Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 20 The Little Girl Watching the Skeleton

Time flies.

Chen Mo and this group of strangers traveled together on an airship and, after a short six-day voyage, finally arrived at their destination.

White Stone Outpost is located on the edge of the Southern Continent.

This is a large outpost nestled between two mountains. The sturdy walls are built of gray-white boulders, and it serves many border defense tasks such as guarding, receiving, screening, and acting as a relay station. Entering here means officially stepping into the Creek Moon Federation.

It takes several dozen kilometers to travel from Baishi Outpost to Baishi City.

In a world where individual force can turn the tide, countries go to great lengths to control the floating population. Unless you never enter a city and have to avoid frequent roadblocks, legal status is a problem that must be solved.

Chen Mo learned from Luke that if he wanted to obtain an identity that would allow him to operate legally on the mainland without being detained and investigated at every turn, the easiest way would be to register as a mercenary.

To register as a mercenary, you must go to the Mercenary Guild in Whitestone City.

To enter Whitestone City, one must have a legal identity.

Getting stuck in a dead end is a valid point.

Fortunately, there's still an old hand like Luke.

The old mercenary gave two options: one was to obtain a fake document, which would be risky but cheap; the other was to go through the proper channels, which would be legal and compliant, but expensive!
Chen Mo is not short of money, so he chose to abide by the law.

The people from the powerful families in Yunwu Territory were very generous. They allowed Chen Mo to board the ship and only charged him two silver coins for the ticket. As for the two gold pieces Chen Mo took, they compensated him with a full twenty gold coins, and even considerately exchanged two of them for silver and copper coins. In terms of pure surface value, Chen Mo actually made a profit.

This is called fair trade, clean and straightforward.

Even if someone comes to Cloud Mist Territory in the future and says that this gold piece is a family heirloom, Cloud Mist Territory will not be held responsible in any way.

Old Luke had told Chen Mo in private that the larger the family, the more particular they were about how they did things, and those who behaved so badly would not be respectable in any kingdom.

True wealthy and powerful families don't need to resort to such forceful and plundering methods to make money.

Under Luke's careful guidance, Chen Mo found Luke's "old acquaintance," his "best buddy," a frontline squad leader with a full beard.

After scrutinizing Chen Mo from head to toe for a long time and asking the same questions over and over again, the bearded man opened the cabinet next to the table and watched as Chen Mo put in three silver coins, a bottle of cloudy wine from Blue Village, two boxes of pastries from Uru Food House, a handful of tobacco leaves from the Great Wind Wasteland, and two round ornaments whose purpose was unknown.

After confirming that everything was accounted for, the bearded captain issued Chen Mo a "temporary travel permit" valid for three days.

Don't think it's too much trouble; without these various gifts, money won't help.

The outpost captains like money, but they don't take just any kind of money. They need clean, straightforward money that leaves no bad consequences.

Just by looking at the style of the gift, they can tell which connection introduced the person, whether they should give them face, and how much face to give.

Old Luke's influence wasn't huge, but it was just enough.

The permit was quite long; roughly translated, it meant this:
"A disciple of Black Raven Castle of the Kingdom of Mirror Lake, named Chen Mo, is five feet three inches tall, thin, fair-skinned and sparsely bearded, and carries a skeleton spearman. He is hereby granted temporary passage from White Rock Outpost to White Rock City for three days."

After putting away the travel permit, Chen Mo still needed to buy a train ticket.

Walking those dozens of kilometers would be exhausting, and more importantly, according to the old mercenary, the section between the outpost and White Stone was a chaotic and evil place.

If they don't take a car, at best they'll lose all their possessions, at worst they'll be left to rot in the wilderness.

Chen Mo specifically asked Luke, "With the roads so chaotic, doesn't the Xiyue Federation care?"

“Of course we’ll take care of it!” Luke lowered his voice: “The outpost’s inn is owned by the wife of the White Rock City magistrate, and the carriage company is owned by the magistrate’s mistress.”

"If we didn't do anything about it, how could things be so chaotic outside?"

"If things weren't chaotic outside, how could inns and carriage companies afford to charge such high prices?" Chen Mo felt he had learned something new.

To ensure the inn is in high demand, it is necessary to brave the elements in the wilderness, sell carriages at high prices, and beat any guest who dares to walk.

The gentlemen of the Xiyue Federation Alliance are truly business geniuses; they should be able to give a high five to some capitalists on Earth from afar!

He was incredibly grateful to his motherland for not only providing him with weapons for self-defense, but also for preparing hard currency—gold—in certain situations, this little golden treasure could be more "persuasive" than guns and cannons.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I'd have to fight my way through.

When the bullets run out, they'll die on the road and be buried in the ditch.

After buying the train tickets, I can't leave right away; I have to wait until tomorrow.

Chen Mo decided to stay at the hostel for another night.

By the end of the day, Chen Mo was completely exhausted from donating money to the beautiful wives, concubines, and lovers of Lord Baishi City.

So much so that in his dream, Chen Mo viciously whipped those rich and heartless guys whose faces he couldn't see but whose figures he could only make out several times.

The next morning, Chen Mo finished packing early and stretched his limbs in the open space outside the inn, waiting for Luke so he could say goodbye to his "guide." The morning breeze was cool, and the sunrise painted the gray-white sentry post with a warm golden hue.

Then, Chen Mo saw Princess Liushuang walk out.

The young princess's attire is different today. She is wearing a long dress that is clearly formal, adorned with gently swaying bright yellow tassels that shimmer with delicate light as she walks.

Chen Mo saw this girl three times, and each time her clothes and appearance were completely different.

I have serious doubts about whether there was a special carriage in this girl's group to transport clothes.

The girl caught sight of Chen Mo, her eyes lighting up instantly. She lifted her skirt and ran over, her voice brimming with undisguised excitement: "Hey, little mage! Can I see your skeleton?"

Captain Peiwen, who was standing close to the princess, nodded slightly to Chen Mo and explained, "My princess has never seen a creature from the underworld before and is quite curious. If it's convenient, please restrain the summoned creature so that my princess can just take a look."

Chen Mo always felt that the group of people from Yunwu Territory had a condescending attitude towards people, which made him feel uncomfortable, so he was unwilling to have much interaction with them.

This young princess, on the other hand, seemed to have a touch of youthful naiveté. As for her hobby of looking at skulls... was she a medical student in her past life?

Chen Mo generously revealed Xiao Bai, posing it as if it were ready to be picked, remaining motionless.

Princess Liushuang moved closer to Little White, her big eyes filled with surprise. As she looked at it, she muttered, "Hey, it really is! How strange, how can it move? Does it have a brain? Where is its brain?"

“Your Highness, undead creatures…usually do not have brains in the physiological sense…” Captain Peiwen calmly adjusted his position, blocking the path between the princess and the skeleton that might launch an attack. His left hand was half-clenched, and his right thumb had already pried open a small gap in the sword guard, while he patiently explained.

However, the more questions I answered, the more questions I received.

"Does it never need to eat? Even when I try to feed it, it won't eat?"

"It doesn't need to sleep at night? Won't it get sleepy? Like this?" The little princess nodded repeatedly, pretending to doze off.

"It can't talk? That's a pity. Can it understand me?"

"Mr. Skeleton? Hello, hello, hello?"

"..."

Looking at the girl and Xiaobai in the morning glow, and then at Captain Peiwen with sweat on his forehead, Chen Mo suddenly felt that he was missing a camera. Otherwise, this scene would have been a wonderful sight to capture.

(End of this chapter)