The Radio

Images like mosaics continuously appeared on the grassland, then pieced together into a fully armed figure.

A tactical helmet, combat uniform with a tactical vest, a large backpack on his back, and a sleek black assault rifle in his hand – he was armed to the teeth.

"It really makes a difference when you change your gear."

Tao Yu, using his Dynamic Vision, scanned his surroundings with a few tactical movements. Once he confirmed it was safe, he relaxed slightly.

This was precisely the spot where he had left. The new set of equipment he was wearing was actually spoils of war from the Li Family.

After a low profile for over half a month, Tao Yu checked the location where he had buried his supplies at night. He finally took out some common, ordinary items for his own use.

These were things that could be obtained in the Outer City.

With his visible income from selling skills and Blood Orchids, using this equipment wasn't conspicuous.

Besides, he wasn't selling them, just using them himself. When he teleported back, it was in his own room, naturally minimizing the risks.

An assault rifle, a submachine gun that could be wielded one-handed, and two pistols. One of the pistols was a Wish Power item with the 'Ballistic Precision' attribute.

A Wish Power long dagger with an attribute, and two convenient, replaceable kukri knives.

Coupled with a tactical helmet, tactical suit, bulletproof vest, tactical shoes, and other protective gear, it significantly increased Tao Yu's margin for error.

Just like Winuo's full metal armor back then, Tao Yu's set of equipment at least gave him more opportunities when facing ambushes and sneak attacks.

Li Hui's direct combat strength was far greater than Tao Yu's, yet he was instantly killed by Tao Yu's surprise attack. He didn't want to experience that himself.

In the Zombie World, relying solely on bullets was useless, even if he carried all of them. It also easily attracted those creatures, making it both poor and troublesome. It was better to stick to close combat.

"But I still need to find that fragment first. The intel said to keep heading north. The altitude of that world is ten meters lower than the Alien World, but the fragment's barrier is stronger than the rainforest, preventing Wish Power creatures like Aliens from entering..."

Tao Yu easily flipped back to the rainforest side and found a tree by the edge, climbing it to look north. Under Tao Yu's astonishing eyesight, it was still grassland, with no sign of any buildings.

"If the curvature of the Alien World is similar to Earth's, this is at least another twenty to thirty kilometers. I hope it's not too exaggerated..."

Tao Yu returned to the base of the tree, feeling a bit speechless.

He had originally wanted to get a motorcycle, but he was too broke after completing the Deification of [Five Forms Unification].

After climbing down, looking at the height of the tree and feeling the weight of his backpack, Tao Yu felt a distinct sense of becoming stronger.

Going up was too easy; he could simply embed his fingers into the bark where there were no handholds. Compared to the first time he climbed a tree, where he would be panting even after leaving his backpack behind, there was no comparison.

Following the path northward, Tao Yu walked for three days.

He stayed close to the rainforest the entire time and didn't encounter any more harassment from Aliens. The rainforest also provided ample food, so he didn't touch his emergency rations at all.

This time, with the convenience of returning once every five days, Tao Yu had also brought a military-green tent, adding some comfort to his outdoor experience. It was much better than camping in the elements like before...

"...The fragment we are currently in is extremely cold, a completely frozen civilization. Even tsunamis are frozen. The fragment barrier is not strong, but Aliens don't come. Fortunately, it hasn't affected the climate of adjacent fragments. Temporarily deemed valueless. We will contact you to arrange new exploration missions. Various rewards will be half of those from Zombie World 01..."

Tao Yu basked in the sun, charging his watch, while listening to the new broadcast intelligence from the two young masters and ladies from the Floating City.

He could only say they were bold due to their skill; they were either exploring or on their way to explore.

However, after they generally understood a situation, they would usually assign missions for details. Tao Yu had already learned that the New Frontier now had a ranking for cannon fodder points, but there were no plans to activate it yet.

The two individuals from the Floating City also understood that currently, there weren't enough personnel. Forcing cannon fodder missions would lead to fewer people choosing the New Frontier later, creating a vicious cycle.

Reducing the frequency of cannon fodder missions and raising the usage standards would instead create a healthy competitive relationship with the old settlement. Coupled with financial and resource investment, they might actually make a success of it.

As for the current investment, with the emergence of outputs from large-scale Alien farming and similar ventures, they might even recoup their costs in the future.

"It's been confirmed that the East-West extent of the Alien World is preliminarily over ten thousand kilometers. It's not ruled out that some areas might extend further, or be shorter. They must have some decent means of transportation."

Tao Yu mused inwardly. The boundaries of fragments weren't static, nor were they pure straight lines. Their estimations were likely just approximations.

The Alien World wasn't a significant challenge for the siblings, so they could continuously explore other areas with this world as their center.

"The Sun Family seems to be one of the board members. I just don't know how much influence they have..."

With just two young people, they could already set up such a large operation. Tao Yu was somewhat awestruck by the power and influence of the factions on the Floating City.

"It's probably like some startups back in the day. As they become more successful, more factions will invest and take stakes..."

After listening to today's broadcast, Tao Yu turned off his watch to let it charge.

Although he had solar power, this thing definitely couldn't be kept on all the time in the Abyss.

The main reason was that there was no electricity at home, so he could only charge it using solar power or Wish Power.

After listening to today's broadcast, Tao Yu climbed a tree again. This time, he finally saw new scenery on the monotonous grassland, catching a glimpse of building rooftops on the horizon.

"Good heavens, I've finally arrived."

There were still about twenty to thirty kilometers to go. However, since he could only see the tops of some buildings, after reaching the fragment's border, it would likely take a similar or even longer distance to reach the city.

Tao Yu decided to put in some extra effort.

With a full load of over fifty kilograms, he had walked for three days and finally arrived at the world fragment mentioned in the intel.

When Tao Yu reached the edge of the world fragment and stood on the ten-meter-high grassland, looking at the scene before him, a hint of emotion appeared on his face.

The main scenery ahead was a desert landscape, with a style reminiscent of the American West. Barren desert, withered cacti, and a highway leading directly here, cut off midway.

In the distance, the silhouette of a city could be seen, with towering buildings, but it was filled with a sense of dead silence.

Behind the city, like a backdrop, were distant mountains, their peaks rising and falling.

Along the desolate Gobi Desert and the highway, several figures loitered. In addition to them, there were also some crashed, scrapped vehicles on the road.

Especially in the direction of the city's entrance and exit, there were two long rows of abandoned vehicles, stuck and blocked by the collisions ahead.

Some vehicles were even stuck in the Gobi Desert.

Accompanied by the wind-blown sand and dust, a post-apocalyptic atmosphere washed over him.

"There are indeed fragment barriers."

Tao Yu reached out and touched forward. There was a slight resistance, but he quickly merged into it.

This was an ability granted by the world's will, something these fragment barriers couldn't block.

However, the Alien and the giant Python next door probably wouldn't be able to pass.

With a height of ten meters and a fifty-kilogram load on his back, Tao Yu didn't choose to leap down. Instead, he nimbly stepped on some uneven gaps, relying purely on his feet, descending lightly like a mountain goat performing an inverse rock climb.

"I wonder if there are any newspapers, oh, right, the radio."

Tao Yu recalled the information he had, and opened his watch again. The radio frequency was also in the intelligence. Coupled with the watch's automatic search function, Tao Yu soon picked up a segment of speech amidst the crackling background noise of the Abyss.

"...The virus has been rampant for seven months, and I don't know how much longer I can last. The food we have here is running low. We've found all the easily obtainable food. From now on, we'll probably have to venture into areas with denser zombie populations. Moreover, as time goes on, we have to consider food spoilage. Some people say strange highlands and rainforests have appeared to the south, but no one dares to go..."

It was standard American English. Thanks to Tao Yu's past experience as a corporate slave, he could understand it roughly. Compared to other pioneers who needed to meet in person to communicate through Wish Power, this was a unique advantage.

However, he still couldn't determine what kind of world this was for now