At this moment, goose-feather-sized snowflakes intertwined with sand swirling through the air, shrouding the entire world in chaos and blocking out all sight.
It was so dark that you couldn’t see your own hand in front of your face, as if wrapped tightly in a thick gray curtain. Even the air felt heavy and suffocating.
The biting wind howled like ferocious beasts, sweeping in and lashing harshly against everyone’s faces.
Everyone except Renith felt the piercing chill of winter. The cold wind cut like a knife, stinging their cheeks.
“Good thing we made it.”
Vimea let out a long sigh of relief, her breath instantly turning into a white mist in the cold air.
Mislen said nothing, but the expression on his face clearly read, “What luck.”
At this moment, a long line had formed at the gates of Ongler City.
These people were most likely here to take shelter in Ongler City because of the sudden snowfall.
Every year, many people in this vast desert lost their lives to extreme weather and harsh conditions. They certainly didn’t want to become one of those piles of bones—nameless ghosts haunting this desolate wasteland.
“Let’s go rest in Ongler City too. Even though it costs a lot… we don’t have much choice right now.”
Mislen suggested.
“Mm, I’ll go check on the train schedules. You two go ahead.”
Renith had already made up her mind. She planned to sneak in.
After all, there was a wanted notice out for her. And if her guess was right, there had to be powerful transmigrators in the city—ones no weaker than Kirk.
She didn’t want to confront them head-on and drag Mislen and Vimea into unnecessary trouble.
In a situation like this, the less trouble, the better.
“We’ll be going then.”
After saying goodbye to Renith, Mislen and Vimea slowly headed toward the city.
“Oh, by the way—actually… I didn’t pay any attention to what you said last night. No need to be so nervous. Take good care of Vimea!”
Renith called out to Mislen’s retreating figure.
At the same time, she casually left a faint, almost imperceptible magical trace on the hem of his clothes.
Mislen’s foot, which had just stepped forward, froze in place.
Then he snapped out of it, thanked her, and continued walking. His back seemed a little straighter now.
After watching Mislen and Vimea leave, Renith’s gaze slowly settled on the walls of Ongler City.
The city wall was tall and thick, standing guard over the city like a giant. Although it had been repaired, the deep scars of war were still visible.
Scratches crisscrossed the surface—marks left by swords and spears clashing violently. The speckled black spots were remnants of demonic magic splatter.
The ground beneath her feet had once buried countless bones. Those lost lives were like grains of sand in this desert—too many to count.
“Uh… the entry fee should be, cough. The entry fee is one gold coin.”
Hearing the guard at the gate announce such an outrageous price, Mislen and Vimea were both stunned, their eyes wide open.
They remembered paying only thirty silver coins last time. How had it jumped to a gold coin now? The price hike was absurd—like it had shot up on a rocket.
“No choice… that’s what the rules say.”
With that, the guard pulled a neatly folded piece of kraft paper from his pocket and held it in front of them. The paper flapped and bent in the wind, with black text on a yellow background that read:
Starting today, entry requires one gold coin. It had a date, a signature, and an official government seal. There was no way it was fake.
While Mislen and Vimea were arguing with the guard, Renith found an empty corner, quickly activated “Light Refraction,” and with the help of wind magic, lightly leaped over the city wall.
But just then, the guard’s gaze darted toward the spot where Renith had cast her spell.
“Hey, I’m talking to you! Fifty silver coins, that’s my final offer!”
The guard was startled by Vimea’s voice and immediately snapped back to attention.
A look of delight appeared on his face. He accepted Vimea’s money right away, then hurried off toward a corner of the city.
“So we’re allowed in now?”
Mislen asked, uncertain.
“I think so?”
Vimea was also hesitant. She wasn’t sure if she’d really gotten a bargain. Something about the guard’s behavior seemed off.
It wasn’t until another guard-like person urged Vimea and Mislen to hurry into the city that they became convinced they’d gotten a small deal.
They slowly drove their vehicle into the city, the wheels leaving tracks on the yellow sand.
…
Renith had no intention of recklessly charging into the core area. She knew full well that Ongler City was full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers—one wrong move could land her in serious danger.
She simply asked around the outer streets.
Because of the strong winds, a lot of sand had blown into the city. The wind and sand carried a chill, and there was a chance it could scrape through an ordinary person’s skin.
But that didn’t mean the streets were empty. There were still dozens, even hundreds of people around.
Street vendors had set up in corners where they could avoid the direct blast of sand, while those with shops stayed inside and called out to customers.
Apart from outsiders, most people wore long robes that covered their faces completely, leaving only their eyes visible.
Renith first went to a clothing store and bought the same outfit. After changing into clothes identical to the locals’, she began walking around the city, gathering information.
As a large city, Ongler City covered a vast area, but its current population was only a hundred thousand—even fewer than Mobius City had in the past.
Because of the rich mineral resources nearby, the most common profession in the city was miner. They basically had to go down into the mines every day to work, with almost no time off.
The second most common were service workers. There were legitimate ones, of course, and not-so-legitimate ones—you could find them everywhere.
Finally, there were the guards and the constitutional guard.
Due to the disappearance of the oasis, Ongler City couldn’t produce grain or cash crops. Most of its food had to be purchased from coastal cities.
This brought up the matter of Ongler City’s railway. The railway was divided into two sections.
One section ran straight to a small town at the foot of the Aztec Mountains. That place was also rich in ore, and its natural environment was much better than Ongler City’s. But due to the terrain, a city couldn’t be built there.
The other section bypassed the small town and headed to Winston, one of the four major cities on the empire’s borders.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say these two railway lines were the lifeline of Ongler City.
All of this was just what Renith had learned and inferred from a simple walk around.
Of course, the best way to truly understand what was going on in a city was through the newspapers.
Although newspapers these days were half truth and half lies, that didn’t stop Renith from extracting the truth from them.
So Renith went to a small newsstand and bought two papers—one was Ongler City’s local paper, the other was the Imperial News.
She found a restaurant, took a seat by the window, and began reading.
There wasn’t much major news in Ongler City. Perhaps because most people in the city had been implanted with the “Painless Thorns,” they couldn’t feel pain or oppression, so they had no desire to resist.
Most of the resistance groups here were made up of outsiders. They didn’t bear the brand of the “Painless Thorns,” so they could feel the oppression—and that gave them the will to fight back.
But precisely because they were outsiders, it was hard for them to understand the hearts of the local people, and they couldn’t build their own power base.
Under the relentless suppression of Ongler City’s lord, this force had been largely fragmented. Only a small group remained—not enough to pose a real threat.
Still, it was impressive that the resistance here had managed to hold on for over two months without disbanding in such conditions. Their leader must be quite capable. To persevere this long in such a harsh environment was no small feat.
“Hm? A mine attacked by wild beasts… and the baron is dead too? That thing… could it be a monster?”
Monsters needed to be dealt with, but not now.
After quickly finishing the Ongler City paper, Renith moved on to the Imperial News.
Apart from some useless gossip, Renith noticed news about a wage increase for workers.
A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. She couldn’t help but marvel—the imperial capital really wasn’t short on smart people. Whoever it was had immediately identified the main reason behind workers’ resistance: they couldn’t survive on their wages.
As long as workers were given better treatment, their desire to resist would fade away.
Renith had left Mobius City half a year ago, and along the way, news of resistance armies rising up had been endless.
But once this newspaper’s news spread across the empire, the resistance forces in various cities would likely take a hit—more or less.
Speaking of resistance armies, Renith thought of Mobius City.
The resistance army in Mobius City—Vista and the others—had gone silent since she left.
From what she knew, they were the first resistance army. It was their actions that had inspired resistance groups in surrounding cities.
If there had been any resistance activity, she should have heard something.
So Renith left the noodle shop and began going through back issues of the Imperial newspaper.
After flipping through half a year’s worth of papers, besides the news of the uprising in Mobius City, there was nothing else—as if Mobius City had vanished from the continent.
“If I get the chance, I should go back and take a look.”
Renith put away the newspapers, finished the snacks she’d ordered along the way, confirmed nothing was missing from her person, and then got up to leave.
She walked about a hundred meters down the street ahead and returned to the city gate, glancing at the guards there.
Then, sensing the magical trace she’d left, she quickly located Mislen and Vimea, who were unloading goods. She confirmed from a distance that everything was fine with them, and only then did she feel slightly relieved.
After that, Renith quickly left, walked out of that street, and immediately headed for a nearby alley.
Not for any other reason—ever since Renith had arrived in Ongler City, a faint sense of being watched had been lingering in the back of her mind.
She had been discovered!
But why?
Had her concealment slipped up?
But she’d only just arrived in Ongler City. She hadn’t even entered the city yet—how could she have been discovered?
Or was it that someone powerful had sensed her presence?
Renith’s ability to hide her aura could fool even an earl. Unless they were deliberately searching, even a marquis would have trouble finding her.
If there really was someone powerful, they should have acted immediately and captured her—not just kept watching her like this.
