Chapter 23: and translation of chapter title

Late at night, Lin An slept in room 908.

The strong perfume smell was somewhat irritating; a few black straps hanging beside the bed looked like ropes for hanging.

From outside the window came intermittent faint explosion sounds, making it hard to fall asleep.

Suddenly, a shrill, mournful whistle echoed from inside the hospital.

The piercing whistle carried across hundreds of meters, penetrating the glass.

Lin An hurried to the window to check, but found nothing.

The whistle appeared briefly once and then vanished without a trace.

What was that?

After observing for a long time, he found nothing.

The hospital interior was filled with buildings, making it impossible to see where the whistle came from.

Lin An had to give up searching for the source of the whistle and returned to bed, filled with doubt and worry.

The sudden abnormality weighed on his heart like a stone.

But he still had to go to the hospital.

He lay awake for a long time.

Lin An lay flat on the bed, silently staring at the ceiling.

He felt somewhat fatigued.

It was now the second day after the Apocalypse outbreak, the fifth day since his rebirth.

Memories of his past life mixed with these few days' memories flashed through his mind like a photo album.

Without electricity in the inn, the fickle weather made the night somewhat cold.

"Creak."

The door opened; it was not locked.

Unable to use the room card, Lin An could only choose to directly remove the lock.

In the darkness, Wen Ya stood at the doorway holding a blanket.

After a moment's hesitation, she still chose to speak.

"I can't sleep."

Lin An remained silent for a moment; the darkness was like daylight to him.

He saw Wen Ya's reddened eye sockets.

It looked like she had cried.

Being unable to sleep late at night is nothing more than having something on one's mind.

Having cried, there is something on her mind.

Lin An also roughly guessed what was on Wen Ya's mind.

"You have relatives at Linjiang Yiyuan, right?"

Lin An's spiritual power, far beyond that of ordinary people, had already sensed Wen Ya's emotional abnormality this afternoon.

Wen Ya clutched the blanket in her hands and lightly nodded.

"Mm."

Her voice trembled.

She pressed her lips tightly, suppressing her emotions as she spoke:

"My mother has a heart condition; she was hospitalized a while ago."

"She is in the building next to the emergency surgery department, room 303."

These words seemed to drain her strength.

The room temperature was low; her body shivered slightly after just having showered and put on pajamas.

The hairdryer was useless; her wet hair could only be simply tied up.

Lin An fell silent for a moment, not knowing how to comfort her.

"Tomorrow, if it doesn't delay the plan."

"I will go take a look."

He looked at Wen Ya, no longer the heroic and strong figure she once was.

A sigh rose in his heart.

The entire hospital has now become hell.

The area where Wen Ya's mother is located is even closer to the emergency center overrun with zombies.

Both of them know in their hearts that Wen Ya's mother almost certainly has no hope of survival.

Just taking a look is merely psychological comfort.

Outside the window, the cold wind howled; even through the glass one could hear that biting wind.

"Th... thank you."

Wen Ya wiped away the tears she could no longer hold back with the back of her hand, her eyes grateful.

"Ding, member Wen Ya's loyalty increased by 30 points, current value: 80/100 (almost never betray, even unto death)"

She sincerely bowed deeply to Lin An, as if she had made some resolution.

"I..."

"Can I sleep here tonight?"

After saying that.

She slowly walked to Lin An's bedside, head lowered.

Place the bedding gently beside Lin An.

Lin An frowned slightly at the sight, never expecting that Wen Ya's loyalty would increase because of these words.

It seems this matter deeply moved her, to the point that she completely let down her guard against Lin An.

"If you think you want to repay me, or want to do something."

"No need."

Lin An agreed to take a look, with no other thoughts.

After all, he hadn't promised he would definitely go; he would only do so if it didn't interfere with his actions.

Wen Ya heard the voice and lifted her head, her face flushed red.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something but couldn't get the words out.

"Since you've joined my team, you're naturally a member of it."

"Between teammates, helping each other is expected."

"You don't need to feel guilty or grateful."

"Moreover, I don't like the way you're doing this."

Lin An's gaze was clear; after speaking, he calmly watched Wen Ya.

The faint, pleasant scent of body wash dispersed the cheap perfume lingering in the room.

"Go to sleep early."

After saying that, Lin An turned away and closed his eyes to rest.

Wen Ya was at a loss, her hands stopping mid-motion as she tried to take off her top.

Her body stiffened at the edge of the bed.

She couldn't utter even half a sentence.

After a long while.

"Shush—"

Wen Ya tidied her own bed.

In the darkness.

Lin An felt someone lie down on the bed beside him, yet they did not draw near.

"Sorry."

Wen Ya lay curled in a corner of the bed, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes.

It was unclear whether those words were meant for Lin An or for herself.

The next morning.

On the ninth-floor corridor, Lin An waited there early.

"Big Brother Lin... Captain!"

"I've brought the people for you!"

At the other end of the corridor, Zhang Tie strode over.

He still wasn't used to calling Lin An Captain.

In his haste to correct himself, he warmly greeted Lin An and laughed heartily.

Behind him followed two middle-aged men, who appeared to be from his previous team.

"Brother Lin!"

The two middle-aged men bowed nervously toward Lin An, feeling quite tense.

Lin An's appearance could be described as handsome, his fair skin even making him look like a scholar.

But in their eyes, Lin An had already been equated with a monster.

Anyone who saw Lin An's single strike that cut down a licker would likely find it extremely unforgettable.

That strike was talked about by everyone throughout the night.

Lin An nodded in response.

He brought the three to the floor-to-ceiling window of the ninth-floor elevator lobby.

"First tell me the hospital's internal layout so I can confirm the route."

Lin An gazed straight at the surgical building; the dark glass walls revealed nothing of what lay inside.

The entrance to the surgical building was tightly shut, with only a few zombies wandering outside visible.

Quite strange.

"Brother Lin, this is a map we drew by hand overnight."

The two middle-aged men were hospital staff that Zhang Tie had found, roughly familiar with the hospital's overall structure.

The two stood one on each side of Lin An, pointing at the map as they continued:

"This route is the entrance to the underground parking lot. It's about twenty meters to the right of the hospital's main gate; going in here leads straight to the emergency surgery department."

"The orthopedics department is on the second floor of the emergency surgery building, occupying roughly two floors."

Half an hour later, Lin An thanked the two and then took Zhang Tie downstairs.

For this operation, he did not choose to bring more people.

Given the hospital's dense zombie population, ordinary people following him would be walking to their deaths.

Even Zhang Tie, if he were carelessly surrounded by zombies, would risk infection.

In the stairwell, the two talked as they walked.

"Lin Dui, so we are going to the surgical emergency room to find a piece of equipment?"

Zhang Tie followed behind Lin An, scratching his head.

Lin An went downstairs at breakneck speed, without looking back, and said:

"Not necessarily in the emergency room; all we can say is that the emergency room has the highest probability."

"In the Doomsday Game, monsters are usually found near most equipment."

"Some are mutants, some are large numbers of zombies."

"Based on your description, the surgical emergency room has the most zombies, so naturally it's most likely to have equipment."

Zhang Tie nodded thoughtfully, struggling to keep up with Lin An's speed going downstairs.

Lin An's statement is not logically correct.

He is deriving conclusions from results in reverse.

Equipment attracting monsters is something that happens after the apocalypse breaks out.

But the large number of zombies in the emergency room are transformed from patients.

These people didn't only gather in the emergency room after the apocalypse; they were already there before the apocalypse broke out.

So, the emergency room having many zombies is not because of the equipment being there.

All we can say is that Lin An, having been reborn, knows that the hospital's equipment is where the zombies are most numerous!

If someone quick-witted were present, they would notice the loophole in Lin An's words.

However, Zhang Tie obviously does not belong to that kind of person.

He completely failed to notice this.

"Is that equipment very powerful?"

Zhang Tie was a bit curious; he could feel that Lin An was determined to get this equipment.

What exactly is the equipment that would make Lin An risk everything to obtain it?

You know, this equipment is in the hospital!

He recalled the huge number of zombies, and his heart still trembled with fear.

Lin An recalled the attribute of the "Skullcrusher's Hand" he had seen in the chat channel in his past life, and solemnly replied:

"Very strong!"

The "Skullcrusher's Hand", as a blue equipment, although it has only one attribute bonus, its value reaches as high as 5 points!

It can be called abnormal.

If an ordinary player gets it, as long as their basic strength isn't too poor, they can easily exceed the human limit of 10 points.

Thus gaining strength comparable to that of an Awakened One!

It can be said that this is a piece of equipment capable of causing a qualitative leap in strength.

"I haven't even seen equipment yet!"

"Lin Dui, you say this Doomsday Game is called a game, but why does it have no game features?"

Lin An chuckled lightly; he could understand Zhang Tie's confusion.

"Not having seen equipment is completely normal; any piece of equipment in the Doomsday Game is extremely precious."

"As for the Doomsday Game."

"It indeed is a game."

"However."

"It is not our game."