Survivors

The door the smiling Madman had opened was room 2317. Inside, everything was in disarray, and several remains lay on the floor, gnawed beyond recognition. A foul stench hit him in the face.

Frowning, Lin Hao carefully skirted the disgusting traces on the floor and searched inside, keeping his guard up.

All the room doors stood open, and the refrigerator was a mess. There was no sign of anyone having stored tap water in advance, only empty mineral water and drink bottles.

"No water, no food. No wonder they went mad with despair..."

Lin Hao made a quick assessment, then rummaged through the pots and pans and searched the wardrobe, not even leaving the shoes untouched. Unfortunately, equipment apparently wasn't that easy to create, and he found no gold either.

Before long, though, Lin Hao found something good in a watch box inside a locked suitcase under a bed.

[Luxury mechanical watch (blue)]

[Value: 1,210 wish power]

[Weight: 152 g]

[Additional attribute: Accurate timekeeping (blue)]

[A luxury mechanical watch worth a considerable sum. Wearing it lends an air of wealth and distinction. Its mechanical dial provides accurate timekeeping, and its luminous face remains readable at night. It is also waterproof.]

At over a thousand wish power, it was the most expensive thing he had found so far. Although it had an additional attribute, that attribute was rather lackluster, merely enhancing the watch's existing timekeeping function.

"Still pretty good."

Lin Hao put it straight onto his wrist.

Without his phone, apart from electronic clocks that would eventually run out of power, a mechanical watch like this still had its uses. It seemed to be a famous brand, too, though Lin Hao didn't know much about luxury watch brands.

"Actually, these clothes, suitcases, and even the furniture all have value. Every bit used means one bit less."

Lin Hao looked around, then found a key on the corpse. After testing it in the lock, he closed the apartment door again.

He didn't know whether he would come back to search again, but there was no harm in saving it for later.

Having learned a few more things about the Madmen, Lin Hao no longer crept along as carefully as before. Instead, he went out knocking on doors and kept making noise.

Judging by the Madmen's current behavior, they had trouble suppressing their hunting instincts. If any nearby heard him, they would probably follow the sound over.

He just had to avoid making enough noise to attract too many!

He would clear out the nearby Madmen first, so he wouldn't run into them while moving supplies and end up contaminating or wasting those supplies.

Those two Madmen seemed to have been the last two left on this floor, however. By the time Lin Hao reached the entrance to the fire escape, he had heard no further movement, nor had any ordinary survivors opened their doors.

"That makes sense, actually. At least the density of Madmen isn't too high right now. Otherwise, even in a place like the residential complex across the street, survivors wouldn't be able to head out in groups so easily."

Although he had dispatched all four Madmen cleanly and efficiently so far, making it look easy, Lin Hao knew that was because he had a cheat.

That fat man weighing over two hundred jin had managed quite an impressive sprint. With the restraints of reason gone, these lunatics seemed capable of unleashing even more of their bodies' potential than ordinary people.

Add in that suicidal frenzy and utter disregard for death, and in a head-on, one-on-one fight between two otherwise comparable adults, the Madman would probably have the advantage.

It was hardly surprising that two Madmen had effectively sealed off an entire floor.

Creeak~

He pushed open the fire escape door. It was even darker inside, and a half-eaten corpse lay facedown on the landing, probably the fat man's handiwork.

Lin Hao first glanced down the stairs. Finding no movement or anything unusual, he looked up and began walking, lightly tapping the stair railing with his ruler to make a "clang, clang" sound.

He controlled the strength of each tap to keep it from getting too loud. He only wanted to beat the grass and startle the snakes, drawing out nearby Madmen.

Clatter~

An unusual noise came from the guesthouse upstairs. Lin Hao stopped tapping and slowly climbed the stairs, staying alert.

A small guesthouse had rented both the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth floors and made some alterations. When Lin Hao reached the fire door on the twenty-fourth floor, he gave it a slight push and felt that clutter had been piled against it from inside.

Normally, a guesthouse couldn't simply block a fire escape like this; the fines would bleed it dry. Most likely, someone had barricaded it after they fell into the Abyss.

"Anyone there? I'm a normal person."

Lin Hao called softly a couple of times while pushing the door, making the clutter behind it creak.

"Kid, we're full here. We don't have enough food. Go find somewhere else."

A low male voice answered. For the first time, Lin Hao received a voluntary response.

And judging by how coherent the speaker sounded, he probably wasn't a Madman.

"Are you the owner?"

Lin Hao asked casually.

"I... I'm the owner here."

"That doesn't sound right. I remember the owner of this guesthouse being a Shanghai local."

"I am."

"Then why do you have a northern Jiangsu accent?"

Lin Hao wasn't a local either, and neither were most of the people in this building. Still, he had studied here for years and worked here for a year after graduating. He had a good ear for accents. This person wasn't the owner!

"You! @&%#... &￥! Get lost! Knock again and I'll kill you! Aren't you afraid of attracting Madmen, you bastard?!"

"Exactly! We already told you you're not welcome here!"

"We got here first! Get lost!"

Two more voices sounded in succession, seemingly making a point of their strength in numbers.

Despite being cursed at, Lin Hao didn't snap back. Instead, he rubbed his nose and said calmly,

"Then get me the room key cards for the twenty-fifth floor from the front desk."

After hearing Lin Hao's request, the people behind the door seemed to confer briefly. Perhaps considering that his lingering outside might attract Madmen, they finally compromised.

"Take them and leave. Don't come back. Outsiders aren't welcome here."

Before long, cards slid out one after another through the gap beneath the fire escape door. Lin Hao picked them up and checked them, without wasting much more time here.

Although the Madmen had no fear of death and possessed greater strength and explosive power,

humans capable of thinking, ambushing, and all kinds of dirty tricks actually posed a greater threat to him.

Madmen only charged straight in, making them relatively easy prey for his overpowered equipment-enchanting ability. He had nothing to fear in a head-on exchange with them.

Lin Hao then continued up the stairs, walking along

while continuing to tap lightly on the railing to make noise.

Just as Lin Hao reached the twenty-fifth floor, a sudden flurry of hurried footsteps sounded from above.

Lin Hao looked up. In the dim stairwell, he saw a figure rush to the railing on the floor above and poke its head out to peer down.

Upon spotting him, the figure's face twisted into a grotesque expression of delighted surprise in the dim light.

"Aha! You smell so good, brother!"

Saliva welled in its mouth as the figure moved rapidly with both hands braced on the stair railing. Its posture was bizarre, but it was remarkably fast.

"Yeah."

Having already killed four Madmen with his own hands, Lin Hao was much steadier now when facing such a thing.

As it lunged at him, he swung the ruler in his hand-and this time, he struck its head squarely!

Splat~

The Madman's cheek, still wearing that grotesque expression, caved in. Mid-lunge, he was knocked sideways through the air, veering off his original course and slamming hard into the wall by the landing.

Blood sprayed from his head across the wall before he fell heavily to the floor.

Once he landed, there were no signs of life apart from a few bodily twitches. Lin Hao followed through with another strike to the head, and even the twitching stopped.

Killing Madmen was becoming increasingly easy. They tended to make obvious noises, and a lone Madman now posed far less of a threat.

"But I still can't let my guard down. If they catch me in a pincer attack and knock me down, it'll still be dangerous. Right now, I need some distance to make the most of my advantage."

No matter how strong he was head-on, if they surrounded him and pinned him to the ground, he would be just another body by the roadside.

Lin Hao quickly searched the Madman. Finding nothing useful, he stood up, then openly pushed through the twenty-fifth-floor fire escape door and walked inside.

The corridor was silent, without a hint of movement.

Only guesthouse customers would be staying here. If it was the off-season, occupancy should have been low, making the proportion and likelihood of Madmen appearing lower as well.

With the room key cards in hand, however, Lin Hao didn't dwell on that. Following his usual routine, he first walked to the far end of the corridor, then picked out the cards and prepared to enter each room in turn.

Beep, beep~

The door locks ran on batteries, and after only a few days they still had plenty of power. Accompanied by those beeps, Lin Hao began opening the twenty-odd rooms on this floor like mystery boxes.

"At worst, there'll be the drinks and snacks the guesthouse provides. This trip won't be for nothing..."