Chapter 23: Encounter with the Scavenger Squad

The warm, pale light faded away.

Wang Chen stepped out from the teleportation array.

A scene of chilling oppression met his eyes: on a pitch-black, scorched earth, twisted, barren poplars grew, their contorted forms resembling people screaming in agony.

On the branches of the leafless trees perched hoarse, cawing crows, their crooked heads tilted as they studied Wang Chen. By their hooked beaks, dark red drops of blood clung.

A hazy mist shrouded the forest of withered trees, rendering everything vague and ghostly, as if bloodthirsty corpses lurked behind the trunks.

What little sunlight filtered through the branches only made the scene bleaker and more pallid.

“So this is the Dark Plateau? Its reputation is well-earned,” Wang Chen thought, deeply unsettled.

A prompt sounded:

[You have entered the instance: Dark Plateau. Your level is suppressed below ten!]

“No matter, I’m just a lowly first-tier newbie anyway,” Wang Chen muttered, orienting himself as he prepared to head for the heart of the region.

Suddenly, from the mist-choked forest, a group emerged and surrounded him.

“Hey there, little brother!” The leader was a thin, sharp-eyed middle-aged man. “Are you here to farm resources, or for some training?”

Wang Chen assessed their numbers—seven or eight people at a glance, at least three of whom were clearly combat specialists.

Alone and outnumbered, he knew he had to be cautious.

“That’s none of your business,” Wang Chen replied. “Step aside, I need to pass.”

“No need to get so worked up, brother!” The sharp-eyed man forced a crooked smile. “Name’s Fu Yunsheng, I lead this Scavenger Squad.”

“We’re always around the Dark Plateau, know the area like the backs of our hands. Any dangerous monsters here, we’re familiar with them. Why not let us escort you for safety?”

Fu Yunsheng’s gaze was predatory as he sized up Wang Chen.

“Look at you, all alone and not exactly built for fighting. If something happens and you die out here, what a waste of youth, right?” He put on a mock-sympathetic expression.

“Of course, feeding this many people and horses isn’t free—how about you pay us this much?” He splayed out five fingers on his right hand.

“Fifty thousand?” Wang Chen was taken aback.

He hadn’t planned to hire scavengers; he couldn’t trust strangers with his back, especially since, as the old man had warned, these people could well be dangerous criminals.

But the price was unexpectedly reasonable—here, in this perilous place, it almost seemed like a bargain.

“Yes, fifty thousand. But—” Fu Yunsheng grinned, nodding, “that’s fifty thousand per person!”

“Our entire team isn’t even here yet, but we’ll give you a deal—just half a million total!”

“Dream on!” Wang Chen sneered. “With half a million I could buy several pieces of bronze gear!”

“Here on the Dark Plateau, it doesn’t matter what level you are—everyone’s equal at tier one,” Wang Chen’s gaze swept over the scavengers. “We’re all capped at level ten. Do you think you’re worth that much?”

He understood now. These men were using 'protection' as a pretext to extort travelers.

Without hesitation, Wang Chen’s storage ring flashed, and Forest Gale appeared in his hand.

“Move aside, or don’t blame me for what happens next!”

The scavengers, seeing this, grabbed their own weapons, eyes turning vicious.

For a moment, the tension was palpable, violence ready to erupt.

Then, Fu Yunsheng lowered his men’s blades with a gesture. “Put down your weapons. Let the young man pass.”

Wang Chen was stunned.

That was it?

He had been ready to deal with them himself.

Reluctantly, the scavengers shuffled aside, opening a path. Wang Chen, gripping Forest Gale tightly, strode through.

Though their glares were venomous, none dared attack.

Soon, Wang Chen’s silhouette vanished into the mist.

“Boss, that kid’s got a storage ring—he’s got to be loaded. We should take him for all he’s worth!” As soon as Wang Chen left, a bald man sidled up to Fu Yunsheng and whispered.

Fu Yunsheng shot him a sidelong glance.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s loaded or not. Ordinary professionals barely come here anymore—mostly just other scavengers. This is a rare catch, so of course we want a cut.”

“But we need to check him out first. Anyone bold enough to come here alone is either a rich fool who has backup, or someone truly dangerous. That’s why I held back—no point losing brothers on a reckless move.”

Then, he turned to a short, wiry man in the group.

“Skinny Monkey, tail that brat. Leave marks along the way—we’ll follow soon.”

The man called Skinny Monkey nodded and darted into the fog with remarkable speed.

“Boss, nobody thinks ahead like you,” the bald man said obsequiously.

“Save the brown-nosing for real skills,” Fu Yunsheng replied, smacking him on the head. “Go check the supplies and hurry the porters. Once the camp’s set, we’ll go after Skinny Monkey.”

“Got it!” The bald man grinned, rubbing his skull as he disappeared into the mist.

Soon, the sounds of cursing and shouting drifted from the fog.

“Move it, you lazy mule!”

“And you, Strong Li—got time to help him, but not to work? Careful I don’t chop your hand off!”

The sharp cracks of whips punctuated the air.

…

After slipping past the scavenger group, Wang Chen pressed on through the barren woods.

After four or five minutes, feeling he had put enough distance between himself and the others, he finally slowed, caught his breath, and pulled out his Dark Creature Distribution Guide.

“This says, as soon as you exit the teleportation array, you enter the ‘Cloud-Mist Forest’…” He glanced at the dense fog around him. “This must be it, no doubt.”

“I need to cross this forest to reach the ‘Parched Water Barrens’—that’s the only way to the ‘Marsh of the Dead’… Hm? What’s this note?”

“‘The mist in Cloud-Mist Forest will affect breathing, causing those who inhale it to feel abnormally fatigued.’”

Wang Chen understood immediately—no wonder his breathing had grown labored after only a short walk.

“But perhaps this effect can be reversed into a beneficial buff?” The thought made him grin. He summoned the system’s inversion function.

[Inversion effect activated. Please consult details. Revert at any time to restore original effect.]

[Mist of Cloud-Mist Forest]

[Effect: Those who inhale the mist will gradually recover stamina and alleviate fatigue.]

[Special Note: When applying the inversion effect to a region, you may precisely adjust the affected range. The current default is within one meter of the host.]

After reading the system’s information panel, Wang Chen closed it and took a deep breath of the swirling mist.

Instead of cold, the dense fog brought warmth as it entered his nose, spreading to his lungs and outwards through his limbs.

Wang Chen felt instantly refreshed, all traces of exhaustion swept away.

“If I lived here long enough, I’d probably extend my lifespan,” he mused.

“The inversion system truly is convenient—what is poison to others is honey to me!”

Energized, Wang Chen put away the guide and set off toward the Parched Water Barrens.

Unbeknownst to him, a furtive figure tailed him from a distance.

Every dozen meters or whenever the path changed, the figure would carve a mark into the bare trunks.