Chapter 57

Just two days after Lin Tu's houseboat departed, the temperature in Nacuo City plummeted sharply.

Overnight, the world was draped in white. Old Li had initially insisted he didn't need heavy clothes, but when he stepped out that morning, he shivered from the cold. Before his daughter could even urge him, he'd already put on his thick coat. A little while later, he dug out all the cigarettes and liquor he'd saved up and went to the market and to acquaintances to trade for gloves, pickled radishes, and beef jerky.

When he came back at noon carrying a large bundle, he ran into Yu Liu and said with lingering fear, "So many people are scrambling for supplies! I've never seen weather like this in my life. They say someone in our Nacuo City has already frozen to death! Good thing my daughter insisted I trade yesterday—otherwise, I don't know what I'd have done."

Gone was his stubbornness from the day before; his words were full of praise for his daughter.

That tone reminded Yu Liu of his own parents. He smiled wistfully but didn't poke fun at Old Li's embarrassment. "The temperature in Nanyun City is even lower. Apparently, a lot of people died just trying to relocate to Nacuo City."

Old Li sighed deeply. What he'd heard at the market today confirmed that Yu Liu was telling the truth. "I also heard some people ate fish from the sea and ended up sick in the hospital—some even died! Is it the same down south?"

Yu Liu said he didn't know, but figured there were plenty of such cases.

"So we can't even eat fish anymore?" Old Li let out a long sigh.

Yu Liu turned, went inside, and came back out with a bundle of air-dried bok choy, handing it to Old Li. "Things will get better. For now, stick to canned goods or sealed packages. Try to balance meat and vegetables so you don't get sick."

Old Li accepted the bok choy gratefully.

Their Nacuo City was mountainous and high in altitude, so cattle, sheep, and fish were plentiful, but vegetables and fruit were scarce. Meat could be found, but vegetables and fruit had to be shipped in from Xihai City and Nanyun City. Now that Xihai City was flooded and Nanyun City was frozen, heaven knew how much effort it had taken him to find a jar of pickled radishes.

But going without vegetables and fruit was absolutely out of the question. Those who spent their lives at sea knew that a long-term lack of fresh food on a ship often led to scurvy—what the doctors called a vitamin C deficiency.

"Beef jerky stew smells amazing!" Inside, a burly man with a wheat-colored complexion pushed open the window. It was Yu Liu's teammate.

As he opened the window, a strong aroma of air-dried vegetables mixed with rich, oily meat drifted out. In the cold winter air, the warm, hearty scent made people feel cozy all over.

"Thanks!" Old Li took the air-dried bok choy and fished out a half-empty pack of cigarettes he hadn't managed to trade, shoving them into Yu Liu's and his teammate's hands.

Yu Liu didn't refuse. After saying goodbye to Old Li, he sat down at the table with his teammate for lunch.

"Looks like more people died this time than we thought," the teammate sighed as he ladled out two bowls of soup to go with two bowls of plain rice. "Captain Yu, how many people did you save? I wonder how many points you'll rack up."

"Deputy Commander Yu was inspired by me to move the southern residents here, and I also proposed the points system that keeps Nacuo City in order. Based on my experience, I should earn a decent amount," Yu Liu said, taking a sip of soup. "But that's about it. You can only do so much. I've only been through a few C-class disasters. First priority is keeping yourself safe, then we talk about earning points."

The teammate nodded thoughtfully, then shook his head in frustration. "Your way is way too complicated. I'd rather just follow Sister Lin and charge straight through." He wasn't an official member of the organization, so he used "you" and "I" rather than "we." Then he added cheerfully, "Why not recruit Sister Lin? Then I can go into disasters with her."

Yu Liu shot him a glance. "You think the organization hasn't thought of that? The moment the name 'Lin Tu City' appeared on the special achievement leaderboard, the organization wanted to bring her in. But..."

"But what?"

"But... guess whether I'm allowed to say!" Yu Liu rolled his eyes. "Already part of another organization, can't find any record of her, or incompatible—those are the three reasons listed in the rules that prevent someone from joining. Figure it out yourself."

As he drank his soup, he did think about Lin Tu... because the air-dried bok choy stewed in the soup, with its unique flavor, had been traded from her.

He wondered where she was sailing her boat by now. Actually, back at their first meeting during the zombie apocalypse, Yu Liu had already recognized Lin Tu as a player, which was why he'd deliberately invited her to join. Looking back, she'd seemed a bit green back then, not even recognizing that he was a player, and her skills had improved by leaps and bounds during that time...

Could she have been a newcomer back then? The thought flashed through Yu Liu's mind. If she'd been a newcomer, then the reasons preventing her from joining the organization would rule out "already part of another organization" and "incompatible," leaving only "can't find any record of her."

Can't find any record? Yu Liu smiled and shook his head, dismissing the thought. Impossible.

"Ah, that hits the spot!" The burly man beside him, who hadn't given it a second thought, drank his soup and let out a satisfied breath. "After days of canned food, I was about to die! On a cold winter day like this, you need a bowl of soup like this!"

"Still two more months," Yu Liu reminded him. "But the air-dried bok choy goes bad easily. We've eaten two-thirds of it; the last third we gave to Old Li."

"Ah!" The burly man wailed, a cry so pitiful it would move anyone to tears.

Time slipped back to two days earlier. After saying goodbye to Yu Liu and the others, Lin Tu had headed north and entered the waters bordering the northern country.

She traded hard-to-find winter clothes, quilts, and all the air-dried vegetables and fruit she'd made herself for a pollution detector from Yu Liu.

[Pollution Detector (Replica); A device capable of detecting pollution levels at any time. As its name suggests, it can detect what kind of pollution an item has been subjected to and the degree of that pollution.]

The pollution detector was an expensive item, though the replica version only lasted one disaster and wasn't too costly. But it wasn't something you could find in the system store—reportedly, it required a special voucher that only a certain big shot had, and you had to buy it at a shop in Doomsday Town.

She'd have to find some time to visit Doomsday Town... Lin Tu thought as she lowered her head to check the pollution level of the current water.