Chapter 218: Entering the Wasteland
Charlotte: This station might be very dangerous.
Zhou Yi: That's right. The system wouldn't let a lineup like ours encounter a simple station.
Lin Ye: I hope we don't run into terrain that's difficult to survive in.
Truso: Don't scare me like that. I can't swim.
Lin Ye: If it's a deep sea environment, swimming wouldn't even be a consideration.
Truso: Then I'd rather go to the Shallow Sea Area.
While the group was chatting, the train had already arrived at the station. Familiar movie posters were pasted on the walls.
Station Introduction:
Every year, some desperate madmen enter the Waste Zone hoping to strike it rich overnight, but the vast majority of them get lost deep within the Waste Zone. Today, the Waste Zone welcomes new explorers. Will they be able to leave the Waste Zone alive?
Below the text was a drawing of a black light gate. Inside the light gate was a blood-red question mark. A group of abstract stick figures were lined up outside the gate, entering the light gate one by one. Truso: Seems okay, but I don't know what the Waste Zone is.
Lin Ye: That light gate is probably some kind of teleportation device. We might get separated after entering it.
Charlotte: It's a bit better than I imagined, but considering the unknown nature of the Waste Zone, it's hard to say how difficult this station will be.
Zhou Yi: At least it should be simpler than entering the Shallow Sea Area. Let's get off.
The four of them left the private room and entered the station. The exit was a dark green light gate.
The four passed through the light gate one by one, entering the Waste Zone station.
[Station selection complete. Additional tasks obtained. Optional]
[1. Eliminate Mutation Creatures. Receive rewards based on the quantity and strength of Mutation Creatures eliminated]
[2. Explore the Waste Zone. Please find the teleportation gate to leave the Waste Zone before the train arrives tomorrow]
[3. Collect valuable Waste Zone items]
Three additional tasks popped up in the chat room. By the time the four regained their senses, they were already standing in the line to enter the black light gate.
There were many people in line, at least over a hundred, and all of them were spiritual energy users. Most were third-tier, with some fourth-tier and first-tier, and second-tier being the rarest.
Charlotte: There are quite a lot of people. Should we find someone to gather some information?
Lin Ye: Better not. That man on the high platform who's constantly sensing the surroundings with mental energy probably isn't a mid-tier spiritual energy user.
Truso: Damn, we encounter a high-tier as soon as we enter? Is this station that difficult?
Zhou Yi: He's probably a role similar to an 'overseer.' As long as you obediently enter the teleportation gate, you probably won't come into conflict with him.
Lin Ye: So it's best not to let him detect anything unusual about us. I have good hearing and can eavesdrop on surrounding conversations. I'll post the collected information in the chat room later.
Charlotte: Okay, I'll also gather intelligence without being detected.
Zhou Yi: Normal casual conversation should be fine.
Truso: Then you'd better hurry up. That teleportation gate is opening.
The line began moving forward. Lin Ye carefully listened to the surrounding conversations, extracting useful information from them.
But the line moved quickly, and before long, it was Lin Ye's turn.
Lin Ye entered the teleportation gate. His vision went black, and in his perception, everything around him was chaotic. When his senses recovered, he was standing outside a derelict building.
Surrounding him was a grassland about half a meter tall. Lin Ye looked into the distance but couldn't see the edge of the grassland, nor did he see any other buildings. The grassland seemed to consist entirely of the same yellow-green weeds, with no other plants.
Just as Lin Ye was about to check the chat room, he suddenly noticed that the yellow-green grassland seemed to have moved slightly... but he didn't feel any wind blowing.
Lin Ye didn't hesitate and immediately retreated inside the derelict building. Abandoned buildings in such places weren't necessarily safe, but comparatively, he was even more unwilling to approach that grassland that had no living creatures besides weeds.
The derelict building seemed to be the ground-level portion of an underground station. The first floor of the station had nothing useful. Lin Ye stood on the stairs leading to the underground station, with complete darkness below.
Lin Ye opened the chat room. There were no new messages inside.
This indicated that the others had been teleported to places where they couldn't divert their attention for the moment.
Lin Ye: I'm inside a derelict underground station. Surrounding me is a moving grassland. Below is the information I heard:
- The Waste Zone is a large Plane formed from the fusion of numerous abandoned Planes. The place we were teleported to is the edge of the Waste Zone. It's said that the depths of the Waste Zone are extremely dangerous.
- There are many precious rare items in the Waste Zone, but most items carry some degree of danger.
- There's something called Waste Stone that seems to be quite valuable.
- There are many teleportation gates in the Waste Zone. Only by passing through white teleportation gates can you leave the Waste Zone. Teleportation gates of other colors will teleport you to other areas of the Waste Zone.
- Do not approach black teleportation gates.
After sending the message, Lin Ye took out a high-power flashlight and descended the stairs into the underground station. He had to find the teleportation gate to leave the Waste Zone before tomorrow morning, otherwise he might not be able to leave.
The grassland on the surface was dangerous, so Lin Ye could only leave this place through the underground station.
Lin Ye didn't find anything useful in the underground station. He suspected this place had already been thoroughly searched by many people.
Charlotte: I'm inside a garbage processing plant. There are many abandoned phone booths around me. The phones inside them ring with incoming call sounds. If you don't answer the phone, it attracts some monsters with electrical appliance heads. I don't know what happens if you answer the phone yet. There are other explorers here with me, but two explorers have already been killed by monsters. I only collected one piece of different information:
There's something called Rule Fragments in the Waste Zone. These Rule Fragments are extremely precious. It seems we were sent into the Waste Zone because someone behind the scenes hopes we can collect some information related to Rule Fragments.
Zhou Yi: I'm on the third floor of an abandoned school. I can see the school entrance through the windows, but there seems to be some kind of spatial anomaly here. I can't leave the teaching building, and there's also a type of black humanoid monster here. These monsters are quite difficult to deal with. As for information, I also collected one piece:
There seems to be something in the Waste Zone that specifically hunts explorers, so you shouldn't stay in one place for too long.
Lin Ye: This information is very important. None of you can leave right now, right?
Charlotte: Yeah, I need some time.
Lin Ye: If you need anything, say it in the chat room. I need to keep moving forward too.
Truso: Wait a moment! I'm in an abandoned cruise ship. Just now, monsters were chasing me. Now I'm lost and can't find my way to the deck, and I still can't swim.
Lin Ye: Is there a spatial anomaly there too?
Truso: I don't know. Maybe I just can't find my way. This place is too big, with branching paths everywhere.
Lin Ye: Construct a mental map. If there's no spatial anomaly, as long as you reconstruct part of the cruise ship's structure, you should be able to deduce an exit route. Don't talk about something this simple in the chat room. Use your brain.
Charlotte: Exactly. It's just a cruise ship, not some complex maze. I really wish I could Swap positions with you.