Mysterious Supporter

Leaning against the canopy, Lin Yi felt a faint throbbing pain 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 not yet been unlocked, so Lin Yi could not check his current Spirit Power status through the panel.

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

Gu Chenghu thought for a moment. "Everyone has Spirit Power, but it's most important for 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 had realized that the ability to control White Mist was quite important to him, but his Spirit Power was limited after all, preventing him from controlling the White Mist 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 slightly. He looked down from the tree, only to see the Corpse Fiends 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 and leave. Perhaps he would only be able to forcibly log out after his six hours online had ended.

Thus, the two of them tried to remain quiet in the tree and rest peacefully.

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

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

"Alright, no problem."

Gu Chenghu seemed even calmer than Lin Yi. After taking and putting away the food and water, he leaned against the canopy and dozed off.

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 took a look. 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 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 stirred into mush, leaving him unable to focus on anything at all.

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

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 simply collapsed onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

He slept until after ten at night. When Lin Yi looked up, 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, so it was no wonder he was starving.

The pain in his head had lessened considerably. Lin Yi picked up his phone and checked it. Aside from messages from the Workshop, Liu Bo had sent him several complaints, all about trivial matters at the police station.

Considering the frequent Apocalypse World monster Invasion Incidents around the world, Zhang Baichuan had received orders from above to establish emergency response teams in every administrative district of Linhe City.

However, there were only four core members in Linhe City's Apocalypse Squad, so Liu Bo had also been assigned to oversee one administrative district. He had formed a team with several experienced criminal detectives.

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

When he saw Lin Yi reply, Liu Bo continued complaining, "Brother Yi, I feel like my life is too hard. During the day, I risk my life leveling up in Apocalypse World, and when I return to reality at night, I have to work a second job. 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 meals while collecting a second public salary. Who else gets treatment like that?"

But Liu Bo only replied with a chuckle.

Lin Yi shook his head. This kid clearly had not been beaten down by society yet and did not understand the benefits of having an Official identity.

After chatting with Liu Bo for a while, Lin Yi asked about 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 can't use Spirit Power either. As for restoring it, I remember the instructor mentioning it during 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 our country established internally for Heavenly Revelation members. They're similar to Contribution Points and can be exchanged for some 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 to get Apocalypse Points. Brother Yi, is your Spirit Power injury serious? If it is, I'll think of something..."

Lin Yi replied, "It's fine, just a bit of a headache. I'll be better after sleeping for a few days. I'm going to get something to eat, so I won't chat anymore. Focus on your duty."

After ending his conversation with Liu Bo, Lin Yi went downstairs and found a local restaurant for dinner.

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

She seemed to have just finished showering. Her soft black hair fell over her shoulders, and droplets of water slid down the skin of her neck, leaving glistening trails 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 very pleasing sight.

Lin Yi glanced at her unintentionally, but Liu Yuxi still noticed. Girls were rather sensitive to boys' gazes, after all.

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

"Yes."

The rising elevator fell silent again.

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

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

She also did not know what job Lin Yi had. 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.

To her, Lin Yi was simply a somewhat handsome neighbor with a unique temperament and strange behavior.

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

In the early morning, Lin Yi woke up from bed. After another night of sleep replenishing his Spirit Power, the pain in his head had improved greatly.

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

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

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

However, Gu Chenghu was nowhere to be seen in the tree, and the Corpse Fiend horde below had also vanished.

Lin Yi frowned.

Could the Corpse Fiends have retreated while he was gone?

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

Lin Yi then slowly climbed down the tree. Although the Corpse Fiend horde was gone, many broken bones belonging to Corpse Fiends were scattered across the ground.

It seemed powerful reinforcements from the village had appeared yesterday, driven back the Corpse Fiend horde, 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 brought members of the Four Militia Teams, they probably could not have dealt with so many Corpse Fiends.

Could it have been one of the village elders?

Filled with curiosity, Lin Yi left the shrubs and trees and hurried toward the small valley.