Free Web NovelChapter 51: Chapter 51: She wants to purify toxic soil!
Inside the pocket, Yue Yue lost track of time. The only thing she knew was that the fighting outside never seemed to stop. She could hear the constant slash of Han Soi’s sword, the heavy thuds of falling monsters, and the slow breathing of the two S-rank and one SSS-rank orcs.
The mission was clear but terrifying. They had to push into the very heart of the zone to find the "Core."
In this world, no one truly knew how to destroy a polluted zone for good. The Empire’s only solution was to find the energy core and damage it.
By creating cracks in the core, the zone would stop expanding and become "stable." If they failed, this S-level zone would continue to suck in energy from the atmosphere until it evolved into an SS-level nightmare, capable of wiping out entire cities.
But there was a greedy side to these missions, too. While the zone was a death trap, it was also a gold mine.
The high concentration of energy often created rare crystals, and the shifting space sometimes spat out "treasures of different times"...artifacts and materials from ancient civilizations that could boost an orc’s power to incredible levels.
As they traveled deeper, Han Soi and his team weren’t just killing; they were collecting items too. Every time a high-level beast fell or a strange glowing plant appeared, they gathered samples for analysis and profit.
Eventually, the dim, sickly light of the gray-green sky began to fade even further. Night was falling. freewebnøvel.com
In a polluted zone, night didn’t mean darkness; it meant the "mist" became thicker and the danger increased.
The temperature dropped until Yue Yue began to shiver inside the pocket.
"The core should be another ten kilometers in," Ke Hong reported, checking a small holographic radar.
His voice was raspy from the constant fighting. "But the energy readings are spiking. The air is getting too thick to breathe without filters."
Han Soi came to a halt. He didn’t look tired, but his eyes were sharp, scanning the twisted, blackened trees.
"We camp here for four hours," Han Soi ordered. "Rotate the watch. We need peak strength for the inner circle."
Tong Yu leaned against a charred trunk, his blue spear still glowing faintly. "This place is a graveyard. I’ve seen three different types of mutated A-level beasts just in the last hour. If we don’t crack that core by morning, we might get swarmed."
Han Soi didn’t reply. He sat down with his back against a smooth stone, his hand instinctively moving to cover the pocket where Yue Yue was hidden.
Through the small holes, Yue Yue could feel the warmth of his palm.
She felt a wave of guilt. She had come here for her selfishness, but watching them fight made her realize just how dangerous this world really was.
These men were literally putting their lives on the line to keep the civilization safe.
She stayed as still as a mouse, her heart aching for Han Soi. He hadn’t eaten or rested once. He was the SSS-rank leader; he had to be the strongest, but to her, he was just her husband who was working too hard.
Han Soi looked at the darkening, toxic sky and whispered softly, "We stop here," he said, his voice calm but firm. "Eat and rest for an hour."
Tong Yu and Ke Hong nearly tripped over their own feet. They turned around, their eyes wide with total shock.
"Rest?" Tong Yu repeated, his mouth hanging open. "Duke, did you just say... rest? We’ve only been here for a few hours. Usually, you make us march for three days straight until our legs fall off!"
Ke Hong nodded slowly, looking at Han Soi as if he had been replaced by an alien. "Duke, are you feeling alright? Usually, you just hand us a tube of nutritional sludge and tell us to keep killing. We haven’t even broken a sweat yet, and you want to set up camp?"
They looked at him with deep suspicion. This was not the "War God" they knew. The old Han Soi was a tireless machine who treated rest like a weakness.
Han Soi ignored their bewildered stares, his expression indifferent. "If I say rest, we rest. Don’t make me repeat myself."
He didn’t wait for their reply. He turned and walked a significant distance away, disappearing behind a cluster of jagged, blackened rocks.
He didn’t care what they thought. His only concern was that Yue Yue had been cramped in a dark pocket for hours. She needed air, she needed to stretch, and most importantly, she needed to eat.
Once he was sure his men couldn’t see him, he carefully reached into his pocket. He scooped out the tiny white snake, who was currently letting out a tiny, wide-mouthed yawn right at his face.
Yue Yue blinked her big gemstone-like eyes, feeling the cool (though smelly) air hit her nose.
She immediately looked around with high curiosity. From inside the pocket, she had heard the sounds of bone crushing and monsters screaming, but now she could finally see the "S-level" polluted zone by herself.
She looked down, and her eyes instantly brightened. Soil! Even though the ground was cracked, black, and oozing a faint black mist, it was real, solid earth.
To anyone else, it was poison. To her, it was the key to her system mission. If she could purify this, she could finish her quest right under Han Soi’s nose.
She immediately tried to slither down his arm to reach the ground, her little tail twitching with excitement.
"Wait," Han Soi whispered, his large hand gently blocking her path. He patted her tiny head with one finger. "Are you hungry? You need to eat something first."
He didn’t want her touching the toxic ground directly. He reached into his spatial space and pulled out a high-tech, transformable tent.
With a soft sound, the device expanded into a small, clean, and sealed living space. He placed her inside on a soft, elevated mat so her belly wouldn’t touch the polluted floor.
