Chapter 183: A Visit

The players had indeed seen screenshots of the Royal Capital; ever since Luolita returned from the Royal Capital, those landscapes along the way, as well as the prosperity of the Royal Capital, had all been posted by Luolita on the forum.

The prosperity of the Royal Capital was already acknowledged by the players; by comparison, Tana City was absolutely rural.

Even the surrounding Port City looked more modern than Tana City.

"For only 30 Xide, you can own a pronunciation box handcrafted by artisans; you can turn the screw here." As he spoke, Tuorsuo demonstrated, winding the spring, and then the pronunciation box emitted a beautiful melody.

The little figure on top of the pronunciation box also danced along with the music.

"This is truly amazing, and it's made by artisans? If I take two, can it be a bit cheaper?" These people from the War Church, even in the Royal Capital, had seen many luxury goods, but they had never seen anything like a pronunciation box.

Although the Federal had a high capacity for art appreciation, its ability in artistic creation was not high.

Chen Ai had also sensed this point.

As that woodblock print was sent to the Royal Capital, the latest advertisement appeared in the "Federal Weekly" of the Royal Capital.

This advertisement was brilliantly colored, exquisitely drawn, and possessed the aesthetic of graphic design; it sold out as soon as it hit the market.

Quite a few people bought the newspaper for the sake of this advertisement; the woodblock print on it was so exquisite that the president of the "Federal Weekly" was considering whether to print an extra edition.

A week's time was enough for this newspaper to ferment, and many manufacturers hoped to make similar advertisements.

This advertisement could be said to have pioneered the entire Federal artistic advertising field.

There were also some publishing houses that hoped to contact this artist to create covers.

Of course, there were more noble ladies and wives who were very interested in this woodblock print, to the point that they hoped they could also possess a similar flat portrait.

"The newspaper office's phone has been ringing off the hook again today; quite a few people have come to ask where exactly they can buy Tana City's vintage wine." The vice president of the newspaper office was a plump middle-aged man. "The advertisement is out, but there is no stock yet; shouldn't we urge those people in Tana City?"

"I have already heard that people from the Wealth Church have also imported those wines; those wine packages have this kind of special advertising image on them, and this aesthetic is truly so different. Just now, Professor Aifujia hoped that I could provide the contact information for the creator of this woodblock print; he hopes to let him enter the Stowell School of Art to teach those students."

"But, Stowell doesn't even have a painting major." Lawrence, the vice president, smoothed down his few remaining hairs again. "However, I will contact that artist."

Although Chen Ai did not know the situation at the newspaper office, people from the Royal Capital had already headed to Tana City, carrying that newspaper.

Mata Hogan underwent a very strict inspection; all of her bags had been sniffed by police dogs, and there were even people from the Wealth Church.

Although more Warriors had arrived now and they had absolutely no need to fear those saboteurs, the management had not relaxed.

No one wanted their warehouse to have problems; whether it was the players or those people from the Wealth Church, everyone made the management even stricter.

"I really don't understand why you are so rough with a beautiful lady." Mata opened her suitcase helplessly. "These are all props I should have as an actress; you don't think I'm a spy who snuck in, do you?"

"Ma'am, we must confiscate these props you use for disguise. Of course, we will not detain or put you on trial; this is a special operation during wartime. When you leave, we will return these things to you." Bulu, who was in charge of the inspection, said with a frown; he did not know that this lady was an actress.

In reality, in the entire Tana City Theater, there were not many professional actors; most people were newcomers trained by the troupe itself.

Only someone like Yezi was an artist who came from the outside.

Looking at the woman in front of him, Bulu fell into deep thought; although she looked familiar, he really couldn't remember what she had actually performed in.

After all, the newspapers would report it, but he hadn't read them.

"In any case, you need to consider the current situation in Tana City." Bulu had a "no visitors" attitude. "Of course, you can also choose to leave here; after all, there are still Barbarians attacking."

"Fine." Mata had no choice but to hand over the suitcase. "Don't lose it for me; many things inside are very valuable."

"No problem, please exit through Exit 2; this is your inspection certificate." Bulu stiffly handed over a pale blue piece of paper, which had been stamped with an inkpad.

"Hmph." Mata angrily stomped her high heels and stepped onto the land of Tana City.

This place was truly... chaotic beyond belief.

Just arriving here, she already regretted it a little; she might as well have used a disguise from the start.

The entrance was full of small vendors selling things, and the smells were also bizarre.

Compared to the Royal Capital, this place looked even more cluttered and had no aesthetic sense at all.

Moreover, there were construction sites everywhere; from the train station, she could see the arrow tower being built at the distant port, and she could also see the Sun God Cult church being built from here.

There were also some houses nearby that were undergoing expansion or renovation.

Although the people hawking along the street were on both sides of the road, Mata was clearly not interested; it had to be said that Tana City was not much different from what she had imagined.

"Fresh crucian carp! Just caught from the river!"

"Crabs, crabs from Port City!"

"Steamed cake, steamed cake!"

Outside the train station, it was like a huge wet market; Mata frowned.

Until she heard the people behind her talking.

"To be honest, I don't like them setting up stalls here either, but only this area is the largest, and there's no one else here." Ye Laoshi carried his suitcase and said to the old partner who came to pick him up, "I heard that the eldest son has a helmet over there too?"

"Don't speak bird language; I don't understand." Liu Laoshi said with dissatisfaction. "You just know a little bit of language; there's no need to show off in front of me."

"If you live here, you should learn the language here. Besides, this language is also very concise and not hard to learn." As Ye Laoshi spoke, he was about to teach his wife the spelling method.

Liu Laoshi immediately pulled him back. "Let's go buy something to eat over there first; I haven't eaten freshly made seafood for a long time."

Ye Laoshi wanted to dissuade her, but suddenly remembered that this was a game, so he immediately smiled and said, "Of course, I haven't eaten crabs from Port City yet."

"So, are you going to translate 'The Old Man and the Sea' next? Or 'The Little Mermaid'?" Seeing that Ye Laoshi still stubbornly used Tana Language, and Liu Laoshi also stubbornly used her native language, she couldn't wait to compete with him.

"You are always uninterested in literature." Ye Laoshi waved his hand. "Let's go first; I'm a bit later than expected. You don't know, those people in the Royal Capital all wanted me to do book signings, and the people from the Wealth Church said that as long as I listened to the arrangements carefully, I could get more books..."

"Hmph, but I haven't been idle either; I've been helping those children build ships here, and it's already looking quite good."

Mata looked at that couple; the two people's appearances were so young, but for some reason, she always felt that these two people looked over fifty.

Even if she couldn't understand the Tana Language that the lady spoke, it didn't prevent her from reading the relationship between the two from their appearance and body language.

That person... must be the one who wrote "The Count of Monte Cristo", right? That was a bestseller in the Royal Capital; Mata herself had read it.

Looking back, she coldly glanced at the holy radiance on the Sun God Cult church and walked away quickly.

"I need a room, preferably with hot water." Mata asked along the way and found an inn on Store Street.

This was an inn opened by players; the place itself used to be an inn, but because of the witch, the shopkeeper sold the shop and transferred it to Andrew.

So Andrew recruited a player who was willing to invest and manage it with a 15% share.

That player only took a hurried glance, then looked at the other party's identity document and gave her a key.

This is a budget hotel, it doesn't have the services of those high-end hotels, but there is still dedicated room service.

"It is 1 Sid per day. If you have any needs, just ring the bell, and we will have someone bring your luggage up for you in a moment," the player said stumblingly. "If you need meal delivery service, we will order it for you from a nearby restaurant. This is the takeout menu; whatever you need, just ring the bell, and we will have someone go over."

"Very good, I am very satisfied with your service." Hearing the price, Mata was the first to nod in satisfaction.

In this environment, 1 Sid is not expensive; in fact, at hotels in the Royal Capital, 1 Sid wouldn't even get you a room this nice.

This is the reason why those vagrants don't choose hotels.

Soon, a Tana City local brought the luggage up for Mata.

However, there was still no one who recognized Mata.

Mata, who had intentionally let her identity as an actress be exposed, felt completely out of sorts.

Along this entire journey, not a single person had recognized her, a big star!

It must be because the Sun Church is here! There are no Believers of the Beauty God here, so everyone doesn't know how abominable the Sun Church is!

But to think there would be people here who understand the art of painting; one must know how lacking in art the Federal is. Those people from the Wisdom Church turned the Royal Capital into a Mechanical City, but they are still quite repulsed by things related to beauty.

Even the young ladies in the palace are still wearing styles from decades ago; the entire fashion circle has almost no development at all.

Those clothes only had a tiny bit of modification, yet it was already considered shocking.

By the way, she remembers that the bars here also have very nice clothing; that young lady from Tana City had mentioned it too.

But one must find that artist first.

Just like with Mata, there were quite a few people looking for Ai Ai, and the area outside Ai Ai's studio was in a queue state today as well.

"I didn't expect you to be interested in prints, after all, this is something I commissioned craftsmen to make," Ai Ai looked at the gentleman before her. "If you like them, I can still make other types. After all, I just finished drawing an advertisement for Tana City wine, so it's not very suitable to continue making competing products of the same kind."

"I understand, but once the turmoil of this period passes, I hope you can specifically draw a package for us, just like this, this cigarette."

"Cigarettes? I'm sorry, I don't do advertisements for cigarettes," Ai Ai waved her hand. "Smoking is harmful to health."

"How can you say that? No one wants to make people sick; pharmacists won't make people sick. How much damage can smoking actually do to the body?" that tobacco merchant said with his head lowered. "Don't worry, the quality of our tobacco is very good, not only will it not make people sick..."

"I suggest you had better not have her draw an advertisement for you. It is precisely because of a bad reputation and the use of inferior tobacco that Todd Brand Cigarettes are despised by the public." Mata, who had rushed in, did not have a good temper; she had been queuing for half an hour and didn't really want to listen to this tobacco merchant's self-aggrandizement.

The tobacco merchant originally wanted to say something more, but he turned his head and saw Mata.

This was the star that Todd Brand Cigarettes couldn't hire; they had collaborated with Mata before, but after Mata discovered there was a problem with their cigarettes, the collaboration fell through.

"You can't say it like that, our reputation is actually quite good now, at least there are no problems with our cigarettes." He still wanted to explain something, but for some reason, seeing Mata felt like seeing a terrifying beast, and he could only choose to leave.

Mata used this method to drive away quite a few people, and finally managed to get a little time in advance to communicate with Ai Ai before her.

Seeing that tobacco merchant leave, Ai Ai said gratefully: "Thank you. People here probably can't understand why I am unwilling to do advertisements for cigarettes. I didn't expect that even his cigarettes would have problems."

"This is not your fault. Hello, I think I need to introduce myself..."

"I know you, you are an actress, your name is Mata, right? Hello." Ai Ai politely extended her hand, but then she realized her hand wasn't very clean; it was covered in paint.

Mata's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile: "You are the first person to recognize me since I arrived here."

Ai Ai smiled, thinking to herself that this was because you are quite popular on the forums, and there are quite a few people inquiring about your news.

Of course, this also includes me; after all, people will always pay a little more attention to beautiful things.

"I know Luolita, she has mentioned you to me." Ai Ai knew that the fact the other party was an Extraordinary might not be something she would want to tell others. "Don't worry, we don't have any feeling of repulsion toward people who possess abilities beyond others; on the contrary, we also hope to become Extraordinary."

"You also want to awaken?" Mata said in surprise. "Not all awakenings can bring good things."

Thinking of Anna in the Sewers, Chen Ai nodded. "Indeed, we had encountered witches before; those witches were truly too terrifying."

(End of this chapter)