After the playfulness, the car fell silent.
Several people simultaneously recalled the scene from earlier—being hit in the back by a shotgun at close range, with several pellets embedded in the back of the head. Any ordinary person would have been long dead.
Yet this black-haired young man had simply stood up, brushed off his clothes, and acted as if nothing had happened.
Maine had already had some psychological expectations regarding Asa constitution, but seeing this level of recovery with his own eyes still felt beyond the realm of comprehension.
So, in Asa eyes, that performance just now was probably no different from teasing a child?
From beginning to end, this guy had been carrying a certain malicious sense of humor.
Maine's face was dark.
Rebecca was the first to snap out of it. She bounced up from her seat, grabbed Asa arm, and began to shake it.
"Wizard, quick, let me see how you use magic!"
The little girl's strength when acting spoiled was just as unambiguous as her voice. Asa quickly pulled his arm out of her embrace; the sensation was primarily too flat, which severely interfered with his impression of Rebecca.
More importantly, it was easy to cause misunderstandings.
"Don't be in a hurry; you'll see it in a bit."
As Asa spoke, he casually opened the system interface.
After conquering Rebecca, the progress bar had finally broken past zero. Asa was in a great mood, so he decided to collect his rewards first.
The first-tier reward was a shotgun—an infinite ammo version of Guts.
The green and red body of the gun, with its thick barrel, matched Rebecca's color scheme. Like her tea tray, it was one of her signature personal items.
At this stage, even Rebecca herself hadn't obtained this gun yet, but it had ended up in his hands first.
The second-tier reward made him raise an eyebrow: it was a Roleplay Card.
Interesting.
[Roleplay Card: After use, you can temporarily transform into any person you have previously encountered. Duration: twelve hours. Cannot be seen through by non-divine units. Can be manually deactivated.]
Asa flipped through the item description twice before putting it back into the system warehouse.
Divine units—meaning entities recognized by the system as having divine status or kin possessing their power—were still very far away from the current Asa.
Unless he was in the Hell World, he shouldn't be seen through.
The effect was good, but exactly when it would come in handy would depend on the situation later.
The vehicle continued to drive deeper into the Badlands, and the mine was getting closer and closer.
This part of the West Coast, where Night City is located, was an early stronghold for the United States' mining and oil development.
Countless abandoned mine shafts, oil pipelines, and cave systems left over from early construction still snake beneath the Badlands, interconnected to form an underground labyrinth that never sees the light of day.
It was comparable to the Cave of Forgotten Sorrows in the Water Margin.
The Wraiths were hidden within, like a nest of dark, underground rats, unwilling to show their heads easily.
Clearing enemies in this kind of terrain was never an easy job, but the Nomads had paid a high price. Danger existed, but this was how mercenaries earned their living; if you wanted peace and safety, you wouldn't find it in Night City.
The group got out of the car and looked toward the tunnel entrance.
There wasn't a trace of light inside; it was pitch black and deep.
Earlier, Sascha had already used scanning equipment to survey the area around the entrance and had found no signs of guard activity for the time being.
Maine had put on his set of Arasaka heavy armor, his entire body encased in a metal shell like some sort of ancient warrior.
He was just about to step into the tunnel when Asa suddenly raised his hand.
"Wait a moment."
Everyone's gaze turned toward him simultaneously.
The Nomads following the team also stopped in their tracks. They hadn't completely recovered from the earlier scene of resurrection and were still privately discussing whether it was some kind of new nano-agent.
The Nomads had only left the civilized world for a few years; had technology already advanced to this point?
Maine spoke in a muffled voice from inside his helmet:
"Wizard, what are you trying to do?"
He was actually a little scared now, afraid that this grand lord was going to pull some other stunt. If he had known, he shouldn't have let Sascha come to help; next time, he'd just honestly find a new Netrunner.
"I scared the kid just now, so consider this compensation."
Asa looked at Rebecca, then turned to Maine.
"But if I put in the effort, the reward can't be small. The rules of the trade—you understand."
"If you can really handle it, I'll give you half of the commission this time."
Maine didn't hesitate and nodded directly.
A loss? Don't make him laugh. Just this once, he didn't care about making money!
"What are you going to do?"
Panam Palmer, the Nomad employer, stepped forward.
"Going in alone? Don't go to your death. Are you an idiot?"
Asa felt his abilities were slightly insulted, but seeing as the other party was acting out of goodwill, he didn't take offense.
He stretched his wrists and explained casually:
"As a Wizard, I have a Wizard's way of handling things. When it comes to Elemental Magic, I have some experience."
"magic? What?" Panam asked blankly.
"Just watch."
Asa signaled everyone to back away. He stood firmly right in front of the mine, turned his head slightly, and met the burning gazes behind him.
Given the situation, he decided not to mess with them anymore.
Asa took a light breath, feeling the abundant air attribute flowing through his meridians. He raised his left hand and lightly snapped his fingers.
It was noon in the Badlands, and the scorching sun was intense. The air was heavy, and everyone was covered in a layer of sticky sweat.
The Nomads were long used to this dry heat, but Panam suddenly felt something and raised her palm.
"Is the wind picking up?"
Yes, the air was moving. There shouldn't have been any wind at this time.
Panam spread her fingers. The air currents brushed against her palm, and feeling the direction of the flow, she realized they were all rushing toward the same place.
The pitch-black, deep mine entrance.
At first, it was just an imperceptible disturbance in the air, but then the wind grew stronger and stronger, eventually gaining enough force to push people along.
Sand and stones on the ground were swept up, clattering deep into the entrance.
Panam opened her mouth, trying to shout, but her voice was swallowed whole by the wind.
Mitch and Scorpion stood a few steps away, equally speechless.
They had originally thought the resurrection was some kind of high-tech trick, and later felt he was just a joker playing god.
But now, the facts were right before their eyes.
magic?
Divine power?
Kung Fu?
This was only the beginning; the big show was yet to come.
A cunning rabbit has three burrows, and the Wraiths' mine naturally had more than one exit. As the wind swirled in, the air currents would naturally be discharged from other openings, so there was no need to worry about smoke blowing back out.
The wind was formed; next was the fire.
Elven syllables were chanted, and billowing white smoke emerged out of thin air. A pungent odor assaulted everyone's eyes and nasal passages.
A few people standing close took a breath, and a bitter, stinging sensation immediately flared at the base of their tongues, causing them to cough frantically.
And this was the result of Asa intentionally controlling the spread of the toxicity.
The white smoke surged incessantly, accompanied by heat waves. Anyone with eyes could see that the internal temperature was far more terrifying than it appeared on the surface.
Just like steam and hot water, steam often has greater killing power because its temperature exceeds the upper limit of hot water.
Dense smoke, air currents, and scorching heat fused into one, pouring into the depths of the mine like a living creature.