Picking Up Attributes From Today c1-406

by Panda Reunion, 团圆小熊猫

  Meng Lei gave a heavy nod.

  As a kingdom situated at the borders, the purpose of the Fire Dragon Kingdom’s existence was precisely to protect the empire and guard the borders. For generations, every single person in the Fire Dragon Kingdom had shouldered this responsibility.

  To better accomplish this task, the Fire Dragon Kingdom’s first Fire Dragon King had especially established the capital at a place near the Magical Beast Ridge, such that it was but a day’s journey from the capital to the Magical Beast Forest.

  A day!

  This meant that once a beast tide broke out, under the circumstances where they weren’t hindered, the Magical Beast army would need only a day to reach the capital and threaten the safety of the whole kingdom.

  How could one possibly allow others to intrude into their territories?

  This short distance caused the whole of Fire Dragon Kingdom to feel as if they were sitting on pins and needles. As a result, not only did Fire Dragon Kingdom station eagle scouts in the Magical Beast Forest all year round to monitor all activities in Magical Beast Forest, but they had also built a defensive fortress stretching several thousand kilometers between the Magical Beast Forest and the kingdom.

  This firm and sturdy, long wall that measured 50 meters tall and 20 meters thick on average was a big and tall, and tough and solid frontier stronghold that stretched on endlessly.

  That was the Great Dragon Blood Wall famed throughout the entire empire!

  For several tens of thousands of years, the Great Dragon Blood Wall had seen countless Magical Beasts buried at its feet, an indeterminable amount of Magical Beast blood splashed across its walls, and stood against innumerable beast tide attacks...

  It stood firm and erect for an everlasting period of time!

  It could be said that the Great Dragon Blood Wall was a protective amulet-like fortress. It was the most important, as well as the final wall of defense protecting the Fire Dragon Kingdom. In the whole of Fire Dragon Kingdom, not a single person would allow anything to happen to the Great Dragon Blood Wall!

  Thus, not only were elite troops garrisoned at the Great Dragon Blood Wall all year round, but the moment war broke out, the kingdom would also deploy troops from other regions to head over as reinforcements. It was the safest over there!

  “The Great Dragon Blood Wall may be safe, but it’s a great distance from the village. How are over a hundred villagers going to make their way there?”

  Old Peter let out a troubled laugh. “Not to mention that there are also the old, infirm, women, and children. With their entire families in tow, many of them won’t be able to last till they reach the Great Dragon Blood Wall at all!”

  Hudders and the others also nodded in silence. The Great Dragon Blood Wall was safe for sure, but it was too far from the village.

  Otherwise, they’d have moved to the Great Dragon Blood Wall a long time ago when beast tides had broken out in the past. Why would they still stay here so miserably, letting their blood flow and sacrificing their own lives?

  “That isn’t a problem!” Meng Lei smiled. “There are only 100 people in the village, so we just need to rent a few large magic cars. Magic cars are very fast. It won’t take them long to send people back and forth!”

  “Rent magic cars?”

  Everyone was taken aback.

  “Yes, magic cars!” Meng Lei said with a smile, “Just leave the issue of renting the magic cars to me. All of you can go back home and pack your things. When I return with the cars, we’ll set off right away.”

  After he spoke, Meng Lei jumped onto his magic carpet and disappeared straight into the horizon.

  “But Meng Lei...”

  Everyone looked at each other as they stared at his back view.

  “Won’t it be very expensive to rent magic cars?”

  “It’ll be a huge sum of money for sure!”

  “How is the village going to be able to afford that?”

  Everyone’s face took on a troubled expression.

  “Let’s just act according to what he said and not concern yourselves with other problems!”

  Hudders shook his head as he gave a wry smile. Some things weren’t too convenient for him to mention, so he hadn’t bothered bringing them up. He’d just keep Meng Lei’s kindness in mind and repay him when he had a chance to in the future.

  ...

  “Brat, you’re pretty nice to those villagers, aren’t you?”

  Ol’ Amos floated in mid-air. No matter how fast the magic carpet went, he simply continued to float closely above the carpet. It was awfully peculiar.

  “Those are my fellow villagers. I can’t just watch them die like that,” replied Meng Lei calmly. “Besides, helping them is no different from just lifting a finger to me.”

  “That’s true!”

  Ol’ Amos smiled as he twisted his beard. “With your current capabilities...”

  The young and the old chatted as the magic carpet flew at breakneck speed. Before long, they’d arrived at the city nearest to the Magical Beast Village—Magical Beast Town.

  Situated near the Magical Beast Forest, Magical Beast Town was a place where innumerable adventurers stocked up on their supplies, sold their prey, and rested. It was also where merchants acquired magic cores and beast furs or hides. It was an exceptionally bustling and prosperous place where people constantly streamed about to and fro.

  Meng Lei relaxed a little as he walked down the lively streets and listened to the shouts and calls around him. Then, he made a beeline for the magic car depot.

  When he reached the magic car depot, an attendant came forward and asked, “Esteemed Lord Magician, how may I serve you?”

  “I’d like to rent some cars.” Meng Lei asked calmly, “How many passengers can the biggest magic car you have seat?”

  “50 people!” The attendant replied with a smile.

  “50? Great, I’d like to rent two!” Meng Lei held up two fingers. Then, he asked, “How much would it cost to rent two magic cars that can seat 50 people?”

  “Lord Magician, we charge by the hour. The rental fee for a large magic car is 88 gold coins per hour, so that’d be 176 gold coins for two cars.” The smiling attendant asked, “May I know how long you’ll be renting them for?”

  “Around 15 hours, I guess,” replied Meng Lei as he did a silent calculation.

  “The total cost for two large magic cars for a period of 15 hours would be 2,640 gold coins.” The attendant asked with a smile, “May I know whether you’ll be paying by cash or card?”

  Meng Lei casually tossed out a pile of gold coins. After sorting and counting them, the attendant wrote him an invoice, and Meng Lei headed to the car park with the invoice in hand.

  Before long, two large magic cars whistled as they drove out of Magical Beast Town, and they successfully arrived at Magical Beast Village seven hours later. The villagers, who were all set and ready to move, boarded the cars in an orderly manner.

  For a great majority of the villagers, this was their very first time riding on a magic car, and they were terribly excited. A few children were even laughing and clowning around in the aisle, incredibly delighted.

  Gratitude filled Hudders’ eyes as he watched the scene in front of him. “Meng Lei, I must really thank you this time. If not for you, who knows what would happen!”

  “You’re standing too much on ceremony. I’m also a member of the village. This is something I should do.”

  Meng Lei waved him off with a smile and added, “By the way, I found some things that aren’t of much use to me in Magical Beast Ridge. Why don’t you take a look and see if they are of any use to the villagers?”

  Meng Lei took out a few scrolls as he spoke. A puzzled Hudders opened one of them, and his eyes widened big and round at once.

  “Fire Smelting Art?!

  “Meng Lei, t-this is a Battle Aura technique?

  “This... This is too valuable! We can’t accept it!”

  Chapter 88: Closure of City Gates, A
Grand Path

  Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Meng Lei hadn’t just been hunting Magical Beasts during these few days spent exploring Magical Beast Forest. He had also encountered quite a few attacks from other humans. Despicable adventurers like them were often involved in contemptible dirty dealings like this, so apart from being fairly wealthy, they also carried other things on them.

  Battle Aura technique manuals were one of such things.

  After a few successful counterattacks where he had killed the attackers, Meng Lei had obtained quite a number of Battle Aura technique manuals. Among them were both ordinary run-of-the-mill manuals, as well as exceptionally rare and precious high-grade manuals. His rewards were pretty bountiful.

  It was just a shame that these were useless to Meng Lei. The Fire Dragon Manual alone was already enough for him to cultivate. All the other manuals, no matter how many they were, were nothing but just white elephants.

  Since they were white elephants, he might take a few out and let the villagers cultivate them instead. That way, not only would it raise the villagers’ combat strength, but the manuals could also be put to their fullest use.

  However, Hudders declined his offer. “Meng Lei, these Battle Aura technique manuals are too valuable. We can’t take them! You’ve already done so much for the village...”

  “Captain Hudders, these are just things that I found in Magical Beast Forest. They aren’t of much use to me, so just take them.” Meng Lei said with a smile, “You can impart these techniques to everyone, especially the children. When everyone’s combat strength is higher, I’ll also be able to go about outside without worrying about other things.”

  “This...”

  After hesitating for a moment, Hudders agreed to it in the end.

  ...

  Seven hours later, Meng Lei and the others safely arrived at the Great Dragon Blood Wall. However, none of them had expected that all the city gates leading in and out of Great Dragon Blood Wall were actually closed, and entry and exit had been prohibited!

  The people inside couldn’t come out, and the people outside couldn’t go in.

  A soldier suited up in armor and holding a spear stood ramrod straight on top of the city walls, on standby and ready for battle.

  At the bottom was an assembly of several adventurers, merchants, and commoners. All of them had been denied entry into the city and were now shouting angrily at the soldiers above the city walls.

  “Open the gates!”

  “Open the city gates!”

  “The ant tide is coming! Let me in!”

  “Goddamn it, you bastards! Open your damned eyes and take a good look! I’m Baron Skyles of the foothills! Hurry and open the gates for this Baron here!”

  “O’ dragon god, have you abandoned your people...”

  As though they were statues, the soldiers on top of the city walls were completely indifferent to the people cursing and swearing fiercely at them. They didn’t even pay them any attention, much less harbor any intention of opening the city gates!

  This enraged the people even further, and all sorts of expletives and curses were thrown at them without even a moment’s pause, forming a scene that looked terribly out of place with the stern, imposing Great Dragon Blood Wall.

  The magic cars came to a stop in front of the crowd. Meng Lei alighted and couldn’t help but frown as he watched the scene in front of him. Hudders followed behind Meng Lei and asked anxiously, “Meng Lei, the city gates have closed. What are we gonna do?”

  “Don’t panic.”

  Meng Lei waved him off and walked to the front of the crowd.

  A chubby middle-aged man dressed in nobility fashion spat furiously, “You goddamn bastards! I’m a noble, you can’t keep me out here!”

  “My lord, hurry and think of something!”

  Beside him, a noblewoman with a baby in her arms wept as she said anxiously, “Our child is only one year old. I don’t want... Sob!”

  The fat man took a look at the swaddled baby. The fats on his face quivered a little, and he began to curse even more furiously. “You bastards, open your goddamn eyes, and take a good look! I’m a Baron! A noble...”

  In the midst of the fat man’s cursing and swearing, a shadow suddenly shot toward them from a distance away, and he arrived at the bottom of the city walls in an instant. Then, after he leaped high into the air, the tips of his feet tapped lightly in succession against the city walls, and he climbed up to the top like a spider.

  Upon seeing this, the fat man hurriedly raised his voice and shouted, “Expert! Esteemed expert, I’m willing to offer you 10,000 gold coins. Please bring us up there!”

  However, the expert vanished into the depths of the city walls without even looking back at him, as though he didn’t hear what he’d said at all.

  “That bastard!”

  Baron Skyles was so mad that he couldn’t stop stamping his foot.

  “Mr. Baron here, do they allow people to jump up the city walls like that?” asked Meng Lei as he pointed at the soldiers stationed on top of the city walls.

  Baron Skyles turned around and glared at Meng Lei in annoyance. “Why wouldn’t they? As long as you have the ability to jump up there, it’s not like they can chase you back down, right?”

  “Exactly! The Great Dragon Blood Wall is a fortress meant to defend against beast tides, not to keep us out here. Those goddamn bastards shouldn’t be keeping us out here!”

  “Those capable of jumping up there have already done so. Only weak, innocent commoners like us are left now. They clearly intend to let us die outside the city walls!”

  “The city walls are over 50 meters tall, and only people that are Third-Grade Warriors and higher are able to jump up there. We...”

  At the side, the enraged crowd rallied together, furious yet helpless. Hudders also said, “The moment beast tides come invading, the Great Dragon Blood Wall will close their gates in advance and will only open them again when the beast tide recedes. Those that can’t enter the city in time can only resign themselves to their fate. It’s something that cannot be helped.”

  Ol’ Amos floated out at this point and said in a low voice, “The city gates are made out of obsidian rocks, the most solid, sturdiest, and heaviest rocks in Heaven’s Vault Continent, and they weigh as heavy as half a million kilograms the moment they are closed! An eighth-grade magic core is used up every time they open the gates, and you should know how valuable an eighth-grade magic core is!”

  Ol’ Amos sighed and went on. “In the eyes of the soldiers in charge of guarding the Great Dragon Blood Wall, perhaps ordinary people that can’t even climb up the walls aren’t even worth as much as an eighth-grade magic core.”

  Meng Lei was silent in response to that. When he’d first transmigrated to this world, perhaps he hadn’t been able to understand such actions that totally disregarded human lives. After all, no matter how important everything else might be, human lives were the most important.

  However, as the amount of time he stayed in Heaven’s Vault Continent became longer, and he was exposed to more and more things, it was easy to see why that was the case now.

  In Dragon God Empire, the Four-Classes Stratification System was very clear-cut. In the eyes of the nobility and people with power and status, ordinary humans were just cheap, lowly people.

  Were the lives of cheap, lowly people valuable? Not at all!

  If they die, then so be it.

  How could they possibly compare to an eighth-grade magic core?

  “What a frustrating world this is!”

  Meng Lei took a deep breath and suppressed the messy thoughts in his mind. He walked step by step to the bottom of the city walls and murmured, “Since they won’t open the gates, then I can only go up there myself!”

  He’d only just spoken when the ground in the far distance suddenly began to shake. An earthen dragon suddenly broke out of the ground surface, bellowing and roaring furiously as it charged ferociously towar
d the bottom of the city walls with its fangs bared and claws brandishing.

  Then, it crashed right into the bottom of the city walls.

  Boom!

  Dirt and earth flew everywhere as a booming explosion rang out from the ground.

  A massive amount of dirt and earth piled up, and in less than the amount of time it took to take a few breaths, a grand path leading up to the top of the city walls had formed!

  “Oh my dragon god!”

  “This...”

  Everyone at the bottom of the city walls was astounded by the sight of this. All of them forgot to even react as they gazed at the slope leading straight to the top of the city walls.

  “A path!”

  “It’s a path!”

  Someone let out a shout. A great furor went through the crowd instantly, and tears of joy formed in everyone’s eyes as they began to cheer madly.

  “A Magician!”

  “It’s a Lord Magician!”

  “He created that path!”

  Everyone looked one by one at Meng Lei, who stood at the top of the slope, their feelings of gratitude obvious. Meng Lei gave them a slight smile and said, “Hurry and come up here, everyone! Time waits for no one!”

  “Yes, yes!”

  No one dared to be tardy. They hastily carried their things and climbed along the slope up the city walls. The fat Baron Skyles walked over to Meng Lei, embarrassed and grateful at the same time, yet not forgetting to give him a standard nobility salute.

  “Esteemed Lord Magician, thank you very much. I, Skyles Borunga, am eternally grateful for your kindness in saving our lives!”

  “You’re welcome!”

  Chapter 89: Forcibly Recruiting Meng Lei, “I’m only 15 years old.”

  Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  In the grand city gate tower of Great Dragon Blood Wall...

  A muscular Dragon Person with a pair of horns on his head and dressed in golden armor sat on a high chair. An intimidating aura emanated from him, his dignified and imposing self evident to all.

  He was Marquis Gould, a powerful Ninth-Grade Warrior, and a pure-blooded Fire Dragon Person. A member of Fire Dragon Kingdom’s royalty and the highest commander of the troops garrisoned at Great Dragon Blood Wall.