The gentle sunlight poured down from the sky, illuminating the entire Aragane Station.
It would be better to say that this place is more like a village than a city.
The houses are all made of wooden planks, and there is no sight of modern residences here, let alone tall buildings.
The streets are the same, with soil directly exposed to the air, without even an inch of modern asphalt road.
However, on the outskirts of this city, there is a contrasting steel city wall.
Led by two Bushi (Warrior or Samurai in Japan), Fang Li walks leisurely on the street.
Around him, the passersby cast their gazes upon him and whisper among themselves.
In such a situation, Fang Li feels like he is being paraded around like a criminal, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Of course, this is also inevitable. After all, Fang Li was dressed so differently than them and unusual things had a tendency of attracting attention to them.
No, it should be said that in the eyes of others, Fang Li’s attire is indeed very peculiar.
At this moment, Fang Li is dressed casually from the modern standard, the type that wouldn’t stand out even if they are thrown into a crowd.
Unfortunately, in this era when the Industrial Revolution has just begun to influence the world, this attire looks peculiar no matter how you look at it.
At least, the people around him are almost all dressed in traditional kimono-style clothing.
As a result, when Fang Li, dressed in modern attire, walks on the streets, he naturally attracts countless gazes to him.
As a result, being stared at by the people around him, Fang Li feels discomfort all over his body, wishing to slip away and escape the unbearable situation.
Fortunately, this unbearable time soon passes.
Led by the two fierce-looking Bushi, Fang Li arrives at the location of the steel outer wall of Aragane Station.
Here, many Bushis are already on guard duty.
However, these Bushi carry extremely peculiar weapons with them.
“A Gun?” Fang Li spoke with a puzzled expression on his face when he saw the gun in a Bushi’s hand.
In response, one of the Bushi coldly snorts, “It should be called a Steam Gun.”
After the start of the Industrial Revolution, steam engines have become revolutionary necessities.
In the Island Country, where it is difficult to mass-produce high-quality gunpowder, steam engines have been introduced, not only in railways but also in industrial machinery and firearms. Therefore, Steam Guns are more mainstream than conventional firearms.
And the special steam engine “McRucky Mechanism” developed by the United Kingdom adopts the revolutionary idea of steam compression. It can provide high output for large vehicles and also provide high-pressure boilers for personal steam weapons.
Therefore, if you look closely, you will find that the guns carried by those Bushi have a line connecting to their backs.
There, two cylindrical boilers can be seen.
These portable boilers are called “Backpack Engines” and have various uses.
One of the uses is for Steam Guns.
Compared to conventional gunpowder-based long guns, the convenience and power of the magazine-loaded Steam Gun far surpass them. In this era facing the threat of Kabane, these Steam Guns serve as a psychological comfort for people.
Yes, it’s just psychological comfort.
Although the power of Steam Guns is much higher than that of gunpowder-based long guns, they still cannot destroy the steel heart skin membrane of a Kabane.
Precisely because of this, people who lack a decisive means of countering Kabane can only build strongholds and hold their ground.
The group of Bushi stands guard with their personal high-pressure steam boilers on their backs and holds Steam Guns in the style of hunting rifles.
Especially in the direction of the main gate, there are a large number of Bushi guarding the gate with extremely fierce expressions on their faces.
To counter the threat of Kabane, the shogunate ruling the Island Country has built strongholds called “Stations” in various places, and the only means of transportation between the “Stations” are armored steam trains called “Hayajiro.”
The shogunate operates the Hayajiro and the crew members on duty are rotated at each station.
Through this system, each station can maintain its own production and sustain life.
Therefore, the Shogunate, which manages logistics, possesses tremendous power and rules the entire Island Country.
Therefore, the only Hayajiro that can pass through that steel gate are those from other stations.
However, this also comes with risks.
For example, if there is a person bitten by a Kabane inside the Hayajiro, and that person enters the station and turns into a Kabane, the entire station will face a great threat.
Without a decisive means to counter Kabane, the people here are destined to live in constant fear, and even the darkness of emotions born out of inner fear.
Clearly, the Bushi responsible for guarding the gate carries this anxious and fearful mood.
After all, if there is a Kabane invasion, they, who are in charge of guarding, will be the first sacrificial victims.
In such a situation, let alone Kabane, even if a person approaches them for no reason, it would ignite their fear and make them aim their Steam Guns at that person.
With this thought in mind, Fang Li glanced at the Bushi over there a few more times.
Seeing Fang Li like this, the two guiding Bushi thought Fang Li was frightened and sarcastically spoke up one after another.
“So, you’re scared already? Then when you see a Kabane, wouldn’t you be scared out of your mind?”
“He is just a Wanderer, can we really expect him to fight against Kabane?”
The mockery from the two Bushi made Fang Li retract his gaze and he felt somewhat annoyed with the two Bushi.
However, when he thought about these people facing the threat of extinction, only able to find superiority in their weaker counterparts, Fang Li’s annoyance turned into pity.
Whether they saw something in Fang Li’s eyes or not, the expressions of the two Bushi turned somewhat unpleasant.
“You, go up to the top of the city wall and stand guard!” One of the Bushi pointed to a position on the steel wall and spoke in a somewhat annoyed tone. “That spot is empty, so you go guard that place!”
“How?” Fang Li raised his hand, saying with empty hands, “Shouldn’t I at least be given some weapons?”
“That’s not our concern. If you want weapons, find them yourself.” Another Bushi coldly snorted and said, “If Kabane appears on the city wall, you must repel them, otherwise, you’ll be the first one to die.”
After saying that, the two Bushi left without paying any more attention to Fang Li.
Watching the two Bushi gradually move away, Fang Li also felt somewhat helpless.
“They didn’t even give me a Steam Gun?”
Without a Steam Gun, how can one defend against a Kabane?
If Kabane climbs up the city wall, can I really jump down and fight them?
“So, these Bushi never really expected anything from me, did they?”
That was only natural.
Although the Space arranges an identity for the main Divine Envoy, it’s only the most basic identity.
Otherwise, the main Divine Envoy could use the advantage of their identity to get through difficult situations and reap rewards.
Therefore, the identity arranged by the Main God’s Dimension is only to prevent the main Divine Envoy from standing out too much in this world, without considering anything else.
Given this, Fang Li, as an outsider Wanderer, was impossible to gain the trust of these cowardly Bushi and obtain weapons.
To complete the Quest and survive, he could only rely on himself.
The 1000 Exchange Points and 5 free Attribute Points given by space are there for moments like this.
The main Divine Envoy can only make good use of the resources at hand to complete Main Quests in one world after another, earn rewards, and obtain what they want.
If one only relies on the assistance and protection of Plot Characters, the final outcome is self-evident, a dead end.
“If it were someone else, they would probably
find this situation extremely difficult, right?”
Even with the 1000 Exchange Points and 5 free Attribute Points given by space, it’s not an easy task to deal with Kabane.
After all, if you don’t pierce the heart of a Kabane, they won’t die.
However, on the surface of a Kabane’s heart, there is a steel-like skin membrane that even a Steam Gun cannot penetrate.
A rookie in Space without a single skill or the ability to afford any ranked equipment, how could they possibly kill them?
“It’s a pity. It seems that Space is unwilling to let people live too peacefully…”
Regardless, Fang Li obtained an ace card to deal with Kabane.
“If it were someone else, they would probably
find this situation extremely difficult, right?”
Even with the 1000 Exchange Points and 5 free Attribute Points given by space, it’s not an easy task to deal with Kabane.
No, they would each have a stat of 5. And with an extra 5 points, they were even better off. And how is he going to fight without stamina?!