"Alert..."
A shout came from the front of the caravan. Everyone dismounted, and those by the boatman nocked arrows, aiming at a large bird flying overhead.
The bird's wingspan was a full ten meters wide. As it flew from the sky, it seemed to blot out the sun, leaving Ning Beichen stunned.
As far as he knew, the largest birds in his own world weren't this big!
It was truly terrifying, no wonder they said humans were not the masters of this world.
Could such colossal creatures rule?
At this moment, the bird swooped down like a fighter jet. Upon landing, its claws dug into the ground, leaving several deep scratches.
It then snatched up a giant deer and took to the air. Clearly, the giant bird's target was these giant deer, not the boatman and his crew.
After all, to a giant bird ten meters long, humans were far too small, barely a mouthful, so they wouldn't bother hunting them.
"Fire!"
After the boatman and his men dodged, he gave the order, and seven or eight arrows shot towards the giant bird in the sky.
The giant bird flapped its wings, blowing away all the arrows aimed at it. Then, it flew higher and higher with the giant deer in its claws, quickly disappearing.
The boatman and his men could do nothing. This giant bird was not the first time they had encountered it. It was cunning and difficult to attack, so they could only try to drive it away.
The lost giant deer was carrying cargo. The giant bird not only took the deer but also a portion of the goods.
Though they were pained, they could only accept their misfortune.
Actually, Ning Beichen could have intervened to stop the giant bird just now, but he decided to play it safe and avoid any unnecessary trouble at this time.
Fortunately, the boatman and his crew had anticipated such a situation when they set out, so they didn't panic too much. They quickly calmed down, tidied their belongings, and continued on their way.
However, it wasn't long before their caravan encountered trouble again. First, it was the giant bird; this time, it was bandits blocking the road to rob them.
And these bandits were not weak. They swarmed forward to block the road and rob them. Fortunately, the boatman's crew was also quite strong and quickly repelled the bandits. Ning Beichen also provided considerable assistance from the shadows.
At this point, Ning Beichen understood how difficult it was for humans to survive in this world. One wrong move and they could lose their lives.
Fortunately, the rest of the journey was uneventful, and they finally arrived safely at a large human city.
Although Ning Beichen had been mentally prepared and had heard a general description of this human city from the boatman's daughter, seeing it in person still left him in awe.
Putting aside everything else, the city walls, hundreds of meters high, were enough to shock Ning Beichen. How high were hundred-meter-tall walls? To give a more intuitive comparison, it was equivalent to a thirty-four-story building.
And along the city walls, there was a guard post every ten meters, with multiple ten-meter-tall giant crossbows placed outside each post.
It was said that these giant crossbows were used to deal with invaders and the giant birds in the sky.
In the face of this colossal city, humans looked as tiny as ants.
Ning Beichen followed the boatman into the city. At the city gate, many heavily armored soldiers were stationed.
These heavily armored soldiers were about two and a half meters tall on average, making Ning Beichen, who was just over one meter eighty, seem like a dwarf in front of them.
After the boatman paid some local currency, the guards at the gate allowed them to enter without any hassle.
Inside, it was a vast city, but it didn't have the skyscrapers of Ning Beichen's world. The tallest buildings here were only three stories high, and most of them were wooden structures.
The development pattern of the cities here was the same as in Ning Beichen's world: a stark disparity between the rich and the poor. The wealthy lived in good houses in desirable areas.
Those without money lived in squalid slums, and many even lacked shelter, making survival extremely difficult.
Ning Beichen took this in stride, as he believed that class structures existed in any world. Even in higher dimensions, not just among humans, but across entire ecosystems, true equality was an impossibility.
Upon arriving here, Ning Beichen began to bid farewell to the boatman, which had been his goal all along.
When the boatman saw Ning Beichen about to leave, he not only didn't try to keep him but also seemed relieved. He even gave Ning Beichen some money, as if eager for him to leave immediately.
Of course, all this was done with the boatman and Ning Beichen intentionally concealing it from his daughter. Ning Beichen didn't want to cause trouble, and the boatman didn't want his daughter to be involved with this person.
Ning Beichen bowed to the boatman and left without looking back.
Honestly, the boatman had treated him quite well. At least during this time, he had food and shelter, and he wasn't mistreated.
Although the boatman wasn't particularly warm towards him, saving him, letting him board, and providing him with free food and lodging for so long already made him a very good person.
Ning Beichen couldn't repay him now, but he would do so once he had established himself.
Leaving the boatman, Ning Beichen entered the city. For him now, the first priority was to find a place to live and then try to gather information.
However, all this required money. Although the boatman had given him some, he had inquired about the local prices and realized his money was far from enough.
In other words, he needed to find a way to earn money to stay here. Martial prowess was a last resort for Ning Beichen.
However, Ning Beichen was confident that with his abilities, he could earn money here.
He had already learned that there were teams in the city that specialized in hunting large prey outside the city. If all else failed, he would join such a profession; he wouldn't starve.
Moreover, this would be a good opportunity for him to understand the strength of the humans here. Knowing oneself and the enemy is the key to victory.
The money the boatman gave him was not much, and Ning Beichen couldn't afford to rent a house. It would last him at most three days in the city.
Therefore, after checking into a room at an inn, Ning Beichen immediately went to look for work.
As someone from another world, arriving here, there were few jobs he could do.
As for simpler jobs, like being a cleaner or a waiter in a restaurant, Ning Beichen had no interest. He was unfamiliar with them, and they paid very little. Ning Beichen needed to make money quickly, and a lot of it.
He had to integrate into this world as quickly as possible and find a way back to his own. That was what he wanted to do, not waste time here.