Senses Enhancement

The time limit had only two minutes left.

At the gathering point in the town entrance, four carriages were still waiting.

A large crowd of frenzied townsfolk had chased them this far, and a small portion naturally noticed Yi Chen approaching from the lakeside, turning to pursue him.

Just then, the rear compartment of one carriage suddenly swung open, revealing an arm as sturdy as a stone pillar—it was Dagobert from the [North Territory], who had cooperated with them before.

Blond Edmund sat beside him, waving at Yi Chen.

"Isn't this William? Come on, we've got exactly one spot left."

At this critical moment tied to the assessment's end, there was naturally no reason to refuse.

He moved forward quickly.

When Yi Chen reached out and his palm met Dagobert's... an unimaginable force transmitted through, and without even making a jumping motion, he was pulled entirely onto the carriage.

Edmund, sitting nearby, closed the door in sync.

Since this carriage was now full, the driver no longer waited.

Crack!

The reins lashed across the horses' backs, and they sped away from this town reeking of Fishy Smell.

Inside the carriage, besides the four of them, there were two unfamiliar faces, both injured... one was wrapping bandages around his waist, the other had a large chunk of flesh stripped from his right arm and was spraying medicine on the wound.

By comparison, Edmund's team had very light injuries.

Dagobert had a small bandage wrapped around his left upper arm, Julianna was resting against the carriage, one hand resting on her lower right abdomen, seemingly with some minor Injuries, and Blond Edmund only had a sticky bandage like a band-aid on his cheek.

In contrast, Yi Chen, completely unscathed, naturally became the center of everyone's attention.

Edmund leaned in close, asking curiously:

"Mr. William, I'm a bit curious~

The three of us basically fought our way from the town center to the gathering point, and we stopped to observe twice along the way, but we never spotted you.

Did you come from the lakeside?"

"Hmm."

"How did you manage that? The town riot, the most dangerous thing is the Lake where the Pathogen breeds... almost no examinees would go near there at the last moment."

"I just happened to see through a 'gap'."

"Is that so? Impressive."

"By the way, how long will it take to get from here to the organization?"

Seeing the taciturn Yi Chen take the initiative to ask, Edmund quickly explained:

"Places chosen as assessment sites are usually not too far from the organization... that makes it easier to monitor the site and avoid unexpected situations.

At most three hours, and we'll reach the organization's headquarters—Zion City."

"Hmm."

Yi Chen asked no more, taking this time to close his eyes and rest, recovering the lingering trauma in his mental state.

At the same time, he could also check on Little Grape's condition.

Thanks to this lakeside operation, although Little Grape had some selfish motives, overall it was still trustworthy.

Gaji gaji~

The Plant Root Tendrils moved inside his body, trying to reach the developing Little Grape and check on its state.

Just as they got close, the Plant Root Tendrils all withdrew.

'Forget it, I'd better not disturb it...'

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, leaning against the wooden frame of the carriage, ready to get a good sleep, but found something lingering in his mind that kept him from sleeping.

Every time he closed his eyes, he would think of that Abyss Laboratory and the untouchable, unknown existence.

Since he couldn't sleep, the engineer's habitual thinking kicked in, and he began trying to trace the root of the Green Lake Town incident.

The real mastermind behind it all must be that unknown existence I glimpsed by chance.

The giant eye at the bottom of the lake was just a product of its experiment.

Dropping that eye along with some parasite samples into Green Lake Town... it wasn't so much an invasion to sicken the town as it was using the town as a [Farming Ground].

Once a high-quality Sick One was produced, it would probably be taken into the abyss.

Truly terrifying...

What kind of things are actually ruling this world?

Recalling the Epic Music between the seas and the Golden Frame that appeared above the unknown existence's head, Yi Chen actually cracked a faint smile, eager to uncover the secrets of this world.

About two hours passed.

Suddenly, a violent jolt struck.

At the same time, the carriage gradually tilted upward, clearly climbing a slope.

"Finally going up the mountain? Ahh~ we'll be there soon, I can't wait."

The blonde Edmund stretched lazily, then took the liberty of opening the rear door of the carriage... The driver said nothing about such behavior.

As long as they were on the mountain, there was no risk of sickness.

At least for now.

The moment the carriage door swung fully open.

'Holy shit!'

A wave of acrophobia instantly flooded Yi Chen's brain, his eyes widening instinctively... Luckily, he wasn't sitting near the edge, or he'd have jolted in fright.

Currently, the carriage was driving upward along an extremely steep mountain-edge road.

To the right was a cliff, estimated to be over two hundred meters high.

The worst part was, the road's width was barely ten centimeters wider than the carriage.

The rolling wheels were practically grinding along the very edge of the path, threatening to slip sideways at any moment... Any Normal Human would feel an instinctive fear—a fear of death.

Yet, the other examinees showed little change in expression, fully trusting the driver's skill.

As the carriage rounded a bend in the cliff, from several hundred meters away, gazing at the top of the cliff, a black city stood there.

The city was built along the cliff, with even a third of its area extending beyond the precipice.

Above the city, Dense Fog hung in the air, and some areas were even covered by a black membrane, effectively blocking outside prying eyes.

This is [Zion].

For some reason, when Yi Chen gazed at this city, his body spontaneously felt a cold, soothing comfort, as if he had found a safe haven in a world full of sickness and sores.

Just then, a sudden stir came from within his body.

The skin on Yi Chen's shoulder bulged rapidly, and black threads drilled through, growing out.

Gently and painlessly, they Tore Open the skin, emerging as a Black Flesh Ball identical to the original.

The neural connection between the two also returned to normal.

Little Grape's voice followed:

'Are we almost at the organization? That was fast.'

'Little Grape, you're already done? I thought you'd need a few days.'

'Just a fine little meal; a few hours were enough to digest... It barely counts as a Good Thing, gave me a certain boost.

Let you experience it too.'

When Little Grape shared the newly upgraded visual features, a circular dashed line symbolizing [Lock-on] suddenly appeared

in Yi Chen's field of vision.

Whenever any living target entered his sight, this dashed circle would automatically land on that person.

At that moment, the blonde-haired Edmund happened to be within Yi Chen's view, and the circular dashed line immediately locked onto the target's head, just like Auto-Aim.

After one second, the dashed line gradually turned solid, indicating the lock-on was complete.

Little Grape's voice came through, "Alright, the target is locked! As long as you have the thought, Psychic Radiation will directly take effect on them."

"What!?"

Yi Chen quickly averted his gaze and blinked.

The [Lock-on] naturally released.

The blonde-haired Edmund seemed to sense Yi Chen sneaking a glance at him but paid it no mind at all.