Playing It Safe Today

Second Order Gene Warrior, 10%!

Wang Ye was growing rapidly at a rate of 4% per day.

The beginner stage of the Perfect Crimson Sun Evolution Method gave him the fastest cultivation speed among beginner evolvers.

Reaching the Third Order within a month would not be difficult.

Today was the deadline for applications to the various departments of the Three Great Organizations, essentially the equivalent of submitting college preferences.

After that came approval, acceptance, assignment, notifications, and preparations.

The entire process would take roughly five days.

Other students might be anxious as they waited for the results.

But as the top performer in the Rookie Trial, Wang Ye had been officially announced as a new member on the Evolution Camp Intranet in huge red letters less than an hour after submitting his application yesterday.

And today, another announcement had appeared.

Welcome West Camp 101st Class student Yu Shuiqin to the Rescue Team.

The message was brief, but shocking enough.

The Rescue Team, the least prominent of the Three Great Special Departments, suddenly received a great deal of attention.

In previous Rookie Trials, the Rescue Team often failed to recruit even one of the top three newcomers.

"Huang Zirui was right. She really is kind." In Wang Ye's eyes, someone like Yu Shuiqin, with her social anxiety and the special nature of her abilities, would have been best suited for the Future Center.

Yet she had chosen the Rescue Team. Other than ideals and conviction, there was no other explanation.

It couldn't possibly have been for him, could it?

The camp vehicle stopped at No. 3 Garrison.

After stocking up on water and dry rations, Wang Ye headed north.

Today, he would play it safe.

South Kettle Park was still dangerous.

He had been extremely cautious yesterday, yet he had still run into a high-level Ferocious-level Monster and suffered a minor injury.

As a result, Doctor Shu had forbidden him from engaging in strenuous activity that night.

Then she had come over herself.

"Today, I'm getting home safe and sound." The moment Wang Ye said it, he had a bad feeling.

Whenever he raised a flag, it always came back to bite him...

Compared to the danger lurking everywhere in South Kettle Park, the northern region was vast and sparsely populated.

It had once been a suburban area. With few rivers and lakes, it had not attracted many Ferocious-level Monsters.

This place was more suitable for Reserve Gene Warriors and First Order Gene Warriors to train themselves.

For the current Wang Ye, it was very safe.

After applying to the Rescue Team yesterday, he had video-called his family and confirmed that he would return home that evening.

While he was at it, he would visit Gene Park to collect the exclusive equipment set awarded for the Rookie Trial.

After all, he did not have much time to rest. Once the Rescue Team assembled, he would likely leave Eastern Base City to carry out missions.

Ding.

Wang Ye's phone rang with his favorite sound.

Your Digital Currency Account has received: 181,180 yuan.

It was here!

The earnings from yesterday's high-level Ferocious-level tree monster!

It was about what he had estimated—around 150,000 yuan.

Together with his share from the other Ferocious-level Monsters, the total was quite considerable.

"387,800." Wang Ye checked his Digital Currency Account. He was almost at 400,000 yuan.

The original owner had practically left him no money.

Back then, it had forced him to mooch food, drinks, and a bed from Doctor Shu.

In December and January, his mother, Chen Tingyu, had each time transferred him 1,000 yuan for living expenses.

He had sent it back.

It was not that he felt embarrassed to accept it. He simply knew exactly how difficult things were at home, and he could not bring himself to take the money.

"If I work a little harder, I'll be able to buy a toilet in Eastern Base City." Wang Ye recalled how the first fortune he had earned in his previous life had gone toward buying a secondhand apartment.

It had not been large.

But at least he had had a home.

It had saved him a lot of unnecessary hotel expenses.

Housing prices now were even more outrageous than in his time.

In Eastern Base City, average prices started at 100,000 yuan per square meter, and that was only in remote areas.

In the city center, prices started at 200,000 or 300,000 yuan per square meter, with no upper limit.

It could not be helped. Housing was a genuine necessity.

China now had only ten Base Cities, yet its population had reached five hundred million.

And as the Rescue Team continued its operations and saved more refugees, the population was still growing.

"Hm?"

From afar, Wang Ye spotted a celebrity nanny van with a blown tire.

It was not one of those abandoned wilderness vehicles corroded by Red Rain. It was a new vehicle from the Base City, equipped with thermal weapons.

He had seen it near No. 3 Garrison yesterday.

Today, it had already overturned.

Though the government had repeatedly stressed the dangers of the wilderness, there were always people who took chances and risked their lives for money.

"They'd throw away their lives for Red Lotus."

Wang Ye sighed.

He sped past the celebrity nanny van.

Then abruptly stopped.

Something was not right.

He quickly doubled back.

Wang Ye's gaze sharpened as it fell into the vehicle.

The window had been smashed. The male driver's neck was a bloody mess, and it looked as though a monster had bitten through his blood vessels and killed him.

There was a headless corpse in the front passenger seat, its death even more gruesome.

The vehicle contained plenty of filming equipment. It looked like they had been livestreaming.

But there were only two staff members in the back seats, both long dead. Someone was clearly missing.

"Dragged away as food?" Wang Ye looked around the vehicle. There were traces of blood, but nothing that pointed in any particular direction.

Premeditated murder?

Wang Ye carefully examined the way the four people had died.

If a Ferocious-level Monster had done it, then even if it had not eaten them clean, it would not have left intact corpses behind.

But if it had been a person...

No, it could not have been a person.

"There are bite marks on the necks, bloodstains, and signs of drinking blood raw."

"The fatal methods, the wounds, even the sheer brutality—only Ferocious-level Monsters could do something like this."

"They could only be said to have been unlucky..."

Wang Ye shook his head.

In the wilderness, plenty of evolvers died every day, let alone ordinary people.

Besides, these people had brought it upon themselves.

Five minutes later.

"This..." Wang Ye found a student's corpse beside an abandoned road.

More accurately, it was an evolver.

They had participated in the Rookie Trial together, so Wang Ye recognized him.

He did not remember the man's name, but he should have been an Elite Class Student ranked in the top hundred.

His death was almost identical to that of the driver Wang Ye had just seen. His neck was a bloody mess, as though a monster had drunk his blood.

He lay in a pool of blood and had not been dead for long.

The difference was that his body bore many wounds.

It was clear that he had gone through an intense battle before his death.

"There are bite marks on his neck too!"

"He lost a huge amount of blood, but the corpse was not gnawed on!"

Wang Ye's body jolted.

Could it be...

A possibility came to mind.

It had not been done by monsters.

His nose twitched.

The scent of blood still lingered in the air.

Wang Ye hesitated. Looking at the student's miserable corpse, his brow furrowed. Then he cautiously followed the scent of blood.

He was not the type to meddle in other people's business.

But seeing a student from his own class so brutally murdered, he could not simply remain unmoved and pretend nothing had happened.

If he did, even he would despise himself.

"It's close." Wang Ye followed the edge of the road, sensing the smell of blood growing stronger and stronger.

All around him, buildings lay collapsed in every direction, while cars had been reduced to scrap metal, each one speaking of the disaster's devastation.

Wang Ye slowly moved along the corner of a street. Faint voices reached his ears. An unusual gleam flashed through his eyes as his right hand rested on the hilt of his saber.

Very close!

His keen six senses had already detected danger a hundred meters away.

Wang Ye pressed himself against the wall, slowly leaning his head out. His gaze landed on the ruins in the distance, then suddenly sharpened as his pupils widened.

It really was them!

An extra chapter~