Chapter 301: Too Extravagant

The lunches I prepared for you are all here.

Qi Wan Yi opened the zipper, revealing the five disposable lunch boxes inside. The boxes were all latched, but the aroma escaped anyway.

Jiang Tang was already a bit hungry, and after smelling the aroma she became even hungrier, gazing eagerly and asking, "Can we eat now?"

Cheng Shuili looked at Jiang Tang's eager expression, as if surviving the desperate situation just now was less important than this bite of food, and for a moment she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

That fleeting feeling of post-disaster relief was instantly swept away by this huge contrast.

She raised her hand in annoyance and lightly tapped Jiang Tang's forehead: "Eat, eat, eat, that's all you think about. Just after saving your own life you're already thinking about food—your appetite is huge."

Although she said that, she still turned to Qi Wan Yi and nodded: "Bring them out, everyone's surely tired and hungry. Let's eat first. What comes next won't be easy either—shelters will surely keep dwindling, so we need to find the next shelter before the next acid rain peak arrives."

Qi Wan Yi smiled and handed out the lunch boxes one by one.

In the cramped shelter, under the halo of the flashlight, the food's aroma seemed to dispel much of the chill and oppression.

Jiang Tang took her portion and eagerly opened the lid.

Inside were carefully packed dishes that looked appetizing; the rice seemed cold, but the vegetables even showed a bit of steam.

She immediately picked up the accompanying spoon, scooped a big bite satisfactorily into her mouth, and mumbled, "Mmm… delicious! Big Sister Wan Yi, you're amazing!"

Everyone else also opened their lunch boxes, and for a moment the only sounds in the quiet shelter were the faint chewing and the muffled rain outside, cut off from them.

Only Moyu Miji awkwardly shrank to the side, pulling out the compressed biscuits he'd brought from his backpack and gnawing on them with just this bottle of mineral water.

It's not that his food is lacking; it's that this group is eating too well! It's too extravagant!

Who enters an Instance without compressed biscuits and mineral water? Just one meal—what you eat is still eating; as long as it's better than starving, that's fine.

Moyu Miji consoled himself while chewing on the compressed biscuits.

Compared to that, he really looked pitiful, but unfortunately Cheng Shuili and the others aren't the type to overflow with sympathy. Besides, the food Qi Wan Yi prepared was so fragrant that they truly couldn't spare any attention to worry about others.

The warmth of the food dispelled the body's chill and some fatigue, but the sense of oppression from the shelter's cramped space didn't fully fade. Outside, the deafening rain gradually weakened, shifting from a violent torrent to a pattering drizzle.

After the meal, the peak of the acid rain also passed.

"We can go out now."

Ailin tilted her ear to listen for a moment, then made a judgment.

Cheng Shuili nodded: "We can go look for the next shelter ahead of time, and..."

Cheng Shuili's gaze fell on the center of the map, where the ruins of a mysterious research institute lay at the heart of the industrial zone. The system said this was an optional mission, but it was clear that the rewards after exploration would certainly be increased.

Qi Wan Yi seemed to notice her hesitation as well, raised her hand and pointed at the ruins' location, saying, "You can go, but only after you've found a shelter."

This idea coincided exactly with Cheng Shuili's thinking.

But finding a shelter isn't easy; the more acid rain peaks occur, the fewer usable shelters remain. Moreover... the Instance doesn't have just our team left; there's also Qianxun's team, and the team that fought in the warehouse gun battle—though they suffered heavy casualties, some still survive.

Doing the math, each peak consumes three shelters for these survivors.

Cheng Shuili suddenly realized something, furrowed her brow and counted the shelter markers on the map—there were ten in total.

As Cheng Shuili knows, there are four teams in this Instance.

Assuming all four teams found shelters during the first peak, after that peak only six shelters would remain usable.

And now, during the second peak, another three were used... leaving only three shelters left.

Without even calculating, Cheng Shuili realized a problem: if they continued as they are, with each team using one shelter, the number of shelters would absolutely not be enough.

Cheng Shuili opened the map given by the system and took a look.

This map is completely pitch black, with only two small light dots indicating the coating's position—one is our location, the other is Qianxun's.

There are only two peaks left now; if during the next peak we can meet up with Qianxun's team and share a shelter, then even if that heavily casualties team uses a shelter alone, there will still be one shelter left for the final peak.

This is not only their only way to survive, but the only way for everyone in this Instance to survive!

So the most important thing now is to find Qianxun and his team.

With the map, this task is relatively simple.

Cheng Shuili voiced her idea, both as a notice and to ask the others' opinions.

There were no objections, except Jiang Tang had a question: "If we're not a single team, can we still use one shelter?"

This question...

Cheng Shuili was a bit speechless; Moyu Miji was standing right there, and the answer to the question was obvious.

Xinxue puffed out a laugh, nudged Jiang Tang with her elbow, and pointed at Moyu Miji saying, "Jiang Tang, you're being dense again? He's not even part of our team."

Jiang Tang paused, then realized, blinked her eyes, and passed the last piece of meat from her lunch box to Xinxue: "Got it, got it, eat more, shut your mouth."

That was annoyance turning to anger.

Cheng Shuili shook her head; she'd grown accustomed to how those two interacted.

After the group rested, they set out according to the map to look for Qianxun, and along the way they discovered two shelters, but unfortunately both had already been used.

Cheng Shuili marked the used shelters on the map and continued advancing toward Qianxun's location.

It's worth noting that the other side also seemed to be advancing toward them.

"They're also coming our way," Cheng Shuili said, pointing at the light dots' trajectory on the map to the others, "Looks like we had the same idea. That's good—it'll save us a lot of rendezvous time."

Qi Wan Yi pondered: "I just don't know if there are only four teams in this Instance."

Yeah...

But wild speculation wastes effort with no benefit; it's better to just follow the plan.

Cheng Shuili walked, her mind constantly turning.

Their team received the information that the first peak would occur in one hour, while the Fengyun Tianxia team's info was that peaks are spaced two hours apart, and that one must shelter in a refuge during the peaks.