In Hubville, Ju Yin Chase, who had just returned from his own city, stood before a brass typewriter.
A clerk in a chair nearby, staring at several rows of display screens, yawned and said:
–Futown, no major losses for your city this month-end, eh?–
Ju Yin Chase held a paper akin to a newspaper in his hand, nonchalantly humming in acknowledgment, and replied while scanning the text:
–Not bad, the newcomers are settling in fairly well.–
The fine typewriting on the paper chronicled recent breaking news—this already being news from last week.
What qualifies as breaking news is either the rare events that occur on the Shibin Wastes or those with massive impact, such as the sudden appearance of a curtain of darkness stretching several kilometers kilometers, along with the moon-shadow-grade monster that emerged from it.
Now, he was reading about an event already known through mental linkages.
—The Cargo Crew of the Crane Garden Fort had developed a new element-based crispy egg-rice snack; just one piece could supply a big shot’s daily caloric expenditure.
–Not bad stuff. You folks can place an order for that egg-rice snack.–
The clerk on duty nodded nearby.
Jy Yin Chase’s eyes traced the printed lines several days old before landing on the very last two rows.
—The notorious thief Shi Qian made off in a single night with the underpants of ten Penglords from the city-ruins, his motive unknown.
–Hmph, this guy’s desperate attempt to make a name for himself is all too obvious.–
His gaze continued downward.
——Rose Creek built a new high-efficiency loom; from now on, the bigwigs of Rose Creek will have plenty more fancy clothes to wear.
——Zorro single-handedly rode into a notorious bandit stronghold in the Southern Wasteland, annihilated it, and rescued several kidnapped big shots.
——Jiazi Term and newcomer Robin Lo destroyed over half of the combat strength of the Desert Wagon Big Cargo Crew; aside from the leader and a few weak core members, 237 were wiped out, and only 18 escaped.
Seeing this, Ju Yin Chase paused for a moment.
–Impressive.– The man murmured.
The destruction of the Desert Wagon Big Cargo Crew was information he already knew firsthand. But seeing these brief, on-the-spot descriptions in the newsprint for the first time still struck him with a sense of awe.
How long has that guy been in Shibin Wastes? And yet he’s already wiped out the notorious Desert Wagon Big Cargo Crew.
You see, normally that Cargo Crew would conceal their identities and scatter across various locations. To wipe them out in one fell swoop, one not only had to know the exact distribution of their members but also find a way to lure them all out, and then prepare a formidable force capable of destroying them. And such a deployment of manpower to annihilate two to three hundred thugs couldn’t possibly escape the notice of those with bizarre abilities on the Shibin Wastes.
In a confrontation involving hundreds of people, a leak of information could lead to an even greater chaotic battle. Therefore, on the Shibin Wastes, even righteous Great Penglords found it extremely difficult to pull off such a feat. They might step out and immediately have their own strongholds raided by other greenhouses.
Yet Yang Zicang—merely hours after receiving the intel, he arrived at the gathering place of the wild cargo –Cargo Crew.– With just a handful of people, he crushed this malignant tumor roaming the Shibin Wastes. One must admit, he was nothing short of formidable.
Ju Yin Chase pondered for a moment, lamenting what a pity it was that this Yang Zicang wasn’t from his own city. Otherwise, he could join his team, and whether in the city or in Hubville, he’d be a tremendous asset.
–Just hope this guy… forget it, it’s already hopeless.–
After muttering this, as he was about to set down the newspaper, the keys of the brass typewriter suddenly began clicking and pressing down on their own, one after another. The keyboard bounced rapidly, the paper slid left and right as it fed upward, and a new line of text emerged.
Ju Yin Chase turned to look, and above him, the text slowly emerged.
—Shock. Given the multitude of unexpected events last month, the Chief Editor will dispatch a representative to the Shibin Wastes to investigate the source of vitality that has been continuously erupting in influence.
–Chief Editor?– Ju Yin Chase’s brow furrowed tightly.
–Futown Chief, who exactly is this Chief Editor?–
One of the people in the room who noticed the line of text looked over and asked.
–Yeah, we’ve never heard of it. Do those little guys even have a chief editor?–
Ju Yin Chase hesitated: –I’m not sure either.–
A streak of light shot through the air.
{Boss Ju Yin Chase, please help.}
Before long, Ju Yin Chase appeared directly where those who had called for his help were staying.
Seeing the Futown Chief suddenly appear dozens of meters away, the four somewhat anxious individuals were first startled. Then, recalling something, they hurriedly stepped forward.
–Hello, Futown. Sorry for troubling you to come in person so late at night; we feel bad about this.–
–No problem. As long as it’s within town, it’s only a few steps for me. So, what’s going on with you all?–
The men before him belonged to an expedition from a city ranked around 20th. At that moment, all of their faces were tinged with annoyance and worry.
–One of our members was previously hired to stabilize an A-class zone. After the terrain convergence occurred, a spiritual illusion emerged in the vast stretch of newly formed land—completely different from what they expected of fighting monsters. Anyway, they should have made it to the Shibin Wastes by now, though who knows if they’re still alive.–
–We’d like to ask for your help, Town Chief, to see if you can track down our member,– said Joe Ming, the deputy captain of the Ruins Storm Crew.
Ju Yin Chase let out two harsh snorts through his nose, raising the hand tucked into his bag as he said:
–Hey hey, brothers, I think you should already know this. One—even if my connections in the Shibin Wastes really do find that Crosspace where the frequency went dark. Two—even if your member and those who hired him for help are still alive…–
Ju Yin Chase raised two fingers:
–…they still can’t return to your city, can they?–
The girl among the four spoke up:
–As long as they’re alive, at least we’ll have someone on the inside in the Shibin Wastes. If we ever scrape together enough Chronos to rent a shopfront, there’ll be someone to supply us, haha.–
Seeing how forced her laughter was, Ju Yin Chase plastered a fake smile on his face.
–If you don’t lay it all out, I can’t help you.–
The four exchanged glances, and the man in front spoke with resignation:
–Then we’ll be straightforward with you. First, we’ll give you this intelligence on the Crossroads for free, Chief Ju Yin ChaseFutown: there might be telepathy-related items or abilities emerging within the Shibin Wastes this time.–
When Qiao Ming mentioned mental-based attacks, Ju Yin Chase had already suspected it.
Whenever abilities related to mental attacks or illusions appear, that Crosspace either harbors monsters or plants with such powers, or contains related items.
If it’s an item, it holds immense value, followed by plants.
The most regrettable scenario is when the mental attack ability comes from a monster—deceased monsters, aside from refining otherworld matrices and potions, are almost useless for anything else. Yet in most cases, it’s merely encountering monsters.
As for refining matrices or even potions, no one here can do that.
–Your teammates brought something valuable in there, didn’t they?–
–Uh…–
–That’s right, it’s a sword shaped like a sharp cone. Alas, that guy Xue the Second brought a Chronos80N battle-grade weapon in to deal with the mutated creatures inside. The result is, well, it ended up there.–
Ju Yin Chase let out a chuckle.
Expecting a monster-type battle scene, then a mental attack emerges after the landscape convergence—truly a painful twist of fate.
–OK, how much are you willing to pay to retrieve that weapon?– Ju Yin Chase said.
Qiao Ming and the others looked somewhat embarrassed.
–We, we don’t have that many Chronos, so we plan to exchange three thousand Chronos plus three Chronos weapons, each about forty years old, for that weapon.–
Ju Yin Chase flashed a malicious smile and said, –Do you think that’s possible?–
–We’ve already offered information about psychokinesis for free. That alone is worth a lot.– One person said anxiously.
–Oh, I forgot, haha, my apologies. Well then, let me see, I’ll try my best to look into it. But! If your teammate is still alive and unwilling to hand over the weapon, there’s nothing I can do.–
……
Under the gloomy clouds, Zuo Feixian looked up and down at the short fellow, who stood with his arms crossed, chest puffed out, and chin raised high.
After gesturing to the other’s height, he held his hand flat across his chest:
–You only come up to here… Are you really that… powerful?–
–Of course, I’m a top-tier master with a unique skill.–
Liang Xi kicked the ground, and the wooden stick stuck in the dirt flew up with a buzzing spin before the young boy caught it firmly in his hand.
Boom!
The wooden stick ignited with a red flame, and then the flame took on a golden glow.
–Hah!–
He swung the wooden stick with such ferocity and force that the flames whooshed and danced wildly, making the few people standing in front of the tent stare wide-eyed.
–I remember this move—Brother Jiazi knows it too.–
–Can you all do it? Could we learn it too?– The few people watched the boy with envy in their eyes.
Yang Zicang approached from the edge of the distant woods and wheat fields:
–Of course, I’m having him come here to teach you all these things. Also, Liang Xi, you’ll need to learn other secret techniques too.–
Liang Xi’s head drooped upon hearing this.
–And another thing, what grade are you in? You can’t neglect your cultural studies.– Yang Zicang said.
–Wha… What?!–
These words struck Liang Xi like a bolt from the blue.
–Hehehe.–
From behind the crowd, Professor Chen, who was making molds with others, stood up and pushed up his glasses upon hearing this.
–My teacher is at the professorial level. Yang Zicang, this little rascal will be under our charge from now on.–
Xiao Liu secretly rejoiced, never expecting that after hanging around here so long, he’d gain a junior apprentice.
Liang Xi looked up with a terrified expression:
–Bro, can I go back? I don’t want to stay here anymore.–
–No way!–
Yang Zicang waved at Zuo Feixian, and the two walked into the neighboring tent.
–There have been no signs of these tents turning into nightmare fiends these past two days, right?–
–No, none. With Moxel, it takes a long time for items we create to spawn nightmare fiends—several months, or even a year, before there’s any sign.–
The young man, now in a casual jacket, sat down on a stool and took out a notebook.
–That’s a relief. Keep an eye on things here from now on.–
As long as there are no ordinary people around, the emergence of nightmares stretches out much longer; if we start responding as soon as signs appear, there’s usually no major problem—unless we fail to notice them altogether.
–Don’t worry, around here, those wooden sheds are only torn down and rebuilt every few months or even once a year. Our shed has only been standing for a few days, Old Jia—no need to sweat it.–
The moment Yang Zicang heard the word –Old Jia,– he thought of the little turtles sent by Li Mi.
He shook his head, stretched out his arm, and laid a few sheets of paper on the tabletop made of wooden planks.
–This is the map I’ve drawn over the past two days. Ask it and see if there are any mistakes.–
Zuo Feixian had already found out that his very own hand had been assigned the task of gathering his body parts on behalf of Jiazi Term—a revelation that startled him and felt slightly unsettling.
Yet he had no way to stop it, so he could only resort to roundabout tips, warning Yang Zicang not to trust monsters.
Yang Zicang naturally understood this principle; what he was doing now was merely laying the groundwork.
–If the map’s correct, then we… it’s time for our Cargo Crew to start rolling.–
He struggled for quite a while, but still couldn’t bring himself to utter the phrase –The Great Benefactor.–
If it were a few days earlier, Yang Zicang would never have carried out the so-called collective name-choosing and anonymous voting. To this day, he still had no idea who came up with the three words –Great Party A– or who voted them in.
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