Learn one small skill every day

There was no fare for riding this motorcycle to Card City. Bai Miao inquired about the currency popular in St. Petersburg, which was a metal coin with a gear pattern. It was divided into three denominations based on the different gear patterns, with the smallest denomination being one wheel.

The cost of a steam locomotive is about 5 rounds, while a train ticket costs 1500 rounds. Ordinary people couldn't afford to ride a steam locomotive.

Bai Miao's group of nine people had just gotten train tickets worth tens of thousands of dollars for free, making him wonder if the residents of Sternman had ulterior motives.

The size of the Stet meant that the steam locomotive would not take too long to travel. Two hours later, the group stopped at the checkpoint in front of the city of Kade.

A group of soldiers in armor came up, carrying weapons made of gears, and began checking the entry permits for each carriage.

Upon inspecting the carriage where Bai Miao was located, the soldiers simultaneously began to turn the gears on their heads.

This time, Bai Miao didn't rush to use his Qi Observation Technique to peek at the other party's instructions.

Each command consumes 15 points of mental energy, and Bai Miao can still use it twice more. Although he can quickly replenish it with Moonflower, he doesn't plan to expend too much energy on these soldiers.

At least we should see the instructions from those high-ranking officials and nobles in the city.

After turning the gears, the soldiers nodded to Bai Miao and his group: "You may enter the city now."

After the checkpoint inspection was completed, the steam locomotive entered the city's station. Bai Miao and the others got off the train and were unsure of where to go.

"How about we go to the city and take a look around first?"

Zhuo Xinzhi looked at the novel town and his curiosity was piqued. He had never seen anything like it before, from the architectural style to the various strange and wonderful objects inside.

Everything was just like something out of a fantasy.

The roar of giant steam engines constantly emanated from overhead, permeating the entire city of Kad and blending with the sounds of people and footsteps.

Almost every house in the city of Kade has a gear installed on its roof, which keeps turning all the time. The iron sheets on the exterior walls are so exaggerated that they are covered with layer upon layer, like the small advertisements that appear in alleys.

"Let's look around. The residents of Kade City don't seem very interested in us."

Most people glanced at Bai Miao and his group curiously for a few moments, then looked away without any intention of approaching them for a chat.

It can only be said that the people of Cad City have seen a lot of outsiders and have seen all kinds of styles.

"They probably think we're country bumpkins; I've seen that kind of look a lot."

Bai Miao looked at the crew member who was speaking; he remembered him as a member of the security department.

However, Bai Miao was not interested in why the other party thought that way.

The streets of Cad were very clean and well-designed, with all the main roads leading to the foot of the mountain where the giant steam engine was located.

Below the giant steam engine lies the entire palace of Stellen, the residence of the king. It is not only entirely cast in metal, but its very top tip is also adorned with a complex gear structure that rotates in rhythm with the steam engine.

The only building in the entire city of Kade that can rival the royal palace is a gear-shaped structure located on the west side of the city.

It looked like a bunch of giant gears laid out on the ground, but Bai Miao could see people going in and out beneath them.

Are you all here for tourism in St. Petersburg, or just passing through?

As the group passed through a central square, they were stopped by a man with three gears embedded in his head.

He wore a long robe covered with gear parts, and his eyes held a hint of pride as he looked at Bai Miao.

The more gears on a person's head, the higher their status.

The three gears mesh together; turning one of them will cause the other two to rotate simultaneously.

Perhaps this way we can get a wider range of instructions.

After seeing this person fiddling with the gears, Bai Miao also activated his Qi Observation Technique.

Bai Miao felt it was necessary to find out what instructions the three-geared beings could receive.

To Father Barton Giese of the Gear Cult:

He led nine outsiders dressed in black suits into the church for a tour, explaining the doctrines of the Gear Cult.

The instructions are clearer and there are more action requirements.

The other party is indeed someone of considerable importance.

It turns out that the gear-shaped building was a church.

In other words, they received divine guidance through the turning of gears?

Bai Miao quickly came up with various reasons.

Emma repeatedly emphasized that there was no god, but Bai Miao still couldn't help but wonder, if simply being able to turn the gears and get a hint on what to do next was not much different from being a god, was it?

With so many people on the Strandede equipped with gears, the system can record each person's information and issue commands. Is this really something that technology can do?

If this is indeed one of the three missing parts of the Endless Energy, then the one that fits the description should be the machine that can simulate the future.

Doesn't that mean that our arrival on the island was also part of that machine's calculations?

The sense of unease that Bai Miao had always felt was precisely this: it was as if some being was weaving destiny, constantly guiding Bai Miao and the others along a specific path.

But Bai Miao wasn't the type to like being told what to do, so he ignored the priest's questions.

Although the other crew members were surprised by Bai Miao's behavior, it was, after all, the captain's choice, and no one would openly disagree.

Of course, there were also those who, after witnessing Bai Miao's combat prowess, were not confident in replacing him and considered taking his place.

"Why is the captain ignoring that person? He seems to be someone special."

"Don't you understand? When you're out of town, anyone who strikes up a conversation with you is either a pimp or a honey trap."

Seeing that these outsiders were ignoring him, the priest hurriedly walked in front of Bai Miao and reached out to stop them.

"I am a priest of the Gear Cult..."

"Barton Geese, is that right?"

Bai Miao said somewhat impatiently, wanting to see the priest's reaction further.

“Indeed… Huh? How do you know my name? Oh, I see, the guidance of the gears is correct. The gears must have sensed your piety and led me to guide you. Please come with me. I will show you around the Gear Church. Anyone can join the Gear Cult after the ceremony and receive the guidance of the gears up close.”

Chapter 111 Finding a Treasure

Sure enough, they'll attribute all sorts of illogical things to gears...

Bai Miao deliberately mentioned the priest's name in order to determine the priest's thought process.

Normally, one would think of oneself as a celebrity, and outsiders might have heard of the name of the Gear Cult priests through certain channels beforehand.

But Patton almost instinctively took this as the guiding force of the gears.

Bai Miao increasingly felt that in the entire city of Sterling, anyone with a gear on their head had a fixed mindset.

Very troublesome.

"We don't want to do any tours right now, we just want to wander around. Could you be our guide?"

To others, Bai Miao's words seemed like pure fantasy.

The status of the Gear Cult in Stemman is evident. How dare you let a priest lead the way?

And how did you know the priest's name in advance?

Everyone threw their questions at Wang Xiang, whose brain was now racing.

This is weird. Where on the road was there any information about the priest's name that I missed?

The priest's next actions shocked everyone even more.

"A guide? No problem, I can show you around Kade City, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

Doesn't this priest do his regular job and work as a tour guide all day?

Wang Xiang also couldn't understand why the priest would be so decisive.

Could it be that the people of St. Petersburg are really this hospitable?!

Thinking of this, the crew members felt a surge of emotion.

Isn't this better than enduring the minister's eye-rolling every day on the Endless Energy?

"Then find us some accommodation first. We just arrived here and we don't have a penny to our name."

Bai Miao thought to himself, "Just as I expected. Once he receives the instructions, the priest will surely do everything in his power to complete them."

This instruction has no time limit; as long as you give the priest the idea that you will visit, he will be willing to grant your request to some extent.

Simply put, it's PUA (Pick-Up Artist) tactics.

Of course, the priest might also choose to bring a group of people directly to the church for a forced visit and lecture. Therefore, Bai Miao used the method of revealing the priest's name in advance to make the priest believe that everyone had received the guidance of the gears, that they were on the same path, and that they were potential candidates.

This way, the priest can deliver the instructions in a more gentle manner.

This gave Bai Miao an opportunity to get something for free.

Bai Miao was also tired of staying on the Endless Energy. Although all he had to do every day was drink tea and chat with the ministers of different departments and battle with his grumpy secretary, he had seen enough of the minimalist interior design and it was time to get some fresh air.

“That’s no problem at all. If you join the Gear Cult, I can even introduce you to jobs in Kade City.”

Perhaps this is also a way for people to move between different islands.

Eventually, the priest and the group stayed at a hotel near the Gear Church.

There was a constant sound of gears turning in the hotel, and they also offered a special steamed beverage.

Bai Miao glanced at it and saw distilled water.

"Next, I'll take you to visit the free trade zone set up in the port. Foreign merchants will set up shops there to exchange relics with each other, and we will only charge a small transaction tax."

The priest talked animatedly the whole way, and Bai Miao was convinced that he would be a good tour guide.

They even know about trade.

Bai Miao wondered if he could find a loophole in the deal.

The vendors in the free trade zone do have very different styles. Some have strange patterns carved on their bare upper bodies, while others have bizarre insect corpses stuck to their ears.

The characteristics of each civilization are fully reflected in such places.

Of course, if we're talking about the strangest things, we have to look at the attire of Bai Miao and his group.

Armor made of an unknown black material, a red dagger at the waist, and a uniquely designed weapon in front of him.

With their faces obscured, the nine people standing in a row looked like mass-produced clones.

The common language here is Parva, which is the official language within a 3,000-nautical-mile radius.