Newcomers Must Learn More

"Hey, every time I accept a commission like this, I always think the institute's procedures are too troublesome," Jamie said with a chuckle to his roommates in the dorm at night. Today had passed smoothly, and although there were still two weeks left, overall, nothing significant had happened.

"Exactly, just give us the reward directly, and we'll participate in the test. We can get paid on the same day," a veteran, like Lewis, agreed. He felt that the institutes creating such a process was like farting after taking off your pants – completely unnecessary.

"Do you think those people at the institutes are stupid?" Lewis said, chewing on jerky with a look of satisfaction. "These institutes do this for other reasons, you know. Guess what they are?"

"It's unfair to make us guess," Jamie raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Haha, the reason is related to the characteristics of Longcheng. It's a shame you're a local," Lewis laughed a couple of times and revealed the reason he knew.

"We all know that abnormal weather is more common in Longcheng's heavy fog. It's difficult to completely isolate the occurrence of those anomalies. Some institutes have encountered situations where test subjects underwent unexpected changes due to the influence of heavy fog."

"Damn, isn't that even more dangerous?" Jamie clicked his tongue. He hadn't encountered such a situation and was completely unaware of it.

Zheng Yichen (he) still listened to this information earnestly, like a novice.

"Indeed, but for the institutes, they can also obtain more test data. However, at that time, it wouldn't be us wild testers on the field; the institute's security force would be deployed," Lewis said, his expression becoming a bit melancholic.

"I've encountered this kind of situation twice. After resolving it, there was more reward, but every time, a colleague died."

Jamie clicked his tongue, "Twice? Including this one, I've participated in twenty-two security commissions for institutes, and I haven't encountered anything like that once."

"Then you're really lucky."

At this moment, Zheng Yichen (he) said, "There was a strong heavy fog a few days ago. There shouldn't be heavy fog again recently."

Lewis nodded slightly, "Let's hope so."

There was nothing much to say about Longcheng's terrible weather. The climate was similar to the outer cities, but the fog was truly distinctive.

The Meteorological Bureau could issue relatively accurate fog forecasts, but what determined when the fog appeared was obviously not the Meteorological Bureau. There might not be heavy fog recently, but it wasn't impossible for consecutive periods of strong heavy fog to occur.

On the third day, Zheng Yichen (he), just after waking up, looked at his phone and checked the weather forecast: "Heavy fog is coming..."

"Huh?" Jamie heard Zheng Yichen (he)'s words, rubbed his eyes, and after his vision cleared, he mumbled a couple of times. He didn't slack off on his daily exercises, but when comparing his physique with Zheng Yichen (he)'s, he still seemed somewhat lacking.

Of course, in terms of muscle, Lewis was still the strongest. He was already 1.9 meters tall with a large frame, which was a congenital advantage.

Setting aside those congenital advantages, just in terms of physique, their temporary dorm could be described as full of masculine energy.

"So what if there's heavy fog? There's fog everywhere in Longcheng, it's not like it'll affect this place," Jamie said slowly as he put on his clothes. "When I was at other institutes before, I also encountered heavy fog, and I never ran into any abnormal situations."

"Compared to these things, I'm more eager to get in touch with those test subjects."

He wasn't here at this institute just for the money. His main goal was to join this institute. He had already felt his own limits, and it was difficult to improve further. As for some special enhancement methods, those methods were very expensive.

Therefore, the best way was as he had said before: join certain institutes. The Nefita Institute was one of his targets. This institute mainly conducted Biological Research and had many achievements in Human Augmentation Technology.

If he performed well in this commission, he could start by applying to join the security force here. Although after that, he wouldn't be able to freely choose commissions to earn money as before, he would have access to more possibilities here.

He has other options if this place doesn't work out; there are plenty of opportunities. Many research institutes recruit Hunters for their security forces.

"I'll have to trouble you to give me more chances to prove myself then."

"I have no problem with that," Lewis said readily. The institute provided food, but extra meals cost money. Jamie directly took responsibility for the extra meals. Lewis understood Jamie's thinking; he had no interest in joining the institute.

Since there was no conflict of interest, he was happy to let Jamie show off. That way, he could save some ammunition.

"I'm new and need to learn more," Zheng Yichen added. He had just entered this circle, and many things were unclear to him. He certainly didn't have Jamie's ambitions. Moreover, he himself had a special anomaly. He had seen a lot of related information online.

It wasn't uncommon for people in this world to have anomalies. If they didn't encounter those Evil Organizations, the chances of being dissected were actually not high. Some people with anomalies even wanted to lie flat and sell their blood. He had even seen people specifically showing off pictures of their 'pay stubs.'

He didn't know if they were bragging or telling the truth.

Even so, he maintained an attitude of keeping his distance from places like research institutes. Especially after learning that the Nefita Institute studied biology, he had even less interest in it. If he did have any interest, it would be after he had learned enough about that field in the future.

His current idea was to be a slacker first. When the actual combat began, he would take the opportunity to "collect" some of the experimental subjects. Not too much, just a little would be enough. His current role was a Melee Unit. After engaging in close combat with an experimental subject, wouldn't it be normal to get a little blood on him?

Patrolling the area, Zheng Yichen glanced at the surveillance camera. Yesterday, the frequency of the roars of those Unknown Beasts in this area had increased. Based on the roars, some experienced Hunters had determined the general size of the experimental subjects.

The size of those experimental subjects should not be less than a lion. Lewis had also said that if they truly faced the experimental subjects here, they should be prepared to fight a bear head-on. This commission was quite unsuitable for a Melee Unit like Zheng Yichen.

Melee combat was too easy to get instantly killed. Unless Zheng Yichen could achieve a one-hit kill during close combat and simultaneously ensure that the kill instantly paralyzed the experimental subjects, with the vitality of large experimental subjects, even if a vital spot was hit, there would be a brief period of counterattack.

It was different with guns. They could be killed from a distance with damage, and there was no need to worry about a dying experimental subject's counterattack.

Also, the roars from the experimental subjects made the veteran Hunters quite curious. However, the glass of the experimental sites was not transparent, and at most, they could only hear the sounds, making it difficult to obtain specific intelligence. The institute needed to collect combat data.

They could provide some reminders, but they clearly wouldn't reveal too much information to the Hunters in advance.

"Everyone be careful. 'Accidents' might happen today," Lewis said in a low voice to Zheng Yichen and the others. "There will be heavy fog in a while. The institute considers heavy fog an additional Variable."

"Isn't that against the rules?" Zheng Yichen scoffed.

"The institute didn't change the weather," Lewis shrugged. He didn't elaborate much on this matter.

Jamie nodded in understanding. "No wonder I always encountered 'accidents' in heavy fog when I was at other research institutes."