Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 7: When entering a vision, please hold on tight and maintain a normal mindset

"Visions," as the name suggests, are abnormal phenomena. Each phenomenon is different; milder ones can cause spatial distortion in certain areas.

More serious visions contain opportunities and certain dangers. Opportunities mean that something can be taken out of the vision. A large part of the technology used in current urban construction and people struggling in the desert comes from research on visions.

The danger is...if you're not prepared, you could die.

According to the entry in the Independent Mercenary Database, the origin of this phenomenon is still under investigation, but many clues point to the fact that it originates from the minerals scattered throughout the desert.

Indeed, the reason crushing sand causes it to emit light is because all sand can be considered a 'mineral'. It's just that its purity is extremely low, and it can only release a weak energy under external pressure.

These minerals are distributed throughout the sand sea and the complex strata beneath it. In areas with high mineral content and abundance, relatively stable anomalies are likely to occur.

Unstable visions appear and disappear quickly, then reappear suddenly, usually lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes to a few hours. Even if you accidentally enter one, there is no need to be afraid. Once the vision dissipates, you can escape it.

However, the phenomenon of edge nodes being here is quite significant—it is a constant phenomenon.

Building a city just for the sake of a vision might sound a bit cheesy, but the knowledge contained in the vision and the items it might bring out are real, objective facts, so it's understandable.

...To be honest, based on Sefer's experience, he always wants to say, isn't this just a copy mechanism?

Standing with his arms folded among the sparse mercenary team, he found a project to recruit independent mercenaries on the communication network of the Edge Node City. There were not many tasks on it, but each one was important.

Ignoring the pirate search and destruction missions of the "retaliatory strike" mission, the "vision investigation" mission is currently the most popular item. Although its guaranteed reward is only 10,000, the reward will increase depending on the value of the things brought out from the vision.

In addition, you need to take care of the consumption of ammunition and equipment yourself.

"The company that issued this mission, the one that contracted and built this node city, is I/O Enterprise, a subsidiary of the Commercial Union. What does this company do?"

When Cypher asked over the comms, a mature female voice, clear but with a hint of background noise, replied, "Mineral mining and weapons companies—or rather, all companies are basically structured like this. The so-called alliance is merely superficial."

Leica speaks clearly and rationally, which makes people imagine that on the other end of the line is a neatly dressed, serious and capable woman, perhaps a little older, after all, her voice cannot be faked.

"Aren't these the basics of being a mercenary, Red Crossbow? Also, I saw your weapons and equipment. I suggest you don't carry too much weapons, as it will slow you down."

"Besides... it's too basic. First, make some money and buy better weapons. An independent mercenary's equipment is as important as his life."

It's a shame to wake up with only blank equipment, but Seifer should be more confident and have more room for trial and error than ordinary mercenaries.

Being able to be resurrected is incredible, but let's not tell this secret for now, unless we can meet Laika and confirm that she can be trusted.

After all, she was only depressed for a few seconds after realizing that the previous Red Crossbow was gone, and then she picked up her professional level again, which was really a bit subtle.

"Anyway, did you see the vision?" Leica reminded.

Seifer looked at the square-shaped hole in the middle of the square, which had eight intersecting roads and allowed independent mercenaries to drive their own "property" or mobile bases into it.

The size of the artificially constructed box...even the mobile base parked nearby, ready to drive onto the road, looks like a toy car at the doorstep.

In such a huge square, there are irregular streams of light blue light. Under the bright light, their shapes do not disappear, but appear even brighter.

These lights dragged long tails, some of which swirled around the bottom of the door, while others swirled around the frame or spiraled upwards, looking quite magical.

"Yeah, I saw the door, but it's just a door now... Is it normal because it's not time to start yet?"

"You guessed right, Red Crossbow. Once the portal is opened, independent mercenaries can enter. If they have developed enough knowledge of the anomaly, I can theoretically provide intelligence support from within."

Why does the technology tree of this world feel so messed up? There are advanced areas, and there are also inexplicable directions... By the way, it seems that the food level in this world has not been investigated yet.

After confirming this blind spot, Seifer suddenly said, "When I return from my mission in the vision, can I treat you to a meal?"

"what……?"

Leica didn't reply for a long moment, seemingly shocked by Cypher's blunt invitation. After a moment's thought, she calmly replied, "Unfortunately, I'm currently at the Xinxiang Research Institute, a city created by the Phantom Mist Group."

"It's about fifteen days' journey from Edge Node City. So I can't respond to your invitation, sorry, Red Crossbow. I've never eaten with mercenaries before." Saifu was a little disappointed. "It's so far... I'd also like to see what local delicacies there are. It seems I can only wait until I have a chance to do a mission nearby."

"Well, let's stop chatting here for now, Red Crossbow. Has the vision been activated?"

Well said, the flow of blue light is increasing, and the startup is really not - oh here it comes.

The gathered prayers converged into... a string of lights. The converging light gradually became more conspicuous, continuously expanding its surface area, starting from the very center and slowly spreading outward.

This blue light curtain was like a silky flag unfolding, and after touching the surface of the box, it continued to spread along the inner frame.

The speed seemed slow but was actually fast. It soon occupied the entire frame, and its color changed from azure blue to slightly undulating water patterns. Finally, the mechanical stabilization devices under the entire frame portal hummed together, completely stabilizing the portal to the vision.

The azure halo faded. From Sefer's direction, the portal seemed to have cast a layer of Gaussian blur over the scene behind it. Except for the occasional azure light that flashed by, it was no different from before.

There are very few special effects. Is it because the special effects artist was not paid enough?

"The portal is already open, and it's very noisy here. Some independent mercenaries drove their base directly in... Wouldn't it be a loss to drive something like that in, Leica?"

"Perhaps it's because they have more intelligence. Don't take it lightly. The rules of each anomaly are slightly different. You're a lone mercenary, so it's easy for accidents to happen if you don't have enough information."

Leica dutifully reminded him, then added, "The point is, you're a new recruit in this industry. If you die in a vision without even completing a company commission, it would be an insult to the title."

It sounds like the predecessor with this name has done something extraordinary. If I had known earlier, I would have chosen the code name called Train or Shadow Blade.

Seifer shook his head. When he arrived at the bottom of the gate in a vehicle that quickly passed to the front of the gate, he realized how huge this thing was.

Let me put it this way, the bigger something is, the more frightening it will be when it is close to us. Even though the horizontal frame is obviously very far away from us, it always feels like it is right in front of us.

To calm his nerves, Cypher focused his attention on the Gaussian blur in front of him—then raised his hand and gently touched the turbulent object.

The robotic arm naturally didn't feel anything, but with just this contact, Seifer felt the world around him spinning, and the scene in front of him suddenly distorted and became blurred.

Then everything calmed down in an instant, but everything in front of me became completely different.

I was sitting in a metal transport device that kept shaking and creaking.

The entire transport facility was already packed with various mercenaries, and the noisy carriages were filled with complaints like "Why is it another crappy mission?" and "This time only one group can enjoy the meal."

"Alright! Listen up, you losers! Give the audience a good performance! If the fight isn't exciting enough, they won't pay for the match!"

"The exciting battle is about to begin. Hold on to your belts, protect your butts, and jump from here!"

A notification drowned out everyone else's voices, followed by the siren that opened the hatch—the ground in front of everyone automatically cracked and folded, letting in the cold, moisture-laden wind from outside.

This is a flying vehicle, and the crowded mercenaries... need to fight on the prepared island below, is that what you mean, right?

This is how Seifer understood it. The mercenaries around him also started to complain about the mission and were ready to jump off directly - but before he could do anything, someone patted his shoulder.

"Aren't you that so-and-so? I just dragged you back today. How come you have the energy to come here and make some extra money now?"

The voice sounded familiar. Seifer turned around and saw that it was the driver of the patrol car who was also wearing thick protective clothing. It seemed that he had not gone anywhere else after get off work and had rushed over immediately.

There was a green holographic logo on her head that was completely different from the others. Did that mean this person was on his team?

"Ha, I told you, rapport is a mysterious thing, but it works. My guys have been assigned to other teams, so you and I are the only ones left..."

Someone nearby slowly raised his hand: "Boss, I, I'm still here..."

"How can you compare with a mercenary, you little brat!"

The man lowered his head in frustration, then quickly shook his head: "Maybe there's a chance! We've participated in competitions like this before. Everyone is equal until they land!"

Ah...is it an exhibition match where they shoot at each other with paintball guns for the audience?
(End of this chapter)