On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

Then, a miraculous scene unfolded. The old man, who had already lost all signs of life, began to turn into sand. In just a few seconds, it was like a collapsing sandcastle, with the sand scattering all over the ground and eventually merging into the desolate earth.

At the same time, Liao Ji looked at the corpse of the monstrous beast that had just been shot down by 86. Whether it was a monster or a human, they all died in the same way: their bodies turned into sand, or were blown away by the wind, or sank into the ground and disappeared without a trace.

Clearly, this is the fate of the indigenous people in the Zero Dream.

After all, they are just strings of virtual data, right?

Liao Ji looked down at the blood-stained map in his hand, which the old man had just desperately shoved into his hand.

Much of the map was obscured by blood, but fortunately, 86 was nearby. After comparing and reconstructing the map, Liao Ji discovered that the area he was currently in was called...

Witch's Leader.

According to the map, the gathering place mentioned by the old man was about ten kilometers to their southwest. In addition, the only other place on the map, besides the terrain, was marked with a large, glaring black circle, which was a church in the north.

Liao Ji looked at the location circled in black on the map. Inside the circled area was a building with a cross. Strangely, although it was clearly a church, considering the old man's earlier statement that "all the servants were killed by the witch" and the name of this area, this black circle should be the witch's lair.

In the context of games, this would be similar to a regional boss, right?

Besides "witch," another word that appeared more frequently in Liao Ji's recollections of the old man's words was "machine servant."

Mechanical maid.

Judging from the old man's appearance, Liao Ji knew that this was not the first time he had seen 86; on the contrary, it seemed as if he had seen him many times, or even "many" times.

So, are there many maids like 86 in this world? And why do they exist to fight against the calamity? Does this correspond to the old man's statement, "to protect the last line of defense for the world"?

But that's strange. This is Zero's dream, and maids like 86, who are supposed to be "younger sisters," should all be controlled by Zero, who is the "older sister." Doesn't that mean Zero is fighting against herself?

Moreover, the phrase "last line of defense" is generally used to describe situations that are extremely dire. If there were countless units with combat power like 86, what kind of powerful "witch" would it take to wipe out all these combat machines?

Finally, there's the "prophecy".

Liao Ji initially thought that the prophecy the old man spoke of referred to the Ash Emperor, and that this was a kind of "awakening" mechanism for Zero? After all, only he could make these machine servants recognize him as their master.

But when the old man then said that he was "the one chosen by the prophecy," Liao Ji immediately realized that the prophecy did not come from Zero.

After all, Zero would never use the word "chosen" to describe Emperor Ash.

So

Witches, servants, and prophecies.

The three pieces of information gleaned from the old man became the direction Liao Ji would investigate next. After letting out a long sigh, Liao Ji put away the map and, with his maid, headed towards the gathering place of the old man on the map.

The other person told him that the answer he wanted was there. Although it was probably just a ploy to lure him there, as the saying goes, God doesn't care.

As the owner, Liao Ji is now more concerned about...

"86, do you have any good ideas for this ten-plus kilometers?" The young man looked at the seemingly endless desolate land and rubbed his temples in exasperation.

The time in Zero Dream is one-to-one with that in reality, and it has a strong sense of realism. If they really tried to walk there, they would waste a lot of time just dealing with the monsters they encountered along the way.

Fortunately, the all-powerful 86 provided a solution. The maid nodded, and then, to Liao Ji's astonishment, she began to transform rapidly, much like a motorcycle. In the blink of an eye, the mechanical maid vanished, replaced by a brand-new motorcycle in front of Liao Ji.

Navy blue motorcycle.

With its cool technological feel and stylish aerodynamic design, and twelve accelerator tubes on the back, no man could resist a motorcycle. Without hesitation, Liao Ji immediately mounted it. The screen in front of the motorcycle automatically lit up, displaying various other functions of the motorcycle, including a weapon system that could deploy various machine guns and floating cannons along with the motorcycle.

"86, is this feature even possible in reality?"

"Waaah. I'm sorry, Master, but in reality, 86's body is not perfect and cannot perform similar operations."

"I'm eager to try it out. But if you just want to ride the 86, then the 86 thinks this feature is unnecessary, as the 86 can meet the owner's various riding needs."

As if to express their excitement, the blue fluorescent lights on the motorcycles flashed continuously.

Liao Ji felt that he really needed to let 86 Shao interact with Yilin in the future, otherwise the good maid would turn into someone who talks a lot of dirty jokes.

As Liao Ji turned the throttle, the motorcycle's azure light instantly intensified. After a series of "buzzing" roars, the motorcycle, carrying Liao Ji, transformed into a blue lightning bolt, speeding through this dark red world.

Happy Lunar New Year's Eve, everyone!

Chapter 200 Scavenging Thugs

The wasteland of the old world is teeming with monstrous creatures. Sometimes, the unlucky ones will even encounter hordes of monsters, such as the monstrous species called "Crawling Ant Beast" ahead.

They resemble a hybrid of centipedes and ants, with multiple segments. Mature individuals are the size of a wolfhound, which is considered small among the monsters of the Turbid Calamity. Each individual ant-beast is not particularly strong, but they still cast a shadow over many settlements, because once an ant-beast appears, there are never fewer than twenty of them.

This massive horde of ants migrating across the wasteland is estimated to number over fifty. Such a dense mass is enough to destroy a small to medium-sized settlement.

However, the next moment, a blue dot appeared on the horizon opposite the ant-beast swarm, and then, just a few seconds later, it turned into a dazzling azure fluorescent light.

Along with the blue light came the roar of an engine, a sound that rivaled the roar of any large monster.

Facing the stopped ant-beast horde ahead, this high-speed blue lightning bolt showed no intention of slowing down. On the contrary, its driver seemed to be stepping on the accelerator even harder, making the engine roar as it transformed into a streak of light and rushed straight towards the ant-beasts.

The foremost ant-beasts began to wave their five or six forelimbs in front of their mouthparts, a sign that they were starting to get impatient and scared. Some of them couldn't hold back any longer and immediately sprayed a large amount of highly corrosive formic acid from their mouthparts, aiming it directly at Liao Ji's motorcycle.

However, Liao Ji did not make any response, because the next moment, a mesh-like defensive barrier appeared around the motorcycle. The dark green formic acid slurry hit the barrier, but apart from wisps of white smoke, it did not splash any water.

In contrast, when Liao Ji's blue motorcycle finally collided with the first leading ant-beast, it was like hitting an egg with a rock. The ant-beast's arthropod shell, which was known for its hardness, didn't even require Liao Ji to activate any of the motorcycle's weapon systems. With just the most primitive impact, the automatic defense barrier module was enough to pulverize the ant-beast.

After Liao Ji passed through the swarm of ant-beasts, the entire swarm seemed to be cut in half by a blue line. The area where Liao Ji traveled became a vacuum zone. All the ant-beasts that blocked his way were either knocked away or crushed into mincemeat, and finally returned to dust.

As the remaining angry ant-beasts turned to look for their attackers, Liao Ji's motorcycle had already sped away, leaving only a gradually shrinking blue dot in the distance.

The ant-beasts are known for holding grudges and will track their enemies by scent no matter how far they run. But this time, they did not choose to return along the same route Liao Ji had taken. Instead, they quickly continued to migrate into the distance, or rather, escape from something.

The journey of more than ten kilometers would take two or three hours on foot, but for the "Blue Lightning" vehicle constructed by 86, Liao Ji only had one or two kilometers left after crossing the swarm of crawling ants to reach the gathering place on the map.

The whole process took less than fifteen minutes, including the time Liao Ji spent deliberately seeking out monsters along the way and rampaging through them, just like before.

Liao Ji reluctantly released the accelerator, and the roaring engine sound decreased along with the speed.

After that, no map was needed. Liao Jineng could see the shadow of a village on the distant hills, especially the rows of earthen walls several meters high, which were quite conspicuous in the wilderness. This was the most basic and common small settlement in the Old World.

Arriving at the main gate of the settlement on a motorcycle, the large hole blasted open at the gate indicated that the settlement had likely suffered a terrible fate. Moreover, judging from the marks on the hole, it seemed more like a deliberate explosion than a monster.

Liao Ji first put away the conspicuous motorcycle, then drove in through the main gate. The settlement was quiet, and many of the survivors' houses had their doors wide open, with their belongings in disarray, as if they had been looted by intruders after a fierce battle and resistance.

The reason why no corpses are seen is twofold: firstly, corpses dissipate into sand within Zero's Dream; secondly...

Within Liao Ji's field of vision, the distant scene detected by 86 reconnaissance was already being transmitted.

"Chief, I just checked the warehouse. There are still over seventy people left in this village. If we eat slowly, it'll be enough to last us a month!"

"Keep twenty people to continue raising. Remember to pick the younger ones, the smaller the meat, the more valuable it is to raise. As for the old ones, kill them while they still have a breath left and make them into jerky for preservation, otherwise they will be inedible once they rot and spoil."

The original central square of the gathering place has now been occupied by a group of armed thugs. The Turbid Weapon, which is extremely rare in the new era, is owned by every scavenger thug in the old world. Of course, those who can wield and use these weapons are also Turbid.

The nature of scavengers in the old and new eras is completely different. Scavengers like Irene in the old era were truly picking up trash, but scavengers in the old era, for some settlements, might not have been much different from wandering monsters.

They are homeless, wandering the wilderness, making a living by plundering. They are more powerful than ordinary afflicted beings because of their self-degradation, but they are also severely corrupted by the evil, most of them have lost their humanity, enjoy killing, and are thugs.

In the game, the second biggest threat players face in the early to mid-game is the Turbid Monsters, and the third is the Scavengers.

Liao Ji had read many negative posts on the forums. They were posts from new players who had finally built up their settlements with a population of over a hundred. Just when they were about to focus on development and farming, their settlements were suddenly attacked by scavengers one night. They could only watch helplessly as their newly developed settlements were wantonly ruined and their resources plundered by the scavengers.

A better scenario is that the settlement is wiped out, ending the game. The worst scenario is like now, where scavengers occupy the settlement and refuse to leave, leaving players to watch resentfully as all their hard work becomes someone else's plaything. Players with a weaker mentality might give a bad review, request a refund, and delete the game.

So if you were to ask which monster players hate the most in Fallout, the Scavenger would definitely be at the top of the list.

At least that's the case for Liao Ji.

These thugs must have just occupied this place yesterday. They're still holed up in the rear, indulging in their pleasures. Even Liao Ji, an outsider who came to the settlement from the outside, hasn't noticed them yet.

The square became their gathering place, and the conversation just now came from the female leader of this group of scavenging thugs. She was very eye-catching, with an exaggeratedly huge figure, more than two meters tall, and her back was covered with the fur of some kind of monstrous creature. From a distance, she looked like a female gorilla.

A formidable aura of turbidity emanated from her, suggesting she might have reached the high-level of the Dangerous Rank. The menacing spiked club beside her, occasionally gleaming with a blood-red light, was likely at least Rank C.

Upon receiving her order, four or five scavenging thugs immediately headed towards the warehouse next to the square, which was originally a granary but was now being used as a "granary".

Chapter 201 Hell

"What are you trying to do? We have nothing left!"

"Let go, let go of Lili!"

"Why... everything was just starting to get better, Father?"

"You bunch of scum! Bastards! Mongrels! Instead of using your power to fight against the calamity and the monsters, you turn your strength against us. You are not even as good as beasts!"

"You'll die a horrible death! You'll go to hell for doing this! You'll go to hell!!"

Hearing the young survivor's angry roars at them from inside the warehouse, the scavenging thugs just laughed.

One of them grinned maliciously and shouted in a crazed tone, "Hell? Do we even need to go down there? Isn't this world already hell? You, me, everyone is already in hell!"

"So, you should thank me instead. I'm the one who saved you from struggling in hell and living in fear every day. Don't worry, we'll grant you liberation soon. Your suffering will go into our stomachs and we'll bear it for you. Until then, well, let's have you pay your dues."

"Haha, that's right, the leader definitely likes someone as stubborn as you!"

Upon hearing their companion's suggestion and glancing at the boy's reasonably presentable appearance, the scavenging thugs grinned wickedly. Immediately, two of them grabbed the boy from either side.

"What are you doing? Let me go! Let me go!"

Ignoring the boy's struggles, the thugs dragged him directly to their leader in the square.

The leader, who resembled a female gorilla, revealed her true colors upon seeing the still-resisting young survivor. With her rough, large hand, she lifted the boy up as if he were a chick.

Tell me, what's your name?

"Pooh--"

The boy spat directly onto the female leader's broad face.

Instead of being angry, the female leader stuck out her thick, long tongue and licked away the spittle the boy had smeared on her face, then showed a look of delight.

"I like people with strong personalities. From now on, I allow you to be my male servant. Don't worry, while I still pamper you, you won't be eaten by anyone. I will protect you."

"Get the hell out of here! You disgusting female gorilla! You bunch of scum should be hunted down by the machine servants just like the monstrous monsters!"

Upon hearing the boy mention the machine servants, the female leader grinned.

"Judging from your tone, you seem to admire the machine servants quite a bit?"

"Nonsense! The Machine Servants are the true guardians of this world, our saviors, countless times stronger than you bunch of cowards who only know how to bully the weak and fear the strong! The very words 'Machine Servants' coming out of your filthy mouth are an insult to them!"

Even when he was publicly lifted up, surrounded by scavenging thugs watching the spectacle, the boy's cursing did not diminish in the slightest, his eyes filled with anger towards the scavengers.