Chapter 365: Preliminary Investigation |
On the first floor in the pharmacy, many people were coming in and out, taking out the medicines inside.
Zhao Pu smiled and said, "Guild Leader, these medicines arrived quite timely. The hospital director was quite farsighted; he had just brought in a large batch of medicine."
Director Zhou, who was following beside them, said, "Actually, it's also somewhat related to the crossing phenomenon. Because quite a few buildings across the country have disappeared, the official definition is a supernatural event. Among the common folk, most are saying these buildings were taken away by aliens or directly crossed over. So, the director leveraged his connections to bring in several extra batches of medicine. He said, what if one day our hospital also crossed over? At least we'd have more medicine."
Qin Ziwen found this amusing. "Your director is quite interesting. Where is he now?"
Director Zhou gave an awkward smile. "He didn't come to the hospital today..."
Wu Shanqi, following beside them, sighed quietly in his heart. If only he had taken leave today.
Qin Ziwen stopped walking and looked at the group of doctors gathered around him. "Our Qin Alliance is recruiting members, preparing to expand the medical department. We currently need skilled, compassionate doctors and medical staff. If any of you are interested, you can come and sign up. Our Qin Alliance will provide security, food, and some other forms of assistance."
Many doctors around pricked up their ears, secretly pondering.
Unlike others, most of those who could work at Renkuan Hospital, aside from a few with connections, had genuine skills and real capability. Hearing this, some couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. Skilled people are valued anywhere.
Of course, since it was the Qin Alliance who first sent people to rescue them, if conditions were similar, they would still prefer to join the Qin Alliance first.
"I'm willing!" Wu Shanqi agreed without hesitation. With the old classmate relationship and having been saved by the Qin Alliance, he felt this question didn't need any other answer.
Hearing Wu Shanqi agree so readily, the expressions of many doctors around stiffened. You agreed so readily, making the rest of us look bad!
"I'm willing too." A surgical attending physician who was relatively close to Wu Shanqi responded.
Once someone took the lead, doctors joined one after another. Soon, over half of the doctors around directly joined the Qin Alliance.
The remaining half of the doctors also fell into hesitation. They had originally intended to wait for a better offer, but it seemed they had shot themselves in the foot, lifting a stone only to drop it on their own feet.
"Guild Leader Qin, how many people are in our Qin Alliance?" Wu Shanqi mustered his courage and asked loudly.
Zhao Pu smiled slightly. "Basically, everyone in the residential complex is one of us."
Hearing this, the remaining doctors instantly stopped hesitating and responded to the call one after another. Afraid of being too slow.
Coming out of the main hospital building, Zhao Pu said, "Guild Leader, now most of the doctors in the hospital have joined. The medicines and medical consumables have also been taken. Basically, everything of value has been moved."
Qin Ziwen understood his implication. With all the valuable things taken, what remained wasn't that valuable anymore.
"Among the remaining patients, we also need to continue screening and identifying talents. As long as the person is honest and doesn't have too many schemes, they can first be taken in as external personnel for observation. If they make contributions, they can be converted to full status early, becoming formal members of the Qin Alliance."
"Understood."
Subduing the hospital and bringing it under the Qin Alliance's sphere of control didn't require much effort. Whether in terms of numbers or quality on both sides, the Qin Alliance held an overwhelming advantage. Plus, several months of survival had made the Qin Alliance's old residents stronger than the sub-healthy humans who had long lived in the city, both in experience and physical strength. So everything proceeded smoothly.
Of course, whether it was Qin Ziwen or others in the Qin Alliance, they all understood that the current subjugation was only a phase. They were all people who had been through it.
Humans who had long lived in an urban environment, suddenly arriving in a strange environment, especially a primitive one without public security, procuratorial, or judicial departments, would see their mentality rapidly transform in a short time. This required an adaptation process.
Some would quickly adapt to the environment and integrate into it. Others would develop certain ideas.
Blocking is not as good as guiding. What Qin Ziwen needed to do was wait, wait for the hidden dangers to develop and grow, and then expose them.
After concluding matters at the hospital, Qin Ziwen gathered the Qin Alliance's high-level members and started a meeting.
"This underground cavern is larger than we imagined. Judging from these passages and the surrounding space area, it's probably an entire underground world."
Yuan Ming said, "The space here is huge. Investigating the surrounding environment will likely take quite some time."
Deng Guang said, "Lighting is a big problem. The underground world is dim. Currently, no local light sources have been discovered. We basically can only rely on us lighting firewood. But burning continuously consumes a lot of wood. Our stored firewood probably won't last too long."
"It's that wood-intensive?"
Cao Biansheng nodded. "Yes. For safety's sake, we have at least ten bonfires lit simultaneously around our residential complex. This is already a reduced number. If there were any fewer, the brightness wouldn't be enough; many areas wouldn't be illuminated. If bugs approached, we might not spot them."
Li Yue licked his lips. "So the danger in this underground cavern is bugs? Have you discovered any big guys? The new Great Weapons we made are perfect for testing on big guys."
Cao Biansheng said, "The largest centipede discovered so far is only six meters long. Not that big, and its defense isn't that exaggerated either; weapons can pierce it. Roughly three able-bodied men, as long as they coordinate properly, can kill it without injury using spears."
Hearing this, Wang Yun sighed with emotion. Unknowingly, a six-meter-long centipede could only earn an evaluation of 'not that big'. If something that large appeared on Earth, it would absolutely drive reptile enthusiasts and zoologists crazy.
Du Yu spoke up. "There's water to the south of the residential complex. There's danger in the water; there might be big guys there."
"Stagnant water or flowing water?"
Du Yu shook his head. "Uncertain. The area isn't small; it doesn't seem like stagnant water."
Hearing there was water, Zhang Chongshan's expression shifted slightly. As a member of the Qin Alliance's naval force, coming to this kind of land-based map was akin to being severely nerfed by the version. Without a suitable place to perform, his Homesickness would just gather dust on this map. But whether Homesickness could go on the water primarily depended on the Guild Leader's opinion.
Noticing Zhang Chongshan's gaze, Qin Ziwen glanced at him. "No rush. For now, we won't enter the water. Maintain vigilance towards the south for the time being. I think the main task is to conduct preliminary reconnaissance of the five passages around the residential complex. First, we need to at least know where these five passages lead, and whether there are any threatening underground creature populations within a one-kilometer straight-line distance from us, like the cave behind the hospital. Then, we'll search for traces of our cooperative partners along the way. Since this map is cooperative, I think the distance between the two Shedding Abysses shouldn't be too far; otherwise, the meaning of cooperation is lost. Secondly, find the food source for the underground creatures. Centipedes can grow this big; what do they usually eat? They surely don't grow by eating dirt."