Chapter 63

After selling six corn cobs and buying two plant props, Lin Tu had six hundred points left. She strolled through Doomsday Town, stocking up on supplies and gear for the next disaster.

As it turned out, money really didn't last, especially in an apocalypse where everything was scarce. After finishing her shopping, Lin Tu stared at her newly emptied wallet, took a moment to mourn her poverty, and opened Yi Ying's chat window. Yi Ying had promised her four hundred points and two D-rank items; that offer should still stand.

The other party sent over the basic information for the next disaster. Lin Tu skimmed through the teammate details, finding only one familiar name—Luo Yongzhi—before turning her attention to the disaster details.

——

[Scarlet Doomsday

Rating: C-rank (Player comprehensive attributes below standard; survival probability 39.9%)

Disaster: Place of Exile

Overview: This is a land ravaged by war. The nuclear war didn't end the conflict; it only fueled the Hyenas' frenzy. Survivors, exiled by war to the last patch of uncontaminated land—including you—must learn to survive amidst random artillery fire and street battles.

Objective: Survive for three months (complete to receive a random reward)

Side Missions: 1. Inherit and hold the civilian shelter (unlock random reward upon completion); 2. Kill government/rebel soldiers (unlock random reward after reaching a kill quota)]

[Black Factory Additional Intel: 1. City satellite map now queryable; 2. A batch of supplies buried in an underground warehouse has been excavated, scheduled for transport to the government army base on the 42nd disaster day.]

Most of this was unremarkable, but the last special note made Lin Tu's expression flicker.

[From 'Anju': Attention—due to the special nature of the side missions, your house cannot enter this disaster world. As compensation, if you complete the side missions, your house will randomly inherit some traits from the civilian shelter.]

This meant Lin Tu had a chance at even greater rewards.

—

"From player Yi Ying: We leave the day after tomorrow. Sister Lin, if you're coming, please contact me before dawn the day after tomorrow. I'll hold a team-up ticket for you."

That "day after tomorrow at dawn" meant before midnight tonight.

Lin Tu didn't agree right away. First, the timing was too tight. Second, while the reward was tempting, her previous disaster clearances mostly relied on her house. Without it, where would she sleep? What would she eat? How would she escape the calamity? She'd been patching things up, telling herself it was a peaceful retired life, but now that illusion was shattered.

She'd already suffered plenty; now she just wanted to enjoy herself.

"I'll think it over," Lin Tu said, but given the special nature of this disaster, she was leaning toward not going.

Her next disaster was the D-rank [Volcanic Lava Crisis], system-matched in seven days. D-rank disasters yielded little—might not even cover utilities—so Lin Tu didn't expect to earn many points there. She planned to take on a higher-tier mission in the meantime and headed to Dong Huadan's shop.

The shop had a mission board. Unlike the mishmash of requests on the [Infinite Calamity] forum, these tasks were issued by Black Market insiders, so they were fairly reliable.

"Sister Huadan, long time no see." Lin Tu pulled two small cakes from her Single-Use Backpack and handed them to Zhang Zisheng, who was busy behind the counter.

Earlier, at Professor Lü's, Lin Tu had been too focused on picking plant props, so she'd let Zhang Zisheng leave without giving him the gifts she'd brought. She only now found a chance.

"Wow, fresh strawberry and blueberry cakes!" Zhang Zisheng called out excitedly to Dong Huadan, who was in the storeroom. "Thanks, Sister Lin! These must have been expensive!"

"Not really," Lin Tu shook her head. She'd ordered them off a delivery app—the two cakes cost about sixty yuan, less than a tenth of a point. The real cost was the fifteen-point import tax to bring them into Doomsday Town.

She'd been considering bringing supplies from the real world to sell here, but it seemed that, because this wasn't a disaster world, exporting items from her world was especially pricey. That idea was basically dead.

"Busy people forget things. It's only been a week or so." Dong Huadan emerged from the storeroom with a smile, not refusing Lin Tu's gesture. "No reward without work—can I help you with something?"

When Lin Tu explained her purpose, Dong Huadan quickly produced the mission board. While Lin Tu looked over the tasks, she also took Lin Tu's [Bag of Emergency Rations] to be appraised—the B-rank special item could provide energy to almost anything, serving as an emergency supply in disaster worlds. However, for Lin Tu, who brought her own stocked house, its use was limited.

By the time Lin Tu had gone through the board, Dong Huadan returned with the item.

"This can run a car about five hundred miles, or feed a family of three for three months," Dong Huadan quoted. "I'll give you eleven hundred twenty points—let's make it twelve hundred."

"Deal," Lin Tu nodded. The price was higher than she'd expected. If she sold all her stock, she'd have nearly ten thousand points to her name.

Then she asked, "Are there any other D-rank or above missions that don't involve finding teammates?"

On the board, there was one B-rank and two C-rank tasks. Two were for finding teammates; the last C-rank required someone to enter a specific disaster alone to retrieve electronic components—but that was three months away. By then, it'd be too late.

"That's a bit tough," Dong Huadan mused. "Most people who take middle-tier disasters already have fixed teammates and partners..." She paused, then asked, "Sister, are you really strapped for points?"

Lin Tu nodded decisively.

"If you need points but don't want to be tied down, I'd suggest you do some black work."

Lin Tu: "Black work?"

"It's a long story, so I'll keep it short," Dong Huadan said with a smile, seeing Lin Tu's surprise. "You know why the place next door is called the Black Factory?"

Lin Tu really didn't.

"They say this game was created by a deity. Our ability to enter disaster worlds and the items we use all come from that deity." Seeing Lin Tu nod, Dong Huadan continued. "Legend has it that way back, It said: the path to godhood is hidden in something—Evolution Points."

Lin Tu's pupils dilated with excitement. "Evolution Points?"

"Shh!" Dong Huadan raised a finger. "Keep it down! That subject is taboo!"

"Why?" Lin Tu feigned curiosity.

"That thing can give people immense power. Years ago, there was no Black Factory or Black Market—only one organization: the Evolution Club." Dong Huadan looked wistful. "People went into disasters to find Evolution Points and used them to modify themselves. Back then, many powerful figures emerged, and they nearly ended this disaster game. Too bad..."

"Too bad what?"

"I don't know either," Dong Huadan shook her head. "Rumor says the deity's words were a lie. Evolution Points could give you godlike power, but they also drove people mad. Around that time, a man named Yu Zhonglin became the hope of all players. To end the disasters, players collected Evolution Points and gave them all to him. After a massive influx—said to be several hundred points—he claimed he'd finally found the key to ending the disasters."

Lin Tu sensed a "but" coming, and indeed, Dong Huadan continued.

"He called everyone back and gathered them together. No one expected that their hope would turn into a butcher's knife aimed at them. That day, blood soaked the floor of the Evolution Club. He used his evolved powers to slaughter his own kind for three straight days." As she spoke of that glorious past and its tragic end, the light in Dong Huadan's eyes dimmed. Though she hadn't lived through that era, her hope for an end to the disasters was no less than anyone's.

"So..." Lin Tu lowered her voice. "The Evolution Club?"

"It's history now. Yu Zhonglin had demigod powers, but we players aren't pushovers either. He and his followers fled and became public enemies. Evolution Points became taboo," Dong Huadan said. "But the disasters didn't end. Players still had to clear them. Without Evolution Points, we were stuck, so we had to find other ways."

"The Black Market and Black Factory?" Lin Tu asked.

"Yes. Luckily, the Evolution Club massacre didn't kill everyone. An old man named Grandpa Yuan, who had evolved space-shifting abilities, founded the Black Factory. His team-up tickets let several people enter disasters that were meant for one. Combined with other tickets, players could learn resource locations in advance and drop right next to them... getting tons of resources, items, and points. Even without Evolution Points, players could clear games with items. To distinguish these resources from the game store's goods, they called it the Black Factory."

"But this method has a drawback: the stuff used to make team-up tickets is Grandpa Yuan's flesh and blood, and it's finite—especially since he passed away. There are still many tickets left, but we need to recycle them so they don't run out one day, especially the ones lost in disaster worlds."

Lin Tu was a bit puzzled: "How does that relate to black work?"

"Because those lost tickets are in sealed disaster worlds. The only way in is using the identity of the deceased, so players jokingly call it 'black work.' But the key point isn't the work itself..." Dong Huadan explained. "As time passes, the disasters are also escalating. What are the disaster worlds like now? No one knows. You won't get any help in there. Even so, would you still go?"

Isn't that just being a slave? Lin Tu hesitated. "What's the pay?"

"The Black Factory only provides disaster info and an entry invitation. Whether you come out alive is up to you. A single lost team-up ticket is worth at least five thousand points. Any resources or rewards you find in the disaster are yours to keep."

Five thousand points? Lin Tu was immediately resolute.

This wasn't black work at all. Black work meant doing the labor and not getting paid. Setting aside the risk, as long as the Black Factory paid out those five thousand points, Lin Tu thought this was practically charity.

Lin Tu was itching to get moving, eager to see what it was all about. She adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses and restrained herself. "Can I give it a try?"

Dong Huadan smiled. "Perfect timing—I'll have Zisheng watch the shop."

Dong Huadan led the way. They twisted and turned through alleys until they reached a chaotic bar full of drunkards and heavy smokers. Dong Huadan walked up and nodded to the owner lounging behind the counter. The owner gave Lin Tu a doubtful look, sat up straight, and then, in the empty cage in the middle of the bar, three heavily zombified humans suddenly materialized.

The bar, already noisy, erupted into another frenzy. Onlookers cheered and hollered, even a few whistles.

"It's the rule—you have to prove you've got what it takes. Don't worry, it's an illusion-type special ability. It won't hurt you," Dong Huadan whispered in Lin Tu's ear.

"Fair warning: even though it's an illusion, the pain you feel will be real," the owner threatened. "If you're scared, call it off early. I've seen plenty who regret stepping in that cage, and none of them ever set foot in my bar again."

Lin Tu's mouth twitched. Seeing those things inside the cage felt like meeting an old acquaintance. As for zombies, she'd killed more than a few.

Before the owner finished speaking, Lin Tu pulled a long blade from her Single-Use Backpack and headed for the cage. The crowd's cheers grew even louder—it was rare to see someone willingly challenge the beasts.

Lin Tu swung open the cage door. The moment she faced the zombies, her body responded on instinct, honed by training. She dodged a lunge from one zombie, kicked another off balance, and simultaneously swung her blade at the last. With a spray of blood, she cleanly severed the second zombie's head and drove her blade into the third's neck.

The cheers that had just begun died abruptly as the fight ended in seconds, leaving the bar even quieter than when they'd walked in.

"I forgot to mention," Dong Huadan said, covering her mouth with a laugh, "my sister here is Lin Tu—the one who cleared the zombie world challenge."

"Why didn't you say so earlier!" The owner was half-annoyed, half-embarrassed.

"With that bad temper of yours, you wouldn't have believed me anyway. You might even have made things difficult for my sister," Dong Huadan nudged Lin Tu forward. "No problem now, right? Recommend some good disaster worlds for my sister. She'll definitely bring back the tickets."

The owner grunted, waved a hand, and tossed Lin Tu a key. "This is an illusion key. Use it to open any door, and stepping through will take you to the archive room."

"I've upgraded your access, so you can see some intel left by our people before they died. As for whether it's true, you'll have to judge for yourself," the owner warned. "Once you accept a mission, you have to complete it. So know your limits. These disaster worlds have changed over time—who knows what they're like now. The files are divided into A, B, C, S categories, based on our staff's combined assessment. The lowest are D-rank worlds. For the S files, even if they're labeled C or B, they've basically evolved into S+ ultra-hard disasters. I suggest you pick from the A, B, C sections—those might be a bit easier."

"Can I just not pick anything?" Lin Tu wanted to make money, but her life mattered more.

"Cautious, huh?" the owner muttered. "Sure, but this key only has three uses. If you don't find a suitable one in three tries, it self-destructs. Next time you come for a key, bring a team-up ticket."

Lin Tu nodded, indicating she understood.

"Oh, and sister, one more thing," Dong Huadan said once they were done. "Don't pick any file folder with a diamond drawn on the cover."

"You mean the worlds with Evolution Points?" The owner frowned and shook his head. "Ah, lately there's been another [First Evolution] achievement. Those Hyenas are going to get excited again."

Lin Tu sensed this might be connected to her. She asked, "Why?"

"Ever since the massacre, people who gain Evolution Points have been hunted. Those Hunters—no one knows where they came from—can smell Evolution Points. Sometimes they even kill innocent people by mistake. Now that the [First Evolution] achievement has shown up on the special achievements board, it'll probably be another bloodbath," Dong Huadan shrugged. "But it's none of our business. We don't have Evolution Points. Just avoid places that have them, and we won't get tangled up with those Hyenas."

Lin Tu frowned slightly but nodded. "Got it."