Advance Mission

Captain Zheng’s answer was measured enough.

“Captain Jin is pretty busy. I heard an important leader is here, so he has to handle the reception.”

Zhu Yan quickly manipulated “Pot Lid” to pick up the conversation and steer it toward Qiu Lingxiao.

“Hey, Captain Zheng, is it that new Captain Qiu?”

The “Walking Corpses” really were useful.

With the dragonfly’s “memory storage chip,” there was no need to worry about them accidentally giving themselves away.

Zhu Yan genuinely wanted to recommend this kind of miracle tool to the entire “Merry Land.”

“Oh, right, Captain Qiu. We saw him this afternoon, too,” “Ma Dong” chimed in.

Captain Zheng took the bait, just as expected. “Probably. The new arrivals are all young and promising. If I remember correctly, the one who became a captain was named Qiu Lingxiao.”

Zhu Yan continued manipulating the “Walking Corpses,” so “Ma Dong” leaned forward and lowered his voice, his tone brimming with curiosity.

“Captain Zheng, he’s so young. What kind of background does he have?”

Even Yang Zhanbai, who was sitting nearby, became curious.

He followed suit and squeezed forward, shoving Zhu Zeyu to the side.

“What level is that captain?”

Captain Zheng was rendered both helpless and amused by their attitude.

“My dear ancestors, I’m only a captain of the same rank as them. How would I know that much?”

What a thing to say.

“Ma Dong” slapped Captain Zheng on the shoulder.

“Captain Zheng, your rank is higher than mine. Even I know that new Captain Qiu has powerful connections. How could you not?”

“Pot Lid” egged them on from the side, winking and making faces.

“Exactly, Captain Zheng. We’re all on the same side here. Tell us a little.”

Helpless, Captain Zheng kept his hands on the steering wheel and sighed.

“I only know the general idea. Don’t go spreading it around after you leave.”

That was as good as agreeing.

The “Walking Corpses” hurriedly promised they would keep their mouths shut. Zhu Yan, meanwhile, inevitably thought of the group he had seen at the “Narration Platform” last time.

The two men at the front looked, at first glance, exactly like a father and son.

But according to the Vine Cage Girl, the two were actually brothers, and their age difference wasn’t all that great.

Jin Rongxu had said today that Qiu Lingxiao had two older brothers, which matched the number perfectly.

If those two really were the “Hunters,” then things would become very interesting.

There weren’t many people who could make Jin Rongxu show such deference.

If this family’s backing was strong enough, Zhu Yan really wanted to make use of it.

What a wonderful opportunity!

Up ahead, Captain Zheng cleared his throat and lowered his voice conspiratorially.

“I heard their family background is complicated. In short, they have people in both government and business—money and power.”

Zhu Yan’s eyes literally lit up.

“Oh, the important thing is that his father is formidable, and his grandfather is even more so. Just think about it—how much influence must a family like that have?”

Zhu Yan thought of the two brothers he had encountered briefly at the “Narration Platform.”

Qiu Lingxiao had said, “One of my brothers died,” but the truth was that the “father” had been the one impersonated.

So could the person who had actually died have been that powerful “father”?

And was Qiu Lingxiao, despite appearing to know the truth, actually one of the people being kept in the dark?

“I heard even Director Jin has to show them considerable respect. They might even be the sort of people who control both the underworld and the legitimate world, like in those novels.”

At that point, Captain Zheng hurriedly cut himself off.

“Hey, that’s enough questions. Captain Jin and Director Jin must have their reasons for doing things this way.”

What a good man. He was even putting on a show of defending his colleagues.

Zhu Yan sighed inwardly.

“You’re all still young, so don’t take it too seriously. Once we reach the western suburbs, you’ll even meet people with military connections. Their backing is much tougher than Director Jin’s.”

All right, all right.

Zhu Yan leaned back again, more or less getting the picture.

One thing was certain: Qiu Lingxiao’s identity would be very useful. If used properly, it might be no less valuable than Jin Rongxu’s.

The question was, how could he get it?

Once the open-beta instance began, perhaps he could take advantage of his Boss status and kill him along the way?

Hmm…

Zhu Yan fell into deep thought.

There was also Qiu Lingxiao’s ability and detailed information.

If he slipped over to the “Nightmare Bookstore” when he had the time, he should still make it back in time, right?

The vehicle merged onto the expressway, and Zhu Yan was surprised to discover that there truly wasn’t a single car in sight along the road.

“Where did all the vehicles go?” he asked curiously.

“Some were destroyed or recycled. The rest were moved into indoor parking lots or buildings,” Captain Zheng answered promptly.

“They cleared the roads some time ago. This was to ensure that supplies and weapons could be transported without obstruction, and to make sure rescue vehicles could pass through normally in an emergency.”

A nice idea in theory, Zhu Yan thought silently.

He looked out at the lifeless residential districts passing by. Some homes still had laundry and bedding hanging outside, left behind before their owners had time to collect them.

Most of the rooms were dark and empty, showing no sign that anyone had ever lived there. Zhu Yan saw trucks parked beneath an overpass, while a small number of survivors lined up and climbed aboard one after another under the supervision of armed personnel.

“The western-suburbs shelter is enormous, and it has the most complete facilities,” Captain Zheng said, his voice carrying an undeniable pride. “Being able to go there is a real blessing.”

“Are the facilities advanced enough to withstand an instance?” Yang Zhanbai asked curiously.

Captain Zheng laughed.

“You know, it might actually be possible. The experts upstairs developed a device, and we also found several players with similar abilities.”

“Several?” Yang Zhanbai exclaimed. “That ability must be extremely rare. Finding even one would be remarkable. How did you manage to find several?”

“That’s the power of collective effort.” Captain Zheng sounded very proud. “We tested it, and theoretically, it’s highly effective. It can isolate a considerable number of terrifying creatures and ensure everyone’s safety.”

Terrifying creatures.

Zhu Yan glanced at the three “Walking Corpses” in the front row.

Did these three count as terrifying creatures?

And if so… would they be allowed inside?

Zhu Yan looked out the window and saw a heavily guarded checkpoint in the distance.

It had been converted from a toll station, with roadblocks set up in front of the barrier gate.

Two tanks were parked by the roadside. Several players wearing bulletproof vests and carrying firearms stood ahead, carefully inspecting the bus in front of them.

“This is the first checkpoint.”

“…There’s a second one?” Zhu Yan asked.

“Yes. There are three checkpoints like this in total. Before entering the underground section of the shelter, there’s another security inspection.”

Zhu Yan fell silent as he looked at the three “Walking Corpses.”

When “Merry Land” had rewarded them to him, it had said that they were indistinguishable from real people and couldn’t be detected by inspection or anything of the sort.

But…

Two lines of red text suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

“Open-Beta Instance Prerequisite Mission: By any means necessary, get your ‘Walking Corpses’ through the fourth security inspection.”

“Mission Reward: Connector.”

“Hint: Hunter, you don’t need to worry about the first three checkpoints!”