Skin-Changing Outfit Set

Before leaving, Endless Summer handed the head specimen to Wu Zhong for safekeeping.

Wu Zhong remained on high alert, but the Night Wanderer was no fool and did not appear again.

No new incidents occurred in the cave either.

A few minutes later, Endless Summer brought in three motorcycles, carrying them in batches.

Though he did not explain, the other two understood that the objects he could teleport with had to stay below a certain weight limit.

Riding the motorcycles, they sped through the cave for a full three hours before finally reaching the end.

"Earth Escape: Yellow Springs Swamp!"

This time, Yang Chunsha did not bother concealing anything. She directly opened a stone door in the rock wall, revealing a steep slope leading upward.

She took the lead and raced onward with the others until they finally reached the surface.

They were in the remote wilderness of some county in Hunan Province.

With Yang Chunsha leading the way, they soon entered a small villa in a village.

"Is this your safehouse?" Endless Summer asked disdainfully.

A little country villa could be called a safehouse? It was merely more secluded.

Yang Chunsha said helplessly, "If you insist on talking about safety, then the Dark Tunnel is the safest place... but you people are being hunted by ghosts and gods."

"This is only a temporary stop. It has water, electricity, and internet, and people usually do not come here. If we need to escape, there are wilderness trails all around, as well as four passages leading into the Dark Tunnel."

"Look, one of them is in the basement, beneath the medicine storage room. It leads directly into the tunnel."

As she spoke, she took some medicine for herself and headed into the bathroom.

She had been injured by flying rocks earlier, and the filthy water had gotten on her wounds. She needed to clean them up.

Wu Zhong also went to take medicine and wash up. Endless Summer had already applied some medicine to him earlier, and he had no idea what miraculous stuff it was, but the pain was gone now.

Even the deepest wound on his arm, the one that had exposed bone, had closed up, leaving only a dark red scar.

With a little more medicine now, even if it was not as good as Endless Summer's, it would be enough.

After the two finished showering, Yang Chunsha found some frozen food in the refrigerator, heated it up, and began eating heartily at the table.

After all the trouble they had been through that night, they were starving.

Wu Zhong did not stand on ceremony either. He sat down and started eating.

As for Endless Summer, he had disappeared long ago, only saying that he would be back soon.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Yang Chunsha looked at the dirty clothes she had changed out of.

Then she walked over and pulled a cucumber from them.

Wu Zhong's expression turned strange. "Debiao! You carry a cucumber around with you?"

"Don't eat it. It's dirty already."

Yang Chunsha shot him a glance, hesitated for a moment, then finally tossed the cucumber aside.

"It's not for eating. I use it to answer calls."

"..." Wu Zhong blinked.

He remembered that Endless Summer had also taken out a banana before and used it like a phone.

"Is that an ability all of you have? Calling people with fruit?"

Yang Chunsha curled her lips. "All mercenaries can do it. The Mercenary Club's greatest benefit is Plant Communication."

"Why do you think every mercenary uses a plant as their codename? That is our communication name."

Wu Zhong was stunned. "Yang Chunsha is a plant?"

She pushed up her glasses. "It is the ripe fruit of a plant from the ginger family."

"Endless Summer is one too. It is a plant from the hydrangea genus."

"And Six-path Wood is a plant from the honeysuckle family. It is the legendary Dragon-Subduing Wood."

Wu Zhong thought back and realized that was indeed the case. Every one of their codenames was a plant.

Corpse Flower, Underground Orchid, Spruce... weren't those all plants?

Zhang Qinglang was not, but that was only because he had not said it. As a silver-ranked mercenary, he definitely had a plant communication name too.

"There's even a benefit like that? Will any plant do?"

Yang Chunsha nodded. "When making a call, you can hold any plant."

"It is the same when receiving one. The nearest plant will ring. There's no lettuce on this table, otherwise even a plate of vegetables could start talking..."

"As for the plant name, it is only used to lock onto an ID. It is basically a phone number."

Good lord, if there had been a plate of lettuce on the table, it might suddenly have started ringing.

Wu Zhong asked curiously, "Do you have to pay phone bills?"

Yang Chunsha nodded. "In theory, yes. An annual subscription costs 6 Bitcoin."

"But you do not really need to pay, because if the missions you post reach two million dollars in value, or your transaction volume reaches 10 Bitcoin, you get a free year."

"Likewise, if the transaction value of the missions you complete reaches that amount... that works too."

"So almost no one actually tops it up, because that would make you look like a sucker."

Wu Zhong understood. The platform used this method to encourage people in the Calamity Realm to post and accept missions.

As for Plant Communication, it was simply treated as a perk.

"They do not lose out either. When you complete a mission, the platform takes half the money as commission."

Yang Chunsha nodded. "That's right, but if you do not use the platform, most mercenaries have no way of connecting with one another. Who would act as the middleman? What if someone double-crossed you?"

"There are too many things to consider, and the Mercenary Club is the biggest organization in the Calamity Realm. It is trustworthy."

"Besides, the marketplace has plenty of good items, and you can only buy them once your mercenary rank is high enough."

"Once your rank goes up, the commission also decreases."

"And once I complete Endless Summer's mission this time, I'll be silver-ranked. They'll only take forty percent."

Wu Zhong rubbed his chin. "So new black iron mercenaries get sixty percent taken?"

"Right, but black iron missions are easy. There is basically no danger. It's all errands and grunt work. Theoretically, any civilian with enough guts could do them." Yang Chunsha had clearly done black iron missions for a long time.

Wu Zhong thought this was pretty good. A single job could earn hundreds of thousands, so what if sixty percent was taken? Where else could he find such good work?

If it were him, he would not bother with dangerous missions either. He would just slack off, run errands, and live an easy life.

Whoosh!

A stranger suddenly appeared on the balcony.

He wore sunglasses, carried a backpack, and was dressed in a short-sleeved T-shirt and beach shorts. Both hands held bulging travel bags.

"Who are you?" Wu Zhong was startled and instantly drew his gun at him.

But because he had moved too dramatically, the pistol actually flew out of his hand...

Ignoring the embarrassment, Wu Zhong shook his right arm, and the purple armguard was already in place.

He spread his fingers and pointed at the stranger on the balcony as purple light swirled around his hand.

To his surprise, the stranger raised his left hand and interlocked fingers with Wu Zhong. Purple plasma also burst from his hand.

Sparks surged between their palms, and Wu Zhong's armguard actually retracted again.

"Don't panic, Little Wu. It's me." The stranger was none other than Endless Summer.

Wu Zhong blinked and lowered his hand. "That scared the hell out of me. You suddenly appeared on the balcony, and I thought... some covert unit had caught up with us."

He studied him carefully but could not spot any trace of disguise. His face, features, skin, and muscles were completely different.

If not for the distinctive purple plasma energy, he really would not have recognized him.

Endless Summer chuckled. "Change clothes."

He opened the bags. There were four outfits in total: two sets of men's clothes and two sets of women's clothes.

They were all cool summer outfits with flashy colors.

Wu Zhong did not understand. "I just showered and changed clothes. Why change again?"

Endless Summer rolled his eyes. "You'll know once you put them on."

Yang Chunsha was more knowledgeable. Her eyes darted about, and she covered her mouth with a soft gasp. "Could these be Skin-Changing Outfit Sets?"

Wu Zhong blurted out without much surprise, "Are you saying that if we put on these clothes, we can turn into someone else?"

Excitedly, Yang Chunsha pulled out one of the dresses. "Yes, and they're extremely expensive."

"A set with a random appearance costs 5 Bitcoin. A customized appearance costs 20 Bitcoin!"

"I've always wanted to get one for self-defense, but they can only be bought with Bitcoin, and I couldn't bear to spend it."

She only had 20 Bitcoin worth of Origin Energy in total, of which 16.233 was in Bitcoin.

Spending a third of her Bitcoin and sacrificing a quarter of her "cultivation" just to buy a set of clothes—how could she bear to do that?

Sure enough, having someone powerful to rely on was great. She could use good things so easily.

Happily, she grabbed two women's outfits and was about to enter a room to change when Endless Summer stopped her.

"Leave one women's outfit. The other men's outfit is yours."

Wu Zhong and Yang Chunsha were both stunned upon hearing that.

Endless Summer said flatly, "One men's outfit and one women's outfit. That's the standard configuration."

Only then did Wu Zhong realize that the two men's outfits were not both prepared for him. Likewise... the two women's outfits were not both prepared for Yang Chunsha.

This was so that, if necessary, he could disguise himself as a woman.

"You've got to be kidding. Is that really necessary?" Wu Zhong's mouth twitched.

"Better safe than sorry. Don't worry, it only creates an illusion-like effect. Your essence will not change, and if the clothes are damaged, the effect will stop working." Endless Summer made it sound like perfectly ordinary preparation.

Yang Chunsha did not care. She took one set of women's clothes and went in to change first.

Wu Zhong did not fuss either. These were two outfits worth ten million!

He picked up one men's outfit and one women's outfit. Naturally, he changed into the men's clothes right there and stuffed the women's clothes into his backpack.

After changing, he did not feel anything different. But when he looked in the mirror, he had completely changed.

His skin was much fairer, his features more defined, and his deep-set eyes gave him a mixed-race look.

When Yang Chunsha emerged after changing, she had simply turned into a foreigner.

She looked better than before, at least ten years younger. Her skin was smooth, her hair golden, and she had the sweet aura of a youthful girl. Combined with her gold-rimmed glasses, she had a bookish air, like a high school student.

She stared blankly at herself in the mirror, utterly delighted. After all, she had become younger.

"Dear heavens, can a random one really be this handsome?" Wu Zhong was impressed by his own looks.

He stroked his chin, turned his head from side to side, and struck all sorts of deliberately brooding poses.

The corners of Endless Summer's mouth lifted. "Skin-Changing Outfit Sets can be customized, so how could the random ones be truly random?"

"I don't know what kind of Calamity artifact spawned them, but all the supposedly random sets being sold were actually made using many different models."

"They probably need real human templates to make the sets."

"Here, there are matching passports and identification documents in the bag too."

Wu Zhong grunted. "So theoretically, this could turn someone into any real important figure. Some billionaire, some leader, even that Six..."

His voice abruptly stopped. He punched himself in the mouth and bit down on the back of his hand.

At the same time, Endless Summer shot him a fierce glare.

Wu Zhong had nearly said that name out loud. He could not mention it in front of a mirror.

"Good save. Don't talk nonsense in front of a mirror." Endless Summer warned him again.

Wu Zhong hurriedly nodded, then lowered his voice. "Tell me about it? Just how powerful is that Six...?"

Endless Summer shook his head. "There's nothing to tell. You only need to know that he is the strongest Awakened. Beyond that, he is also a Concept God."

Wu Zhong's expression turned solemn. The strongest Awakened and a Concept God...

"Wouldn't that make him the strongest in the world?"

Endless Summer frowned. "Hard to say. There is no such thing as first place among Calamity artifacts."

"There are countless examples of Concept powerhouses being defeated by extremely simple methods."

"But there is no real dispute that Six is the strongest Awakened."

Wu Zhong thought about it and agreed. The top Awakened used to all be at Multiverse Academy, yet Six-path Wood had single-handedly beaten Multiverse Academy into submission.

Calling him the strongest Awakened was perfectly reasonable.

"Enough talking. It's dawn. Time to go." Endless Summer headed out.

Wu Zhong opened his mouth. He was actually exhausted and wanted to get some sleep, but he did not say anything. He picked up his bag and followed him outside.

The sky was dimly bright. The three of them were handsome men and beautiful women, dressed in light clothes and carrying backpacks as though they were heading to some island resort by plane.

They drove a Mustang that Yang Chunsha had left in the garage. Endless Summer drove personally, speeding along the national highway.

Yang Chunsha sat in the back seat, watching the scenery outside with a hint of sorrow.

Originally, her mission should have ended here. But now she had been forced aboard this pirate ship and had to flee abroad with Endless Summer. Would she ever be able to return in this lifetime?

Was she really going to abandon the Dark Tunnel she had painstakingly built over seven years?

That was secondary. It had originally been for cultivating Origin Energy anyway. More importantly, she could no longer slack off. Her carefree days were over.

Wu Zhong also stared blankly into the distance, where dark clouds could faintly be seen gathering.

He had never been far from his grandfather, yet now he was rushing toward an unknown future without even having time to say goodbye.

Would his grandfather be properly cared for? Would the surgery go smoothly? Would the ghosts and gods on Mount Lu be subdued?

The two in the back seat remained silent, their thoughts tangled and complicated.

It was not until Endless Summer drove into Star City, Hunan Province's capital, that they came back to themselves.

"Why are we in the provincial capital? Are we deliberately heading for big cities?" Wu Zhong asked.

Endless Summer said seriously, "The three of us are handsome men and beautiful women. The smaller the place we go, the more attention we'll attract."

"..." Wu Zhong touched his handsome face. That made sense.

Yang Chunsha said, "We have new identities now. Can't we just buy plane tickets and leave?"

"The identities matched to the Skin-Changing Outfit Sets belong to real people. The passports even have entry records."

Endless Summer sighed. "Originally, we could have. With identities like these, by the time 985 noticed the problem, we would already have landed."

"But Little Wu has been infected with the Ghost-God Mark. If we take a plane... it would be a miracle if the Day Patrol God didn't make the flight crash."

After suffering repeated assassination attempts from the Day-and-Night Patrol Gods, Wu Zhong was now on the highest alert.

He immediately nodded. "Right, right, right. We can't fly."

"Otherwise, the flight attendant will be smiling one moment and pulling out a knife to chop me up the next."

Endless Summer said, "That doesn't matter. With me here, Day Patrol God can't stir up any trouble."

"Even if he crashes the plane, I can keep you safe."

"But then things will blow up. The moment we land, we'll likely be walking into a dragnet, and we'll never shake 985's pursuit again."

Yang Chunsha pursed her lips. "Then how are we supposed to go?"

Endless Summer rubbed the steering wheel. He actually had many ways to get people out, but with Wu Zhong in the mix, none of them were particularly suitable.

"What else can we do? Stop thinking there's some shortcut."

"Any method we can think of or make use of, 985 can think of too."

After hearing that, Wu Zhong suggested, "Then why don't we just force our way through?"

"We'll follow the national highways and cross mountains and rivers all the way. If we can get out to the west, we'll cross the plateau. If we can get out to the south, we'll cut through the dense forests."

"It's summer vacation right now, so we can disguise ourselves as tourists on a road trip."

Yang Chunsha looked at him speechlessly. That could work too?

But on second thought, this clumsy method was precisely the safest.

Any route that tried to take a shortcut might be noticed by 985. This simple approach, on the other hand, would leave them searching for a needle in the ocean, with no direction to target.

"What do you think, Brother Xia?" Wu Zhong looked at Endless Summer.

Endless Summer still had to make the final call on how they would proceed.

Yet Endless Summer pulled over to the roadside and got out of the car first.

The two followed him out. Wu Zhong scratched his head. "Why are we stopping? Shouldn't we hurry up and leave, Brother Xia?"

Endless Summer lit a cigarette and strode into a lavish foot bath parlor. "No rush. Let's get our feet washed first."

"Huh?" Wu Zhong's eyes went uneven.