Allen had said so, so Bai Ye naturally didn't ask any further questions.
However, as they moved forward, Bai Ye paid particular attention to Ji Ruyue.
As expected, this woman seemed to possess a certain precognitive ability, able to sense the movements of mutated creatures in advance, but only when within a certain proximity.
Secondly, this foresight-like reconnaissance ability required some time to perceive. Therefore, to accommodate Ji Ruyue's abilities, the group had to slow their pace.
Meanwhile, although Ji Ruyue was reluctant to discuss her own matters, the others didn't mind.
It wasn't uncommon for artificial humans like Ji Ruyue to have mutated genes. Both Davis and Gonzales were artificial humans with gene mutations.
Davis's mutation granted him super speed, while Gonzales's mutation gave him enhanced strength.
Artificial humans with such mutation abilities accounted for about 20% of the total artificial human population, meaning one in every five would possess such a trait.
Ji Ruyue's rarity stemmed from her mutation being in the cerebral cortex, a mutation with an extremely low probability, around one in ten thousand. Furthermore, brain mutations were very dangerous; among these one-in-ten-thousand mutated artificial humans, only about 10% could successfully complete the mutation and survive.
This surprised Bai Ye, as he hadn't heard of this during his previous life in the City of Ruins.
But upon reflection, Bai Ye found it understandable. During his previous visit, his hidden quests had only involved Allen, who was not a mutated artificial human.
Furthermore, most of the other artificial humans Bai Ye had interacted with, aside from Allen, were not hunters.
After all, Bai Ye was capable of handling himself, and there was little need to interact with native inhabitants who were combat-oriented. Those possessing mutation abilities were predominantly hunters.
This made Bai Ye find the City of Ruins quite interesting.
The apocalypse, futuristic technology, and the civilization of biological gene evolution now seemed to have some connection to the world of superpowers.
However, in general, the overall superpower level of artificial humans was relatively low. Ji Ruyue's cerebral cortex mutation could barely be considered advanced, and even then, it wasn't purely a superpower.
Lost in thought, the group had already returned to the highway.
They proceeded along the road towards the border. Having lost their vehicle and with Ji Ruyue in tow, their speed was noticeably slow. However, before evening, the massive City of Ruins appeared before them.
"Someone!"
Ji Ruyue suddenly spoke, signaling the group to stop, and then looked ahead.
Ji Ruyue looked up at the surrounding buildings, a faint blue light covering her eyes. The buildings around her seemed to become transparent.
Behind the walls, human silhouettes appeared, visible to Ji Ruyue.
Ji Ruyue said, "They are humanoid; they should be those Crystal People."
Allen asked, "How many?"
Ji Ruyue replied, "Upon entering the city, there are three on the left side of the main street, one on the right. In that tall building, floors 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10 have people, approximately twenty or so in total. The first and second buildings on the right also have about twenty people each, spread across all floors."
Allen frowned, "Are they guards? Or sentries?"
Davis commented, "But it feels disorganized."
Ji Ruyue nodded, "And, they seem to be wandering, but..."
Ji Ruyue tilted her head, deliberating, and continued, "Without any clear purpose?"
Bai Ye was frustrated because he knew the reason but couldn't say it directly.
The Crystal People in the border region were all discarded defective products.
Bai Y e's description of Crystal People as "zombies" was not without reason.
In terms of strength, Crystal People were generally much stronger than zombies, possessing agile movements, immense power, and the ability to use their crystal bodies as weapons or for defense.
However, from the perspective of "living beings," both were essentially walking dead.
They lacked thought and consciousness, acting purely on instinct.
The behavior patterns of Crystal People and zombies were remarkably similar.
Of course, this applied only to the incompletely developed versions of Crystal People.
According to Rhine Company's Crystal Person project, Crystal People were intended to be stronger, possessing considerable combat and tactical thinking, but without emotional thought, ensuring absolute loyalty.
The Crystal People on the outskirts of the border were discarded rejects from the development process.
While these individuals indeed lacked emotional thought, they were far from the super-soldiers Rhine Company envisioned. Their actions were no different from those of ordinary zombies.
They didn't even possess the basic requirement of "obedience."
This was something Rhine Company found utterly unacceptable, leading them to decisively discard these failed creations.
After being abandoned, these Crystal People wandered the outskirts of the border. Ji Ruyue's observation that they were aimless was quite accurate.
With zombie-like behavior patterns, they naturally wandered aimlessly.
Guards? Reconnaissance?
Allen was overthinking it.
In reality, as long as they didn't provoke the Crystal People, they could simply walk past. But...
Bai Ye felt that Allen wasn't planning to do that; he still viewed the Crystal People as living beings.
Indeed, after a moment of thought, Allen said, "Those guys probably haven't discovered us yet. We can sneak in and eliminate them, or even capture them alive if possible."
The others had no objections, and only Bai Ye knew it was a futile effort, yet he couldn't say anything, which was agonizing...
Davis opened a box and said, "These are walkie-talkies. The previous ones are unusable, and we've lost contact with the signal station. In a way, this proves we've entered another world."
Davis said this while distributing the walkie-talkies to everyone.
Davis explained, "The signal range of these walkie-talkies isn't very strong, and they're prone to interference. There's no signal station either, but for this short distance, communication should be fine."
Allen nodded and then said, "Ruyue, you'll direct from outside. Davis and Gonzales, you go to that seven-story building. I'll go with Bai Ye..."
Bai Ye waved his hand, "I can do it alone."
Allen asked, "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Bai Ye lied, "Actually, my specialty is infiltration and assassination, so don't worry about me."
Allen looked somewhat unconvinced but nodded, "Alright, you go alone. I'll head to the building behind that one."
Bai Ye replied, "No problem."
Ji Ruyue said, "If there are no issues, let's move. Inform me once you've infiltrated the building, and I'll guide you. As for the Crystal People on the street, don't worry about them for now. We'll deal with them after we've handled those inside the buildings."
Allen nodded, then clapped his hands, "Remember to proceed with caution. Safety first!"
...