Chương 41: Tainted Energy and Mission Assignments

"Coordinate location: beyond the energy shield of the Seventh Abyssal Hive, thirty kilometers into the outskirts of the No-Man's Land." Solly said the coordinates with a smile, his tone almost casual. Around them, the Blues Stimulant Bar was still full of mercenaries drinking, laughing, and shouting. Only Rowan's table fell silent. Carl was the first to react. The burly man with the mechanical jaw looked intimidating even at a glance, but now the muscles in his cheek twitched, pulling his jaw with them.

His teeth ground together with a faint click.

"Boss, why take a mission that far out? I remember cleanup squads barely go there anymore." Logan, who had been silent the entire time, kept tapping the prosthetic limb of his left hand, producing a faint metallic rhythm. The cheap cigarette between his fingers had burned down to the filter, but he did not notice. As for "Syringe," the middleman who had connected them, he showed no reaction. It seemed he had known about this already.

"Boss... you're joking, right?" Adams asked, his rough voice filled with disbelief.

"That far out? No official armed cleanup squads nearby, and the few of us are going thirty kilometers into the outskirts? If we run into even one high-tier aberrant beast, we wouldn't be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth!" Rowan sat quietly at the edge of the booth. His eyes narrowed slightly as he rubbed his fingertips together. As a "rat" who had spent years scraping by in the Lower Hive, and with the basic geography he had learned in school, he knew exactly what "Sector 5" meant.

On the maps and in the news released by the Terra Republic to the lower classes, the "No-Man's Land" referred to the ring of territory nearly thirty-five kilometers outside Sector 4, where Rowan and the others lived. As for anything farther away, Rowan only knew that after the last "Great Expedition," humanity had likely never gone that far again. In reality, the entire Terra Republic was enclosed behind a fortress wall over a hundred meters tall, engraved with massive defensive arrays.

The so-called Sector 4 referred to the walled region of the Terra Republic. Each Abyssal Hive was a fortress built into that wall, a connecting point between wall segments. The Seventh Abyssal Hive, where Rowan lived, sat in Terra's southeastern corner. Inside the wall were settlements kept alive by the energy-gathering protective arrays of the Consortiums and the government, barely maintaining something that could still be called "civilization" and "order." Outside the wall was the buffer zone known as Sector 5.

The most dangerous thing about Sector 5 was not radiation or acid rain. It was the environment itself. The mana concentration there was so low it bordered on absurd. Once a mage stepped outside the protective shield, the mana pool inside their body would begin to leak outward because of the external pressure difference, like a ball with a hole in it. But that was not the truly fatal part. The truly fatal part was that the air and soil of Sector 5 were saturated with a mutated energy known as Tainted Energy.

If the pure mana of the other world was sweet spring water, and Terra's mana was filtered tap water, then Tainted Energy was toxic runoff laced with heavy metals and rust. Once a mage was exposed to it, the mutated energy would slowly cling to their Source Crystal Core and contaminate their mana pool. If they did not return to a normal environment in time for deep mana purification, their mana pool would begin to mutate, and their body would suffer irreversible damage and distortion.

The "aberrant beasts" feared across the wasteland were, in essence, native mana-beasts that had lived for long periods outside the energy-gathering protective shield. Their bodies had accumulated large amounts of Tainted Energy, leading to physical mutations. Most of them were driven only by a wild instinct for pure mana. Facing the different reactions around the table, Solly did not try to intimidate anyone like a typical gang leader. Instead, he gave them a gentle, disarming smile.

He pressed both hands lightly downward, signaling everyone to calm down.

"Brothers, this isn't my first day leading exploration missions. When have I ever sent you to die for nothing?" Solly's voice was calm and resonant, with a strange ability to steady people's nerves. Still smiling, he opened the special tactical backpack that had never left his side and took out a silver metal briefcase. The case released a constant chill and was fitted with a mana fingerprint lock. Click. The case sprang open on the table.

Cold white mist spilled out and dispersed, revealing rows of reagent tubes neatly embedded in black shockproof foam. Each tube gave off a pure, faint blue glow. Beside them sat several small glass bottles filled with dark red pills.

"[Source-Energy Neutralizing Solution]?" Rowan's eyes focused slightly, a trace of surprise crossing them. This was valuable stuff. It was a quota-controlled resource strictly distributed by Terra's Explorer's Association. Usually, only large pioneer legions sponsored by the Consortiums were qualified to carry it in bulk. Its effect was powerful. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. One injection could slowly restore depleted mana.

More importantly, it could form an "anti-contamination film" inside a Transcendent's body for several hours, neutralizing and resisting the erosion of external Tainted Energy. On the black market, this had always been a sought-after item. Ordinary mercenary squads usually carried only mana recovery potions, then returned to Sector 4 after the mission to purify the Tainted Energy inside their bodies.

These Source-Energy Neutralizing Solutions alone might be worth as much as the entire earnings of an ordinary mercenary squad's mission.

"And I didn't just prepare neutralizing solution. I also prepared emergency cards for everyone." Solly took out the bottles containing the dark red pills and pushed them across the table one by one.

"These are [Violet Frostvine Pills], the highest-grade D1 healing medicine. If you suffer serious injuries or run out of stamina, swallow one. It can squeeze out your potential and stabilize your condition."

"Syringe, Adams, Logan—you aren't mages, so your consumption should be lower. Two pills each."

"Grey Raven, Carl, Rowan, and I consume more Mental Power and mana when casting spells. Four pills each." Solly pushed the heavy little bottles in front of everyone, still wearing that confident smile.

"Risk comes with reward. Since I dared to take this job, as the captain, I naturally made preparations. I'll cover the cost of the medicine myself. Not a single credit will be deducted from your final mission earnings." Looking at this expensive set of life-saving supplies, Carl and the others, who had already begun to think of backing out, started breathing more heavily. Men die for wealth; birds die for food.

In the face of high payment and enough logistical support, the fear in their eyes was quickly replaced by greed for Terra Credits, along with admiration for Solly's willingness to spend so much for the team.

"As expected of you, Boss! With gear like this, thirty kilometers is nothing! I'll squeeze the yolk out of a high-tier aberrant beast's eggs!" Carl swept away his earlier hesitation, grabbed the bottle on the table, and kissed it hard. Only Rowan, sitting at the edge of the booth, quietly placed the bottle into the worn inner pocket of his robe. He looked at Solly's reassuring smile. The alarm in his heart did not fade. Instead, his sense that he should avoid this mission became even stronger.

On this wasteland, every Terra Credit was stained with blood. If someone was too generous where generosity made no sense, and too considerate where consideration felt excessive, there was only one possibility. The hidden profit he wanted was far greater than the cost of this medicine. And Solly's inconsistencies were piling up. If Solly's rapid rise to Tier 1 mage could be explained as a personal opportunity, then where had these supplies come from?

Source-Energy Neutralizing Solution was not something one could buy with a simple loan.

"The medicine is distributed. Now, let's talk about the details." Solly tapped the table and took control of the pace again. Then he dropped another piece of news as if it were nothing.

"After the scan, this ruin has been internally upgraded to D3-grade. Everyone should prepare for a hard fight." D3-grade! The atmosphere, which had only just settled, tightened again. That meant there was very likely a D3-grade mana-beast inside, with strength equivalent to a human Tier 1 Three-Phase Mage. Holding the heavy bottles of high-grade medicine in their hands, and seeing Solly remain so steady, Carl and the others finally understood why he had hired two Tier 1 outside support mages.

Solly began assigning positions.

"The ruins most likely won't be able to connect to external network signals. Syringe, aside from mapping the terrain, you'll carry the equipment and set up a local communication network at the entrance."

"Logan, you're in charge of logistics. Stay close to Syringe and Adams. Do not leave them unprotected." Logan only nodded and checked the safety on his firearm.

"Adams, you're in charge of field medical support. If anyone is injured, they go to you first." Hearing this, Rowan subconsciously glanced at the burly man named Adams. This Half-ironman was nearly 1. 9 meters tall, and his entire right arm had been replaced by a heavy mechanical arm from Blackwater Heavy Industries. Yet he gave everyone an honest grin. Then, with a grease-stained mechanical finger thicker than Rowan's thigh, he nimbly pulled out a first-aid kit from behind him.

Inside were precision probes, sutures, and hemostatic forceps. Looking at this heavily armed cyberpunk medic, Rowan's eye twitched slightly. If he really suffered serious injuries and let this guy treat him, would Adams break his ribs with one slap before even getting to the stitches?

"As for the main combat force..." Solly looked at Carl.

"Leave drawing fire and holding the front line to me!" Carl slapped the subdermal composite armor on his chest, producing a dull metallic thud. He had practiced a crude form of Martial Artist body refinement. Although it only forced his muscle fibers to integrate with his mechanical armor, it still made him tough enough to take hits.

"Carl takes the front. Master Grey Raven and I will serve as the main damage points and tear open the enemy line." Solly smiled at Rowan.

"Since little brother Rowan is a Single-Phase Mage, you can stay in the middle row as auxiliary damage and mobile cover. Don't push yourself. If danger comes, move closer to me..." Through Solly's assignments and explanations, Rowan roughly understood the group. Syringe, Adams, and Logan were mortals. Carl was a Tier 1 Single-Phase Mage who had learned a little body refinement. But he was still far below a true Tier 1 Single-Mark Martial Artist.

And compared with Rowan's body, tempered from the inside out by [Furnace Melding Art] and strengthened by the flesh of high-tier mana-beasts from the other world, Carl likely did not amount to much. But Rowan had no obligation to reveal his true strength. Hiding his ability had become instinct. Besides, he was only outside support. If he pointed this out directly, he might provoke a conflict with this reckless brute.

As for the two most important people—Solly, and Grey Raven, the black-robed figure who had not spoken from beginning to end...

"Their mana fluctuations show two different attributes spiraling together. Intertwined, but clearly separated... Tier 1 Dual-Phase." Rowan lowered his eyes, hiding his caution. Tier 1 Dual-Phase meant they had successfully etched two different Source Runes onto their Source Crystal Cores. That not only meant their mana pools were twice as deep as an ordinary Single-Phase Mage's, but also that they could cast spells of two different attributes. Among the lower classes, Dual-Phase Mages were true elites.

Rowan sat quietly in his chair, rapidly running combat simulations in his mind.

"My mana pool is only single-phase, but my body has been refined by Tier 2 mana-beast meat and other mana-beast flesh. Physically, I'm comparable to the peak of Tier 1 Single-Phase. Terra's mages are far weaker than Martial Artists in the body. Their physical strength usually lags two phases behind their actual level. In other words, Solly and the black-robed man should have bodies even weaker than Carl's." In his mind, Rowan mapped the distance between himself, Solly, and Grey Raven.

"Ten steps."

"If we really turn on each other in that narrow underground space, within ten steps..."

"I can burst forward with [Wellspring Step] in half a second, close the distance, break through with raw physical strength... and tear open an escape route." Whenever Rowan faced a potential strong enemy, he searched for the best answer in combat.

"Gentlemen, your [Abyssal Shiver]." At that moment, the door to the booth opened. A scantily dressed waitress walked in with a tray and placed several glasses of strong stimulant drinks on the table. The drinks glowed with an eerie blue light and bubbled continuously. Solly raised his glass. His smile was warm and sincere, as if he truly saw everyone here as brothers who would live and die together.

"Let's drink while we go over the details. For Terra Credits, and for everyone's safe return tomorrow—cheers."

"Cheers!" The mercenaries responded loudly. Rowan followed along, raised his glass, and tilted his head back as if taking a large gulp. The moment this low-grade synthetic alchemical byproduct entered their stomachs, the eyes of Syringe and the others soon showed faint red lines from stimulation. But for Rowan, this chemical drink, designed to stimulate the nerves of lower-city mortals, fell into a stomach tempered countless times by [Furnace Melding Art]. It barely made a ripple. It tasted as bland as plain water.

Just as Rowan put down his glass and prepared to continue listening to Solly's route plan, a hidden green encrypted pop-up appeared silently at the edge of his high-grade AR retinal vision. [Akashic Dark Web Encrypted Channel Notification: @plus_Hermit has received your payment. Reply message and deciphered attachment have been generated.] Rowan seemed fully focused on Solly's words. In reality, with a slight movement of his mind, he opened the attachment through a mental command.

The origins of the Lancer Family from the high-mana ancient texts of the other world, along with the mana channeling technique attached to them... They had finally been deciphered.