Chapter 215 - Fort Yano

<Author's note: The things (racism, s.e.xism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only work of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>

"50% diluted Healing Potions for only 98 RT! Cheapest price you'll ever find and the quality is guaranteed! Come buy right away!"

Full [Small] Healing Potion for only 197 RT here! This is the cheapest price! Come buy it right away before it's too late! We also sell Repair Kits for only 145 RT!"

Come see our collection of System Equipment! We have +1, +2 and +3 stats! We also have +5 [Grade C] accessories and [Grade D] weapons!"

Nathan swept his gaze around his surroundings as he walked along the southern road within the compounds of Fort Yano.

'This is my first time in Fort Yano...'

'But then again, why would I even come here in the first place...?'

'Nevertheless, I never thought it would be this big...'

'It's like a small town…'

There was electricity and there was light all around, from the lampposts, buildings and stalls.

He wasn't invisible and switched some of his equipment to the drops of Muwin.

With that, his Status Chart shows…

***

Exp: %

Stats:

• STR – 70 (+7)

• VIT – 38 (+8)

• AGI – 35 (+21)

• INT – 35 (+9)

Equipment:

[Grade D] Earrings (13/15): +2 Agi + 1 Str

[Grade D] Tribal Sparrow Tattoo (10/15): +1 Str +1 Vit +1 Agi

[Grade D] Black Heavy Leather Boots (13/15): +2 Vit, +1 Agi, +1 Int

[Grade C] Ring: +6 Agi

[Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger: +5 to all stats

[Grade C] Amulet: +6 Agi

Special Effects:

• 1% Chance to block any physical attack.

Skill:

• Level X [Coward's Way]

Description: Grants user complete invisibility. User loses invisibility status upon attack. No mana required and no cooldown.

Description: You are unable to learn any other skill. But each level increase gives +1 point to all stats.

Transformation:

• 20%

***

Unfortunately, the bonus stats of the Muwinian equipment were a bit scrambled. After all, they were all from the people he killed, which also explains why their durability was already chipped.

As for his [Artifact] Gold Spatial Finger, given that he wasn't wearing gloves, he wrapped his left hand with bandages.

And lastly, regarding his white spots, putting aside the fact he would rather die than wear makeup, given that it was night, he didn't bother covering it with dirt.

In his mind, Zita wasn't with him so his hands aren't tied anymore.

If things went south, he could either get down and dirty as well or just run away to fight another day.

"Sir, sir, I noticed that you don't have any weapon with you. I'll sell this to you for only 145 RT. It's durability is still 100%! Very cheap!"

Nathan glanced at the weapon.

It was a Kris Dagger.

'145 RT...?'

'Forget about the fact I don't know the prices, I don't even know what's RT...!'

He continued walking, making his way through the sea of people.

"Tall sir, tall sir, come check out my items!"

"75% diluted Healing Potions here for only 175 RT!"

"Spellbooks! Spellbooks! Melee and range spellbooks!"

"Full healing potions for only 194 RT each!"

"+1 items for only 45 RT each!"

"Weapons, weapons, weapons for sale! Come buy!"

"Buying System items!"

After several bumps and shouting from people, Nathan finally managed to exit the busy southern road of Fort Yano and arrived at the central.

He let out a deep sigh of relief.

'My God, I forgot how noisy, packed and aggressive Asian markets are...!'

He looked at his surroundings.

He was currently at the central.

There was music playing, street food stalls, and tables and chairs.

However, there was less aggression.

Some people were busy buying food, while others were eating and drinking at the tables.

There were also kids and teenagers carrying trays, baskets and styrofoam boxes with cigarettes, bubblegum, candies, peanuts, fruits, and etc. inside of them.

Sniff.

Sniff.

'This smell…'

He swept his gaze at the street food stalls and his mouth started to water.

There was chicken, fish, exotic animals and other street food dishes that were steamed, fried and roasted.

Before the Caucasians started colonization the whole world, Asian nations already had their own weird and exotic dishes. They also colonized each other.

But when Caucasians came, it was on a whole 'nother level which pushed a lot of things to the extreme.

First of all, the main goal of the Caucasian colonizers was the extraction of resources -- the 80/20 rule.

As for integration, they cared little about that.

Under the 80/20 rule, with the annual resources generated by each colonized country, 80% will be sent to the colonial overlord country while the remaining 20% will be distributed among the colonized countries.

Because of this 80/20 rule, many of the citizens of colonized countries were left with two choices: die from starvation or find other sources of food.

In the case of Asian countries, although they already had weird and exotic dishes even before the Caucasian colonizers came, the 80/20 rule pushed the development of their exotic dishes by tenfolds, with Xudonia and Muwin on the lead which led them to continue to grow, making them the tallest among the Asian countries.

As a matter of fact, during WWI and especially WWII, many citizens from colonized countries, especially the ones with no or limited exotic dishes, died from starvation because their colonial overlords pushed the 80/20 rule even further, making it 90/10, in order to fund the wars and feed their own troops.

And after Asian colonies gained their independence and their economies grew, although they still have weird and exotic dishes and some Asians refuse to eat them because they want to adhere to the "universal" standards, there are still some Asians, especially brown-skinned Asians who just don't give a f.u.c.k.

Is it because of pride like how black people use and own the N-word?

Or is it because brown-skinned Asians are still third-world countries?

Or is it both?

It's hard to say.

Gulp.

Nathan swallowed.

'Ever since the zombie apocalypse, most of the food I've eaten was nothing but processed, canned and MREs…'

'I want to eat…'

'But -- I don't have any money!'

'Well, there was that RT that people have been saying…'

An image of Zita sitting alone in the dark at the shabby house he left her flashed inside his head.

He shook his head.

'Now is not the time...'

He glanced at his watch.

7:34 pm.

'It's already been 30 minutes since I left her there...'

'Got to do what I came here to do...'

'First thing I need to do, given that it's already night so the government office must be already closed by this time, I have no other choice but to ask soldiers about Vincent's whereabouts…'

'Sigh… I really don't want to have anything to do with him but he's the only lead I have right now to make things quicker...'

He swept his gaze at the people around and then chuckled.

'I never thought I'll miss seeing a crowd where the majority are brown-skinned Asians…'

'Also, it looks like it's not illegal to wear System items and even carry weapons…'

Most of the people were wearing System items and also carrying weapons, both System and non-System.

He also noticed another thing.

'Their faces looked a bit more relaxed…'

'Maybe it's because of the food and drinks around…?'

'Or perhaps --'

A man approached him.

"Hey bro."

Nathan glanced at the man.

"Are you looking to trade items for some Ration Tickets? My rate is only 20% less. I also take non-System items, as long as it's useful."

'Ration Tickets...?'

'Is that perhaps the RT I've been hearing...?'

"No thank you."

Putting aside the fact that Nathan wasn't sure of the market price, this is Muwin, a brown-skinned Asian country. Even without the zombie apocalypse, there are already full of scammers.

"I also sell some cigarettes. It's 5 RT a stick or 90 RT a pack."

"No thank you."

"Alright," the man said and then walked away.

Nathan swept his gaze again at the people.

'Hmm… Did I make the wrong decision to run away this afternoon…?'

An image of Burning Fighting Fighter and Bones with metal collars around their neck flashed inside his head.

He shook his head.

'No… I couldn't risk it…'

'Especially with Zita with me…'

He looked at the people wearing government and soldier uniforms.

'I think I need to first get even just the basic knowledge of the layout of this camp and how things are being run here first before asking these people about Vincent…'

He left the central to look for a place with lesser people.

*********************************************

Author's thoughts:

Hi, sorry that it's been a while since I've posted. I was regrouping -- reviewing the chapters I've written and also doing research, but mainly the former.

About the chapters I've written, I admit I alienated a lot of my audience due to their racist and s.e.xist nature.

Now, this isn't me trying to justify or downplay that the things I've written in the story weren't racist and s.e.xist. They really were. They were just downright racist and s.e.xist, and I f.u.c.k.e.d it up a lot.

I just want you to know where I'm coming from so please hear me out for a reason.

Just with the racism aspect alone, back at Volume 1: Chapter 123 I think mentioned that I tried to avoid or downplay any racism as much as possible (there was even no mention about brown-Caucasians in Volume 1). But starting from that chapter, I couldn't keep it up anymore because there were a lot of things that didn't make any sense and needed explanation or the story would end up turning into a "good guys just for the sake of being good and bad guys just for the sake of being bad" kind of thing.

I also couldn't keep relying in shock factor anymore like what I've been doing in the earlier chapters of Volume 1.

Another issue is Nathan himself. And there are two major issues I have with him as an MC:

#1 - His Chosen One power.

#2 - His personality.

Aside from his Chosen One power, he is cautious and selfish. And if push comes to shove, you and I know very well that he will always prioritize his own safety above all others no matter what the cost.

I really shot myself in the foot when I created Nathan and decided for him to be the MC. I really should've gone with Derek as the lead because he's the stereotypical brave, courageous and kind (but not to the point of idiocracy) MC. Or perhaps Ashleigh or Harry.

As for Rose, well, I don't know how to write a character like her as the MC. I think she'll be no different from Nathan. I mean, sure, there will be some differences here and there. But overall, they're the same.

Anyways, so I figured that I really needed to start providing context to make sense of things, why characters or groups are doing what they are doing, and what's influencing their actions and opinions, especially when I get to Volume 3. However, the problem here is that due to my obsession with explaining things or world-building to make sense of things, I overstepped it and a lot of racism came out. There were so many below-the-belt things that I've mentioned and it was just really disgusting.

And the things I've written here, they were really eating up my conscience that more than half of the time the thought about dropping this book would cross my mind because it's really mentally draining and exhausting due to all the negativity I've written.

But basically, what I'm trying to say here is that the reason why I took a break was to learn how to find a sweet spot -- the spot where I'm able to give you, the reader, an understanding of where the characters or groups are coming from or what's influencing their views, opinions and actions without being too racist or s.e.xist while at the same time still able to give a dark story, especially what I plan for Volume 3.

I mean, I don't want to give too much spoilers. But the racist and s.e.xist things I've mentioned in the story, even the boring cultural things, right now, most of them don't make any sense, but in the future chapters, especially in Volume 3, they will make sense. They're all connected. Just trust me with this.

And as cringey as this may sound, it also made me realize why writers need editors or beta readers, or why TV shows and movies hire sensitivity-coaches-or-something (I can't remember the proper job title name).

With that, I think -- no, scratch that. I like to believe that I finally found that sweet spot.

I'm very sorry for offending many people due to the racist and s.e.xist things I've mentioned in the story and also not being able to post these past few weeks. I hope you can forgive me. Thank you and sorry once again.

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Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits.

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Thank you once again Power Immortals and Immortal Patrons. This Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times*