Chapter 11 Settling by the Coast

...

I wandered around the small town for a day.

I bought many local miscellaneous books, which Lin Suo devoured several at once.

Gradually, he became very familiar with the customs and people of Dan Dong.

After careful consideration.

Apart from the capital, which is a real gold cave, the place most saturated with a wizard atmosphere is a city by the sea.

Its name is Koster.

According to travel tales, this coastal city is ruled jointly by three wizard forces.

They often collaborate to develop offshore resources.

They even occasionally venture on long voyages.

Equipped with super-large docks and numerous shipping companies, it has developed transportation, abundant resources, and is truly an excellent place for development.

In this era, due to the presence of wizards.

And because they never hide from ordinary people.

Technological development is very slow, with almost no room for survival, but many bizarre industries greatly enhance Lin Suo's imagination.

For example, natural clothing grown from plants.

Trees that bear sausages, tree people who clean the city, construction expert giant life forms, and so on.

Wizards revere truth, and seek it earnestly.

Just like scientists in a fantasy world, studying any extraordinary power, they like to get to the root of it, and for wizards, knowledge is power.

Powerful wizards must possess equally vast reserves of knowledge.

Every official wizard is a scholar.

As Lin Suo learns more about wizards, the more he aspires to become one.

By taking some kind of life-transformed aquatic vehicle.

It took seven days.

Lin Suo, wearing an oval brimmed hat, carrying a handbag, dressed in a clean black cinched waistcoat, stepped off the submarine vessel shaped like an octopus.

Arriving at this city filled with the scent of the sea—Koster!

Compared to the octopus ship behind him, the initially curious bi-horse biological vehicle was merely a little trick compared to a great feat.

Only after traveling these days and truly arriving at a place where wizards prevail, did he feel truly enlightened.

Black fishbones in the shape of a '7' stand by the roadside.

Hanging a quartz crystal that can absorb sunlight, storing energy during the day, providing light at night.

The main city roads, wide enough for five vehicles to drive side by side, are extremely broad, paved with bluestone slabs, closely fitted without any gaps, and adorned with sparkling, dazzling fish scales.

Colorful, to the utmost splendor.

The buildings and shops on both sides, each has its own style.

There's an Elf fruit shop, entirely wooden, wrapped with lots of vines; white flowers resembling narcissus bloom on the vines, filling the air with fragrance.

There are also Goblin-style little houses, selling items similar to technological products, but they are alchemy tech, entirely different from modern technology.

The shops are decorated with lots of gears, and two giant life forms stand at the entrance to boost the shop's front.

And the shops opened by Half-Beasts mainly consist of restaurants, supplemented by butcher's shops, seafood, and so on, with a rough and uninhibited style.

Coupled with human-style exquisite architecture, the whole Koster Coastal City, simply offers a different scene at every step.

This surprised and excited him immensely.

Lin Suo immediately found a guide, and while listening to his introduction, headed towards the official departments.

His ID was still the one from Carl.

To reside in Koster for a long time, it needed some modifications.

Fortunately, he bore the appearance of a Dan Dong person, and did not encounter any difficulties.

When he first landed and saw bodies of Westerners strewn about, he was worried for a while, but now he felt somewhat relieved.

Indeed, times have changed.

After completing the residency registration and paying a portion of the money, he immediately received local identification documents.

The name Rhein Lin was engraved on them, along with the address of his "hometown," a small fishing village...

He paid the guide a fee of five copper coins, and Lin Suo was led to a full-board inn, costing one silver per day, expensive yet not as much as he expected.

Koster probably had numerous maritime merchants, adopting a low-profit, high-volume strategy, and such transit hubs—the inns—were always fully occupied.

Lin Suo booked for three days.

After settling his luggage, he went out.

Knowledge from books is never a substitute for personal experience.

After conducting a field study, Lin Suo gained a basic understanding of the city.

Firstly, the three Great Wizard factions and the Empire's official departments both absolutely dominated the ruling class, especially because all three Wizard factions were squeezed in here.

The Empire's officials were still in a weaker position.

The whole city was divided into six districts.

Upper City where nobles and tycoons lived (Dan Dong merchants had nobility titles), Administration District where officials resided, Meiko District (Mixed Blood District) where different races and humans lived together, Phil District where social elites and commoners mixed, Nearshore District inhabited by the poor and fishermen, and finally, the Dock District.

Calculated by land area, from largest to smallest.

Upper City—Meiko District (Mixed Blood District)—Phil District—Dock District—Nearshore District (Poverty District)—Administration District.

Size doesn't indicate quality.

The Nearshore District was rife with gang activity and Wild Wizard sightings, often capturing helpless poor people for witchcraft transformation experiments.

Due to racial Talents, the Meiko District housing various racial organizations was also a significant force in Koster's Coastal City, holding Extraordinary Power.

Various guilds in the Dock District, shipping companies, connected with the ordinary elites of Phil District, usually had backing and were not to be messed with.

And as for the Upper City and Administration District, needless to say, they were basically off-limits to troublemakers.

All things considered, Phil District and Meiko District were most suitable for him to reside in.

The former was safe, with his Upper Knight's Power, he was well-protected.

The latter was convenient, suitable for him to engage with the cultures and talents of various races, whether for practical application or for communication and gathering information, it was the most appropriate place.

However, his assets were still 99% short of buying a house; gathering wealth was the urgent priority.

Regarding the three Great Wizard factions.

Aside from names, Lin Suo didn't uncover any secrets, not even knowing where their headquarters were located.

He only knew about the Late Bell Church, White Tower, Ocean Academy—three entities.

He heard about some famous Wild Wizards in the city, but it wasn't much.

According to his plan, initially, he intended to conquer these Otherworld people with Chinese craftsmanship.

Unfortunately, the restaurant business was monopolized by Half-Beasts, a race different from the brutal Beastmen but inherited their abnormal physique, matched with some kind of witchcraft transformation, very strong.

With Wizard factions backing them, it was not a good sector to meddle in.

And as a second option, the medicine trade was also monopolized by a certain power; selling small amounts of strong aphrodisiacs, tonics, wound medicine, etc. was still okay.

If accumulating wealth on a larger scale.

He would definitely be swept clean.

Lin Suo thought it over, and any lucrative opportunities were basically monopolized by various powers within the city.

If he were to actively seek cooperation.

He feared the inequality in positions would lead to forced buying and selling, and damn it, he couldn't even produce the formula, so he would be stuck.

Inside the inn.

Lin Suo sat on the bed and sighed, being unrooted and powerless, the difficulty of developing in this stable place was enormous.

He could only cheat now.

Forced into a corner, he had no choice but to take a darker turn.