Armipotent

Tang Shaoyang was expected to be teleported to a random spot based on the first two floors. To his surprise, he appeared in the middle of the plaza, smaller than the one in the tower area. He scanned the surroundings. Buildings surrounded the plaza, stalls lined up at the outer ring of the plaza, and dozens of people walked around, checking the stuff on the stalls.

He realized that he stood on higher ground, so he looked down at where he stood. He was standing on a stone altar. Unknown words were written on the floor, forming a circle around his footing. He turned back, checking on his people. Nine people stood behind him, and they looked confused as well.

Zhang Mengyao had briefed them on what they should expect, but what came for them was totally unexpected. They were teleported to a civilized area and on top of the altar at that. It was as if they were summoned to this place.

Of course, the people in the plaza halted their steps and looked toward the altar. Everyone in the plaza, including the stall owner, focused their attention on the altar. Someone broke the silence after ten seconds. It was one from the crowd, "Someone, quick call the Mayor. We have travelers!"

There was another brief from Zhang Mengyao that told them the natives were most likely hostile. When they heard the shout, the nine people behind Tang Shaoyang pulled out their weapons. They were ready to fight at any moment, and he was also on high alert.

"Calm down, Travelers!" A man stepped up from the crowd, raising his hands, indicating he meant no harm. The man walked toward the altar in slow steps. Right as he was about to walk up to the altar, Tang Shaoyang opened his mouth, "Stay where you are!"

The man halted his steps and smiled, "I mean-- we mean no harm. I know you are confused, but I implore you not to draw your weapon against us. We are not a threat to you, and I would like to explain the situation, but there's someone better than me to explain the situation, Travelers. My name is Harold, Adventurer of Murika Town."

Tang Shaoyang was about to respond, but Ava stepped up from behind, "I am Ava, General of the Tang Empire. He is our Emperor, His Majesty Tang Shaoyang, Emperor of the Tang Empire. Can you explain why only ten of us get here?"

"Ah, shit. We got a big shot this time," The man muttered in a low voice. He looked up and smiled while shaking his head, "As I said, I am not the right person to explain the situation. Someone better than me will explain everything to you all later. Please wait for our Mayor."

The situation certainly puzzled Tang Shaoyang. From the information they gathered from the first two floors, the natives of the tower were hostile. Not just that, they were the prisoners of the tower who were eager to get out of the tower. Tang Shaoyang also did not sense malice from any people in the plaza. He motioned for them to pull down their weapon.

More and more people gathered in the plaza. It made Tang Shaoyang and his groups like animals in a zoo as the people watched them from the side. Most of them were discussing how strong Tang Shaoyang and the group were, especially after Ava introduced him as an Emperor.

"Please let me pass, guys. Let me pass, please. We can't let our guests wait under the sun like this," A man followed by three people walked through the crowd, heading toward the altar. The group of four quickly reached Harold, "Thanks for the help, Harold. I will take care of everything from now on."

"Yes, Mayor," Harold retreated to the crowd as the Mayor motioned the three people to stay down as the Mayor approached Tang Shaoyang. The Mayor had a thick beard and mustache with short red-brown hair. The man looked to be in his mid-forties and gave off a fierce aura. His bulging muscle arms told Tang Shaoyang that he was not the Mayor who only sat behind the table but also someone who was capable of fighting.

"Hello, Travelers. I am The Mayor of Murika Town, Celap." Celap bowed his head slightly as he introduced himself. Ava became Tang Shaoyang's voice, repeating what he just said to Harold. The Mayor flinched slightly when he heard the man's identity, but he composed himself well.

"I will explain the situation and tell you how to clear the third floor of the Dimensional Tower. Let's continue our talk in a more appropriate place, Sir," Celap motioned for them to follow him.

The Mayor invited the group to his house, a few blocks away from the plaza, not that far. Along the way, Celap shared more information about Murika. Murika was a town with two thousand population, located in the north of Nordhall Continent. The town was bordered by Haramakh Forest to the north, a forest filled with dangerous beasts and monsters. The town was also connected to several villages to the east and west.

"There's another town to the south of Murika, but it will take you two weeks to reach the next town by horse. While we have the path that connects the two towns, I recommend you not to travel there unless it's necessary. It's not because we have a feud, but the way to Quily Town is dangerous. The threat is not just from the wild beast and monster but also the bandits. There's a small mountain between Quily and Murika, and that mountain is a den of bandits. So, we will not cross to the other side unless it's urgent." The Mayor explained in a better tone.

"Bandit!" Ava scowled when she heard that name. She was an elf; bandits often came to Gigante Forest to kidnap the elf. She hated the bandit to the core, "You don't try to subjugate the bandit?"

"We have tried to subjugate the bandit, Lady Ava. A few attempts end in failure, and a few attempts end in success, but we can't ever eradicate the bandit to the root. They can always escape from us because of the terrain. They have a handful of mages too, which can change the terrain of the mountain, making it harder to raid them."

Mayor Celap stopped and pointed at the house in front of them, "This is my humble house. Please come in," The man opened the door, "Dear, we have guests. Please prepare tea and snacks for the guests."

It was a two-floor house with most of its exterior wooden. He looked around; most of the buildings had similar architectural designs and materials. It reminded him of Arkania Continent, where he met The Dragon, The Goddess, and The God. The turning point of his life was where he obtained a powerful class, bloodline, and the clash against God.

"I wish Gu Yingjie was here," He glanced at the nine people who came with him. Ava, with two elves, he did not know. Two Moonlight Rabbits he did not know too, and one beastmen he recognized, Goldien from the Gator Tribe. The remaining three were humans, Liang Suyin was among the two, and he did not know the other two. Gu Yingjie knew a lot of fantasy stuff which might help or maybe not.

Liang Suyin ordered the Moonlight Rabbits to stand by the door while Ava told the two elves to keep a lookout before the group entered the house. Even though the people looked friendly outside, Ava and Liang Suyin remained cautious. They kept Zhang Mengyao's words in their mind, not to fully trust the natives.

Once they entered the house, they were greeted with warm interior design. There were a lot of pictures, or to be more exact, paintings of children and to elderly with white hair. Mayor Celap seemed to bring the chair from the other room to the living room, so all ten people could sit together. However, the Mayor noticed four figures missing from the group.

"They are outside. This may be rude, but I will be honest with you, Mayor Celap. We don't trust you or the people in the town, not after what we experienced on the previous floors," Ava straightforwardly told Celap about their view of the natives.

The Mayor was stunned for a moment before nodding understandingly. His smile disappeared as solemness masked his visage. He motioned to Tang Shaoyang and the others to sit.

"In order to clear the misunderstanding between us, I will get to the point directly. I can understand why you all remain cautious after encounters with hostile natives, but we are different," Mayor motioned to his wife, who came with tea to put the tea and the snack on the table.

"We are different because we don't want to get out of the Dimensional Tower, Sir. The natives on the previous floor might think the tower is a prison, but this place is a home for us. While this place is still dangerous, it's still safer compared to the outside tower. We are content with our lives here, so we don't hope for the Tower Break to happen, and we want to have a good relationship with the traveler."

"I know words are not enough to convince you that we are different, but we are willing to help you. I know the travelers come to this floor to clear the mission, and we are here to cooperate. I don't know if you already know this or not, but the natives should know the mission of the traveler. The tower gives the natives freedom to do what they want to do with this information. We can choose to keep it secret for the Travelers to figure it out by themselves, or we can choose to cooperate. The natives hoping for the Tower Break will choose the former, and we wish to stay here, so we choose to cooperate."