Openly wielding weapons (9)
The boy's bare shoulders were tinged with the reddish-brown of burns, and strange red marks slid down his chest. His bare arms reflected a wheat-colored halo under the beam of light.
You An stopped a short distance in front of them, greeting them with complete openness, but without any malice.
Shu Ningmiao stared in disbelief. Faced with You An's burning gaze and gleaming body, she staggered back a step, pushing Wei Shengqianheng in front to block his view.
An angry voice came from behind You An: "What's wrong with you? Don't you know what it means to respect the difference between men and women? There are two girls here, what are you doing running out without any clothes on!"
Wei Shengqianheng casually brushed the wet hair clinging to his face and said, "I'm not a girl."
The voice that followed paused, making things even more awkward.
You An squatted down, and since he couldn't cover his body, he decided to cover his face with his hands: "I forgot, I was just too excited to see people."
The boy who came out from behind him had short, ear-length hair, a pointed face, and a rather thin build. It was hard to imagine that the angry roar just now came from his mouth.
Shu Ningmiao found the boy somewhat familiar; perhaps she had met him in an elective course, but he was too plain-looking to evoke many memories.
He was only wearing a tattered shirt around his waist, which was more than what You An wore. Standing next to You An, they looked like two wild men who had just come down from the mountains.
The boy bowed deeply to Shu Ningmiao to express his apology, his manners impeccable and his sincerity evident: "My name is Rennagi, I'm in Class C, and I'm teammates with You An. I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! He's just a big idiot."
Shu Ningmiao peeked out from behind Wei Shengqianheng: "Why aren't you wearing clothes?"
“I was just about to say that, you guys should take your clothes off too.” You An barely managed to cover his private parts with the rag that Lian Nagi handed him, and gestured to her, “We were just born on the beach, and a wave came and we got all wet, so this is the only way.”
"……No."
If Shu Ningmiao hadn't met him in physical education class before and known that You An was just a simple, kind-hearted person, she would have turned and left as soon as he said his first sentence. She crossed her arms and said, "Even if it's wet, there's no need to take it off. It'll dry in a little while in this heat."
So what if it's a little dirty? It's just a simulation anyway. Thinking like that, she didn't care so much.
That's the only way to think about it.
Rennagi smacked Yu'an hard on the head from behind and said in a low voice, "Get to the point."
"It's not because it's wet that you need to take it off."
After rambling on, You An finally got to the point. He flexed his arm, revealing large, dark red marks on his bulging muscles, some of which were slightly swollen and faintly tinged with purple: "The composition of this seawater seems to be problematic; it's very flammable. We were just walking along the road when our clothes inexplicably caught fire! Luckily, I reacted quickly and threw them away, otherwise we'd be the same color as the wood on the ground now."
No wonder he wasn't wearing any clothes...
Shu Ningmiao immediately stood up straight, raised her hand to examine the sleeves of her uniform. The white cuffs had been soaked in seawater and turned a faint red. She was wet and cold all over.
She was wearing a training outfit underneath that was convenient for exercise. Because of its special material, it didn't absorb much water, and she could take it off if she wanted, but she didn't want to change clothes in front of strangers.
She looked at Wei Shengqianheng and gave him a cold look that said, "It's all your fault." She saw that Wei Shengqianheng's thin robe was soaked through from head to toe, clinging tightly to his body and partially revealing his flesh.
His body was surprisingly not thin; his muscles and bones were well-proportioned, and his muscles were faintly visible.
Ningmiao used to think he was the kind of person with a figure like a paper doll that could be embedded in a church relief painting, based only on his clothes.
You An and Lian Na both looked at Wei Sheng Qian Heng, and Shu Ning Miao finally understood why they were so excited to see him.
It's like discovering another classmate who hasn't done their homework after you haven't done it yourself. Knowing that you won't be the only one feeling embarrassed, you naturally feel like you've found someone like you.
Shu Ningmiao looked at him and said, "You take your clothes off first."
Wei Shengqianheng revealed a fleeting smile and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Shu Ningmiao narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling the dampness on her body rapidly receding.
In just a few moments, their clothes were back to their dry state as before they went into the water.
You An's face showed an expression that was hard to tell whether it was surprise or disappointment: "Is this your special ability? I wish I had met you guys sooner."
Yu An realized that they weren't on the same team, and it would be impolite to probe into each other's abilities, so she quickly changed the subject: "Let's go together. There are traces of people walking here. The students who were here before should have gone to the center of the island."
They were heading in the same direction, and whether they agreed or not, they would move forward together. Shu Ningmiao didn't object, but deliberately slowed her pace and looked at Wei Shengqianheng: "Your special ability can be used like this?"
She remembered that Wei Shengqianheng's ability "Forgiveness" should only restrict the use of abilities by those within a certain range.
Was he using superpowers just now? How did he manage to drain the water from them?
Wei Shengqianheng lowered his head, his hair falling over his shoulders. He pressed his slender fingers to his lips, the knuckles bearing calluses that were not typical of someone who had lived a life of luxury: "It's a secret."
It's infuriating," Shu Ningmiao said, forcing a smile.
The further you go into the center, the more similar ruins and relics you find. Everywhere there are broken bricks, tiles, and charcoal, almost blending into the black soil, emitting a pungent and unpleasant smell under the high temperature.
This unique smell doesn't resemble the smell of burning; it's a mixture of sourness and stench, like a sharp knife piercing the head through the nasal cavity, making it unbearable.
Shu Ningmiao walked forward with her head down for a while, then felt a stinging pain in her eyes, as if she had eaten wasabi, and tears welled up in her eyes.
You An shouted from the front, "There's a protective wall over there, there must be people there!"
Shu Ningmiao barely managed to lift her head and saw a protective wall reinforced with metal and concrete not far away, layer upon layer, almost as high as a dozen stories. There was also a metal mesh on the outer wall that looked like it was electrified.
A yellow mist, similar in color to the strange fog on the sea, permeated the outside of the wall. When it encountered the metal mesh on the wall, it was blocked out and enveloped the wall like a pale yellow protective shield.
There was a heavy, weathered iron gate at the base of the wall, guarded by several people. As they walked over, the gatekeepers, seeing You An and Lian Naqi running around like naked, didn't react much and stiffly said, "Passports."
"Passport?" You An said incredulously, "Where are we?"
The person at the door didn't answer, mechanically repeating what they had just said.
Although the combat simulation uses real data, it is difficult to make the characters react 100% like real people. It's not that the research center's technology can't do it, but rather that as a combat training system, there is simply no need to include such a function.
You An scratched his head: "We don't have passports. I've never even left Pinneco in my life."
The farthest he ever went was from his remote fishing village to the capital to study. When he left, the whole village came to the station to see him off. On that one trip, he was even scammed out of 800 cin while on the bus.
Besides, why would you need a passport in a place like this? There's not a soul around.
The people at the door didn't speak, just stared blankly at them. Just then, a pop-up window appeared in the void in front of all of them.
"Identity meets requirements; entry conditions unlocked."
The person at the door paused for a moment, then opened the passage without saying a word.
Shu Ningmiao looked inside; the inside and outside of the high walls were completely two different worlds.
Although it doesn't have skyscrapers as advanced as those in Pines, which are almost surreal, it still looks like a perfectly normal, bustling city.
The buildings within the high walls are connected, with stacked shop signs and colorful lights hanging on them. Some of the steel bars and bricks of the buildings are exposed, making them look more livable than those in Pigne.
Behind her, You An exclaimed in surprise, despite being partially illiterate: "Is this what it's like abroad? Why can I understand so many of the words on the signs?"
Rennagi, who was walking at the back, was particularly quiet. She didn't say a word and seemed to be half-air, with an exceptionally faint presence.
Shu Ningmiao looked up at the cramped sky above, squeezed by buildings, and suddenly said, "This is Pingyi."
As a vassal state of Pinhe, Pingyi mainly imports and exports through Pinhe. Many of the shops you just entered use Pinhe language, so it would be strange if You An didn't recognize it.
Shu Ningmiao had just finished her elective course in Pingyi language, and it was the time when she remembered it most vividly. She could understand most of the Pingyi signs on the street, except for those in Pinheese.
"We are currently in what seems to be the town in Pingyi that is closest to the coastline, called Litong."
After studying the names of the buildings on the street, Shu Ningmiao confidently stated that this time, the practice of her supernatural abilities might have used data from Pingyi.
Before she was born, Pingyi had already suffered extensive pollution due to a failed experiment. Shu Ningmiao had never been to Pingyi, so she naturally did not know that Pingyi was in this state.
There is a deserted area of more than ten kilometers between the seaside and the nearest town.
Was it to get away from that red sea, or because of the black soil on the ground?
Most importantly, what should they do?
Just as she was thinking this, a window suddenly popped up in front of her.
Triggering the mission - Protect the residents
Event: The residents of Pingyi are frequently troubled by [unlocked], hindering their daily travel. Please use your strength to protect the surrounding residents.
Category: Supernatural Abilities Practice
Difficulty: T6
Condition: [Not unlocked]
Time Limit: Enabled after conditions are unlocked
Reward: 6 credits (basic reward)
Failure penalty: Elimination
Shu Ningmiao quickly read through the pop-up window and felt that the system's logic was very similar to that of "Secret Love".
Games in the world are all pretty much the same; maybe she just doesn't play enough games to find them similar.
She looked up at the others, and unsurprisingly, all of them had the same pop-up window in front of them. The surprised expression on You An's face confirmed her suspicions.
Before You An could speak, Shu Ningmiao waved her hand and said decisively, "Then let's go find the unlocking conditions. See you later."
The further You An went, the less literate he became. He finally felt the fear of being in a foreign land and clung to Shu Ningmiao, wanting to walk with her. But Shu Ningmiao only had her grades on her mind.
Where there are tasks, there is competition. If we don't separate them now, it will be even more troublesome when they start arguing over the distribution of benefits later.
She knew that You An didn't speak the Pingyi language and might have a hard time getting around here, but that didn't change her mind at all. Shu Ningmiao had no concept of fair competition; why should she help others when she could use her advantages to get ahead?
So far, most of the people they've seen on the streets are locals. The people of Pingyi dress in a very simple and plain style, which is easily distinguishable from the people of Pinhe. Could it be that the more than one hundred students from classes A to F were randomly placed in different parts of Pingyi?
Finding Shi Yu might be difficult, so Shu Ningmiao immediately lowered her priority of finding teammates.
The current focus is on unlocking the mission requirements, completing the missions, and earning basic credits.
Based on the description of the triggering event, their goal is to protect the residents here, so it can be inferred that the clues are most likely on the residents.
However, the residents coming and going around the area and the guards at the gate are similar; although they can talk, it's more like a pre-recorded video with extremely limited intelligence.
Shu Ningmiao asked several people, but they basically just repeated the same few sentences over and over, and the conversations were all very ordinary, so she couldn't detect any useful information.
Shu Ningmiao tried asking passersby, "Is there anything that threatens your safety?"
The passerby looked at her with a smile, his hand to his ear, seemingly listening attentively, but he was just repeating, "We're having fish today? Want to try some?"
Shu Ningmiao was frustrated. Although the conditions outside Pingyi City were poor, the city itself was a picture of tranquility and peace. The streets were clean, flat, and full of life. No wonder it was a popular tourist city.
After walking for half a day, I didn't see a single robbery or theft. The security might even be better than in Pigne.
Looking at Wei Shengqianheng, as soon as he entered the combat simulation, he wanted to commit suicide to escape the system. Shu Ningmiao hadn't expected him to do anything anyway, and now he was completely embracing his vase persona, sitting down at a street food table without anyone noticing.
He was alone and blended into the streets of the small town very naturally, and his clothes were completely different from the everyday clothes of the people of Pingyi, so he did not look out of place.
Shu Ningmiao saw through the intricate gaps in the eaves that the sky was gradually darkening, and she felt a little strange.
Even though there's no sun in the sky, there's still the cycle of day and night.
The crowded streets transformed into a different kind of bustling scene under the cover of night. Street vendors opened their stalls, and the aromas wafted along the road—a sight that would never be seen in Pigne.
The Public Security Bureau has formulated a series of urban road management regulations to ensure that the streets of Piñe Road are always in a clean and bright state.
Shu Ningmiao had no choice but to sit opposite Wei Shengqianheng.
He spoke fluently to the stall owner and ordered food with great skill: "I'll have this, two portions."
Someone who wasn't even familiar with the common language of Pines could speak the Pingyi language.
"Can we eat in here?" Shu Ningmiao asked helplessly.
"We are data, and these are data too, so why can't we eat them?"
Shu Ningmiao rested her chin on her hand and saw the stall owner stirring a yellow, dough-like substance inside the shed. The filling next to it was small pieces of chopped white meat, the original appearance of which was indistinguishable.
The vendor mixed the yellow dough with the white meat, added some yellowish-brown sauce to the pan, and fried the dough in the pan for a while until it became crispy inside and out. He scooped it out of the pan, cut it into small pieces on a plate, and while the outside looked crispy and hard, it was coated with a rich sauce and remained soft inside, appearing slightly undercooked.
This "delicacy" was served in front of them, and the cut cross-section clearly showed the white bits of meat inside, like protruding tentacles.
Shu Ningmiao remembered the imported meat she had eaten in the cafeteria before, which seemed to be called "Youkz" or something like that, anyway, that's how it was pronounced in Pinhás.
Ultimately, is the food produced in Pingyi really edible? The thought that the ingredients in front of her might have been fished out of that red sea made her feel uneasy.
The stall owner, speaking in the local Pingyi dialect, introduced the dish to them: "This is a specialty snack from Pingyi, Golden Sauce."
"Huh?" Shu Ningmiao's vocabulary from textbooks was completely insufficient to handle the locals' vocabulary, and she didn't understand what he was saying at all.
The stall owner mechanically repeated it again.
Wei Shengqianheng dipped his fingertip in a little water and wrote a line of beautiful cursive characters on the table in front of her. Surprisingly, he wrote them backwards, with the characters facing Shu Ningmiao facing the table so that she could easily recognize them.
“It’s this one, Pu, Chang.” Wei Shengqianheng’s voice was gentle as he slowly read the words he had written: “A fruit unique to Pingyi, not flesh, and it has no corresponding pronunciation or translation in Pinhács.”
"Why do you look so familiar with me?" Shu Ningmiao looked at him suspiciously.
He said calmly, "I've been to Pingyi before."
"There's a church here that sings praises to the Church?" Shu Ningmiao nudged him. "Even a saint has to travel for work?"
Wei Shengqianheng didn't care and instead said, "You can eat it. Pingyi started planting Puchang trees before civilization existed. After that experiment failed, the fruit of Puchang was the only thing that was not contaminated or mutated."
He seemed to know very well what Shu Ningmiao cared about.
Shu Ningmiao had no appetite: "Since you've been here before, you should know what's threatening the residents here, right? Why didn't you say so sooner?"
Wei Shengqianheng smiled at her: "What's important isn't what I know—the conditions for triggering the mission should require 'residents' to unlock it, otherwise it's unfair to other students. I don't think the people who developed the system would be stupid enough to leave such an obvious loophole."
"Aren't you going to eat?" Wei Shengqianheng asked leisurely, like a tourist. "I heard this is a must-try delicacy for tourists."
"..."
“This town has at least several thousand residents. Are we going to ask them one by one like this?” Shu Ningmiao stared at him for a while, then leaned back in her chair as if giving up. She turned her head and casually asked the child sitting on a small stool next to the stall owner, “Little girl, is there anything you’re afraid of?”
The little girl looked up and met Shu Ningmiao's bright, sparkling eyes. Suddenly, she became shy, lowered her head, and said timidly, "I'm afraid of getting sick..."
Although there were no unlocking conditions, they were actually able to communicate. Shu Ningmiao couldn't help but show a surprised expression as she stared at the girl: "Is there anything else besides illness?"
The little girl secretly observed her. The girl's face was somewhat thin, and her skin was yellowish from the soot from the stove, but her eyes were very lively and watery.
When Shu Ningmiao first met her, she felt that the innocence in her eyes was somewhat familiar; perhaps all the beautiful things in the world are similar.
The girl secretly observed her for a while before whispering, "And... there are some very scary-looking things, like monsters in picture books, with many legs and many arms, which occasionally come into the city."
Shu Ningmiao half-squatted down to look at the girl, and a pop-up window appeared in the air between the two of them.
Triggering the mission - Protect the residents
Incident: Residents of Pingyi are frequently troubled by pollutants, hindering their daily travel. Please do your part to protect the surrounding residents.
Category: Supernatural Abilities Practice
Difficulty: T6
Condition: Kill at least three Corrupted Beings (Current progress: 0/3)
Time limit: 48 hours (Current remaining time: 47:58:43)
Reward: 6 credits (basic reward)
Failure penalty: Elimination
The countdown after the task deadline is ticking and changing in seconds.
Immediately following this task window, another notification popped up.
Attention all students: The mission requirements have been unlocked by some teams. Other teams are urged to unlock them as soon as possible. The first team to complete the mission requirements will receive bonus credits.
Shu Ningmiao stood up instantly, her eyes sparkling with surprise.
The little girl tilted her head curiously, not understanding why Shu Ningmiao suddenly looked relaxed and cheerful. There was an innate sense of well-being about her, as if there were no difficulties or fears in the world, and any problem became commonplace and natural to her.
As she pondered something, she seemed to radiate an intense light that drew everyone's attention. The little girl stared at her, mesmerized, for a moment. When she came to her senses, she noticed that the older brother sitting opposite her wasn't eating. His eyes reflected her image, his gaze indifferent, lost in thought.
Upon learning that no other teams had unlocked the game, Shu Ningmiao was no longer anxious. She sat down again and suddenly looked at Wei Shengqianheng as if she had just remembered something: "Do you have money?"
They only brought their clothing data into the simulation, but not their terminals or wallets. How will Weisheng Qianheng pay for the food they bought?
Wei Shengqianheng raised his eyelids and glanced at her, then moved his hand away from the table as if mocking her. Under his palm were a few coins, the local currency of Pingyi, made of some kind of rare shellfish, which Shu Ningmiao had only seen in textbooks.
"How did you get these?" Shu Ningmiao looked at him, and before he could speak, she suddenly mimicked his gesture by poking her own lip with her fingertip: "It's a secret, isn't it? Give me some too."
She unceremoniously stretched out her hand in front of Wei Shengqianheng, indicating that she would not move it unless he gave her some coins.
Wei Shengqianheng removed the amount due for the snacks and put the remaining coins into her palm. Shu Ningmiao took them without hesitation and went to the stall next to her to buy an ice cream for the little girl.
The temperature in Pingyi has been consistently high. I wonder if it's related to pollution. Shu Ningmiao bought one for herself too. The ice cream in Pingyi is served in a bowl that looks like a banana leaf. It contains several white scoops and is sprinkled with colorful powdered sugar. It looks much better than other snacks.
Although she didn't know what it was made of, she could pretend not to know as long as she didn't see the complete raw materials.
She handed the ice cream to the little girl, patted her hair, and the girl, feeling embarrassed, lowered her eyes and smiled, then, biting the ice cream spoon, said, "Sister, are you going to kill those monsters?"
Shu Ningmiao found it somewhat incongruous that such a young child would casually mention killing, but she still nodded: "How did you know?"
Of all the NPCs in the city, very few can have such a smooth conversation; it's probably something the research center did on purpose.
"Because every year, someone as capable as you, sister, comes to help us kill the contaminants and repair the protective barrier, otherwise we would be eaten!" the little girl said innocently. "Sister, can you do me a favor?"
Shu Ningmiao squatted down and rubbed her face: "What kind of help?"
"If you see a wind-up duck, could you bring it back to me? I left it outside the protective wall last time, and my mom won't let me go out to retrieve it."
Even though it was just simulated data, Shu Ningmiao casually said, "I'll bring it back for you when I see it."
Unexpectedly, a new pop-up window appeared in front of her the next second.
Trigger Quest (Hidden) - Find Items
Event: Alan, the daughter of a snack shop owner, asks you to find her lost toy outside the security wall.
Category: ? ? ?
Difficulty: None
Condition: Find the wind-up duck (Current progress: Not found)
Time limit: None
award:? ? ?
Failure penalty: None
It turned out to be a hidden quest. Shu Ningmiao couldn't help but confirm with the little girl, "What's your name?"
"My name is Alan!" The girl's bright eyes shone with joy.
Shu Ningmiao's attitude immediately became more enthusiastic, and she gave Wei Shengqianheng a wink: "Let's go."
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