"After Dawn City's army discovered Shelter 189, they sent troops to Black Mountain several times to clear it out. The Mutated Beasts here either died or fled, naturally reducing the threat level considerably. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared come here."
Bai Ye nodded. That explained it. The Mutated Beast attack on Gray Soil Town had ultimately been Dawn City's fault.
"Then why haven't we seen any of Dawn City's troops along the way?"
Gao Bancheng smiled. "Because most of the troops have withdrawn."
"They withdrew?"
"Mobilizing an army isn't a simple matter. Food alone is enough to give people a headache. Besides, the dangers of Black Mountain aren't limited to the Mutated Beasts out in the open. There are poisonous insects, toxic miasma, and all sorts of invisible threats that are even deadlier.
"Dawn City may be powerful, but it can't inject every soldier with Genetic Potion. Trained soldiers are still ordinary people. They can drive away Mutated Beasts with guns and ammunition, but surviving in Black Mountain for long periods is difficult for them.
"I heard Dawn City still couldn't open the gates of Shelter 189. The commotion they caused was too great, so the news leaked out. Forces from all sides, along with some Transcendent organizations, bounty hunters, and others, flooded in. Everyone wanted a piece of the shelter's spoils.
"Dawn City has Apocalypse Technology Corporation behind it. Though powerful, it can't afford to offend everyone at once. So it stopped sealing off Black Mountain, leaving only a group of elite powerhouses here to wait for an opportunity."
At that, a trace of mockery appeared on Gao Bancheng's face. "In my view, Apocalypse Corporation clearly knew it couldn't open the shelter gates, so it allowed capable people from across North Mang to come here and use everyone else's strength to open the shelter. Once those gates open, that'll be when Apocalypse Corporation bares its fangs.
"Black Mountain is within Apocalypse Corporation's sphere of influence, after all. Unless the major factions completely fall out and truly start an all-out war, who could possibly outcompete it on this patch of land?"
Bai Ye's eyes flickered. He hadn't expected this rich fat man to have some brains. This was indeed Apocalypse Corporation's plan, and he had learned it long ago from Ying.
Back then, Ying had said that only Tyrant Yang Jie could open Shelter 189, and that once the gates opened, he would snipe Yang Jie.
"Since you know Apocalypse Corporation's scheme, why did you come wade into these murky waters?"
Gao Bancheng chuckled. Riding on Xiao Kui's back, the jostling made the fat on his face tremble wildly. "Apocalypse Corporation's goal is the Pangu Project. As for the other things in the shelter, they won't care too much about them. All sorts of factions have sent people to Black Mountain. Could they really slaughter everyone over a few minor items?
"In other words, as long as we don't try to get involved with the Pangu Project, we won't directly clash with Apocalypse Corporation."
"You're quite open-minded. You can even resist the temptation of the Pangu Project?"
"Heh heh heh... What Pangu Project? In my opinion, it's all just a rumor. Brother Little White, do you know how many times the Pangu Project has supposedly surfaced?"
Bai Ye froze. "How many times?"
Gao Bancheng held up five chubby fingers. "Five times!"
Damn it!?
Bai Ye's heart instantly sank halfway. If there was no Pangu USB Drive in Black Mountain, wouldn't all his time have been wasted for nothing?
"Five whole times! This thing is a massive pitfall. Shelter 112, Shelter 134, Shelter 181, and two others I can't remember. Anyway, whenever those shelters surfaced, people claimed they contained the Pangu Project. And what happened? It was all bullshit!
"If you ask me, there's no such thing as the Pangu Project in this world. It was nothing more than a fantasy the people of the Civilized Era dreamed up before they died.
"If the Pangu Project truly possessed the power to create heaven and earth as the rumors claimed, how could the Civilized Era have perished?"
The other half of Bai Ye's heart sank as well. He even felt Gao Bancheng might be right. In an era where civilization had shattered, it was entirely possible that the decision-makers had woven a lie called hope in order to preserve humanity's embers.
Wait, even if the Pangu Project was fake, the Pangu USB Drive should be real, right? The people of the Civilized Era couldn't possibly have failed to preserve that precious knowledge.
Whew. There was still a sliver of hope.
"Someone's ahead!" Li Baitian, who was scouting at the front, suddenly lowered his body and signaled for everyone to stay quiet.
Someone?
Bai Ye followed the others over. Encountering people in Black Mountain wasn't strange. They were already close to Shelter 189, so there would definitely be more and more people around.
"Two groups are facing off," Li Baitian said quietly. The experienced bounty hunter somehow produced a pair of tactical binoculars and silently observed the scene.
"One group has eight people, all dressed alike. They should belong to the same bounty hunter team. The other group... has only one person, a young man carrying four swords on his back."
"Let me see." Bai Ye took the binoculars. The others were curious too, but because of Li You's imposing presence, they could only let Bai Ye look first.
With the binoculars, Bai Ye quickly spotted the two groups Li Baitian had mentioned. The young man carrying four swords held a ginseng root in his hand, still stained with fresh dirt. He had probably dug it up not long ago.
The other group of eight had their guns trained on the young man. The two sides appeared to be saying something.
Reading their lips, Bai Ye got the general idea. They seemed to be fighting over the ginseng.
"Brother Little White, let me take a look too." Gao Bancheng looked impatient, like a gossip-hungry bystander eager to watch the show.
Bai Ye handed him the binoculars and said to the others, "They probably found a ginseng root in Black Mountain and got into a dispute over it."
At that moment, Gao Bancheng cried out, "I know that man carrying four swords! He's Sword Wielding Xiao Yi!"
Li Xiao narrowed his eyes, a dangerous cold gleam flashing within them. "The Transcendent Sword Wielding Xiao Yi, who has an eighty-five-million bounty from the East Continent Federation?"
Gao Bancheng nodded, looking somewhat excited. No one knew what he was excited about. He handed the binoculars to Li Xiao. "That's him!"
Eighty-five million!?
Li You, who had been pretending to be an expert all this time, nearly lost composure upon hearing that astronomical figure. If Bai Ye hadn't given a light cough beside him as a reminder, his persona would probably have crumbled.
Bai Ye was no stranger to the East Continent Federation Gao Bancheng mentioned. More accurately, anyone living in this wasteland knew of the East Continent Federation.
The continent they lived on was East Continent.
And the East Continent Federation was East Continent's highest governing body, an organization jointly established by the various factions to maintain balance.
It appeared supreme, but its control over each region was in fact extremely loose. The major factions each ruled as kings in their own territories.
As for bounties, they were an open scheme deliberately implemented by the East Continent Federation to divide Transcendents, Genetic Modifiers, and other powerful beings who refused to submit to its control.
Since ancient times, those with martial power had violated the law. In this era of the Great Cataclysm, Transcendents and Genetic Modifiers were even more so. In order to stabilize its rule, the Federation had established a series of strict regulations for such people: they could not profit through Transcendent abilities, could not display them before ordinary people, had to submit to supervision every month...
Anyone who violated the regulations would have a bounty placed on them.
Before you continue