Only I can make them stronger

But these things will have to be put off until later. After all, the most important thing now is to find a way to keep Karen and her alive.

17. Forging Transaction

About a hundred kilometers east of the wanderer activity area, the metal-covered clock city is located on the flat wilderness.

Going further north and crossing the canyon, you will reach the largest hybrid mining area in the central and northern parts - the Ash Mine Area. It has a total of four giant veins that can provide a wide range of minerals from grade E to grade A, which can meet the consumption of at least four cities every quarter.

The Watch City was established here and has developed to this day because of this.

The Watch City, which is closest to the Ash Mine and located on the main road that must be taken to transport ore outward, can always get the first batch of ore with the best quality at the most suitable price.

This prerequisite attracted countless blacksmiths from the central and northern regions who were ambitious in forging powerful weapons to flock there, making the Watch City a well-known large-scale mineral, forging material and equipment trading market.

And this morning, the Watch City had a striking visitor.

The girl with white hair and red eyes walked silently on the street, her eyes constantly searching for the store name provided by Careya.

Countless people's eyes paused for a moment when they scanned her, and then revealed some surprise -

It’s not because of her appearance. After all, most people who come here only care about metal blocks and beautifully shaped and practical equipment.

Where everyone's eyes stopped was behind her.

The giant sickle looked really inconvenient to use, and it was hard to imagine the fighting style.

This design, in front of discerning forgers and fighters, is like mixing chocolate sauce into pasta in front of Italian eyes.

After walking about two blocks, the girl finally found her destination and walked into an equipment store called "Dopley" under the gloating gazes of everyone.

The owner of this store has a strange and hot temper. He might kick the girl out just by seeing the weapons behind her.

……

"We are not accepting customers today. Let's go to another store."

As soon as I entered the door, a thin old man with white hair and beard who was drawing a blueprint behind the counter ordered me to leave without even looking up.

The girl ignored him and slowly walked to the counter. She took out a notebook and a pen from her cloak, wrote a note, tore it off and placed it on the counter.

"My apprentice Careya recommended you here?" The old man didn't care why the other party used such a strange way of communication. After taking a look, he looked up at the girl.

"White hair and red eyes... a rare feature, and this ancient and noble handwriting... are you a high-class blood race? Are high-class blood races still alive?"

Hearing the old man's blunt words, the girl seemed a little angry and frowned slightly.

"Young man, don't be so arrogant. I'm telling you the truth. Your people should have died out hundreds of years ago. Most of the few vampires who are still alive don't care about what they eat. They even drink the body fluids of horror beasts. They are just wild bats with mixed bloodlines."

Hearing the other party's words, the ruby on the girl's face showed some loneliness.

"But the weapons and fighting skills of the vampires have been lost for a long time. I am very interested in seeing them today. What do you want to do?"

The old man glanced at the giant sickle behind the girl, and a hint of interest flashed in his eyes, which had been cloudy due to long-term smoke.

The latter took a deep breath, calmed himself down, wrote another note, took off the giant sickle, and took out a metal box from his arms and put it on the counter.

"You want me to use the ore in the box to strengthen this sickle?" The old man narrowed his dim eyes, and a gleam of light flashed in them.

He could tell at a glance that the metal box was a hybrid product of grade A ore and had a strong physical shielding function.

I'm afraid that what is placed in this box is not an ordinary ore.

With a glimmer of expectation, the old man opened the metal box, and a fist-sized, flawless, translucent crystal ore lay quietly inside.

Then, he seemed to feel that the rational elements in his body became more active, and he muttered to himself:

"Interesting... I've never seen this kind of ore before. It seems to have the effect of promoting the vitality of mutant factors."

After hearing what the old man said, a trace of disappointment appeared in the girl's eyes, and she immediately prepared to take the sickle and box to find another buyer.

But the other party stopped her behavior and asked:

"Although I haven't seen it, I can try... You don't have to waste your energy. I haven't seen it, and most other people in this city haven't seen it either."

"This thing is not a mineral at all. It is a product with clear efficacy that has been purified and removed of impurities. It is most likely man-made."

"Tell me your requirements and price, and I'll try it if I can."

The old man didn't want to let go of the novel materials and novel weapon style so easily.

Forgers like them, whose skills have long reached a bottleneck, will not miss any opportunity to learn something new.

The girl hesitated for a moment, and seemed to be persuaded by the old man, and wrote another note:

"Needs the ability to make my weapon an extension of at least one of my mutant traits, with the ability to amplify the effect."

The description was a bit abstract, but the old man understood it. He stroked his beard and said:

"It seems that you are also very clear about the characteristics of this ore. Judging from the observation results, it is indeed possible to do this... But what is your bid?"

"It's unlikely that this kind of complex and rare forging requirement will be provided for free, but since you've allowed me to get in touch with something new, we can discuss it a little."

The girl hesitated for a while and handed over a note:

"I don't have money, but I can help you kill someone."

The old man was delighted:

"Although our Clock City has a mixed crowd of visitors, it is also a regular city and there aren't that many conflicts on a daily basis. I'm just a blacksmith and I have no grudges against anyone. Why would I ask you to kill someone?"

Hearing this, the girl lowered her eyes slightly and stood there in a daze, seemingly not knowing what to do.

"How about this, you don't have to kill anyone, but if you can do me a favor, I can take this deal."

After thinking for a while, the old man spoke.

The girl immediately raised her eyes and gave him a questioning look.

"In the abandoned city of Katari to the west, there is a contact point for a wilderness criminal organization called Shadow Claw."

"It is said that they have been searching for some mysterious underground product recently, and have used coercion to hire a large number of mining personnel to work day and night."

"But when I asked them curiously, they refused to talk about it. I suspected that they might be looking for some special new mine."

"If that is the case, and they have found it, I want you to bring me a sample, just the size of a fingernail;"

"If not, I would also like to get a definite answer as to what they are looking for."

"I'm old now, and I don't have much else to pursue. I just want to learn more about unknown minerals before I close my eyes... How about this request?"

"The members of Shadow Claw are of average strength and their style of doing things is violent and tough. You should think carefully about this."

After saying this, the old man closed the metal box and waited quietly for the girl's reply.

However, the latter did not hesitate for too long. After quickly writing a note, he walked out the door with the sickle and the metal box.

The note reads:

"Deal, wait till I get back."

18. Have you ever considered Fiti’s feelings for two consecutive nights?

Another uneventful day of wilderness driving.

The route that Xia Ye and his team chose to enter the vagrant activity area was a level four danger zone.

Although the monsters are stronger than those in the Level 3 danger zone in the other direction, the probability of encountering vagrants on the road is greatly reduced by comparison.

Most of the time in the wilderness, humans are more dangerous than monsters.

The reluctance to leave and the nervousness about the danger were gradually diluted with the peaceful journey, and with the encouragement of the talkative Karen, I felt more relaxed.

I don’t know if it’s due to her personality or if she has become accustomed to suppressing her fear of death, but no one can tell that Karen in this state actually has a sword of Damocles hanging over her head.

In contrast, it was Fitty who looked more like she was worried about something. She leaned against the window without saying a word the whole day, occasionally glancing towards the front seat, but quickly looking away as if she was afraid of being discovered.

"Little Fitty, are you worried about something?"

As the sun set, Karen, who was sitting next to her, couldn't help but asked with concern.

She was indeed not used to someone being so shy around her. Although she didn't hate it, she still cared about it.

"Ah...ah! No...no, I just don't talk much..."

Fitty shuddered slightly and quickly explained.

"Although you usually don't talk much, you seem to be particularly silent today. Weren't you like that yesterday?"

"It's okay. We are all family members in the car. You don't have to hide anything. If you really have something to worry about, why don't you stop the car for a while and tell me in private?"

At this time Xia Ye couldn't help but say.

It's good that Fitty is introverted, but this is a bit too much.

And apparently it started today.

This really made him a little worried about Fiti's condition.

"It's really... I'm fine. Thank you, Xia Ye, and thank you, Karen. You don't have to worry about me..."

Fitty held the nun's skirt with her little hand and rejected the two people's kindness.

Seeing this, Karen and Xia Ye didn't know what to say anymore. They looked at each other through the rearview mirror and shrugged at the same time.

…………

After a few hours, the bright moon replaced the setting sun and hung in the sky, and darkness once again blocked the view in the distance.

According to the plan in the morning, Anke parked the car among the hidden rocks on the edge of the Level 4 danger zone without worrying about any accidents.

Tomorrow morning, they will officially set out for the most dangerous area on the road.

After dinner, everyone moved around a bit and checked the surrounding situation. After making sure it was safe, they all got back into the car and prepared to have a good rest.

"Do you need someone to keep watch tonight?" Jinelle suggested before going to bed.

Everyone was able to sleep peacefully last night because the car's physical shielding layer is at the level of dimensionality reduction attack in the secondary danger zone, which can ensure their safety.

But the Type 4 or even Type 5 monsters in the Level 4 danger zone are not so easy to fool.

“Well…” “Let Xia Ye guard it!”

Xia Ye was just thinking about it when An Ke, who had been well-behaved all day, suddenly said.

"Isn't it too much for one person to keep watch all night..." Jinelle frowned slightly.

"He has been resting his eyes all day, so he should do some work in the evening." An Ke said confidently:

"Besides, if he gets sleepy, we can just ask someone else to take over."

"Uh……"

"It's okay, that's all. I did sleep for a long time during the day these past two days, and I really couldn't fall asleep for a while at night."

Just as the people in the back seat were hesitating, Xia Ye suddenly spoke up and agreed.

"What's going on between these two? An Ke is like a good kid during the day, but at night it's Xia Ye's turn to do whatever he wants... Is this some weird way of getting along that only belongs to the two of them..."

Karen muttered something quietly, but didn't notice the slightly unnatural look on Fitty's face beside him.

Seeing this, Jinniel nodded. She believed that Xia Ye must have his reasons for saying that.

"Since you said so, then let's do this. If you feel sleepy, then..."

"Just call me." Karen waved his hand, put his arms behind his head, closed his eyes and greeted.

"Okay, then beauties...good night~" Xia Ye responded with a smile and leaned back in the chair, but his eyes would occasionally glance at An Ke's silent little face, who seemed to be thinking about something.

…………

After about an hour, steady breathing sounds came from the back seat, and it seemed that everyone had fallen asleep.

Xia Ye silently looked at the rocks outside the window. He looked quite relaxed, with the corners of his mouth curled up as if he was waiting for something to come.

Sure enough, after a while, a slight noise came from the side.

An Ke was also awake and was crawling towards him.

"There are no spiders today, so what's the point of this?" Xia Ye asked softly, with a bigger smile on his face.

"What if... This is a rocky forest, and there are two possible types of arachnids, and both look pretty disgusting."

"And it is the passenger seat's responsibility to ensure the driver has a peaceful sleep!"