Chapter 19: The Night Before Departure

In the dead of night, Lin Yi lay in room 908.

The strong scent of perfume was somewhat overwhelming, and the black straps hanging beside the bed resembled nooses.

Occasional muffled explosions from outside made it difficult to sleep.

Suddenly, a piercing, vengeful shriek echoed from within the hospital.

The shrill cry, audible even from hundreds of meters away, penetrated the glass.

Lin Yi rushed to the window to investigate but found nothing.

The scream appeared briefly once and then vanished without a trace.

What was that?

After observing for a long time, he couldn't find anything.

The numerous buildings within the hospital complex made it impossible to pinpoint the source of the scream.

Lin Yi had no choice but to abandon his search and return to bed, his mind burdened with suspicion.

The unexpected incident weighed heavily on his heart.

Yet, the trip to the hospital was unavoidable.

Unable to sleep for a long time, Lin Yi lay flat on his bed, silently staring at the ceiling.

He felt somewhat exhausted.

It was now the second day after the apocalypse began, and the fifth day since his rebirth.

Memories from his past life intermingled with those of the past few days, flashing through his mind like a photo album.

Without electricity in the hotel, the unpredictable weather made the deep night rather cold.

"Creak."

The door opened; it wasn't locked.

Unable to use the key card, Lin Yi had chosen to simply remove the lock.

In the darkness, Wen Ya stood at the doorway, holding a blanket and quilt.

After a moment's hesitation, she decided to speak.

"I can't sleep."

Lin Yi remained silent for a moment. In the darkness, his vision was as clear as day.

He noticed Wen Ya's reddened eyes.

It looked like she had been crying.

Sleeplessness in the middle of the night usually meant something was troubling her.

Crying, troubled thoughts.

Lin Yi could guess what was on Wen Ya's mind.

"You have a relative at Linjiang Hospital, don't you?"

Lin Yi's superhuman mental abilities had allowed him to sense Wen Ya's emotional disturbance that afternoon.

Wen Ya hugged the bedding tightly and nodded slightly.

"Yes."

Her voice trembled.

She bit her lip, suppressing her emotions as she spoke:

"My mother has a heart condition. She was hospitalized a while ago."

"She's in Building 303, room 303, right next to the emergency surgery department."

These words seemed to drain all her energy.

The room was cold, and she shivered in her pajamas, having just showered.

With no hairdryer available, her wet hair was simply tied up.

Lin Yi remained silent for a moment, unsure how to comfort her.

"Tomorrow, if it doesn't interfere with our plans..."

"I'll take a look."

He observed Wen Ya, no longer the confident and strong woman she had been before.

He sighed inwardly.

The entire hospital had now become a living hell.

The area where Wen Ya's mother was located was close to the emergency center, where zombies were most concentrated.

They both knew that Wen Ya's mother had almost no hope of survival.

Taking a look was merely psychological comfort.

Outside, the wind howled, its biting chill audible even through the glass.

"Th-thank you," Wen Ya said, wiping away tears she could no longer hold back, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"Ding, team member Wen Ya's loyalty increased by 30 points, current value: 80/100 (Almost certainly will not betray, even in the face of death)"

She bowed deeply to Lin Yi, as if she had made some kind of decision.

"Can I... sleep here... tonight?"

After speaking, she slowly walked to Lin Yi's bedside, head lowered.

She gently placed the bedding next to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi frowned slightly, surprised that Wen Ya's loyalty had increased due to his words.

It seemed this matter had affected her deeply, causing her to completely lower her guard against Lin Yi.

With his excellent vision, he could see that Wen Ya wore nothing underneath her thin pajamas.

Two points protruded beneath the thin fabric.

"If you think you need to repay me, or if you have any other intentions..."

"There's no need."

Lin Yi had agreed to take a look without any ulterior motives.

After all, he hadn't promised to definitely go, only that he would do so if it didn't interfere with his plans.

Wen Ya looked up at his words, her face flushed red.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something but unable to speak.

"Since you've joined my team, you're naturally a member of my group."

"It's normal for teammates to help each other."

"You don't need to feel guilty or grateful."

"Moreover, I really dislike what you're trying to do."

Lin Yi's gaze was clear as he calmly looked at Wen Ya.

The faint, pleasant scent of shower gel dispersed the cheap perfume smell in the room.

"Get some sleep."

Lin Yi turned his back after speaking and closed his eyes to rest.

Wen Ya stood frozen by the bed, unsure what to do.

Her hands stopped in the act of removing her top.

She remained motionless at the bedside.

Unable to utter a single word.

After a long while.

"Rustle."

Wen Ya prepared her own bed.

In the darkness.

Lin Yi felt someone lie down on the bed beside him, but not too close.

"I'm sorry."

Wen Ya lay on her side at the edge of the bed, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes.

These words, it was unclear whether they were meant for Lin Yi or herself.

...

The next morning.

Lin Yi waited early in the 9th floor corridor.

"Big Brother Lin... I mean, Captain!"

"I've brought the people you asked for!"

From the other end of the corridor, Zhang Tie strode over.

He was still not used to calling Lin Yi "Captain."

Hastily correcting himself, he greeted Lin Yi enthusiastically with a hearty laugh.

Behind him followed two middle-aged men, apparently from his previous team.

"Brother Lin!"

The two middle-aged men bowed nervously to Lin Yi, looking very tense.

Lin Yi's appearance could be described as handsome, with fair skin that made him look almost like a scholar.

But in their eyes, Lin Yi had become synonymous with a monster.

Anyone who had seen Lin Yi kill a Licker with a single slash would find it hard to forget.

That one strike had been the talk of the group all night.

Lin Yi nodded in response.

He led the three men to the floor-to-ceiling window by the 9th floor elevator.

"First, tell me about the internal structure of the hospital so I can determine our route."

Lin Yi's gaze fixed on the surgical building, unable to see inside due to the dark glass exterior walls.

The main entrance to the surgical building was tightly shut, with only a few zombies visible wandering around the perimeter.

It was very strange.

"Brother Lin, this is the map we drew by hand overnight."

The two middle-aged men were hospital staff that Zhang Tie had found, generally familiar with the entire hospital's building structure.

The two stood on either side of Lin Yi, pointing at the map as they continued: "This line is the entrance to the underground parking lot. It's about 20 meters to the right of the hospital's main entrance. If we go in from there, we can reach the emergency surgery department directly."

"The orthopedics department is on the second floor of the emergency surgery building, occupying about two floors."

...

Half an hour later, Lin Yi thanked the two men and headed downstairs with Zhang Tie.

For this mission, he had chosen not to bring more people.

Given the dense concentration of zombies in the hospital, bringing ordinary people along would be sending them to their deaths.

Even Zhang Tie risked infection if he was careless and got surrounded by zombies.

In the stairwell, the two talked as they descended.

"Captain Lin, so we're going to the emergency surgery room to find some equipment?"

Zhang Tie followed behind Lin Yi, scratching his head.

Lin Yi descended rapidly, not turning back as he spoke:

"Not necessarily in the emergency room, but that's where it's most likely to be."

"In the apocalypse game, most equipment is surrounded by monsters."

"Some are mutants, some are large numbers of zombies."

"Based on your description, the emergency surgery department has the most zombies, so naturally, it's most likely to have equipment there."

Zhang Tie nodded thoughtfully, struggling to keep up with Lin Yi's pace.

Lin Yi's reasoning wasn't entirely correct from a logical standpoint.

He was working backward from the result to the conclusion.

The fact that equipment attracts monsters is something that happened after the apocalypse began.

But the large number of zombies in the emergency room were transformed from patients.

These people weren't gathered there after the apocalypse; they were already there when it started.

So, the presence of many zombies in the emergency room wasn't due to equipment being there.

It was only because Lin Yi had been reborn that he knew the hospital's equipment was where the zombies were most concentrated!

If someone sharp-minded were present, they would have noticed the flaw in Lin Yi's logic.

However, Zhang Tie clearly wasn't that type of person.

He hadn't realized this point at all.

"Is the equipment very powerful?" Zhang Tie asked curiously. He could sense that Lin Yi was determined to get this piece of equipment.

What kind of equipment could make Lin Yi willing to take such a risk to obtain it?

After all, this equipment was in the hospital.

He recalled the massive horde of zombies and shuddered.

Lin Yi thought of the attributes of the [Skullcrusher's Hand] he had seen in the chat channel in his previous life and solemnly replied:

"Very powerful!"

As a blue-grade equipment, although the [Skullcrusher's Hand] only had one attribute bonus, its value was an astounding 5 points!

It could be called monstrous.

If an ordinary player obtained it, as long as their base strength wasn't too poor, they could easily surpass the human limit of 10 points.

This would give them strength comparable to an Awakened!

In other words, this was a piece of equipment capable of causing a qualitative change in one's strength.

"I haven't seen any equipment yet!"

"Captain Lin, this apocalypse game, they call it a game, but why doesn't it have any game features?"

Lin Yi chuckled lightly, understanding Zhang Tie's confusion.

"It's normal that you haven't seen any equipment. In the apocalypse game, every single piece of equipment is incredibly rare."

"As for the apocalypse game..."

"It is indeed a game."

"However..."

Lin Yi's expression turned severe.

"It's not our game!"