The Record of Unusual Creatures

The short but brutal battle that ensued from the ambush finally ended. Realizing that they could not gain the upper hand, some of the enemy members retreated. Hao Ren returned to the mercenary group and saw Nolan jumping down the truck, on which a heavy machine gun sat. The girl, who was seemingly just a teenager was still expressionless as if everything that just happened was just make-believe. She never once showed signs of panic or anger.     

"Khiton's a turncoat. He's defected to the rangers," Nolan informed her teammates about what unfolded on the truck. "It was my oversight."     

Hao Ren remembered the scene where she fired back with the rotary machine gun on the truck amid heavy enemy fire. She was brave but reckless, putting herself in danger by exposing herself in the rain of bullets. As an outsider, Hao Ren did not want to comment, so he just nodded with a wry smile. "You're impressive."     

"Our leader is fearless on the battlefield. But she can always come out of it alive. It's the luck of the Gray Fox," Ulyanov said in a sullen voice.     

Nolan shook her head. "There have been times when I wasn't that lucky. You guys don't remember. Well, let's not talk about this. Are you a civilian?"     

Nolan was, of course, talking to Hao Ren. As her voice trailed off, the mercenaries cast their suspicious eyes on Hao Ren. Though Hao Ren had not performed any superhuman maneuvers, to be able to sneak under the enemy's nose and singlehandedly take out several armed soldiers was surreal enough. Ulyanov nodded at Nolan. "He knows how to fight, he knows how to advance using cover, and his movements are all very professional. He's no rookie on the battlefield."     

"You want me to explain... I can make a few excuses," Hao Ren put his cards on the table, thinking that if worse came to worst, he could go alone anytime. "I don't know how to tell you anyway."     

"Forget it. I'm not interested in your skills." Nolan looked at Hao Ren for a while. She shook her head as she handed something to him. "Thank you for helping us. Take it. It's your gold. You deserve it."     

Hao Ren openly took the gold. Then Nolan took out another god bar. "And this is the gold that you threw out... I'm curious about how rich you are. Do you usually use gold bars as weapons?"     

Hao Ren finally knew what kind of concealed weapon he had taken out from the Dimensional Pocket.     

The mercenaries looked at Hao Ren like he was an extra-terrestrial creature. Unarmed and loitering in Lawless District without regard for his safety, he was carrying around a quarter pound of gold, using them as currency and as weapons. Everyone thought that he was a money bag with no brain, but he took out several professional soldiers with his bare hands. Where did this freaking oddball come from and what was wrong with his mind?     

Hao Ren knew that the more he explained, the more trouble it would cause. Hence, he had better not say anything and just put on an innocent smile. He then bent over and picked up the blonde girl—the MDT's temporary body. "Let's get out of here quickly. It's not safe here."     

"You're still taking her with you?" Ulyanov asked, astonished.     

Hao Ren nodded with a forced smile. "Of course. If I leave this fellow behind, it will annoy me to death."     

Nolan was wide-eyed, holding back the words "she's dead," which were already on the edge of her lips. Others also exchanged looks, probably thinking that this man was mad.     

The mercenaries took the truck and left the place with Nolan at the wheel. The truck was a modified armored carrier. As the heavy machine gun had risen to the roof, the cabin became very spacious. Hao Ren saw a body lying in the cabin, his brain splattered. It had to be Khiton, the traitor Nolan mentioned. Khiton was supposed to meet and extract them, but for some unknown reason, he hooked up with the enemy.     

It seemed that the situation in the Lawless District was more chaotic than imagined.     

"The two recruits are dead," Nolan's voice came from the driver's seat. "Khiton is also dead. We've suffered huge losses in other teams too. We have to find ways to get more recruits."     

"Tsk, I still like those two recruits," the only female mercenary in the team except Nolan said as she spat on the ground. "They were both good men... What a waste; I was thinking of getting laid with them tonight."     

Hao Ren choked, coughing uncontrollably. It seemed that this woman was quite open-minded.     

Other than Nolan, who drove in front, there were only four mercenaries in the carriage. The two young recruits tasked with weapon retrieval from the battlefield were dead. Large-caliber firepower from the enemy hit them directly; the condition of their bodies was so bad that they were irrecoverable. The only thing recovered was their dog tags. The mercenaries talked about their dead comrades, other than a little forlorn and sad feeling; there was nothing much. To these people, death was commonplace especially on the battlefield of the chaotic Lawless District.     

Hao Ren looked at Nolan through the bulletproof window, which separated the carriage and the driver. Something suddenly crossed his mind. He kicked Khiton's body with his leg. "Why didn't this traitor shoot us using the heavy machine gun on board? We would be dead if he did."     

Nolan lifted one hand, pulled her hair up from behind her head, and said without looking back. "All the heavy weapons in this vehicle require my physical connection to be operational."     

As she pulled up her long, gray hair, Hao Ren saw that the back of Nolan's neck had with a mirror-like plate. There was a groove on the edge of the plate, suggesting that the p.     

He remembered learning something about this world. So, he hesitantly asked, "Are you a second generation Evolved?"     

"Don't the schools of extremist Naturals teach this anymore?" Nolan's voice sounded helpless. "Only the first generation of Evolved have such visible modification, the second generation of Evolved have the electronic parts implanted in their body as soon as they are born; it's not visible from the outside."     

Ulyanov pointed at the dead body of the blonde girl beside Hao Ren. "Isn't your girlfriend a second generation? Didn't she tell you about it?"     

"She's not my girlfriend..." Hao Ren forced a smile on his face. "In fact... Well, think whatever you like. I'm confused too."     

The vehicle gradually left the ravaged city and entered the suburbs, which was even more battered. Through the narrow bulletproof side window, Hao Ren could see the deserted land; there were barely any plants left. The ground was full of pits and signs of corrosion, as though acid had washed the place. Looking at the destruction, he wondered how far the war had spread in the world. If words leaked by the mercenaries were anything to go by, he might not be able to find a single inch of land that war had not ravaged. Even the "peaceful city-states" where the ordinary people lived in, only served as food-producing bases for some legion, surviving under the protection of the army.     

Hao Ren felt something heavy was on his back. Turning around, he saw the blonde girl's body was resting on his back. He supported the girl with his hands. But others mistook the girl as his girlfriend. He felt a little emotional and wondered who this girl was, where she came from, why she appeared in this chaotic battlefield, and how she eventually died.     

These were the only thoughts in his cranky mind.     

"How long have we been 'dreaming'?" Hao Ren telepathically asked casually. "Does the family know what's going on here?"     

"It's been over four hours. Vivian just tried to wake you up, but I stopped her," the MDT replied, sounding listless. It was probably bored being trapped in a stranger body. "You better stay a little longer to explore this place a little more. You don't want to disappear suddenly in front of these people, do you?"     

The MDT still retained control of its own body in the Surface World when it entered the Plane of Dreams. Hence, it could also serve as a parrot between both worlds.     

"What's your plan?" Ulyanov's voice suddenly interrupted Hao Ren's thoughts.