Chapter 90

For a few people, that instant felt like a sharp sting across the entire world, and then, at last, peace returned.

Far away in the radiation zone, several phones buzzed simultaneously—

[C-Congratulations! You have successfully cleared Crimson Doom—A-class Calamity: Battle of Annihilation.]

[At the... sorry, system error, reporting error... at the 11038th day, 15th hour mark, you successfully... sorry, system error, reporting error... the main quest is complete, clearance conditions... sorry, your clearance conditions are met, but you have not successfully cleared the calamity!]

[Error reported successfully!]

[System detects you have escaped the influence of the danger factor. You may now return to Doomsday Town.]

[Warning! Warning! System detects you have suffered high-level radiation damage, with severe organ failure. Estimated time of death: 0 seconds to 72 hours. Please check your physical condition promptly!]

"Did I really escape?" In the darkness, an old woman lying beside several graves murmured, "Or is this just another show, another deception? Can it fool the Infinite Calamity system now?"

Thirty years—for thirty full years, she had resisted the whispers in her mind without rest. How she longed for someone to save this world, to kill that monster, but even she knew how difficult that was.

So she couldn't afford to gamble, to risk bringing a demon like Plum Blossom A into Doomsday Town.

"If it's real, I won't go back anyway. I'm going to die regardless," the old woman said jokingly, though her voice grew fainter. "Plum Blossom A, if you're really that capable, then give my property to my daughter..."

[Counting property... Please confirm! Transferring property... Transfer successful!]

"Huh? That fast?" She was skeptical, but if this was just a trick to tease her, she found it rather amusing.

"If it's still possible, can I leave a letter?"

This time, the phone was silent for a moment—[Your letter will be sent automatically when you return to Doomsday Town, but as a token of gratitude for your steadfastness in the calamity world, it will also be sent upon your death.]

"So it's possible." The old woman suddenly regained some spirits, and the fatigue and aches throughout her body seemed to ease. She sat up straight, took the phone with trembling hands, and began to compose a message.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the same world, Yuan Que also woke up.

When he came to, he didn't see Lin Tu. But at that moment, he didn't dare to see her either, because after Plum Blossom A's voice disappeared, the things he had done under the control of greed—things he previously had no memory of—now surfaced vividly in his mind.

What had he done! Yuan Que felt his face burning so hot it could drip blood, and he wished he could bury himself in the ground. He instinctively knew Plum Blossom A couldn't control him; he had done those things only because he was seduced by his own inner desires... and that made him even more ashamed.

And his sister had taken care of him without holding a grudge, feeding him medicine with her fingers, wiping his body, changing his clothes... wait, when changing clothes, were his undergarments on? Yuan Que racked his brain but couldn't recall the scene. Actually, it would have been fine if they weren't... As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he immediately scolded himself in shame. His sister had done it because he was sick; how could he be such an exhibitionist!

But what if she wanted to see too... Yuan Que remembered the time when a single finger pressed his tongue, and he couldn't wait to offer it up. It was just a finger, yet it seemed like the most mysterious and noble snow-capped mountain in the world. No! That must not happen! Yuan Que's thoughts ran wild.

"Sister?" After a long while, Yuan Que called out in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. When there was no answer, he suddenly remembered a hand gently brushing his eyelashes and saying she had to leave. A wave of disappointment surged in his heart.

That disappointment lingered for a long time. It was a while before he managed to sit up, and he saw on the bedside table a letter from Lin Tu—to be precise, a letter and a phone—

The note was brief: "When I'm not doing quests, you can send me messages."

Yuan Que excitedly picked up the phone, holding it like a treasure, and planted a big kiss on it.

Not long ago.

Lin Tu had killed Plum Blossom A. When she waited in the calamity world until the 90th day and Yuan Que still hadn't woken up, she had to start preparing for her return to the main world.

After smearing the Warden's Blood on her long blade, Lin Tu looked at the blood, now only a third remaining, and couldn't help recalling the price she had paid for this S-rank special item—joining the S-rank calamity, Lightless Abyss. Speaking of which, Lin Tu no longer felt any pressure from having another S-rank calamity waiting for her. Instead, she felt like a person with too many lice to itch and too many debts to worry.

After all, a dead pig doesn't fear scalding water; dying once is death, and dying twice is the same.

Right now, she could only think of hurrying back to her little house, rubbing Xiao Huang's dog head, and getting a good night's sleep. Then she'd walk out and check the few plots of land she had newly cultivated on the mountain—being in the Anomaly Space never felt quite real. Then she'd go to the town for a home-cooked meal and hire a professional to build free-range chicken coops and pigeon lofts. She had stocked a fair amount of building materials by the Back Mountain, and once those sheds were up, she could raise some mountain-running chickens herself.

But before that, Lin Tu still had to deal with that damned monster. In the Place of Exile, she hadn't learned much else, but she had picked up quite a few methods of torture and interrogation from the Rebel Army. Now she could put them to good use. Lin Tu thought grimly, wondering which player had sold her information. She was quite curious.

Back to reality!

The second hand was pointing at 23:00:01.

In just one second, the man discovered that Lin Tu's body suddenly bore many wounds. These wounds were abnormal—many were old scars already healed, as if she had gone through countless adventures in a short span of time.

"What the—" The man was shocked and uncertain, about to strike, but Lin Tu, who had prepared in advance, activated her Blade Flash. The man's monster-like body was tough, but under the enhancement of the Warden's Blood, it was still cut in half at the waist. Like dry firewood, Lin Tu saw the rotting, maggot-infested flesh inside.

"Impossible!" The man couldn't fathom what had happened in such a short time. He looked at his remaining half, and a brief despair appeared in his eyes.

So even those who had turned into monsters feared death.

Lin Tu leaped up and, seizing the moment, fought him. The Warden's Blood, because Lin Tu had deliberately "held back," didn't completely kill him, but the coating's effect was only good for one strike, and whether it killed or not, it was spent.

Lin Tu knew the monster's prowess; even with half his body gone, she didn't let her guard down.

To her surprise, she defeated him more easily than she had imagined—her strength, agility, reflexes, and overall constitution seemed to have increased.

Was it the effect of the Human Evolution Liquid? Lin Tu thought as she pinned the man underfoot.

"Tell me, who sent you?" Lin Tu asked coldly.

The man, like a beaten dog, glared at her fiercely and clearly had no intention of speaking. The good news was that Lin Tu knew his weakness.

"Do you know why I never used the Evolution Points? Because they're useless to me. Originally, if you hadn't attacked me, and we had talked it out, I wouldn't have minded giving you the Evolution Points," Lin Tu said regretfully, pulling out the Human Evolution Liquid. The brilliant liquid gently swirled in the glass bottle, making the man underfoot's pupils contract sharply. "See?" Lin Tu smiled slightly. "I have plenty of things related to Evolution Points!"

"Evolution Liquid!" The man showed a greedy expression. "Although it's not as concentrated as Evolution Points, it's still a good thing. Of course, that's assuming no one tampered with it beforehand."

"Can't you smell whether it's been tampered with?" Lin Tu opened the cap and waved it under the man's nose. He struggled underfoot, and Lin Tu increased the pressure.

"No tampering," the man answered. "But if that's the case, why don't you drink it? It's been refined, with no side effects at all, and it can't be detected by smell."

"I told you, I don't need it," Lin Tu ground her heel into his wound. "I'll give you one more chance. Tell me who wants to harm me? Where do you come from? What are you? If the information satisfies me, I'll let you go, and maybe I'll even give you these Evolution Points I can't use."

Lin Tu tilted the bottle slightly, and the brilliant, tempting Evolution Liquid was about to drip. The man couldn't help but open his mouth. If he had Evolution Points, his body might recover someday.

Lin Tu smiled, then withdrew the bottle.

An hour later, Lin Tu plunged her blade into the man's heart and put his corpse into a Single-Use Backpack. After simply cleaning up the bloodstains and mess in the room, she let Xiao Huang in.

"Did you miss me?" Lin Tu rubbed the dog's head.

In reality, from Xiao Huang's perspective, they had only been apart for half a day.

"Yes! Yes!" the Butler quickly answered.

Lin Tu: "..."

Forget it, she wouldn't dampen his enthusiasm, especially since he had just helped her find an item in the mall.

[Cross-World Communication Phone: Allows contact between two worlds that have not been affected by calamities.] This somewhat useless item, due to its cross-world nature, was priced at a full 1,500 points. Fortunately, she happened to have 1,200 points from selling a [Bag of Survival Rations] and 400 points given by Yi Ying, so she could afford it and gave it to Yuan Que. She wondered if he had woken up yet.

Lin Tu opened her phone, and a new friend request appeared—the avatar was a round, plump white bird. Lin Tu smiled and accepted the friend request.

It was now the middle of the night, and Doomsday Town was probably about to sleep, so no messages came through.

Lin Tu thought for a moment, then sent a message to Dong Huadan: "Can you help me find something?" She recalled the man's confession, "Something from an A-class calamity [Degenerate Kingdom], the Useless Core. Its only purpose is to emit a special stench, also known as a special locator. I believe not many people on the market trade this thing. I want to know... who owns it, or rather, who bought it recently."

"Please tell me how much compensation you need."

After sending that, Lin Tu closed the chat window, feeling a bit of a headache.

Her remaining points were already running low—paying the reward, repairing the house, stocking supplies for the next calamity... She could only hope that the Place of Exile would bring her more income.

Speaking of which, after expanding the house, she also wanted to custom-order a larger bed. It would cost a fair amount, but she didn't want to be stingy in this regard, trudging through calamity worlds and not even having a comfortable bed, ending up with aches and pains all day.