Letter One (Thank you, Alliance Leader, for being drunk on her sincerity)

The sun was bright, and the shadows of the trees swayed.

Eve's clothes, the remnants after being devoured, were tossed about by the wind, but remained in place due to the pressure of the stones, unmoving.

On the grass, a tiny black centipede slowly emerged from the soil, approaching the pile of clothes.

The centipede didn't crawl directly onto them, but circled around the clothes, back and forth.

Finding it impossible to burrow into the clothes, the centipede became visibly impatient, turning to crawl elsewhere.

Poof! Just then, a black hand reached out from the pile of clothes, pressing down on the centipede.

Whoosh.

The black hand retracted into the pile of clothes, disappearing. The centipede disappeared along with it.

Before long, the pile of clothes seemed to be grabbed by something, pulled to the side, immediately dislodging the stones, which rolled to the side.

The clothes seemed to be blown by the wind, constantly tumbling, like a living thing, rushing towards the direction where the Post Office was previously located.

With a tear, the envelope was ripped open, and the letter was unfolded.

Yu Hong carefully read this hard-won letter.

'I am Lin Yi Yi, and I have been at this Seaside Base for three days. According to regulations, our squadron will be stationed here for a long time, so future correspondence can be sent directly here. The address is at the end. But remember not to send any important items, as they may be lost along the way.'

"It really is Yi Yi." Yu Hong breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Little Stutterer was okay, he was relieved of his worries.

He continued reading.

'I left in a hurry that day, but I don't regret leaving. White Mound Village is becoming more and more unfamiliar and dangerous to me.'

Here, there were signs of scratching out, obviously some words had been written, but they had been deleted.

'My father and grandfather disappeared, and one day my mother suddenly went out and never came back.

I remember when the food at home ran out, I ate mice and bugs. Later, there were fewer and fewer mice and bugs. I even ate tree bark and mud. Later, my stomach grew bigger, and my mind became less and less clear. I realized that I couldn't eat mud and tree bark anymore. So I went out.'

'I stayed outside for a night. You can't imagine it, but luckily there were no Black Worms that night, and I survived. The place where I stayed was the Glowstone Mine near the village. If you ever encounter something you can't handle, go there too. But remember, don't stay too long. I had a fever the day I came back from there. I don't remember much about what happened after that, only that a grandfather who wanted to break into the house to steal something saved me.'

'I was young then, and my brain was stupid. I didn't understand anything, so I gave him everything. Later, whenever I was about to die, he would come out and give me some food. But after I got older, I never saw him again. Maybe he died.'

'Okay, after saying so much, I just want to tell you that I'm fine, very well, don't worry. By the way, this letter was written by my roommate Anseline, she is a very good person. She is also very good to me. If you have anything good, you can give some to her.'

Seeing this last sentence, Yu Hong couldn't help but smile. This sentence was obviously not something Little Stutterer would say, it was likely added by her roommate herself. The smooth wording also suggested that this person had polished it.

But it didn't matter. At least this content proved that Little Stutterer was indeed fine.

Moreover, she was in the mood to reminisce about the past, which meant that she should be in a relatively stable environment.

After reading the letter, he flipped it over and saw a somewhat rough map on the back.

The map showed White Mound Village, the Post Office, the small town, the Glowstone Mine, and the Ruins.

The locations were connected by lines, each with a number written on it.

Yu Hong carefully distinguished them and found that these numbers should be the estimated time Little Stutterer spent walking.

His expression softened. With this crude map, he clearly knew the locations of the mine and the Ruins.

Just as he was about to fold the letter and put it away, his gaze seemed to sweep over a certain spot on the map.

He stopped his movements, and Yu Hong unfolded the map again, observing it carefully.

Sure enough.

On the map, right next to the Ruins, there was also a small black dot.

This black dot was inconspicuous on the map, but it was carefully crossed out with a red 'X', and a small line of words was written next to it.

'Never go there!'

"Even White Mound Village wasn't marked like this, it seems this place is far more dangerous than White Mound Village." He carefully memorized the location.

Putting away the letter, he quickened his pace, heading towards the burrow where Jenny and her daughter lived.

Soon he arrived at the entrance of the burrow.

He stopped.

His eyes scanned the area around the burrow, making sure there was no one else around, before taking out a Large Glowstone from his pocket and approaching the door step by step.

He crouched down in front of the door, took out the key, gently inserted it, twisted it, and pulled it upwards.

Click.

The Wooden Door, disguised as a lawn, made a clear unlocking sound, and was then pulled open upwards.

Yu Hong looked inside and saw a dark and deep tunnel.

A trace of hesitation immediately appeared on his face.

Once he went into this kind of place, if someone blocked him from the outside, he would surely die.

If Jenny and her daughter were still here, they would definitely know that there should be other exits inside.

But he wasn't the owner, and he didn't know what dangers and exits were inside.

Poof.

He put the Wooden Door back, locked it, and turned to leave.

I need someone to guard outside before I can try to search inside.

Besides, there was another way, but it wasn't suitable to use at this time.

Leaving Jenny's house quickly, he went directly to Doctor Xu's doorstep.

Unlike Jenny's house, the burrow where Doctor Xu lived was just an ordinary hillside cellar.

The door was very sturdy, with a cross-shaped window on one side. From the outside, it looked as if the hillside had been completely hollowed out.

Knock, knock, knock.

Yu Hong stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Who is it!?" Doctor Xu's wary voice came from inside.

"It's me, Yu Hong."

"When was the last time we separated?"

"Before the High Tide Period broke out, you first confirmed whether the Large Glowstone had any reaction," Yu Hong reminded.

Behind the door, there was silence for a few seconds, then the Wooden Door creaked open.

Doctor Xu's face appeared, somewhat tired and haggard, but her eyes were much brighter than before.

"You've come at the right time! My herbs are a success!" Her tone was full of joy. "I tested it on rats and found that it can really replace the treatment and disinfection of wound inflammation! The effect is only slightly weaker than mycin and the like. Of course, I'm also making penicillin and erythromycin myself, but I can't solve the pollution interference. I need better disinfection equipment..."

She pulled Yu Hong into the door, locked it, and then walked excitedly towards the inside of the house.

This cellar has three rooms: one is her bedroom with a bed, another is filled with various utensils and tools, obviously a workshop, and the other is a utility room, which also seems to double as a bathroom.

The whole underground house has a strong musty smell, cold and damp.

This is a common situation in most cellars and basements.

"Come, come here!! The herbs I promised you, this time they're really made!" Doctor Xu's face was flushed, as if she was in a state of mental excitement.

She pulled Yu Hong into the workshop, pointing to a plate of mush that had been stirred into a green sludge.

"It's this! I succeeded! I've tried it on rats, and the inflammation is completely eliminated! This is a brand new anti-inflammatory drug. If social order was still here, I could definitely make a fortune! Earn a lot, a lot of money!"

"Very impressive!" Yu Hong nodded, his assessment of Doctor Xu rising in his mind.

Being able to make such herbs, if they can really be used, means that they will have a steady stream of herbs to use in the future. This is undoubtedly a huge benefit for them, who are severely short of medicines.

But his purpose in coming here now is not to see Doctor Xu's new medicine.

After she had finished speaking and calmed down a bit, he sorted out his words and said seriously to Doctor Xu.

"Do you remember Jenny's daughter, Eve? The one who wanted to infect us with the Black Handprint."

"Of course. After so long, she's dead, right?" Doctor Xu frowned, her emotions calming down slightly from the excitement. She vaguely sensed that Yu Hong's sudden visit might be a little off.

"Dead," Yu Hong nodded. "Her mother, Jenny, is also dead."

"Jenny is also dead?" Doctor Xu was slightly surprised, but quickly accepted it.

"That's right, her daughter looked like a ghost, maybe she infected her too. It's good that she's dead, I've seen through the true colors of both of them."

She paused, then suddenly looked at Yu Hong.

"There's a new Postman, did you know?"

"Yes, I saw him just now, named Li Runshan, he seems like a nice guy," Yu Hong nodded.

"He can send letters there. Yi Yi sent me a letter, and I plan to reply, but the price is a bit high," Doctor Xu frowned.

Yu Hong was also considering this matter. The Large Glowstone is heavy and not easy to mail, and it may be lost along the way. No, it will definitely be taken away.

"That's good, Jenny and her daughter are dead, but their things and supplies are still there..." Yu Hong said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Doctor Xu's eyes lit up.

A moment later, the two came to the side of Jenny's underground cave again.

Yu Hong pulled up the lid, revealing the dark tunnel below, then looked at Doctor Xu.

"Who goes in?"

Although he trusted Doctor Xu more than the others, he was still a little worried about entering a closed tunnel at this time.

"I'll go." Doctor Xu said without hesitation, bending down and heading into the tunnel.

In a short while, she disappeared into the darkness.

Yu Hong guarded the entrance, looking around vigilantly.

After waiting for about five minutes, movement came from the tunnel again. Doctor Xu struggled to drag a large plastic bag out of the tunnel.

"Success!" She was covered in dirt, her hair soaked with sweat, and even her gray top was wet, revealing her full figure, but she didn't care.

"There are a lot of good things inside, but... I didn't dare to take too much. I didn't dare to touch many things."

"What do you mean?" Yu Hong frowned, pulling her out.

"Many things inside clearly have no traces, but the Large Glowstone I brought reacts as soon as it gets close." Doctor Xu pulled out a Large Glowstone that she wore as a pendant from her chest. More than half of the stone had turned stone gray.

"But the most important thing has been taken out, and the rest can be taken later." Her expression changed, and she took out a black square box from her pocket. It was something like a pager, palm-sized, with a gray LCD screen in the middle.