Lin Qi's Broadcast, Rescue Operation

They entered a new room. Its interior was not much different from the previous one.

"An extra layer of security is reassuring."

He glanced at the time. There were only three minutes left until the Gate's cooldown ended.

He went into the bathroom and waited quietly.

Light and shadow intertwined as Lin Qi passed through endless darkness and arrived in the Doomsday World.

Lin Qi stood in the bathroom of the Club Activity Building. Beside him lay clothes that still held the warmth of his body, as if he had only just taken them off.

By the Doomsday World's reckoning of time, Lin Qi had indeed just taken them off.

He put on clothes bearing the words "Magic University Robot Combat."

Lin Qi left the bathroom and went to the experimental workshop where he had previously built and assembled the M-level mech.

Xia Chu was organizing the small storeroom next door, making space for a temporary resting area.

Lin Qi, meanwhile, picked up one part after another and began assembling them.

The equipment Lin Qi was putting together this time was not complicated. If Xia Chu had been there, she would have recognized it at a glance as a radio transmitter.

Compared with traditional radio transmitters, Lin Qi's model incorporated a few modified principles from the Cyber World.

Its power was extremely strong.

Earlier, Lin Qi had used the Collecting Robot on the rooftop to analyze the various signals in the Doomsday World. He had concluded that the signals were being heavily disrupted, which was why communications across the Doomsday World had been cut off.

At the same time, though, he could also conclude that with a strong enough signal, it was still possible to transmit over a very small area.

Lin Qi's goal was to spread a radio signal throughout the Magic University campus.

"Lin Qi, is that a radio?"

Xia Chu had finished organizing the small storeroom and was about to call Lin Qi over to rest with her. When she came up behind him, she saw the radio equipment.

"Yeah. We can't reunite with the Rescue Team for now, and the students at Magic University won't be rescued anytime soon."

"I'm planning to gather the survivors, set up a temporary base inside Magic University, and build an industrial system."

Lin Qi's idea was simple. He had no ambitions of ruling over others; he just needed enough survivors, equipped with technology from the Cyber World, to grow stronger as quickly as possible in the Doomsday World.

Only with a large enough population could Lin Qi more easily collect Extraordinary Items and perhaps even uncover the truth behind the apocalypse.

His instincts told him the truth behind the apocalypse was far from simple. It was likely connected to the extraordinary, and to beings of an extremely high rank.

The Crimson Moon hanging in the sky alone was enough to make Lin Qi suspect as much.

Perhaps this world had no extraordinary beings before, but its extraordinary elements far surpassed those of the Cyber World.

Xia Chu agreed with Lin Qi's idea. "That's a good thing."

The apocalypse had been raging for days. Although Xia Chu had Lin Qi by her side, she still felt lonely at times.

Her former classmates, her teachers, even her parents thousands of miles away...

Suppressing her emotions and refusing to think about them did not make them disappear.

It was just that the situation in the apocalypse did not allow Xia Chu to wallow in melancholy.

Lin Qi finished assembling the transmitter and plugged its power supply into the outlet in the wall.

Every little bit of power saved was worth it. Besides, the electricity was still on.

He set the radio to broadcast on a loop across various emergency frequencies. Lin Qi believed that the Magic University survivors who had made it this far wouldn't be foolish enough to leave their radios switched off.

Magic University, boys' dormitory building 12, top floor.

Nine survivors had gathered in one of the dorm rooms.

"That mech's back again. Looks like things outside aren't good. That genius from the Department of Mechanical Engineering probably didn't find the Rescue Team."

"The radio's been silent for a long time. I don't know if the interference has gotten worse or if the Rescue Team has already..."

"Our supplies should last about twenty days. Let's wait another week. If there's no rescue by then, we'll have to take our supplies and save ourselves."

The young men sat together in the darkness and discussed their situation.

For now, they had a relatively plentiful supply of provisions.

At the start of the apocalypse, they had gathered together and followed the instructions from the official broadcast on the radio to clear the zombies from their building.

In a corner of the dorm, they had even piled up the Crimson Crystals they had gathered but had not yet consumed.

"But if the Rescue Team is finished, how are we supposed to save ourselves?"

Someone raised the question, adding a note of despair to the darkness.

"If we rely on the Crimson Crystals, our bodies will keep growing stronger. In about another week, we'll be able to digest most of them."

"Then we can use large posters and diagrams to communicate with other survivors. As long as we gather together, hundreds of survivors with enhanced bodies will be a formidable force."

There still seemed to be hope.

But...

"What about the monsters downstairs? How do we deal with them? They're too fast. Even if all nine of us attacked at once, we wouldn't stand a chance against one."

There was always someone who poured cold water on things just as hope began to emerge, even when the obstacle was real.

"Why do you always have to say so much?"

It looked like an argument was about to break out.

Just then, a crackling sound came through.

Their radio had picked up a new signal.

It wasn't just the survivors gathered in this dorm room.

In every building at Magic University, at every place where survivors had gathered—

The boys' dorms, the girls' dorms, the faculty apartments, even a group of security guards gathered in one of the teaching buildings.

Everywhere people had tried to survive and assembled a radio, a sound that represented hope rang out.

"This is the Club Activity Building at Magic University. I'm Lin Qi, a survivor from the Iron Man Society. First, I'd like to greet all survivors at Magic University."

"All survivors within Magic University, please hang clearly visible markers in conspicuous places. After daybreak, I'll pilot a mech and begin rescue operations."

"Our temporary survival base is the Club Activity Building."

"After completing rescues in the area, I'll also leave a high-power radio transmitter at a designated location. Its signal will be strong enough to cover Magic University."

"The rescue operation will continue for 48 hours."

"If anyone is missed during the rescue, please go to the designated location after 48 hours to retrieve the equipment and contact the survivors at the base."

"Further rescue operations will continue."

Lin Qi's voice spread across the Magic University campus through the high-power radio.

The survivors near the Club Activity Building all turned their eyes toward the mech standing beside it.

A feeling of hope spread wherever the radio signal reached.

As for the survivors farther away, who had not seen the mech in action, confusion spread among them.

Did we hear that right?

A mech?

Are the students at Magic University really that amazing?

The Iron Man Society?

They didn't recognize the name.

But the Magic University Robot Combat team was pretty famous.

Lin Qi must be a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Some were confused, others incredulous.

But none of the survivors would pass up any chance of being rescued.

They sprang into action, putting up even more conspicuous markers outside their respective shelters while night still covered the campus.

Once night gave way and sunlight fell over Magic University, all the survivors' shelters came into view.

Nearly a hundred in total!