Observations

“Little sister, where’s your family?”

The creepy man asked with a beaming smile.

Xia Jin, holding her bag of popcorn, took a bite and shook her head.

“No family?”

Taking a serious look at the beautiful girl, the man began to have some very unsavory thoughts.

Xia Jin’s eyes narrowed slightly.

She said nothing as the man led her toward a... hotel.

Just then, two men in guard uniforms passed by the entrance.

At the first sight of the man, one of the guard officers gave him a peculiar look. “What are you doing? Back here again? You aren’t up to your old tricks, are you?”

The lead officer stepped forward. Seeing this, the man awkwardly took two steps back. “Well...”

“Hmph. Who is this girl? You aren’t trying to trick another stranger into a room, are you? Good grief...”

He walked up to Xia Jin. Seeing her petite, delicate frame and her incredibly innocent face, the officer was instantly shocked. “How old is this child? That’s it, you’re coming with me.”

Clack!

A pair of handcuffs was pulled out.

“No, wait! This child was lost. I bought her some food and toys, and I was just about to take her to see her mother,” the man explained in a panic.

“That’s right, that’s right,” Xia Jin nodded quickly. “Uncle said Mommy is waiting in the room for me. He said he’d help me take a bath and change my clothes so I can look clean when I see her...”

The man: “...”

“Right. You can forget about ever seeing the outside world again.”

The man’s hands were cuffed, and the two guard members forcibly shoved him into a strange magic-powered vehicle nearby.

“Little sister, are you alright? That guy didn’t do anything awful to you, did he?”

The tall man among them ran over to ask.

Xia Jin shook her head. “No.”

“That’s good. Where is your mother? Is she inside? Do you want me to take you to her?”

“No need. I’m very capable; I can find her myself.”

“I see.”

Seemingly busy with other matters, the man looked around, hesitated for a moment, then took out a silver coin and handed it to Xia Jin. “Take this for yourself. If you have any trouble, look for someone wearing the same clothes as me.”

With that, he climbed into the vehicle.

Watching the car drive away, Xia Jin fell into thought.

The development of this Empire was quite impressive.

Even a remote town like this had a solid security force, and the quality of their personnel was very high.

Looking at the silver coin in her hand, it was interesting to note that this money was issued by the Kingdom of Clear. This meant the Kingdom’s currency indeed held the same purchasing power here.

However, it was understandable. Minted from real gold and silver, the Kingdom’s currency had always maintained its credibility. In contrast, some surrounding nations had cut corners when forging their coins, eventually losing their credibility and becoming largely unaccepted.

...

Xia Jin began to wander through the town.

She saw no one carrying firearms—only swords and blades—confirming that this place was still culturally ancient.

However, a closer look revealed these blades were anything but ordinary. Most were etched with runes and the like, qualifying them as magical equipment.

The level of development was truly exceptional.

Xia Jin recalled the aircraft she had seen earlier. Based on its altitude and speed, it had likely taken off not long ago.

So, she walked in the direction it had come from and, as expected, soon found an airfield.

Rows of aircraft were stationed on-site.

Most interestingly, there was a factory built right next to it.

There weren’t many passengers. Given the scale of the airfield, it couldn't possibly accommodate the dense number of aircraft inside the factory. Clearly, these units were meant to be sent elsewhere for use.

“From the looks of it, the air force will be highly prevalent.”

Besides flying magic beasts, there were a large number of aircraft. Combined with a production capacity that surpassed the imagination, they would be quite a headache to deal with.

“This popcorn tastes pretty good.” Xia Jin took a few more bites, then suddenly remembered she was still holding the toy train. She shook her head and tossed it into a trash can.

“Wait...”

She suddenly paused.

“A train?”

Hiss—

Had the Empire actually developed trains as well?

From a cost perspective, something like a train was an inevitability. It would be far more economical than motor transport and have a much higher capacity than planes.

“Their logistics won’t be easy to deal with either.”

She even began to wonder if there was a transmigrator involved.

But after some questioning and testing, she confirmed that these technologies had developed naturally. Many inventors and magic researchers had made technological breakthroughs at different points in time.

This also reflected a certain truth: many civilizations show similarities in their development process.

Things like planes and rockets undoubtedly prioritized aerodynamic shapes that conformed to natural laws. This was the path any civilization would naturally consider.

Even biological evolution followed such laws. Most bizarre creatures that defied them would go extinct during the evolutionary process.

...

While Xia Jin’s projection wandered within the Dawn Empire, her white-haired projection arrived at another location—the coastal area on the eastern side of the city states region.

The massive Carrier Bug floated on the surface of the sea.

By now, 1,500 scourges and 80 mutalisks had boarded the Carrier Bug, filling its interior and decks.

Though she hadn’t acquired any navigation maps from the Empire, she was still prepared to let this fleet set sail.

As long as they avoided the Empire’s navy, they could directly attack any other forces they encountered. The goal was to see what lay on the other side of the great ocean.