Chapter 18、The Return of Lin Yue! Pushing the Shelter to New Heights of Upgrade!

Lin Yue's body was covered with scars. There were blackened marks left by explosions on her skin. Half of her face was a bloody mess, her clothes were in tatters, and the skin on her hands and arms had been burned off by the high temperature, revealing pink flesh and blood vessels.

"Lin Yue!"

Yi Bai practically dashed to her side and supported her at once. It was a good thing that Lin Yue was still alive, but her condition seemed only marginally better than being dead. Lin Yue appeared to have completely lost her fighting capabilities. Yi Bai could even feel the bullet holes on her body that had barely stopped bleeding, already soaked through with blood.

"Sir, I'm okay. I'm still breathing..."

Lin Yue paused. Her voice was weak, and it was an effort for her to speak. "Those guys used a grenade on me, but I managed to lure their leader out."

"I realized he didn't seem afraid of bullets. He wasn't human; he could revive..."

"So."

Lin Yue looked up at Yi Bai and managed a grin, her mouth full of blood. "I tied him up. Whenever something grew back on him, I'd just cut it off."

"His head, and his limbs... I thought that as long as I held on, I could wear him down to death."

"Just now, his head didn't grow back anymore. I think I've managed to kill him..."

"You should be safe now."

Before Lin Yue could finish her last sentence, she collapsed limply into Yi Bai's arms.

"Medic! Medic!!"

Yi Bai grabbed the walkie-talkie and roared desperately, "Come up here and save her! Hurry!"

"Sir, I'm coming!"

The medic downstairs immediately dropped the supplies he was carrying and rushed upstairs with thumping footsteps. He took Lin Yue from Yi Bai's arms, laid her flat on the ground, and opened the first aid kit to begin a swift examination and treatment.

Yi Bai watched Lin Yue, who was being treated on the ground, with a complex expression. He had still underestimated the loyalty of his comrades. Lin Yue had discovered Brother Li's resurrection talent but hadn't thought of running away. She had done her utmost to hold Brother Li back. Although Lin Yue thought she had worn him down to death, that no longer mattered. Without his talent, Brother Li was surely dead after having his head cut off by Lin Yue.

Now, all Yi Bai wanted was to save Lin Yue as soon as possible. Such a loyal combat talent was of great significance to the shelter!

"Sir, I can't save her."

The medic looked up, a hint of apology on his face. "She has seven bullet holes, was hit by a grenade, and most of the skin on her body has been burned off by the high temperature... She's severely dehydrated, has lost a large amount of blood, and has internal organ damage."

"A surgery is necessary to save her, but I lack the surgical conditions and medical supplies."

"She's managed to hold on until now probably because of her willpower. I estimate she'll die before nightfall."

The medic's report made Yi Bai's expression darken. It was already afternoon, and there were only a few hours left until nightfall. Even if he managed to take Lin Yue to the nearest hospital to find an operating table and medical supplies, the medic wouldn't last that long, and they were about to disappear.

"We must save her! I remember there are healing items in the survival supplies store!"

Yi Bai gritted his teeth. He signaled the medic to carry Lin Yue and then hurried home.

After returning to the shelter, Li Ya also noticed the seriously injured and unconscious Lin Yue and exclaimed as she rushed over to help. Li Ya wanted to ask Yi Bai what had happened, but Yi Bai had already plunged into the room.

"Open the survival points store!"

As soon as Yi Bai returned to the shelter, he immediately summoned the panel. A translucent list of data information appeared in front of him. Sure enough, humans could only perform these operations when they returned to their own shelters.

"Filter item categories, intelligently adjust purchase needs: Healing items for seriously injured combat talents."

Yi Bai had stayed at home these past few days and had become quite familiar with the shelter panel, proficient in many detailed operations.

Soon, the store item information in front of Yi Bai changed rapidly, and new information emerged. There was a dazzling array of healing supplies, most of which had miraculous effects and were not something that could be manufactured by human technology, but their prices were extremely high. The cheapest healing supply cost 500 survival points.

Yi Bai didn't hesitate for long. After a brief selection, he made the purchase directly! He was generous to those who fought for him, even if they might just be clones created by the shelter.

[Congratulations! You've successfully purchased "C-level Medical Consumables - Gene Improvement Elixir"!]

[Gene Improvement Elixir]: C-level medical consumables. When used on a target, it can inject a new gene sequence, comprehensively heal most of the target's injuries, and has a certain probability of optimizing the target's gene sequence and enhancing the target's physical fitness. Purchase price: 1,000 survival points.

A price of 1,000 points!

Looking around the world, there probably weren't many people who could fork out so many points at once.

Yi Bai didn't feel a pang of regret or reluctance. He bought it directly and injected it into Lin Yue.

As the emerald-green liquid was pushed into Lin Yue's veins through the syringe, soon Lin Yue's originally pale face began to turn rosy, and her wounds were visibly healing slowly. Although Lin Yue was still unconscious, according to the medic's latest examination, her body was gradually recovering and was expected to wake up on her own in a few hours.

"It's good that she can be saved."

Yi Bai let out a sigh of relief. Lin Yue had fought so hard; he had no reason to abandon her. Moreover, the shelter would need Lin Yue, a combat talent, to support it for a long time to come.

After settling Lin Yue down, Yi Bai was about to look up and give new orders to the soldiers when he realized that the medic who had been standing in front of him just a moment ago had disappeared.

"Li Ya, where are the soldiers?"

"They've disappeared, boss."

Li Ya was squatting by the door, continuing to repair the iron gate. She replied without looking up, "Didn't you say so earlier? They're temporary rescue forces and will disappear."

"Okay, the time is up indeed."

Yi Bai looked down beside him. The walkie-talkie was gone too, and all the equipment they had brought had disappeared. Even the traps that Yi Bai had asked them to set up at the door were gone, completely vanished, as if the whole world had erased all traces of their presence.

"What a pity."

Yi Bai sighed with a sense of reluctance. Six fully armed special forces soldiers were an extremely powerful security force. If they could have stayed, the safety factor of the shelter would have increased significantly!

"Maybe it's because my shelter's level is too low. The talent reward only gave me temporary usage rights."

"If the shelter level were higher, I might be able to get more combat talent rewards!"

Now, Yi Bai was eager to upgrade the shelter, but just to be cautious, he first asked Li Ya to go upstairs and drive the women away. Of course, Yi Bai wasn't completely heartless. He would leave them some clothes and some food. But these women definitely couldn't stay on this floor. Yi Bai had to maintain the internal safety of the whole building and ensure there were no strangers around.

After Li Ya drove the women away, she stayed downstairs and, following Yi Bai's instructions, began to modify the entrance to the building and set up new traps in the corridor.

Unconsciously, the sky outside had turned dark. The crimson glow had disappeared, replaced by a pitch-black night sky, with only the bright moonlight providing a bit of light for humans at night.

Yi Bai opened the shelter's chat interface, wanting to check today's intelligence information and find out if the battle in this building during the day had affected the nearby survivors.

Sure enough, as soon as Yi Bai opened the chat channel, he saw many people discussing the matter.

"...Really, the scene felt like I was watching a cops and robbers movie. The gunshots only stopped this afternoon after starting last night."

"I live in the building opposite. I even saw someone climbing around outside the building like Spider-Man, hiding and fighting guerrilla-style."

"Too bad my phone doesn't work. Otherwise, I'd really record it for you. I watched the whole day; they were having a fierce fight!"

"Fierce? Who knows how many people died! I can smell the stench of the dead from so far away. That building must stink to high heaven!"

"Alas, this is the apocalypse! Humans have already started killing each other. They don't even think about sticking together."

"No... Do you really think of this as a gunfight movie? Don't you have other ideas? I heard someone say that a lot of women came out of that building just now. It looks like they were driven out."

"I think that's right... Damn! Let's go out and take one in if we can!

"Buddy, wait for me! Save the one with the biggest butt for me! That's my type!"

The battle that had broken out in Yi Bai's building had clearly caught the attention of some of the city's survivors. However, the mainstream information in the entire chat channel wasn't all about this matter. After all, it had been a few days since the apocalypse broke out, and the whole city was in chaos with killings happening everywhere. The battle in Yi Bai's building was just a drop in the ocean, only attracting the attention and discussion of nearby survivors.

"I don't see any new dangers, but at least it's certain that someone has their eye on this building."

Yi Bai closed the chat information box and murmured his analysis, "But considering the firepower I showed during the day, surely no one would be stupid enough to come looking for trouble?"

"Just give me a few more days of reward time, and I'll get through the most difficult early stage of the apocalypse."

Yi Bai took a deep breath. After checking that the curtains at home were drawn properly to ensure no one would disturb him, he summoned the shelter panel.

"Check the shelter upgrade conditions!"

[Congratulations! All five of your pre-upgrade conditions have been met!]

[You can currently upgrade your shelter to a Level -1 Experimental House, or you can continue to wait for more upgrade options.]

"Begin the upgrade!"

Yi Bai didn't hesitate and immediately started the operation. He didn't have time to choose. Anyway, there were only three upgradable shelter types, and it didn't make much difference which one he upgraded. What he cared about wasn't the shelter type but whether the talent rewards after the upgrade would be more generous!