"The symptoms of the victims are almost exactly the same as recorded in the logs of those who first encountered the Curse Fog," said Candle Dragon. "The relevant information has already been submitted to Dubhe Tower’s analysis department. I estimate it won’t be long before the Curse Fog is officially listed in the catalog of anomalies."

Just then, Candle Dragon’s wristband suddenly beeped.

"It’s the alarm I set earlier; there are five minutes until midnight."

"Are you also planning to go to Nanhua Town?" Ya Qiaoxi asked. "But wasn’t your purpose here to recruit Hunters to go to Egypt?"

"Once the news is out, top-tier Hunters and mercenaries from Yumen and Dragon City are likely to flock to Nanhua Town, saving us the hassle of searching for people all over," Sun Hang said with a smile. "What a great opportunity, wouldn’t you say?"

"..." Ya Qiaoxi was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Did the owner of Spring Breeze provide you with any specific information about the treasure? Of course, if it’s inconvenient, you don’t have to tell me. I’m just curious."

"There’s nothing inconvenient about it, because Nagano Souta himself doesn’t know what the treasure actually is," Sun Hang shrugged. "The reason he publicized the information about the treasure map is to find out what this so-called treasure is."

"Doesn’t he want the treasure?" A look of doubt flashed in Ya Qiaoxi’s eyes.

"He didn’t say," Candle Dragon shook his head. "The only information we currently know is that this treasure will incite the deepest greed in human hearts, leading people to kill each other for it..."

"Fortunately, we brought some safety measures," Sun Hang glanced at Xue Yue.

With this girl around, no amount of greed would be more than a feeding ground for her—she could absorb the negative emotions of so many people in Chunming City all at once. The greed of just a few hundred Hunters and mercenaries would be a piece of cake.

"Can I come with you?" Suddenly, Ya Qiaoxi’s phone rang. She picked it up and saw that it was exactly midnight on October 15th. An avalanche of information was frantically updating online, and her intelligence network in Yumen and Dragon City immediately gathered this information and sent it to her.

As Candle Dragon mentioned, the place indicated by the treasure map was indeed the remote area deep in Nanhua Town.

"Haven’t you washed your hands of this life?" Candle Dragon wondered.

"I’m not interested in the treasure. I just want to gather intelligence," Ya Qiaoxi said. "I’m no longer a mercenary, but I do occasionally moonlight as an intelligence broker... especially since Dubhe Tower offers such tempting prices for intel."

"This trip will be very dangerous," Candle Dragon said seriously.

"It’s not like I haven’t faced danger before," Ya Qiaoxi said nonchalantly. "How do you think I managed to gain a foothold in Dragon City?"

"You can join us, but I must first clarify that we are not responsible for your safety—of course, you can hire us as your guards, but I think you know the price for hiring me and Candle Dragon." Sun Hang nodded. "Also, Mr. Ya, could you please go take a shower first? Although the leather jacket and pants are stylish, once they’re soaked with sweat, the stench is truly overpowering..."

"If I remember correctly, Candle Dragon, you owe me a favor," Ya Qiaoxi looked at Candle Dragon.

His expression froze, then he sighed heavily, "Yes, I owe you a favor. During this operation, I’ll ensure your safety."

"Great, I like a man who keeps his word," Ya Qiaoxi smiled slightly, then pressed the service button on the armrest of Candle Dragon’s massage chair.

A server dressed in a maid outfit quickly entered the room.

"Arrange a room for me to take a shower, and put the cost on their tab," Ya Qiaoxi said.

The server looked at Candle Dragon for confirmation, who readily nodded—after all, Nagano Souta would be footing the bill.

"Also, order an S-sized fully enclosed combat protective suit with a matching breathing circulation system and Power Exoskeleton system. As for the optional armament... uh... let’s go with the S03 set from Dragon City Heavy Industry. You should have those in stock, right?" Ya Qiaoxi added. "Also put that on their tab."

Even as Sun Hang wondered why a bathhouse would have such military-standard equipment in stock, the server nodded to Ya Qiaoxi, "I’ll prepare it for you immediately."

"Wait," Candle Dragon suddenly said. "Replace the S03 set with the D06—if we encounter combat during the mission, you don’t need to fight, just take care of yourself."

The individual weapon packs designed for remote area exploration by Dragon City Heavy Industry are divided into several series, categorized by the initial letter. The S03 Ya Qiaoxi asked for is the third generation sniper weapon, while the D06 Candle Dragon mentioned, as the name implies, is the sixth generation defense weapon.

"We don’t have the D06 in stock at the moment, but we do have a reinforced version of the D05, which performs similarly to the D06, but costs only two-thirds of the D06. How’s that?"

"Let’s go with the D05," Candle Dragon said.

...

Meanwhile, at the Spring Breeze outpost, inside Hangar Zero.

Nagano Souta slowly wheeled his way into the hangar. A red light flickered at the fingertips of his mechanical limbs, and the formerly dark hangar was instantly illuminated by searchlights like it was broad daylight.

At the center of the hangar, a giant object over six meters tall was covered with a waterproof cloth.

"You know what to do," Nagano Souta said, pulling off the cloak he wore. Accompanied by the crisp sound of locks popping open, his four mechanical limbs simultaneously detached, revealing the wounds that have yet to fully heal.

At the edges of these wounds, the whitish muscle fibers displayed obvious signs of crystalization. With each breath Nagano Souta took, the crystallized fibers flickered with a rhythmic glow.

"Boss, you don’t need to go yourself... at least wait until the first wave of Hunters returns,"

Nagano Souta silently shook his head.

"Boss, doing this will speed up your body’s crystalization. If this spreads to your main arteries and heart and lungs... given our current medical capabilities..."

"I won’t say it again," Nagano Souta said coldly.

The accountant gritted his teeth and walked over to the control panel, taking hold of the joystick.

A crane-like device lifted the limbless Nagano Souta from his wheelchair and moved him to the giant object covered with the waterproof cloth.

"The time I have left... is short," Nagano Souta muttered. "I’ve lived up until now for this very moment." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

...

October 16, 5:30 a.m., Yumen.

Above the "Spring Breeze" outpost, at the entrance of Gate Three.

After a day of emergency preparations, the first wave of departing Hunters and mercenaries agreed to set off from Yumen at 6 a.m. on the morning of the 16th, dividing into three convoys to head for the location marked on the treasure map—Nanhua Town.

Sun Hang looked around. He estimated that there were over six hundred Hunters and mercenaries gathered here. The variety of vehicles exceeded a hundred, and there were even a few military mechas mixed into the convoy, bearing large-caliber weapons that seemed formidable.

Apart from the Hunters and mercenaries stationed at Spring Breeze, many others from various outposts in Yumen had also arrived, along with a group that had traveled overnight from Dragon City.

"Quite an impressive sight," Sun Hang remarked, standing atop some ruins. "So many people gathered together—aren’t you afraid of attracting an anomaly sandstorm?"

"That’s why the convoy is split into three," Ya Qiaoxi, now dressed in new gear, said. "An anomaly sandstorm won’t form simultaneously in two areas. As long as someone can lure the sandstorm away, the other two convoys can proceed deeper into the remote area safely—you better pray, I definitely don’t want to be the unfortunate decoy."