Chapter 098 [The Good Person]

There are two kinds of restricted zones.

One kind is territory occupied by powerful beings of nonhuman life.

The other is a natural deathtrap, a place so perilous that most humans can never set foot there.

Whichever it was, the danger level was extremely high.

If he had no choice, Tang Mubai would have had to take the risk. But since there was already an existing place with a relatively high safety margin, and a certain chance of yielding nether malevolence, he naturally would not rush into a restricted zone.

Of course, just in case, Tang Mubai chose a smaller restricted zone near the Seventy-Fifth Domain where both nether malevolence and ice malevolence had been found, keeping it as a backup.

With the two destinations settled, Tang Mubai immediately booked a ticket online to Kaixiong City.

Between the Thirty-Eighth Domain and the Seventy-Fifth Domain, there was an average round-trip flight every three days.

Tang Mubai checked the schedule and found that one would depart the next afternoon.

If luck was on his side and everything went quickly, he could leave the next afternoon, arrive in Kaixiong City that night, set out from the domain at daybreak the following morning, reach the ruins, find the nether malevolence, gather it before nine in the morning, and just barely catch the return flight.

That was the best-case scenario. Tang Mubai could not guarantee it.

After booking the ticket, he lay down on the bed and slept for a short while.

The next day, after breakfast, he drove as usual around the Eastern District, then made another circuit around several slaughterhouses in the suburbs to reclaim a wave of lost vitality, and finally stopped at Miracle Slaughterhouse.

After spending some time in the office, he saw the river not far away and suddenly had an idea.

Last night’s experiment still had not been carried out.

Since he happened to have time now, he might as well try it in the river and see whether he could awaken the water-control divine power.

With that thought, he immediately left the slaughterhouse, walked to the upstream section of the river, stripped off his clothes, kept only his shorts on, and jumped in, submerging himself entirely.

He did not hold his breath. Like an ordinary person, he simply let himself feel the river’s invasion.

Very quickly, he could no longer breathe. His chest tightened, and he instinctively swallowed mouthful after mouthful of river water.

By the time his stomach was nearly full of water, the system still had not given any prompt.

The experiment had failed.

Unlike the previous toxin resistance and heat resistance, no water resistance had appeared.

It seemed the system knew Tang Mubai was doing it on purpose.

The sound of water splashing came from his right. Tang Mubai, still feeling gloomy, immediately sensed someone approaching.

A thought flashed through his mind, and he controlled his body to rise to the surface.

"You... you are... are you all... all right?"

The newcomer stared at Tang Mubai emerging from the bottom of the river, looking utterly stunned.

"...Cough, I am fine." Tang Mubai wiped the river water from his face and gave an awkward laugh. "I was just trying to see how long I could hold my breath."

"Oh... oh..." The man seemed to understand at last, stammering, "I... I thought... thought you were... were drowning... But... but it's good... good that you're fine!"

At that, Tang Mubai raised his brows.

This big fellow, who had clearly intended to rescue him, did not seem to stutter on purpose. Was he born that way?

He had a simple, honest face and a powerfully built frame, all chest, shoulders, and arms, packed with muscle.

Standing in the river, he was as steady as a boulder.

"Sorry to have made you come down into the water for nothing."

After sizing him up, Tang Mubai said, "If you ever need help with anything, you can come find me at Miracle Slaughterhouse ahead. My name is Tang Mubai, and I am the owner there. Anything I can do, I will do my utmost."

"N... no need."

The big man hurriedly shook his head when he heard that. "I... I didn't... didn't help you at all. H... how could I... I ask for your help!"

"Since... since you're fine, I... I'll be going!"

After finishing in fits and starts, he waved at Tang Mubai, smiled, turned, and swam back to the bank. Then, in his drenched clothes, he walked toward the slums.

"He lives in the slums?"

Tang Mubai watched his back until it disappeared into an alley, lost in thought.

After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and smiled lightly.

"A man who helps others without asking for anything in return. What a good soul."

Since the other man did not want help, Tang Mubai naturally did not insist.

The experiment had failed, and staying in the river any longer would just be self-torment.

He quickly swam back to shore, stirred his vital energy, and expelled the river water he had swallowed.

That was enough. He put his clothes back on and returned to Miracle Slaughterhouse.

He stayed in the office until noon, then drove back into the city, found Xu Dalu, and told him that he had to leave for two days.

After that, he ate lunch at a restaurant and drove straight to Canghe City.

Red Leaf City had no airport, so if one wanted to take an atmospheric-space battleship to the Seventy-Fifth Domain, one had to do so from Canghe City.

The Thirty-Eighth Domain had seven cities in total. Canghe City was the largest, with a population of over eight million, and it was also the seat of the domain government.

Because it lay within the domain wall, safety was guaranteed, and buses ran between the seven cities every day.

Tang Mubai was pressed for time, so he did not take the bus. Instead, he drove there himself.

After arriving at Canghe City Airport, he parked the off-road vehicle in a nearby lot, picked up his luggage, and entered the airport.

He did not have much with him: a few identification documents, a bank card, a small amount of cash, a C-grade alloy saber, a battle bow, and a quiver of arrows.

From the beginning of their professional rank, martial practitioners were allowed to carry weapons on their person, even aboard an atmospheric-space battleship.

The atmospheric-space battleships of the new world were not as exaggerated as those in the science-fiction films of Tang Mubai’s former world, but they were still formidable.

After all, as transportation running between domains, they represented the most advanced technology of the new world, reinforced by arrays endowed with all kinds of powers.

In truth, not only the battleships, but even the domain walls of every domain were a fusion of technology and arraycraft.

A domain wall built solely from arrays and stone and earth could be breached too easily by nonhuman lifeforms.

But once technology was added to the equation, breaking through the wall became far from easy.

At the very least, a pure beast tide could not do it.

...

This was Tang Mubai’s first time aboard an atmospheric-space battleship, and he felt a little excited.

After boarding, he sat by the window and kept looking around from time to time.

Once they took off, he noticed that there were four fighter jets escorting the battleship on both sides.

Come to think of it, interdomain flights usually had to pass over territory occupied by nonhuman lifeforms.

Among those nonhuman beings were some powerful existences capable of flying through the air with ease.

Without powerful weapons to clear the way, passage would be impossible.

Of course, the battleship did not fly straight through the center of nonhuman-occupied territory. It generally kept to the outer edges.

Most of the time, those powerful beings among the nonhuman lifeforms would not attack for no reason.

The fighter escorts were mainly there to guard against large flying beasts.

Under normal circumstances, the chance of encountering an attack from a large flying beast during interdomain travel was thirty percent.

Tang Mubai was fortunate. From the moment they took off from Canghe City to the moment they landed in Kaixiong City, no large flying beasts appeared in the five hours of flight.

After leaving Kaixiong City Airport, he found a hotel and checked in.

After dinner, he went to a rental agency and rented a modified off-road vehicle.

This kind of rental service was mainly for small mercenary groups.

Red Leaf City had such a service as well.

Before coming, Tang Mubai had already found the place online.

After renting the vehicle, he slept in the hotel for one night. At first light the next morning, he set off by car for the outside of the domain wall.

After passing the inspection at the wall, he sped along the road at full throttle.

Before long, he had left the fifty-kilometer safe zone and entered the vast wilderness, heading straight for the ruins of a city left behind two hundred years ago.

Kaitan City!