ATPnovel Chapter 21 Making a Grand Debut
Chapter 21 Making a Grand Debut
It was nearly midnight, and a light drizzle was falling outside.
Yu Jing, carrying a suitcase full of guns and ammunition, got into a taxi.
The triangular hunting hat and neck-wrapped mask were too conspicuous, so they were temporarily stored in the backpack.
Leaning against the car window, watching the street scene rushing past, my phone screen suddenly lit up with a message from Xu Lang.
"I'm taking tomorrow off; I have some things to take care of at home."
Yu Jing casually replied "received" and didn't look at it again, his mind was all on the assessment that was about to begin.
To avoid attracting attention, he didn't have the taxi head straight to the abandoned shopping mall where the teleportation point was located.
Get off at the hotel across the street, bypass the street with surveillance cameras, and take a side street to enter the abandoned shopping mall through the back door.
I dragged my suitcase to the escalator in the lobby on the first floor.
According to the guidance provided by the Explorers' Headquarters, the escalator will open at midnight. All Yu Jing needs to do is stand on it and wait for it to take him to the boundary.
As Yu Jing took out his weapons and equipment from his suitcase and put them back in their places, he also observed the teleportation point in front of him.
The escalator, long abandoned, was covered in dust, and the wires of the bottom switch were pulled out, making it look like it couldn't be restarted at all. A few raindrops dripped from the cracks in the mall's dome onto its handrail, splashing out tiny droplets of water.
Hang the grenade, tuck the machete into the scabbard at your back, and finally put on the triangular hunting cap.
Fully armed, Yu Jing approached the escalator, his silent figure outlining a tall silhouette against the night.
He looked like an elite hunter about to enter the hunting grounds.
The intense training over the past week has allowed him to fully master the enhancements brought by the [Savage Physique], and his close combat and shooting skills have also been greatly improved. His actual combat strength is now incomparable to when he first entered the alien realm.
He looked forward to seeing new and exotic lands and embarking on an adventure that would make him feel alive again.
It is 11:58 now.
There are two minutes left until the Explorers Headquarters sets the time.
Yu Jing checked the map function of the Torch Watch again, but it did not produce any response for this area.
This undoubtedly means that there is no teleportation point or spatial passage in the current area.
In other words, the Explorers Headquarters will be modifying this area in some way later.
Time passed slowly, but Yu Jing's heartbeat gradually quickened.
At a certain moment, the Torch Watch suddenly reacted, and a new exclamation mark appeared on the map page.
Yu Jing did not look down, because the change was happening right before his eyes.
The raindrops that were falling toward the escalator just a second ago suddenly froze in mid-air, and the splashing water was also paused. Then, Yu Jing heard the sound of gears meshing and turning, as well as the "whoosh" sound of flames rising.
These phenomena undoubtedly provide evidence that the Explorers Agency is using some means to influence space.
The abandoned shopping mall remains silent.
The escalator then emitted a low hum the next second.
Dust rose from the gaps between the steps as the escalator vibrated, and then began to move slowly but steadily upwards.
Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Jing shouldered his backpack, pulled up his neck mask, and stepped onto the escalator. An organization capable of creating spatial passages wouldn't specifically come to deceive a homeless person.
As his figure gradually rose higher, Yu Jing raised his hand to brush away the stagnant raindrops in front of him. It was certain that the spacetime in this area had been disturbed.
The escalator has a limited height, and under normal circumstances he would reach the top in a few seconds. But now the steps beneath his feet seemed to have been extended infinitely into another world, with no end in sight.
Just when Yu Jing thought he was going to continue riding the escalator until he entered the boundary area, heat surged from all parts of his body, followed by a strong pulling sensation.
Before he could react...
He suddenly disappeared on the escalator.
The rain fell again, and the escalator returned to its original state.
Only the suitcase lying on the ground proves that someone had briefly stayed here.
......
A room somewhere within the border area.
The flames in the fireplace suddenly surged upwards, casting flickering light and shadows throughout the room.
The room's walls are made of distressed, mottled stone bricks, with exposed gear sets, transmission chains, and old-fashioned pressure gauges. The dial pointers sway slightly in the firelight, and the low creaking of the gears meshing is incessant, creating a retro yet mysterious industrial feel.
Brass pipes crisscross the walls and floors, with wisps of steam occasionally escaping from the pipe joints. They are like the blood vessels and meridians of the room, spreading to every corner and eventually converging towards the ceiling.
In the very center of the roof, a mysterious machine made of brass hangs upside down.
Its shape is seven or eight parts similar to a planetarium, and its interior is filled with a misty halo, from which starlight can sometimes be seen twinkling.
Directly beneath the machine is a cast-iron round table, its surface engraved with intricate inscriptions, which, together with the lines and images scattered throughout the table, ultimately form a mysterious magic circle.
A burly middle-aged man had already taken a seat at the table, leaning back against the bench, his right arm supporting his chin on the armrest, his left hand toying with an irregularly shaped metal Rubik's Cube, his posture relaxed and comfortable.
Suddenly, the mysterious device on the ceiling activated on its own.
The firelight inside the fireplace seemed to be drawn, splitting into four lines that surged toward the empty chairs on the cast-iron round table.
There were exactly four benches, no more and no less.
The moment the fire fell onto the bench, a human figure gradually took shape.
"Phew~ It's finally here."
Putting away the Rubik's Cube, the middle-aged man sat up straight and turned his gaze to the newcomers participating in the assessment.
Everyone seemed to have a distinct personality.
The first one on the left is a woman dressed as a wandering knight, carrying a strangely shaped bow and arrows on her back. Under the hood covering her hair is a mask of a demon with a blue face and fangs. The moment she wakes up, she tenses up and scans her surroundings with a wary gaze.
The second person from the left is a man in special forces gear, with a sharp and strong demeanor and a robust physique. He has a neat short haircut, his face is painted with face paint, and his expression is calm and experienced, as if he had served in the military and experienced a lot of hardships.
The gray hairs mixed in with his sideburns and beard revealed that he was not young.
The man on the right is completely different from the one above. He wears an extravagant studded leather jacket, and his exposed neck and arms are covered with hideous tattoos. He has a full head of silver hair and is extremely arrogant. After being modified, his blue-based red eyes look around recklessly.
He even had a drink with ice in his hand, taking sips every now and then, the ice cubes clinking and crackling.
As for the second person on the right, his equipment looked somewhat familiar, and given how well he was prepared, it was hard not to suspect that he knew someone from the Explorers' Headquarters in the real world and had received prior guidance.
His face was obscured by a low-brimmed hat and a neck-wrapped mask.
He hasn't made any big movements since he sat down, keeping his arms crossed in front of his chest and remaining silent, exuding an aura that makes him seem unapproachable.