Ash Zone

With a bang, the main door slammed shut, sealing off the room from the outside.

Only the six members of the unlucky crew and the four women and one man led by Li Peipei remained in the room.

Li Peipei raised her wrist and glanced at her watch.

"We've got an hour. Let's rest first. Oh, Rouyun, plant the Flesh Bombs first."

The woman named Rouyun stood up and walked over to the unlucky crew, who stood motionless.

The woman, who was also very beautiful, reached out and touched each of the six over the heart.

Unable to control his body, Xia Lin suddenly felt a warm current flow into him from outside, finally taking root in his heart.

His heart began to twitch, pumping forcefully.

It was as though the foreign object in his heart were absorbing the essence of Xia Lin's body to nourish itself.

What is this thing!?

What did you do to me!?

The fear in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

It also made Xia Lin realize that the group led by Li Peipei were not good people.

But no one paid any attention to Xia Lin's inner monologue.

Li Peipei spoke again, her voice somewhat low.

"Ash Zones are opening more and more frequently, and the Sequence Hegemony Battle will begin soon."

"I'm determined to get the target this time. With it, I estimate my sequence ranking will rise into the top thirty."

The Sequence Hegemony Battle... what's that?

Despite his tension, Xia Lin's thoughts continued to race.

The memories of the two souls in his mind rapidly merged. At the same time, Xia Lin listened intently to the five as they chatted, hoping to find information that could get him out of this predicament.

But soon, Xia Lin fell into despair.

There was no way out of the predicament.

The body's original owner had a rough idea of what Ash Zone Walkers were.

This group's main purpose was to venture into Ash Zones. They faced an extremely high risk of death, but they also gained superhuman powers from the Ash Zones.

They possessed physical capabilities beyond the reach of ordinary people and uncanny abilities-such as Yue's control and Rouyun's Flesh Bomb.

Countless cases had proven that even the lowest-level Ash Zone Walker could easily toy with ordinary people.

From the five's conversation, however, Xia Lin learned their names and why they had sought out cannon fodder.

Li Peipei, An Yue, Rouyun, Zhang Wen, Xie Xiaotian.

Four women and one man.

A five-person elite squad led by Li Peipei, who was ranked forty-third in the sequence!

Li Peipei was a level-five Ash Zone Walker, while the other four were all level four.

But Xia Lin didn't understand what the levels signified.

The squad's objective this time seemed to be entering a certain shattered Ash Zone to search for something.

That thing could greatly enhance Li Peipei's combat power, allowing her to achieve a better ranking and obtain greater rewards in the upcoming Sequence Hegemony Tournament.

But beyond that...

I don't understand... don't understand, don't understand!

I still don't understand!!

Having only just arrived in this place, Xia Lin was completely in the dark. The body's original owner had also been an ordinary unlucky fellow, with no experience of Ash Zones or related knowledge whatsoever.

On top of that, Xia Lin was now under someone else's control, unable to even move.

About an hour later, Li Peipei stood up and glanced at her watch again.

"Let's go."

An Yue snapped her fingers, and Xia Lin's legs moved against his will, following behind the squad.

There was a dedicated elevator in the room, and it didn't feel crowded even with all eleven of them inside.

Xie Xiaotian pressed the button for floor minus five. The elevator descended rapidly and soon reached the fifth basement level.

As the elevator doors swung open, bright light flooded Xia Lin's eyes, making them ache, yet he couldn't blink.

Glancing around from the corners of his eyes, he saw that the area was vast and open, with guns and artillery all around. Ash Zone Walkers in strange outfits and professional soldiers came and went amid tight security.

But the most eye-catching sight was the anomaly in the center of the open space.

It was a pitch-black vortex about five meters across, constantly rotating like a black hole.

Without anyone explaining it, Xia Lin immediately realized what it was.

-An Ash Zone entrance!

More memories from the body's original owner surfaced.

Ash Zone entrances opened randomly in every corner of the world. Their number, opening times, and contents varied, but one thing was certain: if an Ash Zone wasn't cleared and its entrance closed within ten days, a disaster would inevitably seep out of the entrance and affect reality.

It might be an anomaly, monsters, or an extreme weather disaster...

But reportedly, Ash Zone Walkers could obtain a reward in an Ash Zone that could fix the randomly appearing Ash Zones within the surrounding area in one location. This was also a basic condition for establishing a settlement.

The black hole before Xia Lin now was the Iron Rain Base's main Ash Zone entrance.

"Lord Peipei."

"Greetings, my lord."

Li Peipei's arrival prompted the surrounding Ash Zone Walkers and soldiers to greet and salute her, clearly showing her standing in the Iron Rain Base.

But Li Peipei ignored the people around her and led the squad straight toward the main Ash Zone entrance.

Stopping in front of the entrance, Li Peipei took a deep breath and reached out to touch it.

A deep mechanical voice suddenly rang in Xia Lin's ears.

[Anchoring reality...]

[Anchoring complete. Reality channel No. 0375 connected.]

[Ash Zone opened.]

It felt as though his brain had been struck by a heavy blow, and everything went black before Xia Lin's eyes.

When dim light entered his eyes again, Xia Lin found that the scenery around him had changed completely.

He was in a gloomy underground space.

Fluorescent organisms provided a faint light.

Ahead was pitch darkness. Strange winds howled, carrying the low, raspy roars of unknown creatures and sending chills down his spine.

More mechanical announcements rang in his mind.

[Welcome to the Ash Zone.]

[Current Ash Zone: C-rank, Dark Cavern, small, combat type.]

[Note: Equipment and items not obtained from an Ash Zone cannot be brought into an Ash Zone.]

[First entry into an Ash Zone detected. Datafication commencing...]

[Datafication complete. You may open your attribute panel to check your initial attributes and talent.]

[Congratulations on becoming an Ash Zone Walker! Current level: 1!]

This time, Xia Lin understood a little.

His experience with web novels in his previous life gave Xia Lin a vague understanding of his current situation.

And there was another development: Xia Lin suddenly noticed that he could move...

But when he glanced at the other members of the unlucky crew, he found that they were still stiff and unresponsive. Xia Lin forced himself not to show anything unusual.

He simply called up the attribute panel in his mind, and lines of text appeared clearly before his eyes.

[Name: Xia Lin]

[Level: 1]

[Class: None]

[Base attributes:]

[Strength: 6]

[Constitution: 6]

[Agility: 6]

[Spirit: 10]

[Note: The average attribute value for a normal adult male is 6, the limit for a normal human is 10, and the maximum attribute value for a level-one Ash Zone Walker is 10.]

[Talent: Unstable Mutation.]

[Unstable Mutation (SS-rank): Skills you possess will undergo random mutations at the start of an Ash Zone. All buffs and debuffs affecting you will also undergo random mutations.]

[Two buffs detected on you:]

[Forced Control (C-rank skill effect): Your body has been forcibly controlled by an Ash Zone Walker with a higher spirit attribute.]

[Flesh Bomb (B-rank skill effect): A Flesh Bomb has been planted in you. It will gradually devour the essence of your flesh and blood to grow, increasing in power.]

[Mutating buffs...]

[Mutation complete!]