Eternal Night: I Have a Legendary Navigator's Manual

On the day of their planned departure, the three of them stood before an enormous gate in Dawn City.

Lilia was giving the vehicle a final check, while Roy stood beside her, constantly handing her tools.

While Zhong Xu appeared to be adjusting the equipment, he was actually mentally reviewing the "Navigator's Manual."

The entire journey thereafter will require relying on the maps in this manual.

The area where the lost exploration vehicle was located was, as he had guessed, still a "low-concentration zone".

Besides Zhong Xu's convoy, there were many other teams behind the giant gate, all of whom were preparing to enter the black fog to explore.

Dawn City opens its gates three times a day, and only qualified convoys can enter the black fog when the gates open.

Roy glanced at the huge timer hanging on the gate and shouted to Lilia, who was lying on the roof of the vehicle checking the high-energy machine gun.

"Lilia, is this guy alright? We'll need him later!"

"The checkup is complete, and there are no problems!"

Lilia nimbly flipped down from the top and dusted off her hands.

All three remained in their original positions in the vehicle. With a loud bang, the gate opened, and the exploration vehicle sped off.

After passing through the vacuum zone and plunging into the thick black fog, the command was then handed over to Zhong Xu, the navigator.

Although he pulled out the panel and stared at the parameters on it, most of his attention was focused on the map in his mind.

"Roy, turn at three o'clock!"

"Alright, hold on tight!"

Thanks to Zhong Xu's command, the three of them did not encounter any real danger along the way.

The exploration vehicle was completely repaired and had no problems with sealing. To save time, they went directly through the high-concentration zone along the way.

Zhong Xu noticed that after he entered the [High Concentration Zone], the [Area Assessment] function displayed new annotations:

[In general risk areas, the concentration of black fog exceeds the threshold that humans can tolerate.]

It's only considered a general risk area...?

Zhong Xu noted this small detail, indicating that according to the assessment in the Navigator's Manual, high-concentration black fog was not a particularly dangerous situation.

However, upon closer reflection, it makes sense. Risks arising solely from the environment are relatively easy to avoid, such as by hiding in an exploration vehicle or by changing into a better, stronger, and more expensive protective suit.

I just don't know what those more dangerous situations might be.

For example, that black fog storm?

Along the way, apart from areas shrouded in high-concentration black fog, there were also some areas assessed as low-risk zones, given the reason that reptiles or unknown hostile creatures roamed there.

Zhong Xu looked out the window and saw nothing but thick black fog, but he wasn't too worried about being attacked by monsters.

After all, the exploration vehicle is quite fast, far beyond what a monster like a crawler could catch up with using only its limbs.

It is said that there are extremely large monsters deep in the black fog, which can walk nearly a hundred meters in a single step.

But it's impossible to encounter such a thing around Dawn City.

Roy stared at the image drawn with sonar on the windshield, then suddenly spoke, his voice filled with intense surprise:

"Zhong Xu! I've detected the signal from that exploration vehicle! It's about 200 meters ahead!"

Hearing his words, Lilia turned her head to look at Zhong Xu, who was standing above a blue screen, and said blankly:

"Zhong Xu...you really are a genius."

Her voice was very soft, but it still reached Zhong Xu's ears. However, instead of excitement, he frowned deeply.

"Roy, stop the car! Don't go any further!"

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Roy was taken aback by his sudden shout, but instinctively trusting Zhong Xu, he quickly stopped the exploration vehicle.

"Is there another storm ahead?!"

Lilia looked at Zhong Xu's solemn face, and her tone unconsciously rose a few decibels. The sense of despair she felt three days ago made her blurt out those words.

Upon hearing her words, Roy's previously excited face turned deathly pale.

"No way! Are these things really that common? I don't actually really want that exploration vehicle..."

"Don't overreact, it's not a black fog storm, but there are definitely some things inside the black fog..."

Seeing this, Zhong Xu offered a word of comfort to the two. The reason he suddenly ordered the stop was due to the Navigator's Manual's assessment of this area:

[General risk zone; moderate concentration of black fog; unknown hostile creatures roaming the area.]

This was the second time he had seen an area assessed as a general risk zone; the other time was when he was passing through black fog that exceeded the safety threshold, according to the area assessment given in the manual.

What kind of monster is so dangerous that its very existence is comparable to the danger level of a "high-concentration zone"?

Zhong Xu didn't know, but he was certain that it couldn't possibly be just a crawler.

The reason is simple: firstly, the reptiles are not unknown hostile creatures.

Secondly, their own strength is limited, and they mostly become troublesome because the black fog obstructs visibility.

Although the black fog in the low-concentration area also affects visibility, it allows you to see at least 15 meters ahead compared to the less than 10-meter visibility in the high-concentration area.

In this situation, the crawler's advantage is greatly reduced, and the threat it poses is also much lower.

What kind of monster could it be?

This sudden change made him feel vaguely uneasy, as if it were an intuition brought about by enhanced perception.

Without further hesitation, he directly opened the "Navigator's Manual" in his mind and went to the page for selecting gene nodes.

[Danger Premonition]: Able to sense impending danger and its approximate source.

Fortunately, the opportunity to choose was left, and Zhong Xu directly chose this point.

While the regional assessment pointed out the cause of the danger in the current area, it did not reveal the monster's exact location.

It may be wandering near its destination, or it may be in a more distant place. In that case, let's just point out this gene node directly.

This ability is used to determine whether taking away the exploration vehicle poses a danger.

As soon as Zhong Xu made his decision, the veins on both sides of his forehead immediately began to throb.

He seemed to be in a state of high tension, with a few beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.

A strange sense of crisis enveloped his heart, and the source... He looked up and gazed at the front of the exploration vehicle, at the place they were originally heading.

The "Danger Premonition" has taken effect; something is stirring within the black mist, eyeing them.

Without hesitation, Zhong Xu zoomed out the map to its maximum size, breaking through the obstruction of vision caused by the black fog.

The already thin black mist almost completely disappeared, and everything in front of Zhong Xu's eyes looked as if it had been filtered.

His field of vision immediately expanded to more than two hundred meters away.

Looking in the direction that gave him a sense of danger, something strange happened.

Looking along the road, all that could be seen were scattered building debris and stray pieces of garbage.

Further ahead was the abandoned exploration vehicle, which was parked quietly in front of a building. The signal generator on the roof was flashing a faint red light, emitting signals to the surrounding area.

Besides these, there's nothing else...

I could clearly sense that the source of danger was in that direction, but I couldn't see anything at all!

Something's not right!