Chapter 78

Early the next morning, Lin Tu received a message from Yi Ying. Yi Ying and Luo Yongzhi, the two people Lin Tu knew well, were willing to go, but since the mission carried considerable risk, the others would only decide after meeting in person.

Of the remaining four, three were women and one was a man. The only man, Liu Sheng, was a nurse very skilled at treating external injuries, but his ability to clear disasters was lacking. It was precisely because of the unique nature of this disaster that Yi Ying had invited him. One of the women, Li Yuanyuan, was a friend of Yi Ying's.

If Yi Ying and Lin Tu were going together, these two probably wouldn't refuse.

The hard ones to convince were the remaining two—a pair of sisters named Guan Suiyue and Guan Suixing. The elder sister, Guan Suiyue, was a member of the church; rumor had it she was extremely powerful and had already cleared an S-level disaster long ago. She was notoriously cold and aloof. If not for her younger sister Guan Suixing being stuck on a C-level disaster, these two would never have joined Yi Ying's team.

Lin Tu placed the bread and bottled water beside Yuan Que, then left the room and locked the door in one smooth motion.

Everyone in the Shelter was present except David, who was still out on business. They were overjoyed to see Lin Tu back and had wanted to have breakfast together, but since she had to head out immediately for errands, they let it go.

Lin Tu instructed everyone not to enter her room under any circumstances, and to ignore any sounds they might hear. Though puzzled, they all agreed. Before leaving, Lin Tu went to sit with Shi Duoluo for a while.

The old lady had fallen ill a couple of days ago, and her condition had worsened by the day. When her mind wandered, she couldn't even recognize who was sitting by her bed. A barefoot doctor had been called in the day before yesterday, and he'd only said that at her age, her resistance was low—nothing serious, but her days were likely numbered.

A lot of get-well gifts were placed in front of the bed. Everyone familiar with her had come to visit, and Lin Tu, delayed by business, was probably the last one.

"Grandma, I've come to see you," Lin Tu said, sitting down by the bed. Shi Duoluo was still somewhat conscious, but in her daze, she didn't recognize who Lin Tu was. Lin Tu sighed inwardly. Illnesses of the body were easy to treat; illnesses of the heart were not. Seeing the worry etched on Shi Duoluo's brows, she knew the old woman must be sick with grief over her son.

"Grandma, don't worry anymore. Rui Si will come back. Just hold on a little longer—you'll definitely see him."

Lin Tu had meant to comfort the old woman, but the moment the name "Rui Si" left her lips, Shi Duoluo suddenly snapped awake. Seeing it was her, she mumbled something under her breath. When she realized her voice had become too hoarse to carry, she struggled to lean closer to Lin Tu's ear.

Lin Tu quickly bent down to listen—"Good child, good child. Don't worry about Rui Si. You just need to live well. That's enough."

Lin Tu looked up in surprise, meeting Shi Duoluo's kind, encouraging gaze.

For a moment, Lin Tu felt that if her own grandmother were still alive, this might be exactly how she would look. She couldn't help making a face that was half smile, half tears, and nodded in agreement. "Alright, Grandma. I won't worry. You rest well."

Not worrying was impossible.

Leaving again, Lin Tu headed straight for the address Yi Ying had given her—Charlie Seventh Avenue.

As it happened, this was a familiar place. It was where she'd caught Na Wei last time. No wonder the name had sounded so familiar—she'd seen it earlier in the team member information. This was the location of the Guan Suiyue and Guan Suixing sisters' shelter.

Yi Ying and the others had agreed to gather nearby and go find the two sisters together. Since they were closer, they arrived a bit earlier than Lin Tu.

Sipping her milk and enduring stares from all directions, Lin Tu arrived at the meeting spot.

Old friends meeting again felt like a lifetime had passed, yet there was none of the excitement or thrill one might expect. Yi Ying and the others wore strange expressions, glancing between Lin Tu and the surrounding looks coming from every direction.

Finally, it was the newcomer Li Yuanyuan who asked, "Why is everyone staring at you?"

Lin Tu drained the last sip of milk from her pouch and said she had no idea.

They pushed through the whispers and reached the two sisters' door, finally figuring out what was going on.

"So you're the rebel who made people disappear without a trace?" the younger sister Guan Suixing leaned against the doorframe, sneering. "You're quite the celebrity now."

"Disappeared without a trace?"

"What? Rebel army?"

Lin Tu and Yi Ying, Luo Yongzhi, and the others all exclaimed at once, looking at each other in disbelief.

"When did I make anyone disappear without a trace?" Lin Tu felt wronged.

"When did you join the rebel army?" Yi Ying and Luo Yongzhi felt betrayed.

But then again, after a moment's thought, both sides figured the phrasing wasn't entirely off base.

Lin Tu had let Na Wei go, but he'd gone into hiding and never appeared in public again. That did indeed look like "disappearing without a trace." And Yi Ying and Luo Yongzhi thought that given Lin Tu's habit of chasing down mutated monsters to kill, it would be stranger if she hadn't joined the rebel army.

"I hear you even became a first-class sergeant major, with ten soldiers under your command," Guan Suixing said, jiggling her leg as she continued. "We wouldn't dare welcome such a distinguished guest here."

Luo Yongzhi and Yi Ying's eyes nearly popped out again: we told you to kill the mutated monsters, but how did you end up becoming an officer in the middle of it all?

"There might be some misunderstanding," Lin Tu said, not wanting to reveal Na Wei's secret, so she glossed over it. "Seeing is believing. Those are just rumors—not to be trusted."

Guan Suixing let out a cold "hmph." The thing was, she'd really seen it. She was about to call Lin Tu out on her lie when Guan Suiyue called to her: "Suixing, let the guests inside."

—Hmph, whatever. Compared to her sister, this Lin Tu was at least somewhat tolerable.

Guan Suixing jiggled her legs lazily a couple more times, then turned and walked inside, the great blade on her back swaying with her steps.

Behind her, the two newcomers were still hesitating, wanting to ask what was going on, when Yi Ying had already sidled up to Lin Tu with Luo Yongzhi: "Sister Lin, that's three points per soldier, right? You can lead ten soldiers—take me along."

"Save a spot for me too."

Liu Sheng: "?"

Li Yuanyuan poked Yi Ying's arm and whispered, "You've lost your mind."

"To be precise, it's more than just three points," Lin Tu replied. "Killing a soldier of the government army also earns one military merit, and military merits can be exchanged for supplies within the rebel army. At current prices, four merits can get you about three bags of flour, two bags of jerky, or a set of cotton-padded clothes."

"The rebel army warehouse has plenty of other stuff too. I just haven't..."

Flour... jerky... cotton-padded clothes... and other resources.

"Sister Lin! Can I join too?"

Before Lin Tu could finish her sentence, she saw Li Yuanyuan looking at her like she was seeing the dawn, her expression as resolute as if she were swearing an oath to join the party.

This was a disaster where food resources were extremely scarce. God knows when she'd first landed and picked up the food the Shelter provided, discovered there was something even harder to eat than black bread in this world, the shock and helplessness she'd felt.

Besides, by Lin Tu's account, military merits could buy far more supplies than points could. Li Yuanyuan hadn't known before, but now that she did, there was no way she'd let this chance slip by.

"What are you in such a hurry for? I got here first." Luo Yongzhi shoved her aside.

"What are you two arguing about? Listen to Sister Lin. Ten spots—surely three of us are enough." Yi Ying said.

"What about me..." Liu Sheng looked lost.

"You're all very welcome to join, but before that, we still need to figure out why the two armies are at war. The man I told you about, Rui Si..."

Listening to the bickering behind her about joining the rebel army, Guan Suixing rolled her eyes in exasperation. Fighting tooth and nail over becoming someone's subordinate? Ridiculous. She, Guan Suixing, would starve to death or jump off a building before she ever became anyone's underling.

She was going to be like her sister, entering the Temple and being revered by thousands.

Half an hour later.

Guan Suixing sat with a face like thunder, glaring at her sister. Just moments ago, her sister had personally agreed to go with Lin Tu to the underground prison to rescue Rui Si.

And she, Guan Suixing, in order to get into the rebel army base, was about to "naturally" become one of five underlings—no, three underlings and two underlings-in-training.

As the group walked toward the rebel army base, Guan Suixing lagged at the rear, utterly bewildered. "Didn't you say to stay away from her? Why go with her now? You're a bishop's adopted daughter, going to be someone else's underling? Might as well hand me the position of church saint."

Her rather irreverent remark, however, didn't anger Guan Suiyue. The elder sister generously patted her head. "That won't do. Star isn't grown up yet."

"Hmph." Guan Suixing turned her head away.

"There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. Since she can bring us value, why not make good use of her?" Guan Suiyue said gently. "Guan Suixing, you still have a lot to learn. Sister can't be with you forever."

"Who needs you to worry about that!" At that, Guan Suixing got even angrier. She shook off Guan Suiyue's hand and strode toward Lin Tu and the others further ahead.

When they reached the rebel army base, everyone registered under Lin Tu's first-class sergeant major rank as previously agreed. Since it was a base guard position, Lin Tu found it fairly easy to move them through the compound.

But the fact that entering the underground prison was suddenly effortless too—and that no extra defenses had been added even after the outer guard went missing yesterday—was far from normal.

Lin Tu quickly led everyone to the subway tracks. Peering through the open door, a damp, cold wind blew out of the pitch-black, empty tunnel. It was silent inside, as if no one were there.

According to Yuan Que, the prison guards might have small gaps, but from the looks of it, this wasn't a small gap anymore. It was wide open and completely exposed.

"Something's wrong." Lin Tu turned on her heel without hesitation.

She decisively returned to the entrance, where there was a small kiosk with a rebel guard on duty. Lin Tu put on her first-class sergeant major insignia and swaggered over with her subordinates in tow.

"Where is everyone inside?" Lin Tu asked.

"Who the hell are you? Where the people inside are is none of your—" The rebel soldier looked up impatiently, about to curse at Lin Tu, when his eyes caught the insignia on her shoulder. His tone shifted. "Sir, it's just that I've received orders. I can't say what I'm not supposed to say."

"What's there you can't say?" Lin Tu patted her pocket, pulled out a handful of candy, and set them on the table. "I'll be honest with you. Colonel Yuan is my boyfriend. It's just that lately, I've suspected he's seeing someone else. See? He didn't come home all night last night, so I came specifically to find him today. But I couldn't find him, and everyone else inside is gone too. Tell me... did they all go off to P—?"

"No way! No way!" The rebel guard waved his hands hurriedly, pocketing the candy. "Alright, I'll tell you the truth. The prisoners are all being executed at noon today. This morning they just marched them to the square. Colonel Yuan's probably among them—I just didn't see him personally."

He was about to continue when he noticed the people in front of him exchange glances, especially the colonel's girlfriend, who took off at a sprint toward the square without another word.

TL Note:

barefoot doctor (赤脚医生) = an unofficial, minimally trained rural medical practitioner in China.