Information Card-Inside Information

A massive spiral of dark clouds rolled in from Broken Wave Strait, slowly descending over Green Forest City.

Like a millstone pressing down from the sky, it brought howling sea winds and rain that poured as if a floodgate had opened.

Long-abandoned billboards swayed and snapped in the gale. Trees broke, and cars rolled over.

It seemed the sea would swallow the city at any moment.

And it was already happening. A seven- or eight-meter tsunami had engulfed South City's coastline. As Typhoon Bu Qiuxing made landfall, even denser storm surges bore down on Green Forest City.

Inside Green Forest City's sewers.

The torrential rain and storm surges arrived.

Water poured into the sewers, and the water level rose rapidly.

In a dark corner of the sewers beneath 10th Block, East City District.

As rainwater surged back through the drains, a slender figure shot out of a pipe roughly a meter wide. It shook its damp black fur. Eyes the size of fists glowed green in the dark, and after a few twitches of its nose, it darted off in one direction.

Before long, it reached a narrow passage. Two faint voices came from ahead, along with the dim glow of a flashlight.

"Second Uncle, we have to leave. The rain's getting worse. We'll drown if we stay here. The thugs and refugees won't be out in weather like this. We have to get up into a building."

"But our supplies! They're all gone!"

"Second Uncle, we can find more supplies. If we don't go now, it'll be too late."

"All right, all right... I'll listen to you... Huh? What's that? No... Ah!"

The shadow leaped onto the man and sank its teeth into his neck. Blood gushed out.

"No, a rat... Such a huge rat... Help! Help!" the boy cried. But the blood had already roused the creature's ferocity. Its green eyes turned scarlet, and it spun and lunged at him.

Squeak... Squeak...

Ring, ring, ring...

The alarm on his Positioning Watch woke Yu Yuan. He opened his eyes. It was already six thirty in the morning.

A few hours earlier, he had escaped the deadly threat of the [Lust Card] and felt the joy of obtaining a Rare Treasure: [Miemie].

Then he could no longer fight off his exhaustion. He had set an alarm to ring every two hours and fallen into a deep sleep.

He knew he needed enough energy and strength to handle whatever might happen next.

That made proper rest more important than staying up to keep watch.

This was the second time he had woken. At four thirty, he had checked every corner of the Air-Raid Shelter Level, and what he found had eased his mind a little.

He could clearly hear water rushing through the sewers, but the seepage he feared most had not occurred.

He picked up his flashlight again and went to inspect the Air-Raid Shelter Level.

But the moment he opened the Floodproof Door, Yu Yuan frowned.

The smell and humidity in the air were wrong.

The last traces of sleep vanished from his mind.

He hurried to the high wall of blast-resistant sandbags, planted his left hand on it, and jumped. Using that hand for support, he vaulted over the wall and ran toward the two exits.

He checked the exit he had sealed first. It was dry, with no sign of water seeping through the cracks. After checking it several times, he ran to the exit he used most often.

The moment he stepped into the passage, water splashed beneath his foot. His heart lurched.

He looked down at once. A thin layer of water covered the floor and was slowly spreading outward.

He hurried to the exit and saw water streaming from one corner of the blast-resistant sandbags. He pulled two bags aside, revealing a hole.

The hole was in the corner of the exit wall, about the size of a brick.

In the flashlight beam, he could see rainwater rushing past below. The sewer was completely flooded.

The current had battered that spot until it washed away a brick on the outside of the Air-Raid Shelter Level. A brick inside had then been swept away too, leaving the hole.

The Quick-Drying Cement had sealed the cracks on the inside, but it could not reach the exterior bricks.

Yu Yuan's face darkened.

He knew this was his oversight.

Climbing in and out through this exit over the past few days must have loosened the outer brick. But he had only checked the inside of the Air-Raid Shelter Level. It had never occurred to him that the exterior might give way.

Now it had.

Regret would do him no good. He had to stop the water.

He carried the dozen or so blast-resistant sandbags from outside his Hideout to the exit. Then he tore open an outdoor tent he had collected earlier and used it as a waterproof sheet to cover the hole.

With the water rushing so fiercely, he could not repair the wall. For now, he could only stop the water from spreading.

Fortunately, it worked. The sewer water struck the sandbags instead of flowing into the Air-Raid Shelter Level. The danger had passed for the moment.

Luckily, he had caught it early and contained it before it grew worse. He could only hope the hole did not widen.

Yu Yuan returned to his Hideout and checked the half-bag of Quick-Drying Cement he had left. His hopes for a lasting repair rested on it.

If the downpour eased even briefly, giving him time to repair the hole, he still had a chance.

There was no use worrying now. All he could do was wait.

Yu Yuan no longer felt sleepy. He lit the fire pit and put a pot of water on to boil, then checked the Virtual Light Screen. Several notifications had appeared.

[Congratulations! You survived another day. Hideout survival assessment—220 Survival Points awarded (tap for details)]

[Hideout ranking bonus assessment—0]

[Today's total: 220 Survival Points. Keep it up!]

"Two hundred and twenty points. Not bad!"

Once the water boiled, Yu Yuan opened a can of Canned Beef and poured it in, then added a packet of instant noodles. Soon, a rich aroma filled the Hideout.

[Miemie], lying nearby, sniffed and looked over.

Yu Yuan saw it and waved.

[Miemie] came over at once. It was clearly quite intelligent.

Stroking its soft fur, Yu Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Is your name Miemie? Should I call you that from now on?"

"Meh~"

[Miemie] tilted its head at Yu Yuan, then nodded.

The noodles were ready. The ventilation duct drew away the rising steam and brought in a trace of cool air.

After breakfast, Yu Yuan went to the Worn Newspaper Rack to check the day's freshly appeared newspaper.

When he saw a card beside the newspaper, delight flashed across his face, followed by confusion.

"An extra information item appeared? But what's this card... a Rock Quality [Inside Information] Card?"

Information Card—Rock Tier Insider Card

Quality: Rock Tier

Function: Use this card to obtain a piece of inside information related to a specified event (Rock Quality).