Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"Let's go~" After meeting up with a net friend and feeling quite content, "I'll see you back online... Oh wait, we can't see each other. Off to fight~"

Kuang Xin patted his buttocks and turned to leave.

Once home, he put on his helmet, laid down in his beloved gaming pod, and succumbed to darkness as electric pulses stimulated his senses.

In the midst of overwhelming drowsiness, the gates to another world swung open with a roar.

The game's timeline remained exactly where he left off when he logged out, resuming instantly as if he had merely taken a nap.

Kuang Xin's gaze swept over the dim world before him, this underground cavern housed countless warriors striving for their dreams.

This was all Yanzi's doing.

Thinking back on the experiences after arriving in Grey Iron City, Kuang Xin still felt it was as magical as a dream.

What shocked him the most was the change in Yanzi... or perhaps that she had always been like this, and they just hadn't realized it before.

Kuang Xin's eyes glazed over as his thoughts drifted, taking him back to his first day in Grey Iron City.

...

The rumbling vehicle came to a slow halt after the majestic city came into view.

New to the place, nobody had any idea what rules the city followed.

If the city conducted detailed searches on people and vehicles entering and leaving, like in Blackwater City, it was unlikely their group from the outer city could hide anything.

It seemed wisest to first wander around the city's outskirts to perhaps encounter some locals and glean general information about the city.

The four of them disembarked from the vehicle, with Kuang Xin rubbing his behind, his face scrunched up in discomfort, "When we get some money, let's get a different vehicle; this one's just not made for sitting."

"Dream on..." Gu Lan, a mature beauty in brown leather shorts and jacket, hopped out sprightly from behind and retorted, "Having a vehicle is already good; so many others who started the game with us are still running around the map on foot."

Dai Lian and Gong Yan didn't speak, just quietly observed the distant city—

The dormant volcano provided a backdrop for the city, making it appear quite small in comparison.

The air was filled with a choking layer of ash, like the remains of burned paper, crumbling at a touch.

On the mountain range in the distance, many columns of black smoke were visible, the source of the ashy flakes being expelled from the volcanic vents.

Carried high into the sky and swept away by the winds, the ashes spread around the entire city... including the city itself.

"Cough cough cough~" Gong Yan couldn't help but sneeze several times.

Dai Lian casually pulled out a moist black scarf from his chest and handed it to her, his eyes still fixed on the world filled with floating black ash, "It's troublesome."

Adjusting to the new environment was the first challenge they had to face.

As the undisputed leader of this small group, Dai Lian willingly shouldered all the responsibilities that came with the role.

Before coming here, he managed to gather some information about Grey Iron City through his old power-leveling networks.

The damp scarf was a preparation he had made in advance.

But he had not expected the effect to be this severe—

[You have inhaled a large amount of harmful substances, your body suffers great damage, Health -1.]

[Your body is weakened by toxic substances, reducing your agility by 10%.]

Carrying out tasks that could last for days or even weeks here, merely relying on a moist scarf to alleviate discomfort was unrealistic.

They anticipated encountering various elements and characters in their mission; they could act as outsiders, but when necessary, they had to blend in as locals to carry out essential interactions.

Integrating into the local community was the first imperative task upon arrival.

Fortunately, this task was actually quite simple.

One of "Galaxy Online's" best features was that many abilities could be gained through repetitive training.

Even adapting to the environment; as long as one didn't die, repeatedly diving into water would teach someone to swim, freezing in the snow for days would allow running naked, and living in a radiation zone for years would lead to coexisting with radioactive elements...

Drink seawater for long enough, and anyone can become a superhuman.

So the best way to adapt to the environment was...

"Inhale~"

"Exhale~"
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"Inhale~"

"Exhale~"

"Cough cough cough!" Kuang Xin, choked by the black dust before him, coughed out mucus and tears, bending over and staring at Dai Lian as he questioned, "Is this the method you spoke of?"

Running to the edge of a volcano to breathe?

"Any problem?" Dai Lian lifted an eyelid, himself caught off guard and coughing.

"Cough cough cough!"

While choking, he continued to explain, "I have a friend in Grey Iron City; he said the first hurdle for local players is to overcome this."

Unlike players in other cities, those born in Grey Iron City had to first acquire the "Adaptive Breathing Enhancement" trait, or else they might as well restart early.

"Hahaha!" Gu Lan laughed heartily without restraint, entertained by the argument between the two, but then carelessly...

"Cough cough cough!"

As she coughed up a storm of snot and tears, Gu Lan didn't forget to tease them, "When you've trained up, if I need help removing formaldehyde from my villa, I'll call you guys haha... cough cough cough~"

As they continued to inhale the harmful particles in the air, the panel began to display the body's suffering in text form.

[You have inhaled a large amount of harmful substances, your body suffers great damage, Health -1.]