Chapter 65 Sixty-Five Years Ago

The nanite swarm incident of sixty-five years ago.

The war has continued to this day, and it is almost impossible to say exactly what started it all, nor is it possible to figure out which side of the war first provoked the conflict, but the world at least has one consensus: the nanite swarm incident sixty-five years ago was definitely the most deadly of the many fuses at the time.

After the largest nanite sea in the Northern Hemisphere lost control, it eroded the protective wall and instantly destroyed the surrounding three cities. The areas ravaged by the swarms are still no-go zones to this day. Because the soil and environment have been completely changed, no plants grow there anymore, and the water is full of highly toxic chemicals and residual swarms that have not completely lost their vitality. Less than half of the adventurers who venture into that dead zone return alive.

But what is incredible is that although the nanite swarms eroded everything around them back then, one place still survived: the "Northern Ring Tower" in the center of the nanite sea. No one has been able to explain this phenomenon to this day, and the business Nolan received this time was to go to that place.

Almost no one wants to go to that dead zone, and the land destroyed by the swarms is unlikely to be of much value. Therefore, apart from a few major forces with special ideas about pre-war technology, few people go to the ruins of the Northern Lands. The biggest problem with going to the ruins is the guide. Very few people can cross the ruins alive, and Nolan is one of them. Such guides are expensive and mostly unavailable: not everyone is willing to trade their lives for money.

Nolan stated the high price offered by the White River Merchant Guild for this business, and the surrounding mercenaries began to waver. Many people were tempted by the price, but the death rate of up to half after entering the Northern Ruins made them hesitant. Nolan also knew this, so she didn't use commands, but let her subordinates decide for themselves whether to follow her or not. While the surrounding people were talking to each other, Ulanov was the first to stand up: "I'll go with you."

After Hao Ren learned about the information on the Northern Ring Tower, he understood Ulanov's connection with that place. This man was the only survivor of the accident sixty-five years ago. Perhaps he has some persistent unfulfilled wish.

After Hao Ren waited for Ulanov to finish speaking, he also stepped forward: "I'll go too."

Nolan looked at Hao Ren in surprise: "You?"

"I'm also a little interested in the Northern Ring Tower," Hao Ren smiled, "Anyway, you're short of manpower, right? It doesn't hurt to take me along."

"But you're not part of the mercenary group," Nolan frowned, "Aren't you not interested in being a mercenary?"

Hao Ren casually gave an explanation: "I just don't like being controlled. This time I'm just here to help. How about it? It won't hurt to bring me along. I don't need you to worry about me on the road. Just treat me as an extra piece of luggage..."

Nolan had probably never seen such a free and easy guy in her life. Even she, who was usually expressionless, widened her eyes at this time: "You're saying it so easily? Do you know what the Northern Ring Tower is?"

Hao Ren nodded: "I know, nine deaths out of ten, but I'm not afraid of death, and when you encounter danger, you can just run away, you don't even need to care about me—isn't that loose enough? Do you want me to write a guarantee, make a will in advance stating that my life and death have nothing to do with you or something?"

Nolan stared at Hao Ren up and down, and suddenly showed a look of realization: "Oh, I see, you want to die, right?"

Hao Ren: "..."

He was just thinking about dispelling Nolan's doubts as much as possible so that she would take him along. He never thought that this misunderstanding could be amplified!

Even Ulanov patted him on the shoulder: "You're a good person, you don't need to waste your life in this way. The road is still long, life..."

Hao Ren jumped up: "Why do you all think I'm crazy?! Can't I just go over to help?!"

He babbled to Nolan for a long time before she finally agreed to let such an outsider go with the team. After finally getting it settled, Hao Ren was still muttering in his heart: there are so many Gray Fox mercenaries around, but they don't want to go, and he, who took the initiative to offer his combat power, was rejected again and again. What a lot of effort...

Nolan was even more emotional than Hao Ren: she had seen many people who didn't want to die, but the type in front of her was rare. Love really makes people blind. The pain of bereavement probably made this man want to die. She had no choice but to take Hao Ren to his death with the mentality of helping the world and saving people...

Fortunately, Hao Ren couldn't read minds, otherwise the things Nolan imagined in her mind would have made him spurt blood three feet.

Seeing that her other subordinates were still hesitating and discussing, Nolan waved her hand understandingly and let everyone temporarily disband: "Everyone else go back and think about it. Karl, give me a list before tonight. I have to decide on the personnel before noon tomorrow and set off tomorrow afternoon."

After everyone dispersed, Hao Ren and Ulanov walked towards the barracks together. Perhaps because they were about to go to the Northern Ruins together, Ulanov had greater trust in Hao Ren. He patted Hao Ren's shoulder vigorously: "You still have time to consider. Go back and think carefully about whether you should waste this life. Nolan won't say anything if you quit tomorrow."

"You're saying it like I'm going to die on purpose," Hao Ren looked at the other party's bald mask with a wry smile, "I know you think I'm trying to die after my wife died... I can't explain it now, but don't worry, I cherish my life very much. I'm going to the Northern Ring Tower because I want to investigate some things I care about. Although that place is dangerous, it's not so dangerous that you can't come back, right?"

"Before I met Nolan, I once ventured in once. At that time, I was still the leader of a small mercenary organization," Ulanov paused, "We didn't even cross the outermost area before people died. Don't underestimate that place. The Northern Ruins swallow up a lot of unlucky guys every year."

Hao Ren looked at Ulanov: "Since it's so dangerous, why do you still want to go?"

He had asked this question once before, and Ulanov didn't answer at the time, but now that the two of them were about to embark on that dangerous area together, Ulanov finally stopped hiding: "I said, sixty-five years ago, I was a researcher working near the nanite swarm."

Hao Ren nodded, waiting for Ulanov to continue.

"My wife was the operator of the 'Overlord' computer," Ulanov said slowly, "When the swarm lost control, the Northern Ring Tower automatically closed, and all the staff were locked inside, and the nanomachines never eroded the inside of the ring tower—so the people inside survived until the last moment."

Hao Ren opened his eyes wide: "You want to..."

"I just want to find her relics... or bones," Ulanov shook his head, "They must still be there."

After saying this, Ulanov walked away without looking back, leaving Hao Ren stunned behind him.

The voice of the data terminal sounded leisurely in his mind: "Compared to you, a fake sentimentalist, this is the real man—he probably lived to this day for this."

Hao Ren didn't feel like arguing with the other party, and just silently returned to his room.

As soon as he pushed the door open, he heard a hoarse and strange female voice coming from the front: "Yo, partner, welcome back."

Hao Ren was startled by the voice. He looked up and saw a blonde girl leaning against the corner of the wall and sitting not far in front of him.

The girl was stained with blood and her face was pale. One half of her body was limply slumped down, while the other half was straightened with force to barely maintain balance.

Hiton's personal computer was placed on the ground next to her, and she was struggling to operate the keyboard with one hand.

Such difficult movements, coupled with the blood stains on her body, made her look both miserable and pitiful—if her body wasn't a brick, Hao Ren would really be overwhelmed with sympathy.

The blonde girl shook her head slightly, seemingly wanting to look up at Hao Ren, but quickly gave up: "Sorry, the driver seems to still have some unstable places, I can't... lift my head."

Hao Ren quickly turned around and closed the door, for fear that this scene of resurrection in broad daylight would be seen. Then he quickly came to the terminal: "You can talk?"

"Barely," the corpse girl terminal spoke, not only was the tone strange but also intermittent, sounding like a child who had just learned to speak, "Speaking of which, this body is really difficult to control. I fell several times and couldn't stand up. Fortunately, I finally learned how to crawl."

As she spoke, she grabbed the edge of the bed next to her and tried to climb up. Hao Ren noticed that she only had one arm and one leg that could move, so he quickly stepped forward to help. After placing her on the bed, Hao Ren said seriously: "Let me check your body."

The girl was shocked: "Have you finally decided to attack your pdA?!"

"Get out—I have to figure out how you work!"