The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 546 Promotion to Four Ranks
Wu Chang followed Raven to a building in the southwest of Ain City.

He recognized the place; according to intelligence, it should be the stronghold of "Awakened Power," the second-ranked organization among the survivor groups.

As they entered the stronghold, Wu Chang felt as if his body had broken through a transparent membrane and entered another world.

Before entering the building, he felt that the building was completely silent, as if it were just an empty building, but after entering, he could sense the presence of living people inside.

Before he could ask Raven what kind of method this was, two fully armed survivors emerged from the shadows and shouted to them:
"Halt! This is the territory of awakened powers. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach."

Seeing the two survivors emerge from the shadows, Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise in his eyes.

When they first entered the Plague Source instance, he and Flashy Flash went around and tried to contact the other party using the code corresponding to "Awakened Power", but they did not receive a response from the other party.

They initially thought the "Awakened Power" had been completely wiped out, and given the urgency of the situation, they immediately contacted the third and fourth ranked survivor organizations without further exploration.

Surprisingly, there are still survivors here, and quite a few of them.

Wu Chang was too lazy to get entangled with these small fry. He looked at them and said coldly:
"Go away."

"Alright." With the spatial controller's power and the dragon's might, the two survivors were completely unable to disobey Wu Chang's will, and obediently lowered their guns and stepped aside.

To minimize trouble, Wu Chang directly unleashed his dragon aura, and wherever he went, the hidden survivors would voluntarily reveal themselves, waiting around him as if welcoming their leader.

Wu Chang asked:

"Why is it that when I'm outside, as the one who controls this private space, I don't sense anything unusual about this place?"

The raven said:

“Someone here has constructed a hidden barrier using divine properties. The barrier has special properties and is specifically designed to obscure people’s senses, including inspiration.”

"The higher the inspiration, the stronger the control over this place, but the more one will be affected by the spell and ignore this place."

After listening, Wu Chang seemed to understand something. He knew without guessing that the deceptive and misleading power must be Loki's doing.

As the god of lies and trickery in mythology, if Loki's fantastical divinity has only one characteristic, then lying would definitely take precedence over fire control.

If Loki has any power more powerful than lies, it must be procreation. After all, every creature he gives birth to is a monster capable of destroying the world, and none of them are easy to deal with.

However, according to Raven, Loki's deceptive power seems to be specifically designed to target the intelligent and sensitive; the stronger one's inspiration, the more easily they are influenced.

This restrains him; if he wants to kill Loki, it might cause him some trouble.

He followed the signs all the way to the underground of the building, and at the deepest level, he stopped in front of a special metal door.

The metal door is exceptionally sturdy, with special restrictions placed on it. These restrictions not only prevent spatial teleportation abilities, but also immediately trigger the restrictions if the door is opened by force.

Having learned from the previous experience with the virus lab, Wu Chang dared not forcefully break down the door, fearing that the moment he did, everything behind it would be destroyed. He could only ask the survivors around him for advice.

The vast majority of survivors of the "Awakened Power" did not know what was behind the door; only one person possessed the key to open it.

But the man was the leader's confidant and was extremely resolute. When he realized that Wu Chang had come for the things behind the door, he immediately shot himself in the head. Fortunately, Wu Chang was quick-witted and grabbed the man, teleporting him to Eileen's side, thus saving the man's life.

The gatekeeper was resolute and, influenced by Loki's divine power, having witnessed miracles of salvation, resolutely refused to cooperate in answering.

Even though Wu Chang burned his spirit with Heart Flame, and he begged for mercy, as soon as the Heart Flame stopped, he immediately turned hostile and refused to cooperate.

If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't have been able to handle this tough nut, but Wu Chang is different.

No matter how stubborn the gatekeeper is, his actions speak louder than words.

Although the other party did not succumb to the Heart Flame, the image of the demon who controlled the mind had already been imprinted in the other party's mind. Following the mental imprint, Wu Chang directly entered the gatekeeper's mental world and found the key to open the door and the things locked behind the door.

He opened the door and walked through a passageway shimmering with runes. At the end of the passageway was a cell made of special glass.

A young girl was locked in the cell; she was Valentine's daughter, Amira.

The Amira before them had not turned into a zombie, but had retained her human appearance. She was able to remain unharmed for two reasons: first, she had inherited Valentine's talent, which allowed her to avoid infection from the zombie plague; second, she had been kidnapped here by the "Awakened Power" at the very beginning of the zombie plague outbreak.

According to the visions in the gatekeeper's mind, Amira had already been targeted by them before the zombie plague broke out in full force.

Several major pharmaceutical companies jointly triggered the zombie plague in order to create a new human evolution drug. The two-year plague lockdown was not only to improve the zombie plague and obtain research data, but also to screen out the perfect test subjects.

Amira was the perfect test subject they chose.

However, with the outbreak of the zombie plague, they discovered that Amira's father, Valentine, was even more perfect than her. So they used Amira as bait and bargaining chip, waiting for the perfect opportunity to force Valentine to submit.

After Loki entered Ein City and subdued the "Awakened Power," this bargaining chip was transferred to Loki's hands and placed under his tighter control.

Although Amira's living conditions were limited, as a perfect substitute experimental subject, Loki and the others did not mistreat her. She had ample food and drink and was well-nourished, which made her look very energetic.

Upon seeing Wu Chang and Raven approach, Amira, who was lying on the bed, turned over and turned her back to them, indicating her unwillingness to communicate.

She mocked:

"Why is it a different group of people again? What do you want to do with me? Are you going to use me for some evil research, or are you going to sell me to some perverted tycoon?"

"Whatever you want to do, just give me a straight answer. Don't keep me cooped up here. Every time you come in, it's like you're in a zoo, pointing fingers at me."

Amira's tone was full of self-abandonment, clearly indicating that she had resigned herself to her fate, but Wu Chang knew that she was faking it.

Guided by his inspiration, he discovered that Amira had actually broken free of her chains. Her body was tense, clearly gathering strength. Perhaps, wrapped in a blanket and with her back to them, something was hidden, used as a weapon.

As soon as the cell door is opened, she will suddenly attack and hurt people, looking for an opportunity to escape.

She learned martial arts from Valentine from a young age, and with her natural talent, her physical strength was no less than Wendia's under the influence of the zombie plague.

If she were to break out of the cell, the survivors left behind by the "Awakened Power" might not be a match for her.

Wu Chang opened the glass cell door and waved to Amira:

“Come out yourself, Miss Amira. I know you can do it.”

Amira's body trembled, and she said in a dry voice:
"I do not know what you're talking about."

Wu Chang said:

“We have been sent by Mr. Valentine to rescue you.”

Amira was worried that it was a test from the other party, so she did not make a move.

Wu Chang sighed, activated his spatial power, and teleported Amira and her bed outside the cell. He yanked the blanket off Amira, then took a step back to dodge the spoon thrust from her hand.

"It's time to get up, Miss Amira."

Amira held an iron spoon in her hand. The edge of the spoon was covered with serrations, and the cross-section was rough and uneven. It looked like it was bitten out with teeth. If someone were to be stabbed by this thing, the wound would definitely be difficult to stitch up.

Amira missed her first strike and immediately followed up with another. This time, Wu Chang didn't dodge. Instead, he grabbed Amira's wrist and pulled the serrated spoon away from it.

"If you've vented enough, let's go."

Realizing the disparity in strength between them, Amira ceased her attack. She took two steps back and quietly moved towards the exit, asking:

"You really came to save me?"

Wu Chang shrugged and said:
"Of course, otherwise you would have been dead already."

Amira asked again:
"How is my father?"

Wu Chang replied decisively:
"died."

Amira hadn't expected Wu Chang's answer to be so direct. She was quite taken aback by it and took a moment to catch her breath before asking:
"Who did it?"

Wu Chang said:

“It’s Loki.” Amira clenched her fists, said nothing, and turned to run toward the door behind her.

Wu Chang did not stop her and let Amira leave.

Amira burst out of her cell and found that the members of "Awakened Power" did not stop her. She rushed out of the underground and out of the building. When she came outside, the scene in front of her shocked her so much that she stood there stunned.

The sun was no longer gray, the sky was no longer gloomy, and the mutated bacterial colonies on the buildings, resembling minced meat, had all disappeared.

Everything in Ain City had returned to how she remembered it. Standing on the empty street, she didn't know where to go for a moment.

Wu Chang's voice came from behind her.

“Miss Amira, the zombie plague is over. You should go home.”

"If you encounter any difficulties, you can come to the Eternal Light Cathedral near the disaster shelter to find me."

After he finished speaking, he used his teleportation ability and disappeared in front of Amira with the raven.

Because of the blood-red last words and Valentine's blood, he had to find and protect Valentine's daughter. Now that she had been found, and with Amira being so energetic, it wouldn't be difficult for her to take care of herself. As long as she was in Ein City, naturally no one could hurt her.

Having fulfilled his promise to Valentine, he could now collect his payment.

He returned to the virus lab, where the countdown for the device used to create the evolution potion had stopped. If he opened the device now, he could obtain a fully evolved potion, but that was clearly not enough.

He turned on his phone, and He Yun's face appeared on the screen. The moment the screen lit up, she used her abilities to take over the pharmaceutical equipment.

Under He Yun's instructions, he placed Valentine's blood into a specific placement tank, and the instrument started running again, with a 24-hour countdown appearing above it.

When the time is up, he will receive a perfect-grade evolution potion.

With the problems in Ain City resolved, Wu Chang set off for Base 44. Flash had been urging him many times during this period, and it seemed that some important figure was coming to Base 44 and was waiting for him to arrive.

Because of the previous erosion, the Plague Source instance and Base 44 were very close. He drove directly into Base 44 as soon as he left the border of Ain City.

At the entrance to the city wall, the four leaders of the base, along with Flash, were waiting at the door. However, their expressions showed more apprehension and caution than excitement.

It didn't feel like welcoming a triumphant hero; it felt more like waiting for an inspection from a higher-up.

Accompanied by the others, Wu Chang entered the base. Qin Lang and the others held a celebration banquet for Wu Chang in a sky restaurant to celebrate his successful breakthrough in the erosion instance.

The rooftop restaurant is the second tallest building in Base 44, surrounded by huge floor-to-ceiling windows offering a 360-degree panoramic view of the entire base.

While waiting for the banquet, Wu Chang saw a spacecraft pass through the space barrier, fly into Base 44, and land on the helipad on the top floor of the sky restaurant.

The shape of the aircraft looked somewhat familiar to him.

A moment later, the important figure Flash had mentioned entered the restaurant, led by Wei Rui.

When Wu Chang saw the newcomer, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up. The newcomer was none other than Xu Dejun. No wonder the aircraft he had just seen looked so familiar.

Xu Dejun only knew He Ping and was not familiar with Wu Chang. On the way here, he looked through Wu Chang's resume and found that the two had actually crossed paths before.

Some time ago, there was a problem with the second job advancement of the Sword Master. The Evolution faction wanted to find some "buffers" for the Sword Master to reduce the difficulty of the dungeon. Among the few "buffers" that were considered, Wu Chang was surprisingly one of them.

The Wilderness Management Bureau's note regarding Wu Chang is:
With a peaceful mind, skilled at tackling dungeons, able to maximize the use of the environment to unleash their combat power, possessing powerful transformation skills, having a hidden mental class change, adept at close combat, meticulous, bold, and responsible.

Although he has only been with the Administration for a short time, his resume is impressive.

I was once a main force member in conquering the B-level erosion dungeon that appeared in Wanghai City.

Later, when Wanghai City was attacked by the Painter, he was the main force in completing the A-level erosion dungeon and rescuing Jianxing and a group of high-ranking officials of the Wanghai Branch. As a result, he was noticed by the former director Gao Wenju and recommended to be the current director of the Wanghai Branch.

Among them, the point about getting to know Heping was ranked first. The opportunity for them to get to know each other was because of the Sword Star incident. Sword Star and Wu Chang benefited from the misfortune and happened to be matched with Heping, who had just entered the Abyss game. Under Heping's leadership, they completed the Tranquil Town dungeon.

At that time, Wu Chang's level had not yet exceeded ten, but now he has been promoted to the Realm of Reason.

According to Wu Chang's own description, when he joined the Administration Bureau, he had only been in the Abyss Game for eight months. Calculating the time, from entering the Abyss Game to ascending to the Realm of Reason, it was less than a year at most.

While the world dungeon played a part, this speed was still quite astonishing, considering that getting into the top 1,000 completion rate is not easy for ordinary players.

Moreover, having just been promoted to the Realm of Reason, he was able to complete the conquest of the β-level erosion dungeon using his powerful strategic skills.

This achievement is enough to prove its value.

Upon seeing Wu Chang's file, Xu Dejun exclaimed in surprise, never expecting that the Administration Bureau would have such a talent who specializes in navigating dungeons.

Although his attribute panel in the records is somewhat lacking and his combat power is somewhat deficient, judging from his leveling speed and ability to conquer dungeons, calling Wu Chang a "small peace" of the Administration Bureau is not wrong at all.

Xu Dejun was extremely excited that such a talented newcomer had appeared in the Administration Bureau. He was very friendly when he saw Wu Chang, even more so than when he saw He Shi.

With Xu Dejun's arrival, Wu Chang's victory celebration banquet began.

During the banquet, Xu Dejun conveyed the Bureau's commendation for Wu Chang's actions to everyone present.

As the controller of private spaces, Wu Chang's rank rose like a rocket, advancing four levels from a Level 2 Investigator to become a Level 1 Executor, on par with Xu Dejun.

After celebrating Wu Chang's promotion, the conversation naturally turned to the source of the plague.

In the realm of reason, survival is everything, and no organization would complain about having too much private space.

Especially since a large number of players had just leveled up in the world instance, there was an urgent need for space to accommodate these players. Therefore, Xu Dejun asked Wu Chang if he would be willing to open up the space to the Administration Bureau and make it one of the Bureau's bases.

If Wu Chang allows it, all expenses for maintaining the space will be borne by the management bureau, which will also send a professional person in charge to help him manage and maintain the private space.

As the owner of the space, he can enjoy a higher-level rank and benefits within the Bureau. In other words, he can enjoy the privileges and benefits of a Level 3 Patrolman while working at the Bureau.

Furthermore, regardless of how high the occupancy rate of the space is, the Administration will pay him 300,000 decaying silver coins in rent every month.

Wu Chang's time is precious; he doesn't have time to attract tenants himself, and he's even less inclined to spend time managing Ain City.

Thanks to the linkage of authority within the divine kingdom, the Irene Divine Kingdom also enjoys the ability of absolute rationality in the realm of reason, so he doesn't have to worry about being targeted because of the Church of Eternal Light.

So from the beginning, he planned to open the space to the Administration Bureau. Now that he heard that Xu Dejun's offer was reasonable, he didn't bother to haggle and agreed directly.

"If only I could have thousands of mansions to shelter all the poor and make them smile. Life in the political arena is not easy. It is my duty to do my part to help my colleagues in the bureau have more places to live, so of course there is no problem."

Seeing Wu Chang's quick agreement, Xu Dejun thought even more highly of him and became even more friendly.

Just as Wei Rui and the others had feared, Wu Chang's plague source space score was higher than that of Base 44, and he took over the original position of Base 44. The base controlled by Wei Rui and the others was moved to Base 45.

Wu Chang felt somewhat helpless about this result. Ever since entering the Abyss instance, he had been destined to be associated with the number 4, being assigned to a private space, specifically Base 44.

I finally managed to clear an erosion dungeon, thinking I could get rid of this number, but I still couldn't escape it after going around in circles.

While a banquet was being held at Base 45, Loki, guided by the Gem Man, arrived near the source of the plague.

The evolution potion in the Plague Source instance was very important to him and could not be lost. As soon as the Divine Court banquet ended, he rushed there instantly.

The Plague Source instance has not yet been taken over by the Administration, and the spatial barrier is not yet stable, making it a great opportunity to infiltrate.

He channeled the divine power of a lower-level god, summoning a mysterious green light that enveloped his entire body.

Let alone the fact that the Administration Bureau hasn't taken over yet, even if it were a private space operated by the Administration Bureau, with his power as a lower-level god, he could easily fool the spatial barrier's recognition.

He gave a soft snort, and with a flash, rushed towards the source of the plague.

when!
The next moment, he crashed solidly into the spatial barrier, his entire body flying backward and rolling three times on the ground before stopping his backward momentum.

He sat up from the ground, looking completely bewildered. He touched his bleeding forehead and looked at the intact spatial barrier, his face full of question marks.

(End of this chapter)