Li Ang adjusted his face back to his own and left the neighborhood as if he were just taking a normal stroll.

Perhaps it was a moment of mercy from the System, but there was a half-hour gap from when players received their tasks to the mission's official start.

This period was not only for players to sort out their gear but also to move to new positions early. If a player's location was exposed from the outset, hostile players could potentially deduce their real-world identities from their starting position.

They had to be wary not only of hostile players but also of teammates. After the mission started, one teammate would receive a wristwatch displaying their companions' locations.

If one wanted to keep their real identity concealed, they had to move early.

Li Ang walked some distance, just as before, and entered the only designated changing location: a public restroom, where he completed his disguise. Since he had already planned his disguise, the transformation was notably quick this time.

Li Ang, now disguised as a fierce-looking youth with slanted eyes, left the restroom wearing a shirt. After walking a bit, he took advantage of the night to quickly pry open an orange shared bicycle parked by the road and pedaled towards the periphery of Yin City.

If one treated this "Moon God Crown" mission as a fight-to-the-death from start to finish, they would surely meet a grisly end.

Li Ang silently thought, When opposing players get close to each other, it creates a highly conspicuous field. This means that once a fight starts, it has to be quick and decisive, or other teams' players will wait to ambush. Therefore, early on, players with sound strategic thinking will choose to hide their tracks and avoid fighting. They'll wait for other teams to clash first, then swoop in during the confusion to reap the rewards. Alternatively, they might continue to bide their time, only appearing when the final barrier shrinks.

Staying on the periphery of Yin City was safer than being in Yin City's City Centre, making it less likely to encounter other players immediately.

I wonder what kind of teammate the System will assign me this time... Li Ang mused, silently picking up his pedaling pace.

「————」

While Li Ang was cycling, on another side of Yin City, an unimposing sedan slowly pulled out of an underground parking lot.

The driver was an ordinary-looking young man with short hair and glasses, his expression somewhat dull. He resembled a typical nerdy college student, the kind who would quickly fade into a crowd.

With driving skills that belied his age, he expertly maneuvered the car around a corner and headed towards the suburbs. Through the rearview mirror, his eyes briefly swept over the girl in the back seat.

She was a middle school girl with waist-length black hair, wearing a white shirt and a knee-length skirt. A very thick laptop rested on her black skirt.

A similarly bulky, black briefcase was placed by her feet, connected to the laptop with two data cables.

This device was equipped with the Special Affairs Bureau's internal Yin City monitoring network, known as the "Skynet System."

It could not only freely access footage from thousands of surveillance cameras but also automatically analyze it to spot abnormalities.

Just how powerful was it? Well, even if a suspect covered their face with a mask and wrapped themselves up tightly, the automated monitoring network could still match them to a database. It could identify the suspect's real identity through factors like hairstyle, eyes, ears, arm length, leg length, and gait. The system would then coordinate surrounding cameras to trace and lock down the suspect's precise location.

This was how the Special Affairs Bureau had caught many players unskilled at concealment during the early stages of the battlefield game.

The girl's eyes remained glued to the screen as she used the surveillance cameras to observe the streets near their vehicle. Without looking up, she asked, "Ash, has the Bureau contacted you?"

"No."

The young man, Ash, replied softly, "We've been away from the stronghold with the portable Skynet System for some time. During this period, the Bureau hasn't sent us communication links as per protocol. No one's looking for us. The calls I made, the messages I sent via communicator, and even System friend requests—all vanished without a trace."

"It seems no one at the stronghold has noticed we're missing."

The girl shook her head and laughed bitterly, "Is this what the mission briefing meant by 'preventing outside assistance on a causal level'? The effect is much stronger than I had previously imagined..."

These two were players belonging to a branch of the Mobile Detachment. The short-haired young man's player information was [Lv11][True Damage · Ash].

The girl's player information was [Lv11][Voice of Origin · Initial Shade].

In the real world, Ash had been an ordinary engineering student. He enjoyed playing single-player games, kept reptiles like lizards, spiders, and scorpions, and tinkered with Mechanical devices in his spare time.

After being chosen as a player, Ash, concerned for his family's safety, quickly joined the Special Affairs Bureau, becoming a proud member of the Mobile Detachment.

His combat style leaned towards direct confrontation; he was a man of few words but decisive action.

Initial Shade, in contrast, was a middle school student and a music uploader on Bilibili. She frequently posted cover songs and shared her drawings, amassing a considerable number of fans, though she never showed her face on camera.

Her combat style... leaned more towards supporting teammates.

As the saying goes, heroes aren't defined by their origins. Before being chosen by the System, most players had ordinary jobs. For instance, Ash's teammates in the Mobile Detachment included individuals who had been psychiatric patients, pig castrators, teachers, house painters, fitness instructors, and audio equipment store owners.

Truly a diverse assembly of talents.

"We're nearing the suburbs. I'll maintain surveillance of the surrounding areas," Initial Shade frowned and said. "Do you think this mission is related to the previous anomaly in the Misty Territory? A rock stratum tremor occurred on Qianhua Road, and immediately after, all the Datura patients in the containment site vanished. Right after that, we, at the southern city stronghold, received the System notification."

"It's possible," Ash said, his lips pursed, his voice growing grave. "If this mission weren't connected to Qianhua Road and the Misty Territory, we wouldn't have accepted it."

That was indeed the truth. At this stage, the Special Affairs Bureau could provide its elite Mobile Detachment members with decent equipment and items. While not top-tier, these items covered both offensive and defensive needs, offering far more comprehensive gear than what Lone Wolf Players typically possessed.

"We have two advantages in this mission."

Ash slowly pulled the car over to the side of the road. "First, we're affiliated with the Special Affairs Bureau. Even if things get chaotic, our situation won't be as precarious as that of Lone Wolf Players. Second, we received the mission almost simultaneously and quickly identified each other as teammates. According to System settings, other players have likely not yet met their teammates at this stage. This means that, currently, our combined combat strength likely surpasses that of other teams."

Ash's eyes narrowed slightly, his palm rubbing the steering wheel, his voice growing colder. "Those who accepted this mission are likely dangerous individuals planning to ambush other players. We can use the brief window after the mission starts, leveraging our two-on-one advantage, to proactively track and even hunt them down..."