Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

The next day, Ivan left for Bangyu Restaurant. It was another gate raid day for the group, their third time raiding the Vate Prison Realm. Over the course of these two weeks of constant raiding, the adventurers had grown stronger, and some of them had gained powerful new abilities.

The adventurers who unlocked new abilities were Wanyama, Proud Reaper, SheCyclones, Sarah-Ze-Beauty, and Troy_to_me.

Wanyama unlocked a new ability called Kamikaze Undead. This skill was discovered during the second raid of the Vate Prison Realm, with the gate's sinister, deathly atmosphere contributing to the terrifying nature of the new ability.

Kamikaze Undead: He could summon a squad of skeletons that advance towards a target and detonate themselves.

Cooldown: 30 minutes, which can be bypassed when he transforms into a Runic Giant.

Grade: D rank, Grade 2.

Elliot, also known as Proud Reaper, added a second mount to his inventory: a Rabbit Mount he obtained from Long Claw Forest. The Rabbit Mount was as large as a horse but bulkier and more suited for combat. Its long claws and thick, heavy fur made it a hulking tank when facing a smaller opponent. This mount could go toe-to-toe against a Bronze-ranked opponent if well-controlled by its master.

SheCyclones unlocked a new D-ranked ability named Lightning Fury. The ability unleashed a torrent of destructive electric bolts from the sky on a target for twenty seconds.

Troy_to_me unlocked a new ability that allowed her to use a mini gun for thirty seconds. The power of the mini gun was more devastating than a regular one.

Sarah-Ze-Beauty unlocked an inventory the size of two living rooms, and she could now hold a trade void within the inventory space, lessening some of the restrictions tied to her overpowered ability, Cosmic Stage Play.

This day's raid at the Vate Prison Realm was successful, and unlike the very first time Wanyama and his team raided the gate, there were no dramatic events. Salazar was a normal boss monster that was easily defeated by Elliot. Elliot got the chance to land the final blow after a heated argument with Wanyama's crew. Not only did Elliot and his crew argue with Wanyama's group over the right to kill the boss, but they also argued about the allocation of loot drops, always wanting to have the lion's share while claiming to be better than the rest of the team. In the end, all the loot the adventurers earned was shared equally among everyone, much to the heavy dismay of Elliot and his gang. The loot the trio earned was also shared, courtesy of Ivan bullying them into giving up their earnings.

Elliot and his cohorts bitterly complained to Brainboss_7 about Ivan's bullying. Brainboss reacted to the news and got Ivan to earnestly apologise to the trio. Only the four new adventurers were in the restaurant with Brainboss. However, Ivan's apology wasn't what the trio wanted; they had wanted Brainboss_7 to make him give up something valuable or beat him into an unrecognisable mess.

Brainboss dismissed Ivan, and he left the restaurant unharmed. Elliot, Paulo, and Lauren were furious, but they couldn't overtly display their anger in the restaurant. There were unfamiliar faces present, and they were in the presence of Brainboss, whose temper was unpredictable to them.

The high-ranking detective-class special character intended to teach the trio to respect other people's decisions. In the first raid at the Vate Prison Realm, Wanyama and his crew hadn't laid a claim to the loot drops that Elliot and his cohorts earned. It was clear that they were respecting the boundaries the trio had created. But time after time, the trio did not respect the boundaries they created themselves, and they eventually suffered a repercussion at the hands of Black Riot 79, who was fed up with their whiny, greedy characters.

"Mr Brain, that bastard stole from us," Elliot said, gnashing his teeth as he lamented.

"You created boundaries, and they respected them, but you didn't. You suffered a backlash for your greedy actions, and now you complain about it. In my words, I don't think you were properly punished."

Brainboss_7 got up from his seat. He smoothed his trench coat and headed towards the exit door. Elliot and his friends, who had been standing opposite Brainboss, separated by a table, watched the supervisor silently exit the restaurant. They were angry that they weren't getting their way, but what could they do? In this region, they couldn't exercise power against those lower than them on the wealth ladder unless it was urgent or righteously justified.

The next day, a Tuesday, at No. 15 Marab Road in Section 1, a spacious garage that could fit seven vans was attached to a single-storey warehouse. The garage's internal space had a height of eight metres. Two towering Unds, each standing four metres high, were busy loading 5kg gas cylinders into a delivery van. They loaded 40 cylinders into the van.

The brand sticker on the cylinders advertised a commercialised oxyethelene gas. Contrary to the advertisement, the contents of the cylinder were an illegal gaseous hard drug. This garage and warehouse was one of the Tohzzembe mafia's secret manufacturing sites for this illicit drug, popularly called 199.

The two Unds were among the aliens who had infiltrated the Tohzzembe mafia, bidding their time to strike. For now, they had to take on the identities of the mafia workers they had killed in order to successfully infiltrate the gang.

These two Unds posed as two dead workers, Hyeonu and Yongjin. After packing the cylinders into the van through the back door, they carefully shut it.

"Alright, we have to resume wearing our disguise," said the alien posing as Yongjin.

The other alien sighed, showing his growing frustration over doing this repeatedly. The two aliens tapped a spherical device on their chests, and they transformed into two people who looked like Southeast Asians. The two were dressed in a blue overall, and their heights were reduced to 1.7 metres.

Yongjin walked towards the loaded van's driver seat. "JTT, don't forget to get the gas masks. Remember the one on the bench is faulty. We will use the masks on the shelf, don't forget it. Remember, these cylinders aren't durable, and the gas can cause a severe psychological . Also, don't forget to reset the surveillance camera—you don't want those dumb humans to discover our secret."

The alien posing as Yongjin entered the driver's seat and started the van. They weren't bothered by the carbon dioxide poisoning from the exhaust; their physiology could deal with it.

Hyeonu went to the surveillance relay room and fixed the camera footage. The footage was now capturing a live feed from the garage. Hyeonu returned to the garage and mistakenly took the faulty gas mask from the bench instead of the masks on the shelf.

He boarded the van. The garage's door automatically rolled up, and the van drove off to deliver the gaseous products to the delivery site.