Chapter 2632: Black Zone(3)
Chapter 2632: Black Zone(3)
"Are you looking for something specific?" asked the Ironwoman.
"I thought you weren’t going to question me," Yuan said with a smile.
"Did I say that? I only remember saying that I won’t tell anyone about your secrets," she replied with a smile of her own, but it was concealed by her mask.
"Is that so? Well, I’m not really looking for anything."
"Then what’s the purpose behind your actions?"
Yuan fell silent for a moment before answering, "I... figured I’d make things easier for the soldiers who come out here on gathering missions. There are far too many for me to carry by myself, so I thought I’d bring them to the surface and make them easier to find."
It wasn’t the most convincing explanation, but Yuan had at least managed to come up with an excuse for his strange actions.
"You don’t have a storage cube?" the Ironwoman suddenly asked.
"A storage cube? No."
"They’re issued to every soldier after completing training. Since you skipped training, you should’ve received one already. Have you even visited the supply warehouse since you joined?"
"No..."
"Why am I not surprised?" The Ironwoman shook her head before taking out a pebble-sized, cube-shaped object and holding it up for Yuan to see.
"This is a storage cube," she explained before demonstrating how it worked.
The moment she injected Limitless into it, the cube glowed with an azure light and began drawing in all of the Unknown Ores scattered across the ground.
"It can hold up to ten thousand Unknown Ores," she said after gathering all of the Unknown Ores on the ground.
Yuan raised an eyebrow at the sight. "If there’s such a convenient tool, why didn’t the others use one during our missions? This is my first time seeing it."
"Probably because a storage cube can only be used so many times before it needs to be repaired, which costs money. Using one on an ordinary gathering mission that only yields a few hundred ores simply isn’t worth the cost, so most soldiers just carry it."
This was Yuan’s first time encountering a storage treasure that could only be used a limited number of times before requiring repairs. He couldn’t help but imagine how inconvenient it would be if spatial rings and storage pouches worked the same way.
"I’ll help you collect as many Unknown Ores as I can while I’m with you," said the Ironwoman.
"Thanks..."
Unfortunately, that also meant the ores she collected would eventually be handed over to the military for extraction, preventing Yuan from completely draining all of their Eternal Essence.
Since he was technically the one responsible for uncovering them, it would immediately draw suspicion if every single Unknown Ore he gathered turned out to be completely devoid of energy.
They continued venturing deeper into the Black Zone shortly after.
"How vast is the Black Zone?" Yuan asked the Ironwoman a few hours later.
"If you continue traveling at your current pace, you’d need at least five years to reach the Purple Zone on the other side."
"The Black Zone takes up far more space than I anticipated..."
"The Black Zone makes up the majority of this world, after all. There are even levels to Black Zones, and the one we’re currently in is considered the least dangerous—a level 1 Black Zone."
"How many levels are there?"
"Four."
"How much more dangerous is level 2 compared to level 1?"
"Incomparably more dangerous. Even though the Void Specters in the Green Zone can kill someone with the slightest touch, their movement speed and awareness are practically nonexistent compared to those in the Black Zone," the Ironwoman explained.
"In a level 2 Black Zone, the Void Specters fight like seasoned human experts. Their durability also increases dramatically—to the point where an entire squad of captains may need several hours just to defeat a single one."
"As for level 3... we’re currently incapable of defeating the Void Specters at that level. That being said, it’s not as though they’ve never been defeated before. Throughout history, there have been a handful of individuals powerful enough to accomplish such a feat."
"Who are these individuals?" Yuan inquired.
"Have you been to Gaia’s Sanctum?" she suddenly asked.
"Of course."
"Then you must have seen the Endless Assault rankings. Everyone who has surpassed the 40th floor was capable of defeating the Void Specters in level 3. As for level 4, only Tian Yuchen—the man who has remained at the top of the rankings for over a thousand years—was powerful enough to defeat the Void Specters there."
Yuan swallowed nervously at this information.
’Does this mean that the Void Specters within level 3 are on par with Eternals?!’ he cried inwardly. ’The Eternal Essence they leave behind must be tremendous! I need to train there!’
The Ironwoman narrowed her eyes at Yuan’s expression and said, "You’re not very good at hiding your intentions, are you? If you’re thinking about going to a level 2 Black Zone—"
"No, I am thinking about level 3 and beyond," he quickly interrupted, which left her speechless and dumbfounded.
"Then you must have a death wish, because even I wouldn’t dare to—"
The Ironwoman abruptly stopped mid-sentence, though not because Yuan had interrupted her again.
"I can sense other presences nearby," she said a moment later.
Of course, Yuan had sensed them as well. In fact, he had been aware of their presence for quite some time. He hadn’t bothered mentioning it since there was nothing unusual about encountering other people in the Black Zone.
A few moments later, the Ironwoman spoke again. "Be careful. They’re heading straight toward us."
Yuan raised an eyebrow. "You sound tense. Is there really a reason to be so wary?"
"I wouldn’t be if they were from our city. Unfortunately, they’re not," she replied.
"So they’re from another city? This will be my first time meeting people from outside our city," Yuan remarked, a hint of excitement in his voice.
"Don’t get too excited. Encountering soldiers from another city isn’t always a good thing," she warned.