BXBX NOVEL Chapter 50 - 45: Radio Station
Chapter 50 - 45: Radio Station
Tactical helmet, combat suit with a bulletproof vest, a large backpack strapped to the back, and a sleek black assault rifle held in hand, one could say he was armed to the teeth.
"Having new equipment really makes a difference."
With his dynamic vision, Tao Yu executed several tactical moves in quick succession to sweep the surroundings, and after confirming it was safe, he also allowed himself to relax a bit.
This was exactly where he had left from, and this new set of gear he had on was actually part of the spoils from the Li family.
After laying low for half a month without drawing attention, Tao Yu also checked on the buried supplies at night, eventually selecting some common items that were popular among the masses for his own use.
All these items could be obtained in the outer city.
Having a legitimate income from selling skills and Blood Orchids, using this kind of equipment didn't draw unwanted attention in this area.
Besides, he wasn't selling anything, just using them for himself, and since he transported from his own room, he naturally reduced the risks to the minimum.
An assault rifle, a submachine gun that could be held with one hand, and two pistols, one of which possessed the Yuan Force item "Ballistic Precision."
A long dagger with a Yuan Force skill effect, and two curved knives for easy replacement.
Combined with a tactical helmet, tactical suit, bulletproof vest, tactical boots, and other protective gear, his own margin for error was greatly increased.
Just like Wino with his full-body metal armor, Tao Yu's set of equipment at least gave him more chances against black guns and sneak attacks.
Li Hui was much stronger than Tao Yu, but was instantly killed by a sneak attack from him; Tao Yu certainly didn't wish to experience the same fate.
In Zombie World, relying solely on bullets would be useless, and even attract unwanted threats, poor and troublesome. It's still better to rely on close combat normally.
"However, I still need to find that fragment first, the intelligence says to keep heading north. That world is lower by ten meters compared to the Alien world, but the barrier of the fragment is stronger than the Rainforest's, able to prevent alien creatures like the Aliens from entering..."
Tao Yu easily flipped back to the Rainforest side, climbed a tree at the edge, and looked northward. Even with his astonishing vision, he still only saw plains without a shadow of any building.
"If the curvature of the Alien world is similar to Earth's, that's at least twenty or thirty kilometers away, hope it's not too exaggerated..."
Tao Yu returned to the base of the tree, somewhat lamenting the ridiculous distance.
He had even considered getting a motorcycle, but was too impoverished after completing the Deification of 'Five Forms as One.'
After descending and looking at the height of the tree, and feeling the weight of his backpack, Tao Yu had a distinct feeling of being stronger.
Climbing was too easy now, where there was no grip, he could insert his fingers directly into the bark. Compared to his first climb where he would be out of breath even without the backpack, it was indeed incomparable.
Heading north all the way, Tao Yu walked for three days.
Sticking close to the Rainforest, he wasn't disturbed by any Aliens on the way, and with abundant food in the Rainforest, he didn't need to touch the emergency food in his backpack.
This time, with the convenience of being able to return every five days, he also brought a military green tent which added a bit of comfort to the wilderness; it was much better than the previous exposure to the elements...
"...The fragment we are currently in is extremely cold, a civilization completely frozen in ice, even tsunamis are frozen. The barrier of the fragment isn't strong, but the Aliens don't come here. Fortunately, it doesn't affect the climate of the neighboring fragments. It's tentatively deemed valueless, we will contact and lay out new exploration missions, with rewards at half of what's offered in Zombie 01 world..."
As Tao Yu sunbathed to charge his watch, he also listened to the new broadcast from the rich young masters and mistresses from the Floating City.
One can only say that true skill gives rise to boldness; they are either on an exploration or on their way to one.
However, after they get a general understanding, they usually organize missions for the details. Tao Yu had learned that there was now a ranking for cannon fodder points in the new Development Zone, but they hadn't started using it yet.
The two individuals from the Floating City also knew that currently there weren't enough people; forcing cannon fodder missions would just reduce the number of people choosing the new Development Zone later on, resulting in a vicious cycle.
Lowering the frequency of cannon fodder missions, raising the usage standards, would instead create a healthy competitive relationship with the old gathering spots. Plus, with the investment of money and resources, they might really make it prosperous.
As for the current investment, with the emergence of outputs like scalable Alien breeding, the investments might actually be recouped later on.
"It has been confirmed that the east-west span of the Alien world is at least tens of thousands of kilometers. It's not ruled out that there might be longer or shorter stretches in some areas. They must have some decent transportation to cover such distances."
Tao Yu pondered in his heart, the boundaries of the fragments weren't immutable, nor were they purely linear; their estimates were just approximations.
The alien world wasn't much of a challenge for the brother and sister duo, so they could keep using this world as a base to continuously explore other areas.
"The Suns seem to be one of the members of the company's board of directors, just not sure how much influence they actually have..."
For just two young people to be able to pull out such a large stall, Tao Yu felt somewhat astonished by the power dynamics in the Floating City.
"It may be like some start-up companies of the past, as things get more colorful here, more and more powers might invest and buy shares..."
After listening to today's broadcast, Tao Yu turned off his watch to charge it.
Although there was access to solar energy, the device couldn't stay on throughout the journey in the Abyss.
Most importantly, there was no electricity at home, so he could only charge it using solar power or Yuan Force.
After listening to today's broadcast, Tao Yu climbed a tree again, and this time he finally saw a new landscape from the monotonous grassland, barely glimpsing the outlines of building rooftops on the horizon.
"Good lord, finally made it."
There was probably a distance of twenty to thirty kilometers left, but since he could only see the tops of some buildings, it meant that even after reaching the boundary of the fragments, there would likely be an equally long or longer distance to traverse before reaching the city.
Tao Yu also prepared to put in more effort.
Carrying over fifty kilograms of weight, he had trekked for three days and finally reached the world fragment mentioned in the intelligence.
When Tao Yu arrived at the edge of the world fragment and stood on the ten-meter-high drop of the grassland looking at the scene ahead, a touch of emotion appeared on his face.
The main view in front of him was a Gobi, reminiscent of a beautiful western painting style, desolate Gobi, withered cacti, and a road leading to this side abruptly cut off.
In the distance, there was an outline of a city with skyscrapers, but it exuded a sense of dead silence.
Behind the city, there was a mountain range that looked like a backdrop, with undulating peaks.
On the desolate Gobi and the road, there were some wandering figures, and on the road, there were also some collided, scrap vehicles.
Especially in the direction of the city's entrance and exit, there was an even longer line of abandoned vehicle fleets, stuck due to a collision upfront.
Some cars were even mired in the Gobi.
Accompanied by the blustery wind and sand, a sense of desolation hit him in the face.
"There really is a fragment barrier."
Tao Yu reached out to touch in front of him, feeling a slight resistance, but quickly he seamlessly merged into it.
This was an ability granted by the world's will, not something these fragment barriers could stop.
But the neighboring alien and Python probably couldn't pass through. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
With a ten-meter drop and over fifty kilograms of load, Tao Yu didn't choose to jump down but instead deftly stepped on uneven gaps, relying solely on his feet, descending nimbly like a goat scaling a mountain in reverse.
"Wonder if there's any newspaper, oh right, the radio."
Tao Yu remembered the information from the intelligence and turned on his watch again. He had the radio frequency information, and since the watch had an automatic search function, he quickly heard a voice through a hiss of background noise from the Abyss,
"...The virus has been rampant for seven months, and I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. We're running out of food here; we've found all the easy-to-obtain food. Next, we'll probably have to venture into areas more densely populated with zombies, and as time goes on, we also need to consider food spoilage. Some say strange highlands and a rainforest have appeared to the south, but no one dares to go..."
With standard Great Beauty accent English, thanks to Tao Yu's past experience as a corporate drone, he could generally understand, an advantage over the other Pioneers who needed to meet in person to communicate using Yuan Force.
He still couldn't determine what world it was, though...