Chapter 180: Mysticism and Science

The territory of Guinness was indeed not large. Setting off by horse-drawn carriage in the morning and continuously advancing along the country's official road for a day, by dusk, the tall city walls of Guiying City, the capital of Guinness, were already distantly visible.

Of course, seeing it didn't mean it was very close. The coachmen deeply understood the principle of "seeing the mountain makes the horse run to death" (meaning a distant goal can be deceptively tiring to reach), so they rested for a while in a satellite city about fifteen kilometers from Guiying City.

This satellite city, called Yumu City, was located on the southwest side of Guiying City and was one of the capital's three major satellite cities, mainly producing flax and fish.

Yumu City was built by the river, and about one-fifth of the city's buildings were on the water, so the air was relatively more humid.

Before even entering the city, Silas, facing the setting sun, distantly saw continuous smoke and dust rising from the city.

"You outlanders should be careful. The one currently occupying Yumu City is the Duke of the Mountains. They've been strictly investigating spies from the imperial city here recently. Look, many people have already been executed!" the coachman said, pointing ahead.

Silas followed his finger and happened to see many people's corpses hanging from the tree trunks lining both sides of the road.

These people included men and women, old and young, all brutally killed, their necks strangled with ropes and hung from the tree trunks.

A rough glance showed at least fifty people.

The oldest here seemed to be around fifty years old, while the youngest looked to be only fifteen or sixteen.

"Is there evidence for killing these people?" Silas turned and asked.

The coachman shook his head and sighed, "In these times, what evidence is needed? If they think you're suspicious, they kill you. I've seen it many times. Some who fled here, because they carried too much money, were considered spies, killed, and then hung on trees. Some, because they carried too many books, were also considered spies. It's countless."

Silas clenched his fists. "And you still support the Duke of the Mountains after people like this?"

The coachman was silent for a moment, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then said in a low voice, "What choice do we have? The Duke of the Mountains was notoriously cruel before. But now, the royal family is colluding with monsters to turn us into sacrifices. We have no choice."

"Who did you hear this from?" Silas frowned slightly.

The coachman snorted. "Who else could I hear it from? The werewolves rampaging everywhere have already explained everything."

Hearing this, Silas fell into silence.

"Hurry up! It's getting dark; we need to enter the city quickly!" the coachman behind shouted, quickening his pace.

In the current territory of Guinness, nighttime was a forbidden zone for humans.

Silas was currently traveling with a grain transport convoy. There were six or seven other people hitching a ride with him, all from towns along the way, preparing to go to the capital.

Subsequently, a total of seven horse-drawn carriages gradually picked up speed.

Silas sat beside the coachman, looking at the city gate not far away. There were two inspection points.

One was for inspecting vehicles, and the other was for inspecting pedestrians.

There seemed to be at least fifty soldiers on both sides, all fully armed.

Just then, some commotion seemed to occur at the city gate. A young man in a grey trench coat was surrounded by a group of people with wary expressions.

The next second, the young man waved his hands, and two fireballs suddenly erupted, setting the surrounding soldiers ablaze.

"A mystic? And seemingly an expert-level one?" It was the first time Silas had seen such a strong flame ability.

The power of these flames was immense, and the city gate instantly fell into chaos.

"Foolish mortals! You have no idea what kind of existence stands before you, yet you dare to obstruct me!?" the young man said with an arrogant expression and a peremptory tone.

The soldiers in the distance, seeing this, hurriedly raised their rifles, aimed at the young man, and fired.

However, the young man muttered a few words in a low voice and waved his large hand.

A thick smoke spread out, not only concealing his form but also seeming to contain some kind of toxin. The surrounding soldiers who smelled it immediately rolled their eyes and fainted.

"Mere mortals dare to obstruct a descendant of dragons? Who gave you the courage?" the young man's arrogant voice came from the smoke and dust.

Just when the soldiers were at a loss.

Swish, swish, swish, swish…

A series of dense, fiery red projectiles suddenly flew out from inside the city gate.

These bullets were extremely dense; it seemed like dozens were fired in a second.

"Ignorance! Do you really think ordinary bullets can harm us mystics…"

Before the young man could finish, two huge bodies rushed out with superhuman speed, plunging headlong into the smoke.

Ahhhh! Piercing screams accompanied by heavy thudding sounds were heard.

A dozen seconds later, the smoke gradually dispersed. Under everyone's gaze, people saw two three-meter-tall giant steam robots emerge from the mist, holding ferocious greatswords larger than a human.

And the body of that previously arrogant mystic had been smashed to pieces by these two greatswords – flesh, bones, internal organs, scattered all over the ground, a miserable sight beyond words.

An expert-level mystic, just like that, was killed by two steam robots.

The surrounding pedestrians were very calm, as if all this was already commonplace.

Silas, sitting in the carriage, couldn't help but feel his heart beat faster a couple of times.

It was the first time he had seen steam robots in action, and their combat effectiveness in actual battle far exceeded his expectations.

"Fast! Accurate! Ruthless! Ignores mental attacks, high defense, great strength – this is simply designed to deal with mystics!" Silas was shocked.

The coachman beside him curled his lip. "These so-called mystics are nothing much. Legends exaggerate them to the heavens, talking about moving mountains and overturning seas, exorcising ghosts and communicating with gods. But in the end, they're no different from ordinary people! A volley of bullets, and they're gone."

Silas smiled. "Indeed! What mystics? Just bluffing!"

"No wonder mysticism is so developed in this world, yet technology is still so prosperous, even surpassing mysticism. This robot is a case in point. It is precisely such powerful technology that keeps this world in this steampunk era, without deviating into some kind of magical world."

Approaching the city gate, Silas and a few other passengers got off and went to the side to queue.

Standing in line, Silas saw that the search ahead was very meticulous, covering the body, backpacks, and many other aspects.

Silas secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing! I had foresight."

Having already anticipated a body search, Silas had hidden all his equipment among the goods on those trains while on the road. The location was absolutely secret; Silas was not at all worried about it being found.

Soon it was Silas's turn. After a detailed search, a soldier looked at Silas's identification.

After sizing up Silas's thin body and empty hands, he nodded slightly and let him pass.

The identification documents made by the Church were specially processed. Upon seeing them, there would be a subtle psychological suggestion, preventing the person checking the documents from having any suspicion or hostility towards Silas.

After passing the gatekeeper's inspection, Silas walked through the city gate.

Only after passing through the city gate did he see that the two steam robots were standing on either side inside the city gate, close to the city wall, completely invisible from the outside.

"Truly insidious!" Silas thought, looking at the bloodstains on the robots' greatswords.