CHAPTER 321: CHAPTER 201: FAMILIAR FACES

The three drove to Zone Zhou Six, right at the end of summer and beginning of autumn, with winter approaching soon.

They braved the elements along the way, and even though they had cultivation levels, they were utterly exhausted.

So, the three unanimously decided to first enter the settlement and rest for two days.

During these four months, they had entered the settlement before, to refurbish while selling some loot; the pass was quite useful.

However, when they intended to enter Zone Zhou Six, they were unexpectedly stopped by the guards at the city gate, stating that they had never seen such a pass.

The guards not only intercepted them but were also quite rude, even detaching the Gauss Gun from their shoulders, ready to take action.

Youyou was driving and directly drew her laser pistol, pointing it at the guard’s forehead.

"Make way! I’ll count to three, shoot if you have the guts, I really will shoot!"

Those in high positions typically don’t bother with minor characters because there’s simply no need.

But this small ant dared to snarl at her; she wouldn’t mind shooting him dead, and didn’t even care to explain her actions.

Her words were said with fearless arrogance, a kind of brute force ingrained in her bones that no ordinary person could replicate.

This guard was dumbfounded, while another guard, seeing the situation, immediately pulled the laser pistol from his waist.

A flash of light streaked by, directly knocking his pistol out of his hand; it was Xiao Moshan who shot.

He stared at the guard emotionlessly, "Do you really want to die?"

The guard held his fractured fingers, grimacing in pain, gasping but didn’t dare react further.

Daring to act openly at the city gate is not something just any two guards can afford to provoke.

Youyou wasn’t looking over there, instead, she began counting, "One, two..."

The previously arrogant guard grasped his chest and made an "OK" gesture.

Still, he spoke neither servile nor overbearing, "Sir, Zone Zhou Six is a place with rules!"

"Not recognizing my pass, rules my ass!" Youyou shook her laser pistol, "Get lost, make way!"

The guard quickly jumped aside, seeing the other party speed up; he hurried to call others using the handheld radio.

That’s the rule of the settlement, he could retreat temporarily, but there’s no way just anyone could bluff their way through!

After entering the settlement, Youyou sensed and locked onto the wealthy area, thus drove there.

Going to the wealthy area, there were still guards checking passes along the way, and Youyou presented her pass again.

Unfortunately, these guards also didn’t recognize this pass.

But they were aware that these were people who broke through the city gate, so they didn’t dare provoke, "Sir, this pass of yours is..."

"Don’t recognize it, then get out of here," Youyou snapped impatiently, "What kind of quality are these Zone Zhou Six guards."

The guard hesitated for a moment, bracing himself to respond, "Sir, this place is home to esteemed individuals."

Youyou grew increasingly impatient, "Can’t even recognize my pass, esteemed my ass!"

"Even the most distinguished here in Zhou Six are just slightly bigger ants to me, understand? Get out of my way!"

Her words were supremely domineering, some passing residents glared at her indignantly but said nothing.

However, Youyou simply ignored the gazes of others and drew her pistol again, "Are you moving or not?"

This time, she didn’t even give them a chance to count.

The guard swiftly dodged aside, not daring to obstruct further.

The truck drove into the wealthy area, and Youyou took a spin, finding a seemingly decent hotel.

"Let’s take this one, feels like there won’t be a better choice."

The hotel in Zhou Six was indeed very low-end, with a yard in front to park, and inside were three three-story small buildings.

The three got out of the car and walked directly to the building, leaving the cargo on the truck, not afraid of theft.

In reality, along the way, nearly a hundred petty thieves tried to snatch the cargo, but they never had the chance to regret it.

The hotel’s reception was very simple, yet prices were anything but simple.

However, the wealthy area’s hotels had the advantage of accepting money for accommodation without asking for your identity.

As they were checking in, three cars drove into the yard, and over twenty City Guards jumped out of them.

A leader-type addressed them loudly, "No hurry with the check-in, can I first see the esteemed guest’s pass?"

Youyou wasn’t deliberately causing trouble; upon hearing someone who recognized items had arrived, she emotionlessly showed the pass.

This person truly understood and recognized at once that they were from higher authorities.

He hurriedly apologized and then led his group away sheepishly.

After checking in, Youyou and Xiao Moshan looked around the room, both agreed the accommodation was... very poor!

They gave the hotel one hour to improve; extra payment wasn’t a problem, but it must be adequately rectified.

Afterwards, the three stood in the yard to chat; after waiting for so long, a little longer wouldn’t hurt.

While chatting, a motorcycle came speeding into the yard with two people on it.

The motorcycle dashed directly beside the three, then made a sharp brake and a tail swoop.

The man in the back seat lifted his chin and spoke coolly, "Is it you three? Your IDs... hand them over and let me take a look!"

The words were rude, and the tone along with the body language was even more dismissive.

Youyou, hearing this, immediately became displeased, "Who do you think you are anyway..."

"Alright, show him," Xiao Moshan didn’t want any trouble—after all, the man was an Ultimate Warrior as well.

The man took the IDs, glanced at them, then handed them back, mumbling softly, "So you really are from Central City..."

Then he gave Youyou a sidelong glance, "I heard you’re more noble than everyone in Zone Zhou Six?"

"I said it," Youyou lifted her chin proudly, "Got a problem with that?"

"I’m not from Zone Zhou Six," the man replied, "I’m Zheng Weifang, the Guardian of Zone Zhou Character... understand?"

Youyou truly didn’t understand, as she had never left the Gorge, so she looked at Xiao Moshan—Jian Lei wasn’t as knowledgeable as him in this area.

Xiao Moshan answered expressionlessly, "Each Settlement has an Ultimate Warrior to guard it, the term could be long or short."

"So you’re a rookie," Zheng Weifang chuckled dismissively, "Remember to keep a low profile wherever you go in the future!"

"Don’t think you’re the only tough one; in those inconspicuous places, there are many you can’t afford to mess with!"

Youyou was unhappy, "Are you done with your nonsense? We’re all B-level, what gives you the right to lecture me?"

"Just because I’m the Guardian of Zone Zhou Character," the man responded indifferently, "This is my territory, got it?"

His guardian task, issued by the Central City, means other B-level Warriors coming to Zone Zhou Character have to listen to him, too.

Want to boss him around? Better have Central City cancel the task first!

"Your territory?" Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but speak up, "What a big face you have."

"Another one who doesn’t know how deep the waters are," the man rolled his eyes helplessly, momentarily a bit troubled.

He could basically confirm that the three were all Ultimate Warriors... at least Modified Warriors.

He had never encountered this kind of team coming to Zone Zhou Six before and was somewhat unsure how to handle it.

He wasn’t necessarily afraid, but being overly forceful wasn’t appropriate either—if it came to a real fight, he could probably suffer.

So he emphasized, "I don’t care what you’re here for, I’m responsible for maintaining peace in this area!"

"You’re truly shameless!" Qu Jianlei couldn’t hold back any longer.

"Robbing others of their Mutant Crystals, killing and looting at the sight of treasure... you call that maintaining peace?"

Indeed, these two weren’t strangers—they were the very Hunters who used to ride snowmobiles.

Later on, they had blocked Qu Jianlei and his companions, once planning to kill them for the Snow Concealment Leopard’s Crystal!

The penetrating sense of powerlessness and the vague despair from back then were still vivid in Qu Jianlei’s memory.

"Killing and looting at the sight of treasure?" The man’s expression changed at these words, "I didn’t... don’t make things up!"

"Falsely accuse you... you think you’re worth it?" Qu Jianlei sneered coldly, pointing forward with his hand, "Iron Cage!"

The Iron Cage was a technique he developed based on Bai Yansheng’s Fire Cage, aimed at capturing his opponents.

This technique was something he had just calculated recently; it wasn’t very mature or adept.

But there was no choice, given their journey’s conditions, even if most of the time those two were responsible for driving and keeping watch.

As the Iron Cage formed, no matter how dumb the man was, he knew he had run into someone formidable. He lifted his hand to form a sign, "Ice Arrow!"

However, it was futile; the Ice Arrow’s attack power wasn’t strong enough, even though the Iron Cage was not fully formed, the cultivation level disparity was objective.

Seeing the Ice Arrow fail, the man was horrified, "A-level?"

Qu Jianlei stared at him emotionlessly, at this once-despair-inducing man, now visibly shocked.

For some reason, he felt none of the satisfaction of revenge but rather found it somewhat uninteresting.

He wasn’t interested in saying more, "If you dare argue, I’ll kill you, and your whole family."

On the Wasteland, using family as leverage usually didn’t work well.

Everyone lives for today, with no certainty for tomorrow, family and all... surviving on one’s own was more tangible, at least providing hope for future revenge.

But since the other party is a B-level Warrior... it’s an exception.

For most ordinary families, achieving the Ultimate Warrior status was very difficult—not just in terms of talent but simply considering assets.

Just look at Terry, originally from an upper-middle-class family with adequate talent, yet someone still impersonated him.

As for advancing to a B-level, even greater assets are required.

Why had Black Panther been so down? It wasn’t because his family lacked power, but because his future seemed bleak, unable to even protect their assets.

So, this Ice Attribute B-level Warrior probably had a sizable family backing him.

Since the family supported him, he certainly had to repay them, rather than bringing disaster upon them.

Zheng Weifang fell silent upon hearing this; he didn’t dare gamble whether the other would really strike.

Nobody knew better than him about an A-level Warrior’s status in the Central City.

If the opponent was indeed an A-level, even if they killed him, there wouldn’t be much consequence.

(The third update has arrived, begging for the guaranteed monthly ticket in August.)