After the artificial gravity system was re-stabilized, Hao Ren and his party embarked on the journey to Hearth City again. Now Willy knew why there were no soldiers from Iron City or Free City on this road. It was because they had received orders from their respective families.
After receiving the notice, he hid in a safe place early. This may be a good thing. He no longer has to worry about being caught by the enemy and his head turning into that of a certain knight.
"Can you predict the time when the gravity...ascension phenomenon will occur?" Nangong Sanba asked Willy.
"Maesters know how to predict," Willibee described gesticulating. "They can observe flashes of light deep in caves, hear sounds from far away, and they can give warnings before the ascension phenomenon occurs. But
Sometimes, too, Mother Earth suddenly loses her power, and those maesters whose predictions failed have to be whipped to make amends."
At this time, they had been walking on Kingdom Avenue for a long time. Hao Ren suddenly saw that the road ahead was cut off by a "city wall" made of steel plates, plastics, tires and other garbage. This wall was several meters high and was covered with iron wires.
It is fixed with rivets, with a row of light bulbs hanging on the top, and the city gate is two metal fences tied with sharp steel nails. Willy happily pointed in front: "This is the Hearth City!"
Hao Ren looked at the wall of garbage and held back a sentence for a long time: "It's very... distinctive."
Soldiers on sentry stood on a wooden tower at the top of the city wall. When they saw a stranger approaching, they immediately raised their hands to throw guns and bows and asked loudly the identity of the visitor. Willy immediately stepped forward, raised his hands and showed himself
Armor on the body: "I am Willy of the Mormo family! Open the city gate and let us in!"
"Willy?" A soldier on the wall recognized Willy's face, and then laughed loudly, "Haha, look, our 'warrior' has returned from the battlefield. And his two arms and two legs are actually
They’re all here!”
Another soldier noticed Hao Ren and his party following Willy: "Who are those people?"
"They are my friends," Willy tried to make his voice sound more dignified. He straightened his chest and answered loudly, "I have vouched for them. I want them to be protected in Hearth City and open the city gate immediately!"
"
The soldiers on the city wall seemed to want to continue to laugh at Willy. But they seemed to be worried that the other party had some aristocratic qualities, so they still pulled the trigger and opened the two fences at the city gate. Hao Ren followed his young guide
Walking into this "Hearth City" behind his back, he discovered that this so-called "city-state" was actually just an old, dilapidated factory. The original wall outside the factory was about to completely collapse, so the locals filled it with metal plates and various garbage.
A new city wall was built on the site of the old wall, and there was a large open space inside the city wall. This open space should have been the original open-air stockyard of the factory. Now it is covered with various iron sheds. It has become the symbol of Hearth City.
Military camps and civilian areas. The original factory building is in the center of Hearth City. It is a three-story reinforced concrete building. The main body is still intact. You can even see a few windows that have not been broken. The roof of the factory building is fluttering.
Wearing strips of cloth dyed in red and green colors: there is no doubt that this is the palace of the city lord and the castle of the nobles.
When the soldiers walking around the civilian area saw Willy, many of them came to say hello, mixed with ridicule and ridicule. It was not all malicious, but there was very little kindness. Soldiers who dared to taunt directly had a gun hanging on their chest.
Another kind of emblem besides the military emblem. However, those ordinary soldiers who only had the military emblem on their chests did not dare to go too far after seeing Willy. Hao Ren then guessed that the second emblem should be the identification of the noble children.
Willy should also be a nobleman, but he seems to be almost losing this honor.
In front of the "castle", which was the gate of the old factory, Willy took a few deep breaths and then plucked up the courage to step forward: "I will take you to see my father, who is the governor here."
Hao Ren followed the young man and walked into the factory that had been abandoned for at least hundreds of years. The factory had also been completely renovated, and the huge machines were useless. Now they were covered with wooden boards and
The iron sheets became the bases and partitions of various sheds and stairs, and the entire factory looked like a weird and densely stacked cage. Willy led everyone to the top floor of the factory. The situation here was slightly better:
This is the original office area, with neat offices and rest rooms.
Willy stopped in front of a red door, adjusted his clothes and armor, and then knocked on the door cautiously.
After getting permission from the people in the room, he opened the door and motioned for Hao Ren and his party to follow him.
A middle-aged man with thinning hair was sitting behind a desk in the room, looking through documents. He seemed to already know who was visiting, so he didn't even raise his head: "I didn't expect you to come back alive. I thought you would fight."
Die in Scrap Iron Alley, so that your blood can at least maintain the dignity of our family a little bit."
"Father," Willy lowered his head, as if he was used to this kind of ridicule, "I'm back."
The middle-aged man closed the document in his hand: "I should have said that you are not a member of the Mormo family. You are just a low-level soldier living in the Iron Barracks. So I want to know that you did not report to the military camp after you came back.
And what are you going to do when you come to me first?"
The middle-aged man looked up at Hao Ren and his party. These strangers in strange clothes made him frown: "I heard that my son brought back some undocumented refugees from outside. I thought they were guys as bad as him...
…Who are you?”
"Travellers from other places happened to be passing by here," Hao Ren said in a calm tone, "We fought side by side with your son in exchange for permission to rest in your castle."
"Fighting side by side?" the castle governor repeated the word with a strange expression, "to save this wretched idiot from the battlefield."
Willy bit his lower lip and suddenly took out some colorful pieces of cloth from his arms: "Father, I really fought! This is the trophy I brought back!"
These pieces of cloth were the emblems he had pulled off from the Iron City soldiers before. The governor of the castle did not show any smile after seeing these emblems. He just took the piece of cloth from Willy's hand with a straight face, and then fiercely
Throw them to the ground.
"Only beggars pick up trash discarded by others from the ground," the governor angrily yelled at Willy. "There isn't even a drop of blood on your sword. Are these emblems given to you by their master?"
The poor young man was speechless. He picked up the pieces of cloth with shame on his face and murmured a word.
"You are a useless thing. You will only follow those wizards and listen to their crazy words. You are not even as good as your two sisters. Fortunately, you are just an illegitimate child. Otherwise, I will die of shame because of you," the castle governor said with anger.
He muttered, but when he looked at Hao Ren, he still restrained his bad expression, "As for you... you helped the Tower Kingdom on the battlefield after all. Hearth City welcomes brave warriors like you. You can stay in the castle
Find a place to rest in the iron sheet area on the ground floor. You can come and go freely at any time, but don't wander around the castle at will."
Hao Ren had many questions in his mind and wanted to ask the man in front of him, but he found that the man in front of him was probably not the kind of character who was easy to communicate with, so he put his thoughts aside for the time being and decided to first inquire about this "world" in other places in "Hearth City"
"The situation. They said goodbye to the governor of the castle, and then left the place under the leadership of Willy.
The governor's young son did not get any comfort or relaxation from this meeting. In fact, he was almost sweating when he left his father's room. Lily asked curiously: "It seems that your dad doesn't like you very much?"
"I am just an illegitimate child, and in the Tower Kingdom, illegitimate children are not considered family members. The law stipulates that we must have the same status as the lower-status parent, even the king's illegitimate child, let alone someone like me.
Willy smiled bitterly, "My father wants me to be a soldier, but I'm not the material for this. I prefer to be with the bachelors. They will tell stories about the past of this world. I think that is more interesting than fighting."
Hao Ren's heart moved: "The story of this world before? Can you let me meet those 'bachelors'?"
Willy nodded happily: "Of course, I can arrange for you to meet Master Oro. He is the most knowledgeable person in this place. Although my father does not like him, the master is still highly respected in Hearth City." (