Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

“Xiang Ning, I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if we get found out?” Li Zimo panicked a little. This wasn’t supposed to be his business, but his friend was involved. He was standing about twenty meters from the research laboratory of the fortress. Xiang Ning heard him through his earpiece. [1]

Xiang Ning crept up to the side of a truck. “Don’t worry, even if they find out, they won’t do much.”

“Alright, enough chatting. Stay alert.” Alia walked out from around a corner, already changed into white robes like when she was working in Marsh City. With her black-rimmed glasses on, she looked like a respectable elder sister.

“Good day, miss. ID, please.” Two soldiers in front blocked Alia, who took out a card from her pocket. Dong Qianyi had given her a clearance card; the objective of her visit was to conduct research on the beast cores of those that had been affected by the berserk factor.

Fortress Three was welcoming to the scholar who had formulated the antidote for the berserk factor.

“You may pass.” The two soldiers nodded and bowed toward Alia, speaking into their earpiece. When the doors opened, Li Zimo clenched his jaw and stepped forward. He hurled several self-made firecrackers in one direction, then yelled like a madman. The two soldiers were caught by surprise, rushing over to him.

Xiang Ning and Alia shook their heads. His acting was too dramatic, and they were extremely embarrassed. That said, at least he had attracted the soldiers’ attention. Xiang Ning sprinted inside just as the doors closed.

When he saw that Xiang Ning had successfully slipped inside, Li Zimo immediately returned to normal and coughed. “What? I was just playing with firecrackers. Bye.” Then he left, leaving behind two confused soldiers.

Xiang Ning, who had successfully infiltrated the laboratory, took out a white coat and turned to Alia. “Are you really able to create a bioweapon?” He was still in disbelief. Fang Rou was the one who had told him that creating a bioweapon would be no easy feat. He had also always had the impression that people who made military weapons would be topless, muscular men.

“It’s not as complicated as you think. As long as you follow the protocols, you have a good chance,” Alia said flatly. To be honest, she was exasperated at this brat who wanted to enter the wilderness to search for Fang Rou, who had already left an hour before Alia had arrived. Based on their squad’s speed, Xiang Ning would probably need four or five hours to catch up. And that was if they weren’t attacked along the way. Therefore, she strongly objected to Xiang Ning’s decision to go. However, seeing how anxious he was, she knew she could never stop him, so she suggested making a bioweapon to increase the likelihood of him surviving the journey.

Bioweapons weren’t just stronger than regular weapons, they were enough to suppress beasts. Beasts were divided into tiers, and Beast Generals naturally had the ability to suppress Beast Soldiers. Since a beast core was the equivalent of a beast’s second life, it preserved the ability to suppress lower-tier beasts. As long as Xiang Ning held a bioweapon, Beast Soldiers who sensed it would stay far away. That would smooth his path.

Xiang Ning, however, was doubtful after hearing the various peculiar descriptions of bioweapons.

Very soon, they arrived at the place the beast core was stored without a hitch. It was the size of an adult’s fist and kept in an incubator. Strangely, Xiang Ning had the exact same feeling as when he’d first encountered the Kaiser Aurumsaur.

“Tsk tsk, this is so peculiar,” he remarked.

“Peculiar… there are many peculiar things in the universe,” said Alia.

“You’ve been to Planet Azura?” Xiang Ning regarded her curiously, but she smiled without a word. She picked up the incubator, then headed to the independent research facility displayed on her ID.

They weren’t stopped along the way at all. Xiang Ning chuckled, “I thought there would be more checks here, but that was quite simple.” He had just spoken when a soldier appeared around the corner. He didn’t react when he saw Alia, but frowned at Xiang Ning. Such a young researcher?

Xiang Ning was initially indifferent to the soldier, but froze when he frowned at him. Had he just jinxed himself?

“Please display your ID, Sir.”

“Why don’t you ask her first?”

Alia rolled her eyes and pointed at the ID hanging on her chest.

Xiang Ning’s mouth twitched as he looked down at his chest. It was empty. He had no choice but to look up at the soldier. “I forgot to bring it, brother. Will you let us go just this once?”

Before the soldier could reply, his vision turned black and he collapsed on the ground.

Behind him was a flying knife, its hilt pointing where his neck used to be.

“Why didn’t you wait for his reply?” Alia didn’t know what to say.

“Based on the moment his eyes widened and his breathing quickened, it was obvious he would never let us go. This was the only way.” Xiang Ning placed his palms together and apologized to the unconscious soldier on the ground, then dragged him to a room on the side. When he reappeared, he was wearing the soldier’s attire with a helmet and protective eyewear. Other than the uniform being a little loose, he looked like a real soldier.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to pass through with this?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” Xiang Ning waved and gestured for her to lead the way.

They met many patrolling soldiers along the way, but aroused no suspicion. Sometimes, Alia wondered if the soldiers were either shortsighted or blind. She simply didn’t believe the professionally-trained soldiers would miss all the flaws in Xiang Ning’s disguise. Although he was wearing a uniform, anyone who stopped to observe him would notice all the differences.

However, she would never have guessed that Xiang Ning possessed a skill called Disguise.

1. Ed note: there is no missing chapter; the author just made a bad cut here. Let us know in the comments if you want us to write a “fan chapter” describing what happened between the end of chapter 196 and the beginning of this one. ☜

Doge & Chacha's Thoughts

Xiang Ning be sneaking