Chapter 315: Faith?

Going to the desert, it's impossible to avoid passing through A Ru Cun.

After passing through the rainforest area that hadn't changed much, the drastically changed A Ru Cun immediately caught everyone's attention.

It wasn't just Ying and Paimon who exclaimed in surprise.

Leidian Zhen and Leidian Ying, these two gods who have lived for over two thousand years, also couldn't help but click their tongues.

The desert region has always been very barren.

This is common knowledge.

Even if one has never seen the desert.

Past records have also detailed the barrenness and terror of the Sumeru Desert.

In all documents.

Descriptions of the desert invariably use the words death, barrenness, and wasteland.

But what is now before everyone's eyes.

is a lush forest and an endless field.

Actually, from the time we left Kawanyi.

From the suddenly changed style of the wide road and the bustling caravan heading to the desert, Ying and the others could sense something different.

Compared to the theoretically more prosperous rainforest area.

The people they saw on the road to A Ru Cun were more numerous and more complex.

And there were many merchants and mercenaries among them.

Everyone is sensible.

One can see at a glance that this is because there is profit in the desert, so merchants who constantly chase Mora are thus so enthusiastic.

But only when they actually saw A Ru Cun.

They still couldn't help but be dazed for a moment.

Even the most taciturn of the four, Leidian Ying, was somewhat startled by the scenery of A Ru Cun.

"Is this really the desert?"

Paimon, being the most impatient, was the first to shout out.

Without waiting for Luo De's answer.

Among the merchants waiting nearby for village inspection, someone laughed and said, "Little guy, this really is the desert, haha. Don't say you're such an outsider; even we locals, upon seeing this scene, would be just like you."

Someone else chimed in, "Yeah, who would have thought that A Ru Cun, which used to be dirt poor, would become like this in just a few years?"

Once the topic was opened.

While waiting for inspection, the idle merchants and travelers all started chatting.

"Leaving A Ru Cun and continuing straight ahead, that Hope City is truly astonishing—who would have thought a giant city comparable to Sumeru Cheng could be built in the desert!"

"This is all thanks to the Dendro Archon's efforts; if she hadn't approved this plan, we wouldn't have such easy money to make."

"But I heard this plan wasn't proposed by the Red King Envoy, and then approved by the Dendro Archon, right?"

The moment the name of the Red King Envoy was mentioned, the atmosphere immediately went cold.

Ying and Paimon, knowing that Luo De was the Red King Envoy, couldn't help but look at him in confusion.

Judging by the reactions of those around.

How could the Red King Envoy be such a taboo? Even the merchant who had just been speaking freely didn't dare to speak recklessly anymore.

At that moment.

A desert merchant muttered discontentedly, "You rainforest people, has the Envoy offended you? Humph, you all, eating the benefits brought by the Envoy, yet here you are pointing fingers at the Envoy—I despise you, as the Chief said, the people under the Dendro Archon are indeed a bunch of hypocrites lacking courtesy."

Immediately, other desert merchants chimed in, accusing the rainforest merchants of being overly disrespectful toward the Red King Envoy.

Fortunately, these merchants were among the more cultured people in the desert.

Otherwise.

With the scolding ability of an ordinary desert person, they would have cursed their ancestors eighteen generations over.

But even so.

The rainforest merchants being thus insulted by the desert merchants inevitably provoked anger.

Especially when someone shouted, "Huh, who doesn't know your Red King Envoy has long been a dog to the Dendro Archon?"

That remark instantly set the whole group off like an exploding pot.

The desert merchants who deeply revered the Red King Envoy naturally couldn't tolerate Luo De being so insulted; in a flash, they swung their fists and brawled with those impolite rainforest merchants.

What's worse.

What started as a small-scale conflict, upon discovering it was desert people attacking rainforest people, the other rainforest merchants immediately couldn't sit still, rushed forward to help, seeing the rainforest people helping, the desert merchants refused to back down.

It was only a matter of one or two minutes.

Both sides, over a single verbal spat, escalated into a large-scale brawl.

Luo De stepped back two steps, the corner of his mouth twitching as he gave an awkward laugh, saying, "You're making me look foolish."

Don't say these things.

Look, people are bleeding—hurry and stop them!

Paimon didn't know how serious the conflict between desert and rainforest people was; in her view, since someone was bleeding, that was the most urgent matter to resolve.

Ying felt the same.

Therefore, after Paimon screamed, she moved her foot, preparing to step forward and stop them.

But she had only taken a step when a purple longsword blocked her.

?

The doubtful Xing turned their head to look over.

Then saw Luo De shake their head, furrow their brows, and say: "You don't need to go, someone is coming."

His words had just fallen.

A thunderous bell toll came from within A Ru Cun.

This is the warning bell of A Ru Cun.

After expanding trade between the desert and the rainforest, it was erected in A Ru Cun.

With the three bell tolls signaling trouble, the spear-and-shield-wielding guards of A Ru Cun, under Kantisi's leadership, surged forward like a pack of man-eating tigers, full of fierce vigor.

Seeing the people of A Ru Cun arrive, the merchants who had been fighting fiercely froze for a moment, then immediately split apart, quickly gathering their belongings and clothes, and then returned to the ranks as if nothing had happened.

Soon.

The guard team of A Ru Cun arrived shortly after.

Leading the way, Kantisi swept her icy gaze over the neatly lined merchant ranks, then, amid the merchants' nervous feelings, accurately extracted those who had participated in the brawl.

Whether desert merchants or rainforest merchants, whether itinerant traders or big traders, she treated them all equally, without favoritism, announcing that these merchants were to be expelled from the ranks and forbidden from setting foot in A Ru Cun for a month.

For merchants who value every second, this command was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

However, as the rainforest merchants protested, the desert traders all silently lowered their heads, deeming themselves unlucky, turned around and left.

Next.

That was Kantisi's icy, merciless voice: "I don't care how you did business before, nor how big your business is; this is A Ru Cun, a village blessed by the Red King Divine Envoy. Here, everyone must follow A Ru Cun's rules. This time is only a warning; if there is a next time, you will be banned forever from setting even a single foot in A Ru Cun."

The sand-defense wall has not yet been dismantled.

Thus A Ru Cun remains the sole passage between the rainforest and the desert.

Not being allowed to set foot in A Ru Cun means being prohibited from doing desert business.

This is something the merchants cannot accept.

And under Kantisi's man-eating gaze, the merchants, though utterly unwilling inside, could only helplessly lower their heads and leave, daring not to retort. Kantisi of A Ru Cun.

This is a woman whose fierce reputation matches that of the Red King Divine Envoy.

Although her fame is not as great as that of the Red King Divine Envoy, and she has fewer dark rumors.

But this woman truly dares to kill.

Regarding the so-called rules of A Ru Cun, her obsession is extraordinary; whoever dares to break the rules, if they fall into her hands, will lightly suffer broken bones and torn tendons, or heavily have their corpse hung at the village entrance as a warning.

In the self-governing A Ru Cun.

This means no one can point fingers at her actions.

Thus, from the moment these rainforest merchants were just pulled out by Kantisi, they had already given up; even their initial stubbornness faded, and they could only slink away in embarrassment.

Until Kantisi left.

With a tense expression, Paimon finally exhaled and said: "Wow, that person, that person, what a terrifying aura~~"

Xing also agreed with her view: "Indeed, it's terrifying."

Hehe——

Regarding their evaluation, Luo De chuckled and said: "You haven't seen the former Kantisi yet; back then she didn't have all this nonsense, and those who broke the rules died in increasingly gruesome ways."

Ah!!

Hiss——

Paimon exclaimed, then sucked in a cold breath, hid behind Xing, and asked: "Do you still know Miss Kantisi?"

Of course.

Luo De shrugged and said: "I am the Red King Divine Envoy who walked out of A Ru Cun; how could I not know her?"

Ah——

In another exclamation from Paimon.

Lei Dianying and Leidian Zhen gave their own opinion: "She is a very strong leader; in this place, such a person is needed."

They both greatly appreciated Kantisi's personality.

Moreover, Inazuma has a Nine-Cloaked Sara with the same personality as Kantisi.

Even compared to Nine-Cloaked Sara, Kantisi is more decisive and lethal; according to Luo De's introduction, in handling affairs, as long as it does not touch the bottom line, she is also more adaptable than Nine-Cloaked Sara.

For deities like Lei Dianying and Leidian Zhen, this is practically the perfect choice of subordinate.

Come on, it's our turn.

Just now, when Kantisi was scolding those who caused harm, she didn't see Luo De and the others off to the side, and Luo De didn't call her, so the queue had thinned considerably, and it happened to be their turn.

The inspection process went smoothly.

Except for the swords in Xing's and Luo De's hands.

Actually, the most important thing is Luo De's Single-minded Dream in his hand.

Although A Ru Cun does not prohibit carrying weapons, it still requires registration.

The soldier in charge of inspection wanted to draw Single-minded Dream to check the blade's condition.

However, with ordinary human strength.

Even if Luo De handed Single-minded Dream to him, he couldn't pull it out.

Moreover, Luo De could not possibly give Single-minded Dream to him.

Thus, after causing a slight unpleasantness, Luo De ultimately still managed to bring Single-minded Dream into A Ru Cun, and the registration log noted a possibly dangerous individual.

Frankly speaking.

Luo De hasn't returned to A Ru Cun for a long time.

Furthermore, many of those who originally built A Ru Cun with him have already gone to Hope City.

Therefore, upon returning to A Ru Cun this time, even he inevitably feels a bit dazed.

The construction of A Ru Cun has never stopped.

Besides the radical faction's curses, the act of donating the Red King's legacy also brought financial support from the Academy.

After all, this is Sumeru.

Knowledge here is, after all, a priceless treasure.

Especially, the technological level of the Red King's legacy far surpasses that of present-day Sumeru by more than one era.

Such an important thing was sent to the Academy.

If sufficient repayment is not given, the Academy could just shut down.

And with sufficient funds.

Previously, Luo De's many designs for A Ru Cun can now be realized one by one.

Plus the Academy's support in educational strength.

When Luo De returns to A Ru Cun again.

This village, once so impoverished that even eating a piece of meat was considered an improvement in diet, now at a glance actually shows some signs of a city.

Even just talking about infrastructure.

A Ru Cun might even do better than Hope City.

After all, no matter how you say it.

Under Kantisi's management, A Ru Cun is truly able to enforce orders and prohibitions, unlike Hope City, where some people still outwardly obey but secretly defy when carrying out orders, causing some projects to always remain slow-progress or simply fall into a state of stagnation and wrangling.

If we must speak of shortcomings.

That is, the facilities used for infrastructure here in A Ru Cun are worse than those in Hope City by more than just a little; for example, the most basic mana rune technology is only available in the newly expanded part of the village here, while the old village area has not yet used it.

But even so.

For Ying and her group.

Such an A Ru Cun also gives them quite an impact.

Never-before-seen greening measures, novel public toilets, trash cans everywhere on the streets, and streetlights that automatically light up, plus electric lights in every household in the new village, etc.

Compared to the three countries they have previously visited.

Whether Paimon or Ying, they both agree that the cities in those countries are far less reasonably arranged and convenient than A Ru Cun's layout.

Such novelty.

It made Paimon forget about looking for something tasty, and she single-mindedly dragged Ying and Luo De around to look, unable to stop.

Only when they saw a statue did they finally stop their village-strolling steps: 'This is —?'

Ying gave Luo De a strange look.

Likewise, Paimon, who also looked at Luo De, was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth.

Luo De himself had the same expression, his face full of disbelief and astonishment.

The base of the statue bears the inscription of the Red King's divine envoy and his achievements for the desert, and the statue's face is Luo De; the maker's craftsmanship is superb, the features and expressions are lifelike, so that even without a name, anyone seeing this face can recognize it as Luo De.

"When.

Luo De had to admit.

This return to A Ru Cun really brought him many 'surprises'.

Especially this statue, which is a surprise among surprises.

When did Kantisi have such a statue erected for herself here?

What made Luo De unable to close his mouth even more was that, when he stood before this statue, his spirit became unprecedentedly clear; the previous fatigue instantly vanished, and his whole person felt exceptionally refreshed and invigorated.

As for the reason.

Thunder and Lightning truly gave an explanation: 'Faith! These desert people have actually developed a new faith in you!!

(End of chapter)