Chapter 147: An Unexplained Phenomenon

"I was born in a small village... I must have lived there for... maybe fourteen years? I spent my happiest childhood there."

As he spoke, the young man's hands gradually slowed down as he drifted into his memories.

"It was a vassal village of the River-Water Kingdom. Though it lacked the protection of a grand plaza and monsters spawned every night, I still loved it there. It was my hometown, and life was much better than it is for me now..."

Fiddling with his crafting table, the young man continued.

"Because our village was a dependency of the River-Water Kingdom, three people were required to be sent there to live every year, until death..."

"And I was lucky enough to be chosen, destined to spend the rest of my life outside these city walls..."

The young man spoke casually, yet his tone betrayed numbness and helplessness.

Confined to this narrow area, unable to move freely, and restricted to working within this tiny patch of land—even with many companions sharing the same fate, they remained caged birds.

Aside from the footprint of the dirt-and-cobblestone shacks and other public areas, those of them living on the outside had very little space left even for farming.

Moreover, they were forbidden from venturing out to explore or expand, and the resources they produced fell far short of their consumption needs.

The people inside the city demanded that they live here while providing no supplies, utterly indifferent to whether they lived or died.

Spring and autumn were tolerable; though the crops grown in the cramped space were meager, mutual aid among the people barely kept starvation at bay.

Winter, however, was a tragedy. On average, people died almost every single day.

During that time, everyone struggled just to stay alive, forced to watch helplessly as the compatriots around them perished.

"This is already my third year living here. Relying on my carpentry trade, I can at least somehow scrape by."

With that, the crafting table violently shook, and the nine small grid squares at the top turned white before flying up into the air and gathering together. A moment later, the white cubes floating in the air coalesced into an oak wood stool.

An oak wood stool had been successfully crafted.

"My friend, you don't look like someone who was forced to come live here... Take my advice, leave while you still can! If you get any more entangled in this later, you truly won't have a chance!"

The young man did not know Iron-Nose's identity, but judging by his clueless appearance, he could easily deduce that he was a newcomer.

"Then..."

Iron-Nose wanted to ask something more, but the young carpenter walked away without even looking back.

"Living here out of obligation... What kind of cursed quest is this..."

Deeply influenced by Mofangyuan, Iron-Nose began tugging at his beard in deep thought.

***

[The River-Water Kingdom has vassal villages, and these villages must dispatch three people every year to reside here permanently...]

After a busy day, his efforts were not entirely fruitless. Memorizing this piece of intelligence, Iron-Nose set out to find other targets.

"We are restricted here and cannot leave. Life is very difficult."

"We worry about food and clothing, and can only survive by relying on the mutual aid of our compatriots here."

"There is plenty of land outside to farm, but the people in the city refuse to let us cultivate it."

"They want to starve us to death..."

No matter who he asked, the responses were largely the same; aside from this, Iron-Nose could gather no further information.

"Therefore, if I want to uncover more of the truth, I need to delve deep into the interior of the River-Water Kingdom to obtain more covert intelligence..."

The perspective and knowledge of his fellow compatriots only allowed them to see the superficial fact that "the River-Water Kingdom is imprisoning them," without understanding *why* the River-Water Kingdom was imprisoning them.

Consequently, deeper-level intelligence was something Iron-Nose had to acquire himself.

As the sun sank in the west, Iron-Nose gazed into the twilight glow and decided to visit the young girl's home one last time to inquire about her situation.

If she was willing to follow him to the Cube Kingdom, that would be wonderful; if not, he would still leave behind some supplies for her and her younger sister to live on, though they would have to fend for themselves after he departed.

"Big brother, I am willing."

"I want to grow stronger and protect others!"

The young girl's soft yet resolute voice echoed inside the dirt-and-cobblestone shack.

Her answer this time was firm. She knew all too well how powerless she had been in the face of hardship, with no recourse other than collapsing to the ground in tears, praying to an illusory savior.

She did not want to cry anymore; moreover, she wanted to protect others so they wouldn't have to cry either.

Faced with the girl's pure and youthful response, Iron-Nose smiled, knowing he had chosen the right person.

"Then get ready, we'll set out shortly."

Tossing her light blue hair gently, Iron-Nose spoke again.

"This journey may be a lifetime away; you must prepare yourself for a new life... Rest assured, life there is wonderful."

Not every kingdom possessed the mighty productivity of the Cube Kingdom, where every citizen could use glass jars to store the XP orbs of deceased loved ones. Those without glass jars could only watch their departed family members dissolve back into the embrace of the sun.

There was nothing of value in the little girl's home; what little she could take amounted to no more than a crafting table, a bed, a chest, and her younger sister.

***

"Then let's go!"

Iron-Nose had long since smoothed things over with the officials of the River-Water Kingdom, and they had granted him permission to bring the two young girls into the city and out of the River-Water Kingdom.

During the process of greasing palms, Iron-Nose keenly observed that the River-Water Kingdom maintained extremely strict control over the entry and departure of outer residents.

He deduced that had he not been the leader of the Cube Kingdom's "diplomatic delegation" carrying the prestige of his nation, coupled with the lavish gifts he had offered—far too generous for the River-Water Kingdom to easily dismiss—they might not have allowed him to take the girls at all.

This phenomenon led Iron-Nose to suspect it was closely tied to why the River-Water Kingdom restricted population mobility.

Returning to the city, Iron-Nose did not linger, heading straight for the diplomatic emissary's inn.

The young girl, however, was utterly dazzled and awestruck by the urban scenery.

"Did any of you make any discoveries?"

As time passed, Iron-Nose had given the young girl a bath and provided her with a clean, warm set of clothes, while the field soldiers who had gone out on reconnaissance had all returned.

Iron-Nose directly inquired about their findings.

"Based on my observations, the people living in the city generally hold a favorable opinion of the king, with virtually no negative reviews..."

"The people living here seem quite satisfied with their current lives, and their mental states are normal. It appears they are not suffering from any severe oppression..."

"The jobs performed by the people living here are mostly blacksmiths, carpenters... indoor occupations. Outdoor labor is very rare."

"..."

One by one, the men reported their gathered intelligence to Iron-Nose in order.

The more he heard, the stranger Iron-Nose felt.

"Cease the reconnaissance for now. Get a good night's rest tonight, and tomorrow we head to the Meat Kingdom..."

Iron-Nose temporarily abandoned his investigation into this anomaly, as it was not part of their mandatory mission, and digging deeper might embroil them in a web of trouble.