Chương 526: B8—Chapter 31: A World of Rubble and Scrap

We were finally ready to move on and headed toward the closest Gate to the city. It was close to the river, but sailing wasn't an option, not with the amount of logs flowing down it. After some consideration, we decided to use the funky mana boxes, like the one I bought in the city. Turned out Mahya and Al had bought them too. They were pretty slow, but we weren't in a hurry, and the boxes really were funky and kind of fun. We also didn't want to create a stir with our strange-looking equipment.

The traffic on the road wasn't heavy, but steady enough. There were plenty of the same boxes we were driving, but for the first time, I saw variations of that specific enchantment. Artifact? I wasn't exactly sure which category to place them in. Most kept the same boxy design, but some were made from two connected sections. The smaller front box looked almost identical to ours, while a much larger box was attached to the back of it.

Some were open on top and loaded with cargo, while others were fully enclosed like oversized wagons. Not all of the large boxes were pulled by the funky mana vehicles. Some were hitched to beasts of burden that looked closest to oversized llamas, if llamas had much broader bodies and horns. Some people on the road were clearly adventurers, judging by the armor and visible weapons, mostly swords, spears, and axes. All of them, both the ones coming and the ones leaving, carried axes.

Well, considering that specific dungeon, it made sense. What didn't make sense was that they apparently didn't know it was a dungeon. Granted, they didn't have access to our Archive, but this crazy forest had been here for centuries. How had they not figured out it was an enormous open dungeon? After chewing on that question for the first hour of travel, I finally shoved it out of my mind. Not my world, not my issue.

Besides, maybe the residents of the wooded city did know, but the story about the horny goddess was more profitable where tourists were concerned. For the first day, we followed the road along the river, and the farther we got from the city, the thinner the mana became. First, the taste and smell of leaves and lettuce finally disappeared. By that point, I'd gotten so used to it that it took a while to notice. Once I did, I focused on the environment and was shocked. The mana level wasn't just lower.

It was early afternoon, and we were maybe twenty kilometers from the city at most, yet the air felt emaciated mana-wise. It didn't feel like the air in an unintegrated world. There, the air had no mana, but you didn't feel like anything was missing. Here, the only word I could use was emaciated. You could actually feel that something was missing from the air itself. That damn dungeon had taken over the vent and hoarded all the mana for itself. Now the mana level of 40 on the Gate we came through finally made sense.

It felt like the city was 60+ and everywhere else 0 or just above, but I was pretty sure the rest of the world was more balanced. The mana's absence also affected the environment. We weren't driving through a desert per se, but it felt close to one. Nothing grew around us. No grass, bushes, or even weeds lined the road. The earth was still brown and healthy-looking, not gray or cracked from drought, and the river supplied more than enough water. This wasn't a lack of rain either. The region was wet enough.

It was only the lack of mana. The land looked like it should have been alive, yet everything remained barren, as if something essential had been stripped out of the world itself. It was the first time I'd seen such a clear example of how deeply mana affected an environment. Without it, even fertile land turned empty and lifeless. When we were on the road, I always looked for a forest or wooded area to set up my house for the evening, but the barren landscape around us made that difficult.

Some people on the road kept going, while others pulled off to the side and set up small camps nearby. It was getting darker by the minute, and our boxes didn't have headlights.

"We should stop," I telepathically sent to the others.

"I was just about to suggest that," Mahya sent back. We stopped, had a brief consultation, and decided to continue cross-country instead of staying on the road. The first order of business was getting to the other side of the river. Mahya and Al jumped across. Mahya jumped, landed on a log drifting down the middle of the river, then jumped again to the opposite bank. Al needed two landings to do the same.

I shook my head and sighed sadly that my Jump skill was still only level 2, then Rue and I simply flew over the river. Looking back toward the road, a few people were staring at us with open mouths, but thankfully we didn't create too much of a stir. Once on the other side, we ran for about fifteen minutes until the road was completely out of sight. Only then did Mahya take out the jeep. Unlike the mana boxes, it actually had headlights. We climbed in, and she drove us toward the Gate.

For the first few hours, the landscape remained just as barren as before, mostly flat with the occasional hill breaking the horizon. Then small improvements began to appear. At first, they weren't dramatic. A scraggly bush here, a pathetic-looking weed there, exposed roots with a bit of greenery clinging to them, and the like. But the farther we got from the city and dungeon, the more the land seemed to wake up around us, and the mana level slowly improved.

It was still nowhere near the promised level 40, maybe 2 or 3 if I was being generous, but it kept getting better with every kilometer. We reached the Gate shortly after dawn. Like always, it was anchored between two large boulders. Travelers Gate #6789134864563 Destination: Nyxara Status: Unintegrated Technology level: High Threat level: Varies I looked at them, the question obvious on my face. Mahya shrugged. Al shook his head.

I touched the Gate to get the world information and glared at Mahya before she could object. She actually opened her mouth, but after seeing my expression, she closed it with an audible click. Cycle 4421. 553 - Rotation 182. 77 - Segment 77. 14. 882 — Traveler Thalen Ri Elia This world is little more than a junk pile of rubble and scrap. Do yourself a favor and travel elsewhere. The next entry at least explained the reason for the rubble and scrap. Cycle 4416. 204 - Rotation 041. 22 - Segment 18. 77.

441 — Traveler Ruru Qorim A large-scale war has been raging across this entire world for the last few years. It is difficult to determine exactly how long, since their timekeeping system makes no sense to me. They do not divide time by seasons, moons, or any other system I have come across, but by some kind of recurring celestial alignment involving several moving bodies. I had it explained to me three separate times, yet I still could not fully understand it.

Before committing to traveling this world, ensure the war is actually over and not merely in a ceasefire phase. The conflict involves various countries around the world, and alliances, agreements, and temporary truces change constantly. A country can remain peaceful for a long stretch of time, only for fighting to erupt with almost no warning because two governments decided negotiations had failed.

Their communication and transport systems are fast enough that large military operations can shift across continents in a matter of hours; civilian areas are not always considered off-limits, and border regions change frequently. Entire areas can switch ownership overnight, along with their laws, security forces, and access permissions. Do not assume that because a place was safe yesterday, it will remain safe tomorrow. As you saw on the Gate, this world is advanced.

In practice, that means most cities are heavily automated, from transportation to public services. Surveillance systems are everywhere and automatically monitor movement, identification markers, voice patterns, and energy signatures. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Their weapons are particularly concerning.

Even standard military equipment can destroy large structures with ease, and some battlefield systems can eliminate entire sections of a city with one shot. During my stay, several regions became permanently uninhabitable. Despite the war, trade still exists in many areas, and some cities continue functioning almost normally. If you insist on visiting before the conflict ends, remain close to stable commercial hubs, avoid military installations, and do not approach active combat zones.

In this world, long-range warfare is common, and being far from the front does not mean you are safe. Also, before crossing from wherever you are, stock up on food. The food here is so heavily processed and packed with strange additives that it is barely edible. Most meals taste artificial and unnaturally uniform, as if someone tried to recreate real food from something else. Even the expensive stuff has a strange aftertaste, somewhere between paper, preservatives, and dry sand.

Stock up on water as well, since all the natural water sources are heavily polluted. Rivers, lakes, and even rainwater carry industrial contaminants, chemical runoff, heavy metals, and residues from old military zones. Locals rely on filtration and purification systems for everything, and while those systems are supposedly reliable, I personally would not trust my life to machinery maintained by automated service drones. Bring your own supplies. But not all is bad. The tech level in this world is fascinating.

Their automation alone is decades ahead of anything I've seen in other worlds. Their transportation networks operate without human intervention, and the cities can continue functioning almost normally even during military attacks. Their medical technology is equally absurd. They can regrow organs and limbs, repair injuries, and heal diseases that would require high-level healing magic elsewhere. Their manufacturing systems are also worth mentioning.

They can mass-produce complex equipment with a speed and precision that borders on magical, despite not using mana at all, and common consumer devices have more computing power than the advanced computers I encountered in other tech worlds. If you are a crafter or scholar, this world is worth studying for the technology alone. Just make sure you survive long enough to learn from it. Cycle 4416. 204 - Rotation 041. 22 - Segment 18. 77. 441 — Traveler Ruru Qorim I turned to Mahya and pointed at the Gate.

"You'll want to read this spoiler." She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Why?"

"Just read it," I said, waving toward the Gate.

"You'll understand." Mahya made a face like I was inconveniencing her, but stepped forward and touched the Gate. Her eyes moved back and forth as she read through the information. A few moments later, she lowered her hand and looked back at me.

"What did you want me to read?" she asked. I blinked at her.

"You're the one who wanted an advanced world for the FTL engines."

"It doesn't say anything about space travel."

"Yeah, that's true. But if they're that advanced, I think it's logical to assume." Mahya tilted her head one way, then the other, clearly unconvinced but considering it. After a few seconds, she shrugged.

"I guess we'll find out." Beside us, Al finished reading the information and slowly lowered his hand from the Gate. Then he looked at both of us like we'd lost our minds.

"You wish to travel this world?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Mahya said immediately.

"Not exactly travel," I corrected.

"Mahya needs her FTL thingies, and this world looks like a good possibility." Al frowned and tapped the Gate with one finger.

"Have you skipped the part about the world being a junk pile of rubble and scrap?"

"That's actually better," Mahya said.

"We won't have to steal them." Al kept staring at us as if we'd lost our heads. The other side of the Gate was a wilderness. Dry grass stretched across rolling hills broken by scattered clusters of dark-leafed trees and patches of exposed stone. A narrow river cut through the landscape in the distance, and farther out I could see the outline of low mountains beneath the morning haze. No roads or other visible signs of habitation stood anywhere near the Gate.

The Map had some city markers, but much fewer than I expected. I knew Travelers didn't like tech worlds and didn't explore them much, but it still threw me off. There were four continents: two large, one medium-sized, and one small. Between all those continents, there were only seven city markers and three Gates in total. Weird. We drove for almost three days, heading toward the first city marker on the Map. The wilderness changed constantly around us.

Some regions looked almost untouched, with grasslands, forests, and rivers spreading for kilometers without interruption. Other areas were stripped bare. Entire sections of land were blackened, the soil dark and powdery, with dead trees standing upright, stripped of bark and leaves. In several places, long trenches crossed the terrain in straight lines, partially collapsed, and flooded with stagnant water.

Rusted metal structures and shattered concrete bunkers appeared every few kilometers, usually half-swallowed by vegetation. Roads showed up occasionally, most badly damaged. Cracks split the pavement apart, and in some sections, entire chunks had collapsed into sinkholes or shallow craters. Rusted vehicles sat along the sides, many overturned or fused into piles after collisions. Some looked military, with thick armor plating and mounted weapons, while others were civilian transports.

We also passed through several abandoned settlements. Most consisted of low concrete buildings with shattered windows and collapsed roofs. In one town, every structure on one side of the street had been burned black while the opposite side remained mostly intact. Another settlement had dozens of vehicles parked in neat rows near a large underground shelter entrance sealed with heavy metal doors.

"I have Zindor flashbacks," I said. Mahya and Al nodded and hummed in agreement. The animals were wrong in subtle ways. Most were recognizable, at least partly, but rarely looked entirely natural. We saw deer-like creatures with patches of pale translucent skin stretched over visible veins. Small burrowing animals with oversized front limbs dug networks of tunnels across an entire hillside. Near one river, Rue chased away something that looked close to a wild boar, except it had three eyes. Birds were scarce.

The few we saw were unusually large and almost silent. One flock circled overhead with featherless necks and uneven wings, yet they still flew without obvious difficulty. In wetter areas, insects became a problem. Several species were much larger than normal, especially around stagnant water, where dragonfly-like things the size of a hand darted between reeds and broken machinery. The farther we traveled, the more signs of old fighting appeared.

Burned-out artillery positions, collapsed bridges, craters filled with murky water, and long stretches of dead land where nothing grew. On the first day of travel, Al complained about a headache. I healed it, but it returned about an hour later. I healed it again, and once again it came back. Mahya and I still felt fine, but Rue was restless.

I also had a strange metallic aftertaste in my mouth that refused to go away, but I assumed it had something to do with leaving behind the salad-flavored mana from the previous world. The second day, Mahya and I developed the same headache. Al threw up twice and got a nosebleed that lasted several minutes despite the healing. My healing worked noticeably worse than usual, and circulating mana was becoming harder and harder. It felt sluggish, almost sticky inside my channels.

When I asked the others, they admitted they felt the same thing. I still had enough mana reserves to heal us, but by that point, I was getting worried. The third day, I threw up the moment I woke up. When I scratched Rue behind the ear, a clump of fur remained in my hand. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of our exploration of this world. I stomped downstairs and found them both already awake.

Mahya sat at the table with her head resting against one hand, while Al looked pale enough that I briefly wondered if he was about to pass out.

"We're heading back," I announced.

"Yes," Al said immediately.

"I have already conveyed the same opinion to Mahya. My Health decreased by four thousand units."

"And we're not driving," I added.

"Too slow. We're using the balloon." Mahya nodded without arguing, then winced and pressed her fingers against her temple.

"Head?" I asked.

"Yeah," she muttered.

"It's killing me." In less than twenty minutes, the balloon was in the air, moving back the way we came, despite my inability to ask the wind to help me inflate it. The return flight was miserable. Al spent most of it leaning over the side of the basket, throwing up. At some point, angry red patches appeared along his forearm and crawled to his shoulder. I healed him, and the rash faded for a while each time, but never fully disappeared.

Mahya developed a nosebleed that kept restarting after the healing, and Rue lost more fur whenever somebody touched him. The basket floor ended up covered in loose white strands. My own headache grew worse and worse until it felt like someone was driving spikes behind my eyes. I got a nosebleed, too, though compared to the others, I was holding together more or less. After casting another healing spell on Al and using Life Sense to make sure he wasn't about to throw up again, I mentally went over all the symptoms.

"You know," I said to no one in particular, "this is starting to look suspiciously like radiation poisoning." Mahya froze, smacked her forehead, and pulled out a small rectangular device covered in buttons. She pressed something on the side. The thing immediately started clicking. A rapid stream of sharp metallic clicks poured out of it almost nonstop. Numbers flashed across the small screen so quickly they barely stabilized before changing again. Every few seconds, the device let out a louder warning chirp.

Mahya stared at the display for several seconds, then started swearing in at least four different languages.

"What is it?" I asked. She shoved the device toward me. The number in the middle kept climbing.

"What am I supposed to get from that?"

"Radiation," she said.

"Bad radiation. You're right. All of us have radiation poisoning." After that, the trip back turned into a race. Nobody wanted to spend one extra second in that world. Even after we crossed regions that looked healthier, the device kept clicking. Slower than before, but never fully silent. Once we finally crossed back through the Gate, I immediately opened my house and got everybody inside. The mana outside was still anemic, so I connected directly to my core to regenerate mana while I worked.

Then I started healing. The damage was far worse than I'd initially thought. The healing spells repaired the symptoms quickly enough, but deeper damage kept resurfacing. Al's condition was the worst. His Health kept fluctuating wildly, and his mana channels looked irritated, causing him pain. Mahya's headaches lasted another full day, and Rue slept almost nonstop while slowly shedding fur. It took me three days of almost nonstop healing day and night to get all of us back on our feet physically.

After that, we needed another two days to come to terms with how close we'd apparently come to killing ourselves without even realizing it. Eventually, though, we recovered, both physically and emotionally. After adding a warning about the radiation to the World Information, we were ready to continue.