Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 28 Heading to the Buffer Zone

"I'll have to fight alongside you again, my old buddy."

From the pile of old things that had traveled with him to several places, Loren pulled out a set of extremely old, even somewhat damaged, Tier 1 magic crystal armor.

He then took a standard magic crystal block, inserted it into the power supply slot on its back, and waited for it to heat up.

This is a civilian Tier 1 heavy warrior type magic crystal armor that is already three or four generations outdated.

It is 2.3 meters tall, weighs 300 kg, is almost entirely metal, has a semi-mechanical structure, and has no spellcasting modules or intelligent assistance.

It can only provide basic protection, walking, running, and strength enhancement when powered by magic crystals, and is equipped with a two-meter-long greatsword.

Its internal magic circuits were already old and required a long preheating time before activation.

This can be considered the lowest grade of magic crystal armor.

The standard military-grade second or third-tier magic crystal armor worn by the patrolmen is said to weigh only 1/6 of this thing, and professionals can drive it with their bare hands.

Its protective capabilities are dozens of times greater than those of the dilapidated machine in front of them.

As for attack power, well...

This piece of junk isn't even good enough to be used as a target.

Even so, Loren remembered that the original price of this thing should have been around 100,000 copper coins.

Although nowadays, it's hard to say whether the damage value can even reach two thousand.

Fortunately, Loren bought it for 2,800 copper coins.

As for the original purpose of acquiring this thing, it was to cover one's tracks when participating in the black market.

This time, he's going to wear this thing to the buffer zone, the real gray area, to do his job.

The reason for this was that Loren had heard that in places like the buffer zone, a lone wolf without armor was considered not a local.

Those who aren't locals are considered easy targets, and easy targets mean finding a secluded corner to exploit.

Even the worst magic crystal armor is still magic crystal armor, not to mention the black market where there are guys who can modify and overclock it.

Even a combination like Loren, a young red dragon and a mage, would likely be riddled with bullets if they dared to venture into the buffer zone unarmored.

In a sense, being willing to wear armor into the buffer zone is also a sign of being willing to abide by local rules.

Even if you're dressed in such rags, people will at least think of you as a law-abiding person.

As for why he didn't wear the elven-style magic crystal armor from the treehouse, it's obvious that it's too expensive and would attract unwanted attention.

However, just in case, Loren swallowed the second-tier elven magic crystal armor as a backup option.

"Although I don't know if these rumors are true, I'd better put you on the list."

While the old antique was still warming up, Loren opened his mouth wide and swallowed it into his talent space.

He didn't want to walk a long way in such an iron coffin.

Its metals are all ordinary metals, which will pose a certain obstacle to Loren's spellcasting.

If the place he was heading to wasn't a buffer zone, he wouldn't have wanted to spend magic crystals to activate this thing; it was already garbage to him.

After tidying up, Loren left the demiplane and appeared in the outside world.

"In a place like this, no one should be able to catch me flying as an underage person, right?"

In the deserted street, Loren muttered something to himself before beginning to chant a spell.

He used his flight ability to head towards the location provided by the original bandit leader.

Once they reached the buffer zone, Loren released the old, preheated machine from his inner talent space.

He skillfully chanted incantations to change his form to fit the narrow space inside.

As an old-fashioned Tier 1 battle armor, it offers absolutely no enhancement to Loren at this point. In fact, its excessive use of ordinary metals can even hinder Loren's spellcasting and incantations.

"For the magic crystal mine."

Loren sighed and crawled into the operating space on the chest of this old antique.

As the mechanical structure in his chest closed, the musty smell of the internal leather began to permeate the air, causing Loren to frown in disgust.

"Arrive early, finish early."

Loren thought to himself and quickened his pace.

As the magic crystal armor truly entered the buffer zone, Loren could clearly perceive that the world had changed this time, as there was no magic crystal train to obstruct it.

Although he found it hard to describe the feeling, it was as if a single step away was to be between two different worlds.

Through the thick metal layer of the magic crystal armor, Loren could feel that the magic in the air should still be magic, but it also seemed not to be.

"This is not the time to do research. Let's hurry up and get to that place."

Loren suppressed his mage's urge to explore and strode toward the location provided by the bandit leader.

He saw many travelers along the way, and he was certain that each group had at least one person wearing armor.

This seems to confirm the truth of the rumor that Loren had heard.

Although Loren's magic crystal armor was low-end and outdated, it had not been attacked along the way.

After a period of trekking, as the surrounding area became increasingly deserted, Loren arrived at a low hill.

According to the bandit leader, the magic crystal mine is located here.

After confirming that no one was around, Loren found a secluded spot, pressed the start button, and crawled out.

"Whoo~"

As soon as he came out, Loren breathed a long sigh of relief.

Subsequently, the fact that dragons are naturally high-magic creatures made him even more convinced of the changes in the environment and magic.

"How should I put it, like those space mages talk about, a sense of being in another world?"

Loren frowned. Even though it was the same planet, or even the same material plane, the buffer zone gave Loren a strong sense of being in another world.

If we extrapolate in this way, is the real unprotected wilderness a completely different world?
"That doesn't make sense either. That two-headed ogre migrated from the wilderness to the city. As a wilderness race, how come it didn't undergo any otherworldly transformations?"

The mage's common sense told him that, due to the different rules of the other world, the species living within it should have changed.

Just like a true dragon living in the shadow realm, it can be transformed into a shadow dragon due to the erosion of shadow power.

Loren's brows furrowed even more. Although he was there on business, his mage instincts still left him with endless doubts.

"Never mind, let's just rob the finished products from that magic crystal mine first."

Loren began chanting incantations, starting with invisibility as usual, followed by the incantation of cat grace, bear power, and so on.

After confirming that the blessing was complete, he activated his invisibility spell and headed towards the mountain.

He didn't believe that there were only a few miners mining there; this was a buffer zone, and there was no way there wouldn't be magic crystal armor here.

Considering the value of magic crystal ore, there is a high probability that there are also professionals who can match the armor.

Sure enough, a gray-white battle suit with wings, standing at the highest point, stopped Loren's infiltration.

"Damn it, it's a third-generation, reconnaissance-specialized vulture."

Loren looked at the guy above him and suddenly felt a headache coming on.

(End of this chapter)