Chapter 43: The Outer World

Outside the great wall, it wasn’t an endless wasteland. Scattered clusters of dilapidated buildings still remained.

However, after years of abandonment and neglect, they were now overgrown with weeds, forming a stark contrast with the well-maintained transport highway.

This area once belonged to the suburbs of the Aonan region.

Later, with the city’s reorganization and the establishment of the isolation wall, these once-lively suburbs were suddenly rendered desolate, eventually becoming what people now called the “no-man’s-land.”

While the construction of the isolation wall provided reliable shelter for the city’s inhabitants, it also severed the connection between most citizens and the outside world.

Zhou Jianzhong, a man in his forties, looked at the desolate old city and said with emotion, “Although it’s not my first time leaving the city, I always get this indescribable feeling when I see this scene. Twenty-something years ago, I lived in the Hongmao District—somewhere over that way, I think. It was bustling back then. The commercial street was packed with people, and motorcycles were parked everywhere—illegally, randomly… It made you want to curse. Now, I can’t even curse if I wanted to.”

Xiao Wang chuckled. “Uncle Zhou, you should be grateful. At least you get to see the abandoned old city again. How many people enter Neo Aonan and never step outside again?”

Zhou Jianzhong nodded, his gaze complicated as he glanced at the towering silver-gray wall behind their vehicle. “That’s true. I should be thankful I joined the company’s transport team.”

Hansen scoffed. “I think the ones who don’t dare leave the city are just cowards.”

Zhou Jianzhong smiled. “You can’t say that. The outside world really is dangerous—otherwise, we wouldn’t need a wall that high. Everyone has families—old folks, kids. If it weren’t for financial pressure, who’d willingly get mixed up in this mess?”

While they chatted idly, Luo Yan had no intention of joining in. Instead, she silently combined what they were saying with the information she had learned about the changes before and after the construction of Neo Aonan’s isolation wall.

A large number of foreign trade companies had gone bankrupt or been acquired.

The share of self-produced and self-sold products in the city had increased year by year.

Most highways connecting to other cities had gradually been abandoned due to years of disrepair. And “independent cities” had only become more independent under such circumstances.

The only real connection left between cities existed in the intangible realm of the internet.

Luo Yan unconsciously recalled a line she’d read in the library:

“The Isolation Great Wall is the crystallization of thousands of years of human civilization.

It incorporates many of humanity’s most cutting-edge technologies, shielding people from the most terrifying dark tides and heralding the dawn of a new era.

Undoubtedly, it is a marvel—but at the same time, it is also a regression, the greatest symbol of civilization’s retreat.

This era urgently needs a giant—someone who can tear down the isolation wall and reconnect this world.”

As the transport team pressed on, the abandoned building clusters gradually disappeared, replaced by natural terrain like open plains and forested areas. About an hour after leaving the city, they had fully entered the wasteland zone.

At this point, the only trace of Neo Aonan visible was the occasional reconnaissance drone patrolling low in the sky.

Xiao Wang glanced at Luo Yan. Ever since they had left the city, her attention had been focused entirely on the world outside.

Thinking this was her first time traveling with the transport team, he assumed she must be nervous. But that was understandable—after all, she was still young, a greenhouse flower who had never seen blood. He couldn’t be too harsh.

He smiled and said, “Consultant Luo, you don’t have to worry. We probably won’t run into anything dangerous before we reach the Aros mine. Even if we do, it’ll be something we can handle easily.”

Luo Yan nodded. She knew he had likely misunderstood her, but still politely thanked him.

As the transport team moved deeper into the wasteland, a giant crystal-clear monument—three meters tall and glowing faintly—came into view. Luo Yan immediately sensed a subtle shift in the atmosphere inside the vehicle. Every team member’s expression became noticeably more serious.

“That’s a boundary marker,” Xiao Wang explained after noticing Luo Yan’s curiosity. “It’s used to monitor anomalies at the frontier. It marks the dividing line between the Order Zone and the Wasteland. Once we pass it, we might run into some trouble—like Corpse Hounds. I hope not, though. A lot of those mutated beasts travel in packs, and dealing with them is time-consuming.”

“I see.” Luo Yan hadn’t come across any specific information about the boundary marker before. After Xiao Wang’s explanation, she nodded in realization. At the same time, she quietly activated the system’s auxiliary functions.

Lin Yuanyao looked ahead and added coolly, “The potential trouble isn’t limited to mutated beasts. There are also terrorist armed organizations and wasteland mobs.”

Luo Yan raised her eyebrows slightly. “Mobs?”

“Never heard of them?” someone in the vehicle said mockingly, with a clear note of disdain. “The mobs are mostly refugees from settlements. Some were denied entry to independent cities because they tested positive for Hemolysis, or for other reasons. So they can only set up temporary shelters in the wasteland. Because they’ve been treated unfairly, they’re generally hostile toward people from the cities. And some of these refugees were incited and supported by terrorist organizations or other forces with ulterior motives, which gradually turned their resentment into hatred. Those are the ones we call mobs.”

Luo Yan nodded, deliberately ignoring the ridicule in the speaker’s tone. She merely felt a wave of emotion—before the Millennium Anomaly, this world’s development path had been nearly identical to that of her previous life. But the anomaly had changed everything.

It gave rise to ability users—beings who didn’t exist in her past life—and brought with them war, disaster, and suffering.

As for those waiting to see her embarrassed or flustered, many were disappointed. They’d expected this Consultant Luo to react with irritation or shame. Instead, her calm demeanor left them feeling let down.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. There were no mutated beasts, no attacks from mobs or armed groups. The transport team arrived smoothly at the edge of the Aros mine.

Lin Yuanyao frowned slightly. “Something feels off today.”

Hansen said, “What’s strange about it? The vehicle’s empty. Not even mutated beasts would be interested, let alone mobs or armed groups.”

Lin Yuanyao shook her head. “No… it’s just a feeling. I hope I’m overthinking it. Anyway, let’s head into the mine first.”

Luo Yan’s expression shifted slightly, as if she had suddenly remembered something—but she said nothing.