Entering Lungmen

Half an hour earlier.

Inside the jeep, Rook took out an armor pack and placed it in the middle of the vehicle in full view of everyone.

Once they saw the armor pack was ready, no words were needed. One after another, they lined up and took the bulletproof plates from inside.

Texas, who was driving, was somewhat puzzled by the commotion behind her, but Zhuang Xiaolin, seated beside her, forced her to keep most of her attention on him.

"Miss Texas, you said this stack of blue banknotes is called Lungmen Dollars. Is it a commonly used currency?" Zhuang Xiaolin and Texas had exchanged names earlier, and he had been chatting with her throughout the drive.

Besides gathering information about this world, he also wanted to avoid making Texas think there was anything seriously wrong with them.

Thanks to his experience as an office drone in his previous life, Zhuang Xiaolin personally handled this sort of secrecy. Anything confidential stayed buried in his stomach, never to be spoken of. As for casually prying secrets out of others, that was impossible. Experienced people guarded against that sort of thing carefully. No matter how much you tried to fish for information, all you would get was a perfunctory answer or a completely unrelated direction.

So, Zhuang Xiaolin claimed that they were refugees who had wandered here from a distant snowfield and did not know much about the area.

But after observing her for the past several dozen hours, Zhuang Xiaolin felt that the wolf-eared girl named Texas had not let down her guard around them. If anything, there was an indescribable undertone to her behavior.

It felt as though something nearby was watching him. It was not coming from the wolf-eared girl in front of him, but from the surrounding environment...

Somewhere, there was an unsettling sensation. Eye of Death gave Zhuang Xiaolin more than what its skill description stated. Things like sensing hostility and killing intent could appear on the radar. Yet when he tried to check it, he found the screen completely empty, so he could only let it go and assume he was overthinking.

After checking the daily missions, Zhuang Xiaolin felt somewhat disappointed. The daily missions refreshed by the system basically all required someone else's cooperation to complete.

Things like playing with children or working as a convenience store clerk for an hour.

Those missions had all appeared yesterday. Since there had been no way to complete them, Zhuang Xiaolin had set them aside, intending to refresh them once they reached a populated city.

What Zhuang Xiaolin did not know was that his questions had only deepened Texas's suspicions as she drove.

As everyone knew, every normal Terran should know most of Terra's common knowledge.

For example, Terra's major races, Catastrophes, Originium, Oripathy, weapons, and other representative things.

Yet although the group before her called themselves refugees, their weapons were exceptionally refined. And when Texas looked at the guns in their hands, she felt that something was seriously wrong. If they had been people from Laterano, she would have found it quite normal for them to possess such things. After all, she had a colleague like that at Penguin Logistics.

But not only was their weaponry and equipment exceptionally refined, they also seemed to lack the halos and light wings unique to the Sankta.

Still, judging from their behavior, they did not seem hostile toward her for the moment. Texas let out a sigh of relief.

As for why she had been tied up in the middle of nowhere, that was a story from not long ago.

The vehicle sped along at tremendous speed. This modified jeep seemed born for this environment, reaching speeds of 210 kilometers per hour. It had also been modified to fit a full twelve people inside, with two rows of small trunks as well.

Rook had not been idle during this time either. Whenever his skill refreshed, he took out the armor pack and had everyone take a bulletproof plate.

Wanting to see whether the thing worked for others, Zhuang Xiaolin took a plate and handed it to Texas. Texas was initially puzzled, but after watching Zhuang Xiaolin and the others, she seemed to understand something and stuffed the plate into her work uniform.

As though it were natural, the instant the bulletproof plate touched the depths of her clothes, it vanished. Texas stood there in stunned confusion. Even the jeep racing at full speed was no longer under control, nearly causing everyone to die in a crash.

"Is that Lungmen?" Zhuang Xiaolin looked at the massive mobile cluster of buildings in the distance, unsure how to put his feelings into words. Calling it shocking did not seem right—he had seen far more shocking things in his previous life. Calling it moving did not seem right either, since he did not feel that way.

"You people don't seem to have proper entry permits for Lungmen, do you?" Texas looked at the people seated in the vehicle.

"Ah, well, you know... We fled in too much of a hurry, so we really didn't bring them." Zhuang Xiaolin scratched his head awkwardly. Saying they had not brought them was such a lame excuse, wasn't it?

"Sigh. Penguin Logistics has a secret route into the city. In return, once we enter Lungmen, I'll part ways with you." The wolf girl was eager to separate from this group and return to Penguin Logistics to check on Exusiai.

The people who had tried to take her away had caused no small amount of trouble, leaving the Lungmen Guard Department overwhelmed as well.

"Thank you. We'll do as you say." Zhuang Xiaolin had no better options at the moment. They could only find a way to sneak into the city first, then gradually complete the system's daily missions and other tasks to accumulate resources and strengthen themselves before considering their future lives.

The jeep quietly bypassed the inspections at Lungmen's enormous main gate. At a place resembling a sewage outlet, a hidden door silently opened. Texas did not hesitate in the slightest and drove straight inside. Once they entered, all Zhuang Xiaolin could see was darkness.

The foul-smelling sewage flooded everyone's nostrils, but that was nothing unusual for battle-hardened special forces soldiers.

Zhuang Xiaolin, on the other hand, was nearly sick from the stench.

The sewage pipes were pitch-black. Still, for Penguin Logistics to create such a large breach in a massive city complex, they clearly had some capability.

Zhuang Xiaolin silently pondered how they might cooperate in the future, or what to do if they became enemies. Such behavior was common in business. If a rival company refused cooperation or displayed hostility, then showing mercy or failing to find another solution could turn even the smallest mistake into a disaster.

"All right, this is Lungmen's slums." After an unknown amount of time, the jeep emerged from the underground sewage outlet, and the incoming light made it difficult for Zhuang Xiaolin to open his eyes.

As she spoke, Texas parked the vehicle near a cluster of abandoned houses.

"You have no Lungmen permits and no proper identities. If the Lungmen Guard Department finds you, you'll most likely be driven out of Lungmen or imprisoned. I've fulfilled my end of the agreement. Now it's time for you to fulfill yours." At her words, everyone opened the doors and got out. After stepping down, Zhuang Xiaolin met Texas's eyes.

Their gazes remained locked for a long time. Before long, Zhuang Xiaolin looked away and walked toward the row of vacant houses in the slum.

Rook placed the armor pack inside an empty house. Following the usual routine, everyone took bulletproof plates one by one and stuffed them into the clothes or body armor in front of them.

[Notice: You have entered Lungmen]

[Important mission activated: Savior]

[Description: I am him, yet I am not him. I will not repeat the mistakes that have already been made.]

[Mission prompt: Save FrostNova and Patriot. Kill The Black Snake and save Talulah.]

[Mission rewards will be issued according to completion progress.]

[Free mission activated: The Disaster of Oripathy]

[Please find a way to stop Oripathy from spreading across the land.]

[Rewards will be determined according to completion progress.]

The moment Zhuang Xiaolin opened the system panel, he received a flood of information. He was briefly dumbfounded and stood there blankly before finally reacting.

But by then, the sky was already growing late. Whatever it was, it could wait until tomorrow. Machine Gun Guy had already prepared dinner for everyone, while the others had cleaned up and laid out places to sleep.

Zhuang Xiaolin suppressed the countless thoughts in his heart. After dinner, he fell into a deep sleep. It was his first night sleeping in a city of another world.