Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 271: Chapter 75: The Standard Hidden Mission of the Survey Corps

"Being eager to make money is good, but as I said, getting into the Inner City is not easy. Without you, I could probably mingle in within ten days, but with you, it’ll take me twenty days. Trust me, that’s already quite fast."

Xie Xingzhi had this confidence, after all, he was more familiar with Mechanical City.

Bai Wu pondered, so he had become a drag? Suddenly, a question came to his mind:

"What about Yan Zizai and the others?"

"Don’t worry, the use of the Return Roulette is not limited here. And even though they don’t know the rules, as the list of professions pops up, they’ll naturally understand a lot. After all, they won’t make the same choice as you, opting for a high-risk profession."

Xie Xingzhi was still quite frustrated with Bai Wu’s choice of the bizarre profession, Twisted Soul Corrector.

Bai Wu wasn’t in a hurry and continued to ask earnestly:

"You mentioned twenty days, but you should know that staying outside the tower for long isn’t especially related to strength, it’s more about luck."

"You mean negative attributes? Don’t worry about that, Mechanical City indeed has many twisted rules, but there are no negative attributes here, of course, the downside is that Innate Force won’t grow either. And as you know, even flashlights can’t be used outside the tower, but here, we can use various technological items. This place has been modified by Zero, we don’t need to worry."

Bai Wu understood.

Doomsday Fragments... In the hands of Zero, they’re certainly not worth a dime. At least in this place with its twisted rules, Zero can purify them. freeweɓnøvel.com

At the same time, Bai Wu realized that it seemed as long as there were no negative attributes, the rule of having additional benefits from Innate Force also disappeared.

These two points seemed to indicate that only when there’s a certain risk can one gain benefits.

"Let’s just look at the tasks."

Looking up tasks, something Zero gave the natives very convenient neural implants for.

As long as there was the intention, one could see the tasks. Of course, as usual, the task introduction Bai Wu saw was somewhat different due to Prayle’s Eye:

[D-class task What the hell are you looking at. No player really thinks it’s fun for the planner to design a bunch of boring tasks like gathering wild vegetables, finding small animals, walking out of Beginner’s Village, or killing ten gray wolves, collecting ten wolf pelts, right? No way, no way, right? As the mindful Yan, how could I not know you? I’ve already marked all the high-risk tasks for you and blocked all the low-level ones. Every adult knows the correct way to familiarize oneself with the game is to choose nightmare level right from the start. Isn’t this standard for the Investigation Corps?]

As this dialogue box popped up, Bai Wu was stunned.

Because after that, he couldn’t see any tasks, meaning that after Prayle’s Eye screened out the tasks that could only earn a few contribution points, there were—

No tasks in his list anymore.

At the same time, Xie Xingzhi said:

"Let’s go, I’ll show you the ropes of the task process. We are heading to Garbage Mountain now."

"Garbage Mountain?"

"Yes, countless waste materials arrive every day. Hobos gather the waste at Garbage Mountain, and the waste forms a racetrack where street racers use cars modified from various waste materials to race. I’ve just taken on a twelve contribution point task to heal an old craftsman at Garbage Mountain—a skilled car modder."

Xie Xingzhi was quite proud of himself, a task worth twelve contribution points was beyond his expectations.

Now that Bai Wu had been left with no tasks to accept by "silly Yan," he asked:

"By rights, shouldn’t Zero be hating humans? Why give humans...well, the original humans some special prerogatives? Those hobos shouldn’t have such task panels, right?"

"Zero hates humans? Where did you get that idea? You don’t understand Zero at all," Xie Xingzhi said.

Bai Wu didn’t respond, he suddenly realized—

Perhaps even the Xie Family, the rulers closest to Zero, had no idea about Zero’s past. To them, Zero was entirely a god.

He had learned about Zero during his time at Baichuan Middle School, that Zero either detested humans or had extremely complex feelings toward them.

But this was a secret which the Xie Family hadn’t been aware of.

"Well, I’ve watched too many sci-fi movies. I thought in a world ruled by machines, we would be the outsiders? Supposed to be enslaved."

"Outside the tower, we native humans are a rare commodity," Xie Xingzhi said with a laugh.

"That’s true. Do the vending machines here have food?"

"They do, or else why do you think I sold my equipment? Survival is tough here, but it’s different once you have seed money."

When they left the red hotel, the owner with the cowboy hat looked at Bai Wu and Xie Xingzhi with surprise.

There was a burly robot with cable-like whiskers by the owner’s side, and they seemed to be drinking some fuel-like liquid, both seemingly very excited.

Bai Wu found it odd because the way the owner looked at him was too strange.

But he didn’t turn back.

Because after walking some distance, Yan, the peeping tom, displayed the conversation between the owner and the burly man in a dialogue box.

[Li, the young ones nowadays just don’t cut it. They finished so quickly.]

[That’s right. Back in my day, when I was young, exchanging information with Huo Xiaoniu from the neighboring junkyard, I lasted a full two hours. I filled her data storage to the brim!]

Bai Wu’s eyelids twitched. So this was the Mechanical Race’s colored joke? Data fusion, information exchange – a quickie?

He was now certain about one thing; in the eyes of these Mechanical Race beings, although he and Xie Xingzhi appeared human, they wouldn’t feel out of place and would still view them as part of the Mechanical Race.

Perhaps this was a macro-adjustment done by Zero.

And at the same time...

He must earn more contribution points. He definitely can’t share a room with old Xie tonight.

Otherwise, this not-so-large town might start rumors—that the red hotel housed two enthusiasts with poor endurance.

"By the way, what’s your mission?" Xie Xingzhi started a topic that Bai Wu had wanted to talk about.

As they walked through the town, Xie Xingzhi continued to tread cautiously like an experienced hand, always walking in the shadows cast by the piled-up waste on both sides, and as quietly as possible, to avoid making noise.

They didn’t want to draw the attention of the Steeltooth Pirates or the Beetle group from the Virus Gang; these people were too ferocious on the outskirts of Mechanical City, all of them equipped with powerful armed mechs, a danger no less than encountering a level-nine Evil Fallen in the red zone.

"Brother Xie, are all the missions listed in the mission list?" Bai Wu inquired.

"What? Don’t tell me you’re not even interested in the missions listed? Most missions are there, but many hidden tasks can only be discovered by yourself. These missions often carry great risks, and the payout is unstable, so it’s best not to get involved with those tasks, and furthermore..."

"And what?"

"And do you think these Mechanical Race beings are npcs from a game? There won’t just be question marks popping up over their heads."

Xie Xingzhi was in the midst of speaking when a slight tremor suddenly emanated from the ground.

Bai Wu then saw a burly man with a question mark above his head, shouting loudly as he rode past on a vehicle resembling a bat-shaped motorcycle.

The steel teeth on the vehicle were as ferocious as the Xie Mo Corner when he underwent Evil Fallen Transformation, as if the vehicle had come straight from hell.

Following closely, twelve similar vehicles roared past, making Xie Xingzhi and Bai Wu, hiding behind a pile of rubbish, feel the gust of wind on their faces.

Taking two deep breaths, Xie Xingzhi said,

"We nearly ended our exploration prematurely. These are the Steeltooth Pirates; they’re bullies around here, just as notorious as the Virus Gang Beetles. Not a few Mechanical Race have died by their hands. Fortunately, we were vigilant and didn’t brazenly walk on the road."

Bai Wu said,

"The one leading the way, the motorcycle that appeared the most domineering, was that the pirate chief?"

"Yes, I don’t know his name. Generally speaking, the outer city junkyard is like a Beginner’s Village, but even in the Inner City, the pirate chief is a formidable presence that people dread. He’s an absolute mid-boss that we shouldn’t provoke. Once we get enough equipment in the Inner City, though, we might come back to take him down."

Crouching, Xie Xingzhi carefully moved forward, constantly watching his surroundings. Once sure there was no danger, he continued,

"But I still wouldn’t mind doing it. There are no purely good or bad people here. We might incite a mob chase by killing some minor character. The last time I was here, my teammate kicked a dog in the town and guess what? The townspeople with rocket launchers started hunting my teammate, which scared me so much I immediately disassociated from the situation."

Bai Wu recalled the most formidable boss in a game in his past life, which was a chicken in a Beginner’s Village.

Xie Xingzhi was eager to talk, being a member of the Investigation Corps, and he spoke even more to Bai Wu than the other members did.

Because Xie Yingjie’s original intention had been to recruit him.

To both Xie Xingzhi and Xie Yingjie, Bai Wu was deemed worth recruiting, although he was... rash, having chosen a hazardous profession.

After walking for about an hour, the two quickly arrived at the mountain of rubbish.

This place, every night, was a gathering spot for the Steeltooth Pirates, wanderers, and the Virus Gang Beetles.

Tyres, scrap metal, various metal pipes, and discarded mechanical bodies piled into a mountain. Yet these piles of rubbish were meticulously arranged in continuous S and W shaped corridors.

The target that Xie Xingzhi needed to heal was right at the entrance to the passageway.

According to Xie Xingzhi’s experience, ordinary treatments only earned three or four contribution points, especially since materials from the rubbish mountain were freely available, and the scraps for repairs were cheap.

But the other party had offered twelve contribution points, which was almost equivalent to the earnings of an entire day’s work.

He was anxious to earn this sum. The Xie Family patriarch’s condition was getting worse, and the only person aware of this was Xie Xingzhi.

But heaven doesn’t always accommodate one’s wishes...

When Xie Xingzhi and Bai Wu arrived at the scene, the rescue target—the junkyard modification master, Chen Muyu—was already breathing his last.

The mechanical core had developed cracks, and energy was already leaking out of them.

Chen Muyu’s original image was that of an old man with metallic skin, puffing on a pipe he had dug up from the junkyard, and liked to boast to the youngsters about the time when he was young and had equipment, he had once modified a warp-drive mobility device.

He did indeed have some skills, and for a long time, the three factions—the wanderers, the Virus Gang Beetles, and the Steeltooth Pirates—all relied on Chen Muyu for vehicle modifications.

To some extent, Chen Muyu did have a status. Despite living in the junkyard, he was quite generous.

But at this moment, Chen Muyu was halfway to death.

"It makes sense not to worry about scarcity but about unfair distribution. If the water is carried evenly, it could live a relatively comfortable later life until Zero’s set lifespan runs out. But now things are different—it made a stupid mistake. To give the wanderers a few days’ respite from protection taxes, it tampered with the vehicles of the Steeltooth Pirates and the Virus Gang Beetles, causing their speed to decrease."

Tell the little mech brat beside you that his twelve contribution points task is blown unless... unless you can pull off some fancy moves?

Three factions existed on the outskirts of the junkyard: the wanderers, that is, the mechanical race of hobos in the small town where Bai Wu and Xie Xingzhi appeared.

The situation of the Virus Gang Beetles is still unclear, so let’s consider them Villain Force Two for now.

The ones riding hellish motorcycles and currently beating Chen Muyu are Villain Force One—the Steeltooth Pirates.

Xie Xingzhi’s face at this moment couldn’t be uglier; he and Bai Wu both saw that their mission target was being beaten up.

"Looks like our luck isn’t too good today... I said it, a mission target with such a high price surely had some trick to it. It’s good we were slow... or else it would’ve been the end of us."

Xie Xingzhi felt helpless. He and Bai Wu were hiding nearby, watching Chen Muyu being continuously beaten, edging closer to death. He wanted to leave but felt it was somewhat a pity.

Bai Wu felt at this moment how truly frail humans were.

How powerful the Xie Family was, like gods within the High Tower, yet in Mechanical City, the Guardian of the Xie Family would hover at the brink of danger for the sake of contribution points.

Thinking this, Bai Wu did something that dumbfounded Xie Xingzhi.

He just stood up from behind the junk barricade.

This action caused Xie Xingzhi’s brain to go blank, followed by an even crazier move from Bai Wu as he shouted at the Steeltooth Pirates:

"Stop! What’s the point of so many people bullying an old man?"

Upon hearing this, the crowd actually stopped. The leader of the Steeltooth Pirates let out an agitated laugh, and the rest of the gang started whistling.

These fully titanium-white metallic members of the Mechanical Race indeed found no pleasure in bullying an old man.

Seeing someone daring to stand up for the victim, they were instead intrigued.

The wanderers were the sheep being exploited, and both the Steeltooth Pirates and the Virus Gang Beetles were wolves. It seemed that due to a problem with resources, the three forces somehow ended up organizing a race.

The winner would gain the exploitation rights over the wanderers; if the wanderers’ force won, they would be exploited a little less.

Thus, Chen Muyu became a key figure.

That this person would risk danger for the wanderers made Bai Wu believe that this elderly mechanical race individual still possessed a reasonably kind soul.

Xie Xingzhi shook his head as countless gun barrels of the mechanical race were aimed at Bai Wu.

He didn’t understand why Bai Wu suddenly went nuts. Logic told him... it was best to leave immediately, the old ancestor had misjudged the person.

But Xie Xingzhi didn’t leave in the end, and at this moment, Bai Wu spoke calmly:

"Killing this old man won’t cure your Raou virus infection. How about we make a deal instead?"

Bai Wu dared to intervene, of course, for his own reasons. There was a big question mark marked by Prayle’s Eye on the forehead of the Steeltooth Pirates’ leader.

(I’ve been a bit busy yesterday and today, I’m not sure if I can post an extra update tonight... Assuming there won’t be one for now, I’m just notifying everyone so you don’t have to wait. Of course, if there’s a chance for an extra, I’ll rush it out as soon as possible.)