After his teammate left, Ji Xun cautiously headed towards the direction of the campfire.
He climbed down a rusty ladder, and from midway, he could already overlook the bustling camp.
The campfire dispersed the mist, and the camp was bustling with people.
It was a mechanical town, with treasure hunters piecing together tall steel walls using iron plates and massive rivets salvaged from the ruins, as if patching them up.
The town was brightly lit, teeming with people—an estimated tens of thousands. Almost every building had chimneys puffing out smoke.
Ji Xun had already suspected that the steam technology in this world was somewhat skewed, and now his suspicions were confirmed.
He spotted the town's steam train, a behemoth of iron, with large mechanical arms loading various goods. Even the workers carrying the goods wore odd-looking mechanical exoskeletons, enabling them to lift tons of weight with ease.
Worried that his attire might attract unwanted attention, Ji Xun observed the hunters' outfits in the camp. He realized his concern was unnecessary.
A tactical vest and boots were common attire.
Seven or eight out of ten hunters were dressed similarly, with their gas masks looking almost identical.
Relieved, Ji Xun descended the ladder and landed on the ground.
He approached the camp; its gates were wide open. Several hunters on the watchtower lazily scanned the area.
As long as there wasn't a monster attack, nobody cared who entered the camp.
---
Many people were coming and going, excitedly discussing various stories about the ruins.
Ji Xun blended into the crowd and entered the camp without any trouble.
This camp was established for exploring the ruins, and all its facilities catered to the hunters.
Card shops, gun shops, mechanical modification shops, potion shops, material shops...all sorts of supply shops.
Ji Xun passed by these shops, eyeing the array of guns and personal mechanical equipment with envy.
He had previously thought his revolver was decent, but now it seemed basic in comparison.
Even the bullets came in dozens of varieties: armor-piercing rounds, magic-breaking rounds, demon-expelling rounds, incendiary rounds...
He glanced at the price tags outside the shops:
- **Armor-Piercing Rounds**: ¥3
- **High-Explosive Grenades**: ¥300
- **M127 Revolver**: ¥1300
- **Double-Barreled Demon-Hunting Gun**: ¥2550
- **Single-Soldier Mechanical Exoskeleton (800KG)**: ¥
Clearly marked prices.
His own large-caliber revolver was only worth 1300 yuan, while more refined equipment could easily cost tens of thousands.
There were also daggers, leather armor, tactical boots, grappling hooks...
In short, with enough money, one could buy a full set of superior adventure gear.
Hunters, whose gear was their livelihood, naturally didn't skimp on expenses. These shops were filled with various hunters.
Ji Xun continued walking, bought a tactical backpack, and updated some essential equipment.
He didn't even look at the mechanical exoskeletons—too expensive and too conspicuous.
He walked further to the camp's core, where a large shop with a sign reading "Hessen Trading Company's Card House" was located.
The shop had a beautifully crafted glass window displaying various magical cards.
- **Wind Blade Card**: ¥3000
- **Explosion Card**: ¥5000
- **Arcane Volley**: ¥
- **Second-Tier Hellfire**: ¥
Most of the cards in the display were one-time-use skill cards, blank containment cards, energy cards, and various mysterious spirit and weapon cards.
Ji Xun glanced at them but didn't enter the shop, thinking, "So it's because they're expensive."
He had seen Chu Jiu and those mercenaries use a few magical cards in the different-dimensional space.
But they used them sparingly.
Mostly, they relied on firearms.
Now, seeing the prices, he understood why.
Magical cards were indeed much more powerful than firearms and could meet various combat needs.
But their prices were exorbitant.
A grenade cost only 300 yuan, whereas a first-tier **Explosion Card** cost 5000 yuan.
The physical damage was similar, but the price difference was more than tenfold.
It made sense.
Firearms could be mass-produced in factories, and with this world's advanced steam technology, manufacturing costs were undoubtedly low.
Magical cards involved magic and magical containment, which seemed to require manual crafting.
Expensive for a reason.
And magical cards' potential was evidently higher.
Grenades were already one of the most powerful single-soldier weapons, comparable to the lowest-tier cards in terms of power.
Those exorbitantly priced high-tier cards, judging by their names, were incredibly powerful and had extraordinary magical effects.
For instance, a **Chain Lightning** card priced at tens of thousands of yuan.
Its skill effect was to instantly deal group lightning damage and paralysis to targets in range.
Manipulating lightning with one's body?
In his previous life, even advanced technology struggled with that.
Ji Xun was amazed and excited about the extraordinary powers humans could wield in this world.
There was also a potion shop next door, offering similarly wondrous alchemical potions.
Ji Xun nearly got dizzy reading the labels on those potions. He picked a few essential basic potions and didn't linger.
High-tier potions also had one thing in common: they were expensive!
Ji Xun only had a small amount of cash he had scavenged from mercenary corpses.
He simply couldn't afford high-level potions.
He wasn't yet clear about the price levels in this world, nor did he know about the purchasing power.
But he quickly found a reference point.
There was a shabby tavern in the camp, where a group of hunters were eating, drinking, and chatting.
As Ji Xun walked down the street, he took a look. Black bread cost 15 per piece, and drinking water was 3 per liter.
Not too expensive.
After walking for so long, he was also hungry. He took out some money and bought a piece of black bread as long as his arm.
It felt a bit like a baseball bat in his hand, hard as a rock.
He tried it.
To be honest, apart from the hardness that could potentially chip a tooth, the taste was not bad.
After biting into it, the carbohydrates were broken down by his saliva, and a sweet aroma swept across his taste buds.
It was like compressed biscuits from his previous life, where texture wasn't a concern, and the priority was to meet energy needs.
Ji Xun took a few bites and soon felt sufficiently energized.
Everything in the Demon Cross Camp was new to Ji Xun.
As a newcomer, if possible, he planned to wander around or maybe sit in the tavern for a while.
Listening to what people were talking about could help him understand what this world was like.
But now was clearly not the time.
Ji Xun bought some supplies and hurriedly walked towards the train station behind the camp.
As he walked, his peripheral vision was constantly observing.
The camp was about the size of a small town, not too big, and he soon arrived at the train station.
It was a very simple platform, appearing like an ancient relic, with signs of age everywhere.
The station was bustling with people.
Workers were busy loading various materials found in the ruins onto the train, and treasure hunters who had reaped bountiful rewards were also boarding the train in groups, grinning from ear to ear.
After a treasure hunt, as long as they survived, they certainly made a profit.
The hunters would take this train back to Sinless City and then spend a long time indulging in pleasure.
Ji Xun's observation skills were exceptionally sharp. As soon as he arrived, he immediately noticed something unusual.
"People from the Blackwater Mercenary Group."
Among the bustling crowd, Ji Xun immediately spotted a few individuals with unusual expressions.
While other hunters were eager to get on the train, these people were scanning the crowd with their peripheral vision, as if searching for something.
Ji Xun wasn't sure if those guys were looking for him.
But even if they were, their information was probably very limited. They might only know: a man and a woman?
Previously in the interdimensional space, he had worn a gas mask, and that fourth young master from the Cao family hadn't seen his face clearly. There weren't many clues exposed.
As long as he didn't give himself away, the chances of being discovered were low.
However, this world did have extraordinary powers.
Ji Xun didn't dare to be careless.
He mimicked the light, joyful steps of the other passengers, blending into the crowd, walking confidently towards the train without a hint of hesitation.