Camp

After his teammates left, Ji Xun cautiously moved towards the direction of the firelight.

He climbed down the rusted stairs and could overlook the bustling camp from halfway down.

The firelight dispelled the mist, and the camp was crowded with people.

It was a mechanical town. Treasure hunters had pieced together a tall steel wall with iron plates and massive rivets salvaged from the ruins, like patching a hole.

The town was brightly lit and noisy, with an estimated tens of thousands of people. Almost every building had chimneys puffing out smoke.

Ji Xun had already felt that this world's steam technology tree was a bit skewed, and now seeing it confirmed his suspicion.

He immediately spotted the steam train, like a giant steel python, in the town. Large mechanical lifting arms were hoisting various goods. Even the workers carrying goods wore strangely shaped mechanical exoskeletons, allowing them to easily carry tons of cargo.

He had been a little worried that his attire had been noticed and might cause trouble, but after observing the hunters' outfits in the camp, Ji Xun immediately felt he had been overthinking.

A tactical vest and boots – that was the standard outfit for the street.

Seven or eight out of every ten hunters in the camp wore the same attire, even the gas mask models were similar.

Ji Xun relaxed, climbed down the stairs, and landed on the ground.

He walked over. The camp gate was open, and a few hunters on the watchtower leaned against the arrow towers, listlessly scanning their surroundings.

As long as it wasn't a monster attack, no one would care who entered the camp.

Many people were coming and going, excitedly discussing various stories from the ruins.

Ji Xun blended in with the crowd and walked in without any incident.

This was a camp built for exploring the ruins, and all its facilities served the hunters.

Card shops, gun shops, mechanical modification shops, potion shops, material shops – in short, all sorts of supply stores.

Ji Xun passed by these shops, looking enviously at the dazzling array of firearms and individual mechanical equipment.

He had thought his revolver was pretty good before, but compared to these, it was just a basic model.

There were dozens of types of bullets alone, such as anti-magic bullets, armor-piercing bullets, demon-repelling bullets, incendiary bullets...

He glanced at the prices displayed at the shop entrance:

[Armor-Piercing Bullet]: ¥3

[High-Explosive Grenade]: ¥300

[M127 Revolver]: ¥1300

[Double-Barreled Demon-Slayer Gun]: ¥2550

[Individual Mechanical High-Strength Exoskeleton (800KG)]: ¥32500

The prices were clearly marked.

His own large-caliber revolver of the same model only cost 1300 yuan, while slightly better equipment cost tens of thousands.

There were also daggers, leather armor, tactical boots, grappling hooks...

In short, as long as you had money, you could buy a better set of adventure gear.

Equipment was their livelihood, so hunters naturally wouldn't be stingy with their money. These shops were filled with all sorts of hunters.

Ji Xun walked along, bought a tactical backpack, and updated some essential equipment.

He didn't look at things like mechanical exoskeletons.

Too expensive.

Too conspicuous to carry.

He continued forward. In the core area of the camp, there was a large shop with a sign that read "Hessen Merchant Guild's Card House."

There was an exquisite glass display window at the entrance, showcasing magic cards of various colors.

[Wind Blade Card]: ¥3000

[Blast Card]: ¥5000

[Arcane Barrage]: ¥15555

Most of the items in the display window were single-use skill cards, as well as blank containment cards, energy cards, and various strange, incomprehensible divination cards and armament cards...

Ji Xun glanced at them and didn't enter the shop, muttering to himself, "It's really because they're cheap, isn't it?"

Before, in the Alternate Dimension, he had seen Chu Jiu and the mercenaries use several magic cards.

But they used them sparingly.

More often, they used firearms.

Now, seeing the prices, he immediately understood why.

The power of magic cards was indeed much greater than firearms, and they could meet various combat needs.

But the prices were outrageous.

A grenade only cost 300, while a first-tier [Blast Card] cost 5000.

The physical damage was similar, but the price difference was more than tenfold.

There wasn't much he couldn't understand, though.

Firearms and the like could be produced on factory assembly lines. Steam Machinery in this world was so advanced that manufacturing costs wouldn't be high at all.

As for Cards, they involved magic and the sealing of magical power, and from what he could see, they likely required manual refinement.

Expensive things were expensive for a reason.

Moreover, the upper limit of magical Cards was clearly higher.

Grenades were already among the most powerful ammunition for individual soldiers, but they were only comparable to the lowest-tier Cards in terms of power.

Looking at the ridiculously priced high-tier Cards, Ji Xun could guess they were powerful just from their names, and they all possessed extraordinary magical effects.

For example, there was a [Chain Lightning] card priced at over a hundred thousand.

Its skill effect was to instantly deal area-of-effect lightning damage and cause paralysis to targets within range.

To be able to control the power of lightning with one's physical body?

That was incredibly difficult even with the technology from his previous life.

As Ji Xun marveled, he also felt a surge of anticipation for the extraordinary powers that humans could wield in this world.

Next door, there was also a potion shop, which also had some alchemical potions with seemingly magical effects.

Ji Xun's eyes almost blurred looking at the rows upon rows of dazzling potion labels. He picked out a few essential basic potions and didn't look any further.

High-tier potions were still the same: expensive!

Ji Xun only had a small amount of cash he'd scavenged from mercenary corpses, and he couldn't afford any high-tier potions.

He still didn't know the price level of this world, nor did he know the purchasing power.

But he soon found a reference.

There was a simple tavern in the camp, where a group of hunters were eating, drinking, and chatting.

Ji Xun walked down the street and took a glance: black bread was 15 per piece, and drinking water was 3 per liter.

It wasn't considered expensive.

He had been walking for a long time and was hungry, so he took out some money and bought a piece of black bread about the length of his arm.

It felt a bit like a baseball bat in his hand, hard and solid.

He tried it.

Not bad, actually. Apart from the hardness, which might chip a tooth, it tasted pretty good.

After biting off a piece, the carbohydrates were broken down by saliva, and a sweet aroma swept over his taste buds.

It was like compressed biscuits from his previous life, where taste was secondary to providing energy.

Ji Xun took a few bites and quickly felt his energy levels replenished.

Everything in the Demon Cross camp was new to Ji Xun.

Being new here, if possible, he planned to wander around or perhaps sit in the tavern for a while.

He wanted to hear what those people were talking about and get a sense of what this world was like.

But now was clearly not the time.

Ji Xun bought some supplies and then hurried towards the train station behind the camp.

As he walked, his peripheral vision was constantly observing.

The camp was about the size of a small town, not very large. After walking for a short while, he arrived at the train station.

It was a very simple platform, looking like an Ancient Relic, with traces of time everywhere.

The station was bustling with people, very lively.

Workers were busy loading various supplies found in the ruins onto the train, and treasure hunters, their harvests abundant, were happily boarding in small groups.

After the treasure hunt, as long as they didn't die, they had definitely made a profit.

The hunters would take this train back to Sinless City and then spend a long period in a life of debauchery.

Ji Xun's observation skills were exceptionally sharp. As soon as he arrived, he immediately noticed something unusual.

"People from the Blackwater Mercenary Group?"

Amidst the complex and bustling crowd, Ji Xun immediately identified a few individuals with unusual expressions.

Other hunters were eager to return home and hurried to board the train, but these individuals were scanning the crowd with their peripheral vision, as if searching for something.

Ji Xun wasn't sure if those guys were looking for him.

But he guessed that even if they were, their information would be very limited, perhaps only knowing: one man and one woman?

He had worn a gas mask in the Alternate Dimension, and Fourth Young Master Cao hadn't seen his face clearly. Not many clues were exposed.

As long as he didn't give himself away, the chance of being discovered was slim.

However, this world had extraordinary powers.

Ji Xun didn't dare to be careless.

He mimicked the joyful and light steps of the passersby, blending into the crowd. Without any sign of timidity, he walked towards the train with confidence.