"Then we faced certain death, and I barely managed to escape," Bai Ye said in a deep voice. "But my companions were trapped in that world, and I couldn't just abandon them. I had to save them."
"However, when leaving that world, the crystals were destroyed by an explosion. I had no way to return to that world using those crystals, so I left Cowboy City and began searching for them."
Allen asked curiously, "What was that world like?"
"It was like this world, just with more monsters," Bai Ye replied. "If you enter from the City of Ruins, it's still the City of Ruins, but I entered Cowboy City at that time."
Allen said with interest, "And then?"
Bai Ye continued, "The city was the same, like a mirror world, but the people living there were different. Besides mutated creatures, there were also the mutated humans I mentioned."
After speaking, Bai Ye grabbed Allen's wrist.
"Please help me," Bai Ye said. "I just need to know where those crystals are."
Allen immediately agreed, "No problem."
How could Allen refuse Bai Ye's request?
Ever since discovering those mysterious crystal fragments half a year ago, Allen had been researching them, but without any leads.
In fact, Allen had become a laughingstock in the borderlands.
Once a renowned hunter in the borderlands, he was now researching a pile of crystal fragments, which many considered a downfall.
As for clearing out mutated creatures, everyone scoffed.
If the mutated creatures were cleared out, what would they eat?
They were the primary food source beneath the wasteland now.
And now, Allen finally knew the secret of the crystal fragments. How could he refuse Bai Ye? Let alone tell Bai Ye where the fragments were, even if Bai Ye invited him to go, Allen would go without hesitation.
"Wait a moment," the boss interrupted. "If entering another world from Cowboy City leads to another world's Cowboy City, then wouldn't entering from the borderlands lead to another borderlands?"
Bai Ye nodded. "Yes?"
The boss continued, "But you want to save your friends, shouldn't you go to Cowboy City? Are you sure the borderlands of the other world connect to Cowboy City?"
Bai Ye paused. How would he know that?
He didn't have any companions!
This was all a fabrication on his part.
Bai Ye took a deep breath, channeling his inner actor, and said solemnly, "I don't know, but no matter what, I have to try, even if there's only a sliver of hope to save them."
The boss nodded, then asked, "Second question, does that world have resources? Can they be brought back?"
Bai Ye was stunned again, then understood the boss's meaning, and replied, "Yes!"
The boss inquired, "For example?"
"I don't know," Bai Ye said. "Let me put it this way, once you enter that world, you'll find it's like going from one borderland to another. There are definitely resources, just like when the borderlands first became ruins. Humans heavily scavenged the borderlands for supplies, food, energy blocks, and various equipment."
The boss pondered, "So, it's a borderland that hasn't been scavenged?"
"Theoretically, yes," Bai Ye said. "After all, there are no humans there, and the mutated crystallised humans act on instinct like beasts. They wouldn't be scavenging for resources, would they?"
What about the reality?
The reality was quite different.
The so-called mirror world was created by the Rhine Corporation.
In recent years, the Rhine Corporation's control over androids had been declining.
More and more androids were becoming dissatisfied with their servitude, defecting from the wealthy district known as the "Castle" and hiding in the outer slums.
While it hadn't escalated into a war between humans and androids like in the past, the situation was worse than anticipated.
Thus, the Rhine Corporation devised a new plan. They needed to maintain control over the borderlands and required absolute military force.
They realized that the reason for the androids' increasing rebellion was that androids were created by cloning humans.
Since this was the case, it was impossible to suppress the androids' thoughts.
And as long as androids had thoughts, they would grow and evolve, eventually developing rebellious ideas.
The Rhine Corporation only needed slaves.
Therefore, the Rhine Corporation built the mirror world and secretly conducted research and human experiments within it. The result of these experiments was the creation of a new warrior: the crystallised human.
Of course, those crystallised humans were not yet complete and had many flaws. Otherwise, the Rhine Corporation would have already deployed them to replace the androids.
As for those so-called crystals, they were actually the entrances to the mirror world.
This was also a new technology from the Rhine Corporation, developed to cope with sudden natural disasters like typhoons, tsunamis, and earthquakes in the wasteland environment.
The City of Ruins was becoming increasingly dilapidated, and everyone worried about when a strong typhoon would destroy it. But hiding in the mirror world would obviously eliminate this fear.
At the same time, to prevent the news of the crystallised humans from leaking and causing android riots, the Rhine Corporation placed their experimental grounds within the mirror world.
After all, if crystallised humans replaced androids, then the existing androids would have to be destroyed. If the news leaked beforehand, even the androids who hadn't rebelled would be forced to do so.
Who would want to be destroyed?
However, the Rhine Corporation's new mirror world technology was clearly not perfect. There were flaws in its creation, leading to the emergence of extending crystals around the borderlands.
These crystals could also be considered breaches in the mirror world, allowing people to enter and exit the mirror world without going through the official channels.
What did any of this have to do with Bai Ye?
Bai Ye grinned. It would soon become his concern.
Bai Ye looked at Allen, silently shouting, "Team up with me, team up with me! Let's explore the mirror world together and uncover the truth. You will become a hero!"
But…
The boss looked at Bai Ye and said seriously, "If enough resources can be obtained, I believe I can assemble a team for you."
"You have received a hidden quest."
"Lead the hunting ground team into the mirror world for exploration. This is a timed quest, with the duration calculated from the moment you enter the mirror world until you leave."
"The rewards for this hidden quest will be given based on the completion level. Upon successfully completing the exploration of the mirror world and departing, the reward announcement will be made."
Bai Ye's face instantly turned into a question mark.
This quest was different from the one he remembered!