Chapter 408: New Commission
"Got a commission, interested?"
Raymond didn't waste words. He had already left the bar and was sitting in a fast-moving car.
"What commission? Don't tell me all the spiritual energy users you sent to the Contaminated Zone are dead?"
Thinking of his earlier speculation, Lin Ye asked.
"That's not it, but they've all lost contact. I need someone to go check the situation. You have a better understanding of the Bottomless Pit, so I'd like to commission you to make a trip."
Raymond had just sent another squad over, but that squad had also lost contact.
"How much are you offering?"
Lin Ye actually wanted to learn more about the situation at the Bottomless Pit himself, otherwise he wouldn't be running around recklessly at a time like this.
"Ten million Free Coins. You just need to go take a look. If you run into trouble, I can increase the commission fee."
Raymond directly transferred the Free Coins to Lin Ye. "Alright, I'll go take a look then. Keep an eye on the clubhouse for me."
The base's defensive system was partially complete. Lin Ye wasn't afraid of the Salvation Cult sending more people to their deaths;
he just didn't want to slow down the progress of the World of Ashes Shelter plan.
"Sure, don't worry about things inside Free City."
Raymond replied immediately.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Turning off the communication device, Lin Ye got dressed and left the room. He informed the young men on night duty, then drove the sports car away from the abandoned clubhouse.
Free City at night was still bustling. Many vehicles passed on the streets, including Lin Ye's fellow adventurers.
These people were clearly heading out of the city, and among them were even some low-level spiritual energy users.
But their speed was much slower than Lin Ye's.
It didn't take long for Lin Ye to leave Free City and arrive near the jungle, familiar with the route. However, he didn't see the familiar jungle.
The entire jungle was gone, replaced by a barren wasteland devoid of anything.
If Lin Ye wasn't certain of the jungle's location, he would have thought he'd come to the wrong place.
Lin Ye didn't enter the wasteland. Instead, he tried driving back to Free City.
After all, so many people had lost contact, including many high-level spiritual energy users. He had to be cautious.
Yet, what he found strange was that there wasn't a single vehicle on the road back. Those adventurers, while not as fast as Lin Ye, shouldn't have still not left the city by now.
Could they all have chickened out?
But soon, Lin Ye understood why he hadn't encountered other vehicles. The problem wasn't with the vehicles, but with himself.
What appeared before Lin Ye wasn't Free City, but a city ruin that looked very similar to Free City.
'No wonder everyone lost contact...'
Free City wouldn't be destroyed this quickly. He must have been affected by something, which brought him to this place.
Lin Ye hadn't even noticed when he was affected.
Just then, Lin Ye heard the sound of vehicles approaching from behind. He waited where he was, and soon several off-road vehicles pulled up.
"Brother, are you an adventurer who also took a commission?"
A mid-level adventurer rolled down his window and greeted Lin Ye.
"Yeah. Has anyone entered that wasteland?"
Lin Ye wanted to know what would happen if someone entered the wasteland.
"Yes. The adventurers who entered that wasteland didn't have any accidents. But with an entire jungle disappearing, I was worried something unexpected might happen, so I planned to give up the commission. I didn't expect the way back to be gone."
The adventurer looked at the ruins. He didn't even know where to go now.
Soon, several more off-road vehicles stopped nearby. These people were professional adventurers with experience entering contaminated zones. So, they didn't descend into panic. Instead, they gathered together to discuss a plan.
"I think we should go to the Bottomless Pit to look for clues. The pollutants erupted from inside the Bottomless Pit. There's bound to be some residual information inside the pit."
"I want to take a look inside the city. This place looks a lot like Free City. Maybe there are some usable things."
"If you ask me, we should stay here and wait for rescue. Who knows if we can get out after going in?"
"True. And even if we get out, we might not be in the original location."
"Could we have traveled to the future where Free City has already been destroyed?"
"Don't talk nonsense. I just bought a house in Free City."
...
Lin Ye was also thinking about what to do next. This place clearly had major problems. He needed to find a way to leave.
"Ah!"
Right at that moment, a spiritual energy user nearby suddenly let out a short, sharp scream. Everyone's gaze shifted toward that spiritual energy user. They only saw the lower half of a body lying on the ground. The upper half was gone.
A spiritual energy user dying wasn't the main point. The point was that none of them had noticed how the person died.
Even Lin Ye hadn't detected how the person's upper half disappeared.
"...What happened? Did anyone notice what killed him?"
"No idea. I've been sensing the surroundings, but didn't detect anything abnormal!"
"What do we do! We might be next!"
"Don't panic! He might have triggered some kind of rule! As long as we don't do anything, nothing will happen!"
Those adventurers started panicking. There wasn't even a high-level spiritual energy user among them. Death was circling nearby, ready to take their lives at any moment.
But, afraid of triggering some unknown rule, they all stayed where they were, not daring to flee.
Lin Ye focused his spirit, sensing his surroundings, but he couldn't sense anything. It was as if there was no danger here at all, as if that adventurer had gotten bored and self-destructed his upper half.
But even so, Lin Ye couldn't possibly have failed to notice if the other person was about to self-destruct.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
A scream rang out again, only this time, it was the lower half that disappeared.
Looking at the struggling upper half of that adventurer on the ground, the surrounding adventurers all scattered and fled in panic. With two people dying horribly, they no longer dared to stay there.
Lin Ye walked over to the remaining upper half and spoke.
"I can save you using a rather dangerous method, as long as you tell me what just happened."
"Please, save me! I don't know what happened either! I didn't see anything, I didn't sense anything! My lower half just suddenly vanished! I don't even know if I was attacked!"
The adventurer's upper half said urgently.
He didn't dare to deceive or threaten Lin Ye. If Lin Ye turned and left, he was definitely dead.
Lin Ye took out a portion of the biological sample from his small pouch and threw it onto the adventurer. The other party was cooperative, so he decided to research the biological sample while helping the man out.
Bang!
However, the moment the biological sample made contact with the adventurer, the adventurer's remaining upper half completely exploded, turning into bloody mist along with the biological sample.