Chapter 80: Midnight
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Nothing is free. Who doesn’t risk their lives in this era?”
This remark silenced everyone. The armed forces of the military needed to take the initiative to attack, yet they could suffer heavy casualties. Ordinary people might be dragged into the mysterious land at any time and be attacked by evil spirits. This was indeed a dangerous era.
Shaking his head and dismissing his thoughts, Squad Leader Zhang, who had seen many casualties, quickly adjusted his att.i.tude and said, “Leave 30% as the team’s compensation payment. Let’s distribute the rest based on credit.”
The distribution was carried out by Squad Leader Zhang. He was indeed an upright person. As a soldier, he would take the lead in combat, so the distribution was fair.
The only exception was that he gave too much to Lin Yao.
“1,000 is too much. I only need 500.”
“You are very useful to us. You definitely deserve more than 500…”
“But I am in very little danger. I was in the middle when we went out to catch the freaks, and all of you protected me from danger. Besides, I don’t need to take part in combat. I won’t encounter any danger at all.”
“Who says so? Without the Deafening Thunder Roar, Li Shan, Wen Chang, and I would have been seriously injured.”
After arguing a bit, Lin Yao was finally a.s.signed 800 merit points.
Upon gaining 800 merit points despite his protest, Lin Yao was reminded of what Squad Leader Zhang had just said.
‘Without the Deafening Thunder Roar, Squad Leader Zhang might have suffered a hard blow and Li Shan would have been smashed like a gopher. However, Squad Leader Zhang mentioned that they would have gotten seriously injured. He did not say that they would have died. Could they have treasures or abilities to resist the freak rules?’
Lin Yao had his doubts but nodded in answer to his own question.
‘They must. As warlords, they must have something special to save their lives.’
After the distribution of the materials, Lin Yao was about to prepare everyone to attack again when a bell rang from outside the door.
Upon hearing that noise, the crowd shrank in the room, abandoning the idea of going out. The team that had gone out also hurried back.
Lin Yao was stunned for a moment before he directed his questions to the policewoman, Wen Chang.
“What’s going on? Why aren’t we going out anymore?”
“It’s already midnight.”
“Huh?”
Seeing that Lin Yao looked confused, the policewoman said, “You should know that the freaks do not kill outright. They obey the rules to kill people because of the suppression of the world or the suppression caused by human kindness. This kind of suppression is the strongest in the daytime, and that is when we strike. After midnight, the rules of the mysterious land have the upper hand. All the freaks in the mysterious land will unlock one or two restrictions. This is the most dangerous moment, and the country does not encourage us to clear the mysterious land of freaks at this time.”
“I didn’t know that there was a time limit in this dungeon.”
Lin Yao was shocked by the policewoman’s words. However, there were more to come.
“Our task right now is to reduce the influence of the mysterious land and prevent it from causing harm to reality. If there are no major changes, we won’t have to put up a desperate fight for now. There will come a time when we can completely eliminate it. That is the anniversary of the day when the nation was founded and the army was formed. That is the day all the people of China will remember forever, and everyone will have the strongest willpower that day. The country will also hold a large-scale military parade. The people of China will watch the parade, and the people’s willpower will overwhelm everything. The mysterious land will be affected as well. We will then use this opportunity to completely clean up the mysterious land.”
‘What is this, a holiday celebration?’
Although he was complaining to himself, Lin Yao also agreed with what police officer Wen Chang was saying. It was reasonable. After all, the mysterious land was different from beasts. It was illusory. The confrontation between spirit and will was very important. That day, the willpower of China was indeed at its strongest. It was the best decision to strike on that day.
This was similar to novels about people cultivating to become immortals. The Yang Qi was the highest during the Double Ninth Festival1 and was most suitable for killing demons.
Lin Yao rested while chatting with the policewoman. He felt helpless when he sensed that the vital energy seed had yet to be recovered one to two hours after he’d used it.
‘Without the sun, I cannot last long.’
Then, Lin Yao realized something very tragic. He had become the Solaire of Astora1.
During the day, with the blessing of the Armored Body Of Light, his endurance, recovery, cultivation speed, and even his combat abilities had increased tremendously. However, at night, especially at midnight, he seemed to wither.
Although he was not weak, his strength was very different from how it was in the daytime.
After getting a real sense of his physical strength, Lin Yao also understood why the armed personnel here only fought for half a day.
One of the reasons was that the freaks were more powerful at midnight. Another reason was that low-level martial artists were also humans, so they would get tired and need to rest. This was especially so if low-level martial artists consumed their vital energy seeds in the day. They would need time to replenish and recover. This was why it was impossible for these fighters to fight for an entire day and night like the heroes in games.
‘It is indeed a good practice to fight in the first half of the night and rest in the second half of the night.’
With this thought in mind, Lin Yao slowly fell asleep. However, before he fell asleep, he also made a decision.
‘I have four opportunities to apply for gold resources (three opportunities given by the country and one opportunity given by the city) and one opportunity to apply for diamond resources (given by the city). When I go out tomorrow, I will exchange them for resources that can increase one’s combat and defense abilities.
‘The most tragic thing in life is that one might have money left but already be dead. I don’t want to suffer the same fate as my predecessor, who worked hard to save a few thousand yuan but died without spending a single cent.’
…
He slept until dawn. When he woke up the next day, Lin Yao felt something soft in his arms. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that the two children, Xiaomeng and Xiaofei, were sleeping in his arms.
‘These two little kids…’
Shaking his head, Lin Yao looked around but realized that he was still in the hall of the haunted house.
However, he could not see any resources in the haunted house. The boss of the haunted house, who held a sledgehammer in his hand, was gone as well. All he saw was the abandoned haunted house.
At the same time, Lin Yao also discovered that the fog outside the haunted house had disappeared.
‘Have we left the mysterious land?’
As Lin Yao was thinking to himself, a.n.a.lyzing what had just happened, he could hear hurried footsteps coming from outside. Looking around, Lin Yao saw that a large group of medical personnel was rushing over with stretchers and many soldiers were guarding the house.
Fortunately, the state’s armed personnel was also in the house, and some of the soldiers who were on the night watch stepped forward to find out what was going on.
“I see that you have woken up. We will need to take your statement later. We have to erase the memory of these two children, as well as the rest of them.”
“Got it.”
There seemed to be something horrifying in the mysterious land that could not be made known to the public. Lin Yao had found out about this yesterday.
“Captain Li, when will you come in tonight? Let’s go in together.”
Li Shan smiled upon hearing Lin Yao’s words. He had a relieved smile on his face. Not everyone dared to enter the mysterious land to kill the enemy. Lin Yao was a brave, responsible, and capable young man who would naturally be loved by the frontline fighters.
However, he did not immediately answer Lin Yao’s question. Instead, he said, “I can’t make a decision on this matter. I need to report to the higher-ups. You can wait for their answer.”
“I will also report to the higher-ups.”
The policewoman and 10 other teams had woken up as well. Nearly 200 people gathered in the haunted house. Everyone had had a good night’s sleep but had been awakened by the conversation between Li Shan and Lin Yao.
Li Shan smiled in reply. “Why don’t you forget about reporting to the higher-ups? I will do the same.”
“Ha ha.”
The policewoman rolled her eyes at Li Shan with a smile on her face.
They would not be reporting to their superiors merely to seek permission for Lin Yao to enter the mysterious land again. They also wanted to let the superiors know that Lin Yao was a genius.
Although China was generally united, even brothers needed to settle their accounts, not to mention different departments.
Everyone wanted their own department to be stronger. In this dangerous world, a strong department meant that it would be easier for them to seek reinforcements, and it would also be easier for them to survive. To be stronger, having talent was necessary.
For this reason, Li Shan, who had been born a night watchman, hoped to report Lin Yao’s abilities to his superior so that Lin Yao could join him as a night guardsman.
The same applied to Wen Chang. Although Squad Leader Zhang, who had woken up, did not say anything, he had also decided to report Lin Yao’s abilities to his superior.
“There are a lot of talented people. However, there are not many people who are talented, dare to fight, and are brave enough. We must make sure that these people join the team.”