Chapter 373

Linbin Town? Forget it—such an obscure little town with fewer than a thousand people, he certainly wouldn't know it—but Nanlazhou was famous, often appearing in China's news as a provincial capital of the British Commonwealth.

As one of the world's top-tier powers, Nanlazhou was one of the British Commonwealth's border provinces, directly adjacent to Xierde, the most chaotic nation on Blue Star.

Xierde, a federal state, differed from most nations on Blue Star that enjoyed peace; though its territory ranked among the top ten globally, it was plagued by constant civil unrest, with gangs ruling every province.

Though it had a legitimate government and a nominal head of state—the Prime Minister—its provinces had long been semi-independent, each region controlled by local gangs, even with most of its military corrupted and infiltrated.

This led to rampant arms and drug trafficking, countless crimes, and police and government officials too afraid to intervene; sometimes they even relied on gang power just to barely fulfill basic governmental functions.

Government officials and police who dared to provoke the gangs often ended up as corpses dumped on the street for the public to gawk at, as a warning to others.

Moreover, for profit, gangs from different provinces frequently clashed, sometimes even deploying artillery and rockets, frequently endangering civilians and leaving Xierde's populace in constant terror with no sense of safety.

Even more absurdly, precisely because of this chaos, Xierde had become a paradise for global criminals, with hundreds of foreign offenders smuggling in daily, protected by local gangs.

Other nations, intimidated by the gangs' overwhelming power, rarely dared send official personnel to pursue these criminals, further deepening Xierde's disorder.

Wang Yu recalled these details, his eyes subtly brightening.

The armed personnel in that castle were almost certainly tied to the British Commonwealth's government—he could no longer stay within British Commonwealth territory, nor could he leave through official channels; his only option left was to illegally cross into a neighboring country.

With Xierde's chaos and the British Commonwealth's inability to deploy many personnel there, it was the perfect place for him to hide.

He could first smuggle himself into Xierde, then find a way back to China.

But this place wasn't far from the castle—he needed a vehicle and a map first, preferably a mobile phone too, and he had to get far away before anything else.

But all these required a large sum of cash—he had not a single penny on him, not even the clothes he wore, which were borrowed.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu glanced toward the end of the street.

There stood a parking lot with over a dozen foreign cars.

He knew they were foreign because a family of five—men, women, children, elders—were unloading large piles of luggage from a pickup truck and heading straight for a three-story building beside the lot bearing a hotel sign.

So this small town wasn't as isolated or devoid of outsiders as he'd assumed.

Wang Yu's gaze sharpened—he had a plan. He casually picked up a few pebbles the size of his thumb and strode toward a nearby shop that appeared to have no cameras installed.

The shop's door hung half-open, revealing several long counters stacked with assorted goods: food, hardware, everything—it seemed a general store.

"Hello, do you sell mobile phones and maps?" Wang Yu asked in fluent British Commonwealth English, addressing a heavily obese man wearing a loose shirt inside.

"Of course we do, but phones are only secondhand. Foreigner?" The obese man sized Wang Yu up briefly and asked casually.

"Yes, I ran into some trouble and lost my phone." Wang Yu shrugged and smiled.

"That's too bad. Are you here to tour the desert? We're too close to it—sandstorms happen often, and even if you get signal, it's poor. Wait a moment, I'll find you something." The obese man spoke dismissively, then struggled to his feet and rummaged through the shelves.

Moments later, he returned with a secondhand phone in fair condition and a yellowed map, grinning at Wang Yu.

"Sir, both items total seventy-three pounds."

"Do you have any prepaid anonymous SIM cards? A phone alone won't let me make calls." Wang Yu glanced at the old phone, mentally calculated its value in Chinese yuan, and silently muttered, "So expensive," but kept his expression neutral.

"Heh, of course I do. I can get you a SIM card preloaded with a hundred pounds, but there's a fifty-pound processing fee—and it only works in the British Commonwealth." The obese man didn't seem surprised; he chuckled.

"Fine. I lost both my cash and phone—can I pay in gold?" Wang Yu continued smiling at the obese man.

"Oh, gold? That's global hard currency. As long as it's pure, no problem." The obese man whistled and grinned wide.

Wang Yu nodded, reached into his waistcoat pocket, and pulled out two small stones he'd seen earlier, then subtly communicated with the miniature banner inside the talisman through his spiritual sense.

Instantly, the bone banner trembled slightly, releasing a wisp of black mist and a small shadow that flashed out, vanished beyond the silver talisman, and disappeared without a trace.

In his spiritual sea, a flash of light formed a spiritual pattern composed of several symbolic runes.

Simultaneously, a faint magical fluctuation, imperceptible to mortals, emanated from Wang Yu's palm; he spread his fingers before the obese man, revealing two tiny, gleaming gold nuggets.

"That should be enough. Let me check the authenticity," the obese man's eyes flickered with greed, and he reached out with a large hand.

Wang Yu pulled his hand back, retracting the two "gold nuggets," and said:

"Shouldn't it be cash for goods? I also need a small bag of flour and a jar of honey."

The obese man's expression changed slightly; he studied Wang Yu again, then hesitantly nodded.

"Alright, wait a moment."

He walked to another shelf, rummaged again, and returned with a small pile of items: indeed, a small bag of flour, a jar labeled "honey," and a small iron box.

The obese man set the other items aside, opened the iron box, took out a seemingly unopened SIM card, then expertly inserted it into the old phone.

Next, he opened his own phone, recharged the card with a hundred pounds, and showed it to Wang Yu.

Wang Yu nodded, took the old phone, and tossed the two gold nuggets over.

The obese man snatched them up eagerly, immediately biting one.

"Crack."

He gasped—the object was unnaturally hard, nearly shattering his teeth.

Before he could spit it out in shock and rage, Wang Yu opened his mouth and spat out a fist-sized shadow that flashed once and vanished into the man's forehead.

"Thud." The obese man toppled over backward.