Trembling At A High Altitude

"Oh, and here are the meal tickets for tonight's dinner. I don't think anyone is very hungry yet, so we'll mainly be having rice porridge this evening—after all, food is limited. We hope for everyone's understanding," the staff member added a few sentences before walking away.

No sooner had the staff member left than a new task was released from their wristwatches.

The new task required Li Teng and three others to continue protecting Jiang Chunsheng's family. The task was valid until a new update was issued, at which point the content would automatically update.

Therefore, the Jiang family members definitely couldn't go out to carry out tasks; it had to be one of the four prisoners.

"I'll go tomorrow. Who else will join me? We'll swap for the other two the day after," Li Teng asked, after discussing with the other three, and looked around at the group.

"Of course, it's me! There's no way they can be separated," Yuki Noto replied to Li Teng.

Yang Shunli and Dong Qi's silence stood as consent.

After deciding with the four prisoners, when they went back and told the Jiang family, Jiang Yani was the first to object.

"Who protected us all the way here? He's already worked so hard, why is he being arranged for tomorrow? If you must send him, then I will accompany him!" Jiang Yani voiced her opinion loudly.

Yuki Noto felt that Jiang Yani's first sentence was not the point; her real focus was the latter.

After expressing her views, Jiang Yani looked at her with a very hostile gaze.

"Well, it's his arrangement." Yuki Noto smiled sheepishly, although she didn't understand why she felt guilty, as if she had meddled in something.

"It's my arrangement. You're still young, and some things aren't your place to decide," Li Teng consoled Jiang Yani.

After arguing a bit more and realizing she couldn't change Li Teng's mind, Jiang Yani gave up.

Then she looked at Yuki Noto with even more hostility.

Li Teng said she was young, and indeed, compared to Yuki Noto, she was a whole age group younger.

No wonder Li Teng wanted to go out with this woman.

So frustrating!

...

The night passed without incident, although various noises always came from beyond the high walls of the relief settlement. Inside, however, everything remained quiet.

In fact, both Jiang Yani and Yuki Noto wished something would happen—like something... anything with Li Teng, but with so many people inside the settlement, the cells overcrowded, and so much public space in the hall, it was impossible for anything to happen.

Moreover, the entire settlement was packed with people, making it impossible to find a place where something could happen.

The next morning, a staff member came to check if Li Teng's group had made their arrangements and which two people would accompany them on their outing.

"All set," Yuki Noto volunteered their names—hers and Li Teng's.

"Come with me."

The staff member led Li Teng and her out to join the others, moved through the crowded throng, and arrived at a small clearing outside the prison cells that had been cleared.

Dozens of people were already gathered there.

"Task distribution will take into account humaneness and fairness.

"Groups consisting entirely of the old, weak, sick, and disabled have also selected such individuals, so it's obviously not suitable for them to carry out outside tasks. Thus, they will be assigned tasks within the camp as much as possible.

"Groups of able-bodied individuals will participate in a draw for outside tasks. Whichever lot is drawn will determine the task group they join.

"We've divided the outside tasks by difficulty level. There's roughly one extremely difficult task, three hard tasks, and six ordinary tasks. The rest are simple tasks, generally handled by teams of no more than three members, and sometimes even a single person.

"The extremely difficult task requires a team of ten members. Each hard task needs a team of five. An ordinary task only requires three people per team.

"As for who takes on the extremely difficult, the hard, or the ordinary tasks, that will be decided by the draw."

The task distributor explained to everyone.

No objections were raised.

Because they knew voicing objections would be futile, they could only pray internally that they wouldn't be selected for the extremely difficult task and would be lucky enough to get an easy one.

Though the task publisher didn't state it explicitly, everyone knew in their hearts that the death rate for difficult tasks was also extremely high, and it was very rare to come back alive; if even half the people made it back, that was considered a good outcome.

As for those tasks rated as super difficult...

It was likely a one-way trip.

To be selected for a super difficult task essentially meant forming a Suicide Squad.

The next step was the lottery-drawing segment.

For the sake of fairness, the person in charge of the draw brought out a transparent box, and had each participant write their name on a piece of paper, crumple it into a ball, and toss it into the transparent box.

Then, through a method of throwing a ball over their shoulder, they would select the drawer.

The drawer would face away from the drawing box, and after the host stirred the contents with a hand, the drawer would reach in and pull out a paper ball. Whose name was drawn was whose fate.

This method made cheating virtually impossible; it was entirely a matter of luck.

The host announced the method of drawing, and everyone wrote their names and tossed the crumpled paper balls into the drawing box.

The host threw the ball over his shoulder to select the drawer.

"One, two, three, I'm throwing!" the host shouted and then, facing away, threw the ball behind him.

A man leaped high into the air, tipping over several other men who were trying to snatch the ball, and firmly grasped it in his hands.

This man was Li Teng.

No matter how transparent and fair this drawing method seemed, Li Teng felt it was better to have his fate in his own hands.

If he was the one doing the drawing, then how could others plan to trap him, right?

"Alright, this gentleman will be responsible for drawing the lots," the host said with a smile and a nod after turning around and seeing the ball in Li Teng's hands.

The few men who had been knocked over glared at Li Teng with annoyance, but there was nothing they could do about it—it was his build, his ability to jump high, and his quick reactions that had won, wasn't it?

Li Teng went up on stage, and turned his back to the drawing box.

"The first ten names drawn will be participating in the super difficult task," the host announced once more.

The scene became incredibly silent.

Everyone was praying, hoping they would not be the unlucky ones drawn by Li Teng's inauspicious hands.

After stirring the box, the host signaled Li Teng to take off his shirt, standing bare-chested with his arms open, to show that he had nothing in his hands and nowhere like sleeves to hide anything, and only then did he allow Li Teng to reach his hand into the drawing box.

Having extended his hand inside, Li Teng stirred some more.

There were seventy to eighty participants in the task, which meant the chance of drawing his own name was only one in seventy to eighty. With ten spots, the chances of being picked were also only one in seven to eight.

He couldn't be that unlucky, could he?

After stirring for a while, Li Teng pulled a paper ball out of the box.

To prevent the host from tampering, Li Teng, right in front of the host, opened up the paper ball himself.

"Li Teng."

The host declared the name written on it.

Upon hearing this name and seeing Li Teng's awkward expression, Yuki Noto let out a 'pfft' and laughed, quickly covering her mouth when she realized the situation.

Li Teng glared fiercely at the name he had personally written on the paper ball, so angry he wanted to curse the world.

How unlucky does one have to be to vigorously fight for the right to draw and come forward personally to do so...

And then, out of seventy to eighty paper balls, to draw the one with his own name first?

"Which one is Li Teng? Please step forward," the host asked the crowd.

"It's me," Li Teng replied to the host.

"Oh...congrat..." the host was about to say something, but suddenly remembered this wasn't like winning five million, and abruptly swallowed back the words he was about to say.

A burst of irrepressible laughter erupted from the small square, instantly dissolving the somber atmosphere that had prevailed until that moment.

How unlucky could this guy be?

He scrambled to grab the ball, knocking over several people in the process, only to draw, and then pick himself out.

How's that for 'selfless devotion'?

"What's so funny? Laugh at others, and sooner or later you'll have your own bad day!" Yuki Noto felt she should firmly stand with Li Teng at a time like this.

But for some reason, she couldn't help laughing herself, resulting in an awkward situation.

"Let's be serious, everyone! Continue drawing!" The host didn't expect that what was obviously a very serious tragedy would produce such an unserious comedic effect.

Li Teng was absent-mindedly listening to the host's arrangements and reached into the lottery box once again.

He pulled out another crumpled piece of paper.

The lighthearted atmosphere from the square returned to solemnity and tension.

After all, there were ten slots for ultra-difficult tasks, and among these people, nine more could be chosen.

Li Teng drew another crumpled piece of paper.

"Yuki Noto, who's that? Please step forward."

The host read the name on the paper.

"Oh!" Yuki Noto responded only a few seconds later, hastily stepping out of line to stand forward.

But Li Teng frowned instead.

When he was first drawn he had thought maybe it was purely coincidental.

Now that Yuki Noto was selected, he felt the chances of it being coincidental were just too slim.

It was a plot device, forcing the narrative! Otherwise it was impossible!

At this moment, Li Teng's wristwatch also vibrated, signalling a new mission had been released.

Their prisoner's wristwatches were only viewable to them; NPCs from these mission worlds couldn't see them.

The new mission was...

To complete this ultra-difficult task at the rescue settlement.

Indeed, it was all just a plot device from the start.

In that case, there was no point in thinking further about it.

...

After the lottery ceremony was finished, seventy to eighty people were divided into many groups.

Li Teng, Yuki Noto, and eight others were placed in the group for the ultra-difficult task.

The ten of them were led into the camp's office.

Inside, there was a middle-aged man with a somber expression, who was also the initiator of the ultra-difficult task.

"The task for the ten of you will concern the future of the entire human race on Earth," the middle-aged man began.

Typical hero-saves-the-world melodrama, claiming to affect all of humanity on Earth.

Clichéd, yet every director loves to use it.

All ten people remained silent, waiting for the middle-aged man to go on.

"As you should all know, the disaster that befell our planet was due to the invasion of alien warships.

"Despite alien invasions occurring all over the world, based on research we found that our city is one of the key interests of the alien warships.

"Some aliens have even secretly slipped out of their ships, attempting to familiarize themselves with Earth through their methods.

"From the current situation, they seem to be bound by some kind of 'rules' that prevent them from causing destruction on Earth as they please.

"This means they have weaknesses.

"If we identify their vulnerabilities, we may be able to defeat them and take back our planet!

"Your families, friends, colleagues, relatives, neighbors... many have probably died in this disaster.

"Those of your living families, friends, colleagues, relatives, neighbors are still facing the threat of death...

"If we don't stop them, the entire human race on Earth will eventually become extinct.

"Now, we have a chance to stop them!

"The mission to save the Earth and humanity now rests on you ten!"

Following the stirring and motivational speech, Li Teng and the others...

did not feel a surge of passion.

Instead, they quietly watched the middle-aged man continue his "performance."

"According to our research, there's an alien, possibly dispatched from their spaceship or maybe it slipped out on its own, secretly landed at the Xianyu Villa in the suburbs on Xianyu Mountain.

"Xianyu Mountain has thus been enveloped by a barrier unlike anything outside.

"We're unclear about what's inside the barrier, but one thing is certain, there's an alien there.

"Now, if we want to know what's inside the barrier and learn about the alien's weaknesses, we must send people in.

"We will arrange vehicles and armed forces to escort you to the outskirts of Xianyu Villa, then you will enter the barrier on your own. We will install video and communication devices on you to guide your movements..."

The middle-aged man detailed the contents of the mission.

If his wristwatch hadn't assigned a new task, Li Teng might have refused to participate in this mission.

After all, the risk was too great.

But under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to try to complete the mission.

The rescue settlement obviously placed great importance on this task.

They mobilized nearly half of the camp's armed forces and firearms to take part in the operation.

There were also several modified armored vehicles.

With some leading the way and others covering the rear, they advanced by stop and start, and about two hours later, they arrived near Xianyu Mountain.

The entire Xianyu Mountain was then shrouded in dense fog.

According to the reconnaissance personnel who had entered before but hadn't ventured deeply, upon entering the fog, visibility was reduced to merely two meters, but this fog wasn't solid.

It was more like a shell, a shell around ten meters thick that enveloped the whole of Xianyu Mountain.

Once you crossed the shell, about ten meters thick, you could see the light again and regain your vision.

As for what lay deeper in...

These people probably knew something but wouldn't tell them.

Frankly speaking, these ten people were just fodder, sent in to die.

Everything was ready.

The operation began.

The team leader asked the ten to enter the fog right then.

"Don't be afraid, just walk straight along this road, ten meters, and in a few seconds, you'll have passed through," the team leader stressed, pointing forward.