Chapter 362: The Newcomers (2) |
Another Wonder Card.
Qin Ziwen's feelings were complicated. On one hand, this was genuinely a good thing. On the other hand, he truly couldn't afford to maintain it.
The Home little glowing ball floated up, displaying text:
【Current Stage Type: Cooperative Survival】
【Time Limit: 90 days】
【Objective: Survive 90 days on this map to proceed to the next stage map】
【This map has supplemented 1 newbie Shedding Abyss, supplemented population: 702 people. At the end of the map, additional rewards will be granted based on the number of surviving newbie Home Masters.】
After scanning the content, Qin Ziwen glanced down at the residential complex where bonfires had been lit. He said to his younger brother, "Go upstairs and check your Home. See if those urban village residents came along."
"Yes." Qin Ziwu started running, quickly heading upstairs.
Above the residential complex was a north-south oriented, seemingly endless dome of rock ceiling.
Around the residential complex, apart from their own complex, there was the Teaching Building by the east gate and a newly appeared building to the west of the complex with grayish-white exterior walls.
At the very top of the building was a conspicuous red cross.
Several LED light signs stood on the rooftop: Rencheng Renkuan Private Hospital.
The newly added building was a separate hospital building.
The building was pitch black inside, and the noise was no longer as chaotic as it had been initially.
Behind the windows, many people were hiding behind the glass, secretly observing.
The earlier screams and the rising and falling sounds of arguments had gradually faded away.
But relying on his superhuman hearing, Qin Ziwen could still faintly hear sounds from inside the building, though they were much quieter compared to the beginning.
Qin Ziwu quickly ran back. "Brother, everyone's here. The residents from the urban village all crossed over with my Home."
Qin Ziwen turned his head and said to his younger brother, "Alright. Go and calm those people down first."
There weren't many people from the urban village, only around two hundred, mostly young and strong laborers they had recruited.
Because the rooms in the residential complex were limited, and after the Teaching Building integrated into the complex for secondary allocation, all the houses were fully occupied, these newly added young and strong individuals were all accommodated in Qin Ziwu's Home.
Specifically, in Room 601, Unit 2, Building 8.
Inside, some Expansion Cards had been used to expand the space, and many beds had been built using wood.
Although it was a bit crowded, daily life was still manageable.
After Qin Ziwu left, Qin Ziwen said to Jia Liangcai, "Later, send someone to make contact with the hospital first and assess the situation."
"Yes, Master."
Qin Ziwen then looked at Du Yu behind him on the left. "Old Du, you ride Chitu and scout the surrounding environment. Don't go too far."
"Aye."
"Biansheng, you take some people down to handle security, prevent anyone from causing trouble while things are chaotic."
"Yes."
After giving out the tasks, Qin Ziwen surveyed his surroundings. Judging from this map's prompt—cooperation, survival—the difficulty probably wouldn't be low.
If it was just the lack of food in an underground cavern environment, it wouldn't be labeled a survival mode.
There should be other hidden dangers.
Downstairs, in 402. After clearly seeing the red cross representing the hospital, a flicker of dazedness passed through Zhao Pu's eyes.
Dusty memories were uncovered. He had heard of Renkuan Private Hospital's reputation. It was a private hospital that had risen in recent years, rumored to have a powerful background, built by a medical investment group. Its hardware facilities were very advanced, and they had poached many experts.
He previously had a few classmates working there, and he heard the salary, benefits, and commissions were quite good.
He didn't know if any acquaintances were among the survivors inside.
Thinking of something, Zhao Pu turned and instructed Shu Huan, "You stay at home. Until the situation in this new environment is figured out, you are not allowed to go anywhere."
Zhao Shu Huan nodded obediently.
...
Cao Biansheng led the team downstairs. In the courtyard of the residential complex, apart from a few large bonfire piles still burning, the residents who had originally been nearby had long since run back home.
Cao Biansheng called out a few names. "Yuan Ming, Jin Hao, Jiang Shan, you three take twenty brothers to the east gate. If there's danger, run to the nearest Home. I'm going to the south gate."
The personnel split up. Cao Biansheng took the remaining twenty men to the nearest south gate.
This was just for reconnaissance and vigilance, not actually clearing out beasts, so there was no need to bring too many people. Too many would actually be inconvenient for spreading out.
Arriving at the south gate entrance, Cao Biansheng extended the fish oil torch in his hand forward. By the torchlight, he could see that just beyond the line of the residential complex's main gate was an area of hard, rocky ground.
The ground wasn't very even, full of bumps and hollows.
The sound of hoofbeats came from behind. Chitu, carrying Du Yu, passed by from the rear.
"Instructor Du, be careful. Do you have enough torches?"
"I'm just taking a simple look around. One is enough. You all stay inside the complex for now." Du Yu held the reins with one hand and a spear with the other.
On the side of Chitu's neck, a support leg tray was fixed, with a torch inserted into it.
Chitu was very fast. The sound of hoofbeats echoed, and in the blink of an eye, it had carried Du Yu over a hundred meters away.
Withdrawing his gaze from the receding figure, Cao Biansheng gave orders for the team to spread out, with five meters between each person, fanning out to the left and right with the south gate as the center.
"Cao-ge, I saw a new building seems to have appeared west of the complex. Could it be like the Red Cauldron Tower kind?"
"Shut up, you jinx." Cao Biansheng was speechless. He hoped the newcomers were normal people.
Otherwise, killing them would still be quite tiring.
After about half an hour, the sound of hoofbeats approached.
Du Yu returned, riding Chitu. On horseback, Du Yu's expression was grave, and he didn't say a word.
Chitu passed by the group like a gust of wind.
Cao Biansheng thought to himself, it seems Instructor Du discovered something.
After Du Yu and Chitu returned to the Home, they reported to Qin Ziwen immediately.
"Master, I conducted a preliminary thorough investigation of the surrounding environment."
"The location we are in should be an intersection point within an underground cavern. There are five passages nearby. About seven hundred meters to the south, there is water. It's temporarily unclear if it's an underground river or a water pool, as the torch's illumination range is limited and I couldn't see the specific situation clearly. But the water surface was calm... and my intuition tells me there's something in the pool, something very dangerous. I didn't investigate in detail."
"The other passages vary in size. I haven't investigated them deeply for now. But during observation, I discovered there are many insects in the surrounding environment."
"Having insects is normal. This is underground, after all."
Du Yu said, "These insects are very large in size, generally over half a meter. I suspect the insects in the surrounding environment have universally mutated."
Hearing this, Qin Ziwen fell into thought. Universally giant insects? An underground insect kingdom?
"Alright. Go and make preparations first. Since we've come here, it probably won't be long before we attract the attention of the indigenous inhabitants here."
To the indigenous inhabitants here, they were undoubtedly outsiders.
It's just that the intensity of these indigenous inhabitants' probing remains to be seen.
And it's been a while since the crossing. The people in that hospital main building behind us haven't sent anyone to communicate yet? Their actions are really too slow.