"Cough..."
The two middle-aged men, who had been looking somewhat impatient, immediately broke into smiles upon seeing Hua Zi.
"Young man, you're new here, aren't you!"
The burly middle-aged man, missing his left ear, pointed at Hua Zi and took a puff. "This City of Arcanum is surrounded by a sea of zombies. Entry requires passing through a teleportation array!"
"And some people, not wanting to pay for the teleportation array, thought they could use flying machines to fly directly into the City of Arcanum!"
"But this City of Arcanum, being the strongest of the seven major powers, isn't a place you can just waltz into!"
As he spoke, the middle-aged man missing his left ear took another puff of Hua Zi, his face full of intoxication.
"Kid, you were lucky just now. The flying machine you were on was powered by arcane energy. Upon reaching the no-fly zone of the City of Arcanum, only its arcane energy was drained!"
The middle-aged man missing his right ear chimed in, "If it were a normal flying machine, like those airships or small helicopters, it would have been shot down directly!"
"Bang! Boom!"
As the middle-aged man missing his right ear finished speaking, another explosion echoed from the sky. Another flying machine had been blown to pieces.
"Arcane energy cannons and guns, perhaps... I don't see anyone..."
Ye Feng squinted, a slight frown creasing his brow.
"Kid, the defenses of the City of Arcanum were personally set up by the City Lord. They are unmanned and react automatically!"
The middle-aged man missing his left ear spoke again.
"Hey, you guys, what are you dawdling for? We're about to start work!"
Just as Ye Feng was about to ask further, a gruff male voice boomed from the crowd gathering ahead.
"Manager Zhao, coming right up, coming right up!"
Hearing the voice, the middle-aged man missing his ears could no longer bother with Ye Feng. He pinched out his half-smoked Hua Zi, put it in his pocket, and quickly ran over.
"Big brother, this should be the outskirts of the City of Arcanum. It's still quite a distance from that tall, imposing city wall!"
At this moment, Xiao Xiao, who was observing with binoculars, spoke up.
"This place is likely within a massive formation. Due to the immense formation, the zombies can only stay within a certain range, only able to roam at the edges of the formation,"
"Those long channels lined with numerous blue stones that we see should extend from the city wall of the City of Arcanum..."
"Apart from allowing people and vehicles to move in an orderly fashion, these channels also serve to separate the surrounding zombie hordes. Many young adventurers are forming teams and killing zombies along the sides of these channels... It looks like training..."
Qiao Ying continued.
"The stones lining these channels seem quite hard. The adventurers' cleavers leave no trace on them!"
Ye Feng noticed many young adventurers using the blue stones of the channels as cover, dispatching zombies with various cold weapons. Sharp swords, iron hammers, and the like struck or smashed against the blue stones, yet left no marks.
"Kid, that's Blue Steel, a unique ore from the City of Arcanum. It's much harder than diamond. Bullets just bounce off it!"
"Blue Steel reacts to arcane energy, making it very suitable for cooperation with arcane formations, especially powerful ones!"
"Look, those zombies can only reach up to the outside of the Blue Steel. This is the result of the cooperation between Blue Steel and the arcane formation!"
At this point, a burly middle-aged man carrying a large saber on his back walked over, smiling at Ye Feng. "Kid, want to join our Grizzly Adventure Team? The benefits are generous, and you can enter and exit the City of Arcanum for free once a day!"
"Uh, no thank you..."
Ye Feng waved his hand speechlessly.
The burly man didn't get angry. He walked over to another young man. "Kid, I've got my eye on you. Want to join us...?"
Similar situations were not uncommon. Many adventure teams were recruiting personnel...
"Let's go!"
With that, Ye Feng strode towards the direction of the City of Arcanum's gate, with Xiao Xiao and Qiao Ying quickly following.
...
As there were quite a lot of people heading to the City of Arcanum, it took another two hours. Around two in the afternoon, Ye Feng and his companions finally reached the city gate.
Before them stretched a dense crowd and an extraordinarily tall city wall. In the center of the wall was a massive iron gate, over 30 meters high and about 30 meters wide. Currently, the gate was only half-open.
"~Jigulu~ Owoo Owoo!~!"
As Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying were queuing to pass through the gate of the City of Arcanum, strange cries suddenly erupted from the entrance.
"Let go of me, let go of me! I'm not infected, I wasn't bitten by a zombie!"
Following the strange cries, a thin middle-aged man's voice, filled with terror, was heard.
Ye Feng looked towards the source and saw someone in a nearby queue being apprehended by guards.
Beside the guards was a colorful, beautiful creature that looked quite similar to a rooster, with a sharp beak and sharp claws. The strange cries Ye Feng had heard earlier came from it.
"Tear!"
A guard ripped the sleeve of the thin middle-aged man's arm, revealing a blackened, rotting wound for all to see.
"Damn it, already infected by zombies, and you still..."
The guard spoke to the thin middle-aged man expressionlessly.
"I'm going, I'm going!"
The thin middle-aged man stood up and slowly walked towards a passage. Suddenly, he sharply changed direction, his once dim eyes now filled with madness and ferocity. He lunged rapidly towards a skinny child with a slightly sallow complexion.
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out. A hole appeared in the thin middle-aged man's head, and he slowly fell to the ground.
Subsequently, two burly men, their noses and mouths covered with cloth, dragged the thin middle-aged man away.
"Listen up, everyone infected by the zombie virus, come out and leave. Don't think you can sneak through!"
"The scouted Rainbow Chicken has an extremely strong perception of the zombie virus. Even if you were just bitten by a zombie, it can sense it!"
"Three people have tried to sneak through today. If we find another, regardless of the degree of infection, they will be killed on the spot!"
At this moment, someone emerged from a watchtower at the city gate and shouted through a loudspeaker.
As the voice fell, three to five people from the queue stepped out on their own accord and were quickly led towards a passage under the guards' supervision.
Soon, the halted queue began to move again due to the attempted deception by those infected with the zombie virus.
...