Forbidden Zone Stroll (Part 1)

Chapter 33: 033. Walking the Forbidden Zone (Part 1)

"The off-road vehicle before you is a modified AGX911 model produced by the Meischmidt Company. It features a four-wheel-drive structure, external suspension, and powerful engines. The fuel inside is enough for you to travel two thousand kilometers."

Doctor Anna led Li Aoz and Nomi to the underground garage. The maintenance personnel moved aside, revealing a rugged, modified off-road vehicle.

"Wow!"

Nomi's eyes lit up. "I like it!"

Li Aoz tapped the headlights. Seeing no gravel residue in the seams, he confirmed it was assembled from parts within Nethermark.

After a quick inspection, Li Aoz opened the rear cargo compartment. "Put some of the supplies in here and swap them for the fuel tanks."

"Are you sure? This vehicle can go two thousand kilometers on a full tank—"

"You don't understand," Li Aoz shook his head. "Gasoline has other uses."

Nomi glanced at him and casually opened the driver's side door.

"Hey!"

There was already someone in the driver's seat. A woman, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, was adjusting something. She turned and smiled at Nomi. "You're Li Aoz? I thought you were a man."

"Hey," Nomi turned to Anna. "Who is this woman? Didn't we agree it would just be the two of us going after them?"

Anna said dismissively, "ZX-101, you are still under critical condition monitoring, and Mr. Li Aoz is under separate quarantine management according to his classification. You shouldn't have been permitted external missions, but the current situation is special. We need your strength, and we ask for your cooperation with our duties. Your personal safety and health levels will be observed by Miss Qiu Ran."

The woman with red short hair chuckled. She looked simple and honest, like a pure rural woman.

"Tch!"

Nomi mumbled, "Monitoring is monitoring. They say it so nicely, but who knows what they're really doing behind our backs."

Li Aoz didn't mind. He stepped forward and shook hands with Qiu Ran. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Qiu Ran. I am Li Aoz, and this is Nomi. We'll need your assistance for the upcoming mission. Please take care of us."

"You're too kind, too kind," Qiu Ran laughed heartily, appearing very down-to-earth. Her features were kind and approachable, and it was hard to feel any ill will after meeting her gaze with her green eyes.

[Hint: Qiu Ran has joined your party.]

[Party module unlocked. You can view party member information here.]

[Name]: Qiu Ran [Race]: Carbon-based lifeform - Homo Novus - Frost-Plated Human

[Gender]: Biological Female

[Age]: 24

[Template]: Normal Neutral NPC (Max HP +10%)

[Faction]: Nethermark Humanity [Total Level]: Lv.15 — [Primary Class]: Lv.0 Civilian — [Secondary Class]: Lv.15 [Maintenance Worker] [HP]: 150/150 (Healthy) [Aura Points]: 120/120 [Attributes]: Strength - 9 Dexterity - 7 Constitution - 14 Charisma - 12 Willpower - 5 [Talent]: Racial Talent · Teamwork - Homo Novus possesses exceptional teamwork abilities. When in a team, experience gain increases by 50%. This effect is lost upon leaving the team. (Active: Current Gain: 3.375)

[Specialties]: [Skilled Worker] - You are adept at repair and assembly. Even robots would hesitate to compete with you in repairs. Repairing and assembling mechanical constructs increases speed by 120%. [Aura]: [Natural Ignition · Contact] - You possess the ability to alter and generate oxidation and heating phenomena to a certain extent. The essence of fire is the phenomenon of combustion. Combustible materials rapidly oxidize in the presence of oxygen, causing fires, and you have the ability to accelerate this oxidation. Honestly, no one would want you as an enemy, as the pain of being slowly burned to death is far worse than other deaths. However, this ability does not make you immune to fire damage. Those who create fires often meet bad ends, and hopefully, you will too. Rating: Omicron Range: Centered on the palm, extending 15cm forward Current Development Level: Contact Level. Aura consumption rate at this development level is 100%. Skills: [Mechanical Repair], [Emergency Treatment], [Vehicle Enhancement], [Advanced Vehicle Mastery], [Basic Mechanical Fundamentals], [Over-speed Disassembly] Tier: Mediocre Person

"Her attributes are average. Constitution and Charisma are decent, but she's not even a combat class."

Li Aoz didn't pay much attention to her stats. Not having a primary class was essentially equivalent to having no combat power. The six primary class systems were the foundation for transcending the ordinary.

"Since there are no other issues, I'll brief you on the mission objectives and precautions..."

Anna maintained a professional demeanor, diligently explaining the background and strength of the White Fang Gang, as well as the population, power composition, and rules of the rogue settlement.

However, Li Aoz had spent two full versions in the Outland. He could navigate from the Cilla Church to Devil's Valley with his eyes closed, then go to the Ash Graveyard to farm treasure chests for basic materials and upgrade his equipment's light energy levels... it was practically like clocking in for work.

Nomi was even less interested. As a warrior of the Rose Army, she had been raised on the ice blades and snow swords of the Outland. She was also zoning out, watching ants on the ground.

Li Aoz's attention was primarily focused on Qiu Ran. The fact that she didn't have a primary class caught his attention, making Li Aoz realize that there were aspects, such as secondary classes and development, that he had indeed overlooked. In "Starfall," there were many powerful secondary classes, some of which sounded very cool and mysterious, like [Collector], [Emperor], and [Scholar]. However, these classes offered no combat power; they only provided prestigious status and bonus attributes, failing to help one transcend the ordinary. Li Aoz's past life had been extremely focused; he had abandoned all secondary classes and poured all his resources into his primary class, [Starcaller].

This made his combat power incredibly exaggerated, allowing him to stand out among players. This playstyle was common and known as the "Extreme Path."

However, the Extreme Path had many serious problems:

First, it relied on a single attribute, making it easy to be targeted and countered in professional matches.

Second, the playstyle was fixed, offering no room for tactical breakthroughs. It relied entirely on teammates to help alleviate pressure.

Most crucially, players of the Extreme Path could only serve as the team's core, consuming six people's resources. Once the core was broken, the entire team would surely perish.

Such a price was unacceptable to clubs that prioritized stability and victory in matches. Capital backed these clubs, and capital would not sacrifice vast profit prospects for mere entertainment value.

By all logic, solo professional players could adopt the Extreme Path, and Starcallers were no exception. It wasn't just Li Aoz; basically all Starcallers followed the Extreme Path.

However, as a master of the Starcaller class, Li Aoz knew deeply that this profession wasn't only suited for the Extreme Path. Rather, it was that the Extreme Path was the least difficult for ordinary players.

"If I want the Starcaller class to flourish, I must build good public relations and lower the barrier to entry as much as possible—even if no new players arrive in the future, I don't want the number of Starcallers to be too small."

Numbers determined the weight of one's voice. If the Starcaller population became too small, people would dare to disrespect their authority.

A small population meant it was difficult to introduce new ideas or foster innovation. Yet, Starcaller abilities often involved stellar transformations and cosmic shifts—vast, macro-level concepts that inherently made development and innovation slow.

Without more Starcallers engaging in practical combat, sharing experiences, and maintaining basic traditions, such a professional lineage would have no future.

"I really can't follow the Extreme Path. For future development, I must become a relatively well-rounded individual. That means I have to adopt the Myriad Manifestations Path."

Li Aoz mused, "Speaking of which, this woman's abilities are quite good, Omicron-rated. It's a shame it's just 'Natural Ignition.' If she had abilities like Ignition, Thermal Operation, or Temperature Reverse Transmission, her potential would be much higher."

High temperatures had always been the main force in combat. Electrokinetic abilities weren't rare, and Electrokinetic Auras were pure common goods, found everywhere. However, Electrokinetic Abilities reaching Zeta-rating or higher were very few.

Abilities involving flames, high temperatures, and molecular motion started at least at Lambda-rating. The potential of these abilities was too high, their destructive power too immense, and most importantly, they were very rare.

Flame Auras possessed inherent purification properties, making them highly sought after on both Magic Side and Tech Side planets. Their applications were broad, and generally, anyone aspiring to become a high-level Blacksmith had to master Flame or Temperature-based Auras.

Electrokinetic Auras were too common, and the human body itself possessed a weak electrokinetic ability. Low-level Electrokinetic Auras were... well, they were generally less effective than Mechanical Technology.

As for Electrokinetic Auras that surpassed Mechanical Technology creations—those were basically Omicron-class or close to it.

However, the advantage was that it was very easy to find work, and for the natives, controlling lightning was almost a divine symbol.

Li Aoz was indifferent to Electrokinetic Auras. One Aura in his sights was far more powerful than any Electrokinetic Aura.

No, to be precise, that Aura was the progenitor of all Electrokinetic Auras.

But in terms of output capability, player calculations showed that high-temperature Auras were superior.

The main reason was that high temperatures dealt continuous damage...

"Speaking of which, the Ability Pod I mutated earlier can hold four Auras."

Li Aoz's thoughts stirred: "Qiu Ran doesn't have much combat power. Getting the Natural Ignition ability from her probably won't be too difficult."

Gravity's forced capture and control were potent against ordinary targets, serving as his capital for challenging higher-level opponents. But Li Aoz currently lacked harvesting capabilities, which significantly impacted his experience gain.

And Qiu Ran's abilities... the continuous damage from Natural Ignition would be very suitable for creating large-scale damage in conjunction with Gravity.

It seemed quite fitting...

Li Aoz looked at Qiu Ran, the honest and straightforward repairwoman, his gaze becoming somewhat affectionate.

Qiu Ran was a simple woman with a rough personality who hadn't received much education. She had a good temper; even after Anna's lengthy nagging, she listened attentively.

"The Sikkim Settlement is located halfway up the mountain. They've hollowed out half of it. Inside, it's a complex maze with a population of up to 400 people. There's no unified leader; they're all wanderers from the Outland."

Qiu Ran slowly recounted and analyzed:

"In other words, once we arrive, no one will care about our survival. There's no order there; it's all based on self-awareness. No one will cooperate with our actions, but it's also not certain that anyone will collude with the White Fang Gang. All wanderers are on edge, focusing only on their own safety—can I understand it this way?"

"...You could say that."

Doctor Anna adjusted her glasses and said, "The people of the Outland have suffered greatly from the Four Nations monopolizing resources, so it's best you don't display characteristics of civilized people. Make yourselves look miserable, appear pitiable—your supplies are already scarce, and Li Aoz insisted on exchanging some for fuel. If that's the case, you won't last 3 days in the Outland. Hurry back once you get the medical equipment."

"I have a question."

Before Anna could respond, Qiu Ran preempted her, "Today I noticed Asha, Luo Fan, Qiu Ming... those physician friends are gone. Were they also captured by the White Fang Gang bandits?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"It's not what I'm trying to say, Ms. Anna." Qiu Ran's large eyes fixed on her. "These are our people. They've been abducted, and we have an obligation to rescue them..."

"That's impossible. Don't even think about it; it's not realistic."

Anna shook her head. "Your resources and abilities are insufficient to accomplish such a task. Their lives... we cannot help them."

"Nethermark Humanity saves so many people, yet they can't even protect the lives and safety of their own people. I don't think that makes any sense."

Qiu Ran said, "Regardless, I think we should try."

At the same time, the task list in front of Li Aoz changed.

[You have triggered a side quest: "Clear Grudges"]

[Type]: Hostage Rescue/Challenge [Deadline]: 47 hours 56 minutes (Countdown active)

[Quest Difficulty]: B [Description]: Nethermark Humanity might not be a great organization, but those medical personnel who poured their hearts into caring for patients, staying up late to monitor them—their care for you over many days was genuinely sincere.

They once devoted countless efforts to saving the lives and health of people like you.

Now, it's your turn to save their lives.

[Progress]: 0/14 [Settlement Conditions]: 1: Ensure the safety of at least 6 kidnapped medical personnel. (Mandatory) 2: Escort hostages to safety, maintaining their protection for at least 30 minutes without them taking damage or any of them dying during the escape. (Optional) 3: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – Eliminate as many White Fang Gang bandits as possible. For each bandit killed, gain an additional 20% Experience. (Challenge)

4: If Settlement Condition 1 is met within 24 hours, you will receive an additional reward. (Challenge) 5: Eliminate 5 White Fang Gang bandits using a vehicle. (Challenge) 6: Infiltrate the White Fang Gang camp without being detected at any point. (Challenge)

[Mission Rewards]: Completing the mandatory condition grants a base reward of 5 Free Attribute Points. For each challenge completed, you will receive Primary Attribute +1 and 600 Experience.

[Special Notice]: White Fang Gang bandits may harm hostages at any time.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.