Chapter Fifteen: Miluo Island
Miluo Island was a green island, with ancient trees standing everywhere. The fresh air filled Lin Lei and the others with a sense of refreshment. In the distance, castle-like buildings rose up, along with a number of lavish restaurants and other establishments. The broad streets teemed with a ceaseless flow of people.
Various strange races walked past Lin Lei at this moment—elves with pointed ears and greenish skin, or giant whale warriors with faint scales visible on their faces. Although one could transform into human form after reaching the god level, some exotic races had aesthetic standards that differed from humans. Even in human form, they retained features they were proud of—foxkin tails, sea folk scales, and the like.
Lin Lei had long grown used to such sights. He turned and smiled at Dilia and the others. "We've been traveling by sea for a long time now. Let's head to a restaurant first, and then go to the Battle Arena and the Free Fortress later—there's no rush." Lin Lei had been curious about the legendary "Battle Arena" for a long time, and here he could witness bouts between truly powerful fighters. How could he pass up such an opportunity?
"As Master Lin Lei says," the round-faced Eliq said cheerfully.
Hearing this, Lin Lei understood that ever since his battle against Gan Mengting, he had become the team's默认 leader. That was the way of Hell—strength commanded respect.
"Hey, Boss, look at that group in the blood-red armor—they're all Highgods." Bei Bei immediately pointed to a spot not far away.
Lin Lei and the others quickly turned to look. Sure enough, in the bustling stream of pedestrians on the street, three men clad in blood-red armor were walking along. The crimson armor bore some unusual patterns that Lin Lei couldn't decipher. As these three warriors moved through the street, the surrounding people deliberately kept their distance, clearly not daring to offend them.
The big-bearded Beitz hurriedly said, "Lin Lei, those are Miluo Island's private garrison soldiers. You absolutely must not offend them. Every single one of them is a Highgod, and there are a great many of them. Over the countless years, hardly anyone has dared to cause trouble on Miluo Island."
"Understood," Lin Lei replied with a faint smile.
An island's private soldiers were far more elite than the Star Corps or the Governor's troops. And Miluo Island had flourished for countless ages. The person behind Miluo Island was enough to leave Lin Lei in awe.
"Hm?" Dilia beside him furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "Beitz, I remember you saying that Miluo Island is divided into the East Island and the West Island. On the East Island, only the 'Battle Arena' and the 'Free Fortress' are under martial law. Fighting elsewhere should be fine, and there shouldn't be garrison soldiers patrolling, right?"
Before arriving at Miluo Island, Lin Lei's group had been briefed on its rules by Beitz, who was well acquainted with them. On the East Island, only the "Battle Arena" and "Free Fortress"—
"That wasn't a patrol. Those three soldiers are probably on leave," the big-bearded Beitz said with a laugh. "Besides, when Miluo Island soldiers patrol, each squad has ten people, not three!"
Chatting as they went, Lin Lei and his group ventured deeper into Miluo Island. The island was truly enormous—hundreds of thousands of miles across, many times larger than Lin Lei's homeland, the Yulan Continent. Fortunately, their traveling speed far exceeded that of ordinary mortals, so the distance wasn't too daunting.
"That restaurant is quite good. I ate there last time." Beitz pointed at an olive-colored classical building ahead.
"Sure, we'll trust you on that." Bei Bei grinned and was the first to dash toward the restaurant's entrance. Lin Lei and the rest naturally followed with smiles. But as they reached the entrance, Lin Lei did a double take.
Posted right next to the doorway was a notice:
"Any diner who engages in fighting or killing within this restaurant must pay ten thousand ink stones. Each chair destroyed incurs a charge of one hundred ink stones, each table destroyed—
"What—what's this?" Lin Lei had never seen such a thing posted outside a restaurant before. Olivia read through it with interest. "Talk about greedy. A chair or a table is probably not even worth a single ink stone, and they charge that much. And for spilled food—ten times the cost?"
Eliq laughed. "That's the Miluo Island way. After all, fighting and killing are strictly prohibited in a normal city. But on Miluo Island, aside from those two places, fighting is allowed just about everywhere. At least, the garrison soldiers won't interfere. But the alliance formed by all these restaurants, hotels, and other service establishments—they will step in."
An alliance formed by restaurants, hotels, and other service establishments? Lin Lei was somewhat taken aback.
"They won't be too heavy-handed, but once a fight breaks out, you have to pay up. If you don't pay, then they'll use force." Eliq sighed in admiration. "If I were the owner, I'd actually hope someone would start a fight so I could collect the fees."
Special places had special rules.
"How interesting," Lin Lei remarked, and then entered the restaurant. It was spacious, with quite a few patrons. Lin Lei's group went up to the second floor and split into two tables. Lin Lei and a few others chose seats by the window and sat down. The bill would, of course, be covered by Eliq.
"This silver-weave fish is incredibly tender—it practically melts the moment it enters your mouth," Bei Bei exclaimed in delight, scooping piece after piece of fish into his mouth with a spoon and crying out, "So good, so good!"
"This Bei Bei…" Lin Lei and Dilia also savored the rare fine meal.
"You can't be serious? How is that possible!"
"I'm not lying—this is absolutely true. On the sea route from Blue Maple City on the紫荆 Continent to Miluo Island, every single major bandit force has been wiped out. Those bandit groups have scattered and fallen apart!"
Lin Lei was stunned. All the large bandit organizations along the route from Blue Maple City to Miluo Island had been destroyed? Who could have done such a thing? He turned to look and saw two men drinking and talking. The one with long golden hair was speaking animatedly.
"Believe it or not, I have a good brother who was a bandit. He witnessed with his own eyes a black-haired man sweeping through their Lanshan Island. All eleven Highgods on the island, including the leader, were killed. That black-haired man only unleashed a single strike! My brother and the other ordinary bandits immediately scattered and fled. The expert probably couldn't be bothered to chase down ordinary Midgods."
Their conversation was overheard by many nearby patrons, who began discussing it among themselves. It was clear that the destruction of so many bandit groups was no longer a secret.
"It's true. About a month ago, the Highgods among the bandits on Green Shark Island—only one escaped. The rest were all killed."