Matrix Survival: One random treasure chest per day

Chapter 519 Private Mission
"Is the physical exam over?"

Yakumo was idly fiddling with the specimens the doctor had placed outside when he sensed the two of them come out and quickly stopped and stood still.

Li Zheng glanced at her frequently. Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, he could see Yakumo's right hand extending from under her cloak.

It was the color of jade, delicate and white, and very similar to that of humans on Earth.

Previously, she would always cover whatever she carried with a cloak, and this was the first time Li Zheng had seen her body.

Why won't you leave my decorations alone?

The doctor then restored the disordered specimen to its original position: "Have you forgotten the Spring Rain Clan electrolytic pituitary gland that I broke last time? That's a rare specimen, worth 150,000 red crystals each!"
"If you break another one, can you afford to pay for it?"

"Tch, it's not broken, is it?" Yakumo took out her exclusive inscription and waved it around. After the doctor paid the intermediary fee, she turned and walked out the door.

"Hey?"

Li Zheng quickly called Miriel and the others to follow Yakumo's footsteps.

Reaching the alley entrance, Yakumo kicked away another eyeball thrown by the multi-eyed tribe, then turned and asked, "Why are you still following me?"

"Uh, it's nothing, I just wanted to ask where I can buy translation tools."

Li Zheng scratched his head. He had no choice, since no one in the outer city except public officials could understand what he was saying.

The doctor is an exception; he acquired his language memories from the matrix, regardless of whether he held a public office.

Translation equipment? Can you afford it?

Yakumo pointed to a shop not far away: "One thousand white crystal coins each, go buy some."

"One...one thousand?!" Li Zheng exclaimed in shock, "Why don't they just rob it?"

"Rob? That's way faster than robbing for money!"

Yakumo said, "It's usually cheap, only 500 white crystal coins. The buyers are usually the descendants of veteran players."

Now……

Didn't you start moving people into the outer city?

When those shops see unfamiliar faces, they immediately raise their prices and sell to you at high prices.

A thousand white crystal coins is considered cheap.

"...Forget it then."

Li Zheng clicked his tongue, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

I was originally planning to just buy a random translation tool to use first, and then see if Zishu could find me in a couple of days so that the better one I ordered could be delivered.

I didn't expect that buying just one would cost a thousand white crystal coins...

This is a case of ripping off a bunch of people!

"Where can I stay? And where should I go if I want to ask for information?" Li Zheng gave up on the idea of ​​buying translation tools and started thinking about other things.

"Ugh……"

Yakumo sighed: "I don't think these are things you should be considering. After all, you can't get anything done without money."

You should be thinking about how to make money now; that's the right thing to do.

These are heartfelt words from someone who has been through it all. It was only after having a few interactions with Li Zheng that Yakumo kindly offered this advice.

If it were anyone else, they wouldn't even bother to acknowledge them.

"Making money, huh? Okay, I'll go check out the mission lobby."

Li Zheng nodded: "Before I leave, I'd like to ask you one last question. The doctor just told me that a few years ago there was a gene factory that produced and sold gene-editing drugs. Do you have any information about them? Where are they located?"

Li Zheng suspected that his gene potion production station and material blueprints came from there. Perhaps he should go there and take a look; maybe he could figure out where the treasure chest system gave him the items.

"Gene factory?"

Yakumo thought for a moment and said, "You're not talking about the one that the previous players destroyed, are you?"

"What? It was destroyed by the previous players?" Li Zheng was stunned. How could it be such a coincidence?

However, Yakumo was not surprised: "It's normal. Every generation of players will have some ruthless people who will do anything to improve their strength, except to avoid becoming bloodthirsty."

It was just a factory for novice players to patch genetic vulnerabilities, so it wasn't very valuable to begin with and had very poor defenses. Plus, they had a monopoly in this area, so it was no surprise that they were targeted, robbed, and destroyed.

Why are you asking this? The doctor said there's a flaw in your genes?

"Then you could try checking auction houses or consignment shops; maybe some of the potions are still there, or you could buy some special blood that can also help repair genetic defects."

Yakumo seemed to be in a real hurry to get back to work, and he rattled off a whole string of words, leaving Li Zheng no time to even interrupt.

After she finally caught her breath, he said, "I... I'll wander around by myself first. I'm so sorry to have troubled you for so long."

"..." Yakumo turned around, seemingly looking at Li Zheng, and after a long while said, "You're really clueless. Give me some money to hire me as a guide, and I can take you to learn what you want to know, right?"

"Uh... how much?"

Li Zheng had considered this possibility, but he was worried that the other party would make exorbitant demands.

"Thirty white crystal coins."

"Thank you, bye!"

Li Zheng turned and left. This woman definitely had some kind of 'telepathic' talent. She even knew how much money he had in his account and wanted to take all his belongings as soon as she opened her mouth.

I'm not falling for your tricks. I don't believe I can't survive in the outer city without translation tools or a guide.
After parting ways with Yakumo, Li Zheng led Miriel and the others toward the most conspicuous building on the street. According to Yakumo, that was the mission hall where you could accept missions and earn white crystal coins.

It's not far; it's only a half-hour walk.

The building, which looked extremely exaggerated from a distance, became even more astonishingly tall when viewed up close.

The entrance alone is at least 100 meters high!

It is over fifty meters wide, enough for more than twenty dump trucks to drive recklessly here.

"Wow, that's really impressive!"

Li Zheng stood at the door, looking up until his neck ached before he could finally utter a word of praise.

As expected of the building with the most people coming and going in the outer city, they really spared no expense.

Miriel looked at it for a while and said, "Is this considered grand? I remember Aunt Giant Demon's palace was much bigger than this!"

"Different."

Li Zheng shook his head: "Your aunt built the palace bigger for practicality, but this one... I guess it's just to show off its grandeur."

Judging from the width of the street, it should not be able to accommodate a race of giants of this size, so the gate was definitely not built to make it convenient for any particular race.

"Let's go in and have a look."

Li Zheng turned around and grabbed Red Polly to prevent the two of them from running off with Sakura. The mission hall was crowded with people, and if they got lost, he might not be able to find them again.

Seeing that he was holding Red Polly's hand, Miriel also stretched out her little hand for Li Zheng to hold.

Then, Li Zheng, holding Red Poring and Sakura's hands with his left hand and Miriel's hand with his right, walked into the giant building, the mission hall.

Once inside, it wasn't as noisy as Li Zheng had imagined.

Although there were many people standing shoulder to shoulder, very few people made a sound.

Several men in uniform stood in certain corners, coldly observing the people in the mission hall.

Seeing these security-like figures, Li Zheng felt a slight chill. The fact that security could be arranged here meant that the mission hall was not as peaceful as he had imagined.

As Li Zheng walked through the crowds, he encountered even more bizarre and strange-looking races.

There were black and white tapirs that had clashed outside, and others that had no limbs, their bodies resembling bamboo poles covered in eyes, and still others that crawled on the ground with thin legs all over their bellies, like a centipede...

This was truly like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden; Li Zheng was completely overwhelmed by what he saw.

Finally, after squeezing through several crowds, a huge projection screen appeared in front of Li Zheng.

The screen was the most crowded place in the mission lobby. Strangely, the screen was covered with dense writing, each character smaller than an ant, making it impossible to distinguish.

Even with Li Zheng's eyesight, he couldn't see a single word if he stood a little further away.

But when he focused his attention on it, he saw the screen suddenly change, magnifying infinitely within his field of vision. Along the way, the incomprehensible characters were scattered and reassembled, turning into square characters that he could understand.

"Wow, this is quite convenient." Li Zheng couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Looking around, he was even more astonished. The crowded people around him had disappeared, leaving only the few little ones he was holding hands with.

Miriel was completely absorbed in watching.

"Can you understand it?" Li Zheng asked her.

Miriel nodded: "Yes, it displays Abyssal script."

It seems the text on the screen is automatically translated into different languages ​​depending on the observer's race, which is quite strange.

Li Zheng stroked his chin in deep thought. There were many races in the outer city, yet not a single race stepped forward to unify their writing and language?

No wonder those selling translation tools are so confident. In this environment, without a translation tool, even if you have money, you can't get anywhere.

Hopefully, Zi Shu, as a special merchant in the matrix, knows that I've arrived in the outer city; otherwise, I'll have to spend a lot of money to get a translation tool.

Li Zheng suddenly realized that the translation tools he had asked for might have been the most cost-effective reward among all the prizes.

A Star-level item is practically worthless when exchanged for White Crystal Coins.

However, purchasing a translation tool costs a whopping 1000 White Crystal Coins...

Tsk.

The fact that the outer city's economic system, in such a chaotic state, hasn't collapsed indicates that the terminal must be controlling things from behind the scenes.

【1:59】

Suddenly, a countdown appeared in front of him. Li Zheng was stunned for a moment before realizing that he must have been taking up too much time here. In order to make it easier for others to accept tasks, everyone's use of the big screen has a time limit.

He immediately suppressed all the random thoughts in his mind and focused on the task that was being presented.

There are also differences between tasks.

The main distinction is only two types: terminal tasks and private tasks.

Terminal missions, as the name suggests, are missions issued by the terminal. Most of them involve going to a certain area to carry out tasks such as exploration, combat, and investigation.

Private jobs come in all shapes and sizes, including lost and found, missing person notices, intelligence bounties, craftsman recruitment, thug recruitment, and order bidding...

The terminal tasks are all quite difficult and are updated daily, with rewards determined based on the difficulty of the task.

Private tasks are a bit of a gamble, because they are all posted privately, so the rewards are set in advance by the task poster.

Li Zheng saw that someone was recruiting thugs at the junior level or above, and the reward was only five white crystal coins a day.

This shows that unscrupulous merchants are truly everywhere.

After quickly browsing through them, Li Zheng also discovered that, apart from those issued by the terminal, almost all of these tasks were issued in Block 902 and could be completed within Block 902.

"Does this mean that tasks are not shared between different neighborhoods?"

Li Zheng flipped through the list and, before the countdown ended, accepted a private task called "Pest Control in the Botanical Garden".

Immediately afterward, the countdown ended, the large screen disappeared from sight, and Li Zheng turned his head to look, only to find that he had unknowingly ended up behind another neatly arranged line.

If he wants to go back in to watch the big screen, he'll have to patiently wait in line.

Or he could go in a big circle, go back to where he entered before, and squeeze in again.

However, after looking at the barrier line blocking the center of the hall, Li Zheng gave up the idea and left from the other side of the hall.

"Which mission did you just accept?" Mirail asked as they stepped outside.

Li Zheng took out his personal inscription, which displayed the details of the mission he had accepted: "A private mission. We need to go to a botanical garden to remove pests. The mission description seems pretty simple."

Task accepted: Pest control in the botanical garden

Task type: Private posting

Mission Requirements: Go to Kanger Botanical Garden in Block 902 and assist the garden owner, Kanger, in eliminating the insects that have emerged in the botanical garden.

Task Reward: 200 White Crystals

"Look, the reward is two hundred white crystal coins."

Li Zheng grinned. This task was timely, released just as his deadline was about to expire, and he quickly accepted it.

After hearing this, Miriel couldn't help but roll her eyes: "Why would Mom let me come to the outer city with you? Where did your cleverness from the previous event go? Can't you see there's something wrong with this quest?"

"You mean to say that a simple pest control task could not possibly be paid for so high a reward, right?"

Li Zheng had already guessed that Miriel would say that. He opened the mission details, which showed the navigation to the target location and a button at the bottom. He pointed to it and said, "I've already thought of that. Everyone has one chance a day to abandon the mission without taking responsibility. When we get there, we'll check the situation first. If we're really tricked, we'll just abandon the mission and leave."

"...Even if you can abandon the mission, the time wasted on the round trip is... what's that word again?" Miriel thought for a moment, troubled. "Oh right, film formation cost?"

"It's sunk cost!" Li Zheng corrected him, then asked curiously, "Who did you learn that term from?"

"With the players."

Miriel replied, "I overheard it when I was cooking for those people during your fishing trip."

"???" Li Zheng was stunned for a moment: "No, you can understand what we're saying?"

"A little bit."

Miriel made a gesture that men who steal from other countries use to indicate their identity: "Actually, although I can't understand your conversations with others these days, I can still grasp some things by comparing what I understand when you talk to me with the pronunciation of your language."

Over time, I'll naturally be able to understand some of it, though I'm not very fluent yet.

"Wow, you're really amazing!" Li Zheng gave a thumbs up, full of admiration.

Having a talent that enhances learning ability is amazing; you can even learn things on your own!
Li Zheng suddenly realized that he was the best Chinese teacher for Miriel.
If I communicate with her more often when I have free time, given her ability to learn by analogy, I estimate that it won't be long before she can speak fluent Chinese with others.
"By the way, there's a term I've been wanting to ask you about." Miriel's eyes showed a hint of confusion: "What does 'legal loli' mean? Why do so many players unconsciously say that when they see me?"

"Ah this..."

Li Zheng stayed in Bengbu. What exactly did those bastards talk about in front of Miriel?

Why would you let her hear that word?

Isn’t this too confusing?

Once they enter the outer city, or find their own opportunity to go to the Matrix, every single one of them will have to do at least a hundred push-ups!
Let's see how you can speak so recklessly!
"The weather is really nice today!" Li Zheng's lips twitched as he looked up at the sky, trying to get away with it.

Ask him to explain to a succubus who is actually over eighty years old what a 'legal loli' is?
I always feel that after explaining myself, I'll be close to social death.

but……

The sky above the outer city was completely empty, with nothing at all.

After looking in several directions, Li Zheng concluded that the outer city might exist in some dark place, which is why there were no traces of clouds or planets.

Perhaps the concept of day and night is not as clear here as it is in the Matrix, because he had been here for several hours and was hungry, but he had not seen the light dim even slightly.

Logically speaking, it was nearly 3 PM when he was asked by the terminal to enter the outer city. In the Matrix, after so much time, day and night should have switched.

I don't know if it's because of the flow of time, or what.

"Li Zheng, someone is following us."

Miriel suddenly shook Li Zheng's arm and quietly reminded him.

"I know," Li Zheng said calmly, without showing any emotion.

He had already observed the situation while looking up at the sky earlier. It was the three guys who had followed him, whom Yakumo had warned him about earlier. They were all familiar faces he had seen outside the registration hall.

Of course, he couldn't remember what the other person looked like, but his old Pu was amazing. It recorded all the features of every creature Li Zheng had seen along the way whose appearance was not concealed.

The next time they met, even Li Zheng could see where he had seen the other person before.

According to Lao Pu, there isn't much data collected yet, so he can manage to keep up.

Once the amount of information collected exceeds the limit, it can at most remind Li Zheng that he has seen the other party before, but it will be difficult to point out where he has seen them before, as it is now.

But it's enough for now.

"They were able to keep their tempers in check when they were with Yakumo, and they didn't make a move even when they entered a secluded alley."

Li Zheng analyzed, "In addition, the fact that they have to find targets outside the registration hall and rob new players indicates that their own strength is not very good, and they are likely not even above the beginner level."

"Find an opportunity to use the high-energy cores I obtained from those two events, and raise my strength to the King rank. I might even be able to put up a fight."

Li Zheng was willing to try something like double-crossing.

(End of this chapter)