Illimitable Until Death - Chapter 4

The gentle sunlight poured down from the sky, illuminating the entire Aragane Station.

This place is more like a village than a city.

The houses are all made of wooden boards, with no sight of modern residences, let alone tall buildings.

The streets are the same, with the earth directly exposed to the air, without even an inch of modern paved roads.

However, on the outskirts of this city, there are incongruous steel walls.

Led by two samurais, Fang Li slowly walked on the streets.

Around him, the gazes of passersby were cast upon him, whispering among themselves.

In such a situation, Fang Li couldn’t help but feel extremely uncomfortable, as if he were a criminal being paraded in the streets.

Of course, this was inevitable. After all, Fang Li’s appearance was so unconventional.

No, it should be said that in the eyes of others, Fang Li’s appearance was extremely unconventional.

At this moment, Fang Li was dressed in casual clothes, the type that wouldn’t stand out even if thrown into a crowd.

Unfortunately, in this era when the industrial revolution had just begun to influence the world, this outfit looked unconventional no matter how you looked at it.

At least, the people around were mostly dressed in traditional kimono-style clothing.

As a result, when Fang Li, dressed in modern attire, walked down the main street, he naturally attracted countless stares.

Feeling uncomfortable being stared at by the people around him, Fang Li wished he could just slip away and couldn’t bear it.

Fortunately, this agonizing time soon passed.

Led by two fierce and menacing samurais, Fang Li arrived at the steel outer wall of Aragane Station.

Here, there were already many samurais standing guard.

However, these samurais carried extremely peculiar weapons.

“A gun?” Fang Li was somewhat taken aback.

To this, one samurai sneered, “It should be called a steam gun.”

After the start of the Industrial Revolution, steam engines had become revolutionary necessities.

As the island nation couldn’t mass-produce high-quality gunpowder, they not only introduced steam engines in railways but also in industrial machinery and firearms. Therefore, steam guns became more mainstream than firearms.

The special steam engine called the “McRucky Engine,” developed by the United Kingdom, adopted the groundbreaking idea of steam compression. It not only provided high power for massive vehicles but also supplied high-pressure boilers for steam weapons, which could be carried by individuals.

Hence, upon closer inspection, one would notice that the guns carried by those samurais had a line connected to their backs.

There, two cylindrical boilers could be seen.

These portable boilers were called “backpack Engine” and had various uses.

One of the purposes was for steam guns.

Compared to the traditional gunpowder-based long guns, the convenience and power of magazine-fed steam guns were far superior. In this era facing the threat of Kabane, these steam guns served as a source of psychological reassurance for the people.

That’s right, it was merely psychological reassurance.

Although steam guns were much more powerful than gunpowder-based long guns, they still couldn’t penetrate the Kabane’s steel heart membrane.

It was precisely because of this that people who lacked decisive means of countering the Kabane had no choice but to construct fortresses and take refuge within them.

A group of samurais stood guard with high-pressure steam boilers for personal use strapped to their backs and steam guns resembling hunting rifles in their hands.

Especially at the main gate, there were a large number of samurais guarding it with fierce expressions.

In order to combat the threat of the Kabane, the ruling shogunate had constructed fortresses called “stations” throughout the island nation. The only means of transportation between these stations were armored locomotives, commonly known as “Hayajiro.”

The Hayajiro was operated by the shogunate and manned by rotating crews recruited from each station.

Through this system, each station coordinated the exchange of their respective goods to sustain their livelihoods.

As a result, the shogunate, which managed logistics, wielded immense power and effectively ruled the entire island nation.

Therefore, only Hayajiro from other stations were able to pass through those steel gates.

However, there are risks involved.

For example, if someone who has been bitten by a Kabane manages to enter a station and transform into a Kabane within its confines, the entire station will face a grave threat.

Without a decisive means of countering the Kabane, the people here are destined to live in constant fear and anxiety, and the inner turmoil may even give rise to dark emotions.

Clearly, the samurais responsible for guarding the gate carry this anxious fear within them.

After all, if a Kabane invasion were to occur, they, as the gatekeepers, would be the first ones to face the brunt and become the initial casualties.

Under such circumstances, not to mention a Kabane, even if a person were to approach them unprovoked, it would trigger their deepest fears and prompt them to aim their steam guns in response, wouldn’t it?

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Fang Li cast a few glances at the samurais nearby.

Seeing Fang Li’s reaction, the two leading samurais thought he was frightened and sarcastically remarked.

“Scared already? What will happen when you actually see a Kabane? Will you be scared out of your wits?”

“Just a wandering traveler. Can you really expect him to fight against the Kabane?”

Their mockery caused Fang Li to retract his gaze, feeling a tinge of anger within him.

However, as he considered the imminent threat of these people facing annihilation and seeking superiority over weaker individuals, Fang Li’s anger turned into pity.

Perhaps noticing something in Fang Li’s eyes, both samurais’ expressions turned sour.

“You, go up to the top of the city wall and stand guard!” one samurai pointed to a spot on the steel wall, sounding irritated. “That position is vacant, so you go guard it!”

“Now?” Fang Li raised his hand, empty-handed, and said, “Shouldn’t I at least be given a weapon?”

“That’s not our concern. If you want a weapon, find one yourself,” the other samurai sneered and continued, “If a Kabane appears on the city wall, you must repel them. Otherwise, you’ll be the first to die.”

With that said, the two samurais left without paying any further attention to Fang Li.

Watching the two samurais recede into the distance, Fang Li couldn’t help but feel somewhat helpless.

“They didn’t even give me a steam gun?”

Without a steam gun, how could someone defend themselves?

If a Kabane climbed onto the city wall, could he really jump down and fight them?

“So, these samurais didn’t expect anything from me, did they?”

That was only natural.

Although the Main God’s Dimension assigned a role to the Main God’s Envoy, it was merely a basic identity.

Otherwise, Main God’s Envoy might rely on their advantageous status to overcome difficulties and reap rewards.

Therefore, the identities arranged by the Main God’s Dimension were meant to prevent the Main God’s Envoy from standing out too conspicuously in this world, and they didn’t consider anything beyond that.

Given this, as an outsider and wanderer, Fang Li could never gain the trust of these self-preserving samurais and obtain weapons.

If he wanted to complete the mission and preserve his life, he had to rely on himself.

The 1000 exchange points and 5 free attribute points given by the Main God’s Dimension were meant for moments like these.

Main God’s Envoy had to make the most of the resources at their disposal to accomplish Main Quest in different worlds, earn rewards, and obtain what they desired.

If they only relied on the assistance and protection of plot characters, the outcome was already obvious—a dead end.

“If it were someone else, they would probably find this situation extremely difficult, right?”

Even with the 1000 exchange points and 5 free attribute points from the Main God’s Dimension, dealing with Kabane was no easy task.

After all, unless you pierced their heart, Kabane wouldn’t die.

However, the Kabane’s heart was protected by a steel-like membrane that even steam guns couldn’t penetrate.

How could a newcomer to the Main God’s Dimension, lacking any skills or the means to purchase Ranked equipment, possibly kill them?

“Unfortunately, it seems the Main God’s Dimension doesn’t want anyone to live a peaceful life…”

Regardless, Fang Li had obtained an ace to deal with the Kabane.