The sky gradually spread out a delicate gauze, and the star-spotted cotton yarn unfurled above everyone’s heads, adding a touch of warmth to this slightly cold world.
The off-road vehicle was unusually steady as it sped across the vast wilderness, allowing the team members’ tense nerves to relax slightly.
The originally unchanging scenery on the distant horizon gradually revealed a steel wall that stretched across the entire horizon.
As they approached that steel wall, the team members seemed to sense it and woke up from their light sleep one after another.
At the foot of the wall, there was a checkpoint used to inspect incoming and outgoing vehicles.
But even as Wu Yin got close to the checkpoint, he showed no intention of slowing down.
The team members also had no intention of pulling the brake lever, just watching as their captain floored the accelerator.
Seeing such a reckless off-road vehicle, the soldier guarding the checkpoint shouted through a loudspeaker behind a thick gas mask, “Vehicle ahead, please stop immediately for inspection. I repeat, stop immediately…”
Turning a deaf ear to the soldier’s words, Wu Yin floored the accelerator, directly ramming through the checkpoint barriers and rushing into the city protected by layers of steel walls—the City of Hope.
The soldier hastily ducked away from the off-road vehicle and frantically reached for the communicator to sound the alarm, but a rough hand pressed his down.
The soldier turned around and saw a tall man with a beard that reached his Adam’s apple standing behind him.
He immediately straightened up and saluted the man with the most standard military salute he could manage.
“Salute to the Marshal!”
“Hmm.”
The soldier struggled to keep his body from tilting, but the Marshal didn’t pay him any attention; instead, he looked in the direction where the off-road vehicle had disappeared.
“You’re new here?”
“Reporting to the Marshal, yes! I officially became a member of the glorious Defense Force yesterday, and today is my first assigned mission!”
“Hmm, good spirit. Keep it up. Only when you have something you want to protect in your heart can you always be ready to sacrifice your life.”
“Yes!”
The Marshal patted the still-young-faced recruit on the shoulder, then turned and walked into the city.
“Oh, by the way, you don’t need to worry about that off-road vehicle from now on. Just let them through. They won’t be obedient enough to let you inspect them.”
“Yes!”
Despite his confusion, the soldier would never slack off on a Marshal’s order.
The soldier who had been standing guard with the new recruit saw that the Marshal was far away and immediately came over to confirm what had just happened.
“Why would the Marshal come here? I heard there’s an important operation coming up that requires his personal command.”
“How would I know?”
“And who are the people in that vehicle?”
“Who knows? But since the Marshal said to let them through, they’re probably very high-ranking people too.”
“The way they drive, they really aren’t afraid of death.”
“Yeah.”
After a few idle remarks, the two soldiers quickly returned to their posts and continued their task of inspecting passing vehicles.
From the checkpoint, they entered a long tunnel-like passage.
Wu Yin and his group drove onto a conveyor belt, jumped out of the car, and the conveyor belt immediately started moving, pulling the off-road vehicle into a space behind a curtain for disinfection.
As for Wu Yin and the others, they needed to go to another passage to wash themselves.
This was a procedure that everyone entering from outside had to follow, because no matter how good the protective measures were, coming from outside always carried some amount of Mad Contagion.
If it wasn’t cleaned off and brought into the city, the consequences would be immeasurable.
Besides, Wu Yin and his group hadn’t taken any protective measures at all.
They were so indifferent because they were already “Madmen” infected with Mad Contagion.
To be precise, Wu Yin hadn’t been classified as a Madman, but the other four in the team were unqualified Madmen.
Their bodies contained a fairly high concentration of Mad Contagion, and the most obvious sign was their physical abilities, which could no longer be understood by common sense—clearly beyond the scope of normal humans.
But even though they didn’t care, ordinary people did, so they had to obediently undergo the cleaning.
“Mmm, Hai Shi, don’t like it. Sticky on the skin.”
“Alright, Hai Shi, don’t throw a tantrum. Bear with it a little. I’ll buy you something to eat later.”
Wu Yin comforted Hai Shi, who wanted to dash out, and pulled her along slowly through the passage.
Although the other three didn’t say anything, it was clear that being sprayed all over with purification liquid was uncomfortable for everyone.
Finally, they emerged from the purification passage, and this small room allowed them to slightly dry off the sticky liquid.
“Phew, alright. Disband after we report back.”
“Okay~”
The scattered responses barely gave Wu Yin any face.
The team walked down the main road, naturally attracting countless gazes.
Not only was every team member a stunning beauty, but they were also still carrying their weapons.
Anyone with discerning eyes could tell what they were.
“Hey, aren’t they that ‘Madman Squad’? Just coming back from a mission? Even after cleaning, the smell is still that strong.”
“Shh, shh, shh! Can’t you think before you speak? Want to die?”
“Alright, alright, let’s go. Staring at them is a waste of time. They’re just tools to be used.”
The soldiers left their original positions and seemed to go patrol elsewhere.
The noise lasted for a while, then, as if losing interest, the clamor faded away.
This was the norm, so Wu Yin and the others didn’t pay it much mind.
After all, if they did, just this alone would exhaust them to death.
But it really wasn’t a good idea to go shopping like this.
They decided to go back to the Defense Department first, pack things up, and then go.
It wouldn’t be good to affect other people’s business.
Night fell.
The sky, which should have been dark with twinkling stars, appeared to have a faint greenish glow when viewed from within the city.
That was the purification system now installed in every city, developed to prevent Mad Contagion from entering the city through the atmosphere.
It had become a life barrier for people’s survival.
After crossing several intersections, passing the statue of the first mayor of the City of Hope, and turning a few corners, they arrived at the base of the Hope City Defense Department building.
Entering the building, sure enough, another batch of eyes looked at them.
But after recognizing who they were, those gazes immediately shifted away.
For procedural reasons, I casually tossed my credentials to the receptionist.
After he confirmed them, I took them back and walked into the elevator, pressing the button for the 21st floor.
“You all go back and rest. I’ll make the report.”
Wu Yin looked out at the night scenery.
The sprawling city unfolded before him, neon lights flickering endlessly.
The team members acknowledged and split up on the 21st floor.
The team’s dormitory rooms were all on the 21st floor, and Wu Yin’s superior was also on this floor, saving the trouble of taking the elevator again.
Arriving at a door he had visited countless times, the nameplate read “Office.”
Although it was just a simple three-word sign, this was the only room in the entire building marked “Office”; all others were labeled “Work Station.”
And the master of this room was the overall controller of the entire Hope City defense system, the Commander-in-Chief of Hope City, Yuan Xinghe.
“Yo, finally back. No problems with this mission?”
“Of course not. Just a simple elimination mission, nothing easier.”
“That’s best.”
The man in front of him idly fiddled with the ornaments on his desk, the epitome of a typical playboy.
“Alright, since there’s nothing to say. Anyway, the briefing officer will tell you what needs to be said later. I’m going back.”
Wu Yin waved his hand, intending to go sleep, but Yuan Xinghe called him back at that moment.
“Don’t be so hasty. I just received an interesting report.”
Yuan Xinghe turned the computer screen toward Wu Yin.
Wu Yin, who had originally planned to slip away, had to turn back.
The screen displayed a girl’s profile.
She looked just of age, and…
Wu Yin immediately noticed the most eye-catching part of the entire personal file.
“Identity… Madman.”
Wu Yin bit his lower lip as he said it.
Seeing Wu Yin’s expression, Yuan Xinghe put on an enigmatic smile.
“You should understand by now, right?”
“This person… wants to join the ‘Madman Squad’?”
“That’s what headquarters intends.”
“Phew…”
Wu Yin pushed himself off the desk where he had been leaning, pondering for a moment.
“Alright.”
“I knew you wouldn’t refuse. Don’t you want to take a look at her other information?”
“No need. Things like the cause of infection—probably got attacked by a Mad Beast somewhere, then unexpectedly survived and gained superhuman abilities, then was taken in by the military… something like that.”
“Hmm, close enough. The city she originally lived in is City of Change, which fell three months ago. She was probably infected around that time.”
“City of Change, huh… I’ve heard some rumors about that fall. Something about a Giant Mad Beast breaking through the city walls?”
“Yeah. Even though we detected the existence of the Giant Mad Beast a few days earlier and prepared comprehensive defense measures, it was still breached. That shows how terrifying that Giant Mad Beast was.”
“Hmm… City of Change is almost 3,000 kilometers from here. Even if we had rushed over from the moment it was detected, it would have been too late.”
“So headquarters didn’t send you all over.”
Wu Yin leaned against the office wall, recalling the image of the Giant Mad Beast he had seen in reports earlier.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit him.
If he hadn’t forcefully suppressed it, he would have thrown up right there in Yuan Xinghe’s office.
Another city destroyed, and he had failed to do anything.
Even though he had seen the reports a few months ago, hearing it again now still made him sick.
“Alright, let’s not talk about that now. Anyway, she’ll probably arrive tomorrow. Just wait patiently.”
Before leaving, Wu Yin took one last look at the photo on the screen.
“Leng Qiongling, huh…”