Chapter 81 Mixed Joys and Sorrows <TOC> Chapter 83 Time to Cash Out!
Translator: SumTLMan
The surface of Lin bore large areas of scorching and charring marks. Beneath the cracked exterior, silver and black internal bone frameworks were visible, intertwined with metal cables resembling muscle fibers.
Red Falcon conducted a close-range scan: “Your machine’s mobility is severely impaired, energy is continuously leaking, and the Light Print Exoskeleton structure has suffered localized damage. Do not transmit large data signals or send support request codes to reduce consumption and computation.”
“What’s going on?”
This was also the question Zhou Yi wanted to ask.
Lin’s wing lights flickered: “I am here for a routine inspection and also representing the Investigation Team to investigate the actual situation of the Wasteland Development Company, to determine whether it is related to the continuous accidents in this sea area.”
“In the last two months, in the area about 30 kilometers east of this region, two Energy Storage City ships have disappeared.”
“The first ship is the D-Class cargo ship ‘Ming Ji Hao.’ It lost contact two months ago after the last communication with the Transport Department. Until it went missing, there were no abnormalities.”
“The second ship is the C-Class exploration ship ‘Ding Mao Hao.’ Three days ago, it sent back a message saying there were some anomalies in the sea area, but further observation was needed. After that, it also went missing.”
“Two——”
Electric arcs lit up on the Investigation Machine’s surface, causing the sound to stutter twice.
“The disappearance of the two ships is highly consistent. The incident locations are only 3 kilometers apart in a straight line. We suspect this was not an accident but an attack.”
“We screened the shared information from nearby cities and finally found that within the same area, the Dead Sea Knights’ Seventh Fleet’s ‘Organ Horn’ has also disappeared.”
Zhou Yi tugged his face.
He understood.
This Investigation Machine came to investigate him, suspecting that the Wasteland Development Company was the mastermind behind it.
Zhou Yi asked: “Did the Dead Sea Knights suggest you investigate us?”
“No.”
Lin said: “They only shared information with us and did not make any suggestions. The Dead Sea Knights’ deduction is that winter itself is a high-incidence period for accidents and chaos. The focus should be on prevention. Thoroughly investigating the Dead Sea is unrealistic. Timely loss reduction is better than getting to the root of the problem.”
Zhou Yi thought to himself.
The Dead Sea Knights are an old maritime force, very practical. They cannot be underestimated just because the Seventh Fleet’s deputy commander He Jiu and the season leader’s public instruments are misused.
“Bzz—bzz—bzz——”
Another stutter, Lin said: “Through this survey, I have confirmed that the Wasteland Development Company’s business plan is land-based. Even the Dead Sea Dam has just been completed, and the number of ships is insufficient. Although the Dead Sea Abomination is powerful, after entering the Dead Sea, it will fall into a sleep, and its connection to maritime attacks is very low.”
“So I believe there are other reasons behind the accident, so I went into the sea to verify.”
Red Falcon reminded: “You are not authorized and should not take risks alone.”
“The authorization process is too cumbersome.”
Lin emitted a burst of electric sounds: “Since the accident happened, whether to initiate a deep investigation and search for the wreckage of the two ships has been in the city’s resolution process. It needs to go through evaluations by various departments, deciding based on probability and mathematical expectation whether to proceed, and in what form.”
“According to the previous experience of the rescue team, this has already missed the optimal rescue window. The survival rate of victims is extremely low.”
“I must consider whether there is still the only opportunity now.”
Zhou Yi listened and also felt it was absurd.
Strict adherence to rules is killing people.
A Machine City’s advantage is that all information speaks, but its disadvantage is also this. If the accumulated experience and data are not enough, responding to emergencies seems somewhat slow and difficult.
“I avoided dangerous creatures and entered the Dead Sea but found anomalies in the seabed area.”
Lin projected a dynamic image on the rooftop ground.
The image was misty and foggy, accompanied by occasional flashes, showing the Dead Sea environment familiar to Zhou Yi.
A strange thing appeared on the seabed. It was all black and oily, like some kind of churned soft mud or paste, making Zhou Yi think of asphalt in a stirred state.
This black mud spread in all directions; it was a large black hand slowly changing.
Could it be Light Amber?
Zhou Yi was thinking, suddenly, he felt this scene was getting more familiar.
The black mud originated from a broken overpass; this thing was emerging from the bridge pier.
He remembered that there was an eerie hole on the cap beam of the overpass.
But Zhou Yi didn’t approach at the time; he just marked that area.
Lin said: “These are the ‘Boundary Breakers’; they come from another world. The hollow behind is the ‘Dark Domain,’ the crossover passage.”
Zhou Yi suddenly realized that those who can pass through the Dark Domain are the Boundary Breakers.
The remaining lights on Lin’s left wing flickered twice with red light: “I infiltrated deep into that area and found two black boxes in the seabed ruins, confirming they were from Ming Ji Hao and Ding Mao Hao. The black boxes recorded their encounter process.”
“These Boundary Breakers have a capability to shield certain area signals, making them unable to request external help. However, because the ships were destroyed in a short time, they only have a small amount of text data recorded.”
“There are two attack methods used by the Boundary Breakers against them. The first is wide-range heavy firepower coverage, with destructive power reaching B, and an attack interval of about 16 seconds. The second is high-frequency, medium to close-range point firing on single targets, with relatively weaker destructive power, and an attack interval of 05 seconds.”
“But these two attacks are combined.”
Lin explained: “The range attack mode marks the hit target. With the single-target high-frequency point firing mode, these marks can be detonated, causing high-temperature explosions with the power to penetrate armor layers.”
“Fortunately, it is still in the B-Class life class; otherwise, I would not have been able to escape this time.”
Zhou Yi was hearing combination techniques for the first time and wanted to confirm further: “Is its current strength at B-Class?”
Zhou Yi remembered that only Sky Walkers with A-Class life can cross over the Dark Domain into the other side.
“Confirmed. At least for now, it is like that.”
Lin stated: “They are more stubborn than ordinary B-Class life because Boundary Breakers have immortal attributes. Even if they are destroyed, they will return from the Dark Domain again. Although they are weaker in the initial state, after a period of absorbing Dead Sea energy, they can quickly recover to their previous state.”
Boundary Breakers cannot be completely killed.
But there must be some kind of limitation, otherwise the Dead Sea should already have been ruled by these Boundary Breakers.
Zhou Yi thought to himself and said: “Doesn’t that mean a lot of Boundary Breakers will come here?”
“That’s impossible. The Dark Domain only opens in winter, and closes after it ends. Boundary Breakers can only appear in winter. A single Dark Domain coordinate can only accommodate one Boundary Breaker——Breaker——Breaker——”
Lin stalled again for two seconds.
“Boundary Breakers hunt all visible life around to obtain Light Seeds. Even though Machine lifeforms do not produce Light Seeds, they still carry out slaughter. They lack precise identification capabilities for our world.”
“Their existence is also one of the reasons for the high incidence of chaos and conflict in winter.”
The Investigation Machine added: “These Boundary Breakers here have already passed the initial weak phase. Now even B-Class Sea Domain Lords find it difficult to kill them; the nearby sea areas have already become their hunting grounds.”
Zhou Yi frowned.
These Boundary Breakers sounded a bit like—what players would do?
Kill, kill, kill, loot equipment—it was the déjà vu of players.
Zhou Yi immediately sought confirmation: “I once heard of a similar group. They can enter other worlds, kill various lifeforms to obtain equipment and materials, and use combat and special items to level up——”
Lin quickly understood the implication: “What you are saying can indeed be understood that way.”
“After entering the Dark Domain, a projection is created in another world. The projection carries the entrant’s consciousness and a part of the energy, but the projection can only operate around the Dark Domain coordinate and cannot exceed its coverage range.”
“The Boundary Breakers’ initial projection only has 10% of their strength. They must use the local environment to replenish energy until they reach the same level as the original.”
“Otherworldly lifeforms will cross through the Dark Domain to plunder Light Seeds here. But our strong lifeforms, like Sky Walkers, also cross through the Dark Domain to enter their world.”
“Killing Boundary Breakers yields little benefit, so apart from fighting for specific Dark Domains by Sky Walkers or strong Sea Domain Lords, no one is willing to spend a lot of resources to risk exterminating them.”
Zhou Yi understood.
After all, both sides can project into each other’s domains, so it’s based on each one’s own ability.
However, since there is a weak period, as long as they can kill once, they can guard the corpse in the Dark Domain.
The initial state of Boundary Breakers is the weakest.
They come out once and can be killed again.
Zhou Yi immediately asked: “Is there specific data on these Boundary Breakers? The more detailed, the better. It can reduce a lot of unnecessary damage for me.”
“There are some reference numbers… but you are——” The Investigation Machine was a bit unsure.
“Of course, it’s to exterminate Boundary Breakers.”
Zhou Yi moved his shoulders and naturally said: “They are too close to here, which will affect our company’s industrial safety.”
Not far from the Dark Domain under the bridge is an unnamed neighborhood, also Zhou Yi’s current building materials and raw material collection site. With such a Boundary Breaker blocking, his underwater development will become very dangerous.
If we don’t fight, we are blocked here.
Take advantage of the opponent not being stable and still in the B-Class stage, take the initiative to attack!
This winter, whoever wins here gets to decide.
Now there is a genuine B-Class lifeform, Hunter Sea, available. Plus himself and the Warrior Crab army, it’s time to get into it. Zhou Yi was getting a bit eager.
“Let me see, what exactly is the strength of a Sea Domain Lord.”
Chapter 81 Mixed Joys and Sorrows <TOC> Chapter 83 Time to Cash Out!