After wandering around for a while, the five returned to the residence.
Ying was sitting on the bed swinging her legs. After thinking for a moment, she spoke, "Little brother, come here, I have something to tell you."
Upon hearing this, Wang Zhi didn't overthink it and walked straight over.
When he reached Ying's side, he suddenly sensed something was wrong and tried to leave, but it was too late.
Ying abruptly pulled him onto the bed, one arm wrapped around his neck, while the other hand waved the Dagger in front of his eyes.
Seeing this, Wang Zhi asked somewhat nervously, "What's wrong, Sister Ying...."
"Huh? There seems to be a crack on my Dagger?" Ying suddenly spoke up.
Wang Zhi heard Ying's words and shifted his gaze back to the Dagger in front of him.
Damn it, it's perfectly clean, where is there a crack? But since Sister Ying said so, if he claimed there wasn't one, he would seem rather obtuse.
"Mm... it does look like there's a crack. Perhaps... we should replace it with a new one?" Wang Zhi tentatively suggested.
"Won't that be too wasteful?" Ying said in a peculiar tone.
"A good blade deserves a good sheath; it's not a waste!"
"Mmm... I'll listen to my younger brother then." Ying chuckled.
Wang Zhi saw that Ying had let go of him and was about to get up, but unexpectedly, her legs were placed over his lap again.
"Sister Ying, this..."
"I've been tired from working outside for a few days, my legs are sore. Help Sister rub them," Ying said languidly while lying on the bed.
"...."
Sore legs? What a joke. Weren't his legs sore too? Who was going to rub his?!
Despite his thoughts, Wang Zhi eventually placed his hands on Ying's legs and began to knead them.
"Mmm.... Your technique is quite professional. It's a pity you didn't become a massage therapist," Ying praised him.
Wang Zhi's face was now completely dark: some people look glamorous on the surface, being a Captain. But behind the scenes, he was a massage therapist?
"A little lower, yes, right there."
"Is this pressure alright?"
"Mm, just right."
After Wang Zhi finished serving, he simply washed up, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep.
...
In the dead of night, Wang Zhi woke up from a nightmare. He dreamed that his comrades beside him turned into Zombies one after another and charged toward him. Thus, Wang Zhi awoke in sorrow and fear.
Turning on the bedside lamp, Wang Zhi saw that the others were still resting.
"Ugh, how long did I sleep?" Fatty mumbled after being awakened by Wang Zhi's movement.
Inside the tower, there was no distinction between Day and Night; besides a date recording the time of Dawn, no one paid attention to whether it was 3 AM or 4 PM. They slept when tired, and worked and trained when awake.
"I don't know. I had a nightmare. Let's get up; come with me to buy some food." Wang Zhi shook his head and got out of bed.
After going to the dining hall with Fatty, Wang Zhi ordered many steamed buns and five portions of millet porridge, totaling 10 Survival Points.
Returning to the residence, the others were still resting. They had been extremely tired these past few days. Once they returned to a safe place, the tension in their nerves relaxed, resulting in such deep sleep. If they were outside, even the slightest sound would make them immediately open their eyes and become vigilant of their surroundings.
When everyone woke up and gathered around the table to eat, Wang Zhi spoke: "Now, let's discuss our plan. Each of us needs to spend 12 hours in the training ground every day. Regardless of whether we are training or not, we must stay there to log time. This is the only way to earn more Survival Points to maintain the operation of our team."
After Wang Zhi finished speaking, he took out five items resembling earphones from his backpack and placed them on the table.
"This radio is specially made by Dawn Tower. It can receive signals up to 10 kilometers away, and it works without any network, usable anywhere. For the other party to receive your message, you must be on the same channel. Finally, press this button to speak, and everyone else on the same frequency can hear you," Wang Zhi explained to the others.
"Hello, hello, can you hear me?" Fatty picked up a radio to test it.
The others nodded, indicating the earpieces were fine.
"Good. Ling Lingyao, check the mission status," Wang Zhi asked, opening the Ling Lingyao device.
[Current Missions: One, accumulate 12 hours of personal training to gain 10 Survival Points. Two, External Missions, remaining mandatory acceptance time: 28 days and 16 hours.]
"Hmm... check the transaction status," Wang Zhi said.
[One piece of intelligence has been sold so far, generating 90 points.]
"Oh, business came quickly," Ying remarked.
"Wow, with so many teams out there, if each team bought one copy of our external intelligence, wouldn't we be rich? We could have big fish and big meat every meal then!" Fatty said excitedly.
"You're thinking too much. They will organize several teams to buy one copy of our intelligence and share it. It'll be good enough if we can sell a few copies," Wang Zhi replied.
"Now that we've eaten, everyone go train. Fatty, train hard. We might not be so lucky on the next external mission," Wang Zhi said before standing up and leaving.
On the way, Wang Zhi was not entirely reassured about Fatty's self-discipline, so he spoke to Old He: "Old He, when you have time, you can guide Fatty a bit. Don't let him drag us down; just drill him relentlessly."
"Sure, I'm actually pretty good at training people," Old He chuckled.
"Sister Ying, please also look after Jia Liuli. Although her knife skills are good, she still lacks knowledge and operation skills for firearms."
"Heh, seeing as you gave me a leg massage, I'll reluctantly agree," Ying replied.
Arriving at the training hall, people were training at all hours. Firstly, they could earn Survival Points; secondly, they could enhance their own abilities; thirdly, they were preparing for upcoming external missions.
"Hey, have you heard? That Level Three team, the Former Dynasty, went out yesterday!"
"Heard about it! I specifically went to the first floor yesterday to watch them leave. Tsk tsk, the momentum, the gear. Just looking at them makes one envious!"
"I really wish I could join them, but unfortunately, team size is restricted."
"Forget it. With your build, why would they ever look at you?"
"What are you saying? Aren't you afraid the Captain will hear?"
"The Former Dynasty..." Wang Zhi, who was training nearby, overheard the discussion. This was the first time he had heard news about a Level Three team.
Some of these people had arrived here long ago. When he heard about Level Two and Level Three teams, he wasn't too surprised. After all, the Apocalypse had just begun, and the team's level only determined its size; in his view, there was no significant difference otherwise.