B18 Level, a short while earlier.
[So, this is why you let all the Night Demons in?]
“Yep.”
Ling Zhao twirled a lock of her long hair around her finger.
“Didn’t you say that this protective shield can be turned on or off manually?”
“If I only prevent the Night Demons from coming inside, they definitely won’t leave. They’ll just keep lingering around here.”
Ling Zhao watched the surveillance footage.
“So I turned it off.”
The best way to maximize the use of the protective shield was definitely not to keep everything outside, but to use it as much as possible to clear out all the “flying insects” that could be attracted inside.
“Of course, I did intend to give them a little more time to escape.”
Ling Zhao sighed.
“Who would’ve thought this door would be so badly maintained? Aren’t shelter technologies supposed to be pretty reliable?”
All she could do was use recruitment notices to obscure the Night Demons’ vision during critical moments and… use the interview invitations to guide them toward a relatively safe room.
She had been constantly modifying and moving the walls on the upper level precisely to keep the Night Demons a little farther away from this group of people.
[In view of the Chairwoman having just acquired a group of interviewees, a mission is now being issued…]
“Stop.”
Ling Zhao raised a hand, cutting him off.
“I’ll issue it myself.”
Systerm froze for a moment.
[Hmm?]
“I said I’ll issue it myself.”
Ling Zhao repeated patiently.
“You evaluate the rewards for me, while I issue the missions myself. Do you still not understand? I can repeat it again.”
She looked at the empty space in front of her. Systerm knew she was looking at him.
A faint glow was reflected in those emerald-green eyes as she said,
“You know, sometimes when you’ve already decided to do something, the moment someone else mentions it, you suddenly don’t want to do it anymore.”
“And besides, I’m only paralyzed, not dead.”
Ling Zhao spread her hands.
“Health and time are a person’s greatest wealth. I’ve already lost one of them. I won’t hand the second one over to you.”
Time was something no amount of money could buy.
Naturally, Ling Zhao would never relinquish control over it.
She could let Systerm record her schedule, but she would never let it plan her schedule.
“My time and my progress will be arranged by me. Any problem with that?”
[Evaluation in progress… Historical data comparison in progress…]
[Using this host as the primary subject, the probability of completing the mainline mission has reached 55.56%… [Data deleted] The highest probability recorded by the system previously was ■■%… Determination: Passed.]
[No. Mission review has now been enabled for you. You may submit your target missions.]
Ling Zhao looked down and discovered that a new icon had indeed appeared on the screen.
Inside was a detailed description of the missions she could set for herself, including completion time, expected results, and so on.
The more difficult the mission, the higher the reward multiplier.
If she assigned herself a penalty, she could increase the reward multiplier even further.
Ling Zhao issued herself a mission:
[Successfully recruit at least one employee. Calculate the reward based on the employee’s abilities.]
[The mission has been optimized for you. The higher the employee’s star rating, the greater the final settlement reward.]
“Employee star rating?”
Ling Zhao noticed the new term.
[Yes. You have not yet unlocked your personal panel. Once it is unlocked, you will be able to see employee abilities.]
Systerm explained.
Ling Zhao found the mission she had previously written down:
Complete one transaction to unlock the panel.
The stationery set she had obtained from the lottery had already been put to use.
For Ling Zhao, planning her life and listing out feasible plans was a habit.
What she had lost was already gone.
Everything that remained, she intended to keep firmly in her own hands.
She had lowered the priority of this mission earlier because she hadn’t found the right opportunity or product.
Now, though…
It seemed there was a perfect opportunity.
Ling Zhao turned her attention back to the surveillance footage.
The mission she had previously assigned to Sentry-I was:
Serve as the company’s receptionist, guide interviewees, and eliminate certain sources of interference.
…
Sentry-I had decided to execute its mission perfectly.
After analyzing the current situation, it discovered that some troublemakers who hadn’t received interview notices had also entered.
After its friendly and cordial attempts to persuade them to leave failed—and after it saw the people on the other side tear up the company’s promotional notices—Sentry-I proceeded to provide them with some less-than-friendly physical persuasion.
It was at this moment that it saw an interviewee approaching.
Hmm…
It needed to be more friendly toward interviewees.
Like this one, for example.
He appeared to be lost.
And somewhat directionally challenged.
The marker was already extremely obvious, yet he was still walking in the opposite direction.
Sigh.
Job seekers these days…
Sentry-I shook its head and led the directionally challenged applicant away.
It had synchronized with the map of the entire shelter and knew where all the other applicants were.
“The Chairwoman said that we need to provide friendly service.”
Sentry-I adjusted its voice to what it considered its gentlest electronic tone.
At least, it thought it was gentle.
It said warmly,
“Now, allow me to show you the way.”
…
Lin Xiao’s expression was solemn.
He had no idea what exactly the thing in front of him was.
Based on his previous experience working for a company, an intelligent machine of this level was probably something that had only existed before the wasteland era, during the period known as the Age of Prosperity.
In the current wasteland, forget AI—even most people didn’t know what computers or mobile phones were.
Communication basically consisted of shouting.
Only towns near shelters could be considered even slightly prosperous.
The sense of incongruity this shelter gave him was becoming even stronger.
Everything he had seen before, as well as everything he was now seeing inside the shelter, told him that this was a shelter that had either been abandoned or was close to being abandoned.
Lin Xiao remembered that in the shelter where he had previously worked, the two most advanced pieces of technology had been a coffee machine and a rice cooker.
An advanced AI like this could never have been left behind in an abandoned shelter!
As an important asset, it would have been taken away immediately!
Then…
Could this be the kind of shelter that had been sleeping underground for a long time and had finally awakened when the appointed time arrived?
Lin Xiao had never seen such a shelter either, but that didn’t stop him from coming to that conclusion.
After following the robot for a while, he soon encountered the companions he had previously become separated from.
One, two…
Three…
Apart from Bei You, whom he couldn’t see, this machine had somehow managed to find almost everyone!
Lin Xiao immediately realized that it must have a map.
With the robot connected to the shelter’s map, the possibility of escaping was practically nonexistent.
The others who had been found all looked as though they had seen a ghost.
Especially Tang Yuan.
He looked extremely disheveled now, yet was doing his best to maintain his expression.
Everyone around him was deliberately keeping their distance because there was an extremely unpleasant smell coming from him.
“This interviewee! You can’t go to an interview like this!”
Sentry-I’s voice grew louder.
“You can’t go to an interview after playing around in the waste-treatment pool!”
Who the hell would go play in a place like that?!
Yuan Tao’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t dare complain. He could only nod submissively and say, “I’m very sorry. I won’t dare do it again. Could you let me go home and change my clothes first before I come back?”
The other two people beside him stared at him in shock. Then, looks of regret appeared on their faces.
So that was an option!
Couldn’t they use the same excuse to leave this place?
“No,” Sentinel-I coldly refused. “If I may be frank, everyone’s mental state is quite poor. You need to tidy yourselves up a little before going to the interview.”
“But I already have a job…” Yuan Tao changed tactics. “I’m very satisfied with my current employer and have no intention of betraying her. After all, the town mayor is the person who provides me with my livelihood, and she also gave me a chance when I needed it…”
“Mm, not bad,” Sentinel-I said. “And then? How much does she pay you?”
Yuan Tao fell silent.
He barely earned a few nuts a month. If the town mayor hadn’t paid a hefty sum this time, he really wouldn’t have wanted to come.
“Young man.” Sentinel-I patted him on the shoulder. “You need to learn how to change jobs!”
“I’ll take you to the rest area on the upper level,” Sentinel-I continued. “Take a shower and change your clothes before you leave.”
The remaining people’s faces turned green.
Surely it wasn’t going to make them bathe in a sulfuric acid pool, right?
The more they looked at this place, the more it resembled a contaminated zone. They had heard that only contaminated zones had all sorts of rules that couldn’t be disobeyed—rules where breaking them meant certain death.
The town mayor had gotten them killed!
Wasn’t this supposed to be an abandoned shelter?!
Sentinel-I led them into the shower room in the rest area, then fixed its gaze firmly on Yuan Tao.
Yuan Tao had originally intended to wait for someone else to go in first and observe the situation, but when he looked at the robot’s silver-white faceplate, he swallowed.
Yuan Tao asked, “I really have to go?”
Sentinel-I raised a hand.
“You really don’t want to?”
“I’ll go, I’ll go! I’m going right now!”
Yuan Tao walked into the shower room with the solemn determination of someone heading to his death, only to discover that the things inside…
How did it feel like they might, perhaps, possibly, be even better than the ones in the town mayor’s house?
He had never actually showered at the town mayor’s place, but even the mayor could only use Grade-3 contaminated water for bathing. She could only occasionally have the militia come to her house to help boil water.
But here…
This was simply too luxurious!!
Far too luxurious!!
What was he seeing?!
Clear, transparent water!
It wasn’t gray, black, or white, and it certainly wasn’t blue or green!
Following the prompt, Yuan Tao turned on the faucet on the wall. Clear water immediately poured over him, soaking his equipment. He hurriedly fumbled to take it all off.
After testing the water and finding that it caused no burning sensation or anything else strange, the very first thing Yuan Tao did was open his mouth beneath the stream and drink until his stomach was full.
Even if this really was a contaminated zone, just being able to enjoy something like this once would make his entire life worthwhile, even if he died afterward.
On the Wasteland, water was divided into four grades.
Grade-4 water was contaminated water that was best avoided under any circumstances. It could contain radiation, pollutants, bacteria, parasite eggs, and other hazards. It usually came from bodies of water in heavily contaminated core zones, pools of rainwater from corrosive rain, surface water infiltrated by high concentrations of pollutants, or puddles in areas where mutants and aberrant creatures gathered.
If Grade-4 contaminated water was purified and only a small amount was consumed, there was still a chance of surviving after being treated. But once too much was consumed, there was nothing to do but go down and join one’s ancestors.
Unpurified Grade-4 water could be used directly as poison.
Grade-3 water consisted of mildly contaminated surface water—such as rivers and lakes—unfiltered rainwater, and water produced by some unstable purification facilities. It contained trace amounts of radiation and toxins. Long-term consumption required taking radiation-removal medicine; otherwise, there was a high probability of developing radiation sickness.
Only the poorest people on the Wasteland drank this kind of water. As for the chronic illnesses caused by long-term consumption…
Most of them wouldn’t live long enough to see those illnesses develop anyway.
Grade-2 water consisted of lightly contaminated surface water and rainwater that had undergone multiple rounds of filtration and neutralization. It was routinely produced by large-scale purification facilities or filtered through the roots of certain mutated plants.
Large survivor bases and towns surrounding shelters used Grade-2 water as their standard water for daily life and drinking.
It was said that inside those shelters, Grade-2 water was merely used for everyday purposes, while the water they normally drank was Grade-1 water—pure water without any contamination or toxins whatsoever.
And what was he doing right now?!
He was bathing in pure water!
How could anyone be this extravagant?!
If the shower facilities hadn’t had a fifteen-minute countdown timer, he really might have been tempted to stay inside forever.
After Yuan Tao came out, he noticed that Lin Xiao was nowhere to be seen.
He asked the other two, and they told him that Lin Xiao had already gone in to shower.
As for Sentinel-I, it was standing guard outside the door.
“What was it like inside? Was it terrifying?” one of them asked nervously, bouncing his leg.
“I’ve heard that some shelters have already turned into contaminated zones. People who accidentally enter them become employees after eating the food inside, drinking the water, or using certain things there. And those employees keep working day and night, never able to leave again.”
The man wearing round-framed glasses was the team’s data analyst. At this moment, he said in a trembling, tearful voice, “I don’t want to die yet…”
“I’ve seen people who entered contaminated chemical plants before. They were practically skin and bones, yet they were still working desperately to meet their performance quotas,” another person said gravely. “If being interviewed is a necessary condition for becoming contaminated, then we have to make sure we fail the interview.”
“But failing the interview could very well lead to even more serious consequences. Are you willing to gamble on that?” Yuan Tao tugged at his brand-new collar. “Because I’m not.”
His own clothes were currently being washed and dried. The clothes he was wearing now had been provided by the shelter for outsiders. They were grayish-white and made him look surprisingly refreshed.
At this point, he even felt that passing the interview might not be such a bad thing.
What was the town mayor compared to this?
A person had to change jobs to survive!
He even glanced at the Sentinel robot standing by the door from the corner of his eye before lecturing the two people in front of him:
“Do you have any idea what a huge opportunity this is?”
“Opportunities to enter a shelter don’t come easily. You should be grateful!”
“You’re young and already don’t want to work. Young people these days, honestly!”
Yuan Tao lectured them for quite a while before suddenly remembering that there was still someone he hadn’t seen.
“Oh, right. Where’s Bei You?”
……
Bei You was dying.
Author’s Note:
The update time will temporarily be 12:00 noon sharp. (Runs away with a patter of little footsteps.)