Chapter 40: Chapter 34: All is Well at Home
It had been more than five months since the beginning of the Famine Era. In another half-month, Tang Mo would be able to leave the school and return to the wider world.
She had tried video calling Qin Ling several times, but none went through. He hadn’t replied to her messages either. Tang Mo was worried, but could only suppress the feeling, telling herself that someone as capable as him would probably be fine.
She also called home. Tang Mo didn’t tell Lin Yi about the mutant beasts at the school, not wanting to worry her.
Instead, she asked about Lin Yi’s current situation. Just as Tang Mo had expected, the recently married Lin Yi and Wen Jianshu were already expecting a child of their own; she was now more than three months pregnant.
Lin Yi seemed a little embarrassed but also happy when she mentioned the baby. After all, with Tang Mo grown up and away from home, having another child was a blessing.
Even if the timing for this child was less than ideal.
On the other end of the watch, Tang Mo smiled gently. After experiencing her past life, she was no longer a little girl vying for her parents’ affection. Instead, she cherished those bound to her by blood even more.
Through the conversation with her mother, Tang Mo learned that the outside world was now being managed by the Alliance.
Scientists seemed to have predicted that the fog would soon dissipate based on its concentration, range, and other factors. As a result, many large survivor bases had already been established in the outside world to house refugees.
That’s right. Anyone who relied on the Alliance’s relief to survive was called a refugee. No one was dissatisfied with the label; it was as if they had given up struggling against many things ever since they lost the ability to provide for themselves.
Lin Yi had also followed Wen Jianshu to live in the largest base, S City, where she could focus on her pregnancy in peace.
The current Alliance, just as Tang Mo understood from her previous life, was still dominated by the Qin Family, the Wen Family, and the Lin Family, forming a stable tripod of power.
Hearing that Lin Yi was living in the core area of S City Base, the safest place in the post-apocalyptic world, put Tang Mo’s mind at ease.
This way, even when the mutant beasts appeared a month later, Lin Yi’s safety wouldn’t be affected. She could finally focus on her own affairs without worry.
During the call with Tang Mo, Lin Yi couldn’t stop crying, her heart aching for her daughter who was trapped at school, unable to be protected by her side.
She had told Tang Mo many times that she would have Wen Jianshu send a plane to deliver supplies to her. For the Wen Family, this was a trivial matter.
But Tang Mo always firmly refused. As long as she didn’t need it, she didn’t want to owe anyone any favors. Paying them back later would be a hassle.
She wasn’t a bleeding heart, but she didn’t like being indebted to others. For those who were good to her, she would repay them twofold when she was able. This was true for Professor Tian, and it was true for Song Qing.
"Momo, I heard the fog will clear soon. When it does, I’ll have your Uncle Wen send people to pick you up." Lin Yi’s love for her daughter was unparalleled.
"Mom, don’t worry, I can take care of myself. Let’s talk again then, okay?"
Not wanting to upset the pregnant Lin Yi, Tang Mo agreed for the time being.
’But once the fog clears, I have no intention of going straight to S City. S City has many opportunities, but it also has far more talented people.’
’Staying by my family’s side would make it even harder to find chances to train myself.’
’I don’t want to be some pampered princess in a gilded cage. In this era, the only thing I can trust is my own strength.’
She had just hung up with Lin Yi when her watch chimed with a DING! and a new message came in.
"Tang Mo, I still have some good stuff in my dorm. If you get the chance, go get it. Take care of yourself."
The message was short. It was from Qin Ling.
Although it was just a few short words, Tang Mo read it over and over. Qin Ling’s words seemed casual, but for some reason, Tang Mo felt they had the air of someone giving their last words.
Reacting instantly, Tang Mo immediately tried to call him.
BEEP, BEEP...
It was the same familiar sound. Qin Ling still wasn’t picking up.
But now Tang Mo knew. It wasn’t that he couldn’t answer—it was that he didn’t want to.
’But why wouldn’t he want to answer? What on earth happened to him?’
Tang Mo’s mind descended into chaos. She shot to her feet, so tense that a tingling numbness spread through her body, making it impossible to calm down.
Her heart hadn’t been in such turmoil even when she was almost bitten by a mutant beast, nor when she had been injured herself.
But now, she was losing her composure.
She and Qin Ling had missed each other in one lifetime. They had only just met in this one, and she still wanted to work hard to become someone who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
She wouldn’t allow—couldn’t accept—him getting into trouble now!
"Where are you?" "Please just tell me." "Can you just reply to one message?"
She sent several messages in a row, but there was no reply.
Tang Mo truly couldn’t sit still any longer. Her mind raced.
’Qin Ling must be in danger now. But what kind of danger?’
’The "good stuff" in his dorm must be food. Otherwise, if it were life-saving items, he definitely would have taken them with him when he entered the fog.’
’But where could Qin Ling be right now?’
Tang Mo remembered Qin Ling saying that he had a compelling reason to enter the fog.
’Is it for a Crystal Core? But not every Basic-level Mutant Beast has a Crystal Stone inside it, and each Crystal Stone only provides one attribute point. There’s really no need for Qin Ling to take such a huge risk for a single Crystal Stone, is there?’
’Besides, Tang Mo was sure that even though Qin Ling usually acted flippant, his Comprehensive Attribute Value had to be higher than her own.’
’If she could kill a mutant beast on her own, how could he be trapped by one?’
’Danger... mutant beasts...’
Suddenly, an idea struck Tang Mo.
A single Basic-level Mutant Beast probably wouldn’t pose much of a threat to Qin Ling. But what about a group? Or what if it wasn’t a Basic-level Mutant Beast, but an Intermediate Beast?
Every patch of fog contained one Intermediate Beast, and an Intermediate Beast was guaranteed to have a Crystal Stone. Furthermore, the attribute of the Crystal Stone could be determined by the beast’s body color, and each of these stones was worth 10 attribute value points. This was information that was only announced later.
The Intermediate Beast in the fog on campus was a large, blue snake. Blue represented agility attribute value.
Tang Mo knew that Qin Ling’s spiritual power wasn’t high; his attribute values relied mainly on Strength and agility. Therefore, these ten points of agility would be very important to him.
In her past life, this snake had also appeared, but not on campus. Instead, it had been coiled up on the mountain behind the school.
If an Intermediate Beast like that were wandering the campus every day, the small stronghold that An Yang and the others had built—which had no defensive or offensive measures to speak of—would be wiped out in an instant.
An Intermediate Beast’s sense of smell, sight, hearing, and speed were all far beyond what a Basic-level Mutant Beast, which hadn’t yet broken through the fog’s limitations, could compare to.
In her past life, she and Qin Ling had been trapped in a classroom building on campus. A few days ago, Tang Mo had secretly gone to check the area around that building at night and found that the Mutant Beast Group from her past life was not roaming below.
That was why she had assumed that even though Qin Ling hadn’t contacted her, he was still safe.
So, the most likely possibility now was that Qin Ling was trapped on the mountain behind the school by that Intermediate Beast.
