by Chen Ran
Right at the lively street, Zero saw Moni.
A young girl with a Lala on her head was holding a photo as she questioned every passerby. The picture was of a young woman who looked somewhat similar to Moni, but she was Moni's mother. This picture was made using the imaging technology of the Information Center, and was drawn by a professional using Moni's description. Synthetic photos with a similarity of over 90% cost Moni nearly 20 pieces.
The money wasn't given to him for free. It was earned by the girl dancing on the street in the evening and at night while he was taking care of his spare time. Of course, with Moni's beauty, there would always be some trouble. However, the daggers dancing between her fingers and the dazzling fancy movements had always made things difficult for her. In fact, even Zero praised Moni's talent in using daggers.
It was a pity that before Moni had the ability to produce any kind of domain from the shock of the genes, this kind of technique could only be used in fancy ways, but it was enough to scare ordinary people.
And during the days that he had been in the Phoenix City, Moni had not been idle either. The young girl was actively using all sorts of methods to search for information about her mother, but now it seemed that the results weren't very good.
When Moni looked down in disappointment once again, a warm palm was placed on top of her head. Moni raised his head, and saw a smile on her face from the gaps between her fingers.
"As long as you don't give up, you'll definitely succeed one day!" Zero encouraged.
The disappointed expression on Moni's face was swept away. She nodded her head heavily and held onto Zero's hand, like a daughter acting spoiled towards her father. Then, she saw George at the side, and immediately nodded to greet the officer.
"I won't bother you father and daughter anymore. Zero, don't forget that you're treating me to a drink tonight!"
After reminding Su Yun, George waved his hands in farewell. The tall figure merged into the crowd and quickly disappeared.
Su Ling patted Moni's shoulders and said, "Come, let's go eat first. After that, we'll go to the commercial street to buy some supplies. Tomorrow, we'll leave Phoenix City. "
In the days they were in Phoenix City, their food was basically just bread and water. It was a rare occasion for him to have a meal outside, even if it was not for the precious ingredients, just being able to change the taste was enough for Moni to be happy for a long time. Thus, the little regret of not being able to stay in the city and ask for news of her mother disappeared from the young girl's heart.
Looking at Moni's bright and innocent face, Su Ling felt that the occasional luxury was worth it. Under the dusk, Moni was bouncing around like a happy little bird in front of them. It was as if she had returned to the old days, bringing her daughter along the street.
It was a pity that there was still one less person by her side, if only Lea was also here. When she thought of Lea, her heart ached slightly.
"What's wrong, Zero?" The attentive young girl quickly noticed the change in Zero's expression.
Shaking his head, he smiled and said, "It's nothing. It's just that the wound still hurts."
He was smiling, but his smile was a little forced, letting Moni know that his answer was wrong. But she was a smart girl, and Zero didn't want to say it, and she didn't want to press him. With an angelic smile, she took Zero's arm and headed for a restaurant on the commercial street.
In Moni's heart, even if she couldn't do anything for Zero, it was still good as long as she could make him smile. For that, Moni was willing to show her the most beautiful smile!
It was six o'clock in the morning, and Zero opened his eyes.
He walked into the bathroom and a moment later, warm water sprinkled all over his body. This was the last bath for Zero in the Phoenix City. In the following days, until he passed through the Death Ridge and reached the next base, he would not be able to enjoy this kind of feeling a second time.
To that end, he was willing to pay an additional two dollars on the bill.
Ren Tianxing's purified water flowed all over his body, closing his eyes and feeling the condition of his body.
In terms of wounds, he was now fully recovered. After treating George to a drink last night, he had snuck into the hospital and destroyed all the relevant information on his own. Then, he had brought the guards of the hospital and ran a few rounds around Phoenix City.
After experiencing the battle with the Finry's wolf, as well as escaping death under the influence of Red Wolf and Parkland's killer, the number of evolution points that Zero had used up increased to six once again. For now, Zero didn't plan on putting these six evolution points into any abilities. It would even have to carefully preserve them, lest they automatically evolve into other first-order abilities.
The higher the ability of zero, the more you know that the points of evolution that need to be invested in for a higher ability will be increased by geometric progression. Although many low-level abilities could display effects that were not inferior to high-level abilities, this was only relative and not absolute. Zero believed that when the rank of the ability is high enough, the strength of the ability can no longer be made up for by the quantity.
A high-leveled ability was bound to overwhelm a lot of players, but it was a low leveled ability.
And Zero also believed that when he leaves the Death Ridge alive, he would have more points of evolution in exchange for stronger abilities.
When he finished showering and walked out of the bathroom … Moni had already woken up and packed his things. He even obediently prepared his tactical suit for Zero. The tactical suit that he wore before zero was purchased in the Angry Reef City, but after multiple battles, they were already damaged and could no longer be used. Because of this, last night, when Zero bought the supplies, he bought a new set of tactical suit.
When this set of camouflage tactical suit wore Zero, he seemed to have returned to the soldier that just woke up at Z7 base. This set of tactical suit not only fit well, but the camouflage on the surface had the ability to hide and confuse the opponent. Most importantly, the tactical suit was embedded with a layer of alloy wire. Not only did the alloy silk collar make the tactical suit more tenacious and resistant to damage, it also had a certain resistance to impact. For this reason, it was bought at twenty percent more than normal tactical suit.
Guns, ammunition, grenades, food and water … After carefully inspecting the supplies in the army's backpack, Zero took Moni and left the hotel. A faint golden sunlight shone down from the sky. In this old era's morning, they could be said to be on the verge of entering the forbidden zone of life.
Death Ridge!
Chapter 124 - Bloody Scepter
Remot.
Early in the morning, Theon arrived at the vice president's office. He sat down in his big leather chair and was soon served a cup of coffee by the assistant. In the old days, having a cup of coffee in the morning wasn't exactly a luxury. However, in these turbulent times, to be able to drink such a mouthful of wine every morning, actually revealed another side of Theon's wealth.
In fact, even though he was the vice president of the trade union, at least seventy percent of the Remot's power had fallen into Theon's pockets.
He was still young, less than forty years old, the golden age of a man's life. Although the average life expectancy at birth was shortened in the new era, Theon had already entered his old age. However, his wealth was enough for Theon to pay for every single one of the more expensive gene drug s that cost more than a million. Although these medicines could not help Theon become a Power User, they could still extend his life.
In Theon's private safe, there were at least three such potions. In the remaining time, Theon would inject one pellet every ten years. These three pellets were enough for Theon to live to the age of eighty or maybe even longer.
Since he possessed a longer lifespan than ordinary people, Theon naturally desired power and authority. Just as Masters had said before, the ambiti
ous Theon was not willing to let the Remot stay at the edge of the coastline. In Xi Empire's kingdom's blueprint, this new city should be like the Yongye City and should be located at the top of this continent.
Of course, this was not an easy goal to achieve. That requires a step-by-step plan and a bold eye for investment.
The biggest problem for the Remot right now was the funds. With Theon's great efforts, the city had grown from a small human settlement to a medium-sized underground base. However, he was still very far from Theon's goal. To become a city at the same height as Yongye City, there was still a very long way to go.
First, it requires a large amount of money to allow the city to expand and develop. Where did the money come from? If he could reach the starting capital for the first stage through the Remot's own production of clean water and the firearms sold in the small arms factory, then Remot would have to operate for at least another twenty years without any mistakes. This was too long for Theon, so he only had one way left.
That was to attract other companies or aristocrats to invest in it. However, the Remot was still an unknown base, let alone comparing it with a fortress like the Phoenix City, even the Titan City was more famous than it. To attract the attention of the investors, the Remot had to do something.
Whether it was gene research or absolute military power that could sweep across the continent, it didn't matter. No matter what, Theon had to show that the Remot was not ordinary. Even though he knew, due to various conditions, Theon was unable to do anything to attract investments.
Of course, the university area that had recently been cleaned up was the cornerstone of the Remot's future expansion. But Theon's actions stopped there, the financial side of the budget did not allow him to immediately invest into the development of the University City.
However, the most recent opportunity had come.
The reason for that was because of the mercenary who had contributed towards the elimination of the University City not long ago. The moment that soldier Theon saw him, he knew that he was a talent. And now it had become even more proven that after this soldier had left the Remot, he had fought with the young master of a noble family, Soren, from the Parkland, and had even snatched back his lover from Soren's hands.
Although the last thing he snatched back was only a corpse, it was enough to make Theon have a whole new level of respect for him.
Afterwards, Zero stayed in the Angry Reef City for two months. In the meantime, Theon ordered Pera's Cobra to observe it secretly. All the "practice" on the ruins of the wilderness was reported back to the Remot through encryption and signal. Inside Theon's personal computer, there was still zero relevant files stored to this day. From these files, Theon saw that he was an almighty warrior with great potential.
After leaving the Angry Reef City, Theon continued to pay attention to the movements of zero. The incident of the wolf and thief in Titan City, the King Slaying operation in Phoenix City … All this information had fallen into Theon's hands through some unknown channels. The thing that surprised Theon the most was the assassination attempt in the Parkland. It turned out that Zero managed to survive after being ambushed by the killers from the Parkland.
The information regarding zeros had completely disappeared after he entered the Death Ridge. In order to obtain information related to him, he would have to wait for Zero to exit the restricted area. But no matter what, the fact that Zero had not died and was continuing to travel northwards was like giving a slap to the face of a Parkland's valve. This also made Theon make an important decision.
He would secretly provide assistance so that Zero could smoothly reach the Blue collar mountain range of the Parkland's valve. If Zero succeeded in taking revenge on Parkland, Theon would appear as its agent and sell the Remot behind him.
All of these things were as Masters had guessed. It was just that Masters did not know that Theon had the position of being his agent that fought with him for zero.
To do all of these, the Remot would naturally need to put in a large amount of money into the budget. So after knowing that Zero had died and had made up his mind, Theon had already submitted an application according to the procedures.
But when he turned on his computer and clicked on an unread email, the words "Reject" were written in bright red. Beneath it, a person's name suddenly appeared in front of Theon's eyes.
Bruce!
This was the president of the union, Theon's superior, an old man in his sixties. Blues had always been a strict person, and many of his ideas were not compatible with Theon's radical policies. As a result, he always diverged from Theon in important matters. It was just that Theon, who had the support of a majority of the union's representatives, was usually able to win in these disputes.
However, a major event such as budgetary expenditure must always be confirmed by the signature of the president of the trade union, otherwise a meeting of representatives must be convened. After passing a series of cumbersome agenda and voting, Theon was finally able to use his budget.
Normally, Theon wouldn't mind. But right now, he didn't have the time to play turtle and rabbit racing with that old man Blues. This budget had to be put into use immediately before it passed through the Death Ridge. It involved the operation of intelligence, goods, personnel, etc. But these operations required a lot of preparation time, and although Blues did not matter, Theon did not have that time.
If they missed this chance, who knows how many years it would take for the Remot to truly rise.
Thus, he called Pera over.
The beautiful female snake was still dressed in tight clothes. Pera straightened his body, and leaned over to ask softly after arriving behind Theon: "Boss, what orders do you have?"
Theon said indifferently, "Old Blues has lived for long enough. His eyes are already blurry and his judgement is not as good as before. What would people think if such a person died in their own house? "
Chapter 125 - In the Name of Survival
"People will think that old Bruce died of a heart attack, because he shouldn't have drunk so much alcohol. His heart, which is about to go to waste, can't bear such an intense stimulation." Pera said expressionlessly, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with her.
"We'll do as you say, Pera, do well!"
"As you command, boss!"
Pera quietly withdrew himself, his fingers quickly moving across the screen of the computer. The other system that he had already designed earlier on had replaced it. In this system, Theon had the highest priority. As a result, the previously rejected documents were immediately approved by Theon himself.
Theon always had the ambition to replace Blues, but he just didn't take any action. Firstly, it was not necessary, and secondly, Old Blues could sometimes help Theon block some unimportant troubles. But it was different now, the Remot which was about to start working would become an efficient machine, Theon would not allow old parts like Blues to hinder the operation of the machine.
From today onwards, he would firmly grasp the power in his hands, even if the price was endless blood!
There was not a trace of hesitation in Theon's eyes. The end result for such a person was to be eliminated by the times, turning into a corpse in one's own residence.
In this respect, he felt that he and Zero were the same kind of person. As long as they decided to do something, they wouldn't spare any effort to accomplish it.
Theon walked to the office window with the cup of hot coffee still in his hand, facing the north.
"To us!"
Theon said silently.
Today was bound to be an extraordinary day for Remot.
At noon, Big Bruce was found dead in his bedroom by a servant. The strong smell of alcohol in the bedroom and a few empty bottles had explained the cause of Bruce's death. After the doctor's confirmation, there was still a lot of alcohol left in Bruce's body. Thus, he had a good reason for his sudden heart attack. Even though there were still some representatives in the guild
who were close to Blues and had their doubts, the sudden increase in patrolling troops in Remot had made them give up on the idea of questioning.
On the same day, Theon convened a meeting of the union's representatives. Under the gazes of the Cobra Army and a bunch of soldiers with real weapons, Theon quickly sat on the seat of the union president with an overwhelming number of votes.
Regardless of whether they used to be in Theon's camp or as the opposing party. In the series of measures Sisi released, they all realized that the Remot would make a big move. This new base city would soon start to revolve like wheels, and the resources and wealth would be poured into Theon's plans unceasingly.
He could foresee that the Remot would experience a period of rapid development. As for the Remot that was frantically circulating, it was unknown whether it was welcoming a new student who had undergone a metamorphosis or entering a purgatory of destruction.
Even Seth didn't know!
He only knew that the moment Zero left Death Ridge, Remot would show everyone a completely new side.
Zero is now walking through the jungle like a tropical rain forest.
After leaving the Phoenix City, they passed by a short but steep mountain road. That evening, he and Moni finally officially entered the so-called Life Forbidden Land, the Death Ridge.
However, he didn't expect that mountains that could make people tremble in fear like the forbidden lands, terrors, and deaths would actually be filled with an astonishing amount of vitality. Different from the desolate wilderness, the Death Ridge was lush with vegetation. The two of them walked into the border region and saw many plants that had only appeared in the old era and were now extinct.
However, regardless of whether it was the short shrubs or the tall trees with bright fruits, the vitality of these plants were simply too strong. It was so thick that it was as if people were alive.
This was a mountain that was still alive.
Zero made this evaluation of the Death Ridge.