Chapter 71: 71. Red Heart City and The Mandalas

"Ugh!"

Lin Da woke with a start from a nightmare, his forehead drenched in cold sweat.

The air inside the carriage was a bit stuffy, making it hard for him to breathe.

As his consciousness gradually cleared, he realized the real culprit lay elsewhere,

Lin Da focused his eyes and to his surprise, there really was a 'beautiful girl' in his arms.

But it wasn't the familiar brown-haired Big Lolita from his dreams, instead, it was Kafni, sound asleep and drooling from the corner of her mouth!

A pair of annoying big ones were suffocating him and that was why he had been having nightmares time after time!

"Scrap God, roll over to the side for me!"

Lin Da kicked Kafni away in annoyance.

"Ah, what's going on, are there Magical Creatures attacking?" Kafni blinked her eyes open, still drowsy, and fumbled around for her weapon.

"Sigh." Lin Da sighed and wiped off the deity's drool from his face.

Outside the carriage window, the night was still deep; he lay back down,

plugged his ears, ignoring Kafni's complaints.

In his head, the image of that shy, brown-haired Big Lolita still lingered.

Her petite frame, her big, soft panda companion, who also liked to sneak peeks at naughty comic books behind the team leader's back...

In the "Mystic Continent" popularity rankings for four-star SR cards, that social-anxious Big Lolita always ranked high up.

Only, she became too weak later on; as a warrior, her passive skill was 'Glass Cannon', with reduced defense and increased damage. Against the fierce bosses in the higher levels, she wouldn't last many rounds before she'd turn into a greyscale avatar.

Therefore, that Big Lolita was kicked out of Lin Da's main team early on and, as a mascot, she was relegated to dusting in the storage room, where tapping on her once a day would net him a thousand Gold Coins.

It was only today that he suddenly remembered he had such a team member, a panda no smaller than Kafni or Aiko.

"The person that Lulu asked me to find in Red Heart City is a Mage, not a warrior, so I must have been overthinking it."

Lin Da laughed at himself.

The Mystic Continent was so vast; how could he possibly run into a former team member by such a coincidence? Sёarch* The novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

It was just his exuberant energy, with nowhere to channel it, creating those mixed-up dreams, that's all.

Once he got a girlfriend, those dreams of grapes he could not eat and longed for would never occur again.

The carriage sped through the wilderness, beneath the stars and the moon.

For the latter half of the night, Lin Da managed to sleep, after a fashion.

The next day.

Lin Da and his companion got off the carriage on the outskirts of Red Heart City and immediately found some Magical Creatures to subdue. If there were monsters, they cut them down; if there weren't, they hastened along the road, killing seven or eight level 7 Bald Eagles and a couple dozen trash Slimes, totaling 100 Mystical Points earned.

By noon, they officially entered the city.

As foreigners, each person paid a Gold Coin to enter the city.

Upon entry, the World Tree towering over the center of Red Heart City was immediately in sight.

The branches of this World Tree were twisted, forming a heart shape much like a red peach, which gave Red Heart City its renown.

"Peach-filled pancakes, hot off the grill—get them here~ Speciality of Red Heart City, adventurers passing by, don't miss out!"

"Plenty Water Inn, grand opening celebration—special discount for foreign adventurers, stay for a 30% discount! Check out the new Elves missy!"

"Iron Cage Armor, trustworthy—Red Heart's products are always top-notch!"

The lively voices came flooding in, with all kinds of shops and stalls on the street enthusiastically calling out to the adventurers entering the city.

Eating, drinking, playing, and enjoying life—these were the four favorite pastimes of adventurers outside the World Tree.

When that pimping Minotaur shouted the words "Elven maiden," a large group of drooling adventurers immediately flocked to patronize the establishment.

When Lin Da approached to ask for directions, the Minotaur glared at him:

"Humans, don't bother our miss. We only serve Beastmen!"

Upon closer observation, Lin Da noticed that among the clients surrounding the Minotaur, there were those with dog heads, pig heads, and crocodile heads, as well as many Subspecies Orcs like Lulu with only animal ears and tails—but not a single human was seen.

"Racial discrimination?" Lin Da wondered aloud in confusion.

"Discrimination my ass, only humans discriminate against Beastmen, no Beastmen discriminate against humans, get it? If you disturb my business again, that's discrimination against Beastmen!"

The Minotaur, with a nose ring, pushed Lin Da aside and walked towards Kafni with a smile, "Adventurer, would you like to come to our place and be a roast chicken... ahem ahem, I mean, a princess? You'll earn at least ten Gold Coins a day, far easier than the toil of adventuring."

Upon hearing this, Kafni flew into a rage, "What?! You looking down on me, huh? I'm not finished with you today!"

"Then Old Bull shall truly have a lesson!"

The Minotaur snorted and reached out for Kafni, glancing around to ensure no one from the Law Enforcement Bureau was around, his mouth curved into a sly grin, harboring a dark thought.

But at that moment, a hand as strong as iron pincers grabbed the Minotaur's wrist and lightly twisted it outwards, causing a crack—the Minotaur's wrist broke right there and then!

How could this human's strength be greater than Old Bull's?

The Minotaur, ignoring the pain, stared at Lin Da in astonishment. He was a level 7 'Bull Warrior' focused on strength, yet with his wrist in the human's grip, he was unable to make the slightest movement!

"You're done for, my boss is from The Mandalas, you're in for it now!" The Minotaur desperately clutched his wrist, "Have the guts to wait here for me!"

With that, he took off running like a shot.

Are all Beastmen such bullies when they have the upper hand but cowards otherwise?

Lin Da shrugged helplessly and looked at the displeased Kafni, "Are you alright?"

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"Once I regain my power, I'll wipe out the Minotaur from this world first," Kafni said vehemently.

The two did not wait foolishly for their adversary to return for revenge. Following the address given by Lulu, they hailed a carriage and made their way to the Inner City District of Red Heart City.

On the way, Lin Da thought of what the Minotaur had said about The Mandalas, and he couldn't help but chuckle bitterly—that family was Lia's!

The Mandalas were one of the biggest families in Red Heart City, mainly dealing with mining and some grey-area businesses on the edge of imperial law, involved in gambling and more, making them the true local heavyweights of Red Heart City.

However, due to his connection with Lia, Lin Da was somewhat friendly with Lady Bellini of The Mandalas.

Sometimes, when preparing strategy materials in Red Heart City, he would visit the lady, leveraging The Mandalas' connections for his material collection.

But for some reason, Lia never returned to Red Heart City, seemingly having severe conflicts with her family. Lady Bellini would look heartbroken every time she mentioned Lia, asking Lin Da to take good care of her.

Now that he and Lia had gone their separate ways, Lin Da naturally felt awkward visiting Lady Bellini. He intended to enter the city quietly, invite this 'kid' that Lulu talked about into the team, and then quietly leave.

From the pouch on his belt, he took out a pre-written note with the address he remembered, which read: Inner City District of Red Heart City, Seventh Ring, 75 Red Rock Avenue.

As for the other person's name, Lulu had not told him, only that she was an 18-year-old girl who was shy.

Gentle, remember to be gentle... Lin Da rubbed his face, practicing a sunny smile.

Kafni watched from the side and sneered, "Disgusting."

About half an hour later, the two arrived at 75 Red Rock Avenue.