Mysterious Reinforcements

Leaning against the treetop, Lin Yi felt a dull ache in his head. It seemed his Spirit Power would not recover anytime soon.

Unfortunately, Spirit Power was a hidden attribute on the System panel and had yet to be unlocked, so Lin Yi could not check his current condition through the panel.

"Captain, is there any way to quickly restore Spirit Power in the village?"

Gu Chenghu thought for a moment. "Everyone has Spirit Power, but it is most important to Witches. Elder Gu Yun should have potions that restore Spirit Power. You can ask him the next time we return to the village."

"Alright."

Lin Yi realized that his ability to control the White Mist was quite important, but his Spirit Power was limited after all, preventing him from controlling it for long. If Elder Gu Yun had potions that could increase or restore Spirit Power, he would definitely keep some on hand.

After resting for a while, Lin Yi felt that his headache had eased somewhat. He looked down from the tree and saw that the Corpse Fiends were still gathered around it.

It seemed the Corpse Fiends would not disperse anytime soon.

Lin Yi tried again, but he still could not log out. Perhaps he would only be able to force himself offline after his six hours online had ended.

Thus, the two of them remained as quiet as possible in the tree and rested in silence.

After thinking it over, Lin Yi took some water and cured salted beef from his backpack and gave them to Gu Chenghu, lest Gu Chenghu go hungry in the tree after he logged out.

"Captain, if I'm forcibly logged out later, keep this food. I'm afraid the Corpse Fiends might not disperse even by nighttime."

"Alright, no problem."

Gu Chenghu seemed even calmer than Lin Yi. After accepting and putting away the food and water, he leaned against the treetop and took a short nap.

Less than two hours later, Lin Yi's body turned into a streak of white light as he was forcibly logged out.

Gu Chenghu opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing that the Corpse Fiends below were still the same, he continued resting.

However, the moment Lin Yi returned from Apocalypse World to reality, he suddenly sucked in a sharp breath. The pain in his head was far more intense than it had been in Apocalypse World.

It felt as though the contents of his entire skull had been churned into a mush, leaving him unable to focus on thinking about anything at all.

Lin Yi guessed that players had some sort of pain-reduction protection mechanism in Apocalypse World, but it disappeared once they returned to reality.

It seemed he absolutely could not bring injuries back to reality in the future, or they might worsen.

With his Spirit Power injured, Lin Yi could not do anything in reality either. He flopped directly onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

He slept straight through until after ten at night. Lin Yi raised his head and glanced outside. It was pitch-black beyond the balcony, and his stomach was growling.

He seemed to have woken up from hunger. After all, he had only eaten a little that morning. No wonder he was so hungry.

The pain in his head had eased considerably. Lin Yi opened his Phone and checked it. Aside from messages from the Workshop, Liu Bo had sent him several complaining messages, all grumbling about trivial matters at the Police station.

It turned out that, in light of the frequent monster Invasion Incidents from Apocalypse World around the globe, Zhang Baichuan had received orders from his superiors to establish emergency response teams in every administrative district of Linhe City.

However, the core members of Linhe City's Apocalypse Squad numbered only four, so Liu Bo had also been assigned an administrative district. Partnering with several experienced criminal investigators, he had formed a team.

If a supernatural incident occurred within that district, Liu Bo would be the primary person in charge.

Seeing Lin Yi reply, Liu Bo continued complaining. "Brother Yi, I feel like my life is way too hard. I risk my life grinding levels in Apocalypse World during the day, then I have to work a second job when I return to reality at night. I'm practically being worked to death."

"I'm still on duty at the station right now. Even my meals are reheated cafeteria food. This is miserable..."

Lin Yi replied teasingly, "Not bad, Xiao Bo. Other people could only dream of your life. Someone takes you leveling during the day, and at night you get to eat public-funded meals while collecting a second public salary. Who else gets treatment like that?"

But Liu Bo only replied with a sarcastic "Heh."

Lin Yi shook his head. This kid had clearly never been beaten down by society and did not understand the benefits of having an Official identity.

After chatting with Liu Bo for a while, Lin Yi asked about matters related to Spirit Power.

"Brother Yi, did you overload your Spirit Power? I remember you're only Level 3. How are you even using Spirit Power? Anyway, I can't see my Spirit Power attribute, and I have no use for it. As for restoring Spirit Power, I remember the instructor mentioning it during my training at headquarters. Our headquarters does have things that can restore Spirit Power, but they require Apocalypse Points to exchange for them."

"Apocalypse Points?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Apocalypse Points are a kind of supernatural currency established by our country for Apocalypse members, something like Contribution Points. They can be exchanged for internal resources. But you can only earn Apocalypse Points by completing missions issued by headquarters. I heard our Captain once killed a Shocking Pig and exchanged its corpse for quite a few Apocalypse Points..."

"However, I'm not even qualified to accept missions yet, so I have no way of getting Apocalypse Points. Brother Yi, is your Spirit Power injury serious? If it is, I'll think of something..."

Lin Yi replied, "It's fine. I just have a bit of a headache. A few days of sleep should fix it. I'm going to find something to eat, so I won't chat anymore. Focus on your duty."

After ending his chat with Liu Bo, Lin Yi went downstairs and found a local restaurant to eat at.

On his way back, he ran into Liu Yuxi, who was taking out the trash. The two of them entered the apartment elevator together.

She seemed to have just finished showering. Her smooth black hair draped over her shoulders, and droplets of water slid down the skin of her neck, leaving glistening traces in the air.

Liu Yuxi wore only a pair of cute pink shorts on her lower body. Her straight, well-proportioned legs looked as though they had been carved from ivory, making for a particularly pleasing sight.

Lin Yi glanced over unintentionally, but Liu Yuxi still noticed. After all, girls were quite sensitive to boys' gazes.

Liu Yuxi's face, already flushed from her shower, reddened further. She coughed, breaking the silence. "Brother Lin, are you just getting back from dinner?"

"Yeah."

The ascending elevator fell silent again.

Liu Yuxi did not know what to say either, though she was quite curious about Lin Yi. Over the past two days, she had been frantically sending out résumés and looking for work on various platforms, so she had spent more time in the apartment.

Because the soundproofing was poor, she would sometimes hear movement from Lin Yi's room without hearing his door open or close, as though he had suddenly appeared inside the room.

She also had no idea what Lin Yi did for work. He seemed never to go to work and appeared very free. On several occasions, she had even run into him going downstairs for lunch in the middle of the day.

In any case, to her, Lin Yi was a neighbor who was somewhat handsome and had a distinctive air about him, but whose behavior was rather strange.

Lin Yi had no idea what Liu Yuxi was thinking. If he knew she could often hear the movement from his room, he would probably speed up his moving plans.

Early the next morning, Lin Yi woke from bed. After another night of sleep replenishing his Spirit Power, he felt that the pain in his head had improved greatly.

It seemed sleep was an excellent way to restore Spirit Power.

Presumably, once he returned to Apocalypse World today, he should be able to control the White Mist a little.

After washing up and finishing breakfast, Lin Yi touched the golden Activation Code on his wrist and appeared atop the same tree from yesterday.

However, Gu Chenghu was nowhere to be seen in the tree, and the Corpse Fiends below were gone as well.

Lin Yi frowned.

Had the Corpse Fiends retreated while he was gone?

However, Lin Yi discovered a message Gu Chenghu had left on a patch of bark in the treetop: "I'm safe. Meet in the small valley."

Lin Yi then slowly climbed down from the tree. Although the Corpse Fiends were gone, many Broken Bones were scattered across the ground.

It seemed powerful reinforcements from the village had appeared yesterday, driven back the Corpse Fiends, and taken Gu Chenghu away.

But there had been hundreds of Corpse Fiends beneath the tree. Who could have been so powerful?

Even if Gu Liehai, Gu Man, and the other Captains had come with the people from the Four Militia Teams, they probably could not have dealt with so many Corpse Fiends.

Could one of the Village Elders have come out?

Filled with curiosity, Lin Yi left the brush and woods, then hurried toward the small valley.