As night deepened, beside the garbage mountain of Sector Thirteen,
This garbage mountain had been formed from countless heaps of refuse gathered in the lower hive over nearly ten thousand years. It grew taller and spread wider every day, becoming ever more chaotic and disordered.
In the dimly lit lower hive, the garbage mountain looked at a glance like a twisted god crawling through the darkness, savagely devouring everything around it.
Ghostly shadows moved among the dark mountains of garbage. Howls rang out from time to time, along with strange, low chants.
This was not only where all the hive's garbage converged, but also the unavoidable route from the lower hive to the hive outskirts and the bottom hive.
Residents from the irradiated lands beyond and mutants from the darkness of the bottom hive both occasionally appeared here.
That Eager Thief had actually arranged to meet Zhou Yun here.
Zhou Yun thought as he moved through the pitch-black garbage mountain.
Through his orange-yellow gloves, he carefully touched the Pocket Tornado hanging at his waist and the pale golden short blade on his other side.
He also wore the Psykana Cap on his head, while eighteen Catreal Pattern M36 Lasguns floated in the darkness under the control of his telekinesis.
With these items equipped, he felt somewhat more at ease.
This type of lasgun was standard issue for the Cadian Shock Troops, and Zhou Yun had dug them out of a warehouse in Old Sector Eight.
At the time, he could barely control twelve at once. As he grew increasingly proficient with telekinesis, the number he could control had risen to eighteen.
His Instant Movement ability had likewise become more familiar. He had once been able to teleport only seven or eight meters, but now his teleportation range had surpassed fifteen meters.
He also had Voiceprint Candy and Body Clay for concealing his identity and infiltrating places, while Air Gun Potion was useful for ambushes.
What he still lacked most were close-combat weapons.
In this galaxy, quite a few people were immune to ranged weapons. Only close combat could deal damage to them.
Zhou Yun reached toward the other side of his waist, where a short blade no longer than his forearm hung.
Famous Sword. Lightning Pellet, an item priced at two hundred thousand.
Its drawbacks were significant, but its effect was absurdly powerful.
This weapon was among the cheapest conceptual-level items.
Its effect was that, so long as it still had power, its user would gain extraordinary swordsmanship and would absolutely never lose in a duel of melee weapons.
Its drawback was that it consumed power very quickly. According to Zhou Yun's tests, the more intense the battle, the faster it drained.
Furthermore, its effect was limited to not losing in melee combat.
If the other side sprayed him with a machine gun, this weapon had limited ability to block bullets.
Nor could it do anything against psychic attacks.
And the sword itself could not inflict damage. It could only maintain a situation where neither side won or lost.
But so long as it was a duel of melee weapons, even if the opponent was a Khorne Daemon, Famous Sword. Lightning Pellet could force a draw.
It was a weapon with many flaws, but an extremely high ceiling.
Lastly, he had another item whose ceiling was not as high as Famous Sword. Lightning Pellet's, but whose output was reliable.
Zhou Yun looked at the dark red gloves on his hands.
[Item Name: Superman Gloves] [Origin: 22nd Century Earth—Future Department Store] [Production Date: 261.M3] [Function: They look like ordinary gloves, but wearing them grants strength far beyond that of an ordinary person. One hand can stop a hundred-ton truck speeding along at high velocity, though the force is rather difficult to control.] [Price: 950,000]
Nine hundred and fifty thousand. Expensive as hell.
But the improvement they brought was equally obvious.
At maximum, they gave him enough strength to punch a hundred-ton freight truck flying. Even against a Space Marine, he would not lose out in sheer strength.
The drawback was that the force was difficult to control. With the gloves on, he could hardly use weapons or pick up smaller objects.
Suddenly, Zhou Yun caught sight of a flash of searing firelight in the darkness.
It was the glow of an Eager Cutter.
Zhou Yun's gaze shifted slightly. He circled around a low garbage mountain and headed toward the source of the firelight.
From far away, he saw the hooded figure.
The Eager Thief who called herself "Orleans Roasted Chicken Wings."
She was short, even shorter than Rager, yet she carried a flame cutter as tall as her shoulder.
A howling cold wind from the hive outskirts swept through the mountains of garbage and washed over her.
Her cloak stirred in the wind, making the slenderness of the body beneath it even more apparent.
From a distance, Zhou Yun estimated that the Eager Thief was at most around one meter forty.
Even in the lower hive, that counted as underdeveloped.
Or perhaps the Eager Thief was not actually that old?
After living in the lower hive for so long, Zhou Yun had long learned not to judge people by appearance.
Perhaps even a ten-year-old child could be a skilled pickpocket.
The Eager Thief seemed to have noticed Zhou Yun as well. She turned her head, and the eyes hidden beneath her hood appeared to be watching him.
Zhou Yun did not know whether it was an illusion.
But he felt that the darkness around the Eager Thief seemed lighter.
It was as though she was faintly releasing light, so subtly that it was difficult to notice.
Glowing... that was a serious mutation. Zhou Yun thought silently.
He had even begun considering whether to fire the lasguns from afar and snipe her directly.
Perhaps it would be better to take one or two of her legs first and rob her of mobility.
But Zhou Yun feared alerting her precognitive ability.
Although he could resist precognition to a certain extent, directly launching an attack at her would still be noticed.
And besides—
The Eager Thief was silently staring at him.
Zhou Yun lowered his head and confirmed that Lena and the Ark Gang members were already in position.
He walked toward the Eager Thief at an unhurried pace.
"I'm here."
Zhou Yun looked at the Eager Thief standing directly opposite him.
"What exactly do you want to discuss with me? Who are you? And who is behind you?"
Faced with Zhou Yun's barrage of questions, the hooded Eager Thief merely took a light step toward him.
Then she raised a hand and removed her hood, revealing golden hair like a haystack beneath summer sunlight.
Her slightly dry golden hair had been braided into a thick plait down her back, hanging all the way to her waist.
A faint sprinkling of freckles covered her face. She was fairly pretty, but nowhere near Lena's level—she could only be called simply attractive.
Above those faint freckles, her deep blue eyes were so dark they were almost black. They were moist like those of a lost fawn, and she looked at Zhou Yun with a clarity rarely seen in the lower hive.
Judging by her appearance alone, she seemed to be only a teenage girl.
But Zhou Yun could sense that some far greater will seemed to be stuffed inside her slender, plain body.
She gave Zhou Yun an extremely standard Aquila Salute.
"My name has no meaning."
She spoke in a clear, young voice like the sky after a summer rain, startling him.
"Who I am is not important. What matters is that one."
"I am merely a vessel for His will."
Before you continue