Chapter 1532

The Central Plains region of the Dark Crow Continent could be described as having spring-like weather all year round, unlike the west where Su Xiao had previously been, which had a perennial rainy season and a damp, cold climate.

According to what Su Xiao had seen and heard along the way, over 60% of the land on the Dark Crow Continent was undeveloped, overgrown with wild grass, yet the soil was fertile.

This continent did not lack resources; it lacked civilization. As long as more than 10% of the land were sown, the food and clothing problems of most commoners could be solved. Unfortunately, war had caused the cultivated land area of this world to be less than 4%—it was that exaggerated.

Witches, local lords entrenched in various places, slave manors, and indigenous tribes—without solving these problems, the commoners of the Dark Crow Continent could only starve and freeze. The overly backward dissemination of information meant that the commoners were completely unaware of this; in their view, most of the reason for their starvation was due to the climate.

Do not think this is stupid; most areas had blocked information. Even if one day the leading organization, the Holy Healing Church, were destroyed, it would take at least a month, or even half a year, for commoners outside the Central Plains region to receive the news. As for those indigenous tribes still living in a primitive state, they simply did not care about these things.

During the journey, Su Xiao had already finished reading the books he obtained from the royal palace. Among them, "A Brief History of the Dark Crow Continent" and "The Era of Witches" were the most valuable. "A Brief History of the Dark Crow Continent" was written by a certain prophecy-type witch seven years ago. Given the development speed of this world, this thing was similar to a newspaper from a few months ago; the news wasn't exactly fresh, but it could still be used.

According to the description by this witch named Celia, the Dark Crow Continent could actually be divided into three major parts. The Central Plains and the West, these two large areas, were both under the control of the Holy Healing Church, and their laws were relatively complete. The East was dominated by indigenous forces; when traveling there, one could easily become a barbecue skewer for the natives if not careful—it was exceptionally exciting, but it had the highest number of witches and was a lawless land.

The North was ice fields and frozen earth. The commoners there mainly relied on hunting, and their folk customs were extremely fierce—they had to be, as the North, with its year-round winter, produced no food. The commoners fought with wild beasts for survival territory every day. Even women in the lactation period were fierce; one moment they might be breastfeeding their children, and the next they would have to pick up weapons to defend against wolf packs with their husbands.

The Northern King of Winter City was extremely good at fighting, but unfortunately not good at strategy. Coupled with the barren resources in his territory, he could only entrench himself in the North. There were very few witches here, not because witches feared the fierce folk customs, but because it was simply too cold. If they didn't understand the environment, witches could easily freeze to death, or rather, there were not a few witches who had frozen to death here—the blizzards were no joke.

Simply put, the Central and West were stable, the East was savage and basically had no laws, and the North was cold. As for the South, that was the witches' territory, a forbidden zone for humans.

Su Xiao had a preliminary understanding of the Dark Crow Continent. He was gradually passing the exploration stage. Right now, he was in the Central Plains region, only about five kilometers away from Holy Healing City.

After arriving in the direct jurisdiction of Holy Healing City, Su Xiao rarely saw bandits and primitive natives running rampant. On this journey, he had slaughtered at least dozens of bandits. Every few kilometers he traveled, he would encounter one or two groups of bandits. These bandits didn't have the style of 'I opened this road, leave the road tax'; they wouldn't negotiate with travelers at all, but would kill them directly and loot the corpses for valuables.

Arriving at the edge of Holy Healing City, Su Xiao saw many villages. These villages were mainly based on animal husbandry. They weren't very enthusiastic toward travelers, but if the travelers were willing to pay, they didn't mind letting them stay.

After the team of one man, one dog, and one cow continued forward for 20 minutes, a magnificent city wall appeared in his field of vision. This wall was about a hundred meters high, and one could vaguely see patches of filled-in marks on it. Judging by the degree of damage, it was likely the work of witches.

Before even entering the city, Su Xiao saw pairs of patrolling soldiers. They weren't wearing heavy armor, but rather more advanced and lighter scale armor.

Standing in the distance looking at the walls of Holy Healing City, the feeling was like looking at a great mountain; looking up at it from close range, it was like a wall of heaven.

It was unimaginable how, with the level of technology in this world, they had managed to pile up this wall that was a hundred meters high and over twenty meters thick, or rather, this was simply not the work of humans.

As soon as Su Xiao approached the city gate, he heard the bustling sound of people. After observing for a while, he discovered that entering Holy Healing City was much simpler than he had imagined. There was no need to pay a fee, nor was there a need to undergo interrogation. Those soldiers, each holding an old-fashioned shotgun, stood on both sides of the city gate. Their eyes were like hawks, scanning every commoner entering the city. Once a suspicious target was discovered, these people would conduct further checks.

"Stop."

Just as Su Xiao's group arrived in front of the city gate, five soldiers holding shotguns stepped forward. It was Amu who had aroused their suspicion.

A soldier took out a yellow crystal the size of an egg from his bosom; inside the crystal was a mercury-like fluid. The soldier brought the yellow crystal close to Amu, but the crystal did not change.

"Sorry to bother you, go ahead into the city. I wish you a pleasant day."

The soldier was unexpectedly polite. He gave Amu a polite smile before returning to his original serious expression.

Just as Su Xiao was about to enter the city, a commotion came from behind.

"Slowly raise your hands above your head. Don't think we can't detect your avatar."

The soldier's sharp shout caught Su Xiao's attention.

"This little brother, don't be so scary."

A lazy female voice came. Su Xiao looked closely and saw a plump woman wearing a shoulder-baring long dress and black gloves. She was holding a thin pipe and had a full head of wavy purple hair.

"5, 4, 3..."

The dozens of soldiers in front of the city gate counted down in unison. When the countdown reached 3, they simultaneously pulled the firing pins of their shotguns. After a neat, crisp sound, dozens of gun barrels were aimed at the purple-haired woman.

"Oh my, I surrender."

Blue smoke puffed from the purple-haired woman's mouth. She slowly raised both hands and even let out a yawn softly.

A soldier raised his right arm, signaling not to fire yet. After tossing a yellow crystal into his mouth, he slowly approached the purple-haired woman.

"Origin, name, age, whether you are wanted—I'll give you one minute to state it."

It was very obvious that this woman was a witch.

"Aini Claudia, White Witch. As for age, that's naturally a secret. As for being wanted, I seem to be wanted because of tax issues. I came to Holy Healing City this time just for this matter. However, the scenery here is beautiful, and I suddenly want to settle down here."

"Wanted for tax issues?"

The soldier captain was clearly a bit stunned. It was his first time hearing that a witch would also pay taxes.

"Of course. The armor you are wearing was all invented by me. The tax issues involved give me a headache."

"Are you Ms. Aini Claudia Frederica Saxton?"

This time, the soldier captain was even more shocked.

"To think you can remember my full name, amazing. Sometimes even I forget~"

"Ms. Aini, please show your proof of identity."

The soldier captain's attitude did a 180-degree turn.

"Almost forgot, I have the proof of identity gifted by your Holy Church. I even carried it with me when I came."

While speaking, the purple-haired woman's hand reached into her chest. Her black silk gloves formed a sharp contrast with her fair skin, which made every man standing by and watching swallow hard.

Su Xiao was also watching this purple-haired woman. His thought was that he seemed to have encountered a big fish.