Chapter 46: The Non-Existent Zone

The vehicle drove toward an unknown destination; everyone was a stranger to one another, and the atmosphere was somewhat stifling.

At this moment, Ding Mo carefully sized them up for a while; the other 5 people were, respectively:

That girl in the black peaked cap, a robust middle-aged man, a dark-skinned youth, and a young couple.

"Everyone." At this time, the girl wearing the black peaked cap suddenly spoke.

Her calm eyes swept across the inside of the vehicle, and seeing everyone look over, she said:

"Since we are going to fight side by side from here on, I think it is necessary for us to state our names to each other!"

Her voice was much more mature than her appearance suggested, but... Ding Mo forced himself to suppress the strangeness on his face and spoke up:

"Hello, I am Ding Mo."

"Hello," the girl said, turning her eyes, which held a hint of green, to look at Ding Mo, her face full of seriousness:

"My name is Gu Zixu, and as you can see,

"I am an assassin!"

"...... Ah?" Ding Mo's expression was blank.

The girl's words seemed to pique the interest of the others; beside Ding Mo's seat, the robust man spoke up:

"Hello everyone, my name is Yan Yu.

"Gu Zixu, is it? What do you mean by saying you are an assassin just now?"

"Meaning? There is no special meaning; I am just an assassin, not worth mentioning to your excellency."

Faced with the inquiry, Gu Zixu pressed down on the brim of her cap, slightly shielding her delicate face, and refused to answer.

The vehicle fell into a silence.

So chuunibyou... Ding Mo thought to himself.

The young man and woman in the corner of the vehicle were holding hands; the woman among them covered her mouth and chuckled softly:

"Little girl, have you watched too many cartoons? An assassin, really?"

"......" Unexpectedly, as soon as Chai Yan spoke, Gu Zixu suddenly raised her head, her extremely sharp gaze directed straight at the young woman!

A startling, invisible sharpness pricked the young woman like acupuncture, making her scalp go numb instantly!

Her expression changed, and as her gaze darted away, she stopped making a sound.

There were many ruthless people in the Isolation Zone, and she dared not be certain of this girl's background.

"Your excellency," seeing this, Gu Zixu said seriously:

"In the world of assassins, there is no distinction between children and adults.

"There is only living, or dying!"

As her voice fell, there was another silence in the vehicle.

Only Ding Mo noticed that the dark-skinned youth beside her seemed to cover his forehead after hearing this.

Do they know each other? Ding Mo speculated.

However, after this incident, the 6 people had more or less gotten to know each other.

The armored vehicle drove for about 3 hours before finally reaching the destination and coming to a stop.

The vehicle door pulled open, and a cold-faced man with a rigid expression appeared outside; it was none other than Lu Tianxu!

He swept a glance over the people in the vehicle, his gaze lingering on Gu Zixu for a moment,

but in the end, he signaled to his subordinates behind him and then said coldly to the group:

"Pay attention, and listen well to what I say next!

"Next, you will head to a sealed-off urban area to receive and escort a designated target."

At this time, a subordinate also handed a black cloth bag to the group.

While listening, Ding Mo rubbed the black cloth bag a few times; it seemed to contain some documents.

"Inside this are some relevant materials and a headset; remember, these things can only be opened once you are inside," Lu Tianxu continued.

When he reached this point, he swept a cold, piercing glance over the group,

"Whoever dares to open it now, I will execute you immediately!" Seeing the group frown in unison, Lu Tianxu stood with his hands behind his back and shouted coldly:

"You dangerous, unstable elements who could cause massive losses at any moment!

"Remember this: it is the Processing Bureau that gave you a second life! And the meaning of your existence in this world!"

"Now, either go do the Task, or become a corpse! Choose for yourselves!"

"......" The group was silent; although some showed unwillingness, no one dared to refute—their lives were indeed held in the hands of the Processing Bureau.

A moment later,

Ding Mo and the others were equipped with various cold weapons, including batons, arm guards, and steel swords.

Looking up, in front of them was an area enclosed by wire fences and concrete fortifications.

Looking out, this "area" had no end in sight; it seemed quite vast.

Through the wire fence, Ding Mo could see rows of low-rise buildings and streets, only there was not a single shadow of a person among them.

Not even a ghost of a shadow!

What on earth happened here? Ding Mo's expression tightened slightly.

He observed carefully and discovered that these walls and wire fences were brand new, and in the distance, workers were still constantly constructing and perfecting them.

Beside the construction site were rows of temporarily erected military tents, where personnel in uniforms were moving in and out with grave expressions,

and when they occasionally looked toward the area inside the wire fence, their eyes held a trace of imperceptible fear!

And... Ding Mo lowered his head, his heart feeling uncontrollably heavy.

He saw that at the tips of his toes, the ruins of human engineering extending from this urban area ended right there.

The tips of his toes marked the boundary between the stone bricks and the black soil!

Looking around, this urban area was essentially a bizarre zone surrounded by wilderness and woods!

It was as if it had descended from the sky out of thin air, appearing as a non-existent forbidden zone in this desolate countryside!

The others naturally discovered this eerie scene as well; except for the chuunibyou girl Gu Zixu, everyone's expression was unsightly at this moment.

Where on earth did the Processing Bureau send them?!

"What? You're just letting us go in like this, without telling us any intelligence?"

As the voice came, Ding Mo and the others turned their heads and discovered a burly man complaining to the soldiers who had escorted them.

The burly man was Yan Yu; he carried a triangular bayonet on his back and said in disbelief:

"For an operation of this scale, it's one thing that you only let a few of us go in, after all, Polluters have improved resistance to Pollution,

"But you aren't giving us any intelligence, no specific location of the target, no support, and you don't even tell us what dangers exist!

"And you want us to go pick someone up? Are you kidding me!

"At least give us a vehicle!"

Yan Yu seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown,

"With nothing at all, what exactly are you trying to do? Are you trying to get us killed!?"

The soldier guarding the gate felt a flash of coldness in his eyes upon hearing this.

Click!

He chambered a round and raised his gun, aiming it at Yan Yu!

Yan Yu was startled and hurriedly raised his hands, not daring to speak further.

"Listen up!" the soldier said coldly:

"The officer has his reasons for doing this; you only need to follow orders!

"If you don't go in now and keep talking nonsense, I'll blow your head off! I'll kill you right now!

"And that goes for the rest of you too!"

He pointed the muzzle at the others,

"Get in there now!!"

……

Creak~

The gate and steel crossbars behind them sealed the exit; the group walked together, having no choice but to face the deserted streets, Shopping Mall, and vehicles before them alone.

At the thought of having to venture deep into this non-existent urban area, everyone couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Keep moving forward! Keep walking straight along the street!" Several soldiers behind them were still holding guns, urging them on.

Keep walking straight along the street... where exactly did they want them to go? Everyone had a strong, ominous premonition in their hearts.

But there was no choice; with guns pointed at them, they could only walk forward.

Treading on the asphalt road covered in dust and a little trash, passing car after car with empty interiors, almost nothing but footsteps and breathing echoed in everyone's ears.

Carrying an alloy machete on his back, Ding Mo walked past one car after another, seeing talisman charms, phone mounts, and small toys on the dashboards inside the windows,

besides that, in some cars, there were pillows left in disarray, and even erotic lingerie...

Clearly, this place had not been abandoned for many days; judging by the thickness of the dust on the car roofs, there were traces of use at least within the last two days.

But there were no signs of life whatsoever; not even a mouse could be seen.

So... where was this? Ding Mo searched his memory.

What was certain was that this was not the downtown area of Ning Tian City—the city he had originally lived in before joining the Processing Bureau.

After walking for a while longer, until the soldiers behind them were no longer visible, the team suddenly stopped.

To be precise, it was Gu Zixu, who had been leading the way, who stopped.

On the deserted road, under the intense daylight, she turned around to look at Ding Mo, Zhang Yunfan, Yan Yu, and the couple Tang Chen and He Xiang.

Zhang Yunfan was that dark-skinned youth; seeing this, he actually covered his forehead, and Ding Mo faintly heard him mutter:

"Ah, it's really happening..."