Translator: CinderTL
"What's wrong?"
Outside the three-story concrete steps of the lodging shop, Wei Hao tilted his head in confusion, glancing at the sky after noticing Chen Feng suddenly stop.
The stars still twinkled, and the twin moons hung in the heavens. He had long grown accustomed to this night sky.
Shaking his head, Chen Feng didn't answer.
The sensation of being locked onto and tracked echoed in his Heart Reflection, a sudden flash of insight from his Pinnacle Intent.
He couldn't pinpoint the source, but he had a suspicion he kept to himself.
Unsuspecting, Wei Hao withdrew his gaze and shook his head. "Homesick?"
"When I first started scavenging, I missed home too. But for us wilderness people, do we even have a real home?"
He mistook Chen Feng's melancholy for homesickness, sighing as certain memories stirred.
Most wilderness people lacked citizenship and were barred from entering the main city circle due to strict regulations. In other words, they were destined to spend their entire lives in the chaotic wilderness.
Silence fell between them as they entered the lodging shop. The first-floor hall held seven or eight round wooden tables and chairs. The concrete floor was mixed with solidified pebbles, its surface marred by shallow depressions.
Several tables inside were already occupied. Wei Hao, familiar with the place, led Chen Feng to a window seat.
"Xiao Wei's here?"
"Hey, Sister Hong."
"Where's your boss? Off to Old Man Mo's again?"
"That's right. He'll be here soon."
Wei Hao and the proprietress, Sister Hong, were quite familiar with each other, exchanging a few casual words.
They ordered food, reserved a room, and waited. During this time, Chen Feng could feel numerous eyes on him.
Some belonged to the other patrons, others to Sister Hong herself.
Curiosity was the dominant emotion, but there were also frowns and puzzled glances.
"The Black Stone Squad brought a newbie?"
"Probably picked him up along the way. It's not the first time. He's built pretty solid, though."
"Looks like Rock hasn't learned his lesson yet. Still willing to drag around such dead weight."
The hushed whispers reached Chen Feng's ears, but he remained silent.
Wei Hao frowned, about to speak up, when the light on their table dimmed. He heard the clink of a canned beer being placed before him.
"Little brother, don't listen to their nonsense," Sister Hong said. "Who wasn't a newbie once?"
The proprietress, Sister Hong, appeared to be in her thirties and had the appearance of someone from the Red Nation. She had a beauty mark, a slightly plump figure, and wore a long red robe.
"This is Sister Hong, a friend of our Boss," Wei Hao explained with a smile. Seeing this, most of the others who had been gossiping fell silent, their eyes darting around.
"Since you're traveling with Rock, it must be fate. That means you're lucky," Sister Hong said with a smile, as if to comfort him. Wei Hao nodded vigorously in agreement.
"That's right!" he exclaimed. "The leader of the Star Dragon Mercenary Corps, the largest mercenary group in the Tedo Kingdom—Star Dragon Master—was once just an ordinary wilderness person. But later, he found an opportunity in the wilderness, successfully awakened, and became an S-Rank powerhouse renowned throughout the Tedo Kingdom."
"And our Boss also awakened in the wilderness. See? The future is truly unpredictable." Wei Hao spoke encouragingly, his tone sincere.
Chen Feng's interest was piqued. He had heard the word "awakened" again. Back in Prism Ring City, those three Mecha Warriors had apparently mistaken him for an awakened. He was about to listen silently as Wei Hao revealed more details, but then—
Taptaptap.
"How dare a newcomer compare himself to Star Dragon Master?"
"Wei Hao, you really have a nerve to say that," a mocking voice cut through the air as a group of six fully armed men entered the lodging shop.
They were clad in tactical gear, carrying submachine guns and backpacks. The leader, a middle-aged man with dark skin and a shaved head, looked particularly menacing.
"You—" Wei Hao's expression shifted slightly as he tried to defend himself. He hadn't meant to imply anything malicious; he'd simply been trying to encourage the newcomer. It wasn't uncommon for people to speak like that in the past. But now, with his words so deliberately twisted, the situation could easily escalate into something ugly.
"Opportunities in the wilderness are plentiful, but awakening? That's no easy feat."
"Rock already lost a newcomer last time. Are you planning to repeat that performance?"
The malicious laughter, deliberately amplified, cut off Wei Hao's explanation, leaving him looking grim.
Chen Feng raised an eyebrow, then heard footsteps approaching from outside.
"Morg, you're still as punchable as ever."
The three men who had left earlier—Rock and his companions—returned, shoving their way past the group of six. Rock, at the head of the trio, locked eyes with the bald, dark-skinned Morg, his gaze icy and a faint silver frost spreading at his feet.
The temperature in the lodging shop's hall dropped by a couple of degrees, and Chen Feng's eyes narrowed.
"Frost..."
He recalled Wei Hao's earlier mention of the word "awakening."
Extending his Perception, he quietly observed.
The unique power within Morg, distinct from Force, was being mobilized from his lower abdomen and coursing through his limbs and body.
It resembled compressed life energy, or perhaps a special mutation originating from within his cells.
"What? Are you going to make a move?"
His voice was cold and menacing, revealing Morg's icy expression and defiant tone.
Visibly, his body grew an inch taller, with blue veins bulging across his skin like writhing pythons. His torso, arms, and legs visibly thickened by several inches.
"Two awakened ones!"
"Rock obtained a stroke of luck early in life and awakened the frost ability. He's known as the 'Ice Man' around Greyrock Town. You didn't know that?"
"And the other one?"
"Morg isn't to be trifled with either. He stumbled upon an ancient underground ruin from the old era and consumed an awakening potion, gaining physical enhancement."
Whispers filled the room as most of the scavengers retreated to the side, their faces alight with morbid curiosity.
Awakened individuals were rare to begin with, and the wilderness, due to its technological backwardness and scarcity of resources, offered little entertainment.
Witnessing an awakened battle firsthand was considered a stroke of good fortune, providing fodder for conversation in other settlements.
"Rock, this isn't the past anymore."
"Don't assume everyone will yield to you."
The bald, dark-skinned man named Morg spoke coldly, his aura growing increasingly oppressive.
At Sister Hong's words, Rock's eyes narrowed, and frost spread out from his feet in a straight line.
Just as a major battle seemed about to erupt, the boss, Sister Hong, stepped forward, her voice stern. She knew that if these two fought, her small inn would surely be destroyed.
"Hong, do you think you can stop me?" Morg growled, his face dark. Visible white lines of breath snaked from his nostrils, like a raging bull, radiating immense pressure.
"Of course I can't stop you," Sister Hong replied calmly. "But don't forget this is Greyrock Town. Everyone here must abide by Master Yan's rules!"
Her composed response made Morg's eyes narrow. Even the onlookers, who had been enjoying the spectacle, snapped back to their senses.
Order was paramount in any gathering point. Only by maintaining order could they attract scavengers to trade supplements, ensuring a steady flow of resources and fostering growth.
Greyrock Town was one such gathering point, renowned for miles around. Openly dueling or harming others here was strictly forbidden. Such actions would lead to rejection from other supplement stations and gathering points.
Moreover, Master Yan, the ruler of Greyrock Town, was a powerful Awakened himself.
"Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!"
Morg's heavy breathing sent shivers down the spines of those present. The man seemed to be struggling to contain his rage.
By the end, the bloodshot veins in his eyes had receded by two parts, and his body was slowly returning to its normal size. He glared coldly at Rock and Sister Hong.
"Consider yourselves lucky. Don't ever let me see you outside Greyrock Town again."
With a cold snort, he even turned his gaze past Wei Hao to Chen Feng.
"Newcomer, don't forget this sometimes," he said. "To live longer, you need to follow the right people."
Buzz!!
Before he could finish speaking, the sky suddenly trembled.
The night sky tore open, revealing blinding searchlights and the crimson-and-azure exhaust trails of aircraft.
A War Fortress, hundreds of meters in size, crossed the void, emerging slowly from the darkness as if piercing through a curtain.
Spatial ripples spread outward like flowing water, and from within the fortress emerged numerous aircraft and floating devices.
"This..."
Everyone's faces changed drastically as they looked up at the sky.
Whether it was the calm Rock, the arrogant Morg, or the other onlookers, they all rushed out of the room in shock, their gazes fixed upward.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dozens of aircraft streaked across the sky, their crimson-and-azure exhaust trails painting the night. They descended steadily, while floating cannon turrets scattered across the city like spatial coordinates, each firing a beam of blue light.
Buzz!!
In an instant, the Blue Light Barrier, anchored by the floating cannons, spread like seawater, completely sealing off Greyrock City.
At the same moment, a War Fortress high in the sky opened its hatch, and a squadron of Mecha Warriors descended like gods, soaring through the night sky and surveying the earth below.
In addition, over a hundred mechanical intelligent soldiers, armed and equipped with levitation devices, joined the aerial blockade.
"What's going on!?"
"Main city circle warships... why are they here?!"
"And Mecha pilots and mechanical soldiers... why are they sealing off Greyrock City?!"
Shocked voices erupted throughout Greyrock Town, rousing scavengers from their scattered shelters. They emerged one after another: patrolling sentries, residents of the gathering points, and even the formidable leader known as Master Yan.
Nearly everyone's expression shifted, ranging from terror and panic to grim determination and trembling fear.
To the wilderness people, the main city circle was an absolute ruler, an overwhelming behemoth that dominated in both technology and evolutionary advancement.
"Could it be that a prominent figure's child from the main city circle has been kidnapped?"
A ludicrous thought surfaced, spoken by someone in a panic.
The atmosphere froze. Even the usually composed Rock almost believed this absurd explanation might be true.
After all, even a few aircraft or a squad of mechanical soldiers would be enough to destroy Greyrock Town.
Let alone this massive display, with a War Fortress capable of suppressing an entire city!
"Damn it, who the hell pissed off the main city circle?!"
Morg, a black bald man, was furious. His teammates wore similar expressions of shock and anger.
Just then.
Buzz!!
The Blue Light Barrier suddenly trembled, its powerful bio-interference suppressing all the surrounding noise.
The night sky fell silent. Then, a broadcast from the warship high above cut through the stillness.
"Stranger."
"You have violated Article 21 of the Peace Fortress's silent regulations: resisting orders and killing three star core-grade mecha pilots of the Tedo Kingdom's Prism Ring City."
"You have violated Article 26 of the silent regulations: interfering with city defenses without registration."
The charges were read out one by one in a cold, mechanical voice.
Killing star core-grade mecha pilots, who were comparable to A-Rank Awakened?
Annihilating an entire squad of mechanical soldiers?
Everyone's faces turned ashen with shock. They frantically speculated about the identity of the powerhouse who had dared to commit such audacious acts.
Finally, a blinding white searchlight pierced the night sky, its intense beam locking onto the ordinary, dilapidated lodging shop. Chen Feng stood motionless, his face unruffled by the harsh glare.
(End of the Chapter)
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