Chapter 1336: The Predicament of Zone 023
It's normal for different people to have different accounts, but this makes the earlier encounter with Mr. Chi and his group seem foolish. Such an obvious lie—wouldn't it be easily seen through? As long as they entered Twin Cities, they could just ask anyone and find out the truth.
But then what was the point of going to the trouble of telling them such a lie?
It wouldn't earn them sympathy or help.
However, neither the people of Twin Cities nor Dai Song and his group shared the physical characteristics of Mr. Chi and his people.
They had also seen wanted posters for Zone 023 residents in Twin Cities, so Cao Qinglin didn't press further and went along with the conversation. "I see. The instance background mentioned that Twin Cities was once massacred, so I thought all Zone 023 people had migrated from other zones."
"That's impossible." Dai Song seemed to have sensed something as well and said this flatly.
His attitude had clearly shifted, but judging by how the people of Twin Cities ignored the wanted posters, it wasn't just Mr. Chi's group who harbored hostility toward the current zone government—even the ordinary citizens under the zone government's rule resented those with numbered designations.
The conflict between the two sides could be set aside for now.
Xu Huo asked about the Zone 023 district government.
"The district government is very far from Twin Cities," Dai Song said. "It takes several more days of driving to get out of the high-temperature zone, which accounts for two-thirds of the usable land in Zone 023 today."
He wasn't eager to act as a guide explaining Zone 023's situation and only gave brief responses when pressed. From this information, they could piece together that Zone 023 was a place with a harsh environment, severe technological regression, and extreme wealth disparity. The climate around the district government headquarters was decent, but they only managed that area. The high-temperature zone, aside from a few energy-rich locations that received attention, had most of its cities largely ignored.
In a situation like Twin Cities, the district government had turned a deaf ear even after repeated pleas for help from local forces.
This wasn't surprising. If a force like the Han Clan from Zone 001 had taken root in Zone 023—even if it wasn't Zone 001, any zone capable of encroaching on other game zones wouldn't be much worse off—solving Twin Cities' strange disease wouldn't be difficult. Since there were many places like Twin Cities, it meant the established district government had no intention of developing the entire zone. They would briefly settle in, plunder resources, and then likely abandon the place.
Dr. Duo Er, however, was willing to talk.
"The Twin Cities laboratory sent people to the district government for help multiple times, but the results were either no response or outright rejection. The district government claimed they had no effective treatments for the diseases emerging in the high-temperature zone..."
"I spent some time in the district government's directly administered city, working in their laboratory. I benefited a lot, but later realized that a zone government established by outsiders wouldn't care about ordinary people's lives, so I left."
"If that's the case, the district government probably wouldn't be generous with their knowledge either," Qiu Ming said. "Knowledge is valuable."
Dr. Duo Er nodded silently, then after a moment added, "If I could have learned a little more, maybe Twin Cities could have been freed sooner."
"No, I have a question," Qiu Ming said, choosing his words carefully. "Why didn't you go study in other zones? There must be zones willing to accept a scholar like you."
The car fell silent for a moment. Dr. Duo Er hesitated before saying, "Other zones have different environments from Zone 023. Research without targeted focus wouldn't help Zone 023's situation much."
Xu Huo glanced at Dai Song beside him. What was hard to articulate wasn't the embarrassment of repeated failures despite effort, but the overall situation of Zone 023. There were too few players in Twin Cities. Most players they encountered after entering the city were from other zones. If this wasn't an isolated case, it meant other cities in the high-temperature zone without district government support were probably no better off. Without high-level players, who would ensure the safety of those sent out? And even if they left, what channel could they use to return safely?
Given Zone 023's situation, it clearly couldn't attract scholars from other zones to settle here.
This wasn't a topic for casual amusement. Just then, the scenery ahead shifted abruptly from dark green to a vibrant green. Qiu Ming said, "Are we entering Stairway to Heaven? Why haven't we encountered any xenomorphs on this road?"
"Near the entrance to Stairway to Heaven, they've installed sonic repellers. Large xenomorphs can't stand the stimulation and avoid the area." Dai Song's expression turned serious. "But once we're inside, it's a xenomorph's paradise. I'll cover the car first."
When they left the city, he had used a silencing item on the vehicle. Now he was using an environmental simulation device that could quickly make the car's body display the same color layers as the surrounding scenery, helping them avoid some xenomorphs' notice. But the noise from the car crushing plants on the ground was unavoidable.
Looking back at the vines and plants that moved like living things, retreating and dodging after being crushed, Xu Huo said, "The mutated plants react very quickly. They probably don't rely on sight or hearing to locate prey."
Dai Song stared ahead, his eyes sharp. "Then we speed up! The first to arrive will be low-level mutated plants. High-level mutated plants usually stay in areas with more nutrients. They don't like soil like this, which was originally paved into roads. It takes them time to come. As long as we're fast enough, we can avoid them!"
As he spoke, the lush, refreshing vegetation around them began to writhe. The plants growing along the original road had mutated to an abnormal height, and the vines attached to them were so numerous that they almost formed a tunnel over the road. They were now traveling through this "tunnel," and as more plants drooped down, the entire "tunnel" grew narrower and narrower!
"How the hell can we avoid them like this? Even slowing down a little would bury us!" Qiu Ming floored the accelerator, but the ground was covered in vines and weeds. Even with specially modified tires, they couldn't gain much speed—unless the car could fly!
The next second, the car actually lifted off.
Dai Song had used a floating item. He spoke rapidly, "It can only last one minute!"
The car didn't completely leave the ground, just barely floating enough to keep the tires from sinking too deep. With an accelerator attached to the rear, steering was enough.
"Can the mountain-covering vine move this fast?" Cao Qinglin asked. "The data says it should be very slow!"
"Compared to xenomorphs that can run and jump at speeds comparable to players, it's slow enough." Xu Huo cracked open a window, casually tossed out a few bottles of flammable agent, and set them on fire.
The flames weren't large and were smothered by the surging plants before they could spread.
Of course, he didn't expect them to burn—just to divert attention.
"In areas where mutated plants are active, there shouldn't be many mutated animals. It's still relatively safe for now."
(Chapter End)