Chapter 320: Selling Scraps

The Dome.

Even from this distance, it was impossible to mistake.

A massive city stretched across the horizon, surrounded by towering walls of pale stone and ancient architecture. At its center stood a colossal crystalline structure, rising far above the surrounding buildings like a giant shard driven into the earth.

But what truly caught Leon’s attention was the barrier surrounding the entire city.

It wasn’t a simple dome.

Countless translucent blue crystals were embedded along the city’s outer walls, forming an intricate network of glowing veins. From each crystal, faint streams of blue light traveled upward before converging high above the city, creating a vast, shimmering barrier that curved over the entire settlement.

The barrier was almost transparent, allowing the silhouettes of towers and buildings to be seen beneath it.

Yet there was something strangely beautiful about it.

Under the sunlight, the countless crystals scattered across the walls reflected the light like fragments of frozen sky, making the entire city appear as though it had been sealed inside an enormous glass fortress.

He stared at the translucent shield for a few seconds, then lowered his gaze. He took off his clothes until he was only wearing his underwear.

Then, he took out a bowl containing blue liquid on the inside. This had been made by squeezing out the juice of a fruit that seemed like blueberry but was obviously not one.

After mixing and letting it ferment for days, it had now become thick and suitable for use. He began rubbing it over his body, painting his skin blue. He made sure every part of his exposed body was covered in it, and he patiently waited until it dried.

He rubbed his arm vigorously with his thumb, checking to see if it would easily peel off. Thankfully, it didn’t.

Finally satisfied, he put on his clothes again before draping a black cloak over himself. Carrying a makeshift backpack filled with useless metal scraps and pieces of his destroyed armor, he set out towards the dome.

The translucent shield that protected the dome was special. It wasn’t designed to keep everything out. Instead, it was specifically tailored to keep out parasites and their hosts.

Leon passed through it without feeling any changes in his body. He looked back at the shield, then continued on his way.

To his surprise, there were several beasts inside the Dome that had fled there for safety.

The Vaelari also didn’t mindlessly hunt them. Instead, they let them live in the wilderness around the city. They weren’t sparing the beasts, though. They were raising them.

The beasts had run to them for protection from parasites, but they had to gamble on being able to escape whenever a Vaelari set his sights on them.

Leon shook his head as he passed through the small forest. He could hear a few distant roars—signs that beasts were being actively hunted in the forest.

He did not stop, as he felt no curiosity. Instead, he headed straight to the city.

As he drew close, he finally saw the gates leading inside the city. There were three main gates several hundred meters away from each other. Each one had a different use, and Leon immediately deduced their uses.

The central gate was for civilians to pass through, while the east gate was for merchants with goods they had scavenged from the old cities. As for the west gate, it was reserved for the military to respond to emergency situations.

Leon only paused for a brief moment before heading towards the gate on the right. As he moved closer, he met several caravans pushing bricks and special wood towards the gates. There were also other Vaelari around, but they only gave him a passing glance before looking away.

Leon also didn’t pay attention to them. Instead, he scanned the crowd, gauging their strength. Most of them were unranked while a few were Tier One. As for Tier Two Evolvers, only one old woman who looked like a witch was present.

’Okay...’

He shifted his gaze to the watchtower by the east gate, noticing people at the top, scanning the crowd. Leon maintained a calm expression and moved with the others.

Soon, they arrived at the gate and had to form a line. Leon fell into place, his backpack strapped tightly. After a few minutes, it was his turn.

A guard called him over and asked him to put down his bag. The man searched through it, finding only metal scraps.

"Storage rings?" He asked, glancing at Leon.

The young man shook his head, raising his hands to show them his empty fingers.

Already used to this, the guard just passed him off and returned the bag to him. "You can go."

Leon nodded and walked through the gates, finally stepping into the city. Unlike the gloomy atmosphere he expected, the people inside were quite cheerful.

He had entered the market area, and it felt like any market on Earth. Buyers and sellers argued over price, a shop owner chased away kids crowding his shop, and another man gladly called them over, handing them what appeared to be candies.

Leon stared at them for a moment, then looked around again. He had a goal in mind, and that was to sell the metal scraps he had gathered.

After all, if he wanted to properly infiltrate this place, he needed money. Clicking his tongue, he headed to one of the shops that caught his eyes.

A chubby old man with just a few strands of beard hair turned to him, smiling. "Oh, adventurer! What did you get to bring here today?"

Leon emptied the bag on the counter, sneakily taking his storage ring back from the pile. The old man began examining the scraps, checking for weight and quality.

After a while, he smiled. "Most of this is just common metal, but there are a few good ones here. For everything, I’ll pay you a hundred nen."

Leon’s eyes narrowed. "Three hundred."

The man froze in shock. He hadn’t expected Leon to counter immediately, and with such a high price.

He glared at the young man, growling. "Three hundred? Just for this? Keep joking."

Leon remained unfazed by his glare. Having learned about their currency from Merlin, Leon wasn’t naive.

The old man was trying to extort him.

Opening up his bag, he began packing his metal scraps into it. Once he was done, he picked up the bag and turned around, ready to go to another shop.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait!"