People Come and Go in the Dormitory Area

Evening is a very short time; as the orange-red hues of the sky gradually fade and are eventually replaced by dark red, until it becomes completely dark, it only takes half an hour.

Carlos and the Lingren didn't order any food in the cafeteria; they just found a place where they could chat freely. At this moment, however, he was starting to feel hungry.

"If only I had eaten and chatted earlier..." Carlos leaned against the wall in the corridor, rubbing his flat stomach.

He kept his head down, his blue hair obscuring his eyes and brows, and the chandelier above cast a soft shadow on Carlos.

The young man was tall and had long legs, with a unique temperament. Just by leaning against him, he could attract the attention of various women passing by, even without saying a word.

He was in the dormitory area, surrounded by people.

One of the girls, who looked somewhat familiar, came over and, just in time to hear him muttering about being hungry, poked him. "A'Luo, didn't you eat today?"

Carlos looked up at the girl.

Hmm, she's a girl with a great talent for sewing, and she's been working at the base's uniform manufacturing unit.

The combat uniforms worn by the cleanup team and the other survivors' oddly styled, hospital-gown-like everyday clothes all came from the base's reserve task force.

From the day he arrived at the base, the girl clearly showed interest in him, always coming over to chat him up, and even bringing him some new products to try out, though it was outside the limits allowed by the higher-ups.

He didn't stand on ceremony, nodding and sighing, "I'm really hungry."

Including lunch, he hadn't eaten all day.

"I still have some snacks I bought from the convenience store in my dorm room," the girl said.

The "small shop" refers to the shop within the survivor base, where cleanup teams scavenge various supplies in the dangerous city and then bring them to sell.

Currency is the contribution points for the survivor base.

The girl looked at Carlos's handsome face, which seemed to have become very thin from hunger, and chuckled, "I stocked up on your favorite potato chips, are you waiting for me to go get them for you?"

Carlos "deeply moved".

He grinned at the girl, held out his hand, and no one could see what he did. With a snap of his fingers, Carlos flicked his wrist, and a fragrant osmanthus flower appeared in his hand.

The girl's eyes immediately lit up. Carlos tilted his head and laughed, "Food is the most important thing for people, and we won't thank you for such a great favor. Trading a flower for a bag of potato chips, you're losing out."

"Whether it's a loss or not is up to me, and I don't think it's a loss!" The girl happily accepted the osmanthus flower, turned around, and skipped towards the dormitory to get potato chips for Carlos.

Looking at the girl's innocent back, Carlos stuck his tongue into his cheek, his gaze indifferent, revealing no emotion.

A passerby nudged him with his elbow, saying, "Xiao Yao doesn't have a boyfriend yet. Are you trying to win her heart?"

The survivor base only had a few hundred people in total, and they all looked familiar to each other.

Those who are beautiful, capable, handsome, or have connections with leaders will naturally attract more attention. Xiao Yao, who delivers potato chips to Carlos, is an example of the former.

Carlos smiled at the man upon hearing this, "That's not necessarily true. Who can say for sure?"

He's just using his charm to attract some useful helpers, so he won't get himself involved.

Although he denied it, several passersby still let out a meaningful jeer.

Carlos gave him an annoyed look. "What's all the fuss about? Go play your cards."

It wasn't curfew yet, and the dormitory area was filled with survivors who weren't working that night. Most of them didn't go straight to their dorm rooms to rest, but instead chatted and played cards in the recreation room, enjoying the happiest time of the day.

After all, the vengeful spirit apocalypse mainly targets living beings and does not cause significant damage to technology. The infrastructure of the survivor base is quite good. The dormitory area has an entertainment hall the size of an auditorium, which has been divided into individual cubicles.

Some are clearly just rest areas where survivors can play card games, while others can be used for billiards, badminton, or even single-player Yugi.

The entertainment hall was bustling with people during the period between dinner and curfew.

Carlos deliberately chose this spot to stay.

When he heard Yu Xing's voice coming from across the table in the cafeteria, his heart skipped a beat. He knew that the Lingren, who was so close, was about to cause trouble.

He didn't even have time to think about why Yu Xing appeared in this simulation. When the Lingren's curse came crashing down, he decisively swapped his life with the little paper doll he had placed furthest away in the base and teleported to the dormitory area.

In short, there are many idle people here. Carlos is mixed in with the crowd, and even if the Lingren wanted to arrest him, he would have to consider the gazes of so many people from the original world.

The crowd is the best haven to escape all demons and monsters.

As Magician, Carlos knew this well, so once he arrived, he didn't move to another spot but instead wandered around the entertainment hall.

He even went to the art studio right under other people's noses and used the blank paper there to make several new paper figures.

He carried those paper figures with him, ready to die in his place at any time.

If Yu Xing saw those paper figures, Carlos would be in a difficult position to explain, because the new paper figures he made were far superior to his usual level in terms of both outline and facial features. Especially the faces of the little paper figures. Since there were no brushes available, he simply borrowed the watercolor brushes from the art studio. Even with such childish strokes, he still managed to draw very beautiful cartoon faces.

One of his descriptions of the paper doll's abilities was that the better the paper doll was drawn, the higher its potential ability would be.

As a True-level being, Carlos's own power was even more extraordinary. After arriving in this timeline, he could only draw the paper figures more and more sloppily to suppress their abilities, otherwise he would definitely be exposed.

Carlos had wondered if Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu would come to the base to find him. In the future, Yu Xing would definitely let him roam freely at the base, but now, Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu didn't know his true strength and would definitely worry about him.

He did want to reconnect with Zhao Yijiu, but firstly, in order to control the Lingren, he chose a place with many people coming and going, which also limited his ability to use the paper doll to convey messages. Secondly, he was actually a little afraid that the Lingren would suddenly appear the moment he activated the paper doll and pass on the curse.

No matter how wary Zhao Yijiu is, he probably wouldn't be wary of the little paper doll he's been clipping to the inside of his tactical vest. If Lingren's curse were to pass unimpeded, things would get really bad.