New Intelligence

"The club had quite a bit of gear. But they said Brother Ji was third in command, so there probably aren't many others with as much equipment as him..."

After changing into his new equipment, Lin Hao had gained a rough idea of what the fitness club was like.

But his earlier encounter had also made it clear that he probably couldn't take them head-on yet.

I have a cheat, and my potential is right there. There's no need to start risking my life now. I got a little too cocky earlier, and the pain in my back is the price.

"With Brother Ji's equipment as the core of the team and four strong men backing him up, getting up here really wouldn't be much trouble. But now that they've disappeared, the fitness club probably won't dare send anyone else up here anytime soon."

For a makeshift group that had only just formed, ordering people to risk their lives was bound to be difficult. Before, they'd had Brother Ji, a man with some standing, leading the team.

Now that such a powerful squad had vanished without a trace, the fitness club would naturally feel the pressure too.

"But I still need to take precautions. And sooner or later, I'll have to go to the teleportation point. We'll run into each other eventually."

A faint sense of urgency rose in Lin Hao's heart, and he glanced up at Room 1708.

Hopefully this locksmith won't let me down...

"Holy shit..."

Yi Feng carefully opened his door. Seeing the bodies in the corridor, he stared blankly for a moment.

Then, before Lin Hao could speak, Yi Feng volunteered,

"Brother Lin, lockpicking is about all I'm good at. I can help you open the other apartments and get supplies. I'll be following your lead from now on!"

Yi Feng looked rather scrawny and stood only a little over 160 centimeters tall. His shifty-looking features gave him a somewhat comical appearance.

Looking at him, Lin Hao actually felt that Brother Ji's men had been right earlier. This guy really didn't need to worry about anyone lusting after him.

"How did you know what things were like at the fitness club?"

"I just casually asked who their boss was, and one of the lackeys let it slip. The most nervous one. I reckon he'd already been screwed...

"I know Chen Laohu all too well. He's a freak! I wouldn't go there even if you killed me. If it weren't for you, Brother Lin, I really would've been trapped. Why don't we start with the apartments upstairs? Gather some people of our own, and we won't have to fear them."

Yi Feng offered his suggestion.

Even setting their current circumstances aside, the teleportation point information provided by the Earth Will said teams could only have four members. He wanted to latch onto this powerful protector too.

Otherwise, with his scrawny arms and legs, probably nobody would want him.

"We'll see. Come upstairs with me first."

Lin Hao gave no firm answer.

Having someone to help would certainly make plenty of things easier, but his thinking hadn't changed from the beginning: character mattered more than ability.

His understanding of Yi Feng was still far too superficial. He needed to observe him a little longer.

"Sure thing."

Yi Feng packed up his bags.

As someone who could pick locks, he really hadn't lacked food over the past few days. There was even a piece of equipment with stats in the lockpicking kit he carried.

However, this gray-quality lockpick only provided a few bonuses to lockpicking. It was more useful in the hands of a professional like Yi Feng, and Lin Hao had no intention of taking it.

Returning to Room 2318, Lin Hao opened the door to find Zhao Xiaowen and Nie Yi listening to the radio. Both looked up at him.

They each had weapons-fruit knives and steel pipes-within reach, maintaining a degree of vigilance.

Once they saw it was Lin Hao, both seemed relieved.

Zhao Xiaowen quickly trotted over to take the backpack off Lin Hao's back and help wipe him down.

"You're filthy. Did you run into trouble? Are you hurt? Is this the young locksmith you mentioned?"

"Yeah, that's him. His name is Yi Feng."

Lin Hao introduced him, then said to Yi Feng,

"This is Zhao Xiaowen, and that's Nie Yi."

"Hello, first sister-in-law. Hello, second sister-in-law."

Yi Feng was briefly stunned by Zhao Xiaowen's beauty, but he didn't dare stare and hurriedly greeted them.

In times like these, a powerful protector who could single-handedly take out Brother Ji's group deserved a beauty like her. He didn't find it strange at all.

Hearing how Yi Feng addressed them, Zhao Xiaowen covered her mouth and laughed without correcting him. Nie Yi, however, nervously shook her head and spoke with apparent insecurity.

"I-I'm just a follower. All I need is something to eat."

Yi Feng paused at her words, then gave Lin Hao a thumbs-up.

"Brother Lin, you're a stand-up guy!"

Taking in someone unrelated to him who contributed nothing but another mouth to feed, even in an apocalypse-if that wasn't being a stand-up guy, what was?

It made Yi Feng all the more glad he'd made this decision.

Following Brother Lin has to be better than going to the fitness club!

"You're hurt?"

As Zhao Xiaowen helped remove his backpack, she noticed Lin Hao's slight discomfort when she touched a sore spot. Her face filled with worry.

Her words made Yi Feng and Nie Yi nervous too, and both looked over with concern.

At this point, Lin Hao's health was closely tied to every one of them!

"Was it Brother Ji's group?"

Yi Feng ventured a guess.

"Yeah. Just a minor injury."

Lin Hao took off his jacket and lifted his [Sports Tank Top]. He couldn't see the injured area himself, so he let Zhao Xiaowen examine it.

"Whew, it's okay. It should just be a soft-tissue contusion. Nothing serious. Too bad we don't have any ice. Icing it right away would've helped. As it is, it'll probably hurt for two or three days."

After examining it, Zhao Xiaowen pressed her fingers around the area to check, then breathed a sigh of relief.

A bone or tendon injury would be a real problem in these conditions!

"It's fine. I'm not that delicate. Did the radio say anything today?"

Lin Hao could hear the radio repeating prerecorded information, so the new announcements must have finished already. Yi Feng also asked curiously,

"Brother Lin, is that broadcast from another settlement? They've already got a radio station? Impressive."

"Yeah. A university town."

"Yes. Today's broadcast said a group that came back had encountered another race competing for evacuation supplies. They looked like Lizardmen and were much stronger than humans. Several physical education students died. They suspect there are quite a few worlds in situations like Earth's, with other intelligent beings..."

Lin Hao had only asked casually. He hadn't expected information like this!

But they had already fallen into the Abyss. Whatever happened now was hardly surprising!

"They also said this seemed to explain some of the things that had happened around Great Qi in World 1 over the past few years. These Lizardmen apparently cooperated with several Barbarian groups and caused quite a bit of trouble. There had been rumors of Outworld Demons before, but nobody expected their situation to be similar to ours. We'll need to be careful if we encounter them."

Zhao Xiaowen relayed some of the university's own conjectures from the broadcast.

"What happened to those Lizardmen in the end?"

"They were shot dead with homemade guns made from water pipes."

That seemed reasonable enough. The university had some laboratory supplies, and with water pipes added to the mix, making a few crude guns by hand probably wasn't too difficult.

Their starting point really was much better than an ordinary residential area like this one...

"The chamber of commerce also said that although the situation with madmen in Great Qi isn't as serious, and the threshold for going mad is much higher, it still happens there too. So they think Great Qi probably controls information that might cause panic. They suspect there are some other hidden problems in Great Qi as well, and they're trying to investigate..."

Hearing this, Lin Hao felt a slight chill. But the places where the Earth Will had left its marks were worlds that had been captured by the Abyss but hadn't yet fallen into it, so some signs of abyssal corruption seemed natural!

Still, if the threshold for "madness" was much higher, then in an ancient world like that, it might simply be treated as "ordinary" insanity, and its impact wouldn't be too great.

As for the hidden problems...

"Maybe there are other conditions and threats from the Abyss besides the madmen..."

Even if the world accessible from their side wasn't Great Qi, information like this should apply across the board!

There were other competitors, threats from the Abyss, and problems posed by the local environment itself.

Sure enough, it would be best to go only after preparing thoroughly. Food and nutrition weren't concerns for the moment, so he should still search the whole place for supplies first.

His earlier brush with disaster had sounded a warning bell for Lin Hao. More preparation and a steadier approach were definitely no bad thing!