RHWHEG – Chapter 65 Collective Level-Up

“To conserve electricity in preparation for the extreme weather that has already been observed, the Jiangbei City Shelter will activate ‘Lights-Out Mode.’ Under this mode, all nonessential electrical equipment will be shut down. All residents’ permits for going outside will be downgraded by one level. All broadcasts will be suspended, and the frequency of operations by action teams will be reduced. Manpower will be reassigned to agricultural camps for emergency harvesting operations… Repeating broadcast…

The Jiangbei City Shelter Auxiliary AI and its administrators are wholeheartedly devoted to serving all of humanity.”

The shelter was located in the forested outskirts, downstream of Crocodile River, bordering two other cities. As the broadcast played again and again, people felt uneasy, yet still complied—reducing outings and all activities that consumed electricity.

“Life is really unbearable without any entertainment…” Someone habitually adjusted the radio frequency, but heard nothing at all. He couldn’t help letting out a long sigh in the cramped dormitory.

“Between having no entertainment and having no life, I’d still rather give up the broadcast,” his roommate spat back, then sucked in a breath and hugged himself. “Don’t you feel like it’s gotten a lot colder today?”

“Today’s wind feels like knives scraping your skin.” He rubbed his arms a few times and, unexpectedly, rubbed out some grainy salt. He thought he was just dirty and felt a little embarrassed, but then noticed the salt was icy cold, and touching it actually hurt.

The shelter gradually fell silent. Yet in the Abilities Hall, cheers suddenly erupted—so loud that almost the entire shelter could hear them.

“We leveled—up—!”

The Abilities Hall was packed with ability users from the shelter. Staff members were re-testing their ability levels one by one.

Ability levels were affected by radiation exposure. Every time ability users went out on missions or used unprocessed disaster stones, they were subjected to intense radiation. As time passed, they finally crossed the 20% radiation threshold and became LV2 ability users! And since most of them acted together, they ended up leveling up around the same time.

“You’re the 123rd LV2. Your ability is Speed Movement. Go to the red window to update your records and collect your new subsidy.”

“You’re still a little short. Borrow a few more disaster stones, Yuxi, and you’ll reach LV2 in a few days.”

The newly leveled ability users congratulated one another. As long as they grew stronger, what did a rise in radiation value matter? The stronger they became, the better their chances of survival. As for discrimination from ordinary people—who cared? Beat up whoever looked displeasing! Ability users were the future of the apocalypse; they were meant to occupy the very top of the power hierarchy.

News of the collective level-up quickly spread throughout the shelter, barely adding a touch of festivity to the bleak apocalyptic life.

In the medical camp, Yu Yanlan finally woke up, groaning in pain. If he weren’t an ability user, he genuinely suspected he would have died in Shajia Ancient Town. Still shaken, he asked the medical staff who came to check on him whether Han Shuzhu was okay.

“Mr. Han isn’t injured.” In the eyes of the medical staff, scrapes, bruises, and small-area fractures all counted as “not injured.” “However, we have a top-secret piece of information. The research center believes you have the right to know. It concerns your relative—and the shelter’s wanted criminal—Yu Qunqing.”

Yu Yanlan frowned. “What?”

“Based on the blood samples we collected, we believe he has already mutated into a natural disaster,” the medical worker said expressionlessly. “The human Yu Qunqing is dead. Please accept our condolences.”

Yu Yanlan froze. “Huh?”

“Wait.” He straightened a little, and a wave of soreness surged through his muscles. He hurriedly said, “Impossible. He talked to me. He looks exactly like a Yu, has the same speech, the same voice, the same expressions—he’s the same person! He beat me like he wanted to kill me. Who else could do that? How could someone surnamed Yu be dead?”

“I’m very sorry.” The medical worker’s eyes were filled with pity. “Perhaps that organism seized Yu Qunqing’s body and memories, and can even recognize you. But according to the blood test results, this organism has absolutely no relation to humans. Even using pre-apocalypse technology, the results would not show him as your relative, but as two completely different species. So… he has passed away. Please accept our condolences. Considering your mental health, you may opt out of future operations to encircle and suppress the disaster known as Qunqing…”

Yu Yanlan’s eyes widened, his expression completely blank. His ears buzzed, and he could barely hear what the person in front of him was saying.

Before the apocalypse, Yu Qunqing had a bad relationship with the family—for reasons no more than petty domestic issues, the kind that would spark a thousand replies if posted on a forum back then. Yu Qunqing left home early. Yu Yanlan stayed behind, listening to his parents’ complaints, and also came to resent his older brother. The stalemate continued until the natural disasters descended—until Yu Qunqing died in the name of a human, and they met again among the ruins. By then, the one Yu Yanlan encountered was already the disaster Qunqing.

After the examination, the medical staff confirmed that Yu Yanlan could move on his own, so they ushered him out and freed the bed for the next patient.

Yu Yanlan retrieved his pass and received a deployment letter from the Abilities Hall. His mind was still in a daze. Guided by a fragment of bodily instinct, he headed toward the research center. Death was far too common. Everyone who had survived to this point had brushed past death at least once. After the apocalypse, humanity had developed a coping mechanism for death: to throw oneself wholeheartedly into work—no thinking, no dwelling on the past, no imagining the future.

The dead would gradually fade from everyone’s memory, leaving behind only a vague, ash-like outline.

Yu Yanlan felt cold. His face pale, he handed his access card to the research center guard. After confirming he was an invitee, the guard opened the doors.

Inside the conference room, Jiang Qiwen—wrapped in bandages—leaned against the wall with a malicious smile. “Surprised? I’m still alive. After all, I didn’t get to eat what I like—there’s no way I’d go to hell.”

Yu Yanlan shuddered. Couldn’t this guy speak properly?

But there were many people from the research center in the room. Yu Yanlan could only swallow his resentment and sit near the door.

After everyone took their seats, Jiang Qiwen spoke first. “As a representative of Polar Bear Corporation, I’m very pleased to reach a cooperation with the Jiangbei City Shelter. We firmly believe that survival of the fittest applies here—those who can survive the era of natural disasters must be humanity’s finest specimens. And our plan is precisely to mass-produce these superior specimens.”

The person seated at the head said, “That’s right. We’ve obtained Polar Bear Corporation’s data. After joint research, we’ve decided to launch the ‘Disaster Stone Enhancement’ program. We plan to inject special disaster stones into our test subjects using special methods… We will artificially create weapons that belong to us!”

“One of those injection methods,” Jiang Qiwen said, somehow appearing behind Yu Yanlan, “is to liquefy the disaster stone and inject it directly into the bone marrow—perfectly compatible with your ability.” Everyone knew Jiang Qiwen’s interest in Yu Yanlan, and no one tried to stop him. Yu Yanlan felt his scalp tingle.

Jiang Qiwen’s ghostly voice sounded by his ear. “So, here’s to a pleasant cooperation, Mr. Yu.”

…

“So cold!”

“That’s why going out to explore is really necessary. Crocodile Immortal wouldn’t cheat us.”

Residents from the downtown residential district wore tattered, thick clothing as they headed toward the main road once developed by the Cube Snake. Though their numbers were large, faint divisions between factions could be seen. Different factions prioritized different types of supplies. Many details had already been peacefully discussed by the faction leaders, so everyone got along fairly harmoniously.

After walking a few hundred meters along the main road, one team turned right into a narrow gap path. They carefully felt their way forward along the rocks. The person in front held a long pole with a stone tied to its end, tapping around to test for danger. Those behind carried weapons sharpened with disaster stones, holding their breath as they scanned their surroundings.

“Quack!”

At the sound, the entire line instantly erupted into chaos.

“Stop, stop—don’t swing!” Someone finally saw the source of the sound and hurried to stop their companions. “It’s a duck.”

More precisely, it was a small duckling—listless, its feathers nearly bald. Along the path it had come from were several broken eggs and animal corpses. It looked like it was about to meet the same fate. Yet the next second, someone wrapped it up in the only piece of clean cloth they had and picked it up.

“Roast duck tonight!” the person exclaimed excitedly.

“Tonight? No way,” someone objected immediately. “Trade it with the Student Council folks. They’re the only ones with some experience raising animals. Once we have a whole flock of ducks, won’t food be the least of our worries?”

“Oh, right…”

The little duck let out a weak quack. Everyone sincerely hoped it could live a little longer—long enough to shoulder the hopes of the residential district’s menu.

Continuing along the main road, a member of Polar Bear Corporation painstakingly dug out a wrecked motorcycle. Only its two wheels still hinted at its original shape; the rest was rusted beyond recognition, looking as though it could be snapped by human hands.

“What are you taking that for?” his companion asked.

One of the members replied, “The residential district’s welfare policy. It says that if you rescue a new resident, you get the right to repair old vehicles. I wanted to give it a try—maybe this car can be fixed too…”

“Do you know where there are any new residents?” his companion sighed heavily. “I feel like everyone who could make it to the district already has. Maybe we’re the only ones left alive…”

“Don’t underestimate humanity,” the member holding the motorcycle frame replied. “Let me think—places that could serve as temporary shelters… First, they have to withstand that torrential rain, then block out the extreme heat and disasters. No, no—being able to block disasters and heat is enough. People can move around. So… let’s go check out the tech park!”

The tech park was also near this main avenue, but it took longer to reach. The residents on the expedition worked together to deal with the disaster monsters that appeared from time to time, and finally arrived at the tech park. The river channels surrounding it had already dried up. There were no high-rise buildings here, and in order to meet production requirements, factory buildings were usually built sturdily. Perhaps there were still humans alive here.

After a cautious search, they really did find a small settlement of more than a hundred people. Only, their situation was miserable.

All of them had shaved heads, ulcerated skin, and were skin and bones. Seeing the newcomers, they were both startled and terrified. In the apocalypse, poor sanitation was an invisible killer. They had holed up in the sturdiest factory buildings, surviving wave after wave of disasters, only to be defeated by skin diseases, leaving them unable to move.

Some residents hesitated when they saw these severely injured humans—then fled the next second. Not everyone possessed lofty morals; being able to support oneself was already good enough. But among the thousand-plus residents, there were also those who stepped forward, calling their teams together and directing them to carry the injured patients back to the district.

“You don’t know shit! The fact that there are so few people to rescue means the number of people eligible for the fireplace subsidy event will also be very small. There are only a bit over a hundred people here, while our district has more than a thousand. Have you even stockpiled enough building materials to buy a fireplace?”

Some people suddenly realized something, assuming that those who rushed to rescue others did so for the discounts, and they felt tempted as well. If they encountered survivors next time, they could also try to compete for the chance to rescue.

But there were still worries:

“Aren’t our district’s medicines almost depleted…?”

“Found them—antibiotics!”

“What the hell is this cephalosporin? I can’t even read it.”

“All foundation members, remember! If there’s medicine, take it. We’re not distinguishing drug properties!”

The foundation members had originally intended to search for remnant lifeforms, but instead they unearthed the ruins of a hospital, and everyone hurried to dig through it.

Ibuprofen and acetaminophen for pain relief, nitroglycerin tablets for lowering blood pressure, berberine tablets, vitamin tablets, medical alcohol, disinfectant tablets—anything they could get their hands on was tossed into boxes, regardless of what the drug was. But after being ravaged by multiple rounds of extreme weather, they only managed to find two large bags of medical supplies. Compared to the district’s overall shortage, it was a mere drop in the bucket.

They would deliver the medicines to the small clinic plaza in the district. Some residents there had not joined any faction; Li Yuebei was one of them. His outward explanation was that he had already decided to pledge loyalty to Yu Qunqing and would not join any faction. Since Yu Qunqing was not present, he was naturally neutral. In reality, he was a very cautious person, still observing the district’s development.

So he stayed behind at the clinic plaza, watching as a crocodile purchased these two bags of medical supplies. In Li Yuebei’s understanding, the district actually had a fourth faction—that was the neighborhood committee made up entirely of crocodiles! These crocodiles were responsible for maintaining the district’s daily management. For important resources like medicine, they would pay to purchase them and then confiscate them for public use. These crocodiles were truly unbelievable!

“I remember these are protected animals, right? Are protected animals all this intelligent…?” Li Yuebei watched a small crocodile carrying supplies forward and felt the world was utterly surreal.

The doorbell of the small clinic rang. Li Yuebei knew a patient had arrived, so he put on his white coat and began treatment.

Meanwhile, at the end of Square Snake Avenue, the Student Union members finally returned to the alma mater they had initially relied on. Everyone fell silent as they looked at the ruins.

It hadn’t been long since they lived in the university town, yet it felt like a lifetime ago.

“Don’t daze off. We don’t have much time left,” Lin Luyi said. He didn’t share this sentimentality toward his alma mater. He had deliberately brought the queen bee along to help transport supplies.

First, they took all the experimental crop seeds from the agricultural university’s experimental fields—various kinds of corn, said to be part of some student’s graduation thesis, and some forage crops originally grown to feed cattle. The cows on campus had already been slaughtered. In the experimental buildings, they emptied out all remaining facilities, such as flower pots, herbicides, iron shovels and hoes. Although there was a penguin farm outside the district, people still needed some everyday crops—they had to plan for the future. Then they went to the neighboring research institute and took all those incomprehensible documents as well. Even though they no longer had teachers, preserving a little was better than nothing.

“Are there people from the medical university here? Where does your school store medicines?”

“Our school is a university, not a pharmacy,” a medical university student said. “But fine, there is a drug storage room. We’ll go look. Still, your universities definitely have campus hospitals too—go find medicines yourselves!”

Thinking of the campus hospitals, everyone split up again. They had never felt the university town was this large, requiring so much running just to get back to their schools. They wished they could run faster—fast enough to outrun the sun. Their time was truly too short, and the weather was getting colder and colder!

After finding their respective campus hospitals, they swept away medicines and medical consumables like a swarm of locusts, this time loading much more—an entire large truckload. They also took portable equipment like ECG machines and blood pressure monitors. After taking everything they could, they drooled over the large instruments that were hard to move—noninvasive intracranial pressure monitors, multi-channel vascular analyzers, urine analyzers…

If only they could take all of those too…

Some knowledgeable students stepped forward to check and found that these instruments had been damaged quite a bit, with internal components broken. But post-apocalypse humanity had developed a habit of scavenging—though broken, maybe they could still be dismantled for other uses. Thus, the university town launched a full-scale “loot everything” campaign.

Transportation then became another problem. At this moment, the students discovered a building near the avenue entrance that looked extremely similar to the district’s trading center, with the words “Da Huotong Express—At Your Service” written on it.

“Da Huotong Express” had been converted into a “trading market” in the district, but its long-distance transmission function had always been retained. Yu Qunqing had set up a second courier point in the university town so that people on both sides of the avenue could quickly find a way to transport supplies. Using “Da Huotong” naturally required building materials, with fees depending on the size of the shipment.

“Even if we have to spend money, we’ll use express delivery. We can’t leave behind even a needle or a thread!” the students declared.

Thus, the scavenging in the university town intensified, and piles of scrap metal began appearing in the district’s Da Huotong. In the future, this scrap metal would become an important cornerstone of the district’s technological upgrades…

The university town also housed some artworks. For example, the art academy had students’ graduation exhibitions. Several art students packed everything up and sent it away. They laughed bitterly and said, “These can be burned for heat in winter…”

Students at the music academy grabbed a few classic CDs for entertainment, then dismantled an entire wall of soundproofing equipment to take back as backup.

At the polytechnic university, they packed up all the valuable experimental instruments. Whether they knew how to use them or not didn’t matter—if they didn’t take them, they might never get to use them at all. They also happily acquired a warehouse full of military training uniforms. The polytechnic held military training during summer vacation; it seemed those freshmen would never get the chance to wear these uniforms, leaving them to these seasoned veterans instead.

No matter which university, all books they could find were transported away. Those useful for technology could be used; those that weren’t could still serve as firewood—the temperature was dropping far too fast!

By afternoon, another group of over thirty survivors fleeing from Shangyuan City arrived at the university town. These people were of decent character and even brought women and children with them, so the students agreed to take them back to the district.

Altogether, the courier fees spent amounted to more than thirty thousand building materials. The university town hadn’t been completely stripped bare, but time was limited—they had to hurry back to the district.

By evening, many people walked along this broad avenue carrying supplies and rescued newcomers. From above, they looked like diligent ants hauling goods back to their nest.

There weren’t many living people left. Nearby, there were no large shelters like the district anymore—at most small settlements of around thirty people, at least lone wanderers. But when added together, the final number was surprisingly large. The district’s population had now reached over sixteen hundred people.

She Lulang guarded the district’s headquarters, mercilessly dealing with some people of vile intent. He didn’t want Yu Qunqing to spare even a thought—let alone a glance—on such people. In his previous life, Yu Qunqing had already seen more than enough.

Within the district, a small number of residents had also reached LV2, but their strength was still worlds apart from She Lulang’s. Whether in mindset, experience, or the use of abilities, She Lulang held the absolute advantage. After the district stabilized, he began thinking about what to bring over to Yu Qunqing tonight.

The concentration of nearby disasters had dropped significantly due to people’s cleanup efforts, and residents had also recharged their collected disaster stones and jewels into their accounts. As a result, the balance in Yu Qunqing’s account became much more generous. The number of premium diamonds alone reached three thousand, which felt very reassuring.

“But the highest-tier gift pack costs 256 diamonds, so this amount is only enough to buy 13 packs!”

After playing games for a long time, players naturally convert their money into the number of gift packs they can buy. Seen this way, three thousand really wasn’t much at all.

Yu Qunqing stayed in the Fourth Ring not just to play match-three games. While waiting for his game stamina to recover, he was doing one thing—observing Eight-Legged Frostfall and recording the terrain. From time to time, he went out with a bow and arrows, eliminating disaster entities that had ill intentions toward the auto repair shop, while recording data in his notebook.

In his previous life, Eight-Legged Frostfall had been exterminated by more than a hundred ability users working together. If Yu Qunqing wanted a more comfortable life this time, he naturally had to prepare in advance.

After returning from another round outside, Yu Qunqing saw those people from the Mind Library fully absorbed in… embroidering clothes?

He went over to see what they were doing, only to find that they had taken off their standard cloaks and were racking their brains to sew the “T” on them into a pair of cat ears.

Their faces were pale, with deep dark circles under their eyes. It was hard to imagine what the Klein Bottle had done to them. The result was that the entire Mind Library had converted to the Cat God faith and was changing its beliefs.

“O caretaker of the Black God from the cosmos—” one of the Mind Library members spoke, unusually calmly, to Yu Qunqing. Though his eyes were lifeless, as if his soul had already been completely eroded.

A question mark appeared over Yu Qunqing’s head. Caretaker of the Black God—were they talking about him?

“We are called a ‘library’ because our brains truly store all kinds of data like a library. Some of this data is knowledge from before the ‘Divine Transformation Moment,’ and some is data we recorded after browsing information. One of our members recorded more than five thousand books from a library into his mind. That is why we once ignorantly believed that, bearing a thousand years of human history, we were humanity’s kindling, the chosen ones meant to survive in the new world.

“Only after encountering the Black God did we understand that the universe is far more vast than we ever imagined, and that humanity is merely insignificant dust. And at the end of the universe, the only way to unify it—ah, is cats! ……”

Yu Qunqing had no interest in listening to their preaching. He was only glad that this group from the library had no interest in competing for the district’s top faction. It was the right decision not to bring them back to the district. He found 060 nearby practicing mental power, confirmed that nothing was wrong, and returned to the rooftop of the repair shop.

He wiped away the ice shards blown toward him. These shards were toxic—if they lingered on the skin too long, they would cause corrosion. Now, he decided to begin renovating the food city.

As usual, it started with a tragic short clip of a pixel character. The pixel character lived under someone else’s roof, bullied by relatives. One day, the relatives were about to get married, but on the night before the wedding, the groom took a fancy to the pixel character! Believing the pixel character would affect the marriage, they decided to throw it out into the snow. Starving and freezing, the pixel character arrived at this abandoned food city… Quickly play the game to help it renovate the food city and embark on the path of slapping those awful relatives in the face!

The food city had two renovation points: a 200-meter-long snack street, and a four-story main mall building. Yu Qunqing placed the main building behind the auto factory, then arranged the snack shops in a serpentine layout on the left side of the mall, and began the long journey of renovation.

Just when he thought today might be a peaceful day, Eight-Legged Frostfall moved again. This “movement” didn’t mean its straight legs were moving, but that the vents on its body exhaled white mist so dense it was almost solid, like a feather suddenly drifting down from the sky.