Chapter 54: The Submissive Adventurer

This is Degenshi? Indeed, city defenses still rely on humans. Naimi Xisi looked at the majestic city wall before him and sighed.

Huge, neatly stacked stones were layered to form the wall; the sensible layout left enough gaps between each battlement to house wartime guards.

The city gate was forged from hard steel; it was definitely not a flimsy plastic that a siege drill could shatter in one blow.

By comparison, the Kragaromsh built by the gray dwarves and beastfolk is far inferior.

Although Kragaromsh is much larger in scale than Degenshi, it appears extremely crude, primitive, and poor.

It was noon; many people wanted to enter the city, lining up outside the gate and giving Naimi Xisi's party strange looks.

Maro broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, anxiously glancing at the ten mysterious figures beside him, completely covered in armor.

He knew what lay beneath that armor: drow, the infamous evil race of the Feren Continent, and the retinue of that dragon.

Kolit smiled and introduced: "Lord, Mr. Naimi Xisi, although Degenshi is not near the Fallen Star Sea, its economic strength ranks among the top ten in the kingdom. When my ancestors pioneered this city, they focused most on its defenses."

She sighed: "Back then, to prevent attacks from wild monsters, the Rosa family exhausted their wealth to build this city, leading the original settlers to struggle here for hundreds of years."

Maro looked at the blond girl's composed demeanor and grew even more fearful; although he had sworn allegiance to that dragon, its terrifying, eerie power truly chilled the heart.

Naimi Xisi looked at Kolit and nodded in satisfaction.

After using Mind Power to control Kolit, unlike with the other hyena werewolves and shadow swords, he granted her full self‑awareness and initiative.

He retained only her basic loyalty.

After all, unlike those thugs, what Kolit will face later is the deceitful human society; controlling her like a monster army, as if she were a robot, would be truly difficult to resolve.

As for the remaining three, he couldn't even be bothered to waste a slot of Mind Power control; he simply ordered them to swear allegiance to the gods and eternally submit to him.

If altering memories weren't so troublesome, he would have simply erased Kolit's existence from the three men's memories altogether.

He has rarely used the Mind Gem to alter memories, precisely because it is excessively troublesome.

Every sentient being's memory fragments are vast; even if they forget, those tangled bits remain in the subconscious.

Altering memories requires sorting through the massive fragments, matching them one by one, then interleaving one's own fabrications.

The process can be described as tormenting and lengthy.

Of course, Naimi Xisi could also choose to violently implant his own memories without verification, but that would make the altered person easily notice the inconsistency.

Miss Kolit, you're back! the city guard, a burly young soldier, exclaimed enthusiastically as he looked at the girl.

Oliver gloated: "That Doug is really pitiful; he chases after any pretty girl he sees all day. I bet he won't even charge Kolit the entry fee."

Sure enough, the next moment, the silent Kolit coldly handed over the Sadil (the coin of the Yinbu Tu Kingdom) in her hand, but the other refused to take it.

He scratched his head, blushing, and said: "No need today, the gate fee and such."

Brittany impatiently shoved past, squeezing Kolit through the gate and slammed her palm hard onto the guard's shoulder.

Please, Doug, don't waste my time here! Every time you come back you put on this show; even if you're not tired, I am.

Doug first gave Kolit a lingering glance, then glared at Brittany and held out his hand: "Gate fee, ten Sadil."

Brittany rolled her eyes and shoved the Sadil hard into Doug's hand.

Oliver and Maro followed closely behind.

But when it came to Naimi Xisi's turn, a problem arose.

Doug frowned at the boy in a luxurious mage robe and the ten finely armored guards behind him, stopping them. "Halt!" he barked.

The boy looked at him expressionlessly, gazing deeply.

Doug staggered for a moment; he swore he saw the boy's yellow pupils turn into vertical slits like a snake's.

The guard coughed, hiding his embarrassment at being frightened by a child, and ordered in a commanding tone: "Make your guards take off their helmets."

The boy tilted his head and asked in a childish voice: "Why? Can I not take them off?"

The guard scoffed: "Everyone must remove them; anyone entering Degenshi must prove they are not an evil race."

Hey, wait,' Maro said, seeing Doug's move, eager to stop him; he knew how foul the dragon's temper was and didn't want to cause bloodshed upon entering the city.

Sure enough, the next moment.

Hearing the guard's words, the boy said nothing, merely lifting his thick book and muttering as he flipped through the pages.

Doug found it strange, unsure what this noble‑looking kid intended to do.

He's probably going to scold me,' he snorted, 'you little brat; once you speak up I'll show you that outsider nobles have no sway in Degenshi.'

Then a figure flashed before his eyes—Kolit lunged to the boy's side and grabbed the finger he was using to flip pages.

She subtly shook her head at him; Kolit felt weary, knowing that if she didn't intervene, her master would likely launch a massacre the next moment.

Flames? Lightning? Or that damned ooze monster? Who knows? Something horrible always spews from that finger to devour mortals.

Kolit smiled at Doug and said: "Doug, this is my employer, a noble from the royal city; could you make an exception?"

The guard stared at the blond girl's smile, dumbfounded—it was the first time she had smiled at him.

Ah, what a wonderful day~ thanks to the great Shamtaya for the blessing.

Doug quickly nodded, indicating no problem, and with a sweeping gesture flung the gate open, welcoming the ten drow inside.

Maro breathed a sigh of relief; at least the worst case hadn't occurred.

Naimi Xisi walked down the street, curiously observing the passersby.

Weak.

That was his biggest impression.

Most of the hurried citizens walking through Degenshi were laborers in worn cloth or middle‑class folk in neat uniforms carrying briefcases.

They were ordinary people without any professional rank.

Occasionally, some weapon‑bearing adventurers appeared, but most were low‑rank professionals of levels one to three.

Compared to the monster cities of the Underdark where everyone is a soldier, Degenshi has far too many ordinary people lacking combat power.

But Naimi Xisi did not look down on them.

Human reproductive power is extremely strong; the population density in Degenshi is at least dozens of times higher than that of Kulogaromsh.

With such a high population base, powerful professionals certainly exist.

For example, Ke Li Te beside him is a seventh-level Sword Chant.

(End of chapter)