Chapter 866: An Ordinary City

866. An Ordinary City

"How far are you guys planning to raise your perception range before advancing?"

"At least a thousand meters. Anything weaker than that and I might as well not bother."

"I'll just go with five hundred meters or so. Improving mental energy is too hard."

"I need to go to the library and study first."

"Can't believe we still have to study even here."

"If you don't study, you wait to die."

"Good night."

"Night my ass. Tomorrow the library is definitely going to be packed, you won't even get in line. I'm already on my way there."

"Damn, isn't that a bit too competitive?"

"The library isn't closed this late?"

"No idea, I've never left the shelter at night."

......

Lin Ye finished his dinner, turned off the group chat and the Music Box, then hugged the Penguin Doll and lay down on the bed with his eyes closed.

Early the next morning, Lin Ye crawled out of bed. He first went to the Rule Mining Area to dig for an hour, then returned to the shelter to tend to the plants and animals for a while before lying back down on the bed and beginning his daily simulation.

[Please choose to start a new simulation mission or enter the simulation base]

"Start a new simulation mission."

.............................................................

[Simulated D-Class personnel: Finnegan]

[Obtained Special Ability: Split]

[Split]

[When your body is disassembled, you can split into multiple individual entities]

[Note: Every split reduces physical strength. Multiple splits may lead to loss of consciousness]

[Remaining Simulation Attempts: 10]

Lin Ye opened his eyes. This time it wasn't the familiar prison transport vehicle opening. He was sitting inside a fully enclosed carriage with only one entrance, unable to see what was happening outside.

There were four D-Class personnel in the carriage. Finnegan was a white male in his fifties with a fairly solid physique.

The other three D-Class personnel seemed somewhat nervous, occasionally glancing toward the carriage entrance.

"This one seems a bit different."

One of the thinner D-Class personnel spoke up.

"No shit, even the vehicle is different... I've scouted routes several times, but this is my first time riding in this kind of prison transport."

The burly man sitting diagonally across from Lin Ye pulled an iron shard from his crotch and sharpened it against the seat a few times.

"...I think I've heard about this kind of prison transport. Apparently, special prison transports are only deployed for particularly dangerous missions."

The one who spoke was the old black man sitting next to Lin Ye. He looked to be in his sixties or seventies, but had more energy than a young man.

"Doesn't that mean we're screwed? Regular missions are already dangerous enough. With a special mission like this, aren't we as good as dead?"

The skinny guy used to have a habit of shaking his leg when nervous, but after having one of his legs broken, he'd gotten rid of that bad habit.

"...I hope we can make it back alive this time too."

The old black man leaned back against the seat, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"I'm going to make it back alive. If any of you hold me back, I'll take care of you myself."

The burly man kept sharpening his iron shard, and the friction between the shard and the seat produced faint sparks.

"Seems like we're slowing down."

Lin Ye turned his head toward the carriage exit. There was no spiritual energy in the environment, so he couldn't use his mental energy.

The prison transport began to decelerate and soon came to a stop at some location. The carriage door opened a crack.

"You, go out and take a look!"

The burly man shoved the skinny guy to the front.

The skinny guy didn't resist. In such a cramped space, he had no ability to resist anyway.

"...Huh? It looks like a city out there?"

The skinny guy let out a surprised voice.

"What city? Give more details."

The old black man frowned.

"It's just a totally normal city! I can see pedestrians holding phones, and there are barbecue stalls. I can even smell the roasted meat aroma!"

The skinny guy licked his lips, observing the situation outside nervously.

This was an organization mission, so there was no way the outside could be some nice place.

"Go take a walk around and see what's going on out there."

The burly man pushed the skinny guy outside.

When the skinny guy was pushed out, Lin Ye caught a glimpse of the outside. Just as the skinny guy had said, it appeared to be the street of some city.

Lin Ye followed the skinny guy out of the carriage. Since they were wearing orange prison uniforms, some passersby looked at them curiously.

The prison transport's exterior looked completely ordinary, just a medium-sized cargo van.

Seeing that they were fine, the burly man and the old black man also stepped out of the carriage. They walked over to the prison transport's bridge, but there was nothing inside.

"What do we do now? This looks just like an ordinary city."

The old black man looked around, his gaze lingering on a barbecue stall not far away.

"I think we'd better drive away from here first. Otherwise, we might get arrested by nearby police officers."

Lin Ye opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat. They currently had no identification whatsoever, making them highly suspicious individuals with no papers, no records, and no credentials.

"We can find an empty residential complex first and change into some normal clothes."

The skinny guy and the old black man returned to the carriage, while the burly man sat in the co-driver's seat.

Lin Ye started the prison transport and quickly drove it into a residential complex that had no security guard.

The four of them got out and slipped into the stairwell. The skinny guy pulled out a piece of wire and popped open the lock on the door to the right on the first floor after a few tries.

Lin Ye had observed the inside from the window earlier, and there wasn't a single person inside.

"Too small."

The burly man barely managed to squeeze into a shirt. He was a full two meters tall, so finding clothes that fit him here was nearly impossible.

Lin Ye and the other two quickly changed clothes. The four of them sat in the living room and began discussing what to do next.

"The organization couldn't have just sent us into a city. There's something very wrong here."

The old black man took a sip of bottled water he'd found in the fridge, his gaze drifting.

"No shit, even an idiot knows something's wrong here. The question is, what do we do next?"

The burly man yanked hard at his already misshapen shirt.

"I think we should leave the city. If this place isn't normal, maybe getting out will end the mission."

The skinny guy stared down at the tabletop, speaking somewhat nervously.

"I also think we should leave the city. At the very least, we should check if we can get out."

Lin Ye gripped a slender kitchen knife. Staying here was making him feel uneasy.

"Then let's head outside the city first. If we can't leave this place, we can always come back... What do you think?"

The old black man looked at the burly man. If the burly man disagreed, he could consider going somewhere else.

"I think we should hit up a gun store first and get ourselves some weapons."

The burly man felt that would put his mind at ease a little.

"That works. We can find a gun store along the way. I'll drive."

Lin Ye was just about to stand up and leave when he felt an extremely intense sense of pressure.

He moved toward the corner of the living room at maximum speed while simultaneously curling his body inward.

Boom!

Blinding white light illuminated the sky. A violent explosion rang out. The ground shook, and the building collapsed.

When everything finally settled, Lin Ye pushed aside the clutter piled on top of him and crawled out from the ruins.