Lin Yijing nodded with a smile, casting a grateful glance at Xu Mo. Just as she was about to speak again, a sharp screech of a stretcher scraping against the floor suddenly rang out from behind them.
"Make way! Make way!"
Although it was common for emergency cases to arrive at the hospital, Xu Mo had never encountered such an urgent situation before. The stretcher carrying a patient was being pushed at near-racing speed by a group of doctors and nurses, completely disregarding other patients in the lobby as they charged straight toward the emergency room at the end of the hallway.
"Watch out!"
Seeing that Lin Yijing was about to be hit, Xu Mo reacted quickly, wrapping an arm around her slender waist and spinning sideways in a swift motion, narrowly avoiding the speeding stretcher by mere inches.
Damn it! Are these doctors trying to save lives or take them?
Cursing silently, Xu Mo caught a glimpse of the patient on the stretcher out of the corner of his eye, and his entire body tensed up. That pale, bloated face and that distinctive "local support for central leadership" hairstyle unmistakably marked the man's identity—it was Minister Wang from the city's propaganda department, the very same man who had nearly gotten him killed in the Apocalyptic Environment!
This guy actually survived the corpse tide?! His luck is ridiculous!
Xu Mo loathed Minister Wang to the core for first abandoning thousands of citizens to their fate and then attempting to assassinate him. He wished he could grind the man's bones to dust. But this was a public hospital—no matter how much hatred he felt, he couldn't just kill someone in broad daylight. Gritting his teeth, he could only watch as Minister Wang was wheeled into the emergency room.
"Eh? Xu Mo? Jingjing? What are you guys doing here…?"
A familiar voice interrupted Xu Mo's thoughts. Turning his head, he saw Xu Bilin standing not far away, dressed in a light yellow down jacket, staring at him with a look of disbelief.
It was only then that Xu Mo realized he was still holding Lin Yijing in his arms. He quickly let go, ending the suggestive posture before any misunderstandings could arise.
"Don't get the wrong idea—I was here to talk to Lin Yijing about something. Then, just now, an emergency stretcher rushed by, and I instinctively pulled her aside..." Xu Mo explained the entire sequence of events in one breath, even surprising himself with his eloquence.
Seeing that Xu Bilin's teasing gaze remained unconvinced, Lin Yijing had to step in and clarify the situation herself.
"What a shame," Xu Bilin pouted, feigning disappointment. "I thought my two best friends had secretly gotten together. Guess I got excited for nothing." She then raised the plastic bag in her hand, which had a takeout logo on it, stuck out her pink tongue playfully, and said, "I'm bringing breakfast to Ouyang Ning. You two carry on! Bye-bye!"
Watching Xu Bilin disappear around the staircase corner, an indescribable bitterness welled up in Xu Mo's heart. When she had accepted Ouyang Ning's pursuit, he had convinced himself to let go. And for a while, he believed he had succeeded. But after learning from Lin Yijing that Xu Bilin was Ning Ning's cousin, those buried emotions resurfaced, even stronger than before.
"Xu Mo… you like Xu Bilin, don't you?"
As they walked out of the hospital, Lin Yijing suddenly asked cautiously.
Women's intuition really is terrifyingly sharp…
Xu Mo simply smiled faintly, avoiding the question as he changed the subject. "The New Year is coming up, and there's a lot to take care of at home. I won't be able to give you the 350,000 until after the sixth. I just came to let you know so you wouldn't worry."
"Mm… thank you."
Lin Yijing had lost count of how many times she had thanked Xu Mo, but she truly didn't know how else to express her gratitude. She had many friends, but Xu Mo was the only one who sincerely helped her without expecting anything in return.
After having a simple breakfast at a nearby diner, Xu Mo escorted Lin Yijing back to the hospital before heading home.
Xu Nanshan and Liu Shuxian were about to go out to buy New Year's supplies. Seeing Xu Mo return, they wanted to bring him along, but he declined, using the excuse that he had pulled an all-nighter at HeShang's place and wanted to rest. Left with no choice, his parents let him be.
Though he had barely gotten any proper sleep in the Apocalyptic Mirage, his spirit was far stronger than an average person's after three rounds of brain capacity enhancement, so he didn't feel particularly tired. Rather than unnecessary rest, he was more concerned about one pressing issue—the matter of dealing with Minister Wang, who had escaped from the Apocalyptic Environment.
Xu Mo wasn't a bloodthirsty killer. While he had ruthlessly eliminated dozens of people in the Apocalyptic Environment—some of whom hadn't even deserved death—the years of law-abiding education still made him uncomfortable with using extreme methods to solve problems.
But there were exceptions.
For someone like Minister Wang, who had committed attempted murder against him, Xu Mo doubted the court would take his word without evidence. If he wanted to prevent this scumbag from walking free, he might have to take justice into his own hands.
So now, I'm finally considering breaking the rules… Is this right or wrong?
Xu Mo didn't want to dwell on such philosophical questions. All he knew was that murder should be repaid with murder, and debts should be repaid with money—that was the natural order of things.
Of course, assassinating Minister Wang couldn't be done in broad daylight. Since there were still ten-plus hours until nightfall, Xu Mo decided to put that plan on hold and instead focus on sorting through the Apocalyptic Shards he had obtained from Du Zhizhang.
After surviving in the Apocalyptic Mirage for sixty hours and enduring multiple large-scale zombie assaults, he had gathered a fair number of shards. However, after distributing some as weapons to his security team members and giving shares to Du Zhizhang and Chang Zitong, he was left with only six shards in the end.
Two red enhancement-type shards.
Two orange chain-type shards.
One green artifact-type shard.
And finally, the most valuable of them all—the second-tier blue intelligence-type shard dropped by the Female Tyrant.
It might not seem like much, but Xu Mo knew that this single second-tier blue shard was worth far more than all the first-tier shards from this entire expedition combined.
"Female Tyrant… Female Tyrant… Who would've thought…"
Holding the blue shard in his hand and examining it closely, Xu Mo couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Given the activation patterns of blue Apocalyptic Shards, this one was guaranteed to summon the terrifying Female Tyrant from the Mirage. The thought that the monster he had fought tooth and nail against—barely escaping with his life—would now become his subordinate, utterly loyal and obedient, filled him with mixed emotions.
Though blue-tier summons were usually weaker than their original versions, the Female Tyrant had been a human-shaped tank of destruction. Even a nerfed version would still be incredibly powerful.
Perhaps eager to witness his new elite warrior, Xu Mo wasted no time. He used the Spartan Short Sword to make a small cut, activating the second-tier shard.
As dim blue light flickered rapidly, a tall figure gradually materialized before him.
This newly summoned Female Tyrant was noticeably smaller than her original counterpart, standing at least half a head shorter—around 170 cm. But by human standards, she was still quite tall. Her long, snow-white hair and chilling blood-red eyes remained unchanged. However, her once mature and dignified face now bore a hint of youthful inexperience.
If the original Female Tyrant had looked like a 30-year-old femme fatale, then this version resembled a woman in her early twenties. Though slightly smaller in stature, her toned yet curvaceous physique was just as mesmerizing.
If not for the massive claws and those eerie crimson eyes, Xu Mo might have been tempted to let his hands wander.