Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 160

During breakfast, Yu Xi had already asked most of the questions she wanted to clarify.
Her primary concern was whether the system’s sudden appearance in the mission world would cause any unintended consequences, especially given how frail he seemed.
“It does consume energy, and I can’t use too many abilities. Besides, this body is already weak to begin with…” he explained. In the System Tower’s setup, taskers’ health statuses override the original inhabitant’s condition upon arrival. This standardization ensures a level playing field for all taskers.
However, this means the taskers’ arrival often feels overwhelming to the original inhabitants.
Some inhabitants’ consciousnesses are immediately removed, leaving their bodies completely to the taskers. These consciousnesses, or rather, consciousness entities, are absorbed by the System Tower, and if selected for binding, they become new taskers and are sent to other mission worlds.
Others might persist within their bodies but experience different outcomes based on the taskers’ actions. For example, if a tasker kills an inhabitant’s family to simplify their mission, the inhabitant’s consciousness might suffer irreversible damage and slowly dissipate, unable to accept the tragedy.
A rare few retain their consciousnesses, entering a dormant state. Upon the tasker’s departure, they have a chance to reclaim their bodies through sheer willpower, as seen with Qu Yichen in the storm world.
“So, why did you suddenly enter this mission world this time?” Yu Xi asked, still feeling astonished as she watched him calmly using chopsticks and a spoon to eat breakfast.
Was it because he had accessed Yu Zhengqing’s memories that this “artificial intelligence system” could eat like a real person? Or perhaps he wasn’t merely an artificial intelligence after all.
“Previously, I failed to help you connect to the Fragment World. Now, you’re in a mid-to-high-level biochemical apocalypse mission, and the System Tower has set its sights on you. I had to do something,” he explained.
He couldn’t always rely on her. While Yu Xi might feel that she had benefited from his assistance in her original world, he knew their dynamic was unequal. She was never the one pushed to her limits or left with no options.
“Thank you,” Yu Xi said sincerely. With a slight movement of her fingers, a bowl of freshly cut fruit—raspberries, blueberries, apple chunks, and cherries drizzled with honey—appeared in front of him.
She had noticed that in the cold dish on the table, he had eaten all the cucumbers, leaving the black fungus untouched. He had also chosen porridge with vegetables as his main dish.
It seemed her system was a bit picky, favoring fruits and vegetables…
The man stared at the fruit bowl for a moment, then silently pushed the cold dish aside and pulled the fruit bowl closer.
“Maybe you should head back after breakfast,” Yu Xi suggested. “Luo Rui was stabbed through the heart. Even if he has some way to keep himself alive, his capabilities will have significantly diminished. Besides, I’ve been on guard against him all along. This is a mission world. If the System Tower detects you…”
Her system had already warned her, and she had been prepared. The moment she felt the danger behind her in the desert, she began to suspect “Kong Lin.” If he were just an ordinary person or held no hostility, her body wouldn’t have issued an automatic alert.
Moreover, his behavior didn’t add up. He had claimed her face was important to him, yet someone like Lin Wu had chosen to silently protect her, and Ya Tong had recognized her with direct questions. Luo Rui, however, acted with vigilance and covert observation, indicating he already knew she was a tasker.
How had he known? The answer was obvious now.
“They won’t detect me,” he replied while eating his fruit. “This body was already on the brink of death, which means it’s essentially disappearing from this world. The System Tower won’t notice.”
This was similar to the Acid Rain World. Bodies that were close to death or had just died could be slightly altered without drawing attention.
Of course, there were costs. Entering such a body consumed significant energy, and once inside, he experienced the body’s pain and limitations, rendering most of his abilities unusable. Occasionally using abilities could even cause side effects, such as fainting. Essentially, he remained in a weakened state throughout his time in this world.
But there were clear advantages.
“With me here, you won’t need to constantly divide your attention to care for others. I can still protect myself. As long as this body remains safe, your mission won’t encounter issues.”
He paused, seemingly weighing something, before continuing, “Besides, this isn’t my first apocalypse world. You don’t need to worry too much. I can handle myself.”
Yu Xi raised her eyebrows. “…Huh?”
When she didn’t respond further, he sighed and elaborated, “The underground laboratory in the Acid Rain World.”
Yu Xi froze.
She remembered now. During that foggy moment in the Acid Rain World, the golden protective shield covering her and “Feng Xu” had indeed been pale gold. She had always assumed Lin Wu had saved her. But it turned out the one who had saved her was her own system?
Back then, he had maintained that protective shield for over 30 hours. Given how using his abilities now left him so weak, how had he managed it?
No wonder he had seemed unusually mechanical for some time afterward. He must have overexerted himself, leaving him unable to function fully, allowing other mechanical systems to temporarily take over.
“So it was you,” Yu Xi sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” At the very least, she could have thanked him.
“It wasn’t a big deal. It’s not important,” he replied.
Yu Xi moved efficiently, mindful not to let the system overexert itself. After breakfast, they discussed their plans for the remainder of the mission. While staying at the hospital was an option for the short term, it was clear they couldn’t linger until the city was completely overrun by infected. She wanted to ensure that, when the system left, Yu Zhengqing could live out his remaining days in relative safety.
Given the official announcements and preparations for evacuation shelters, they speculated that inland areas, which had not yet experienced widespread outbreaks, might be safer. For now, they decided to observe for a few days before committing to an evacuation plan.
In the meantime, they began gathering all the medical supplies and medications Yu Zhengqing might need. The hospital, being one of the earliest sites of infection in the city, was relatively contained thanks to its isolation wall. While the hospital wasn’t devoid of infection, the early quarantine and warnings to patients to stay put had limited the spread.
Yu Xi, now accompanied by the system, felt more confident about clearing the hospital. Despite his weakened state, the system had strong self-preservation instincts and heightened danger perception, which made him a reliable ally.
Wearing protective gear, Yu Xi equipped herself with a Tang knife and a tri-edged dagger while carrying a backpack. They started from the eighth floor and worked upward to the rooftop, inspecting each room.
The tenth floor, housing premium private rooms, was nearly deserted. Only two rooms had been occupied, and all the patients and medical staff were deceased. In one room, there were clear signs that a child had been among the victims. Yu Xi found a photo of the patient with a young girl in a wallet, confirming that the evolved infected individual she had encountered earlier had been this girl.
Yu Xi thoroughly emptied one of the premium rooms of its specialized equipment, including monitoring devices, patient-specific beds, wheelchairs, and bathing aids, and stored everything in her Star House storage.
The sixth through ninth floors consisted of private rooms with a roughly 30% occupancy rate. Each floor had a medical station staffed by three medical personnel. The ninth floor, being closest to the tenth, suffered the heaviest casualties, with many individuals killed at their doorsteps, likely when opening their doors unprepared.
The eighth, seventh, and sixth floors fared slightly better. Three medical personnel had survived by barricading themselves in windowless restrooms. These restrooms, equipped with beds and cabinets, allowed them to fortify the doors and wait out the danger. While they were unharmed, they were visibly shaken, and two of them were stained with blood, though they had no injuries.
Yu Xi conducted a thorough examination, isolating them in clean rooms with some food and water. Based on her knowledge of blood-infection patterns, she planned to observe them for two days to see if symptoms of the second stage of infection would emerge. If they didn’t transform, it would suggest that blood contact alone wasn’t sufficient for transmission without specific conditions like open wounds or ingestion.
Some rooms on these floors were heavily barricaded, likely by survivors. Yu Xi knocked on one such door but received no response. Respecting their desire to remain isolated, she chose not to force the issue. She understood that those inside might either be uninfected or in the early stages of infection, retaining some rationality. She had no intention of taking on leadership responsibilities or turning the hospital into a stronghold.
By the afternoon, Yu Xi had cleared most of the building. Along the way, she saved five or six more medical personnel and eliminated over a dozen fully evolved blood ghouls. These infected were often hiding under beds or in wardrobes, lying dormant until her presence triggered an attack.
In rooms without surveillance and far from other people, Yu Xi didn’t hold back. Her strikes were precise and deadly, targeting either the head or heart of the infected. The saved medical personnel, luckily free of blood contamination, were instructed on the whereabouts of the other survivors and given keys to two secure rooms for coordinated observation and care.
Finally, Yu Xi moved to secure the hospital further. The underground parking lot was expansive, and the section beneath the inpatient building provided potential vulnerabilities. From the security room, she located the elevator keys and temporarily locked the elevator. She also shut the front and back entrances of the building, adding an extra layer of protection.
With the inpatient building secured, Yu Xi returned to the private room. The system was resting on the sofa, still recovering from earlier exertion.
“Not bad for the first day,” Yu Xi muttered to herself, glancing at the locked entrance doors. With a safer environment established, she could now focus on preparing for the next steps in their mission.
Afterward, Yu Xi headed to the pharmacy. Initially planning to disable the surveillance from the security room, the man walking beside her stopped her.
He raised his hand, and several thin, coin-sized golden light disks fell from his palm. These disks traveled silently through blind spots in the cameras’ view, swiftly severing the connections to all nearby surveillance.
Yu Xi took inspiration from this and thought she could use ice shards to achieve a similar effect in the future. However, the potential for oversight with this method made her prefer the assurance of cutting surveillance at its source in the security room.
“Don’t worry, all cameras nearby are disabled,” he reassured her, standing beside her calmly.
With that reassurance, Yu Xi proceeded to collect the medications, cross-referencing them with what the nurse had previously provided. She stocked a full year’s supply of daily doses, IV fluids, and injectable drugs, ensuring that Yu Zhengqing had everything he needed despite the grim prognosis of only a few months left to live. Yu Xi hoped for more time.
Lastly, considering the unbearable pain many terminal cancer patients endure, she also took several doses of euthanasia medication. While her native world discouraged such measures, this world’s medical ethics allowed patients the freedom to choose their own fate in terminal stages, granting them the right to decide without interference from loved ones. Yu Xi decided to leave that choice to Yu Zhengqing.
Once the medical supplies were secured, Yu Xi focused on repairing the inpatient building. Several windows were broken—the tenth floor’s stairwell damaged by Lou Rui’s escape, the ninth floor’s stairwell compromised by her High Temperature Perfume, and numerous first-floor windows shattered. These repairs had to be completed before sunset to prevent the blood ghouls from reentering the building at night.
She began by dismantling wooden furniture to craft repair strips. Watching her work for a while, the man stepped forward, took the axe from her, and attempted to replicate her actions.
With a loud
thud
, the axe lodged into the wooden cabinet, creating only a shallow crack. He tugged at the axe but couldn’t free it.
The system: …
Yu Xi: …
Silent for a moment, he extended a golden light blade about five to six centimeters long from his fingertip. Bending down, he neatly sliced the cabinet into planks with a few smooth cuts.
Yu Xi covered her face with her hand. “…It’s just a cabinet. You don’t need to waste energy on this.”
The noise of repairs eventually attracted the attention of survivors who had barricaded themselves inside locked rooms. Observing from a safe distance, they cautiously emerged. They saw bloodied infected corpses in other rooms, the vigilant medics guarding two separate rooms, and finally, Yu Xi repairing glass windows.
Stunned, the survivors wondered if the rescue team had arrived. How else could the building have become so secure in such a short time?
When they learned from the medics that it wasn’t a rescue team but just Yu Xi and her companion, their emotions were mixed—relieved by the newfound safety yet anxious about the encroaching nightfall. Without enough time to leave for the evacuation zones, they realized they would have to endure another terrifying night in the building.
As darkness approached, the survivors gathered in a third-floor operating room. Windowless and soundproof, it was an ideal spot to discuss their plans moving forward. A medic who had spoken with Yu Xi invited her to join them, but she declined, expressing no interest in group actions or plans.
Instead, Yu Xi returned to the eighth floor to pack her belongings and then moved to the tenth floor, choosing one of the most well-equipped rooms furthest from any corpses as her temporary shelter.
That evening, Yu Xi brought out a hot pot. Considering the system’s apparent preference for lighter flavors, she opted for a mild Cantonese-style broth and an array of fresh, tender vegetables.
The man across from her ate quietly as usual, but this time his pace was noticeably faster.
Smiling, Yu Xi brought out another fruit bowl—strawberries, cherry tomatoes, peeled oranges, and cantaloupe—pushing it toward him.
The system: …
By sunset, all survivors had drawn their curtains, locked their doors, and extinguished every light.
The blood-soaked night began once more. In the apocalyptic world, the hope of a peaceful night’s rest was nothing but a luxury.
In the middle of the night, Yu Xi was awakened by sounds coming from the lower levels near the main entrance of the inpatient building.