During the journey of less than four hours, Lucheng encountered about three waves of attacks from blood crystal beasts along the way.
The three waves of blood crystal beasts were all huge wolves, but precisely because of their huge size, they became sitting ducks for Lu Cheng the moment they emerged from the forest.
After the Lucheng team repelled the group of blood crystal beasts, General Hubert, who had been frightened all the way, finally felt relieved.
If the Lucheng team hadn't existed, they would have been annihilated by the first wave of blood crystal beasts alone.
At the same time, General Hubert handed Lu Cheng a more reliable map.
This map is a magical item blessed with magical powers. On the map, the borders of the country of Scarre and its surrounding countries are outlined with lines made up of light of various colors.
The interesting thing is that these lines change in real time.
But these changes looked less interesting to General Hubert.
Because...their country's borders are shrinking.
The red light that Lu Cheng saw in the sky before was the border line of the country of Skare. Not only Skare, but all countries in the world define the size of their territory in this way.
This light comes from the crystal core of the earth veins beneath the country.
The more magic power stored in the earth vein crystal core, the larger the range covered by the light.
The magic power of the earth vein crystal core comes from the people of this country, and General Hubert couldn't explain exactly where it came from.
Simply put, the more people there are in a country, the more magic power there is in the earth vein crystal core, and the territory owned by the country will naturally expand outward.
People living under the light will receive a buff.
This is how Lu Cheng understood it. This buff would protect people from diseases, give them greater strength and reaction speed, and there would also be a certain chance of giving birth to great people with outstanding talents.
"Then how do you define your national identity?"
Lu Cheng placed the map on the storage table next to the gear shifter and asked the general.
In his narrative, General Hubert also mentioned what would happen if the army of another country invaded his own country's territory.
Then the foreign army will suffer a negative buff of easy fatigue and general weakness.
"The people of our country are blessed by the earth veins from birth." General Hubert showed Lu Cheng the mark on his forehead, a scarlet inverted triangle mark. "This is a mark that all the people of Skarre have. Everyone has a different mark."
"So who in your country wants to immigrate to other countries?" Lu Cheng asked another question that was a real blow to the old general.
"This..." General Hubert really didn't know how to answer Lu Cheng.
When the topic came to this, Lu Cheng could also see a collapsed city wall in the distance, and a large number of scavenger birds were circling in the sky.
Lu Cheng directly signaled Tiehuan to stop through the vehicle's radio, and at the same time he stepped on the brakes himself.
The Pioneer, which was driven by the iron ring behind him, stopped instantly and its engine gradually stopped running.
We have arrived at Huiri City.
"Mr. Lu Cheng, we were stationed in Huiri City a day ago. There were only some refugees who had lost their homes left." General Hubert said.
"You haven't encountered blood crystal beasts, robbers and the like?" Lu Cheng asked as he pulled the handbrake.
"Most of the blood crystal beasts in Huiri City have been attracted to the direction of the capital, but we cannot rule out the possibility that there are still a few wandering around."
"That's all."
Lu Cheng opened the door and jumped out of Pioneer No. 2. Lu Cheng observed the natives sitting in the other car. With the help of the picture, they all left the off-road vehicle.
As Lu Cheng expected, five out of the seven refugees successfully experienced the thrill of motion sickness.
"Lu Cheng, what happened to them?"
Princess Elena looked a little panicked as she saw the refugees looking depressed.
"Motion sickness is a symptom that people with poor physical fitness may experience when riding in a vehicle. It is normal to feel dizzy and nauseous, but the symptoms will subside soon... Well, you can understand that they have not experienced the test of this 'only' vehicle." Lu Cheng gave her a more scientific explanation.
"So, if you want to tame it, you have to go through a test? I don't have any symptoms of dizziness, which means I have passed its test and gained its recognition?"
Elena didn't understand the first half of Lu Cheng's explanation, so she focused on the latter part that she could understand.
She held the same awe for this off-road vehicle as for a powerful magical beast, but at the same time, after experiencing the "power" of this off-road vehicle, Elena also had a desire in her heart to tame such a magical beast.
"No, if you really want to master it, you have to pass the driving test, from subject one to subject four. It will be enough if you can get level C1." Lu Cheng ruthlessly extinguished the hope that was rising in the princess' heart.
"What happens after everything passes?" Elena immediately asked Lu Cheng.
It's over... Elena seemed determined to tame this kind of "monster". Although she didn't quite understand what Lu Cheng was saying, she still understood that she still needed to go through some other tests.
"You still need to prepare 800,000 yuan. This thing is a military vehicle. The civilian version will start at 500,000 yuan. Adding miscellaneous taxes, I'll give you 600,000 yuan." Lu Cheng answered the princess seriously.
"Eight hundred thousand? Lu Cheng, are you referring to the money in your country? It sounds... like it's very expensive."
The highest amount of money Elena had ever heard was thirty thousand, which was the price her mother quoted when she was negotiating a big business deal with people from a neighboring country many years ago.
"It's a lot for an ordinary family, but if you have a mine, it's not much at all. But this is not what we are discussing now."
"Illustrated, Iron Ring, you stay here to protect the civilians. Kite, you and I will go to the city ahead to conduct reconnaissance."
Lu Cheng gave orders to his team. At this time, Nuoyi ran to Lu Cheng's side and gently tugged at his sleeve.
"Leaving?" She raised the notebook in her hand and asked Lu Cheng.
"It won't take much time to just go and scout the city ahead," Lu Cheng said.
Nuoyi nodded slightly and wrote another line in the notebook.
'I will obey.'
"very good."
Lu Cheng ruffled Nuoyi's long silver-gray hair and carried her to the passenger seat.
After spending a short time with this obedient priest girl, Lu Cheng had the illusion that he had raised a daughter.
"We decided to take two soldiers who are still able to fight."
General Hubert counted the soldiers under his command and found that only two of them were still able to fight.
"We will walk into the city and try to be as stealthy as possible... Our goal is to find a building in the city where we can temporarily stay and rest. Do you understand?"
Lucheng conveyed the objectives of the operation to General Hubert and his soldiers.
"There is a well-preserved mining workshop in Huiri City. It can be used as a temporary station. I can lead the way." General Hubert said.