Chapter 70: Welcome to Zone 18

Zone 18 was nothing like Zone 0.

Most of the area was covered by thick green forests that stretched across the hills, with tall trees packed closely together and narrow paths running between them.

In some parts of the zone, the land rose into steep cliffs that looked down over the forest below.

There was also a huge lake near the northern side of the zone. The water was so clear that Summer could see the reflection of the trees and cliffs on its surface.

The air felt cooler here as well.

Summer took a deep breath and immediately understood why Ilya had insisted on coming early.

"This place actually used to be one of the scientists’ experimental sites," Ilya said.

He set the suitcases down and walked toward the edge of the cliff.

"They did a lot of experiments here to create fertile soil and plants that could survive high levels of pollution. Most of the plants you see in Zone 18 today came from those experiments."

Summer looked around again. Now that she knew that, the forest suddenly felt a little different.

After all, Summer had also been one of the scientists’ test subjects. The only difference was that she had never turned into something as beautiful as this place.

"Come on. Let’s put our things inside the cabin first," Ilya suggested. "After breakfast, we can look around and find a good place for your training."

Summer turned around and followed the brothers toward the small cabin near the lake.

From the outside, it looked simple and almost too small for the three of them. But once Summer stepped inside, she realized it had everything they needed.

The cabin had two floors, with one bedroom upstairs. Downstairs, there was a cozy living room with a large sofa that could be turned into a bed, along with a small kitchen and a dining area near the window.

There was also a narrow wooden balcony facing the lake.

Summer immediately walked toward it and pushed the door open. Cool morning air rushed inside, carrying the smell of water and pine trees.

"This is nice," she said.

The lake looked even prettier from here. A thin layer of mist still floated above the surface, and sunlight slowly slipped through the trees around it.

Archer placed the suitcases near the stairs. "You can take the bedroom," he said.

Summer raised her eyebrows, wondering if the brothers were really going to share the makeshift bed in the living room later.

Still, since the owner of the cabin had already offered her the bedroom, she was not going to turn it down.

"Okay," she said at last.

After carrying her suitcase upstairs, Summer entered the bedroom and opened the window.

A smile immediately appeared on her face because the view was even better from up there.

"Summer, come have breakfast first!" Ilya called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Summer shouted back before heading down.

They had a simple but filling breakfast, then decided to walk around the lake.

"Can you swim?" Ilya suddenly asked Summer.

Summer answered hesitantly, "Maybe."

It was not like she had never been in the water before. Her old body had simply been built differently. She could naturally stay afloat, and whenever she had to dive, her body had its own oxygen reserve.

Because of that, Summer had never really learned how to swim properly on her own.

"Even though it doesn’t happen often, there are times when we need to swim while fighting water monsters," Ilya explained.

Archer, who was walking beside him, immediately frowned. "I hate water monsters."

Ilya ignored him and turned back to Summer. "So I think your first lesson should be swimming. We don’t need to do anything too extreme. Maybe just..." He thought for a moment before adding, "Swim from one side of the lake to the other." ℯ𝕝.

Right.

Not extreme, he said.

Summer stopped walking and slowly turned her head toward the lake.

"How far is that?" she asked.

Ilya checked the map on his terminal. "A little over one kilometer."

The corner of Summer’s eye twitched, but was she going to refuse? Not really.

If she didn’t push herself from the beginning and have at least a little ambition, then her body might stay weak forever.

"I don’t think my swimming technique is very good. Can you teach me first?" Summer asked Ilya.

"Of course," Ilya replied. "We’ll start with the basics today. And instead of making you swim the whole distance, I’ll only have you do half."

Summer let out a sigh of relief. It was not like she was trying to avoid hard training. She just needed to learn the basics first, alright?!

"Sounds good," Summer said.

A little later, Summer changed into a full-body swimsuit. Autumn had already started, and the lake water was cold enough that she definitely did not want too much skin exposed.

When Summer returned to the lake, Ilya was already waiting near the shore.

Archer had somehow found a comfortable spot on a large rock nearby and looked completely ready to watch instead of helping.

Summer stared at him for a second. "You’re really not joining?"

"No."

"You hate water that much?"

Archer replied calmly, "Water just isn’t my preference."

Summer found it odd because, as far as she knew, she had never heard that black mambas were afraid of water.

Ilya spoke from the water. "He got dragged underwater by a giant eel when he was a kid." He added, "That’s why he’s scared of water now."

"I’m not scared of water." Archer clicked his tongue. "I just want to sit here. That’s all."

"Alright..." Summer said at last. She did not want to annoy him any further, so she decided to leave him alone. "You can stay there."

After saying that, Summer finally stepped into the lake.

Just as she had expected, the water was freezing. The cold sank through her swimsuit and seemed to reach all the way into her bones.

One of the things Summer hated most about having a biological body was how easily she could feel the cold.

"Sometimes, we still have to enter polluted zones during winter," Ilya reminded her. "So you need to get used to cold temperatures too."

His voice sounded different now. It was no longer as warm or casual as before, so Summer immediately knew that Ilya had switched back into instructor mode.