Chapter 6
If they didn’t outsource the Evolver App, were they supposed to have the Evolvers in their own department learn programming from scratch?
If they did that, the finished product would probably get compromised by hackers even faster.
However, in the face of Wen Zhiyi’s mockery, Huo Ling obviously couldn’t just counterattack head-on. Instead, he smoothly shifted the blame onto the outsourcing process. “Sigh, I’ve brought this up with the higher-ups many times. These government apps are all built by college students hired by outsourcing firms. But there’s no way around it; everyone bidding for these contracts is well-connected.”
“But then again, Bai Hewei only awakened last night. Including the incident this morning, that’s already two waves of people testing the waters. Those overseas organizations are remarkably well-informed.” Huo Ling was thoroughly exasperated. When those overseas organizations dealt with problems in their own countries, they dragged their feet endlessly, yet they were incredibly efficient when it came to causing destruction in someone else’s country.
Pfft, a bunch of filth.
“The commotion from Bai Hewei’s awakening is not something any organization in the world would ignore.” Wen Zhiyi cast a detached glance at Huo Ling. “It was your lack of preparation. No doubt that wife of yours—whose very existence remains a mystery—just bore you a child, causing the joy to completely cloud your brain to the point where you’ve forgotten how to think like a normal person.”
Wen Zhiyi’s tongue was so venomous that one could practically test him to see if he had awakened some kind of linguistic superpower.
“Most of the information regarding forbidden zones in the news media right now is purely superficial, and since Bai Hewei has only just awakened, there’s still a lot he doesn’t know about them,” Huo Ling shifted the topic. “I’ll lead a team to rescue him myself right away.”
If the world’s strongest Evolver died in a forbidden zone, getting stripped of his position would be the least of his worries; he might even get thrown into a cell for a few years.
“There is no need to panic.” Wen Zhiyi sighed softly, seemingly accustomed to the unreliability of his colleagues. “I have already bypassed the security of the Evolver App. I will establish contact with Bai Hewei via the latest satellite communications to brief him on the essential guidelines. With his capabilities, he is more than a match for that group of anti-human criminals who are deliberately manufactured this forbidden zone.”
“Just make your explanations simple and easy to understand. Don’t turn them into professional research papers.” Hearing that Wen Zhiyi would guide him personally, the heavy rock in Huo Ling’s chest vanished instantly, putting him in a good enough mood to crack a joke.
“Deconstructing these scientific principles reflects my professional competence. Ensuring that such knowledge can be grasped by someone with your level of intelligence is my actual job,” Wen Zhiyi stated flatly.
…He could definitely sense a hint of disdain in that.
Huo Ling lamented inwardly. Had Wen Zhiyi really not awakened some kind of absolute verbal command ability?
Why did he feel so utterly suffocated every single time he finished talking to him?
Inside the forbidden zone.
Bai Hewei and the researchers had successfully moved all the survivors into the defensive space.
Once a forbidden zone formed, standard directions lost all meaning.
Space and distance became distorted, often resulting in scenarios where the people inside felt they had walked dozens of kilometers, while those on the outside watched them merely pacing around in circles on the exact same spot.
“Mr. Bai, you should come inside too,” the researcher urged hastily. “We just need to wait for rescue.”
That makes perfect sense!
Bai Hewei instinctively wanted to step inside.
However, remembering the message that had just popped up on his phone, he hesitated.
“The municipal research institute clears out evolutionary factors on a set schedule every day. For a forbidden zone to form this quickly, someone must be deliberately orchestrating this crisis behind the scenes.” Bai Hewei waved his phone. “I’ll go investigate first. Once the time is right, I’ll head back in. Don’t leave the defensive space under any circumstances.”
With that, Bai Hewei waved his hand and strode away from the research institute facility.
“I did exactly what you told me to do,” Bai Hewei said half-skeptically to his phone once he had walked a short distance away from the institute.
“Excellent. Since you are this guarded against me, Mr. Bai, I no longer have to worry about anyone else swindling you in the future.”
A youthful voice echoed from the phone. “Currently, the top three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have essentially mastered the technology to artificially interfere with forbidden zones. However, different nations have limited interference ranges over various zones, and the financial cost is staggering. Aside from our country, other nations are reluctant to readily deploy such technology for the purpose of purifying forbidden zones.”
“The formation of a forbidden zone is primarily dictated by the presence of evolutionary factors. Any middle schooler knows that matter is conserved and energy does not appear out of thin air. Yet, the emergence of Evolvers broke this law of physics. According to our current research, however, an Evolver’s power likely originates from beyond Earth, and can only be accessed through a channel and medium that we have yet to discover.”
“The issue lies in the fact that once an Evolver uses this inexplicable energy, it does not simply vanish. Instead, it disperses into the air. Under normal circumstances, the release of this energy merely increases the probability of ordinary people becoming Evolvers. But once the concentration of this energy exceeds the safety threshold, a forbidden zone forms.”
“The technology currently within human grasp only allows us to disperse and restructure these energies, but we have not yet reached the point where we can precisely dictate the internal architecture of a forbidden zone.” The young male voice seemed to find the subject intriguing as he continued, “Mr. Bai, why do you think a forbidden zone is called a forbidden zone?”
“The official media states that ordinary people will die inside one.” Bai Hewei thought carefully back to the public administration aptitude questions he had practiced. He recalled reviewing this during his prep; general knowledge regarding Evolvers accounted for roughly ten points on the aptitude test, categorized under common sense.
That common sense questions were absolutely not common sense was an anomaly that countless civil service exam-takers had long since grown accustomed to.
“Official reports state that within a forbidden zone, the rate of decay for both food and water is dozens of times faster than in the outside world. Even vacuum-sealed military compression rations must be consumed within three hours once opened.”
“At the same time, seeds cannot sprout or grow within a zone. Therefore, if ordinary people are caught inside, the best course of action is to find a place to hide and wait for rescue to avoid depleting bodily energy, while strictly avoiding any food or drink sourced from within the forbidden zone,” Bai Hewei answered.
According to official statistics, among the ordinary people trapped in forbidden zones, very few actually died from other hazards within the zone. Over ninety percent of fatalities were caused by a series of pathological mutations resulting from consuming food and water found inside the area.
“Yes, but that is not the entire picture,” the young male voice continued from the phone. “Because the formation of a forbidden zone stems from evolutionary energy, these energies will spontaneously assemble inside the zone, manifesting as various supernatural abilities that randomly attack every living creature within. Furthermore, the longer an Evolver remains inside a forbidden zone, the more energy the zone extracts from them, rendering the area increasingly hazardous.”
Given Bai Hewei’s energy classification, if he were trapped inside a forbidden zone for more than a month, he might not die, but the scale of the zone would expand to the point of submerging the entire prefecture-level city.
This was absolutely not something Wen Zhiyi wished to see.
The moment the words fell, Bai Hewei noticed a massive cluster of chaotic objects suddenly manifest above his head—heavy items such as truck tires, steel rebars, tables, and chairs rained down upon him in a relentless barrage.
Bai Hewei fled in a frantic, undignified scramble.
“In truth, given your capabilities, Mr. Bai, even if all of these objects land squarely on you, they wouldn’t inflict a single shred of harm.” The voice from the phone seemed to carry a hint of amusement.
“Failing to dodge an incoming attack and taking it head-on instead—isn’t that just insane?” Bai Hewei retorted instinctively. “Besides, who knows if these things are clean or not? If they were pulled out of some junkyard, they’d be incredibly filthy.”
He was absolutely not putting himself through that.
“Since you’re so capable, can you tell me how to dispel a forbidden zone?” Bai Hewei asked, his eyes locked on his phone. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Are you in a hurry, Mr. Bai?”
“Of course I am. It’s already past 4:00 PM; my shift ends in less than an hour. Dealing with this so-called forbidden zone during working hours is one thing, but I absolutely refuse to be stuck here after hours. Besides, I can’t leave my family worried. I haven’t even told them I’ve become an Evolver yet.”
Bai Hewei spoke with absolute gravity. He was only pulling in an Evolver subsidy of 800 yuan a month at most. He was perfectly willing to step up to the front lines in moments of extreme crisis, but he couldn’t be on the front lines every second of the day—that required a completely different pay grade.
He was a temp worker whose combined monthly salary and Evolver allowance didn’t even hit four thousand yuan. Did they seriously have the nerve to ask him to risk his life?
Of course, if they provided an official permanent position, he would be more than willing to selflessly serve the people.
“An artificially manufactured forbidden zone requires the use of specialized instruments, and the duration they can be sustained is limited. As time ticks on, the instruments’ energy will deplete, at which point the forbidden zone will spontaneously absorb other free-floating energies from the air to expand its perimeter—trapping and killing the very Evolvers operating the devices along with it.”
“Therefore, you simply need to locate the Evolvers holding the instruments, seize the devices, and force them to operate in reverse. By switching the mode from concentrating energy to dispersing energy, this artificial forbidden zone will quickly dissolve.”
“Alright, I’ll go look for them right now.” Bai Hewei nodded. As long as he had a solution, the rest was straightforward.
“But then again, how exactly am I supposed to track them down?” Bai Hewei scratched his head. “What if they stay hidden the entire time? I don’t even know how large this forbidden zone is.”
“You simply need to walk toward the area where the energy concentration is heaviest, Mr. Bai,” the voice from the phone replied. “The perimeter of the instruments will inevitably be accompanied by a massive surge in energy. Once you grasp the underlying principle, tracking down the masterminds is as simple as spotting a flame in the dead of night.”
“Where the energy is heaviest? Are you talking about these cloud-like things in the air? They’re various shades of deep and light, like a kaleidoscope of pitch black. The darkest shade must be where the energy concentration is heaviest, right?” Bai Hewei pointed toward the sky. “That’s easy then. I’m heading over right now.”
Even though Wen Zhiyi was not on the scene, he knew that these evolutionary energies could not be observed with the naked eye, even inside a forbidden zone.
Ordinary Evolvers could merely sense the energy at most, yet Bai Hewei could actually “see” it directly.
It was exactly how he had been able to directly overhear the telepathic thoughts of Wei Bo and his crew.
The world’s strongest Evolver was indeed extraordinary.
Author’s Note:
Huo Ling: Wen Zhiyi, your tongue really is venomous.
Wen Zhiyi: Working with neanderthals like you every single day, merely insulting you is already a testament to my inner beauty and kindness.
