Cyber ​​God: Abyss Walker

"You can see that far?"

Dorothy asked Wang Yu, who had spoken, with some disbelief. After all, her drone hadn't captured anything noteworthy yet. Could it be that Wang Yu's eyesight was even better than that of machines?

"I'm afraid what I see is not what you see."

He glanced at the depth gauge attached to his arm. The reading hadn't dropped since he last used the power of Eternal Silence. His current normal depth was probably the same as after using the Inspiration Dice. It was normal for him to be able to see things that others couldn't.

"What? Okay, anyway, you saw a place that looks like a city in the distance, right?"

Dorothy still didn't quite understand what Wang Yu was talking about, but based on what he said, she could tell what he had seen.

"Yes, the distance can't be estimated very precisely, it's probably more than ten kilometers away, because it's not purely visual."

Wang Yu replied, and began to carefully observe this city, which could only be seen by someone like him who was "too deep." If he wasn't mistaken, the target of this mission was in this area.

"It looks different from the buildings in the abandoned city; the overall height is lower, and in terms of style or technological level, it's more like a city from my time. Is it some kind of historical site?"

As he pondered this, Wang Yu had an inexplicable feeling about the city standing in the wasteland. This was quite normal, since an ordinary city wouldn't necessarily require a certain "depth" to be seen.

"I haven't observed the city you mentioned yet, but I can tell you in advance that this city is most likely not another human settlement similar to the safe zone. The safe zone has been sending out messages to try to find its own kind, but so far it has not found anything. So, to think of the worst-case scenario, it may be a gathering place for other creatures."

Dorothy carefully observed the images fed back by the drone's long-range probe. Her expression was a little unpleasant as she talked to Wang Yu. Discovering a city in the wasteland... had never happened before. Simply put, it was impossible for the three of them to just happen to find such a huge thing standing in the wilderness.

"A gathering place for other creatures..."

The possibility mentioned by the other party made Wang Yu's heart sink. The presence of buildings implies the existence of "civilization," but in the wasteland, it is hard to say whether the people living there are actually human.

"Wait, we've captured a different scene than usual. It's so thick fog. Let's analyze the fog. This... it really is a city. You can actually see things that far away."

After a pause, the drone's long-range probe finally began to display an abnormal image: a thick fog covering a large area. The color was not the normal gray-white, but a faint mixture of red and yellow, making it difficult to see through. Even with the fog-penetrating program activated, only a vague outline of a city could be captured.

"The target is in that city. Get ready. Turn on your internal breathing system first. We can't confirm whether this fog is dangerous."

With a sigh, Wang Yu knew that something was amiss. There was something wrong with this strange city standing on the wasteland. But there was nothing he could do; it was his mission. He could only seal the transport vehicle, activate the internal air circulation system, and continue driving towards the city ahead.

As they drew closer, the bright moonlight finally illuminated the city shrouded in a red and yellow mist in the distance, allowing the Silent Monk and Dorothy to see it with their naked eyes.

"It really is a city. How could such a massive building not have been discovered by other explorers? Even if all those who entered were killed, there would still be some who saw it, chose to return, and report the news."

Dorothy muttered to herself. She had never expected to encounter something so absurd in an unknown place. As the transport vehicle moved forward, the enormous city in front of her became clearer and clearer. It was larger than a mobile city, and its size was at least one-sixth the size of a ruined city district.

The vehicle slowed down, and the three began to enter an area covered by red and yellow fog. This could be considered as entering an abnormal zone, and they had to be vigilant.

"hiss……"

A hissing sound rang out as the Silent Monk activated the sample collection device on the transport vehicle, drawing a small amount of mist into the vehicle to begin analyzing its composition and confirming whether the substance was harmless.

"These fogs are alive, damn it, they look like fog but are actually made up of countless tiny planktonic organisms, and these things are incredibly active. They start attaching to and growing on the culture tank of the analyzer as soon as they come into contact with it."

Dorothy gasped. The analysis results sent a chill down her spine. It was hard to imagine that the vast expanse of mist was actually composed of countless small living organisms. Moreover, in a very short time, all of this mist had settled onto the outer wall of the culture tank, forming a thin layer of biomass that was slowly wriggling.

"There's also one in the car, and your drone too."

The Silent Monk spoke up to remind her, and Dorothy then realized that her drone, which was hovering above the vehicle, had somehow been enveloped by a layer of living biomass. Except for the propellers, which could not be attached, the biomass layer formed by these tiny organisms was getting thicker and thicker.

The mist enveloped the vehicle body, and even the tiny creatures that made up the fog on the surface of the vehicle were not spared. They climbed up little by little and spread their territory.

"Should we evacuate first?"

Dorothy tensed up; being surrounded by a large group of unknown creatures was not a pleasant feeling.

"These microorganisms shouldn't have caused any damage to the drone and vehicle yet, so there's no need for them. Also, could you please bring me that culture tank?"

Wang Yu remained unusually calm, extending his hand as he spoke.

"Indeed, these microorganisms just attach themselves randomly and stick together; it doesn't even qualify as growth."

Hearing Wang Yu say this, Dorothy realized that she didn't need to be so nervous. These microorganisms did not damage their equipment at all, and in essence, they were not much different from accumulating dust.

"Snapped!"

Taking the petri dish handed to him by the silent monk, Wang Yu opened it with one hand and pressed his hand on it.

"It's not a big problem. This kind of fog doesn't pose a significant threat to us. As long as we're careful not to inhale it into our lungs, it won't cause any harm."

Wang Yu spoke to the two of them, his eyes lingering on the petri dish for a moment before turning to the city that was getting closer and closer.

He had just pressed his finger directly onto the microorganisms in the petri dish. When he removed his finger, all the microorganisms he had touched were dead, detached from the inner wall, and no longer had any activity.

These microorganisms seem to attach to and spread quickly upon contact with inanimate objects, but they die within a very short time upon contact with living organisms for unknown reasons.

"you……"

Dorothy opened her mouth as if to say something, but then held it back. She and the Silent Monk both felt that Wang Yu had been somewhat reckless, but his actions had indeed efficiently verified that the fog was not very dangerous.

Wang Yu didn't actually see, understand, or perceive anything. His confidence stemmed from his "Escapee" ability. He drove into the fog and used his own body to test the microorganisms. While the Escapee ability might not be the most powerful, it was irreplaceable in certain aspects.

"Wait, don't go into the city. Stop the car first. Something's wrong with this city."

Dorothy placed her hand on Wang Yu's shoulder and urged him to stop the car. Something she had been watching on the drone footage had appeared that she needed to pay attention to.

"Look here, and here, there's something wrong with these buildings."

The vehicle stopped, and Wang Yu and the Silent Monk looked at the screen Dorothy was showing them, with Dorothy pointing out the problems.

Are these buildings alive?

After glancing at the screen, Wang Yu raised his eyebrows and spoke with surprise. In the screen, the outer layers of the tall buildings shrouded in fog had "holes" that were difficult to spot from a distance.

"I think it's more like an infection, an effect of these fogs."

Dorothy responded by zooming in on the image, allowing Wang Yu and the Silent Monk to see more clearly the problems with the buildings, including protrusions and cracks on the surfaces of these high-rises.

Those protrusions are like cysts or tumors that have grown out, with tubes that resemble blood vessels on them, and the whole thing is slowly expanding and wriggling.

The cracks in the building walls are clearly not made of normal broken bricks, but rather have a structure similar to flesh and blood. It can even be seen that when the mist floating in the air comes into contact with these cracks, it sticks to them and gradually fills them with its own substance.

The city shrouded in fog was actually already covered and enveloped by the flesh and blood of these unknown creatures. It was just that they were undetectable from a distance due to the fog. At this distance, their true appearance could be seen through the fog.

"Giving up is unlikely. Let me test the waters before taking any action."

With a somber tone, Dorothy sent one of her drones toward a biomass cyst attached to the surface of a building, testing how these things would react to an intruder.

"Gurgle!"

With a loud thud, clearly containing liquid, the cyst burst open the instant it made contact with the drone. The viscous substance that exploded inside coated the drone before it crashed to the ground.

"How is it?"

"Squeak...squeak..."

"At least it wasn't corrosive; it looked like just ordinary bodily fluids or something. The drone wasn't damaged."

Dorothy tried to remotely control the drone that had crashed to the ground. After the propellers blew off the liquid, it flew back into the air. As for whether it would be damaged, drones in this era wouldn't necessarily be damaged even if they were run over by a car.

This fog, composed of microorganisms, seems to be doing nothing harmless. It attaches to the city's buildings, grows, and eventually exhibits an "infection" similar to fungal growth. Although it looks somewhat frightening, it does not pose a threat of destruction.

"I have activated the Silent Realm."

The Silent Monk clasped his hands together and addressed the two, the power of eternal stillness enveloping the vehicle and its inhabitants, concealing their figures and movements to the greatest extent possible.

The wheels turned again, and the transport vehicle maintained a steady speed as it traveled through the "infected city" toward its target location. All three were highly focused, wary of any sudden changes that might occur.

"The fog is getting denser, and the level of infection in the buildings is decreasing."

With a hint of surprise in her voice, Dorothy shared the information she had observed from the drone: as they ventured deeper into the city, the surrounding fog gradually dissipated, and the cysts, blood vessels, and other things that had been clinging to the buildings gradually disappeared.

"It's a city with a real sense of history. There are no large number of skyrails, nor the cables that the people of the abandoned city have haphazardly strung together. This city is at least a creation from the same era as Edge City One, of course, assuming that it was built by humans."

As Dorothy analyzed the city, she remarked that it was a city out of step with this era, and certainly not the metropolis of Wang Yu's time. Compared to it, the 21st-century Earth was still far behind.

"Why does the infection level decrease as you get closer to the city? And if it's just a city like this, what's the point of the Tide Gang sending me here? It poses no threat whatsoever. So why couldn't the Tide Gang members who first discovered this place go back?"

Wang Yu's thoughts ran deeper. He looked at the depth gauge he had taken off his body. As they entered the city, the depth was constantly increasing, but the city outside was becoming more and more normal, and there was nothing that could be considered a threat. This was very strange.

"Um?"

The fog had almost dissipated when Wang Yu's transport vehicle was passing by an artificial river beside an empty highway. His gaze swept over the river, then quickly returned, finally settling on the water reflecting the moonlight.

"Silent monk, launch something light onto the water."

Wang Yu calmly told his companion that he had further slowed down the car.

"Bang!"

Without hesitation, the Silent Monk climbed onto the cannon on the roof of the vehicle and fired a spent shell casing.

"this!?"

"Um?"

"really……"

Dorothy and the Silent Monk expressed their doubts, while Wang Yu thoughtfully turned his gaze to the surrounding buildings, his hand on the steering wheel trembling slightly.

The shell casing hit the lake surface directly after being fired, but it didn't sink at all. Instead, it was bounced off by the "river water" and slid forward a long distance before coming to a stop. Clearly, it wasn't the property of water. The "river water" in this artificial river was more like some kind of gelatinous substance.

Wang Yu noticed the unusual flow of the river and was able to detect this anomaly. So...

Rolling down the car window, Wang Yu raised his hand towards the building beside the road and fired a shot with his Greedy Golden Serpent revolver. The bullet hit the target squarely, penetrating the building's outer shell and embedding itself inside.

"puff!"

The sound was completely unexpected; the bullet had embedded itself in something remarkably flexible, which would never be the reaction of hitting a normal building.

At the same time, almost imperceptibly, the walls of the building near the point of impact trembled slightly over a large area, a subtle detail captured by the high-speed camera of the Dorothy drone.

"The disguise is excellent. Those houses aren't normal buildings at all. Everything in this city is a highly realistic simulation created by some unknown entity. Those buildings outside that look 'infected' are actually in an incomplete state of simulation..."

Part of the truth about the city was revealed to the three of them, and Wang Yu felt that he understood why the city had never been discovered by other explorers.