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In Luan Yu's eyes, the cities of the other empires each had their own unique features—some of them even had thousands of years of history. T
ake Tiandou City of the Heaven Soul Empire, or Xingluo City of the Star Luo Empire, or even Shrek City, home to the famous Shrek Academy—these were all ancient and renowned places.
But when it came to modernity and splendor, nothing came close to Mingdu, the capital of the Sun Moon Empire. Being called "the number one city on the continent" wasn't just hype. People from both the Sun Moon Empire and the original Three Kingdoms of the Douluo Continent all had to admit this.
One simple fact—Mingdu didn't even have city walls—was already enough to baffle people from the old Douluo world.
At first glance, it might seem like anyone could just walk right into the city. But the truth is, Mingdu had tight security. Each side of the city had stationed soul engineer regiments, and it was packed with cutting-edge detection soul tools: thermal detectors, soul power scanners, sonic sensors, aerial monitors, all kinds of defense tools, and even airborne strike tools.
Mingdu was basically a steel fortress that not even air could slip through.
Sure, the lack of walls made it look open, but the Sun Moon Empire's soul tech was so advanced that they didn't need walls to keep the city safe.
Even though it might seem easy to sneak in, the truth is, getting past all those detection tools without being noticed would take at least a Soul Sage-level expert. And let's be real—once someone reaches that level, even if there were city walls, it wouldn't really matter. So instead of hiding behind walls, Mingdu just boldly showed itself off, flaunting the empire's confidence and strength.
That said, Mingdu is the only city in the whole Sun Moon Empire that works like this. The other cities, even though they're modern, still have walls. After all, powering all those soul tools takes a lot of resources—even the filthy rich Sun Moon Empire could only afford to keep one city like this running.
At the heart of Mingdu were four high-energy compression array soul tools—these were the real core of the Sun Moon Empire's tech. They could draw in soul power from the environment on their own and constantly recharge themselves. The only downside? They were massive. Even with the Sun Moon Empire's tech, they were way too big to move. That's why only Mingdu had these four energy sources.
These arrays powered nearly everything in Mingdu—from defense systems and detection gear to everyday appliances for civilians. Most of the city's energy came from them.
They were top-secret tech. Only Level 9 soul engineers from the royal Offering Hall were allowed near them. These were the folks in charge of maintaining the arrays and keeping the entire city running.
Now, while Mingdu was definitely impressive, it still didn't hold a candle to the stuff Meteor had seen in the Liuying Galaxy. Things like space stations orbiting planets or those massive immortal ships sailing through starry seas—each one like a world of its own—made Mingdu look like a fancy toy.
Meteor came from the Glemmer Republic, a civilization that had already moved beyond its planet and into the stars. So to someone like her, this modern-ish city didn't feel all that special.
Luan Yu secretly watched the two little ones. Seeing them only mildly interested—and not at all like those wide-eyed bumpkins from the original Three Kingdoms—she felt a bit disappointed.
"Come on, I'll take you guys inside. Mingdu has loads of good food. Way better than Dragon City," she said.
She shook her head helplessly. Seriously, what on earth could actually impress these two unnaturally mature kids?
"Food?"Meteor's eyes lit up instantly. Finally, something about this city got her excited. Luan Yu couldn't help laughing in disbelief.
Meteor gave a small smile. Lil' Firefly probably hadn't had much proper food in her life. The only thing she'd ever really eaten was a random piece of oak roll cake she stumbled upon. That one bite gave her an obsession with that flavor—and a love for sweets and good food in general.
Back in Dragon City, during that one year, to keep Lil' Firefly's belly happy, Nan Qiuqiu's private stash of money shrank by more than half. But lucky for her, she was rich and generous, so she didn't mind at all. She was always happy to spoil Firefly.
After all, Firefly was cute, straightforward, and a total badass—everyone in Earth Dragon Gate loved her. Once her taste for sweets got around, plenty of disciples started offering snacks and treats to please their beloved "Second Sister."
Following Luan Yu, Meteor and Firefly walked down a wide avenue toward Mingdu. Even though there were no city walls, the only way to officially enter the city was through the main gate—basically a designated checkpoint. You had to register, get a permit, and then you could legally live in Mingdu.
Of course, with strong enough soul power, sneaking in wasn't impossible. You could pay for your food and housing just like anyone else. But if you got caught by the law enforcement patrols without a permit, they'd arrest you on the spot. So if you didn't want trouble, it was way easier to just go the proper route, register, and get a pass.
Walking down the spacious concrete road, which was over ten meters wide, Meteor saw plenty of merchants passing by—some riding carriages, others using high-tech soul vehicles.
As the continent's top city, Mingdu attracted countless merchants, including plenty from the original Three Kingdoms. The Sun Moon Empire didn't discriminate against foreign traders—actually, they welcomed them. These merchants brought exotic goods from the other empires and helped spread Sun Moon Empire products to the old Douluo nations.
Sure, the Sun Moon Empire and the original Three Kingdoms were technically enemies. But to merchants, gold soul coins were the real god. If there was money to be made, who cared about politics?
To them, there were no borders in business—everything could be bought and sold.
Getting a pass was simple. Just give your name, age, and where you came from, and you'd get a permit.
Of course, whether you used your real name or told the truth about your background was totally up to you. The staff didn't ask too many questions. They were just gathering basic info, not trying to verify anything. Honestly, they didn't have the time or energy to do background checks.
Mingdu got over a million visitors every day. With barely a few silver soul coins in wages, who'd want to risk trouble for that? If they accidentally flagged some crazy fugitive or an evil soul master, they could lose their lives. Not worth it.
So simple forms, quick registration, and that was that.
"....."