Chapter 433 The Oasis under the Mountains and the Truth Behind the Legend

   "Ah Choo—"

  General McClellan, who was standing at the door of the tent, sneezed. He didn't bite his teeth inadvertently, and sprayed the cigarette **** in his mouth into the sand.

   Rubbing his reddened nose, he glanced at the cigarette stuck on the ground, and cursed.

"…Oh shit."

  Although this was a perfect plan, McLennan couldn’t help feeling aggrieved when he thought that he was a dignified two-star captain and a noble “conquerer of the sky” and was reduced to working as a contractor in the desert.

   And for some reason.

  Since just now, he has felt a chill down his spine.

  I had this feeling two or three months ago, and not long after that, the propeller of his precious Iron Heart was caught in a hydrogen balloon that floated from nowhere.

   Until now, he still can't be sure, which dog put that balloon...

   "Intensify the patrol!" McClenn looked at the newly promoted commander, and gave the order with a dark face, "The search range has been expanded from 3 kilometers to 5 kilometers. Anyone who approaches will be arrested, and those who resist will be shot!"

  The officer on the side stood up straight, stood at attention and saluted.

"yes!"

  Watching off the officer leading the order to trot away, General McLenne stomped out the cigarette butt, crushed it with his boots, and then walked to the north of the camp with his hands behind his back.

  The runway at the airport is under construction.

  There is no forklift, so you can only dig with a shovel, and use a wheelbarrow and a truck to move the earth.

  The land here is seriously desertified. In order to prevent the ground from collapsing when the plane lands, the runway must be tightened.

  More than 50 army troops patrolled the edge of the runway, and at the same time supervised the construction of those subordinates.

   More than a thousand followers were bathed in the scorching sun, digging the earth with their upper body bare.

  Looking at the bare arms and shoulders, McClenn cleared his throat and raised his voice.

"The August sun is like a red-hot stove. I know you are getting dizzy and your limbs are tired like lead... But it is better to be roasted by the sun here than to be charred by white phosphorus at the front line. Burnt by gasoline, not even **** left.”

"That's what happened to your friends. Your enemies will torture you in the most brutal way, so you must fight, you must move forward. This is the only way for you to survive. Thank us for showing you the way, You don’t have to be the slaves of kings or puppets of companies, and the suffering you endure today will be returned to our enemies a hundred times tomorrow.”

   "They will repent in the flames, they will be reduced to ashes under the high temperature of tens of millions of degrees, and they will be crushed into **** by our anger!"

   "Give me more strength!"

   "Move!"

  Seeing those people digging harder, McCllen nodded in satisfaction, turned around and walked back to the barracks.

At this time, it would be perfect if there is a bucket of ice cream, and it would be perfect for Princess Teresa to feed him... No, she was already dirty after being caught by the barbarians, and after this battle is over, go to the old king Take a turn in the harem.

  His interest in female **** is actually mediocre, after all, that kind of thing is too easy for him to think of.

   Those ice creams, however, are rare products from the alpine pastures on the banks of the Solat River. Even tens of thousands of kilometers away, they are also a luxury for nobles.

  With the unlucky ghost of Feynold, those natives should know its value.

  Hope the bumpkins don't leave them alone...

  …

  The setting sun has fallen to the horizon.

  Under the shadow of the wooden wine barrel, a black and white cat yawned lazily and licked its paw.

  At this time, a small dried fish dangled in front of him.

  Smelling the salty scent, the cat narrowed its amber pupils, and walked up on graceful catwalks.

   He gave a polite mime to Xiaoyugan, and seeing that the "servant" didn't object, he moved his mouth unceremoniously.

   Obviously, it is used to being fed by people... or enshrined.

   It seems that the old man named Boomer is right. People here like cats so much that the cats here live a leisurely life and are not afraid of people at all.

   "Mimi~"

   Gently rubbing the back of the warm fluffy head, listening to the comfortable purring sound, the sesame paste eyes squatting on the ground smiled into crescent moons, the cat ears swayed leisurely one after another, and his face was full of satisfaction.

  The burly big pyrenes squatted beside her, looking curiously at the little guy on the ground.

   "I mean, all the cats in the wasteland came here?"

   "Well, it's really strange to say, I haven't seen a cat anywhere... I have seen a dog." Sesame Paste recalled carefully.

  Seeing that the cat was eating, drinking and being served, there was an envious expression on Flesh's face.

   "Damn it, I want rua too..."

   "Okay, but you have to be careful, your claw is too big, don't hurt it." Sesame Paste moved to the side, making room for Rourou.

   "Hey, don't worry, I should be careful when I pet the cat!"

  Rubbing his paws excitedly, Rourou carefully stretched out his bear paws.

  However, before she put her paws on the cat, the cat was so frightened that it frowned and made a sound of drinking.

   With a bewildered expression on his face, Rourou quickly retracted his paws.

  She just wanted to explain that she didn't have any malicious intentions, but the cat didn't intend to listen at all. It took a bite of the dried fish and hurriedly turned around and slipped into the shadows under the alley.

  Looking at the cat that disappeared into the alley, frustration and grievances were written on the fleshy face.

   "Well... Is it because I look too scary."

  Sesame Paste didn’t know how to comfort her, but when he saw the expression on the verge of crying, it wasn’t easy to leave her alone, so he could only clap his hands dumbfounded and stood up. Touched the broad and hairy shoulders.

   "Why, Rourou is so cute...Maybe it's because it has never seen a talking bear."

  People here are very superstitious, but they are surprisingly tolerant of unknown things.

  Even if they see a talking bear, their reaction is just "your bear can talk", instead of shouting "monster!"

   It may not only be because there are many strange things in the wasteland, but also because the local people are often engaged in trading activities, and some anecdotes and strange things are no longer strange.

  For example, the Cactus Hotel next to them.

  The waiter at the front desk is an old bionic person, and he is the kind whose skin has faded due to age.

   It is said that during the era of prosperity, it was at the front desk of a resort hotel 20 kilometers away, and was sent to the waste disposal center when it reached the end of its useful life.

  Before it was scrapped, the Doomsday War broke out. It stayed on the assembly line of the abandoned factory for nearly two centuries. It was not until it was picked up by the owner of this hotel decades ago that it resumed its old business.

   Its actual working time has far exceeded its design lifespan, so that it always says some strange words, occasionally offends guests, and always stays in a daze from time to time, and stays there for a long time.

   Whenever this happens, the owner of the hotel will come out to register the information of the guests instead.

  “…I remember being 7 years old when I first saw it, and I’m almost 47 now, how time flies.”

   "Yes." Sisi, who was waiting in front of the bar, nodded and answered casually.

  47 years old.

   This age is considered a long life in the wasteland.

  She vaguely remembered someone who said that according to the settings in the game, the average life expectancy of NPCs in this world is only 35 years old, and most of them will encounter unexpected accidents when they are in their 20s.

   Flipping through the dilapidated notepad, the boss rubbed his index finger on it, suddenly showed an embarrassed expression, looked up and said apologetically.

   "Sorry, guest, there are a lot of people staying in the hotel recently, and there is only one double room left... How about changing one of them to a double room?"

   Before Sisi could answer, Tail approached excitedly and raised his right hand energetically.

   "Oh! No problem! Tail sleeps with Sis!"

  Sisi coughed lightly.

   "Then...a double room and a double room."

As she said that, she put a few golden camel coins with a face value of 10 on the table. Just now, she exchanged some change with the booty she collected from the looters in the market. Now their deposits are about six or seven hundred. .

   Daily expenses are sufficient.

  It is still cheap to stay in a hotel, 9 golden camel coins for a room, and even a large piece of rye bread for breakfast.

   I heard that if you are not picky about the accommodation environment, there are even rooms for 2 gold camel coins a day, and the utility room where servants sleep is also provided to guests.

  As for renting a garage, it’s a little more expensive, but it’s only 15 gold camel coins a day, and 300 for a monthly subscription.

   And this also made Sisi can't help shouting that he was fooled.

  A volume of "Scenic Spot Map" plus a travel brochure about local conditions and customs, sold for the price of nine days' room fees!

   No wonder the boss couldn't count, so he took the money bag she left on the stall into his arms.

  The 80 golden camel coins made him at least 40!

   Sloppy!

   The key to the double room was given sesame paste and meat, and Sisi went upstairs with his tail.

   Passing the corridor.

  She saw a bearded man and a sad woman standing by the window on the second floor.

  The man was wearing a gray linen shirt, and his temperament looked like he had been a soldier, or at least he had been a caravan guard, and he was the leader of the caravan.

  The woman in front of him was wearing a beige dress, with slightly curly brown hair, a pretty face, and a slightly raised belly as if she had just been pregnant.

   "...There is always a way. I heard that there are people recruiting sailors in Silvermoon City. At worst, I will go there to try my luck."

   "But... what about me and the child." There was a trace of sadness in the woman's eyes.

   "..." The man was silent and didn't speak, obviously he had no choice.

  The woman hesitated for a while, as if she had made up her mind, she took off the ring on her ring finger.

   "Why don't you take it away and see if you can change it..."

  The man quickly held her hand.

   "Don't do this...Let me think of another way."

  Sisi took a look at the two of them, guessing that they should have escaped from oasis No. 9 or oasis No. 3, and had already spent all their savings after arriving here.

   While Sisi was looking at the two of them, the man also noticed the two girls coming up from the stairs, he hesitated for a moment and then walked forward.

   "Ma'am, I’m very sorry to bother you, may I ask... can I exchange some money with you?"

  Sisi glanced at the money bag in his hand. There were quite a lot of golden lion coins in it. It was estimated that there were three or four hundred coins. These two seemed to be from the Kingdom of Lions.

  The man probably felt that this request was a bit abrupt, and he couldn't hold back his old face and withdrew his hand.

   He knows very well that the currency of a defeated country is worthless.

  If it was a few months ago, this bag of money could at least be exchanged for 400 golden camel coins.

   Now, removing two 0s is enough, even if he has nowhere to go, he can't bear to let these two little girls take advantage of him.

  However, Sis still stretched out his hand to take the bag of money from him, and gave him a bag of money.

   "Deal, after this trip is over, we just plan to go to Oasis No. 9, and we don't need to exchange money when we get there."

  Looking at the purse handed over by the girl in front of him, the man froze for a moment, and said with a guilty conscience.

   "That's...too much."

  That heavy weight, there are at least 300 golden camel coins, enough to live for less than half a year.

   You can even do a little business.

  Sisi weighed the purse in his hand and said casually.

  "Your country hasn't lost yet, those who are still resisting, their determination is worth the price, accept it."

  The man's Adam's apple moved, and the expression on his face was both grateful and ashamed.

   After a brief moment of silence, he took the money bag and bowed deeply.

   This is the only thing he can do at the moment.

"Thank you for your generosity, and may the spirit of the sand sea bless your journey. My name is Charlie...Although this is only a trivial name, it is not worth remembering, but if I meet again by chance, I will repay your kindness to me and My wife's kindness."

   Thinking this guy is quite interesting, Sisi curled the corner of his mouth.

   "Don't take it too seriously, it's just a business deal, just treat your wife better."

  The tail on the side also smiled and said.

"Oh! With your good words, I hope we can find a lot of treasure on the way back! By the way, we are members of the White Bear Knights, and the leader is a talking big white bear. Please pass on our legend It's even more outrageous!"

  The man stared blankly at the two little girls, then bowed deeply again, and returned to his wife to tell her the good news.

   Watched by two pairs of grateful gazes, Sisi and Tail walked towards the room deep in the corridor.

  Looking at Sisi who took out the key to open the door, he stroked his chin with his tail and pondered for a while, then suddenly seemed to have discovered some terrible secret, and said in a serious manner.

   "It's unbelievable. I didn't expect that when Sisi was soft-hearted, he didn't suspect that the couple might be liars."

  Sisi replied casually not quite frankly.

   "No, I just think that if I don't buy it again, I might not be able to buy it anymore. I'll buy it as a souvenir... Ah yes, I can just deduct this expenditure from my share of income. After all, it is my personal interest."

  Although everyone didn't seem to care much about it, she thought it would be better to figure it out.

  She has seen too many guilds that used to have a good relationship with each other, but fell out because of a piece of equipment that was going to be knifed after two versions.

  Tail looked at Sisi who pushed the door open in surprise.

   "Hey! Is Si going to swallow the out-of-print gold coins?"

  Sisi froze, then smiled, and stuffed the money bag into her hand.

   "...that's a good one for Ao."

  The room environment of 9 golden camel coins is much more spacious than the small single room of 3 golden camel coins. It not only has bright windows, a big soft bed, but also an independent bathroom.

  The Petra Fortress is not in the oasis, but it is the territory of the Hump Kingdom. Fresh water is only a little expensive, but it is not in short supply.

   Moreover, the No. 4 oasis is different from other oases. Not all fresh water is supplied by the "river bank".

  In the local slang of the Hump Kingdom, the pronunciation of Zhuobar has the meaning of greatness and mother, and this can be regarded as one of the cultures formed after the Wasteland Era.

  As soon as he dropped his luggage, he rushed into the bathroom like a gust of wind with his tail, and soon there was the sound of rushing water.

   Haven't showered for a month.

   But she was overwhelmed.

  Sisi went to the window and sat down, listening to the yelling and selling outside the window, put the "Oasis under the Djobal Mountains" that he bought with cash on his knees, and carefully read it.

The author's name is Baige, which seems to be a pseudonym. He narrated his life story in a few strokes on the title page, claiming to come from the Wandering Swamp. The pearl at his feet, so he gave up the task of the employer, stayed in the local area, married a fisherman's daughter, and wrote while teaching.

   This book, written in the 150th year of the Wasteland Era, is as famous as its author himself. It mainly records the geographical features and customs of the No. 4 Oasis and the Hump Kingdom.

  If you compare the Djobal Mountains horizontally with the "roof of the world" in the real world, then the location of the Hump Kingdom is a bit like a different world version of Bengal.

   It's just that its area is smaller, only 80,000 square kilometers in total, and its population is only about 1.5 million, living in a total of twelve city-states including the "Petra Fortress".

  The king here is Camel City, where one-third of the population of the entire oasis lives. It is located in the southwest corner of the bay.

  If you pass through the Petra Fortress and walk south along the Djobal River to the floodplain at the mouth of the sea, you will reach Silvermoon Bay, the most prosperous oasis in the entire oasis.

  Silvermoon City, located on the floodplain, is the most prosperous port city in the Hump Kingdom. Fragmentary islands and rivers passing through the buildings are its unique urban features.

  Although the population is only 300,000, more than 70% of the kingdom's fiscal revenue comes from there.

"...The locals trade with the islands in the south and the Borneo province in the southwest. The bighorn cattle in the desert were actually imported from Borneo by Yinyue Bay. It is said that there are murlocs with gills who can spray acid. The giant frog... incredible."

   "Oh! Poro! Can you see Poro there?" Rubbing his wet hair with a towel, Tail who had just come out of the bathroom heard Sisi talking to himself, and came over curiously.

  When Sisi saw her appearance, his face blushed immediately, and he stretched out his hand to pull the curtains up.

   "You...at least wear some clothes."

  The tail is proudly akimbo, and the corners of the mouth are raised fearlessly.

   "What's the matter! I heard that everyone living in the dormitory doesn't wear clothes!"

  Sisi subtly looked away.

   “…I probably went to a fake college.”

   Tail, who had been naughty for a while, finally found his integrity, put on a T-shirt and sat obediently next to Sisi, wrapped his hair in a towel, as if he was going to wait for it to dry naturally.

  There are even bionic people here, but there is no hair dryer, so it can only be said to be a wasteland.

   Tail leaned to the side of the book and stared at the illustration with shining eyes, trying to find some clues about the new map from it, and went to the forum later to brag with everyone.

  Sisi coughed lightly and returned to the previous topic.

"It just happens that the pronunciation is very similar. The literal translation is the land south of the towering mountains. I prefer to directly transliterate it as 'Borneo'. I feel that the location of that province is a bit like the widened Italian Peninsula. Our current city Fortress is like Innsbruck, Camel City is like Ravenna, Silvermoon is like Venice... if only by location."

  The Djobal Mountains extending to the southwest cut off the traffic on the road, so the only way to go to Borneo from the No. 4 oasis is by water.

  According to the description in the book, there are also alien species in the ocean, and it is said that their combat power has reached the level of sea monsters.

  However, these xenomorphs are usually only active in the deep sea, and are very sensitive to smell.

  The locals find that these alien species hate the smell of black iron wood, so they will use black iron wood to make wooden steamboats for longer-distance trade. In relatively shallow offshore waters, they also use iron sheets to make boats.

  The author whose pen name is Bai Ge has a rigorous narrative style, and he might be a researcher of the academy.

  Sisi was thinking in his heart, and stared at the tail of the illustration with his hands on his cheeks, and suddenly let out a sigh of emotion.

   "I didn't expect the world to be so big!"

"Yes, it is…"

   "Across the sea..." Touched his chin, Tail suddenly became serious, "Is it an enemy?"

   Sisi froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

   "...It's crossing the stage, Oo."

"hey-hey…"

  Tail scratched the back of his head a little embarrassedly.

  At this time, she suddenly saw the scroll on the bedside table, and then remembered about the treasure map, so she stood up with a hey, and hugged it.

   Looking at the map unfolded on the ground, Sis raised his eyebrows in surprise.

   "Oh, it's pretty big."

   It’s not too bad to say so.

   "Oh! Si! The map is marked with a red cross! It's really a treasure map!"

  "That kind of mark can be drawn as long as you hold a pen."

  Looking at the startled Awei, Sisi replied casually, his eyes stayed on the map for a moment, and suddenly frowned slightly.

  Her index finger flipped the pages subconsciously, and found a description about the Lost Valley.

  This ruin has a profound impact on the kingdom on this oasis, whether it is in a materialistic or idealistic sense.

   Therefore, the book also made a considerable length of description.

"...According to the local population, the **** of the sky fell there, and the burning scepter turned the plain into a valley. It is undoubtedly the No. 7 oasis. Bacteria...or should I say the remnants of the curse."

"I should go there to see, but my body can't stand the toss. For my lovely son, I can only let go of the urge to take risks. Maybe someday in the future, after I have nothing to worry about, I will go there See, it would be perfect if it could be fixed there, though I don't hold out any hope."

  “They were living gods a century and a half ago. If you want to use a wrench and a screwdriver to solve the problems of the gods, it’s better to light a candle and pray.”

  After reading this, Si Siji can already confirm that the author whose pen name is White Pigeon is a researcher of the academy—or a prospector.

  That pessimistic and self-deprecating tone is exactly the same as that of a researcher who is obsessed with coffee machines.

   "The more you know, the more pessimistic you become. Fortunately, you have an optimistic manager. I would have given up treatment a long time ago"... This is the line that the NPC often says.

  Looking at a certain line in the book, Sisi combined the context and barely explained it with a limited vocabulary.

   “…Titan.”

  Tail raised its head excitedly, and its eyes shone with excitement.

   "Titan?"

   It really is a hidden mission!

  Sisi nodded, moved his eyes on the pages of the book, and said after a little thought.

"Hmm... The author has collected rumors about the **** of the sky, referring to the description of the locals, he thinks that it should be some kind of large-scale land combat equipment with frigate specifications, equipped with mobile reactors, heavy firepower, and starship-level shields .”

  The machine wielding the holy flame, wrestled with the evil spirit wielding countless long whips, and finally burned under the scepter that fell from the sky... It sounds like Transformers vs. tentacle monsters.

  If you understand the tentacle monster as a brood, then the machine wielding the holy flame is a good explanation.

  Probably similar to the doomsday machine armor of "Civilization 6", or the iron lump of "Titanfall".

   This is not like a battle that took place during the Three Years War, but a bit like a battle that took place during the Council.

   "Well, maybe there's something really big in there, but—"

   But it's best not to get out of hand at this time.

   After all, compared to ruins with unknown difficulty and income, of course, goods worth millions are more important.

However-

   When meeting those expectant eyes, there was still a smile on that clever face.

  Close the book in his hand, Sisi put it aside, patted the ashes and stood up from the ground.

   "...It would be a pity if we didn't go to see it."

  Tail jumped up excitedly.

   "Oh! Go!"

  —

   (Thanks to the leader of "xX Bring Big Brother Xx" for the reward!!)

  (end of this chapter)