nycdaug Chapter 77 New World
Chapter 77 New World
The next morning at 7:30, Li Chenglong finished some work and handed over some basic tasks to Wang Xiao before heading directly to the core area on the eighth floor. He thought he was already quite early, as his scheduled time was 8:00, but when he arrived, he found Zhao Rui and three others already waiting in front of the computer room. A short while later, Yun Lan, who was leading the special forces team in their morning training, also came up. The two of them led the four into the computer room.
As soon as they entered, all the lights in the core calculation room automatically turned on, and Alice suddenly appeared before them. Before Li Chenglong could speak, Alice looked at the four people and said, "These are the four people you chose to accompany you: two Level 4 Awakened Ones and two Level 5 Ability Users. Not bad." Li Chenglong said, "Yes, these are the four. Without further ado, let's begin." Alice's red eyes swept over the four people, as if registering them, and then she said, "Take out a green crystal and place it in the groove on the right side of the scroll. The portal will open automatically. Remember, do not reveal any content of this world in the other world."
Li Chenglong carefully examined the scroll and indeed found a groove on the right side. He first put the four people's luggage into his storage ring, but left each of them a backpack. Then he took out a green crystal from his ring and placed it into the groove. The scroll suddenly emitted a white light, then unfolded and gradually grew larger, transforming into the shape of a door. Yun Lan pulled Han Xiaoling aside, whispering something to each other, while Han Xiaoling nodded and laughed in response. Alice checked the time and handed Li Chenglong a watch: "This is a timer. There's a countdown inside. You must complete the trial mission and return before the time expires." Li Chenglong carefully put away the timer, then turned to Yun Lan: "I'm entrusting Dawn City to you." Yun Lan smiled and said, "Go and come back soon. Be careful on your journey."
Li Chenglong nodded solemnly, then looked at Zhao Rui and the other three: "Let's go!" The five of them rushed into the teleportation portal. As soon as they entered, the scroll slowly rolled up again, then returned to its original state. Alice put the scroll away and said to Yun Lan, "Li Chenglong is gone, let's start our work for today." Then, files compiled from the crystal computers of various departments appeared on the large screen—forty or fifty in total. Yun Lan felt a headache coming on.
After Li Chenglong and his group of five entered the portal, they arrived at a huge circular room with eight doors. A mechanical female voice, devoid of any emotion, then emanated from the room: "Welcome to the Trial Grounds. After testing, a suitable trial map has been prepared for you." A large door slowly opened, and the voice continued: "Let me first introduce the map's overview. This trial map is a 1:10 scale map of your own. This planet has its own independent history of development, and its technological level is comparable to Earth's. However, because it's a trial map, they don't have the concept of the universe. Three years ago, this planet experienced a zombie crisis, but after a series of reconstruction efforts, they are now in a stable standoff with the zombies. Your mission is to lead them in clearing out the zombies. The mission lasts 60 days. You can use your special abilities freely, but neither the humans nor the zombies on this trial map possess any special abilities. After completing the mission, you will return here for points settlement and reward redemption."
After listening to her explanation, Li Chenglong asked a question: "Are there any precautions?" The mechanical female voice replied calmly: "First, you absolutely cannot reveal any information about your world. Second, the mission's completion is to completely resolve the zombie crisis, not just hunt zombies. Third, except for exchanging points for rewards at the final settlement, nothing from the Trial Grounds can be taken out." Li Chenglong's expression darkened upon hearing this. The rest was fine, but what did "completely resolve the zombie crisis" mean? Although the Trial Grounds' surface area was only one-tenth the size of Earth, it was still quite large. However, after thinking for a few dozen seconds, he said directly: "Let's go. Waiting here isn't going to work." With that, he led the group through the open door.
As soon as the five people entered, the gate behind them disappeared, and they felt as if they had entered a desert. Only a wide road indicated that there must be a civilized world here, but on both sides of the road was only yellow sand, without a trace of green. A gust of wind blew by, stirring up some dry grass and fine sand. The road stretched as far as the eye could see, and no one knew where it led. The scorching sun baked the earth, and although they had only been there for a short time, they already felt quite hot.
Zhao Rui looked around: "Did the system teleport us to the desert? It'll take us days just to get out." Zhao Liying took out face towels for Han Xiaoling and herself to wear to prevent sunburn. Li Chenglong took out a compass to determine the direction: "This road runs east-west, and there are many clear tire tracks in the sand, proving that a convoy must have passed through recently. Let's get going and hopefully find a populated area to ask for more information."
After speaking, Li Chenglong took out two motorcycles from his storage ring. It wasn't that he didn't want to take more; Dawn City was quite large now, and many of his motorcycles had been distributed, leaving only these two. "Give me your backpacks, otherwise they're too big to ride easily. Zhao Rui, you're big, so you can ride one motorcycle with Wang Bing. I'll carry Zhao Liying and Xiaoling," Li Chenglong said while checking the motorcycles. Zhao Rui nodded: "Captain Li, I remember you have a dedicated off-road vehicle. It's so sunny now, why don't we drive?" Li Chenglong started one of the motorcycles: "I gave that vehicle to Yunlan's dad, so you know what I mean. We'll ask them for another vehicle when we find a populated area."
A minute later, two motorcycles sped along the seemingly endless highway, one after the other. Although the weather was rather hot, the heat didn't bother them at all, as everyone was either a superhuman or an awakened individual. Zhao Liying and Han Xiaoling were bundled up tightly, mainly to avoid getting sunburned. Along the way, they chatted and shared recent events. Han Xiaoling, sitting between Li Chenglong and Zhao Liying, smiled and said, "Sister Zhao, I heard you've become the vice-captain of the special forces team, is that true?" Zhao Liying nodded, "Thanks to the two captains' kindness, I'm now a vice-captain, just like Yang Liu." Li Chenglong, in front, said, "This is what you deserve. Currently, besides Yun Lan and me, you're the strongest in the special forces team. Although Yang Liu has reached level five, she's a support-type superhuman. Moreover, Yun Lan and Yang Liu have praised you highly more than once. After discussing it, we think you're perfect for the vice-captain position. Also, Xiaoling will officially become a member of the special forces team after completing this trial mission."
"Great!" Han Xiaoling clapped her hands happily. "I've wanted to fight alongside my older brother, sister-in-law, and all my older brothers and sisters for a long time." As they were chatting, gunshots suddenly rang out from afar.