Chapter 46: The Mysterious Benefactor

Leaning against the treetop, Lin Yi still felt a dull ache in his head, indicating that his mental energy would not recover in a short time.

Unfortunately, in the system interface, the mental energy attribute was a hidden attribute that had not yet been unlocked, so Lin Yi could not check his current mental energy status through the panel.

"Captain, are there any quick methods to restore mental energy within the village?"

Gu Chenghu thought for a moment and said, "Although everyone possesses mental energy, it is most crucial for wizards. Elder Gu Yun should have potions that restore mental energy; you can ask him the next time we return to the village."

"Understood."

Lin Yi realized that the ability to manipulate the white fog was quite important to him, but his mental energy was limited after all, resulting in an inability to sustain the manipulation for long. If Elder Gu Yun had potions that could enhance or restore mental energy, he would definitely need to keep some in reserve.

After resting for a while, Lin Yi felt his headache ease slightly. He glanced down at the base of the tree, where the horde of corpse monsters was still gathered nearby.

It seemed the horde would not disperse anytime soon.

Lin Yi tried to log out, but he still could not do so. Perhaps he would have to wait until the six-hour online limit expired before he could force a logout.

Thus, the two of them tried to make as little noise as possible in the tree, resting quietly.

After some thought, Lin Yi took out some water and cured corned beef from his backpack and handed them to Gu Chenghu, fearing that Gu Chenghu would starve in the tree after he logged out.

"Captain, if I am forcibly logged out later, please keep these provisions. I'm afraid the corpse monsters might not disperse even by nightfall."

"Alright, no problem."

Gu Chenghu appeared even calmer than Lin Yi. After accepting the food and water and storing them safely, he leaned against the treetop to take a nap.

In less than two hours, Lin Yi's body turned into a beam of white light, and he was forcibly logged out.

Gu Chenghu opened his eyes to take a look, and upon seeing that the horde of corpse monsters remained unchanged, he resumed resting.

However, at this moment, Lin Yi, having just transitioned from the Apocalypse World back to reality, suddenly gasped. The pain surging from his mind was far more intense than it had been in the Apocalypse World.

His brain felt as though its grey matter had been churned into a messy pulp, making it impossible to concentrate on any single thought.

Lin Yi guessed that players must have some sort of pain-reduction protection mechanism while in the Apocalypse World, but once they returned to reality, that mechanism vanished.

It seemed he must never bring injuries back into reality in the future, or else they might worsen.

Afflicted with mental trauma, Lin Yi was unable to accomplish anything in the real world and simply collapsed onto his bed, falling fast asleep.

This sleep lasted straight until past ten o'clock in the evening. Lin Yi looked up and saw pitch-black darkness outside the balcony, while his stomach growled loudly.

He seemed to have been awakened by hunger; after all, he had only eaten a little bit that morning, so it was no wonder he felt this starved.

The pain in his head had subsided significantly. Lin Yi opened his phone and checked it. Aside from messages from the studio, Liu Bo had sent him a few complaining texts, all whining about the trivial chores at the police station.

It turned out that, considering the frequent monster invasions from the Apocalypse World occurring worldwide, Zhang Baichuan had received orders from superiors to establish emergency response teams in every administrative district of Linhai City.

However, the core members of the Linhai City Apocalypse Team numbered only four, so Liu Bo had also been assigned to take charge of an administrative district. Partnered with several experienced detectives, they formed a squad.

If any supernatural incident occurred within that district, Liu Bo would be the primary person in charge.

Seeing Lin Yi's reply, Liu Bo continued to rant: "Brother Yi, I feel like I have it too tough. During the day, I risk my life leveling up in the Apocalypse World, and at night, upon returning to reality, I have to work a second job. I'm practically worked to death."

"Right now, I'm still on duty at the station, and all I get to eat is reheated cafeteria food. It's so miserable..."

Lin Yi replied with a teasing tone: "Cheer up, Xiao Bo. This lifestyle is something others can only dream of. During the day, someone brings you along to level up, and at night, you get to eat public meals and draw a second public salary. Tell me, who else enjoys this kind of treatment?"

Liu Bo merely responded with a single "heh."

Lin Yi shook his head. This kid clearly hadn't been beaten down by society yet and failed to realize the benefits of having an official status.

After chatting with Liu Bo for a while, Lin Yi inquired about matters related to mental energy.

"Brother Yi, is your mental energy overloaded? I remember you're only level three; how did you even end up using mental energy? Anyway, I can't see my mental energy attribute, nor do I ever use it. As for what you said about restoring mental energy, I remember when I was training at headquarters, the instructor mentioned it. Our headquarters does have items that can restore mental energy, but they require Apocalypse Points to exchange."

"Apocalypse Points?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Apocalypse Points are a type of supernatural currency established by our nation within the ranks of Apocalypse members, similar to contribution points, which can be used to exchange for internal resources. But you can only obtain Apocalypse Points by completing missions assigned by headquarters. I heard our captain once killed a Dread Boar and exchanged its carcass for quite a few Apocalypse Points..."

"However, I don't even have the qualifications to accept missions yet, so there's no way for me to get Apocalypse Points. Brother Yi, is your mental energy damage severe? If it's serious, I'll try to figure something out..."

Lin Yi replied: "It's fine, just a slight headache. Sleeping for a few days will fix it. I'm going out to find food, won't chat anymore. You focus on your duty."

Concluding his chat with Liu Bo, Lin Yi went downstairs to find a local diner for a meal.

On his way back, he ran into Liu Yuxi, who was heading downstairs to take out the trash, and the two of them stepped into the apartment elevator together.

At that moment, she appeared to have just finished a shower, her soft black hair draped loosely over her shoulders, with droplets of water sliding down the skin of her neck, leaving glistening traces in the air.

Liu Yuxi wore only a pair of cute, pink shorts on her lower body, and her straight, well-proportioned legs resembled sculptures of ivory, making for a very pleasing sight.

Lin Yi glanced inadvertently, but Liu Yuxi still noticed; after all, women were quite sharp when it came to men's gazes.

Liu Yuxi's newly showered face flushed even redder. She coughed softly to break the silent atmosphere and said, "Brother Lin, did you just come back from eating?"

"Yes."

The ascending elevator then plunged back into silence.

Liu Yuxi didn't know what else to say, but she was quite curious about Lin Yi. Over the past two days, she had been frantically submitting resumes across major platforms to find a job, so she had spent a considerable amount of time inside the apartment.

Due to the poor soundproofing, sometimes when she didn't hear the sound of doors opening or closing, sudden noises would emanate from Lin Yi's place, as if he had materialized inside the room out of thin air.

Furthermore, she had no idea what kind of work Lin Yi did; it seemed he never went to work and enjoyed complete freedom. On several days around noon, she had run into him heading downstairs for meals.

To her, Lin Yi was simply a somewhat handsome neighbor with a unique temperament and rather eccentric behavior.

Lin Yi was entirely unaware of Liu Yuxi's thoughts. Had he known that she frequently eavesdropped on the sounds from his room, he probably would have accelerated his plans to move.

......

Early in the morning, Lin Yi woke up from his bed. After another night of sleep to replenish his mental energy, he felt that the pain in his head had improved significantly.

It seemed sleep was indeed an excellent method for recovering mental energy.

Presumably, if he returned to the Apocalypse World today, he should be able to manipulate the white fog with relative ease.

After washing up and eating breakfast, Lin Yi stroked the golden activation code on his wrist and reappeared in the same large tree from yesterday.

However, at this moment, Gu Chenghu was nowhere to be seen on the tree, nor were there any traces of the corpse monster horde beneath it.

Lin Yi frowned.

Could it be that the horde had retreated while he was gone?

Yet Lin Yi discovered that Gu Chenghu had left a message carved into a patch of bark on the treetop: "I am safe, assemble in the small valley."

Shortly after, Lin Yi slowly climbed down the tree. He saw that while the horde of corpse monsters was gone, the ground was littered with many shattered bones belonging to them.

It appeared that some powerful reinforcements from the village had arrived yesterday, beaten back the horde, and rescued Gu Chenghu.

However, there had been hundreds of corpse monsters under that tree; just who could be so formidable?

Even if village captains like Gu Liehai and Gu Man had led the four militia squads over, they probably couldn't have handled so many corpse monsters.

Could it be that the village elders had taken action?

Filled with curiosity, Lin Yi stepped out of the brush and forest, then hurriedly made his way toward the small valley.