Chapter 48 – Tongwan Hospital (2)
◎ Who is Tao Tao? ◎
As the sun set, hardworking laborers finished their day’s work and returned home with a sense of accomplishment.
That was the ideal situation, though.
In reality, when the three of them, V587’s trio, returned to their temporary residence, their faces didn’t look very cheerful.
“I’m so tired~” Xu Xing stuck out his tongue, his two thin arms hanging in front of him like a small octopus. “Sister, are you tired?”
“Well, not too much.” In terms of physical exhaustion, Song Ke was doing okay. It was just that she felt dirty and immediately rushed into the bathroom to shower.
Among the three of them, only Zhuang Qingyan seemed refreshed. He was dressed in a gray administrative officer uniform, and at a glance, he exuded an air of elegance fit for an office worker. However, at this moment, he was massaging his wrist, with a furrowed brow, displaying signs of patience.
Sigh, Song Ke sighed. Life was not easy, and making money was hard work.
Speaking of which, cleaning up zombies was typically a job for lower-level awakeners. Yet here was Song Ke, an A-level awakener, not out there bravely slaying zombies but doing this. It was truly surprising.
Their choice of Tongwan for their multi-person mission had a reason.
The other available missions were either too far away or one-time gigs, where you finished the job and had to find the next one. They also didn’t provide access permissions. After accepting a mission, you had to return to Ferrara. Only Tongwan’s medical support, despite its low pay, offered a variety of positions and was a rare long-term task. So, Song Ke didn’t mind. After all, earning money was earning money, and work didn’t have a hierarchy of prestige. Cleaning work was cleaning work. They did it happily.
The three of them sat down in a row and calculated their earnings for the day: Xu Xing had 80 Alliance coins, Song Ke had 180 Alliance coins, and surprisingly, Zhuang Qingyan had the most, with a whopping 300 Alliance coins! Technical positions were in demand.
Their total income for the day reached 560 Alliance coins. When combined with the bonus from the pre-qualifying matches and the top 64, they were now a well-off family!
Song Ke counted the numbers in her account and felt quite pleased.
“Ferrara’s news this morning mentioned that a top 64 team was assassinated at home, and their crystal disappeared,” Zhuang Qingyan calmly dropped a bombshell.
“Which team?”
“The Mystical Heroes team. Their strength was average, with only the team captain being a C-level awakener, while the rest were all D-level.”
“They must have advanced purely by luck. Shortly after the competition began, they encountered a heavily injured mutant zombie, a gift that fell into their lap. They picked up a crystal for free, but now they’re the first ones targeted. The other side knew they were easy prey.”
Song Ke frowned. Leaving Ferrara was indeed the right choice.
The hidden whirlpool was escalating, and the first step was the assassination of contestants. Who knew what else would happen in the future?
Xu Xing looked left and right, feeling inadequate for earning the least. The little boy’s male pride came up again: “I want to go to the 13th floor tomorrow.”
If he couldn’t earn 300, at least 180 would do, right? 80 was just too little.
Thinking about facing an endless pile of patient records tomorrow, Zhuang Qingyan’s wrist started to ache again.
“None of you are going to the 13th Floor tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“We have two missions here that I think we can take.”
He projected the mission interface, and Song Ke and Xu Xing leaned in to take a look.
The first one was a C-level mission, and the requester was an owner in the Golden House Community. According to him, he hadn’t been able to return home for several days. Every time he reached the front of the building, whether he wanted to take the stairs or the elevator, it felt like hitting a brick wall. So, he wanted an awakener’s help to investigate and see if they could resolve the issue.
Zhuang Qingyan analyzed it logically, “The Central has rated it as a C-level mission, which means the big data calculations aren’t that complex. The Golden House Community is also close to us, considering the processing time, a round trip in a day should be sufficient. Most importantly…”
His clearly defined fingers slid across the screen, reaching the last line of the mission description, “This, you should like.”
The mission reward prominently displayed: 1000 Alliance coins.
Wow, this homeowner must be wealthy!
Song Ke’s eyes lit up.
Zhuang Qingyan smiled, seemingly anticipating her reaction, “Take a look at the second one.”
The difficulty of the second mission was only D-level, and the requester was in a hurry. She mentioned that her child, Tao Tao, had been running a fever for several days. However, there were zombies roaming the floor, and she couldn’t open the door at home, making it impossible to leave. She suspected it was a supernatural event and wanted an awakener to lend a hand and help take her child to a nearby hospital.
“Huh?” Song Ke noticed the connection between the two missions. “The address is the same.”
“That’s right, both in the Golden House Community. The requester for the second mission lives in Apartment 1507 of Building G.”
This was interesting. In the same residential complex, one owner said they couldn’t get in, while the other said they couldn’t get out. Who was telling the truth? They’d probably only find out by going to the scene.
“The problem likely lies in Building G. We can handle both missions together; it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll go together,” Song Ke decided.
…
Early the next morning, Song Ke first activated the terminal at the Tongwan mission hall and successfully accepted the missions. Then, the three of them headed to the Golden House Community.
The Golden House Community was a high-end residential complex, and from the outside, it seemed to have been minimally affected by the apocalypse, with greenery and public facilities largely intact.
The property management was quite responsible. After confirming their awakener identities, they registered them before allowing entry.
The security guard leading the way jingled his keys, the crisp sound echoing noticeably in the quiet environment.
“This is the building. There hasn’t been any activity here for the past few days.”
The group stopped at the entrance of the building, and the security guard was about to leave.
“If you can get in and find zombies inside, just call the security team. Don’t come looking for me.”
“If there are patients with a fever, I can help you contact the nearby Fifth Hospital. They’ll send an ambulance.”
The security guard was just an ordinary person, and fearing zombies was understandable. Song Ke didn’t want to pressure him, “Okay, thank you.”
Once the group moved away, she carefully examined the situation in front of her. The entrance to the building was open, so why couldn’t they get in?
Song Ke was puzzled. She took a step forward, everything seemed normal. She took another step, still normal. She lifted her foot to step onto the stairs, preparing to enter the entrance, and then… she couldn’t move.
There seemed to be an invisible wall in front of her, keeping her outside, and trying to move forward became exceptionally difficult.
Xu Xing tried to break through with his ice spikes. The sharp ice shards pierced the invisible barrier, and it seemed they were just inches away from the entrance. However, with a “ding” sound, they were bounced back and fell into the grassy lawn behind them, shattering into pieces.
“It’s a domain-type ability,” Zhuang Qingyan said.
“It’s somewhat similar to Maeda Jiu’s air barrier, but with a larger range and longer duration. It’s been active for at least three to five days.”
“I have a guess, but it’s better to confirm the opponent’s location first.”
Were there awakeners inside the building? Were they releasing powers indiscriminately?
Song Ke took a few steps back, looked up, and released her psychic power, trying to pinpoint the awakener’s location.
The other party’s energy field seemed very weak, fading to just a faint hint. She could only roughly determine it was around the 15th floor.
“Approximately, on the 15th floor,” Song Ke reported her findings.
After saying it, she froze for a moment. The 15th floor, why did it sound so familiar? Could it be?
“Could it be—”
“I know, I know! Is it the feverish kid from the mission?”
Xu Xing answered a split second before her.
Song Ke: “…” She was slow again, not even able to keep up with Xiaoxing.
Zhuang Qingyan suppressed a smile, “Very likely. The person is disoriented, unable to control their powers, involuntarily creating a domain. Because of this, the people inside their home can’t leave.”
He gently patted a certain dejected head, “The child’s psychic power isn’t strong, so when they spread their ability over such a wide area, there must be weak points. It’s up to you to find them.”
“Once we breach the weak point, there should be a few seconds of a vacuum period, enough for us to get inside.”
Song Ke gathered her focus, circled around Building G, and manifested a spear-like object in her hand, nearly five meters in length. She prodded here and tapped there until she finally detected a weaker point on the outside of the 5th floor.
Backing away to the flowerbed outside, she aimed at the weak spot, took a running start, and sprinted forward. With a flick of her right hand, she traced a half-arc in the air.
“Swish!” The spear flew forward with thunderous force, piercing something in mid-air. Invisible ripples spread out, momentarily disrupting the psychic power surrounding Building G.
“Quick, let’s get in!” Zhuang Qingyan shouted.
The three of them seized the opportunity and rushed into the building.
Two seconds later, the absolute domain rebounded, returning to its original state.
Zhuang Qingyan glanced back and said, “Domain-type abilities are not easy to break through. We can only locate the awakener responsible and persuade them to remove it.”
“But the child is feverish and not cooperative,” Song Ke expressed some concern.
“Okay, I’ll handle the communication when the time comes,” Zhuang Qingyan said.
While they were talking, Xu Xing, being quite responsible, went to press the elevator button. He tiptoed, pressed the “up” button, and with a “ding,” the elevator slowly arrived at the ground floor, sliding open on both sides.
Several stiff-limbed zombies appeared in front of him.
Xu Xing gasped, and behind him, a multitude of ice spikes shot out, skewering the monsters before them. The zombies hadn’t even had the chance to roar before collapsing limply to the ground.
Xu Xing turned back, frightened and apprehensive. He opened his mouth, intending to alert the other two, but Zhuang Qingyan and Song Ke were still engrossed in their conversation, not giving this side a single glance.
Xu Xing: “…”
He sighed melodramatically, realizing he was the one who had to deal with everything on his own.
Song Ke and Zhuang Qingyan finally came over, noticing the fallen zombies inside the elevator. They praised, “Well done, Xiaoxing.”
Xu Xing, acting a bit spoiled, simply nodded his head, keeping his accomplishments and fame to himself.
The group cleared the zombies out of the elevator, piled them up on the ground floor, and then proceeded to the 15th floor.
Sure enough, there were quite a few zombies wandering on the 15th floor. Song Ke and Xu Xing worked together to eliminate the threat.
Zhuang Qingyan pressed the doorbell of 1507, saying, “Hello, we’re the awakeners who received the mission. Is it your child who needs to be taken to the hospital?”
There was no response, so he pressed it again.
“Hello…”
This time, before he could finish speaking, the door to 1507 was abruptly pulled open. A woman with disheveled long hair and glasses appeared, tears of excitement in her eyes. “Finally, I can open the door! Hurry, Tao Tao has a high fever, please take her to the hospital!”
Zhuang Qingyan reassured her, saying, “Don’t worry, first bring your child out, and I’ll talk to her. We’ve already cleared the outside.”
He tried to comfort the young and flustered mother while simultaneously having Xu Xing contact an ambulance from the Fifth Hospital.
The woman cradled a small figure wrapped in a blanket and brought her out. As she passed by, Song Ke glanced at the bundle and instinctively felt that something was off.
Before she could fully process it, the corners of the blanket moved, and a small head poked out. A corgi with a drooping ear emerged, grinned at them, its nose moist, and let out a weak “woof.”
Song Ke: “…”
Wait, could someone please explain why Tao Tao was a dog??
An awakener dog???
