Chapter 1: Journey to the Territory

In the southern square of Base One, near the outer perimeter, dilapidated buildings stood on all sides. The tall enclosing walls were covered with deep and shallow scratches.

The sky was a hazy gray; heavy clouds blocked out the sunlight. Occasionally, a few mutated birds would skim past the edges of the walls, emitting shrill cries.

A battered minibus sat in the middle of the square, its body covered in a filthy, thick layer of dust, clearly unwashed for years. The driver leaned half his body out the window, loudly hawking for passengers. Small groups of people passed by the bus, occasionally casting a glance inside.

Ruan Ming sat on the bus, two bulging duffel bags at her feet. One contained simple clothing, a small amount of food and water, and a few tools that might save her life at a critical moment. These were all her worldly possessions. The other bag was heavy, packed with seventy to eighty jin of uncontaminated, radiation-free soil.

The other passengers were bundled in thick layers of clothing, their faces hidden behind protective masks, revealing only pairs of weary and vigilant eyes. Compared to them, Ruan Ming looked completely out of place. Her posture was upright and straight, and even the heavy, bulky protective suit and mask couldn’t conceal her aloof and solitary aura. The other passengers in the bus were secretly sizing her up, their curiosity obvious.

A woman beside her couldn’t help but lean closer and ask, “Miss, are you going to farm?”

Not wanting to engage in conversation, Ruan Ming replied, “To attend a funeral.”

Upon hearing this, the woman shrank back and fell silent.

Just then, a massive transport truck roared past them. Its cargo bed was tightly wrapped in a thick tarp, making it impossible to see inside. Several passengers turned their heads, whispering amongst themselves.

“Looks like more Contaminated Entities have shown up,” a hushed voice said, a hint of panic and unease in its tone.

“Sigh, the Safe Zone is fortified so tightly, nothing gets through. How can there still be so many Contaminated Entities?”

“That truck goes out every two or three days. Do you think these things are being generated from inside the fortress?”

No one answered him, because no one knew the truth.

“Are they just disposing of these Contaminated Entities, or banishing them to the no-man’s-land outside?”

“Who knows? Shh, the Patrol Officers are coming—”

Everyone immediately fell silent. Soon, two more people boarded. The driver retracted his body from the window and started the vehicle. The engine roared, breaking the brief silence, and with a jolt, the minibus headed for the base gates.

About half an hour after leaving the base, a chilling panorama unfolded—a boundless, barren desert stretching out like a hideous scar upon the earth, exposed beneath the firmament. Where there were once bountiful fields and dense forests, now there was only desolate silence and lifelessness. Withered trees stood like skeletal remains, their branches twisted and reaching out in chaotic disarray.

Besides the howling wind and the vehicle’s roar, occasional low growls of unknown creatures echoed from the distance. The road was riddled with potholes, causing the vehicle to shake violently. Loose parts rattled loudly, as if it might fall apart at any moment. The passengers were tossed side to side, their complaints unceasing.

Ruan Ming hooked her arm around a nearby handrail to steady herself. The large reflective mask on her face blocked the prying glances the man opposite her tried to sneak amidst the jostling. It also shielded her from the pungent, acrid smell of burning and decay permeating the air. It was the unique, despair-inducing stench of the wasteland world.

A century ago, Earth was plunged into an apocalypse by a sudden cosmic disaster. Solar storms carrying lethal radiation and unknown viruses swept the globe. Cities were reduced to ruins, and civilization nearly collapsed.

Survivors were forced to hide in underground shelters for half a century before they could finally return to the surface, only to discover that the outside world was now filled with various forms of radiation and hazardous substances.

The most dangerous of these was an element called Dark Uranium. Dark Uranium is a highly radioactive metallic element. Upon exposure to air, it rapidly decomposes and releases deadly toxic fog, causing irreversible damage to living cells.

The land, ravaged by radiation and pollution, had undergone drastic changes. Some places were barren, while others were overrun with all sorts of mutated plants. Animals, too, had mutated, becoming more dangerous and unpredictable.

Forced from their underground refuges, people had to build defensive forts on the surface, erect high walls, and establish Safe Zones to keep those unknown dangers at bay. Massive isolation barriers were set up within the Safe Zones, allowing survivors to go without protective gear. However, the more cautious still chose to wear breathing masks equipped with filter cartridges. But once outside the Safe Zone, personal safety depended entirely on oneself.

Unlike others, Ruan Ming rather liked this mask. At times like this, it prevented anyone from seeing her face, saving her a lot of unnecessary trouble. In this post-apocalyptic world, order had collapsed. A single woman, especially a beautiful one, always faced more hardship than most.

Of course, exceptions existed for the strong. Ruan Ming did not consider herself strong, but her newly awakened C-Rank Strength Ability gave her at least a bit more self-defense capability than the average person. This was her greatest source of confidence for venturing outside the Safe Zone.

Territory 32 was a piece of land her father, Ruan Feng, had claimed outside the Safe Zone three years prior. Three consecutive days of Plague Rain had triggered a rampage among the creatures inside and outside the Safe Zone. Three mutated crocodiles invaded the territory. By the time the security squad arrived, Ruan Feng was already cold.

Judging by her father’s behavior over the years, Ruan Ming had long anticipated this day would come. But when the news actually arrived, it still caught her off guard.

Amidst her boundless thoughts, passengers’ voices filtered into her ears, distant and blurred, like a conversation from another world. She snapped back to reality—she was on her way to the new land. Her father’s territory would be hers to inherit.

“I have a friend who lives near the Research Institute. That truck we just saw came from there,” someone said.

“You mean to say… our base’s Research Institute is conducting that kind of experiment?” The person next to him, hearing this, widened their eyes in shock, their voice filled with disbelief.

“Ye Jianggui is the Institute Director, she wouldn’t be involved in something like that—” another person defended loudly.

“Ye Jianggui is the Director of Lab 1, but there’s also Lab 2 in the Institute! Have any of you heard of anything useful coming out of Lab 2?” someone immediately retorted.

The others shook their heads, indicating they didn’t know.

“So secretive… they must be up to some shady business,” someone muttered under their breath.

“If only Base One had a few more people like Ye Jianggui.”

“Don’t even dream. An S-Rank Psychic Brain Evolution Ability Esper has never appeared to this day. The highest rank at other bases is A-Rank. For Base One to have an A-Rank like Ye Jianggui is already good enough.”

“They say Ye Jianggui’s health is poor. Even the Base Chief treats her with utmost care.”

“True. The Director of the Second Research Institute is the Base Chief’s confidant, but even he has to give way to Ye Jianggui!”

The topic suddenly shifted to Ye Jianggui’s sister.

“Doesn’t Ye Jianggui have a younger sister? What’s her name again? Didn’t she inherit their family’s superior genes?”

“Ye Fengwan. I heard she’s also a Brain Evolution Ability Esper, but only E-Rank.”

“Sigh, seems you can’t always rely on genetics.”

“There were rumors before that Ye Fengwan was actually part of Lab 2 initially. She supposedly caused a test subject’s death due to incompetence, Ye Jianggui was furious, and kicked her off the project team. Now she’s toed the line, went back to Lab 1 to research mutated plant projects.”

“How do you know all this so clearly?”

“A relative of mine works as a janitor at Lab 2.”

“No wonder.”

“Tsk, sisters, yet their talents are worlds apart.”

Ruan Ming had actually heard about the Ye sisters before. But both were high-level researchers at Base One’s Research Institute, completely out of her league.

Not that she was entirely disconnected from them. Her previous job was at the base’s indoor Cultivation Farm. Most of the crops they cultivated were varieties developed by Lab 1, including the new-type cactus fruit that fed the entire base. It was no exaggeration to say that the food production pressure caused by the booming population within the Safe Zone in recent years was single-handedly solved by the Lab 1 researchers led by Ye Jianggui.

Because of this, Ruan Ming harbored an almost worshipful admiration for her.

As for Ye Fengwan, she knew very little about her. But she had researched the test subject whose death Ye Fengwan had allegedly caused back then. His name was Cui Rong.

As for Cui Rong, if she had the chance, Ruan Ming would even want to destroy him herself.