Beneath a clear azure sky, an airship bearing the Bolun Company emblem flew toward Biyulandi of the Sangma Woga Prefecture Council.
Si Wen Lindenberg sat in the main cabin, an issue of the latest Hero Report spread open in his hands.
It was a local newspaper from the Sangma Woga Continent, yet it was immensely popular among the people. It was said that on every publication day, someone with an education would read its contents aloud and relay them to the villagers.
The paper contained things rarely seen elsewhere, such as speeches by Resistance Front leaders, apocalyptic prophecies, and all manner of anti-government and anti-corporate rhetoric.
Strictly speaking, even reading this paper violated company regulations. The Active Consciousness Entity aboard the airship had already reminded him that it would record his conduct and submit it to the company's Board of Directors afterward.
Still, he insisted on reading it. It would be improper to take it in hand only to hurriedly discard it. Afterward, he could file a report claiming he had been gathering intelligence, though he would inevitably have to undergo a psychological intervention review.
After reading for a while, his World Token chimed. He looked out through the porthole, and a deeply soothing patch of green came into view. In stark contrast, the surrounding land stretched for miles in grayish white—lifeless wasteland devoid of any living thing. That lush green looked as though it had been forcibly embedded into dead, silent earth.
This was an ecological preserve heavily developed by the Corporate Union.
The Sangma Woga Continent had numerous small rifts, most of them poorly controlled and managed. Coupled with the many illegal research facilities here, large numbers of Mutated Creatures from the Convergence Zone and laboratories had spread into the outside world, making the wilderness a harsh place