Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

There were less than three days left before the official start of the selection process.

Lin Gui and Elvia were in a very tight timeframe and had to split up.

Elvia was in charge of intelligence preparation, gathering information on the opponents, rules, and the pre-selected teams of the Sun Seeds.

Lin Gui was responsible for preparing the essential items for every transport team—transport vehicles.

He mounted his oak staff and floated up from the center of Bronze Gate City, flying towards the north of the city.

The staff hovered about two meters off the ground, moving at a moderate speed, passing between the towering buildings.

The streets were bustling with people, horse-drawn carriages rumbled, and vendors' shouts rose and fell.

The further north you go, the sparser the buildings become, and the wider the streets become.

A metallic and coke-like odor began to fill the air, growing stronger and stronger.

Ahead, a huge building came into view.

Tongmencheng Foundry.

The entire building is constructed of massive gray-black stones, covering a vast area that occupies almost a quarter of the northern part of the city.

The outer wall is towering, more than twenty meters high, and its surface is covered with runes unique to dwarves, which gleam with a dark luster in the sunlight.

Several huge chimneys stand atop the building, billowing thick smoke that leaves long gray trails in the sky.

The main entrance to the foundry was a huge archway, about ten meters high and eight meters wide, with two iron doors wide open, through which one could vaguely see firelight and figures.

Above the lintel were inscriptions in the Dwarven language, and next to it hung a huge wooden plaque with inscriptions in Common.

Tongmencheng Foundry

[Directly under the Dwarf Royal Court, undertaking the customization and repair of all types of transportation vehicles.]

Lin Gui slowly lowered his staff, landing on the square in front of the foundry.

The square was paved with bluestone bricks, which were riddled with potholes from the passing horse-drawn carriages.

Several dilapidated transport trucks were parked at the edge of the square, their bodies covered in rust and scratches, looking as if they had been abandoned there for a long time.

Lin Gui put away his staff and walked towards the gate.

Just as I reached the door, a figure flew out from inside.

The man fell to the ground, rolled twice, and lay there covered in dust, cursing under his breath.

This was followed by an angry roar from the dwarf.

"If you don't have money, don't act like a big shot here! You want to buy my car cheap?!"

The sound was as loud as thunder, causing dust to fall from the door frame.

The person lying on the ground got up, dusted himself off, and shouted into the doorway.

"Let your crappy carts rot in Copper Gate City! Let's see what you do with those goods after the selection process!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a hammer flew out of the door.

The hammerhead was as big as a head, and it slammed into the stone slab at the man's feet with a whistling sound.

The stone slab shattered, and pebbles flew everywhere.

The man's face turned pale instantly. He turned and ran, staggering, and even lost a boot in the process, but he didn't dare to look back to pick it up.

A dwarf rushed out of the workshop.

He was short and stocky, only as tall as Lin Gui's chest, but with broad shoulders and a thick back, and his arms were thicker than Lin Gui's thighs.

His face was covered in a thick beard, his eyes were glaring like copper bells, his nose was bright red, and he was still cursing.

"Run! Run faster! Don't let me see you again! I'll beat you every time I see you!"

He cursed for a while until the man's figure completely disappeared around the street corner before he looked away.

Then he saw Lin Gui standing at the door.

The dwarf's eyes swept over the forest ghost, from head to toe, and from toe to head.

The faded gray robe, the unadorned oak staff, the dusty old boots.

The dwarf frowned, his voice clearly showing impatience.

"What, you want to buy my car cheaply too?"

His tone was aggressive, as if he was ready to kick Lin Gui out at any moment.

Lin Gui didn't say anything, but took out a bank receipt from his pocket and handed it over.

The dwarf took the certificate and glanced down at it.

His eyes widened instantly, his pupils contracted slightly, and his mouth opened and closed.

The impatience on his face vanished instantly, like smoke blown away by the wind, replaced by an almost devout attempt to please.

"Honorable guest!"

His voice rose a few octaves, his back unconsciously bent down, and he respectfully handed back the voucher with both hands.

"Please come in! Please come in!"

He stepped aside to make way, pointing eagerly into the doorway with one hand while unconsciously rubbing the hem of his clothes with the other.

"Are you looking to purchase a transport vehicle for the selection process?"

"I'm telling you, you've come to the right place!"

"Of all the vehicles in Copper Gate City—no, in the entire western part of the Central City-State—ours best meet the selection criteria!"

He grabbed Lin Gui's sleeve and pulled him into the first workshop.

Inside the workshop, several transport vehicles were neatly arranged.

The metal of the car body gleamed coldly under the illumination of the magic stone, and each one was polished to a shine.

The dwarf patted the front of the nearest car, his palm making a loud thud on the metal.

"Look at this one! Its defensive capabilities are incredibly strong!"

"The car body is made of an alloy of black iron and mithril; even ordinary transcendent demons couldn't bite through it!"

"The carriage is also equipped with three layers of magical shields; once activated, attacks below the legendary level are virtually impenetrable!"

He bent down and pointed to the suspension system under the car.

"The load-bearing capacity is definitely sufficient! The carriages may not look big, but the interior space has been magically expanded, easily accommodating twenty tons of cargo!"

"Absolutely meets the minimum load requirements of the Morning Star team!"

Before Lin Gui could speak, the dwarf dragged him to the second vehicle.

"This one! Its stealth capabilities are excellent!"

"The vehicle is coated with camouflage paint brought from the Dwarven Royal Court, and combined with the concealment array on the roof, demons below the Transcendent level are completely undetectable!"

"If you're driving on less dangerous routes, this car is definitely the best choice!"

He excitedly patted the roof of the car, spittle flying everywhere.

Lin Gui opened his mouth, as if to say something.

The dwarf dragged him away again.

The third, the fourth, the fifth.

He could list a whole bunch of advantages for every car, speaking at lightning speed and with a voice as loud as thunder.

Every time Lin Gui tried to speak, the dwarf would drag him to the next place before he could even finish his sentence.

"Take a look at this!"

"And this too!"

"This one is good too!"

The dwarf dragged the forest ghost around the entire first floor of the foundry.

All I could hear were the excited voices of the dwarves, buzzing around like a swarm of bees swirling in my head.

Lin Gui gave up on speaking and let the other person lead him around.

His gaze swept over the transport vehicles, and his brows furrowed slightly.

There seem to be quite a few transport vehicles.

The foundry was large, but at that moment the workshops were filled with transport trucks waiting to be sold.

One after another, they were neatly arranged, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The selection process for the transport team is about to begin, yet there are still so many transport vehicles that haven't been sold.

His gaze shifted to the other end of the workshop.

There, several people were arguing with another dwarf.

"This price is too high! Cut it in half! Otherwise, forget it!"

A middle-aged man wearing leather armor slammed his fist on the table, making a loud noise.

"Cut in half? Why the hell don't you just rob someone?!"

The dwarf's face turned bright red, and his beard trembled.

"We started building this car at the beginning of the year. Materials, labor, and even the cost of inscribing the magic circle—all of these came at a price."

"If we cut the price in half, we won't even recoup our costs!"

The middle-aged man gave a cold laugh.

"Can't you recoup your investment? That's your problem."

"Since you can't sell your cars anyway, instead of letting them rot in the warehouse, you might as well sell them to us at a lower price."

"We're also giving you a chance to clear out your inventory."

The dwarf's eyes were wide open like copper bells, and his fists were clenched so tightly they cracked.

Looking at the dwarf's expression, Lin Gui had a feeling that what happened at the doorway would repeat itself in the next second.

The middle-aged man seemed to sense it too, and took a step back, but he didn't stop talking.

"You can think about it yourselves."

"The selection process starts in three days. If your cars haven't been sold by then, they'll really be nothing but scrap metal."

He turned around and left with a few people.

The dwarf stood there, his chest heaving violently, speechless for a long time.

Before they knew it, the dwarf had already led the forest ghost on a tour of all the workshops.

He rubbed his hands together, looking at Lin Gui with a fawning expression.

"Distinguished guest, which one have you chosen?"

He pointed towards the entrance, where a uniquely designed transport vehicle was parked.

The car body is entirely silver-white with smooth lines, and a fist-sized magic crystal is embedded in the roof, which glows with a pale blue light in the sunlight.

"That's our flagship model this year!"

The dwarf's voice was filled with pride.

"The team that won this qualifier bought this model!"

"If you like it, I can give you a very good price."

He leaned closer to Lin Gui and lowered his voice.

"It's much cheaper than when that champion bought it!"

He blinked, his face crinkling into wrinkles.

"How is it?"

Lin Gui finally got his chance to speak.

He glanced at the silver-white transport vehicle, then turned to look at the dwarf and asked curiously.

"What's wrong? So many transport trucks haven't been sold?"

"With only three days until the official selection, shouldn't they be sold out by now?"

The dwarf's smile froze instantly.

He assumed Lin Gui was also there to negotiate a lower price, and the ingratiating look on his face gradually faded, replaced by displeasure.

But that displeasure lasted only a moment.

Lin Gui took out the bank receipt from his pocket and stuffed it into the dwarf's hand.

"It's not about haggling over the price, it's just pure curiosity. This is a deposit."

The dwarf glanced down at the numbers on the voucher, his face instantly breaking into a smile, his eyes narrowing into slits.

He carefully tucked the voucher into his pocket and patted his chest.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely reserve the best one for you!"

Then he sighed, his voice lowering.

"But you're right, our transport vehicles are indeed not selling well."

He leaned against the nearest car, arms crossed.

"Our foundry began preparations as soon as Copper Gate City was chosen as the venue for this selection event."

"A total of 103 transport vehicles that met the selection committee's requirements were manufactured."

"But in the end... less than half were sold."

Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.

"Is it because there were too few transport teams participating in this selection process?"

He had barely uttered the words when he realized something was amiss.

The number of teams that can actually participate in the transport team selection should indeed be small, after all, the requirements for legendary team leaders are there.

However, there are quite a few teams participating in the qualifiers in order to stand out and receive the legendary team leader offered by the Transport Guild.

On the day he went to register, there were at least a thousand extraordinary adventurers gathered outside the Transport Guild.

If converted into teams, at least a hundred or so could be assembled.

Selling over a hundred cars is no problem at all.

The dwarf shook his head and sighed.

He looked at Lin Gui, his eyes filled with an indescribable heaviness.

"It's not that there's too little, it's that... there's far too little."

He held up one finger.

"Since 14 years ago, the number of transport teams registering for the preliminary selection has been decreasing year by year."

"While we had some expectations for this year, we didn't anticipate it would come to this."

Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.

How many transport teams are participating in the qualifiers?

The dwarf sighed again, this time a long sigh.

"You must be a human noble, someone who has just arrived in Bronze Gate City, right?"

"The last transport team selection had a total of 170 teams in the preliminary round, which gathered almost all the elite adventurers and mercenaries from all the city-states."

"In previous years, there were only about ten fewer, at most nineteen."

He paused for a moment.

"And this time..."

Lin Gui asked tentatively.

"Cut in half?"

The dwarf gave a wry smile.

"Cut in half at the waist."

"No more than forty-three teams."

He gave a mocking laugh.

"The preliminary selection, which was once fiercely contested by thousands of extraordinary experts from various city-states, is now surprisingly relaxed."

"Forty-three teams are vying for five legendary team leaders..."

The number of participants surprised even Lin Gui.

It's normal that fewer and fewer teams are participating in the selection process; it's almost always the same in every selection.

But to Lin Gui's surprise, the amount was so small.

"How could this happen?"

Lin Guiqing couldn't help but ask.

The dwarf sighed.

"Because the transport business is becoming increasingly dangerous."

Lin Gui asked, puzzled.

"Isn't that how it is in this business? If it weren't dangerous, why would those noble lords divide up so much of their cake?"

The dwarf shook his head and said to the forest ghost.

"The transport team is indeed the only chance for lower-level adventurers to rise above others."

"but......"

He paused, hesitated for a moment, and looked at Lin Gui.

His lips moved, as if he hesitated about whether to speak to the other person.

After all, if revealing the reason might shake the resolve of the customer who was planning to buy a transport vehicle to participate in the transport team selection, the deal might fall through.

Lin Gui saw through his concerns.

They signed a purchase agreement on the spot and added a deposit.

The hefty penalty for breach of contract is clearly stated in black and white.

The dwarf smiled and put away the contract, his hesitation vanishing instantly.

Then he lowered his voice and revealed the real reason.

"But... the dangers of transportation have outweighed that desire for upward mobility."

Lin Gui was completely bewildered.

"What do you mean?"

The dwarf gave a wry smile, a smile that carried an indescribable, complex meaning.

"If the mortality rate is 20%, but one can rise to the top in one step and live the life of a nobleman, even making the noblemen who once urinated on their heads bow in awe..."

"Too many low-level adventurers would go crazy for that."

"Because this is not much different from their usual life of risking their lives."

He paused for a moment, looking into Lin Gui's eyes.

"But what if the mortality rate exceeds half, or even higher..."

"How many local tyrants from remote city-states do you think would be willing to take this risk just to taste the life of a superior being?"