"Hey, first time here? Need a guide?"
"Interested in bodyguard services? Professional team, absolutely reliable!"
As soon as the two stepped out of the passage, a crowd swarmed around them.
They were dressed in all sorts of ways, but their eyes all shone with the same eagerness. They looked just like the taxi drivers hustling for fares outside a train station.
Ye Chenyang gave Jiang Mian a subtle shake of his head, signaling that they should ignore them, then led her straight toward an official equipment shop farther away.
A few people refused to give up and followed them for a while. When they saw that Ye Chenyang knew his way around and didn't look like a newcomer, they finally left in disappointment to seek their next target.
Unlike the imposing, spotless inspection station, the buildings in the buffer zone had a more primitive style, a bit like a country market. The abrupt change had caught them off guard.
Jiang Mian looked up into the distance.
The sky overhead was still a clear blue, but somewhere far off, a sharply defined gray-white line divided the horizon.
That was the boundary of Everbright's influence, and the location of the outer sea defense line.
The buffer zone wasn't very large. She could see the low wall at its boundary with a single glance.
The whole area looked like a piece carved out of the activity zone and embedded along the edge of the city.
"Most of the people we just saw make their money from 'bodyguard' and 'guide' services."
Ye Chenyang explained as they walked:
"They're mainly active in the Third-tier Zone, but most of them aren't very strong. It's a mixed bag, and plenty of them are out to cheat people."
Jiang Mian nodded.
It really was "lively" here. She'd already