Chapter 177.1: “The real [Ota] wasn’t like this at all”
On an outlying route in the suburbs of Broken River Wasteland, a gigantic rhinoceros as massive as a mountain was charging forward on all four legs.
Its towering body and tremendous jumping ability allowed it to effortlessly leap over one town after another, just as easily as a human might step over an anthill.
A young man in one of the towns had just bought a cup of water and was about to drink when he nearly spat it all out.
The young man looked young, yet his face was weathered far beyond his years. He quickly set the bowl of water down on the table, one hand moving to his side. The dust on the ground beneath his feet began to tremble faintly as he prepared himself to deal with a sudden battle at any moment.
Compared with the young man’s instinctive wariness, the surrounding people of Broken River were far more composed.
“Did the Dongluo Rhino work overtime today?”
“Maybe there were quite a few surveyors coming back today.”
This was a water station—yes, quite literally a place for replenishing water. The water here was mixed with salt and sugar and specifically prepared for hunters.
At this moment, the local hunters around them merely gazed at the Dongluo Rhino’s rapidly disappearing, bounding silhouette with envy and longing, discussing why it was working overtime.
“I really wish I could ride the Dongluo Rhino Station too. I still remember the first time I saw it. I was so scared I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and crawl inside.”
“Forget it. The Dongluo Rhino only runs the boundary stations. We’re just P1 assets. We won’t be qualified to leave the boundary until we reach P3.”
The man who had spoken enviously immediately changed his mind.
“Forget it. I don’t want to leave Broken River anyway. Even if I’m lucky enough to get promoted to P3 by the [Company], I’m still not leaving.”
“By the way, have you guys heard? A whole bunch of outside forces have been coming to Broken River lately. They all want to become affiliated with our [Ota]. I wonder if they’re going to compete with us for work.”
“Hmph. [Ota] values loyalty above all else. Those outsiders will be lucky if they can even become employees. We’re assets of the [Company]. How could they possibly compare with us?”
The young man continued drinking his water while quietly listening in. He also subtly shifted his position, making sure the two people to his side couldn’t see him.
Because he was one of the “outsiders” they were talking about.
His name was Bo Huan. He was a superhuman of the earth element and a resident of a Safe City, sent to Broken River Wasteland just like everyone else.
Compared with the many other safety-city residents who had no idea what was really going on and knew only that they were supposed to join [Ota] and earn its trust, Bo Huan knew considerably more.
The atmosphere on Moon Silk Star was tense.
The awakening of the fourth [Company] had shattered the three-way balance that had previously existed among Moon Silk Star’s three major companies.
The three original major companies each occupied one of the three best and most habitable regions on Moon Silk Star. As for the powerful [Ota], because it had awakened too late, it could only temporarily remain in the remote and desolate Broken River Wasteland.
It was like a huge piece of fat meat that had already been divided among three people, while the fourth person was still sitting there hungry.
If [Ota] wanted a piece of the meat, it had no choice but to snatch it from the mouths of the other three companies.
As for the other [Companies], what they needed to do now was protect the meat already in their own stomachs—and perhaps see whether they could take advantage of the chaos to snatch some meat from the mouths of the other [Companies].
There was bound to be a war on Moon Silk Star.
And once war broke out, none of the four companies could remain uninvolved.
For the Safe Cities, this was actually a good thing.
Their world mission was to [eliminate] the companies, but the companies on Moon Silk Star were simply too powerful.
If the city lords fought them individually, even if they brought every ability user force within their cities to bear, it would still be extremely difficult to win. And even if they did emerge victorious, it would probably be a Pyrrhic victory.
But if they worked together, none of them trusted one another.
Everyone understood that no one would be willing to bring out their most powerful weapons or their strongest superhuman residents—things that belonged to them personally—for the sake of the collective.
So the city lords had come up with a brilliant idea.
Pretend to pledge allegiance to one of the [Companies], borrow that company’s strength, and use it to participate in the war.
The company they had chosen was [Ota].
Bo Huan knew that they were essentially playing a game of chess, placing certain pieces onto the board that was Broken River Wasteland.
But the moment [Ota] was defeated, every safety-city resident they had sent here would become a discarded pawn.
The city lords would then choose another [Company] and throw more pieces onto the board, gambling that it would emerge victorious and that the Safe Cities whose residents participated in the war would be able to claim a share of the world-mission rewards.
As one of those chess pieces, Bo Huan could only follow orders and make his way to the supposedly remote Broken River Wasteland.
Unlike Yu Bo, he had chosen not to travel with the main group.
The more people there were in one place, the easier it was for something to go wrong. If they were treated as a single group, then if someone in that group made a mistake, everyone with them would be implicated.
Even though Moon Silk Star had a cognitive lock and [Ota] could never possibly recognize them as people from another world, Bo Huan was still unwilling to take the risk.
But he had to infiltrate [Ota].
The city lord of his Safe City was a suspicious sort. He had certainly planted informants among the residents he had sent here, so Bo Huan couldn’t afford to look as though he was merely slacking off.
At the very least, he needed to obtain the status of an [Ota] employee. That way, he could prove that he was carrying out his city lord’s wishes.
Bo Huan looked in the direction the Dongluo Rhino had disappeared, knowing that this would not be easy.
How could a [Company] capable of using the Dongluo Rhino as a public bus possibly be so easy to infiltrate?
But it didn’t matter. There would always be a way.
To survive, he could travel alone. He could be ruthless. He could do whatever it took.
Including trading in things that absolutely should never be traded in Broken River.
Bo Huan continued drinking his water slowly. A few minutes later, someone suddenly sat down across from him.
The man said nothing. He simply placed a second-order nuclear crystal wrapped in a piece of worn cloth on the table and pushed it toward Bo Huan.
The person sitting opposite him likewise placed a bag on the table and pushed it over.
After setting the bag down, the man reached for the nuclear crystal, but Bo Huan suddenly pressed his hand down.
“Wait. You can take it after I check the goods.”
The man’s expression darkened. He glanced around, then lowered his voice and spoke in Moon Silk’s language.
“Here? You’ve got some nerve. What’s in that bag is enough to get [Ota] to sentence us to death ten times over.”
Bo Huan kept his hand firmly pressed down on the man’s. He raised his eyes slightly and stared at him coldly, enunciating every word.
“Right here.”
“Energy crystals for the goods. One hand gives, the other takes.”
The man clicked his tongue.
“Fine, fine, go ahead and check. But be careful while you’re looking. Don’t give yourself away. [Ota]’s patrol squads are made up entirely of mutant humans who can fly.”
Bo Huan shot him a sidelong glance as he casually began opening the bag.
“Afraid of dying, yet you still work in this business?”
“Death is terrifying, sure, but energy crystals are even more tempting. Hurry up and check the goods. I’ll keep an eye on the people around us. Damn it, there have been way too many outsiders coming to Broken River lately. [Ota]’s patrol squads practically want to patrol the place three hundred times a day!”
As he spoke, the man looked Bo Huan up and down a few times. He probably noticed that although Bo Huan looked young, he had the unmistakable air of someone who could fight. After a moment, he added a few more words.
“So you’d better be here to make a genuine deal. If you’re planning to take the goods and kill me to silence me, all I have to do is shout, and several patrol squads will be here in no time.”
Bo Huan sneered. “Relax. We’re all grasshoppers tied to the same string, committing crimes punishable by hanging. What would I gain by making a scene?”
The irony wasn’t lost on him.
Even the security in his own Safe City wasn’t this tight. Yet in a post-apocalyptic world as harsh as Moon Silk Star, there was such an extensive, multilayered security force.
With that thought in mind, Bo Huan inspected the goods even more carefully, afraid that the slightest oversight might expose his identity. If that happened, a whole bunch of [Ota] guards could come pouring out and pin him to the ground on the spot.
Bo Huan first gently felt the contents, confirming that they were paper, and only then did he breathe a small sigh of relief.
He then opened one corner of the bag slightly, using his body to shield it so that he could see what was inside.
Dense lines of Moon Silk script were written across the pages.
Bo Huan had learned Moon Silk’s language half a year ago, so he could clearly see that the first few lines did indeed match the information he had obtained.
The young man’s body trembled faintly with excitement.
There was no mistake.
It was genuine.
These were indeed the written examination papers [Ota] used when recruiting ordinary guards.
He released the other man’s hand and watched as the man opened the bag, took a look at the second-order nuclear crystal inside, and quickly left with it.
Bo Huan paid him no further attention. He carefully secured the bag and hurried toward the inn in the small town where he was staying.
He needed to memorize the answers as quickly as possible, then take part in [Ota]’s employee assessment.
The man who had made the deal with Bo Huan walked some distance away before slowly removing the cloak he had been wearing. He sat down in a car parked by the roadside and tossed the second-order nuclear crystal to his companion in the driver’s seat.
His companion was playing a game. When he saw the man return, he asked while continuing to play,
“Captain, you’re back. How’d it go?”
The captain rolled his shoulders.
“Pretty smoothly. Did you get his name?”
“Got it. Bo Huan, tier 3 earth-element ability user.”
“Mm. That’s all we need. If he’s lucky enough to become a believer of Our God, we’ll return this nuclear crystal to him then. If he doesn’t…”
The teammate finished his game, then he and the captain both broke into knowing laughter.
“Then this nuclear crystal is ours!”
The captain pulled out the insignia of the Pie-from-the-Sky Team and looked at it for a moment before carefully putting it away again.
For now, he was pretending to be a native of Moon Silk Star, after all.
“Where are we heading next?”
“Oh! Haijing Town. There’s a tier 2 strength-type ability user there who wants to buy some answers too.”
“Let’s go! Move out!”
