Chapter 60: Chapter 53 Shortcuts? Shortcuts!
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A few abandoned cars, anchored in the Gobi Desert and covered in sand, were the hideout for five Pioneers who were constantly observing the conditions on the road.
When they saw a vehicle appear, a trace of joy emerged on their faces.
The frail Pioneer responsible for using the binoculars turned to a slender, lizard-skinned figure and said,
“Boss, someone’s coming.”
That figure, referred to as the boss and having lizard-like skin, could be seen to have fairly regular features, but the vertical pupils and shark-like teeth in her mouth created a sense of dread.
“You’re in luck, replacement lambs have come, so consider your earlier problems resolved.”
The Lizardman had been lying lazily on the scorching Gobi sand, seemingly indifferent to the desert’s temperature, even deliberately staying under the sun.
Now, she stood up with an expression of indolence on her face.
This made the other several figures, obviously dressed like Outsiders, shrink back in fear.
“Eh? Boss, they’ve found a snag, got out of the car, seem like Pioneers too.”
Watching the figures speaking the common language get out of the car on the road, the group was momentarily stunned.
“Ha, it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s you or someone else who distracts the zombies at the military base up ahead.”
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The woman with the forked tongue spat it out and with the focus of her vertical pupils, instantly discerned the two individuals on the highway in a split second.
“Quite handsome.”
The Lizardwoman’s face showed a hint of interest, causing the others’ hearts to sink.
“Bring them here.”
“Yes.”
A man carrying a backpack and an assault rifle hurriedly ran up and gestured for Tao Yu and the others to come over.
Tao Yu, who also noticed the Lizardwoman’s appearance, felt a sense of gravity in his heart.
Had Inner City folks actually taken a liking to this barren place?
With the experience from last time, he knew this Lizardwoman was definitely a being from the Inner City, implanted with a mutant body!
With the resources of the Inner City folks, even if she could only be considered a peer at most, her power was not to be underestimated.
“Play dumb for now; we’ve got trouble and need to play it by ear,” Tao Yu quietly warned Jack as his boots hit the hot Gobi sands, distorting the air with their heat.
Afterwards, he approached with a smile, even slinging his gun over his back to appear non-threatening.
“What are your talents? Where are you heading? Where did you get this car? Can you drive?”
The barefoot Lizardwoman walked over on the scorching sand, eyeing Tao Yu with keen interest. Tao Yu’s whole body tensed up, overwhelmed by the dense aura of threat.
Very strong!
Tao Yu, feeling the palpitations, responded submissively,
“His talent is Endurance, and mine is Dynamic Vision. We’ve spent some time in the city with the locals and got our hands on these things.”
“Not bad, you’re well-built.”
The Lizardwoman, fixing her gaze on Tao Yu’s handsome face, squeezed his body and her eyes lit up momentarily. She even stuck out her forked tongue, nearly licking Tao Yu’s face.
“You flatter me.”
“You have two choices now. First, become my favorite and let me check you over, or second, lure the zombies away from the base up ahead.”
The Lizardwoman spoke flippantly, offering Tao Yu two options.
“Of course, I know which shortcut to take.”
Tao Yu answered without hesitation, a situation typical of Inner City encounters with Outsiders.
Even without an expendable list, they’d still force people to go!
It’s still better within the city, where there are some basic rules.
But in Abyss, there is little to no order!
Last time, Joseph and Wino were relatively polite because they both had a quota of five Outsiders.
Now, this Lizardwoman, unconcerned by such considerations, was even more unrestrained—or rather, reckless!
By choosing this desolate area, she could say she had no competition, and her focus on the military base was probably more about finding a gathering spot.
“Elbow, come with me.”
Pleased with Tao Yu’s compliance, the Lizardwoman turned and walked away.
“May I have the honor of your name, my lord?”
“Xilin, of the Inner City’s Longxi Clan. Forget it, you Outsiders wouldn’t understand, but if you work hard and please me, perhaps I’ll consider bringing you into the city.”
Xilin appeared very arrogant.
“Also, my lord Xilin, we encountered a special situation in the city previously. A local managed to kill a zombie and grow stronger, I wonder…”
“Where!”
Xilin, who had seemed somewhat lazy, suddenly brightened up, fixing a piercing gaze on Tao Yu.
“Uh, in a survivor’s camp within the city.”
Tao Yu seemed somewhat fearful as he shrank back a bit.
“Ha-ha, you really are my lucky star! What’s this person like? Never mind, you wouldn’t know how to judge. Come on, let’s go into the city; you lead the way to that place.”
Xilin changed her mind instantly, no longer interested in inspecting the merchandise.
“Is it very important?”
Tao Yu asked with some surprise.
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“The old gathering place might be fine, but here, it’s still worth a visit!”
“They are all ‘Children of Destiny’ of the world fragments, there are those blessed by the world, the ‘Chosen Ones,’ and those favored by the Abyss, the ‘Fortune Thieves.’
“But no matter which, their existence can reduce the probability of the gathering place suffering from the abyssal calamities.”
Lizardman seemed to be in a very good mood.
“Do you really think you can just set up a gathering place anywhere? You’ve seen the domineering power of the world fragment boundary.
“No one can rule out the possibility of a world fragment falling from the sky over the gathering place; we individuals are okay, with the world’s will to protect us, the most we’ll get is a stumble, a loss of direction, but it’s not fatal.
“But the gathering place could easily be split to the four corners of the earth.”
“I see.”
Tao Yu also nodded in understanding, no wonder it’s the Abyss!
Then he carefully continued to ask,
“Is there any difference between the two?”
Lizardman hummed a little tune, leading the way towards that car and said casually,
“If you kill a local ‘Chosen One’ within the world fragment, you could be surrounded by misfortune in the current world fragment.
“‘Fortune Thieves’ are not so bad, but overall, the cost-effectiveness of killing them is low; what they drop in Yuan Force is not as good as their strength. It’s a poor bargain, so even the old gathering places will try to keep them around, never too many.
“It’s just that you have to be cautious with ‘Fortune Thieves’; they often stir up trouble.”
After hearing all this, Tao Yu felt a wave of emotions.
After all, he was from the Inner City, more knowledgeable indeed, not something an Outsider like him could compare to.
“Thank you very much.”
“Haha, you’ve done a great service; ask for whatever reward you want when the time comes.”
“Can I borrow some Yuan Force from you?”
Tao Yu passed over a Yuan Force magnetic card with an eager face, the one with almost a five thousand limit.
“Rewarded in advance, if you find it, you won’t have to pay it back, if not, repay nine for thirteen, or provide good service to offset it.”
Lizardman didn’t hesitate much and directly filled up that Yuan Force magnetic card, tossing it to Tao Yu.
The aura of a wealthy woman hit him in the face.
Making the few other Outsiders beside them green with envy.
But looking at Tao Yu’s appearance, and thinking of the crucial information he provided, none dared to show him any disrespect.
Even when eyes met, many still wore pleasing smiles filled with goodwill.
“Thank you.”
Tao Yu retracted the magnetic card and absorbed the Yuan Force inside.
He felt a sigh of relief in his heart.
It turns out that having some Yuan Force in reserve for emergencies was still essential; the amount he had before wouldn’t have been enough even for treatment if he got hurt, now he felt much more stable…
“Actually, that Chosen One is him.”
Tao Yu pointed casually at Jack, leaving Jack, who could not understand their language, completely confused about the situation.
But at the moment Lizardman’s attention was distracted toward Jack, everything in Tao Yu’s vision slowed down to a crawl.
The golden pistol slid out, bang~ bang~ bang~
A series of gunshots sounded.
Lizardman seemed as if goosebumps covered her entire body, erupting into terrifying speed in an instant—even in the slow motion of Bullet Time, you could see her head swinging to the side, seemingly trying to dodge the trajectory of the bullets.
However, those bullets, which left trails in the air in slow motion, suddenly made sharp turns in the air, cunningly following Lizardman’s head movements!
Bang!
Perhaps Lizardman’s mutated body was no weaker than Cao Shaolin’s, it might even be stronger, but now armed with the Warlord’s Sidearm, Tao Yu had refreshed his own upper limit of attack.
In the slow motion of Bullet Time, you could see the Armor-Piercing bullets with distorted air trails, lifting her keratin scalp, tearing through the skull, and boring in!
Plus the mental attack that came with Basic Shooting – Modified.
She didn’t have any time to struggle like Cao Shaolin had; her brain matter exploded instantly.
As her skull was thrown open and her body began to fall forward, Tao Yu hadn’t even come out of Bullet Time yet; he turned and aimed at the few others who had yet to react, and gave each one a shot, blood splattered everywhere!
Leaving only Jack with a dumbfounded face at the side, watching it all, thinking, what the hell just happened?
He couldn’t understand the gibberish they were speaking, and no one bothered to expend Yuan Force to explain.
At first, it looked like a happy scene, weren’t they having a good conversation?
How come in the blink of an eye, they were all killed?
You must be the real psycho killer, right?
“Get used to it, this is the Abyss.”
Tao Yu said to Jack with a baffled look, smiling casually.
What goes around, comes around, he thought. Having suppressed the wicked thought of exploding Gold Coins from Jack earlier, now he knew that killing the ‘Chosen One’ recklessly could ‘invite retribution’.
“Since you couldn’t understand our conversation, you might not know what was happening, but they wanted to use us as cannon fodder to lure away the zombies, or as her consorts.”
As Jack was still digesting the information, hearing the latter part made him shiver and he looked down at the Lizardman’s keratin skin, instantly feeling a chill.
Good riddance!
Tao Yu picked up an assault rifle and fired another burst into Lizardman’s fallen body, then slowly explained the situation with the Pioneers to Jack, as well as what had just happened…