Chapter 7: A Very Unwelcome Reunion

After Summer officially became Archer’s teammate, he gave her a new gun. It wasn’t a plasma gun this time, but a poison gun.

"This one doesn’t have much recoil when you fire a poison bullet," Archer explained as he handed it to her. "It shouldn’t hurt your hands at all."

Summer stared at the gun in her hands. Truthfully, she had never asked Archer to give her another weapon. She had only asked him for some tips on how to stop dislocating her arms every time she fired the plasma gun.

Instead of teaching her how to handle the recoil, Archer simply gave her another gun.

Summer did not know whether he was being generous or if he had already decided that teaching her was hopeless.

The livestream viewers, however, immediately recognized the weapon.

[The hell! That’s an S-Rank Poison Gun!]

[Damn it, Archer! Why do you have everything while I’m stuck with my D-Rank Plasma Gun?!]

[That’s because you’re broke, brother.]

An S-Rank gun? Summer looked down at the weapon again with much more interest.

Well, just like everyone said, "If someone gives you a gift, just take it."

Who was she to reject such wise advice? Therefore, Summer happily accepted the gun.

"Where should we go now?" she asked as they stepped out of the abandoned supermarket they had previously used for "private" reasons.

Archer opened the digital map on his wrist. Several red dots appeared across the screen, but most of them were gathered around one particular area.

"We’ll go to Zone 87’s power plant," Archer said. "It used to be one of the zone’s main power plants, but polluted creatures broke through the walls. The place has been contaminated ever since."

Summer raised her eyebrows. "If it used to be a normal power plant, doesn’t that mean there were still workers inside when the walls were breached?"

Archer nodded. "Yes. The government estimates that around twenty people were still inside when it happened. But whether they’re still alive or not, I’m not sure."

"Is that why you came here?" she asked, following him as he started walking. "Did the government ask you to help get them out?"

"They didn’t ask for my help." Archer turned his head slightly toward her. "They obligated me."

Obligated?

Summer found that word strange because what kind of government would dare to give orders to an SSS-Rank Sentinel?

Even in her old world, the government didn’t dare to mess with S-Rank Hunters and above.

Those people were simply too powerful, even when they accepted missions from the government, it was usually because they were offered huge rewards in return.

Summer, however, had been different.

She had always been forced to obey the government because she was nothing more than a lab rat in their eyes.

Her body had been used for experiments ever since she was young. To make sure she would never disobey them, they had even planted several explosive devices inside her body.

Because of that, Summer had only ever been given two choices; follow their orders or die.

She had spent most of her life knowing that a single act of disobedience could get her killed.

Ironically, in the end, she had died for a completely different reason.

Summer glanced at Archer walking beside her. Could he be in a similar situation?

Was there something that allowed the government to control him despite his SSS-Rank?

The thought made her curious, but Summer had no intention of digging into Archer’s personal matters. They had only met today, after all. No matter what had happened between them a few hours ago, she still barely knew him.

Therefore, she decided not to ask.

The livestream viewers, however, quickly became bothered by the silence.

[Dang, these two are awkward as hell.]

[HELLO??? You two disappeared into a black screen for THREE HOURS and now you’re walking like coworkers on their first day?!]

[Why does this look like a walk of shame but neither of them is ashamed?]

[Archer gave her an S-Rank gun and then went silent. Is this how rich people flirt?]

[Forget flirting. Brother already skipped the flirting stage three hours ago.]

[LMAOOOO STOP.]

Summer rolled her eyes and simply closed the comment section.

Along the way to the power plant, Summer came across several polluted creatures.

Most of them looked like disgusting bugs or insects, except they were much larger than anything she had ever seen before.

Fortunately, most of them were only F-Rank or E-Rank creatures, so Archer barely needed to slow down to deal with them.

Summer was not surprised to see so many insect-type polluted creatures in the area. Bugs were already everywhere even before a place became contaminated, so once pollution spread through the area, those insects were probably among the first living creatures to be affected.

"Help! Help!"

A desperate shout suddenly came from somewhere ahead.

Summer immediately stopped walking and turned toward the sound. "Someone’s there."

Archer had heard it too. His eyes narrowed as he looked toward the abandoned buildings in the distance.

Another shout soon followed, louder and much more desperate than before. "Is anyone there?! We need help!"

The moment Summer heard that voice, she let out a heavy sigh.

Seriously? She couldn’t see the person yet, but the original body recognized that voice as easily as the back of its hand.

Summer quickly moved to the side of the road to get a better look. Several figures soon appeared between the abandoned buildings, running toward them as fast as they could.

Behind them was an entire swarm of polluted insects. Within seconds, Summer recognized the familiar uniforms.

Team 8.

"Fuck," Summer cursed as she rolled her eyes.

Of all the people she could have run into inside this polluted zone, why did it have to be them?

More importantly, what the hell had happened to them?

Team 8 looked completely different from when Summer had left them earlier.

Their once-neat uniforms were now covered in dirt, blood, and some disgusting green liquid that Summer really hoped came from the polluted creatures.

One Sentinel was limping badly, while another had his arm wrapped around his waist to keep him moving.

Winter was running in the middle of the group. Her face was pale, and she looked like she could collapse at any moment.

Ryland stayed at the back, firing his gun again and again at the creatures chasing them.

Summer frowned because she realized something wasn’t right.

After all, this was only a B-Rank Polluted Zone.

Team 8 might not be strong enough to clear the entire zone by themselves, but they were still an experienced team.

There was no reason for them to end up looking this desperate against creatures they should have been able to handle.

Unless—

Before Summer could finish that thought, a loud warning suddenly appeared in front of her.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Polluted creatures above the Polluted Zone’s current rank have been detected!]

[Warning! Warning!]

[The danger level of this Polluted Zone is no longer accurate!]

[Zone 87 needs to be reassessed!]