Damp, Chilly Land

"Captain, want to make another bet? Let's see how many people from that group of vagrants make it back alive this time."

At the heavily fortified gates of Komodo Fortress, the sentries from earlier were listlessly fiddling with their firearms. The long, dull hours on guard duty were almost unbearable.

Only members of a major company like this could afford to feel bored. The other vagrants out in the wilderness were constantly scrambling to fill their bellies and fighting beasts for their lives.

At that moment, they would have welcomed a monster siege just to break the monotony. The anti-materiel heavy sniper rifles in their hands were practically begging to be fired.

So, to pass the time, the guards decided to bet on how many survivors there would be from the group of vagrants who had accepted a mission to hunt living corpses.

The stakes were the liquor each of them received as part of their company rations.

In fact, several groups of vagrants had already gone to the Street of the Living Dead to hunt living corpses.

But almost all of them had returned in defeat. Some had even been wiped out to the last person.

Only a handful of skilled Baptized Ones had managed to return safely with gray crystals. Those capable few had naturally earned the right to enter the Fortress.

"Didn't this group have two Baptized Ones? As long as they don't have a falling-out among themselves, I figure only those two will make it back. Still, I'm betting that skinny young man will return."

The burly captain of the guard leaned against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he spoke lazily. He pulled two more cigarettes from his pocket as the stakes and tossed them to his men.

The moment the guards saw the cigarettes, their eyes lit up. In the apocalypse, cigarettes were even more valuable than liquor. The company only issued them to people in official positions; ordinary folks hardly ever got a chance to smoke one.

"Captain, you're really betting on that pale-faced guy? He doesn't look like a Baptized One at all."

One of the guards asked, puzzled.

"Hmph, idiots. Are Baptized Ones all you can see? And do you think a true strongman would let you see through him so easily? Those two who just got here and bragged about being Apocalypse Warriors and Apocalypse Hunters? They've already hit their ceiling."

The captain, a third-tier strength-type Apocalypse Warrior, gave his men a contemptuous scolding, then fell silent. He remembered the young man's eyes, indifferent to everything, as though life and death meant nothing to him. There was no way he was an ordinary person.

He just couldn't figure out why the young man was hiding his strength, and that made him intensely curious.

Even a third-tier Baptized One could only serve as a security captain in the Fortress. That showed just how high the power ceiling was within the major mercenary companies!

As the oppressive heat made everyone increasingly restless—

Suddenly!

A figure appeared in the middle of the road ahead, where the blazing sun had warped the air!

It was Xia Leng. Dressed in a black hoodie, he walked toward the Fortress gates with a blank expression and steady steps.

The guards stared in astonishment at the young man they had looked down on. He didn't seem to have a single injury. Could he have gotten scared and never gone hunting zombies with the group at all, turning back halfway?

"Hey, why are you the only one back? Where's everyone else? And what happened to the two Baptized Ones in your group?"

One of the guards watched him approach and asked with a mocking grin, ready to sneer at the coward.

Xia Leng simply tossed him a dark gray crystal in reply.

The guard caught it without thinking and took a look. Wasn't this the kind of crystal found only inside the skulls of mutated living corpses?!

He stared at it in disbelief, turning it over under the sun and rubbing it with his fingers. He almost put it in his mouth and bit down. The color and texture were unmistakable. It was genuine.

"No need to check. Do you think a fake could fool a major company like yours? As for the others, they're probably in the bellies of those living corpses by now, turning into shit."

Xia Leng answered evenly.

"Weren't you just a wilderness merchant? How did you complete the mission when not even the two Baptized Ones made it back alive?" The guard persisted, still curious. Regardless, Xia Leng had returned with a crystal, so they had to let him into the Fortress.

"Hmph. Do you think I'd dare travel the wilderness alone if I didn't have some strength? As a second-tier Apocalypse Hunter, I could easily take down a dozen ordinary people like you."

Xia Leng gave a disdainful sneer. If he claimed to be an ordinary person, people would probably be even more suspicious of him. Better to simply say he was a Baptized One.

A second-tier Baptized One was in an awkward middle ground within the Fortress company, but even so, they were still an insurmountable presence in the eyes of ordinary people.

When the guard heard that Xia Leng was a second-tier Baptized One—and realized that it did make sense—he immediately stopped pressing him.

Once Xia Leng entered the Fortress, he could easily land a well-paid mercenary job or even an official position in the company, thanks to his status as a second-tier Baptized One.

Besides, he was so young to have already become a second-tier Baptized One. His future potential was limitless. He might even end up as their superior.

The guards' attitude toward Xia Leng changed completely. They immediately greeted him with smiles and stepped aside, making it clear that the Fortress was open to him.

At the same time, however, they felt a pang of regret. The captain was the only one who had won the bet...

He had always been uncannily good at judging people.

The captain hadn't come over to speak with Xia Leng at all. He had simply watched him with a smile, as though he'd expected the young man to complete the mission.

"Friend, congratulations on becoming a member of Komodo Fortress. I didn't expect someone so young to be a second-tier Baptized One. You have a bright future ahead of you."

Only when Xia Leng passed by him did the captain smile and speak.

"Thanks. By the way, I'd like to ask you about a place. Do you have a moment?"

Xia Leng smiled back, but inside, he was already in turmoil. He could barely keep himself from swallowing the Baptized One in front of him whole...

"Go ahead. If I know the place, I'll be happy to tell you."

The captain walked over and took another cigarette from his pocket, tossing it to Xia Leng.

Xia Leng didn't refuse. He put the precious "supply" between his lips and deftly lit it with the windproof lighter that had been with him for years. He took a deep drag, savored the long-forgotten smoke as it lingered in his lungs, then exhaled.

"Do you know a place called the Land of Corpse Cold?"