The Ticket

The two sniper sentries saw what was happening and immediately frowned.

What kind of idiot was so carefree that he didn't worry about the roar of that huge motorcycle attracting the violent monsters along the way...

"Hey, Ground Rat, some guy's riding a motorcycle toward us. He's carrying several weapons. Stay alert—he might be part of a biker gang formed by vagrants."

The sniper sentry kept his crosshairs trained on Xia Leng's head and radioed the guards on the ground.

If the man showed any hostile intent, he would immediately pull the trigger on his powerful modified Barrett. One shot would blow away half the man's body!

But anyone bold enough to show himself openly in the guards' line of sight probably didn't mean them any harm.

Xia Leng thought the same. Sneaking into a heavily guarded fortress would be tantamount to suicide if he got caught, so he decided to come out in the open and stride toward the gate.

Riding a motorcycle modified into a wild-looking machine, Xia Leng came roaring straight to the heavily guarded entrance, sparks and smoke trailing behind him, and finally stopped.

The thick cloud of dust kicked up by the rear wheel made the guards cough...

"Damn it! What the hell are you doing here, you bastard? Looking for trouble? Get off the bike!"

The two irritated guards raised their submachine guns, parted the smoke, and aimed at the "wild boy" whose hood hid his eyes.

Xia Leng hadn't come to cause trouble, so he cooperated with the guards' routine.

With what he considered a friendly smile, he got off the motorcycle, raised both hands, and slowly approached them.

"Hey, guys, don't be nervous. I'm just an ordinary vagrant merchant. I came from Weikuang Town, and I'd like to trade for some goods at your company's fortress."

Xia Leng's explanation didn't put the guards at ease, so they sent someone over to scan him with a special device. It confirmed he wasn't carrying explosives or suffering from any unusual infectious disease. Even his skin was remarkably fair by wasteland standards, and only then did they lower their gun barrels slightly.

"You're from Weikuang Town? Aren't the people over there all uncivilized savages? With skin as fair as yours, won't you end up as their plaything? Hahaha!"

The guard's remark set off laughter all around. In this era, many people's sexual preferences had become just as twisted as their minds.

In certain establishments, fair-skinned boys could even fetch a higher price than girls.

But Xia Leng didn't pay any attention to their teasing. Still wearing his harmless smile, he asked, "So, may I come in?"

"Hold on. Let's see what goods you've brought to trade. Is it just those few guns? You should know our mercenary company has no shortage of guns."

Just then, a burly man walked over. He was about as tall as the man in charge whom Xia Leng had seen at the bar.

His massive muscles looked ready to burst through his military uniform. He seemed to be the guards' captain, and he was definitely an Apocalypse Warrior who specialized in strength!

There was no need to judge by his build. The moment the man approached, Xia Leng felt an urge well up inside him to tear the brute apart and eat him!

The Blacklight Virus only stirred up this kind of violent urge when faced with a Baptized One!!

But Xia Leng desperately suppressed the impulse, holding it back like a beast ready to pounce. Make trouble right at their doorstep?

If he showed the slightest hostility, the heavy-caliber machine guns around him would tear him to pieces in an instant!

As soon as the Apocalypse Warrior captain approached, the guards quickly stopped laughing and straightened their expressions.

When the captain came up beside Xia Leng, he noticed with some puzzlement that the young man had lowered his head and clenched his fists, refusing to look at him. Was his status as an Apocalypse Warrior putting pressure on the young man?

The truth was, Xia Leng was afraid that if he looked at the captain for too long, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from devouring him right there...

"Don't be nervous. We're a legitimate mercenary company. We won't exploit vagrants like you. But lately, so many vagrants have been pouring into our fortress from all over that all kinds of people have shown up—thieves, lowlifes, you name it. So our leadership has issued a new order: from now on, anyone who wants to enter the fortress or settle here permanently has to undergo a strict screening process."

The captain smiled and explained patiently. He didn't realize that the broad, fleshy grin on his face looked even more menacing than a scowl...

There was some truth to what he said. During the Komodo Mercenary Company's pioneering days, it had lost a great many men and spent enormous resources to build this utopian fortress in the wasteland.

It had abundant supplies, airtight security, order maintained by mercenary patrols, the only high-capacity power generator within a hundred kilometers, and countless other advantages.

All of this drew people from the surrounding wasteland toward this "sanctuary." Perhaps only life inside a fortress could help them regain a sense of what it meant to be human. And this was only a mid-level fortress.

It was said that a gigantic fortress in the sky had been built in the distant, mysterious East. Using antigravity technology beyond anything people thought possible, the enormous city floated high above the ground, protected by an energy shield. It had achieved absolute safety, and life inside was filled with futuristic technology.

Of course, that was only a rumor—perhaps just a fantasy, a source of hope for people longing to return to the good old days.

After Komodo Corporation established a branch fortress here, it quickly attracted large numbers of people from the surrounding areas.

At first, the leadership had wanted to recruit talent from all walks of life and figured the more residents they had, the better. After all, a city's prosperity depended on its population.

But as time went on, one problem after another cropped up.

Because they had accepted residents without setting any requirements, all sorts of people had slipped in: thugs, cannibals, vagrants riddled with disease, and even spies sent by other mercenary companies and shelters to sow chaos.

They'd thrown the whole fortress into turmoil, nearly bringing it down from within and destroying it completely.

Only after spending a great deal of manpower and resources to restore order did the leadership finally learn its lesson. From then on, they began carefully screening anyone who wanted to settle there.

As for the scoundrels and spies who had slipped in during the chaos, they were tracked down one by one. Their fate was to become fuel for the power station's furnace.

Hearing that he had to meet certain requirements to enter the fortress, Xia Leng understood. This wasn't a marketplace; it was the starting point for the rebirth of human civilization. It was only natural that they'd be cautious.

"What do I need to qualify for entry? Do I have to be a Baptized One?"

The towering captain looked down at the lean young man and said, "Here's the situation. Most of the soldiers in our fortress have been sent out on other missions, and we have an urgent research project that needs more hands..."

"What's the mission?" Xia Leng cut him off before he could go on and on. He wanted to get straight to the point.

The captain was taken aback when Xia Leng interrupted him. He glanced at the straightforward young man and didn't take offense, instead replying with a smile, "Go to a commercial street on the west side of the city and hunt the mutated walking corpses there. Our research department urgently needs their crystals. The gray stones inside their skulls are your ticket into the fortress."