In Lin Yi's memories, the area had been relatively safe during the early days of the disaster, with a moderate population density.
Most importantly, a tiny Abyss Beast Nest would appear beside an abandoned newsstand less than a hundred meters diagonally across from the main entrance of Hongfu Tower.
Compared with the small or even Medium Nests that might appear elsewhere, this place was entirely manageable.
Moreover, Hongfu Tower would later become one of the official shelters established in the early days.
Not only would this be the perfect spark to ignite his "genius rising to prominence" script, an excellent starting point that would let him display his combat talent in front of everyone, but it would also prepare him to make contact with the authorities and integrate with them early, build up his influence as quickly as possible, and guide their decisions.
Lin Ruiming and Zhou Jinghua exchanged a glance, both seeing unexpected delight and relief in the other's eyes.
Their son had always been considerate and rarely asked for anything. This time, not only had he agreed, he had thoughtfully chosen somewhere nearby and affordable.
"Great! Great! Next Saturday at noon! Hongfu Tower!"
Zhou Jinghua beamed as though a weight had been lifted from her heart. She answered eagerly, "I'll go book a table first thing tomorrow morning! We have to celebrate properly!"
With the date and venue for the graduation banquet settled, Lin Yi began making more detailed plans.
He dug out an old notebook and started carefully listing the people he planned to invite.
Close relatives, neighbors they often saw, and good classmates and friends...
As he wrote each name, fragments of memories from his previous life surged through his mind: the faces that had vanished in the apocalypse, the figures who had struggled to survive...
He couldn't warn them, much less guarantee that everyone on the list would make it to the banquet on time. The apocalypse was a giant sieve, and no one could predict what fate had in store.
All he could do was shelter everyone gathered inside Hongfu Tower beneath his wings when disaster struck.
As for those who couldn't make it for one reason or another...
Lin Yi silently wished them well. In the flood of fate, each of them had made their own choice.
High school graduates naturally had to get together with their friends.
By evening, the smell of smoke from the barbecue stall mingled with the fragrant aromas of cumin and sizzling grease, filling the summer night air after a game of basketball.
As soon as he'd settled the details for the graduation banquet, Lin Yi called a few friends and arranged this little get-together for the evening.
The boys had just finished playing ball. Sweat-soaked and crowded around the table, they were the very picture of boisterous youth.
After a couple of bottles of chilled beer, Zhang Haotian—the star player on the school team and the class's sports representative, seated across from Lin Yi—was arguing with Li Jie, another talented basketball player from a neighboring class, about whether he should have passed the ball before missing that final game-winning shot.
Beside him sat a slightly chubby young man in a floral T-shirt, his golden hair permed into loose curls. His cheeks were already a little flushed as he animatedly recounted funny stories from a game.
Lin Yi smiled as he watched this friend, who had originally been destined to die in the jaws of a Corrosive Abyss Wolf on the very first day of the apocalypse.
This was his deskmate, Chen Yu.
Chen Yu came from a wealthy family, but his grades in high school weren't great.
That was why, according to the classroom rule that underachievers without connections sat in the back and entertained themselves, while underachievers with connections were paired with top students, Chen Yu had become Lin Yi's deskmate not long after the start of their first year.
In Lin Yi's view, Chen Yu was a genuinely good person. Because of his family, he had plenty of connections both in and out of school. He was also a loyal friend, and with him around, no one in their class ever got bullied. Of course, he never bullied anyone himself, either.
As for his grades...
When Lin Yi made friends, he never cared about their grades.
Chen Yu, meanwhile, had often been looked down on by good students in middle school. Then, in high school, he suddenly found himself being treated normally by a top student, and the two quickly became friends.
They were deskmates and friends, and after three years together, calling them best buds wouldn't have been an exaggeration.
Sorry, buddy. I'm going to have to use you for this, but... it's for your own good.
Lin Yi muttered to himself without a hint of remorse. Then, as if casually scrolling on his phone, he tapped the screen and played a high-energy fan edit of Dark Great Sage. The rousing music and the whistle of a staff cutting through the air instantly drowned out the surrounding noise.
On the screen, a figure clad in dark golden armor and wielding a black-gold staff dodged and weaved through a horde of monsters. The staff's shadow coiled like a dragon, every strike carrying the brutal force to split mountains and shatter stone, a raw and beautiful display of power.
"Holy crap, that monkey looks awesome!" Zhang Haotian, who had been arguing about basketball, was drawn by the sound. He glanced at the screen and couldn't help praising it.
Li Jie leaned over too. "That's Dark Great Sage? I've heard it's really popular lately. Now that I'm seeing it, the effects are insane!"
"Tsk!"
Lin Yi put down his phone at just the right moment and picked up a skewer of sizzling, glistening lamb. He kept his eyes on the replay, his tone full of perfectly calibrated admiration and longing.
"Look at Brother Monkey, that getup, the way he swings that staff... It's so awesome. Makes you itch to get a set of your own and find somewhere to swing it around for a while!"
His words were like a spark landing in dry tinder.
Chen Yu, a longtime gaming fanatic, lit up as if a fish had been hooked on a bare line.
"Brother Yi, you've finally come around! I knew no guy could resist the Great Sage Equal to Heaven."
He excitedly slapped the table, making the beer bottles wobble. Zhao Xiaowen, who had just picked up a grilled eggplant beside him, cried out, "Hey!" and nearly dropped her chopsticks.
"Brother Yu, easy! You're about to break the table!"
Li Jie hurriedly spoke up. Word was, he'd been pursuing Zhao Xiaowen lately and jumped at every chance to shower her with attention.
Chen Yu had no time for that right now. He immediately pulled out his newest foldable phone and swiped through it rapidly.
"Come on, come on, check this out! The official collector's-edition art book, exclusive digital version! Look at the details on this Qitian Battle Armor—the patterns, the texture... It's insanely cool!"
A high-definition 3D rendering rotated on the screen, revealing the cold gleam of the metal and the fine details of the fierce beast-face buckle.
Lin Yi leaned in, gazing at it in amazement. His eyes showed unmistakable affection, which soon gave way to a hint of helplessness and self-mockery.
"It really is cool, but sadly, all I can do is drool over it through a screen."
He raised his glass to Chen Yu, signaling for another round, and said, "With the pocket money I have, if I wanted to get armor-style cosplay gear like the Qitian Battle Armor, I couldn't even afford a single greave for the kind of finely crafted set you're showing me. I'd probably have to settle for some shoddily made foam-plastic junk."
"Foam plastic? What's the point of wearing that crap?"
Zhang Haotian mumbled around a mouthful of meat, making everyone burst out laughing.
"Cosplay gear?"
Chen Yu looked as if Lin Yi had just given him a revelation. He excitedly slammed the cup he'd just picked up onto the table and slapped his thigh, his voice rising several notches.
"Brother Yi, I've recommended it to you so many times, and you're finally interested?"
"If you were into this stuff, you should've said so sooner! Who'd wear plastic sheets like that? They're a joke! If you're going to do it, do it right!"
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