Talent

In a plaza, before an old statue, more than two hundred young people with varying expressions had gathered. They had all turned eighteen today, and today was also the day they would awaken their talents.

The more than two hundred youths wore all manner of outfits. Yet no matter their style, every one of them carried a large backpack, and quite a few had various firearms, weapons, and ammunition hanging from their bodies.

Some even wore padded coats in this sweltering weather. Their foreheads were drenched in sweat, yet they showed no sign of taking them off. The sight was exceptionally bizarre.

At that moment, Uncle Hu stood before the statue, waving his mechanical prosthetic arm, which was full of power and mechanical heft, as he delivered an impassioned speech.

"From the moment you were born, you have owed the company an enormous debt! The air you breathe, the soil you live upon, the food you eat—these are all gifts from the company!

"The fact that you have lived to this day is also a blessing granted by the company's protection! And now, the company will give you another chance to change your fate..."

Listening to Uncle Hu's poisonous motivational speech below the stage, Tao Yu, dressed in a padded coat with a twenty-kilogram backpack and an AK-like Assault Rifle tucked against him, could not help showing a deadpan expression.

He knew this was Uncle Hu's job, but he had never expected him to force-feed such an extreme dose of toxic motivational nonsense. The crucial thing was that, judging from the excited expressions of some people nearby, there might really be people swallowing it whole.

All two hundred or so people present were celebrating their eighteenth birthdays today. They were true peers, born in the same year, same month, and same day.

Since Tao Yu had come here with Uncle Hu, he had already gained a preliminary understanding of the situation. Most of these two hundred people were Outer City Country Bumpkins like him.

Among the Outer City group, a small portion were children of Combat Talent users who had joined the Security Team and served as minor leaders in the Outer City.

The equipment alone revealed some of the disparity. Tao Yu, with his old Assault Rifle, was considered middle-tier. Some were worse off, carrying hunting rifles or homemade guns, while quite a few of his peers did not even have guns and instead held sharpened steel pipes.

Then there were six or seven peers from the Inner City, standing distinctly apart on the other side.

Their fully equipped combat uniforms, military backpacks, bulletproof vests, full-body armor, and other gear—and the fact that three of them had already installed mechanical prosthetics—completely set them apart from everyone else.

Besides them, a young man and woman standing behind Uncle Hu with indifferent expressions were even more unusual.

Not only had they not joined the group, but they wore tight combat suits that were obviously high-tech, somewhat resembling the black combat suits from Gantz. Compared to the group wearing padded coats, they were worlds apart.

Judging from their equally striking looks and identical birthdays, they were probably fraternal twins, twins from some important family in the Floating City.

"...Furthermore, today is the lucky day for you Country Bumpkins. The important people you may have only one chance in your lives to meet are standing before you.

"Once you enter the Abyss, do your utmost to find Young Master Sun and Miss Sun. Anything that slips through their fingers would be enough to benefit you for the rest of your lives. During the operation, you must obey their orders unconditionally. Do you understand?"

Uncle Hu emphasized the words with a roar full of vigor.

"Understood!"

The people below also felt greatly stirred. Just as Uncle Hu had said, this might be their only chance in their entire lives to meet such important people. Even those Inner City descendants were no exception!

Tao Yu, however, was not particularly interested. Mainly because Uncle Hu had specifically instructed him beforehand: avoid them whenever possible during the mission. Stay the hell away!

Following them around and serving them might indeed earn him benefits, but the risks were far too great.

The children of such important people would certainly not have weak innate talents. Moreover, these young masters and young ladies had grown up with nutrient solutions and all kinds of skill training. Add to that their equipment and the Wish Power their families had given them from the start, and they had surpassed other people's finish lines the moment they were born.

While ordinary people were mainly trying to survive, those two would surely be seeking greater gains. They would urgently need cannon fodder nearby to probe all sorts of dangers.

The potential gains might be immense, but the risks were even greater!

No matter how great the profits and benefits were, he had to stay alive to claim them.

The same went for those fully armed people from the Inner City. Their side might offer fewer benefits than those two, while carrying just as much danger, so he needed to avoid them as much as possible too.

Instead, he could try making contact with the children of some Outer City minor leaders. Uncle Hu had greeted a few acquaintances. They might not help him, but at least they could stick together for warmth.

First, he had to show his value before he could possibly be accepted as an equal. If his strength was insufficient, he also had to recognize his own place.

There was no such thing as love without reason in this world. Even Uncle Hu's connection with his family came from the friendship built over many years of mutual support.

If not for the period when Uncle Hu had become disabled and fallen into a low point, then even if his family could establish ties through kinship, they would only be dependents.

"...All right, the time is almost here. You already know what you need to know, but I must emphasize this once more: your main objective for the next half month is to survive!

"The World Will usually places you in relatively safe fragments at the beginning. Then use the radio to find the company's gathering point. Only by successfully reaching the gathering point will you have the qualifications to survive in the Abyss!"

After saying that, Uncle Hu raised his hand. At the same time, beneath the base of the Floating City in the sky, a faint, ghostly blue flame seemed to emerge from the void.

A beam of light instantly bloomed from the flame and struck the statue, whose face could no longer be made out. The next moment, radiance covered the plaza, and every youth whose eighteenth birthday was today vanished instantly.

But after the radiance faded, Uncle Hu, who had been smiling, turned back toward the statue and his expression instantly froze.

A faint blue glow had appeared over the statue's once-blurred face. Then the blue light gradually gathered into a new small Light Ball, which was absorbed by the statue.

This made Uncle Hu hurriedly pull out a walkie-talkie. Cold sweat appeared on his forehead as he said, "Captain Zechuan! An abnormal fluctuation occurred during this transmission. The regional binding was not completed! New coordinates have appeared!"

Everyone automatically received the gift upon turning eighteen. In theory, it did not matter where they were. The reason they had all gathered here was to use the Flame of Civilization to complete a regional anchor, ensuring that this batch of newcomers would not end up too far from the company's gathering point.

But the transmission feedback now indicated that something had gone wrong...

There were endless world fragments within the Abyss rift. A slight deviation could cross countless fragments. If they relied solely on traveling through the Abyss, they might never reach the gathering point in their entire lives!

This did not happen often, but it had happened a few times before. If some ordinary Outer City Country Bumpkins, along with a few Inner City descendants, got sent off course, then so be it. They could survive on their own and pray for good fortune.

But this time, there were also two children of important figures from the Floating City. That changed everything!

However, the transmission had already been completed, and that could not be changed. They could only record the coordinates of that abnormal area, so future newcomers could choose to anchor near the same region...

"Bleurgh~"

The intense dizziness made Tao Yu want to vomit.

Coupled with the stifling heat from his padded coat, the moment he landed, he had no time to examine the World Will's gift. Instead, he swiftly drew a small-caliber pistol with one hand, quickly set down his pack, and began taking off his padded clothing.

The reason he had come wearing padded clothing was that while such regional deployment anchored a general area, the fragments in the Abyss changed in the blink of an eye. He might very well be dropped into some frigid glacier region.

If he arrived wearing too little, he might freeze to death before even getting the chance to put anything on. Though it was only a possibility, he did not dare gamble on it.

Taking off the padded clothes now was much easier.

He tossed the padded coat onto the ground. Underneath it, he wore a set of cowhide armor his mother had made by hand.

After holstering the pistol in the chest holster, slinging on the AK-like rifle, its paint chipped but its metal gleaming with oil, and skillfully fixing a bayonet onto the front, Tao Yu began surveying his surroundings.

The light was somewhat dim, but rays of sunlight still filtered down through gaps in the leaves overhead. The scent of soil and rot at his nose, the thick trees around him, the soft layer of decaying leaves beneath his feet, and the tangled roots all indicated a rainforest environment.

His vision had clearly improved greatly. It was probably because of his talent. It seemed pretty good.

All kinds of survival knowledge he had learned over the past eighteen years surfaced in his mind. Aside from the Wish Power Creatures in the various world fragments, the rainforest's greatest enemies were actually venomous insects!

He quickly tightened his sleeves and trouser legs. Then he took a conical hat with a face veil from his backpack and put it on. He also casually took out a bottle of medicine and began applying it to several key areas.

Only after finishing all that did he keep his gun raised and remain alert while examining the changes in himself.

The World Will had transmitted certain related information into his mind in a way that was not written words, yet could be understood at a glance. As Tao Yu focused inward, he could not help falling into a daze.

My cheat has arrived!

Talent One: Dynamic Vision (B-). Possesses exceptionally strong dynamic vision and can more easily learn certain visual and perception-related skills. Slightly increases dexterity and reaction speed.

There was no doubt this was a talent inherited from his parents, one that this body should have possessed from the start. It was already quite good. Once he focused, he could sense the Light Ball of the talent and the information he understood as instinctively as breathing.

But compared with the dazzling golden Talent Two beside it, it was nothing at all!

This world might have multiple talents. It might even be possible to improve or add talents later in life. But those things had nothing to do with ordinary people. Yet now, Tao Yu possessed a second talent!

Talent Two: Deification (MAX++??), from an Outer God of the void??

Known Ability One: One Proof, Eternal Proof. Any improvement gained through practice would never decay. Any injury could be fully restored by absorbing Wish Power or eating.

(Abilities requiring improvement through practice and Wish Power—such as the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique—could only accelerate recovery from injuries afterward and could not permanently solidify abilities through exploits.)

Known Ability Two: Mental Immunity. Ignores all mental and soul-based influence and attacks.

Known Ability Three: Deification. By consuming Wish Power, existing abilities and talents could be enhanced. Using enhanced abilities would consume additional physical strength and energy according to the ability's power.