Kingdom of Corrosion

Compared to the typhoons in Future City, those in Technology City can’t be said to be less severe, but to Lin Wu, they felt like throwing a meat bun at a dog. No matter how much rain, the sandy terrain absorbed it all cleanly, leaving not a puddle in sight. And wind wasn’t a problem either—what place that routinely whips up sandstorms would fear a typhoon?

The second seven-day typhoon of the summer, in Lin Wu and Maya’s view, was boring, nothing but boring. They slept, played cards, ate food. When the wind eased, they’d go out for a stroll, fish nearby, and ride horses.

Although Phantom was a Five-star Divine Horse, its interaction with Lin Wu was minimal; their relationship was purely that of a means of transportation and its user, completely different from the one with Wai. In contrast, Sandstorm interacted with Maya quite a bit—when Maya stroked Sandstorm, the horse would lick the back of her hand in response. Maya used a brush to bathe Sandstorm, and the horse would lie on the ground, enjoying it immensely. When finished, it would nuzzle Maya with its head as a way of saying thanks.

Phantom, on the other hand, was indifferent to this, focusing on eating its grass. It never showed any affection towards Lin Wu, nor did it have any demands. Lin Wu would bathe it with a brush, and it would stand there motionless; when done, it showed no signs of whether it liked the bath or not, perfectly embodying aloof and solitary pride.

And so the seven-day typhoon passed. During the storm, Qinglang fell ill. Without any medicinal help, he recovered with the aid of the general practitioner Shuihua. Other than that, the seven days were entirely uneventful, dull and unremarkable to the extreme.

Once the typhoon was over, Maya and Lin Wu got up and headed to the county town. Hong Yi and the others didn’t quite understand Maya’s attitude towards leveling up. It was undeniable that higher attributes were beneficial for daily life, but there was no need to go out of one’s way to level up. Even if they didn’t understand, they still expressed their support by providing food.

Hong Yi and his group didn’t think they had done anything remarkable, but their actions deeply touched Lin Wu and Maya. Considering that Night Moon base lacked living supplies, they decided to scrounge up some things from the county town while leveling up—if there were any to find.

The county town in Technology City was still built by a river, which split the city in two. In reality, most towns with a bit of history have a river. But Technology County Town was much bigger than Future County Town and consisted mainly of buildings less than ten stories high. High-rise buildings like office towers and hotels were rare in Technology County. The streets of Technology County were incredibly wide, almost devoid of the narrow alleys seen in Future County. The residential areas were sparsely populated with houses, with a very low plot ratio, and parks could be seen everywhere.

Standing atop a signal tower outside the county town, Lin Wu said to Maya, who was still observing, "The city supplies in Technology City are quite scattered."

Maya replied, "I haven’t found an industrial area. The business center doesn’t seem like a central hub, lacking a core."

Lin Wu asked, "Should we look for a police station?"