Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Shelter
Long Ming scanned the street-facing shops. Ninety percent had already been picked clean by his group. He figured there probably wasn’t even a crumb left.
He ran toward an old residential building up ahead that was marked with a checkmark.
He took the stairs into the building. On the first floor, the doors to the apartments on both sides were shut tight.
Long Ming didn’t know how to pick locks, so he gave up and headed up the stairs to the second floor. There, he saw that the door to the eastern apartment was ajar.
He reached out and pushed the door open, producing a decrepit CREAK.
Long Ming stepped inside cautiously. The room was a complete mess. A glass coffee table was overturned, its top shattered across the floor.
He immediately went to rummage through the living room cabinets, hoping to find something useful.
As it turned out, his luck was pretty good. He found a home toolbox.
Long Ming flipped open the toolbox and found a circuit tester (blue).
He stuffed the circuit tester into his backpack and walked to the door of the master bedroom.
The master bedroom was blanketed in dust, but it was otherwise largely undamaged.
Long Ming went inside and rummaged through the nightstand and wardrobe.
...
An hour later, the surrounding buildings had all been searched, and Long Ming and the others regrouped at the intersection.
"How’d it go?"
Xiaoqi asked.
"So-so. This area doesn’t seem very rich. I only found this!"
Cloud Fish said with a sigh, then pulled out a 100-gram gold bar.
"Nice!"
He Zhong said with a laugh.
"Your hauls are nothing. Look at this!"
Tang Ye boastfully pulled a pair of binoculars from his backpack.
"You lucky bastard. That thing has to be worth at least 100,000 uni-dimensional coins."
"That was the price two days ago. It’s gone up since then!"
"Hmph."
Cloud Fish said it dismissively, but she was clearly envious.
Just then, Xiaoqi said to Tang Ye and the others.
"Alright, pack everything up. We’re moving on!"
"Got it!"
Cloud Fish and the others nodded firmly.
Long Ming followed Xiaoqi’s group onward, a thought crossing his mind.
’This is my first time running a dungeon this easily. All I have to worry about is looting. This 50/50 split is definitely worth it.’
...
Meanwhile, Mira stood on the rooftop of a building, gazing down at the scene below.
Teams of combat personnel were clearing out the freelancers.
Every now and then, a gunshot or two would ring out.
They didn’t want to waste ammunition, but they inevitably ran into armed freelancers who wouldn’t listen to reason, forcing them to retaliate.
"Sister Mira, something doesn’t feel right."
A tall, thin young man with a faint scar on his forehead spoke, his expression grave. He wore a black combat suit and held a single-shot sniper rifle.
"What is it, Liang Feng?"
"We’ve been clearing this area for a while now, but aside from other players, we’ve barely seen any Corpse Monsters."
Liang Feng pointed out uneasily.
"I know. Tell the teams below to be on alert."
Mira had noticed the anomaly as well, but she couldn’t afford to dwell on it. Her priority was to find enough supplies and get out as quickly as possible.
Her Fifth Combat Group’s performance had been last place several times in a row. If this kept up, she didn’t know how she was going to face Luoxue.
"Understood."
Liang Feng nodded.
Just then, Cao Jie hurried over, saying excitedly to Mira,
"Sister Mira."
"What is it?"
Mira asked, turning her head to face Cao Jie.
"Tang Jin found an abandoned hospital, but there’s a problem. A small guild of about a dozen people is holed up inside."
"Let’s go. We’ll clear them out."
"Right!"
Cao Jie replied instantly.
...
In a dim underground shelter, countless bodies lay strewn across the floor.
CREAK, CREAK~
Suddenly, the handle on the sealed security door began to turn.
Then, the heavy security door was slowly pushed open.
"COUGH, COUGH! God, it stinks! What the hell is this place?"
"Alright, quit your whining! A place sealed this tight has to be full of valuable loot!"
"Yeah! If we get lucky like Old Qiu and find some valuable gear, we can head over to the Red Romance tonight and have some real fun."
"Hmph. Chen Yue, all you ever think about are those broads. You’ll die on top of a woman one of these days."
"Heh heh, and I’ll die happy."
...
Just then, two freelancer players, pistols in hand, walked in excitedly.
As soon as they stepped inside, the sight of a floor covered in bodies gave them a shock.
"Holy crap!"
"What are you shouting for? You scared the hell out of me!"
"Why are there so many bodies?"
"They’re just bodies. What’s there to be scared of?"
"Maybe... maybe we should go somewhere else?"
"Are you stupid? Bodies are the best place to find valuable loot! We’re going to be rich!"
"Really? Okay, let’s search them then."
The two nervously approached the bodies.
Soon, Chen Yue and Zhao Gu were standing over the bodies. Fighting back their nausea, they began to search them.
"Holy shit, a gemstone necklace!"
"Whoa, I found a high-end watch!"
"Haha, we’re gonna be rich!"
...
The two stuffed their findings into their backpacks and excitedly pushed deeper into the room to search.
They found more and more loot, and Chen Yue was grinning from ear to ear.
Just then, some of the bodies on the floor began to stir, their joints making stiff, grating sounds.
Zhao Gu’s ears pricked up. He asked Chen Yue uneasily,
"Chen Yue, did you hear a strange noise?"
"What strange noise? Don’t try to trick me just to slow down my looting."
Chen Yue’s face was a mask of greed.
But just then, all around them, deformed bodies with rotting faces opened their crimson eyes. They swayed unsteadily to their feet, letting out a chilling, low groan.
"Holy crap, run!"
Seeing this, the hair on Chen Yue’s body stood on end. He immediately spun around to flee.
But it was too late. Countless Corpse Monsters swarmed forward, instantly surrounding the two of them.
BANG! BANG!
Chen Yue and his partner fired desperately.
Corpse Monsters fell with each shot, but it was useless. More surged forward to take their place.
In an instant, Chen Yue and his partner were tackled to the ground and torn to pieces.
Aaaah—
A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the underground shelter.
...
「On another dilapidated street.」
Long Ming walked up to a wrecked luxury car, pulled open the door, and opened the glove compartment to rummage through it.
Soon, he found a fine leather wallet (blue).
Long Ming stuffed it into his backpack, then opened the car’s trunk. His eyes immediately lit up.
Inside the trunk was a case of liquor and several bottles of mineral water.
Long Ming deftly picked up the water bottles, checked that their seals were intact, and stuffed them into his backpack.
BANG~
Just then, a series of gunshots echoed from the distance.
Long Ming froze. He had heard a few stray shots earlier, but never this intense. He walked over to Xiaoqi and the others nearby.
Xiaoqi was staring into the distance, her brow furrowed.
"Sister Qi, it sounds like a fight up ahead. Did they run into monsters?"
Cloud Fish said excitedly.
"Maybe."
Xiaoqi wasn’t sure either.
"Don’t worry. Even if there are monsters, I’ll protect you,"
Tang Ye said, trying to curry favor.
"It’s not monsters. It’s probably a conflict with other players."
Long Ming said calmly.
"Oh? And how would you know?"
Tang Ye asked, looking at Long Ming with a slight frown.
Long Ming didn’t bother to explain. He had judged it by the rhythm of the gunfire.
"Sister Qi, if they’re fighting other players, they must be fighting over a good spot! Let’s go check it out,"
Cloud Fish said to Xiaoqi, full of curiosity.
"No. It’s too dangerous. Fighting is Sister Mira’s team’s job. We’re only responsible for scavenging, unless we get a direct request for help from Sister Mira."
Xiaoqi’s tone was firm, leaving no room for argument.
"Fine... If only I could become a combat Profession, too."
An envious look crossed Cloud Fish’s face.
Xiaoqi led Long Ming and the others further down the street, continuing their search.
Suddenly, Long Ming stopped in his tracks.
"What’s wrong?"
Xiaoqi asked, looking at Long Ming in confusion.
"It’s nothing... I just feel like something’s not right."
"What do you mean?"
"This morning fog isn’t lifting. In fact, visibility is getting worse."
Long Ming said, his brow furrowed slightly.
"Pfft, is that all? I thought you were going to say something important. It’s just a little fog, what’s the big deal? Besides, if something happens, the combat team will handle it. We just need to focus on the loot!"
Tang Ye completely dismissed Long Ming’s words.
"That’s enough. It never hurts to be careful,"
Xiaoqi chided Tang Ye.
"I know, I know."
Tang Ye, not expecting to be reprimanded, shot Long Ming an exasperated look.
Long Ming paid Tang Ye’s glare no mind.
Just then, Li Gao came running over.
"Xiaoqi!"
"Brother Li, what are you doing here?"
Xiaoqi looked at Li Gao in surprise.
"We’ve secured a large hospital! Captain Mira wants you to bring everyone over right away!"
Li Gao told Xiaoqi.
"Great!"
Xiaoqi’s face lit up when she heard this. She immediately gave orders to Cloud Fish and the others.
"Spread out and tell all the teams to assemble! Sister Mira’s group has secured a large hospital!"
"Awesome! I’ll go tell the others right now!"
Cloud Fish and the others scattered excitedly.
Long Ming was surprised as well. ’I can’t believe they actually took over a large hospital,’ he thought. ’Looks like the payout for this joint operation is going to be massive.’
...
