Chapter 2444

Inside a shed with a white cloth hanging in front of the door, on which a goat head was drawn, Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Baja, and Caesar sat around a small, round wooden table. On it sat a wooden tray containing half a round-tailed goat.

The tail goat had been boiled until the meat fell off the bone. With a flick of a wooden fork, one could pick off a large chunk. Not using one's hands to grab food directly was a tradition of the Sand Flame Kingdom. Food was precious, and additionally, the wind and sand were heavy; using one's hands would cause the food to be covered in fine sand. As for washing hands before meals, this was a desert kingdom, and water was scarce. Commoners only used fine sand to clean their bodies; only the extremely wealthy could possibly bathe with water.

Su Xiao chewed the goat meat in his mouth. The meat was soft and glutinous, and the savory aroma filled his mouth. When he felt greasy, he took a sip of juice squeezed from cactus fruit. This somewhat bitter juice made the greasiness vanish instantly.

"Su, ptooey ptooey ptooey, Bai Ye, when are we setting off?"

Caesar, who had eaten until his mouth was dripping with oil, spoke up. He swallowed the last bite of goat meat and let out a satisfied burp. He had eaten almost up to his neck and really couldn't eat any more.

"After finishing this meal, we'll head to Sand City."

Su Xiao took a sip of juice, lit a cigarette, and placed a gold coin on the table.

"So fast? Aren't we going to go say hello to the rule-breakers? They are very active. If the previous batch of Battle Angels hadn't arrived, they would have been ready to kill a god. Sigh, Caesar is very sincere, yet those Battle Angels actually called me cunning. My dear friend, do you think I'm cunning?"

"..."

"Caesar understands. In your heart, Caesar must be a simple and honest person."

"..."

Su Xiao stood up and walked out of the shed. Before long, the owner of the small restaurant chased after him, holding the gold coin, his face full of anxiety. He really couldn't provide change.

"The taste was not bad."

"Guest, this..."

The small restaurant owner was very uneasy and didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only watch Su Xiao and the others walk away.

Sand City was not close to Es-Shaba; one had to cross a large desert. Of course, this was in the case of having no money. As long as one had enough gold coins, one could go to the edge of the city and ride a Giant Rock Dragon.

The Giant Rock Dragon was not of the dragon race; it was a type of transcendent creature with an extremely massive body. Through generations of domestication, they had become a means of transport. Flying from Es-Shaba to Sand City took at most 9 hours, provided one didn't encounter an air disaster.

The sky above the desert was not a safe place. There were quite a few transcendent creatures capable of flight, and some even fed on Giant Rock Dragons.

Under Caesar's lead, Su Xiao followed the main street through Es-Shaba and arrived at the oasis area opposite the city.

The oasis area was lush and green, with an oval-shaped lake located there. Unfortunately, the water inside could not be drunk; fine sand and gravel that could not be filtered were mixed into the water. Daring to drink this water, in a few days, one's kidneys would be harder than stones.

Upon reaching the edge of the city, Su Xiao saw the Giant Rock Dragon. Previously, he had even thought it was a small hill.

The Giant Rock Dragon was shockingly massive, and on its back were houses constructed of wood, with dozens of wooden huts connected and fixed to the Giant Rock Dragon's back with iron chains.

"Sand City, Sand City, departing in half a quarter-hour (1 quarter-hour equals 1 hour and 07 minutes)."

A man wrapped in a headscarf shouted loudly. On the back of the Giant Rock Dragon, a youth was squatting, carrying a powerful bow and chewing on something. His eyes were earthy yellow; this was a transcendent who possessed a Holy Soul.

"Counting us, what's the price to Sand City?"

"5 gold shields per person."

"Why don't you go rob someone, 5 gold coins?!"

"It's 6 gold shields now."

The headscarf man gave a dry laugh and crossed his arms.

"For the sake of your personal safety, let's make it 5 gold coins."

Caesar was very sincere.

"Hmph, of course not..." The headscarf man was halfway through his sentence when he noticed Baja staring at him, which made him change his tune and say: "20 gold shields in total, please this way."

The headscarf man made a gesture of invitation, and the youth on the back of the Giant Rock Dragon breathed a sigh of relief.

Using the Giant Rock Dragon's long tail as steps, Su Xiao arrived on the back of this giant beast. The headscarf man walked quickly in front and pushed open a wooden hut.

"We will definitely depart in half a quarter-hour, no matter how many guests we have on this trip."

The headscarf man left this sentence behind, walked quickly off the back of the Giant Rock Dragon, and went to shout again.

Sitting inside the wooden hut, Su Xiao looked at the somewhat murky glass window. Caesar, to the side, was looking around, clearly having never ridden a Giant Rock Dragon before.

"Caesar, are you sure that riding this thing can get us to Sand City quickly?"

"Yes, as long as we don't encounter an air disaster, we definitely can."

"You say that, but no! I can fly too, why do I need to buy a ticket?"

It was only then that Baja realized. Caesar smiled mysteriously, meaning that in this world, you wouldn't want to fly long distances, Baja.

Not long after, Su Xiao felt the wooden hut shake and begin to rise slightly. The scene outside the window grew higher, and within a few minutes at most, clouds appeared outside the window.

The Giant Rock Dragon flew quite steadily, just a little bumpy. Amidst the whistling wind outside the window, Su Xiao triggered a side quest.

【Prompt: You have triggered a side quest: Aerial Marauder.】

【Side Quest: Aerial Marauder.】

Difficulty Level: lv. 50–lv. 52

Quest Information: Stop the aerial marauder group.

Quest Deadline: 1 hour.

Quest Reward: Soul Crystal (Large) x2 + Upholding Justice (Low-tier Title)

Quest Penalty: Deduct 900,000 Paradise Coins. If Paradise Coins are insufficient, Soul Coins will be deducted. If Soul Coins are insufficient, currently worn equipment will be deducted.

Su Xiao had seen in the prompts before that there were many side quests and hidden quests in this world, but he hadn't expected there to be so many. Riding a Giant Rock Dragon actually triggered a quest.

This was no coincidence; there was only one Giant Rock Dragon flying from Es-Shaba to Sand City every day.

Compared to the side quest, the situation with the second ring of the main quest was a bit strange; not only did one have to reach Sand City, but one also had to obtain 30,000 gold coins before it could be activated.

"Boss, are we going to uphold justice?"

Baja's voice even cracked a bit. After all, Su Xiao's team had done everything, but stopping a robbery case was indeed a first.

"What?"

Caesar was confused; he felt he might have misheard.

"Baja, you go handle it. Caesar, leave the subsequent negotiations to you."

"Subdue that marauder group?"

"Kill them all."

"Alrighty."

Baja vanished abruptly. Before long, screams came from the neighboring wooden hut. A few seconds later, the screams stopped abruptly.

Baja returned, blood still on its sharp claws, and placed several money bags on the table.

"Boss, I discovered something very magical."

"What?"

"That marauder group seems to be in cahoots with the owner of this Giant Rock Dragon."

Bang!

The door of the wooden hut was kicked open, followed immediately by a roar.

"Idiots, don't kick my door to pieces! Kill them all, Lord Karos doesn't want to see them in Sand City."

"Understood."

Several men wearing leather armor and holding scimitars walked into the wooden hut. At the doorway was the youth carrying the powerful bow, and behind him was the headscarf man; it was he who had shouted that sentence just now.

"Karos, the Minister of the Sand Flame Kingdom..."

"Minister of Administration, that is, the Finance Officer. These are Karos's people!"

Caesar added this, then huddled in the corner. He wasn't afraid of getting hurt, but worried about blood splashing on him.

"Then leave one alive."

As Su Xiao spoke, Banishing detached from his cuff.

Swoosh~

A blue light flashed. A man holding a scimitar stood frozen on the spot, blood seeping from the center of his brow. With a thud, he fell to the ground.

"Run!"

After the desperate shout, Banishing pierced through rapidly, leaving behind semicircular blue trails in mid-air.

A few minutes later, the headscarf man, the man who called himself Adler, was kneeling on the ground. Nearby were corpses strewn about, and the smell of blood spread.

"So, you knew Caesar came from Sand City and had offended the Minister of Administration, Karos, so you prepared to take our heads to claim a reward?"

Su Xiao exhaled a faint wisp of blue smoke. Under his control, Banishing split into three short blades, hovering around Adler's neck.

"No, no, we have nothing to do with Karos. We can't climb up to such big shots."

Adler, kneeling on the ground, argued urgently. They had done this many times. In fact, this Giant Rock Dragon wasn't even flying to Sand City. Their routine was to kill and loot the men, and after playing with the women, sell them to the Peru Kingdom.

"Make this Giant Rock Dragon fly to the vicinity of Sand City."

"Impossible, it doesn't even know where Sand City is..."

As Adler spoke, Banishing was already hovering in front of his brow.

"If you could fly, you could refuse."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, Adler swallowed hard.

"I'll try."

Adler stood up and walked out of the wooden hut. Before long, a bumpy sensation appeared, and the flight direction of the Giant Rock Dragon changed.

"So it wasn't Karos, what a disappointment."

Caesar was somewhat disappointed. Judging by his expression, he must have been dealt with quite miserably in Sand City. Last time, he hid his identity as a member of the Samsara Paradise faction and mixed in with the Battle Angels, intending to operate from within, but his teammates were incompetent, and he couldn't help it.

"No, these are all Karos's people. A marauder group wouldn't dare do this kind of thing in Es-Shaba."

Su Xiao looked out the window. Before even reaching Sand City, the opponent's greetings had arrived. It was no wonder Caesar had failed before. The young Sand Emperor, the beautiful Queen, the scheming High Priest, and the Queen's sister, the Minister of Administration (Finance Officer) Karos—the situation was far more complex than imagined.

"The Minister of Administration would get involved with such small fry, oh~, I see. Let them do the dirty work, then give them some 'privileges'."

Caesar was lost in thought, beginning to brew in his heart how to wash away his past shame.

Su Xiao checked the Samsara Paradise prompt; the side quest was already completed.

【You have obtained Soul Crystal (Large) x2.】

【You have obtained Title: Upholding Justice (Low-tier Title).】

A low-tier title. Seeing this title, Su Xiao remembered the Title Refining Permission. He activated this permission.

【You have activated Title Refining Permission. Please select a main title for refining.】

【Prompt: Each time you refine a main title, you need to consume 1 to 5 other titles to increase the strength of the main title. Each main title can be upgraded up to 3 times.】