Aberrant

The next day, Tao Yu's group of five formed a line through the jungle. Chen Guan, carrying a steel pipe and machete, walked at the front. Zhang Wei followed behind him, then Yosef, with Tao Yu behind them and Walter bringing up the rear with a hunting rifle.

Only scattered sunlight filtered through the rainforest canopy. As they stepped on the thick layer of dead leaves, little bugs were occasionally startled into fleeing. There was no shortage of brightly colored poisonous insects either, making the place seem especially creepy.

However, ordinary rainforest creatures, including venomous snakes, were generally scared off by their group, so they did not run into any trouble.

As they walked, Yosef adjusted the receiver on his mechanical arm. His receiving device was clearly far better than Tao Yu's; he did not need to climb a tree at all to pick up a signal.

And aside from the broadcast from the siblings in the Floating City, he seemed to have contacted another Inner City descendant, one close enough for two-way communication.

"Winuo, I've found four on my side. The last two had pretty good luck—one has Stamina D+, and the other has Dynamic Vision B."

Bzzzt—

After a brief burst of Electric Current, an irritable voice came from the other end.

"Shit! Dynamic Vision B? An Outer City Country Bumpkin getting a talent like that is some damn good luck. Fuck, why is my talent only D-rank?"

"Haha, your Rejection Optimization may only be D-rank, but your potential is still better than an Outer City person's ordinary B-rank talent. If he'd been born in the Inner City, he might have had a chance to compete with you."

Yosef was clearly taking pleasure in Winuo's misfortune.

During a pause in the conversation, he casually said to Tao Yu beside him,

"This guy's awakened talent rank is a bit lousy. Be careful not to offend him later."

"Thank you for the warning, Brother Yosef."

Tao Yu appeared exceptionally obedient and receptive to advice.

But inwardly, he was feeling somewhat uncertain.

Ever since Yosef had given him that "miracle drug," the man's true colors had been completely exposed!

If they were merely ordinary Outer City people, perhaps they would not understand the threat and harm of this stuff. Zhang Wei, for example, was actually thrilled and sincerely grateful.

Tao Yu now understood why so many people in the Outer City had no savings or surplus wealth!

His own family was poor, but that was because his parents took Awakening Day seriously. Setting aside the family's living expenses, the upkeep needed to accelerate themselves, and the land rent they had to pay, saving up an extra thousand units of Wish Power for him would probably require them to tighten their belts for at least a year.

And many other families, like Zhang Wei's, who did not care whether their children lived or died and gave them no Wish Power at all, had probably poured much of their spare money into this "happiness"!

Not only did they control the basics of food, clothing, housing, and transportation in the Outer City, but even if someone had a little money left over, they could use "happiness" to scrape it all away without leaving a drop behind!

If possible, Tao Yu really wanted to gun him down on the spot. But after observing him, he noticed modifications on Yosef's head as well. He might not be able to kill him with a single shot.

If he failed, Yosef's stats gave him an absolute advantage. Tao Yu would have no chance of surviving.

Leaving alone would also seem suspicious. Not to mention the Sense of Crisis from that three-snake attack, it was hard to say whether Yosef would even let him go. Sneaking away carried risks as well.

After considering everything, he could only endure for now. With the orders from the broadcast, they still wanted to bring as many living Outer City people as possible.

Besides, his B-rank talent was even more valuable! Yosef's willingness to give him "happiness" for free was probably driven by his own plans and demands.

Just then, after another crackle of Electric Current, Winuo's voice came through again.

"Since you've got four over there, why don't you come over and join us? Let's clear out that giant python nest and put together a skill set."

"What? They're just a few big snakes made of flesh and blood. Why are you being so careful? That's not your style. Your starting capital should be a hundred thousand, right? Isn't that enough for you to handle it?"

Yosef raised a brow as he spoke.

His casual words made Tao Yu suddenly feel sour with envy.

A hundred thousand units of Wish Power? Starting capital?

The gap was far too huge!

His parents had scrimped and saved to squeeze out a thousand units of Wish Power, and that was already considered good. Zhang Wei beside him had started with absolutely nothing. Yet these people received a hundred thousand units of Wish Power just for Awakening Day!

Was this the world of the rich?

But Tao Yu soon sighed and understood. The wealth controlled by Inner City people was definitely beyond comparison with that of the Outer City.

A considerable portion of the profits extracted from the Outer City must have gone to them. Awakening Day was a dangerous first experience in the Abyss, so it made sense for them to be given a large lump sum of Wish Power to get through their weak early stage quickly.

His family's hard-earned money really could not compare to someone else's pocket change...

"That was in the city. What was wrong with being reckless there? But this is our first time entering the Abyss. No amount of caution is too much. If snakes like that bit or coiled around either of us, it would still be a life-or-death situation."

Though Winuo had sounded hot-tempered earlier, these words showed that he was not simply a mindless brute.

They could not undergo the divine qualitative transformation of skills the way Tao Yu could. They could only rapidly increase various proficiencies and reach a mature bottleneck in a short time.

After all, if a hundred thousand units of Wish Power were compressed into a short period for accelerated use, then for an ordinary person's physique, it would be equivalent to more than twenty thousand hours of training. Spreading it out over time would have an even stronger effect!

But as their own strength rapidly increased, the acceleration effect would only grow weaker, producing diminishing returns.

Moreover, they surely had more advanced skills to some extent, and those would consume even more.

Taking all that into account, their strength was still within an estimable range. They began beyond the endpoint of most Outer City people, but that did not mean they could fly through the sky or burrow into the earth.

The giant python could kill Tao Yu instantly, but judging by Yosef's current condition, if he were successfully ambushed, even if he did not die, he would be badly battered.

Thinking of his own talent, Tao Yu quickly felt much more balanced.

Then his mind became even more active.

It seemed Winuo might have already found the Blood Orchid.

Unfortunately, with Yosef and Winuo, those two Inner City people, it would be hard to get the biggest share. He would take things one step at a time. If the Blood Orchid was well hidden, they might not notice a Wish Power item like that...

It was difficult to navigate the rainforest, but Yosef and Winuo both had short-range communication equipment. Following marks left along the way and constantly communicating, they gradually drew closer.

"I see the creek you mentioned. You guys started a fire, right?"

"That's right. Come over first. There's an abandoned primitive village here."

Following the creek onward, the group's view suddenly opened up. They saw a thatched hut built from branches and dead leaves, then more and more of them, revealing a village with a primitive style.

It was already noon. There were few trees in the village, and the harsh sunlight beat down from above. Even so, they could see a bonfire burning in the center of the village, black smoke shooting straight into the sky.

Beside the bonfire were several small shelters made of branches, and three people sat inside them.

One of them, a burly bald man over two meters tall, caught Tao Yu's attention.

With his exceptional eyesight, Tao Yu could see that he had an exaggerated inverted-triangle build, and his body gleamed with a metallic sheen.

At first, Tao Yu thought he had been mechanically modified, but he soon realized it was a full suit of metal armor!

The man had removed his helmet and set it aside. A massive double-bladed axe rested beside him, presumably his weapon.

At the man's uncovered neck, Tao Yu could see raised skin resembling a keratinous layer. It extended all the way up to his bald scalp, making him look somewhat ferocious. He was clearly different from an ordinary person!

This was probably the "aberration" Yosef had mentioned: choosing to implant some Non-human tissue to enhance oneself.

The implantation surgery had already been completed before entering. After coming in, they mainly relied on Wish Power to quickly adapt to the skills.

Mechanical arms and such could still be found in the Outer City, but Tao Yu had truly never seen an aberrant before.

Even if that was partly due to his family's limited exposure, it was enough to show that there were fewer aberrants in the Outer City than people with mechanical prosthetics.

The side effects might be greater and the process more troublesome, but the fact that he casually wore full-body armor as standard gear also showed that it truly granted powerful physical strength—a physique beyond normal human limits!

No wonder he wanted to team up with Yosef.

This guy was probably good at wielding heavy weapons and hacking wildly, facing those giant pythons head-on.

The giant pythons' massive size gave them overwhelming raw physical advantages, which was indeed unfavorable for him. If he instead used a gun to shoot them, he might even be worse than Tao Yu.

But paired with Yosef, who had long-range attack capabilities, they complemented each other perfectly...

Hearing the movement behind him, Winuo stopped chatting and turned his head to look at the group by the village entrance.

The two Outer City people beside him looked drastically different. One was dressed in rags. Aside from the swollen red bites left by poisonous insects, he also bore obvious signs of having been beaten.

The other was much better off. Though he seemed insignificant in front of the over two-meter-tall Winuo,

his height of nearly 1.8 meters and burly build still made him look quite strong. He wore a full tactical outfit, complete with a bulletproof vest and goggles. Among Outer City equipment, this was considered top-tier.

After seeing the people at the village entrance, Li Le said somewhat ingratiatingly,

"Lord Winuo, my family also came from the Inner City in the past. You should give the 'happiness' to them instead, hehe~"

"Tch, so what if they came from the Inner City? I use it too. Forget it, boring."

Winuo rolled his eyes at Li Le and said nothing more. Li Le smiled apologetically, while inwardly rolling his eyes as well. With all your aberrant enhancements, of course you don't care. You might even need this stuff to suppress the rejection response.

He naturally knew what this thing was. Rather than calling it "happiness," it would be more accurate to call it "the devil"...