Volume One: The Arrival Chapter Sixteen: The World

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Tongtong’s physical condition was quite poor, not due to a severe disease in any single organ, but rather a general lack of vitality affecting all her organs, even showing signs of withering. Meng Xingchen was not a doctor and did not understand exactly what was wrong, but from his experience, improving one’s constitution would enhance overall physical quality, making all internal organs more resilient and energetic.

The middle-aged woman holding Tongtong was visibly emotional upon hearing this. She grasped Meng Xingchen’s hand tightly and asked, “Really?”

Realizing her outburst, she let go of his hand with some embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Mr. Meng. I’m just too excited. I’m Tongtong’s mother, He Qingwan. Can this… system really cure Tongtong’s illness?”

Tongtong had been a premature baby and had been frail and frequently ill since birth, with an inexplicable weakness that no medical examination could diagnose. Modern medical tests clearly showed the condition of her internal organs but were powerless to help.

After exhausting all major hospitals with no solution, they reluctantly turned to traditional Chinese medicine, though with little hope. Hearing Meng Xingchen’s words was therefore a tremendous relief.

Meng Xingchen nodded affirmatively but found it strange that he hadn’t yet received any system notification confirming the completion of the mission.

The kobolds and gnolls had been repelled. Meng Xingchen had even stepped outside the cabin to inspect the area; no new threats were approaching. He then opened the mission panel to check.

“Emergency rescue mission: Your compatriots are in danger. Help them escape and bring them to safety. Mission rewards will be issued based on completion.”

So, it wasn’t just about repelling the enemies but also escorting the survivors to safety. Meng Xingchen returned to the cabin and asked Zhao Changfeng, “Captain Zhao, what are your plans moving forward?”

Zhao Changfeng replied, “We’re new here and completely lost. We were hoping you, young brother Meng, could guide us.”

Meng Xingchen shook his head. “It’s not really guidance. I just arrived about eight or nine days earlier than you. I landed not far from the local settlements in a place called Lijia Village.”

“This world is different from Earth. There are many dangerous creatures. The kobolds and gnolls we encountered are just the lowest-level monsters.”

“This place is deep in the mountains. A battle just occurred, and the scent of blood is spreading, likely to attract stronger monsters at any moment. If you don’t have other plans, I suggest we return together to Lijia Village before deciding what to do next.”

After a brief discussion, Zhao Changfeng and the other passengers unanimously agreed to settle in Lijia Village with Meng Xingchen first before making further plans.

At that moment, a system notification sounded in the minds of all the travelers: “Ding! Secondary main storyline mission: Camp Construction has been released. For details, please check the mission panel.”

Secondary main storyline mission? Meng Xingchen immediately opened the mission panel. At the top, it read: “Secondary Main Mission — Camp Construction. Work together with your compatriots to build your own camp to establish a foothold and live in this otherworld. Rewards will be granted based on mission completion.”

Seeing many of Zhao Changfeng’s group looking somewhat dazed, Meng Xingchen understood their feelings and asked, “You’ve all received the camp construction mission as well, haven’t you?”

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Zhao Changfeng nodded. “Looks like we’ll have to work together to survive in this strange world.”

At that moment, a bespectacled young man named Xiao Yun spoke up. “Brother Meng, since you arrived here earlier, could you introduce us to the situation on the Azure Moon Continent?”

Meng Xingchen nodded. “I’ve mostly stayed around Lijia Village. The information there is very limited, so my understanding of this world is also shallow. But I have noticed quite a few strange things that might be useful to you.”

“First, this is a Western fantasy-type world. You all probably understand the difference between Eastern fantasy and Western fantasy worldviews, right?”

Seeing some confused expressions, but noticing that the blue-haired Ye Feng and Xiao Yun seemed to understand, he added, “If anyone isn’t clear, you can ask Xiaolan later. I’ll continue with an overview of this world.”

Ye Feng looked curious—who was Xiaolan? Xiao Yun glanced at Ye Feng’s shock of blue hair and smiled faintly.

Meng Xingchen continued, “This world hosts multiple intelligent races, but humans are in a disadvantaged position, likely a weaker race.”

“We’re currently in a region similar to Earth’s subtropical zone, so resources should be abundant. With a bit of hard work, there should be no problem securing food and clothing.”

“Yet in Lijia Village, where I’ve settled, life is very hard. The villagers barely scrape by. First, their production technology is backward—agriculture is all manual, and crops are monotonous. From what I’ve seen, their staple crop resembles sorghum on Earth but yields far less.”

“Second, they compete for living space with semi-intelligent races like kobolds and gnolls, as well as other wild and magical beasts. Although the geography is good, they cannot cultivate more farmland because crops planted even slightly far from the village are destroyed by these beasts, so no harvest is possible.”

“Also, they seem to have no concept of a nation. When faced with problems like kobold invasions, they pool money to hire mercenaries rather than seek governmental help.”

“Though this may be because Lijia Village is remote and outside the reach of state power, from what I’ve gathered, that’s unlikely.”

“There’s a market about ten kilometers away that serves more than a dozen villages like Lijia. If there were any official state presence, even if weak, there should be some governmental institution in a town of this size, much like ancient Chinese towns.”

“Moreover, the humans here don’t even have their own currency; they use coins issued by other races.”

With that, Meng Xingchen took a copper coin stamped with a goblin’s head from his backpack and handed it to Zhao Changfeng. “This figure on the coin is a goblin—the only non-human intelligent race I’ve encountered so far. They have a complete financial system and speak the common human tongue. Judging by this coin, their minting technology is very advanced.”

Zhao Changfeng looked surprised at the ugly goblin’s face on the coin. Just as he was about to comment, Ye Feng snatched the coin from his hand.

Ye Feng, equally curious, shouted, “Wow, it really is a goblin! Just like the ones in the games!”

Xiao Yun calmly took the coin from Ye Feng, but before he could examine it closely, a broad-shouldered man with a blank expression approached, took the coin from Xiao Yun, and studied it carefully.

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This burly man had helped defend the cabin’s breach during the gnoll attack, though his assigned post had not been directly assaulted.

He held the coin in his hand, gazing at it intently. He even put it in his mouth, licking it with his tongue, then bit it lightly before nodding. “The minting craftsmanship is indeed exquisite, and the copper purity is very high. The quality matches or even surpasses that of the minting technology from the Republic of China era.”

Meng Xingchen’s expression shifted slightly. “Oh? You understand smelting and forging techniques?”

The man’s expression froze briefly, switching from focused to blank. He looked at the coin moistened with his saliva, wiped it awkwardly on his clothes, and seemed hesitant to return it but reluctant to let go.

Meng Xingchen smiled. “It’s fine. Keep the coin for your research.”

The man laughed awkwardly and said, “My name is Zhai Yao. I studied metallurgy in university and am very interested in manual forging. I’m a content creator on Bilibili, and I’ve awakened a forging talent.”

Meng Xingchen broke out in a cold sweat. This guy was reckless—awakening a non-combat talent and still volunteering to guard the cabin breach. Luckily, the gnolls didn’t target him, or he would probably be dead by now.

This was a technical expert, and with an awakened forging talent, no less—a rare find. Losing him to the gnolls would be a serious blow.

Meng Xingchen glanced at Tongtong in her mother’s arms, then at Zhai Yao, and finally at the wreckage of the plane. With these two around, his weapons could likely be upgraded. Future weapons and equipment would no longer be a worry.

Thinking of weapons, Meng Xingchen handed his longsword to Zhai Yao. “This was also purchased from the goblins. Take a look at the craftsmanship.”

He then said to Zhao Changfeng, “Captain Zhao, please organize people to gather and sort supplies. We should depart as soon as possible and return to Lijia Village before nightfall. It’s too dangerous to camp outside overnight.”

After speaking, Meng Xingchen estimated the distance traveled and shook his head internally. With so many people, returning before dark was impossible, but they still had to set out early. Although they would have to camp outdoors tonight, being closer to Lijia Village would reduce the chance of encountering high-level beasts.

At that moment, Zhai Yao handed the sword back to Meng Xingchen. “The forging craftsmanship isn’t remarkable—just for show, no real care put into it. But the material quality is good. Looks like the goblins not only excel at copper smelting but have also reached a certain level in ironworking.”

Meng Xingchen nodded and pointed to the plane wreckage. “With your skills, can you find materials there to forge me a better sword? Also, do you know how to make bows and crossbows?”

Zhai Yao shook his head. “There are many high-strength alloys on the plane, perfect for cold weapons, but we don’t have the tools now to forge these metals into what we want.”

Meng Xingchen smiled at Tongtong and said, “No, we can.”