring, came barreling in the opposite direction. "Oh no!" the driver, seeing the patrol car about to collide, swerved. The bus was instantly slammed sideways by the patrol car, flipping over. Pedestrians nearby screamed and dodged.
"Boom--" The steam bus made a loud noise. Fortunately, the driver was wearing a seat belt. He quickly untied it and climbed out of the broken window.
A thick layer of red sand rose from the roof, mixing with the dust and instantly covering the surrounding crowd. Judging by the number, at least fifty people were covered in red sand. However, the driver made no apology. He was worried about the repair costs of the steam bus and patrol car. Fortunately, the bus was empty when it returned, and it didn't run over any pedestrians when it backed up. The driver thought that if a pedestrian had been hit, it wouldn't have mattered. A civilian would only have to pay a few hundred taels of silver, but the repair costs would be thousands of taels. The Earl would make him work for the rest of his life to pay off this debt!
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