"From a gene level perspective, the abilities everyone awakens are different, but generally, such situations have explicit manifestations. For example, someone who is good at running must have an awakened gene related to speed."
Zhao Tuantuan changed the subject, preparing to teach Lin Qi some knowledge about genes.
"So, what are you good at?"
Lin Qi remained curious. Zhao Tuantuan had not displayed any outstanding aspects at all; if there was anything, it would be that her mindset was a bit different from ordinary people.
This must be the change in mindset that occurred after awakening.
"I don't want to say!"
Zhao Tuantuan lowered her head, burying it almost into her chest.
"Alright, I won't ask then. Go get some wooden boards, and we will seal the main entrance."
Most of the people in the hotel had fled elsewhere. Perhaps once the zombies outside dispersed later, they would return here, so the main entrance must be sealed as soon as possible.
Lin Qi patrolled the surroundings, returned to the second floor to retrieve some tools, dismantled some cabinets from the lobby, and completely sealed the main entrance.
His own anomaly seemed completely different from the gene awakening Zhao Tuantuan spoke of. While working, Lin Qi asked a few probing questions. Zhao Tuantuan did not see that illusory panel, nor did she receive any prompts when touching weapons. It stood to reason that this method of mastering weapons was something unique to him.
The second floor was the usual gathering place for survivors and the place where supplies were distributed. At the time of the initial quarantine, the hotel already had quite a few supplies, and later the Federation sent over quite a bit more, but after three months of consumption, these supplies were few and far between.
Lin Qi searched the entire second floor and only found half a bag of rice and a small bag of flour.
As for things like vegetables and meat, everyone hadn't seen them for nearly a month.
After reaching the third floor, Zhao Tuantuan had already collected some supplies. These were scavenged from the rooms of Director Wang and his group. They had claimed to the outside that there was not much food left, but in Director Wang's room alone, there was quite a bit of food.
Moreover, in Shang Dong's room, Lin Qi found the spear he had made earlier. This spear was made from a pole Lin Qi had dismantled from a large patio umbrella, and it felt very handy. He had tied a piece of rebar to the tip of the spear with wire. The tip was slanted; although not sharp, with enough force, it could easily pierce a zombie's head.
Lin Qi tried stabbing with it, but no prompt appeared. He guessed it was likely because there was no target.
Before long, the two had collected all the supplies in the hotel, and without realizing it, they had piled up half a room's worth.
"That fatty Wang kept saying the supplies were exhausted, I didn't expect them to have hidden so much!"
Zhao Tuantuan said indignantly. She hadn't eaten much in the past few days, to the point where her physical strength had been severely depleted.
"People are selfish. Didn't you also hide half a bottle of milk?"
Lin Qi didn't care. In his memory, he also had hidden food, but now he was too lazy to go get it.
Zhao Tuantuan paused upon hearing this, wanting to retort but not knowing what to say.
"We can't stay in this place. Although it can keep out zombies, it can't keep out people. Help me move these things downstairs later, and we'll leave through the back door."
The hotel's back door had been locked before, but that kind of lock could only stop zombies. Lin Qi had a way to open it.
"Where are we going?"
Zhao Tuantuan highly agreed with Lin Qi's decision, but she had no ideas for the moment and didn't know where it would be appropriate to go.
"Not too far, just the nearby residential area. It's best if the house has something like a gas stove."
The city was currently in a state of water and power outages, but most families had the habit of storing water, so it wasn't very scarce. Moreover, water from natural water sources didn't do much harm to those who had self-healed.
After the two moved a portion of the supplies downstairs, Lin Qi took out his tools, preparing to pry open the lock on the back door.
This type of door lock was the simplest padlock. Although Lin Qi didn't have a key, for him, opening this kind of lock only required a piece of wire.
After folding the wire in half and adjusting it to the appropriate width, he inserted it bit by bit into the lock core. After inserting it to the deepest point, Lin Qi twisted it gently a few times, and heard a click.
【Use tools to open the door lock, gain Lockpicking Mastery.】
【Current skill can be advanced: Advancement conditions:
1: Use tools to open locks ten times.】
"This works too?"
Lin Qi locked the door again and opened it with the wire once more; ten times became nine.
After opening it ten times in a row, the look in Zhao Tuantuan's eyes when she looked at Lin Qi was a bit different.
"Brother Lin, what are you doing?"
It was just a lock; poking it over and over again, could he be hinting at something to her?
Although Zhao Tuantuan was a model student and an excellent class cadre on the surface, she had wandered the network for many years and had been exposed to some obscure cultures.
After her own imagination ran wild, her face slowly turned red without her realizing it.
"I'm testing if this lock is easy to open, so I don't lack experience if I encounter the same lock in the future."
Lin Qi made up a random excuse. At this moment, the illusory light screen in front of him had updated again.
【Use tools to open locks ten times.（Completed）】
【Can open any lock type on the market】
【Lockpicking Proficiency: Advancement conditions:
1: Cumulatively open one hundred different locks.
"It can actually be advanced?"
At the current stage, he could already open all locks on the market. If it advanced further, what else could he open?
The door pushed open, and Lin Qi carefully looked outside. At this moment, the sky was already somewhat dim, and the zombies that hid during the day were gradually starting to become active. However, the zombies near the hotel had been cleared out once before; there might be some left nearby, but not many.
"You wait here, I'll go out and scout the path first."
There were no zombies in his field of vision. As long as he crossed the street from the back door, the opposite side was a residential area.
Because of the centralized quarantine at the time, most people infected with the virus were sent to the nearest Ark Hospital, so it could be said that the residential area was mostly empty.
Lin Qi carried the spear and carefully crossed the street. When he reached the residential area on the opposite side, he happened to see a zombie slowly wandering inside an iron gate.
He raised the spear and rested it on the iron gate, and when the zombie sensed the movement and approached, he thrust it hard into the creature's head.
"Squelch!"
This was an elderly zombie with a hunched figure, wearing dirty pajamas. It stood to reason that it had no mobility while alive, but he hadn't expected it to be able to walk again after turning into a zombie.
Lin Qi pulled hard, yanking the spear out of the zombie's eye socket, and viscous blood and brain matter slowly flowed out.
The next moment, the illusory panel appeared before his eyes again.
【Use spear to kill a zombie, gain Basic Spear Technique】
【Current skill can be advanced: Advancement conditions:
1: Hold the spear for three hours.
2: Use the spear to kill ten targets.】
"As expected!"
Lin Qi calmly retracted the spear and shook off the mucus. As long as he used tools or weapons, he could activate the skills attached to them.
There was no time to study the subsequent changes. He quickly took out the wire, inserted it into the door lock, and gave it a gentle twist.
With a soft click, the lock popped open, and the iron gate automatically opened a crack.
"It really is simple!"
Looking at the "Lockpicking +1" prompt, Lin Qi couldn't help but sigh.
The lock on this iron gate was not the simple padlock from before; it belonged to a higher level of anti-theft security, but it still couldn't withstand a piece of wire, which directly pierced through that layer of protection.
The nearby residential area consisted of old-fashioned buildings, mostly three-story square buildings. In this small courtyard, there were only three apartment buildings.
Lin Qi chose the nearest one, opened another lock, and entered the stairwell.
✦✦✦