Soul Traveler: Venator.

She sighed before turning to the address the group.

"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to thank you for assembling here. The new Zone is a dangerous one, and we are seeing a new biome, new monsters, and new dangers. It's no secret we've lost some people, but their payment was sent as compensation to their families. It takes a while to get to the site, so please make haste and line up at the back of the vehicles. We will scan your Licences before you board the vehicles, and that will count as you all signing the indemnity forms. Up until the moment you sign, you still have the choice to leave, however once you've been scanned, there is NO turning back. So please be sure about it."

Once the address was over with, people reacted with almost too much enthusiasm to line up, as if to mask their trepidation with bravado. The queues were fairly long, but they were worked through fairly quickly as those who were scanned were shown to their seats quickly. When it was time for Horatio's scan, the Venator who scanned him actually looked up at him and paused for a second.

"Venator Horatio Rex… you're back again. I was the one who scanned you two weeks ago!"

"What are the chances?" Rex replied.

"I know, right? I had heard there were survivors who made it to the hospital, but apparently, they all died."

"Well, I survived – barely."

"I see that. Good luck this time, as well."

Rex nodded his appreciation and entered the bus. It was a 22 seater with heavy plating, raised ride height, off road suspension and massive off road rubber. He found a seat close to the front, placed his rucksack down at his feet and locked himself in. The harnesses were more akin to those found on a rollercoaster, and kept the occupants lodged firmly in place. Once the busses were full, the convoy began its journey towards the Wall. They didn't take the road through the slum like the bus, but rather, the route took them through a large section of the city, and eventually, through the Alteri Domain. Most, if not all of the Venators in the buses lived in every other Domain but the Alteri Domain, so they gasped and guffawed at the version of the slum they lived in that they had zero access to.

'These cruel bastards.' Kumkani thought to himself. 'Starting and stoking the flames of delusions of grandeur in order to have them push that much harder in the Zone. The false hopes will take straight to Hell.'

They reached the Wall, and the gates that opened to let them out were so huge, that the hydraulic system to open them hissed with such force and volume, it was almost deafening. The ground shook violently as the gates opened, and everything was done at a scale that illustrated just how much fear the designers and engineers had when coming up with the whole system.

'Looking at the farmland the Alteri have, I'm sure similarly sized plots of land exist in the other Domains as well.' Kumkani thought to himself. 'The rats will play a pivotal role in the coming days.'

Kumkani's thoughts were broken by the convoy moving, and it immediately became pitch black outside. Kumkani looked out the window and realised that there was a massive contraption in sitting atop the walls, in the shape of a giant dome above the city. It was akin to a roof, and it was an amalgamation of machine, and Aura Magic techniques to simulate a natural skybox. The actual reality of the sky was the volatile, dangerous mess that was above them currently. The cars were all so heavy, and heavily fortified in order to withstand the insane weather conditions. Lightning strikes regularly peppered the vehicles, powerful winds threatened to toss them about, heavy rain turned the battered road surfaces to absolute shit; whoever had to drive in these conditions had to be as switched on and as skillful as humanly possible.

'I thought Rex's memories were little more than a fever dream because how often he went to Zones hungover or high, but my goodness… this is insane.'

The conditions were making a few of the Venators anxious, completely destroying whatever feelings and emotions driving through the Alteri Domain conjured up. They started jabbering about families, partners, parents… everything that was virtually taboo in situations like this.

'These idiots certainly do love a death flag, it seems.'

After what felt like hours, the convoy finally arrived at the camp site outside of the Zone. It was fairly large in size, and as they drove in, everything around them calmed down. The vehicles all parked, and those who had been babbling nonstop due to fear suddenly shut right up when it was time to disembark. Kumkani simply unlatched his harness, grabbed his rucksack and made his way towards the doors, waiting for them to open. Sure enough, they were unlatched and swung open to reveal the camp. Kumkani simply hopped out, his boots squelching as he landed in the mud and looked around. Much like at Union HQ, the Venators all assembled at a single point, although this time, there was no bravado big enough to mask the fear majority of them felt. Once they were all standing in the mud, the huge man and his aide appeared to address them again.

"Brethren, welcome to the Zone, tentatively named Zone 14. We are scheduled to be here for approximately a week, however in the event of an emergency, or if we finish scouting before then, we will leave. You have been split in half, with there being two shifts. Each shift will last 12 hours, at which point, you will switch. We will enter once C-Tier and above level monsters appear, but please note that if you sound the alarm, it will take time for us to reach you – especially considering how we do not have any camps within the Zone. Are there any questions?"

The aide explained things to the degree that nobody had any questions, and even if they did, they were too afraid to ask.

"Very well. Please, feel free to find a spot to set yourselves up, set up your tents if you have them, and get some rest. Feel free to charge your devices, use the loo, whatever. We will give you colour coded tags to represent which shift you belong to shortly. Set your alarms, first shift begins in 6 hours. That is all."

The aide dismissed the group with a nod, and they slowly split up and broke apart. Kumkani found a spot close to the perimeter, not directly in the path of a light, close enough to the amenities and tents that he could hear if anything was announced, but far enough that he wouldn't hear anybody shit or vomit from stress and anxiety.