Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 372: Chapter 177: Abandoned City Strange Shadows_2

But that was only relatively safer, many caravans walking along suddenly found themselves with fewer people, or sometimes more...

The next day when they awoke, there were not a few cases of mysterious disappearances of entire caravan members. Strange and very dangerous.

But the profits from long-distance trade were huge, like the specialty White Mountain Tea from the Yaoqing Giant City which was extremely popular in No.3 Border City.

And the Rock Marrow Fuel from Lava Mine City was even more coveted by every Giant City as a military resource. It was an exclusive product for official caravans.

This time, the Red Dart Commerce first purchased a large amount of local specialties within the Border City area, planning to sell them off in the Giant City Circles of Ba Shu Giant City and Shu Chuan Giant City, and then purchase supplies from the local Giant Cities to return to Border City.

If they could successfully make the round trip, the Red Dart Commerce could earn a profit tens of times over. Such incredible windfalls were hard to imagine!

On the road, they might earn some extra... Of course, in the presence of official personnel such as Li Yelai and Little Mad King, they hummed and hawed for a long time before mentioning that certain items would fetch a high price in some Giant Cities...

Including but not limited to, Taboo Items, Extraordinary Creatures, Spiritual Ability Equipment, Strange Materials, and such.

These could occasionally be found in abandoned cities or the dangerous wilderness.

Some lucky caravans accidentally found an Extraordinary Creature’s shed skin and sold it for a high price in a Giant City.

In fact, a small portion of the Taboo Items were discovered by Scavengers or caravans out in the wild. They really had a knack for finding things...

”Should you come across such items, notify the nearest Giant City immediately. You are surely aware of the dangers of the Taboo Items,” Li Yelai clicked his tongue.

”You’re right, we’ve experienced it firsthand,” Xu Shi felt a bitter pain inside, wishing he had just turned over the greed coins directly to the officials for a decent compensation, perhaps even establishing a connection with them. But greed ruined all possibilities...

And this time, it was a bad start.

A few days after the Red Dart Commerce set off, they encountered trouble.

Their route required them to pass through an abandoned large city about twenty kilometers from their gathering point.

This city was once very prosperous, ranked among the world’s great cities before the Calamity. It was said to be called Food Desert in books.

But now, it truly became a desert, with only ruins and remnants marking human brilliance.

The city was divided by rivers, and the majestic bridges spanning them were destroyed during the era of chaos.

But a detour was found that could bypass the rivers. It was also one of the routes to the Giant City Circles. The detour was indeed quite long.

However, there was something eerie existing within the abandoned city.

”Originally, we had three off-road vehicles leading the way, with two Spiritual Ability Users amongst them. The cargo trucks were behind. Other off-road vehicles were patrolling the perimeter,” a member of the caravan who witnessed the strange incident spoke up: ”If there was trouble ahead, the guards in the off-road vehicles would send out a warning.”

Li Yelai nodded slightly; there was no problem with that arrangement. Sentries, after all. Spiritual Ability Users had sharper senses and were stronger than ordinary people, so they were right to lead the way.

”Sadly, even with such precautions, we still encountered danger while passing through the roads within the city,” the caravan member took a fierce drag of his cigarette and continued: ”They all disappeared without a trace, not even a distress signal was sent, not a single shot fired. We pressed on without any knowledge, and then were attacked by the riverbank. I was sitting in the third cargo truck when I suddenly saw the first two trucks being dragged into the river by something.”

”Did you see what the attacker looked like while you were on the scene?” Little Mad King asked.

”I didn’t. It was too dark, and I only had time to see the splash when the trucks crashed into the river,” the caravan member paused, seeming somewhat fearful: ”Then the river churned, and there were screams, but soon the voices disappeared. After that... something climbed out of the river and started chasing us.”

This caused Li Yelai to be somewhat moved. Two Spiritual Ability Users leading the way couldn’t fight back, not to mention give a warning?

”What level were the Wild Spirit Ability Users you hired?” Li Yelai inquired.

”We don’t understand much, but we heard they’ve been Spiritual Ability Users for only three months, Awakening during an Insect Swarm event,” Xu Shi said: ”But I feel their combat ability isn’t as good as Scarred’s... You’ve seen Scarred.”

Scar, oh~~ that scythe-wielding Scarred Woman at that time, she had a Second Awakening and combat experience.

Li Yelai nodded, ”She was probably at a First Awakening or had just broken through to a Second Awakening. She’s quite brave to dare to risk a breakthrough like that.”

”You were also lucky. If they had become distorted, you guys would have been the first to suffer,” Li Yelai told Xu Shi.

Generally, Wild Spirit Ability Users don’t have access to Stabilizers or Magic Potions, let alone guidance and experience from predecessors, which makes it easy for them to become distorted.

The reason why officials regulate Wild Spirit Ability Users is because they might turn into Sufferers. In that case, there wouldn’t even be a need for monsters to take action; the Red Dart Commerce would suffer.

Xu Shi could only nod in agreement. The caravan member continued, ”I reacted quickly, reversing in a frenzy. My companions also unleashed fire on that creature, but it seemed ineffective. Just as we were about to be caught, we jumped out of the vehicle and dove into the alleys among the ruins. That’s how we managed to escape the pursuit.”

Li Yelai silently nodded his agreement; it was indeed the best choice. If the opponent was too big, it would be difficult to squeeze into the alleys.

”Afterward, we immediately changed routes. After all, there are still many roads in the city, even though they are harder to navigate,” another member of the caravan said. ”We moved away from the river, but when we were passing through a street, we heard gunshots from behind us. Then, there was silence; the fight had ended quickly. We knew something was wrong, and we immediately fled the city and returned here.”

”The range of their activity is within the city?” Li Yelai pondered.

”Yes, we lost five trucks, seven off-road vehicles, twenty-six brothers, and two Spiritual Ability Users,” Xu Shi said with some bitterness.

The other executives also sighed; even though Scavengers are not high-profile, they were comrades who had worked together to earn money. Their inexplicable deaths also made them uncomfortable.

Moreover, their trade route was blocked. If they couldn’t pass through quickly, they feared a total loss. The remaining people wouldn’t have it easy either.

Li Yelai then looked at the Little Mad King, who after some thought replied, ”At the moment, we’re unsure what it is or how many there are. I even suspect that the first and second attacks came from two different enemies.”

The worst-case scenario was that there were two enemies hiding in the abandoned city.

”Hiding does make things a bit troublesome,” the Little Mad King looked at Li Yelai. ”But, with you here, this shouldn’t really be considered trouble, right?”

Li Yelai nodded; creatures that appeared out of nowhere suited ”You Must Meet Strong Enemies” just fine.

”Are we meddling too much?” Li Yelai asked.

”We’re ’Ye Boshou’; where does the question of meddling come from?” the Little Mad King responded indifferently. ”Don’t worry about the mission timeline. I anticipated this kind of situation, which is why we set out early—to give you some combat training on the side.”

Li Yelai silently smiled.

In fact, even if Li Yelai and others did not intervene, the creature wouldn’t live long.

It’s well-known that the martial spirit in Border City is abundant and the Ye Boshou operate in the wilds.

A Ye Boshou passing by would dispose of the creature once found.

In reality, if they sent someone back to the Giant City to report this, the officials would dispatch a squad.

It’s just that, due to the sneaky nature of their operations, they subconsciously dare not make contact with the officials.

”Alright, Boss Xu Shi. Have your people get ready to move out,” Li Yelai said.

”This...” Xu Shi’s eyes lit up and he quickly responded, ”We will definitely provide sufficient rewards to the two of you. But what should we do to help?”

Li Yelai thought for a moment and replied, ”When the time comes, stay away from me. Otherwise, you might get struck by lightning.”

”Ah?”