Chapter 56: New Mission — Hunting the Savage Hound, Encounter with the Tusked Wild Boar

This was an apartment of about sixty square meters, with one bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The layout was fairly complete. The floor was covered with smooth stone tiles, and the walls were painted white, though a thin layer of dust had settled upon them.

He took a deep breath. The air inside the apartment, while not particularly fresh, showed no signs of dampness or mold. Clearly, even when uninhabited, the Black Hawk Corporation assigned personnel to regularly clean and maintain these apartments.

There were already several basic pieces of furniture in place: a double bed, a wooden wardrobe, a sofa, a coffee table, and a kerosene lamp. Of course, there were no electrical appliances, nor was this apartment connected to the power grid like the administrative center.

Despite the lack of electronics, the apartment’s facilities were complete enough for someone to move in immediately. Zhang Ran gave the place a quick tidy-up and then entered the bathroom.

In the bathtub, there was low-radiation water supplied by the purification plant, suitable for bathing. Zhang Ran stripped off his clothes and enjoyed a thorough wash, rinsing away the congealed sweat and dust from his body.

Such a bath was far from cheap—just two minutes cost fifty Black Hawk coins, equivalent to five days’ wages for an average person. Yet, it must be said, the water used for bathing was exceedingly clean, even superior to drinking water in many settlements.

After finishing, Zhang Ran dressed and returned to the bedroom, lighting the kerosene lamp prepared earlier. He closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness to sink into the chip’s simulated combat space.

Since Zhang Ran had advanced to become a quasi-evolver, his mental strength had improved significantly. The chip’s simulated battle space now covered up to six hundred square meters, capable of simulating enemies up to level two, with sessions lasting as long as two hours.

It was now around seven in the evening, three hours before bedtime. Zhang Ran did not intend to waste this time; he launched a simulated battle within the space, honing his combat skills so that, in real conflict, he could react with speed and precision.

Two hours later.

His mental energy was nearly depleted—about seventy-five percent consumed. Zhang Ran ended the chip’s virtual combat function in time, opened his eyes, stood, and assumed the stance of the “Eight Body Tempering Forms.”

After becoming an evolver, Zhang Ran gained the ability of “Transcendent Evolution,” breaking through the limits of physical constitution. During the absorption of evolution energy, a portion remained in his body, so he continued practicing the Eight Body Tempering Forms to facilitate absorption and enhance his physique.

“Body absorbs evolution energy: Strength +0.004, Defense +0.002, Agility +0.004.”

Over the course of an hour, Zhang Ran practiced nearly ten rounds of the Eight Body Tempering Forms. Having recently exterminated a nest of shambling corpses, his body still contained residual evolution energy, making the effects of his practice immediately apparent.

Finished with his training, it was now ten fifteen. Zhang Ran set up a special device at the door, closed his eyes, and, aided by the chip, entered deep sleep.

...

The next morning.

A gentle wave of electricity radiated from the chip, waking Zhang Ran from a deep slumber. He consumed half a tube of high-energy food and headed for the mission hall to check the day’s assignments.

“Yes, this is the one!”

After sifting through the various options, Zhang Ran finally chose a hunting mission, which required him to slay five “Feral Hunting Hounds,” for a reward of two thousand Black Hawk coins.

Feral Hunting Hounds were a type of mutated creature roaming the wastelands, levels one to two, their physical prowess rivaling elite Rot Wolves. They were savage, but Zhang Ran was fully confident in completing the task.

“Chip, search for common locations of Feral Hunting Hounds!”

After accepting the mission and leaving the hall, Zhang Ran issued a command to the chip.

“Ding! Mission accepted, searching...”

“Ding! Search complete!”

The chip’s response sounded in his ear. A three-dimensional panoramic map appeared before his eyes, marking the usual haunts of the Feral Hunting Hounds.

“This is it!”

With a thought, Zhang Ran selected a region of wilderness frequented by the hounds, set it as his destination, and allowed the chip to begin navigation.

...

Within twenty minutes, accelerating his pace, Zhang Ran had left Black Hawk City by about fifteen kilometers, reaching the boundary of Black Hawk Corporation’s safety zone.

At this distance, even with eyesight far superior to ordinary people, Zhang Ran could no longer see the distant city through the radiation-laden air. However, evolvers with C-level “Transcendent Vision” could accomplish this on clear days.

As Zhang Ran advanced, the environmental radiation increased once more. Black Hawk City was equipped with devices and anti-radiation medications to keep radiation at a minimum, but residents in the settlements of the safety zone enjoyed no such protection, living amid higher radiation levels.

Because of this, in these settlements, humans would begin mutating before the age of twenty-five, developing masses of aberrant tissue, which would quickly decay and rot, leading to death around thirty. Only quasi-evolvers could survive to forty.

But once someone advanced to the rank of evolver, their lifespan was greatly extended—a level-one scavenger could live to sixty, and hunters above level ten might reach a hundred years or more.

Moreover, upon becoming an evolver, the body’s resistance to radiation was dramatically increased. For hunters levels one to nine, as long as they avoided areas of extreme radiation, they would not develop aberrant tissue; this was even more pronounced for levels ten to eighteen.

Reflecting on these peculiarities of the wasteland world, Zhang Ran moved swiftly. After another forty minutes, he reached the edge of the safety zone.

Here, mutated creatures were increasingly common. A few level-zero mutants attacked him, but Zhang Ran dispatched them with a single strike, absorbing their evolution energy, which advanced his evolution points by about 0.02 percent.

Just as Zhang Ran continued onward, a mutated beast appeared before him, resembling a wild boar. Its body was black, covered with sharp spines, and a pair of forward-pointing horns protruded from its snout, each thirty centimeters long and razor-sharp.

“Tusker Wild Boar! Chip, scan its attributes!”

Eyeing the mutated beast, Zhang Ran halted, silently commanding the chip to probe its properties.