Wilderness

The speeding off-road vehicle drove into the pitch-black road, and the skinny figure at the wheel glanced at the camp lit up ahead, then parked the off-roader in a wide open parking lot.

Night was gradually receding, a violent darkness shrouded the sky, like the final blackness before Daybreak.

Ka—

The door of a tin shack by the parking lot was pushed open. A simply dressed man in casual clothes stretched lazily, walked over unhurriedly, and leaned against the car window.

He raised his head, glanced at the skinny figure, then at the woman in the passenger seat who was slowly waking up with a child in her arms, and said with a grin, "Yo, brought your wife this time?"

"Planning to haul her into the city and sell her," the skinny figure pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed the man one, then clamped one between his own lips, lighting the man’s first, then his own. "Fill up my liquid fuel cell. I’m leaving right away."

"In such a hurry?" The man took a drag, seeming a bit more awake. He looked at the skinny figure, then at the woman in the passenger seat. "You didn’t bring along some super most-wanted fugitive, did you?"

"Picked up a rush job. Anyway, I didn’t see any wanted fugitive," the skinny figure shrugged and stepped aside so the man could clearly see the woman in the passenger seat. "If you think she’s some super most-wanted, remember to split the bounty with me fifty-fifty."

"If I spot something, I’ll take you out first thing and keep it all for myself," the man chuckled, cigarette dangling from his lips as he walked toward a closed concrete room to the side.

"Where are we?" The woman who had been too scared to speak all along raised her head and asked in a low voice.

"A small Wilderness Wanderer camp." The skinny figure smoked, staring at the man’s back as he answered casually.

"Are we going to rest here?" The woman lowered her head and asked cautiously.

"No need, once the liquid cell’s filled we go," the skinny figure said offhandedly. "I’ve got plenty of supplies in the car, no need to rest here. Once we get to the big camp outside Monite City and everything’s settled, you can rest however you want."

The woman turned back to glance at the vast stretch of wilderness in the surrounding darkness. "We’ve already gone far from the camp?"

"Go a bit further that way and we’ll reach Limen City," the skinny figure pointed at a side road behind them. "But we’re not going to Limen City."

"That fast?" The woman’s eyes widened slightly. "It’s not even light yet and we’re already almost at Limen City?"

"This stretch was always close; the traditional trade route just detours around a big section of mountain road," the skinny figure said, his gaze fixed on the man who had come out of the room leading a small off-road robot carrying a square ’water tank’ on its back.

"I feel like you’re a bit anxious," the woman lowered her head and asked, puzzled.

"Don’t you want to get to Dawn City as soon as possible?" the skinny figure asked directly.

"I’m in a hurry, but it feels like you’re even more anxious than I am," the woman said, still confused.

At those words, the skinny figure raised his head, took in the quiet darkness around them, then glanced at the faint lights from the buildings not far away, and rasped, "I feel like something serious showed up at our camp, and it’s been watching us the whole time."

"What do you mean?" The woman froze for a moment.

"Don’t you think this whole trip’s been a little too smooth?" The skinny figure took a hard drag, his voice hoarse. "We haven’t run into a single dangerous exotic beast. Before we got to this camp, we didn’t even see one exotic beast."

"Isn’t that a good thing?" The woman’s eyes opened a bit wider. "Didn’t you say there was that dominant mutant beast around?"

"Out here in the wilderness, that’s not a good thing. That dominant mutant beast can’t keep all the exotic beasts in line," the skinny figure took a deep breath and went on casually, "By the wilderness’ rules, chances are some terrifying thing has its sights on us. Think about that loan shark in the camp—went crazy out of nowhere."

He crushed the cigarette butt between his fingers. "All of this is way too abnormal. Don’t tell me we got blessed by some Divine Being?"

At that, the woman subconsciously pinched the flyer in her pocket. She paused, then rasped, "Maybe there really is Divine Being’s blessing in this world?"

The skinny man paused for a beat, surprised. He gave the woman a look. "I originally thought you were just a bit naive, but now it looks like your husband’s probably dead and you’ve gone a little nuts."

"All set." The man outside came over with the off-road robot to the car window and knocked on it. "Five hundred federal coin."

"Why don’t you just go rob someone," the skinny figure cursed, pulling a wallet from his pocket and taking out a wad of cash. "Here, keep the extra as your tip."

"Looks like this really is a rush job," the man took the assorted bills of various denominations, counting as he spoke with a grin. "I see you’re headed South, so you’d better be careful."

"What do you mean?" The skinny figure was a little taken aback.

"Things have been rough down there lately. Word in the wilderness is that a lot of Consortium Mercenary Corps are gathering in that area. A lot of people are probably going to die this time." The man finished counting, made sure the amount was right, then stuffed the money into his pocket. He looked at the skinny figure. "You head that way, don’t get yourself killed halfway."

"To hell with it," the skinny figure’s face darkened. He rolled up the window. "Who knows, maybe I’ve got Divine Being’s blessing."

At that line, the man outside froze for a moment, then looked up at the skinny figure. "There’s no damn Divine Being’s blessing in this wilderness. If you’ve gone and believed in some Evil God, tell me early so I can run far away and not get dragged down with you."

"Relax," the skinny figure started the vehicle and gave the woman in the passenger seat a sidelong glance. "No way I’d let you off the hook."

The speeding off-road vehicle vanished into the darkness.

——

Limen City · Outside the Walls

A long line of vehicles had stopped outside the city gate, waiting their turn to enter.

He Ao lifted his head to glance at the towering city gate, then lowered it to look at his wristband.

A call was coming in at that moment and was connected directly.

"Old hottie," Medala’s voice sounded in He Ao’s ear. "Do you have any idea how lacking in conscience it is to drag a beautiful girl out of her beauty sleep in the middle of the night to work?"

"So you got the intel?" He Ao asked straight out.

After leaving the vicinity of that giant exotic beast, he had immediately split off from that off-road vehicle, made a quick run to the outskirts of Limen City, hopped online outside the gate, and contacted Medala to ask for some ’information.’

"Old hottie, do you have any idea? This is Ains’ City Defense Army record we’re talking about," Medala’s voice carried a hint of coquettish charm. "Do you know how much effort it took me to get this record? I’ve practically burned through all the connections my family has."

"Wild is dead. Your standing in the family shouldn’t be low right now. You won’t burn through it all that fast," He Ao said casually.

The coquettish whine on the other end paused briefly, then continued, "It hasn’t been that long, old hottie. Turning that kind of influence into real leverage takes time. What I’m burning through now are my old connections."

"So, out with it. What did you find?" He Ao asked directly.

"Sigh, mature men can be so boring sometimes." Medala seemed to sigh helplessly, then sent over a video. "A convoy pretty much the same as the one in that picture you sent me, entered Ains two days ago."

He Ao watched the video Medala had sent. The video wasn’t very clear, like someone had directly re-recorded it with their wristband camera, but he could still vaguely see the armed vehicles and the white convoy passing through security checks.

A complete convoy?

He Ao’s gaze paused slightly, and he continued asking, "What did this convoy declare?"

"Frozen fresh meat." Medala seemed to stretch lazily. "Whether it really is or not, I don’t know. The City Defense Army didn’t inspect it."

"They didn’t inspect it, even with how strict checks have been lately?" He Ao said calmly. "Looks like it’s flying under some big consortium’s name."

"Yeah, an old acquaintance of yours, Rockville Energy Group." Medala replied. "They went through the South Gate of Ains. The City Defense Army officer on duty at the time didn’t do any checks. Looks like they really were people from Rockville Energy Group."

At that, her tone turned slightly curious as she asked, "What’s in that convoy? Can you tell me? If you care that much, maybe I can help you look into it."

"You’re in Ains right now?" He Ao suddenly asked.

"Hey." Medala laughed. "Still sharp as ever, old handsome. With Wild dead, I had to come back quickly to deal with a few things first. So, do you need my help with anything?"

"That convoy should belong to the Church of the Grim Reaper," He Ao continued calmly, "If you get any intel, just send it straight to me, but don’t investigate on your own."

"Oh? Are you worrying about my safety?" Medala’s pitch rose slightly.

"I’m worried you won’t be able to handle the pressure and interrogation and end up selling me out." He Ao said bluntly.

"You really underestimate people, old handsome. Am I that easy to buy off?" Medala’s smiling voice sounded slowly. "At the very least, they’d have to pay a lot more."

Here, she paused slightly. "Gray Stone Palace seems to know Wild’s death has something to do with you. Old handsome, rumor has it your bounty is going up to 150 million. That price is enough to make some B-levels jealous."

"Let them do whatever they want." He Ao said casually. "So, where is Rockville Energy Group Headquarters again?"

"You want to go straight to them and stir up trouble?" Medala sounded a bit surprised. "You’re in for a lot of work then. Their headquarters and board are in Vitland, but they’ve also got a regional HQ in Ains, moved over from Dawn City, in charge of Eastern Federation affairs. Of course, the main decisions are still made in Vitland."

"Alright, got it." He Ao nodded slightly and hung up.

His gaze dropped as he watched the video Medala had sent him.

This wasn’t a convoy left over after being looted, but an intact transport convoy, as if it had never been attacked at all, with no losses whatsoever.

But if this convoy had never been looted, then the convoy he’d seen in the exotic beast’s memory, the one the attackers were escorting—where had that come from?

Had that convoy been "completed" somehow?

Or were there two convoys?

Then where exactly was his son’s body?

He Ao rubbed his brow. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Two days was more than enough time for the Church of the Grim Reaper to get a lot done.

Let’s hope they’re not planning some ultimate crazy stunt.

——

Dawn City · Glorious Palace

"Last time we met, I’d only just been elected," Christos looked at the tall man in front of him and sighed a little. "In the blink of an eye, I’ve already been re-elected."

"Dawn City’s changes are bigger than I imagined." Viktor opened a bottle of wine and poured it into a glass, speaking with some emotion. "Out there, I’ve heard your news many times. Every time I heard it, it got my blood pumping."

He handed the glass to Christos and poured himself another. "But I knew I still couldn’t come back. If I had come back then, I wouldn’t have been able to help you much."

"So how have things been for you these past years?" Christos took the glass and looked out at the brilliantly lit city, seeming to feel a bit of time’s passage as he asked with a hint of emotion, "I remember a long time ago, you told us you’d found a chance to get promoted to B-level."

"Finding the Secret Medicine actually went pretty smoothly. With your help, the intel I got was accurate. But the promotion process was more difficult than I’d imagined." Viktor said with some feeling. "At first, I hadn’t figured out the key to the ceremony. After several setbacks, I finally fully understood how to perform this Promotion Ceremony."

"So," Christos looked at him and asked with a smile, "when did you succeed in the promotion?"

"Roughly a bit over a year ago." Viktor said softly. Then, seeing the faintly puzzled look in Christos’s eyes, he went on, "I know you’re wondering why I didn’t come back right after my promotion."

He took a sip of wine and spoke slowly. "After I succeeded, I was planning to come back immediately. But while crossing the wilderness, I was in a rush and chose a shortcut. On that route, I ran into some ancient ruins and got trapped inside for over a year. I only escaped recently."

Christos set down his glass and looked at him, sighing softly. "You’d been out of contact too long. We thought something had happened to you."

"I did run into some crises in there." Viktor also sounded a bit emotional. "But I was lucky and barely managed to find a way to survive, and I even found some special items. I just haven’t completely ruled out their dangers yet. Once I’m absolutely sure how dangerous they are, I’ll tell you about them."

Christos glanced at him and didn’t press further. Instead, he sighed softly. "Anyway, it’s good you made it back."

Those ancient ruins almost always carried some old contamination. Viktor’s "survival" probably hadn’t been as light as he made it sound.

As he spoke, Christos seemed to think of something and chuckled lightly. "But your timing might not be great. With how things are now, I’m afraid I’ve got a lot I’ll need to trouble you with."

"That just means my timing is perfect." Viktor laughed. He looked at Christos. "Oh right, at the Wanderer Camp in the wilderness, I ran into your Vice Mayor Sett. He’s on his way back."

"What was he doing out in the wilderness?" Christos was a bit puzzled.

"No idea, but he was leading a convoy." Viktor handed over a storage chip to Christos. "He told me to come back first and pass this message on to you."

Christos took the chip and placed it on his wristband. After briefly reading the information inside, his gaze dropped slightly to Viktor. "Roughly when will they be back?"

"If I count the time..." Viktor glanced at the night sky outside, thinking. "Probably around noon? What are you planning to do?"

"Arrange a ’ceremony.’" Christos drew in a deep breath.