Chapter 73: Three Days Later

"You’re sure you want to leave already?"

The doctor stood beside the bed, going through the examination report.

"You have fractures on both sides of your skull, with some fragmentation around the impact site. The index and middle fingers on your right hand have been reattached, but you won’t be able to put much force through them for a while. As for the left..."

Lin Yan’s left hand was wrapped in thick bandages from the wrist to the palm. Of the five fingers that had once been there, only his thumb remained.

He tried moving it.

Still worked.

"I’m fine. It’s not that bad."

The doctor stopped trying to convince him and pushed the discharge papers over.

"If you insist, sign here. Your follow-up dates are all on the form."

Lin Yan pinned the pen against the side of his palm with his right thumb and awkwardly scratched out his name.

It was the third day since the Convergence ended, and he was finally leaving the hospital.

The Federation had sent over a loose tracksuit for him to wear. At two hundred and ten centimeters tall, with a build far broader and heavier than an ordinary person’s, Lin Yan should have looked intimidating. But with his head wrapped in bandages and both hands covered from the wrists to the fingertips, he ended up looking more ridiculous than threatening.

During his two days in the hospital, Lin Yan had already gone over the results from this Convergence and rearranged his Traits, equipping the ones that could help with recovery.

[Trollblood I]

[Minor Regeneration I]

[Vitality I]

Trollblood enhanced his physical capabilities as a whole, which naturally included his body’s ability to recover. Combined with Minor Regeneration and Vitality, the effect was far stronger than using any of them alone.

Lin Yan had personally accounted for seventy-five percent of the total contribution in this Convergence, earning 75,000 Contribution Points and easily taking first place again.

For the settlement reward, he had made the same choice as last time: another full-body enhancement. His physical capabilities had improved across the board once more.

Combined with the best medical treatment the Federation could provide, that was enough to get him out of bed and discharged on the third day.

During that time, Claire had also told him that the neighborhood around his apartment had been caught in the fighting two days earlier. Large sections were still sealed off for cleanup, and the full extent of the damage had yet to be assessed. The Federation had already prepared temporary housing and a ride for him, but Lin Yan turned down both. He wanted to go back and see the place himself before deciding what to do.

Standing outside the hospital, Lin Yan used his phone, its screen covered in cracks, to call a ride.

The thing was surprisingly hard to kill. It had been through everything with him, even getting blasted more than ten meters through the air, and somehow it still worked.

A gray sedan pulled up by the curb a little over ten minutes later.

Lin Yan had just opened the front passenger door when the driver gestured toward the back.

"Mind sitting in the back? I’ve got something up front."

A rifle lay across the passenger seat.

In the past, leaving a gun sitting openly inside a car like that probably would’ve gotten someone reported. But with Convergences becoming more frequent, monster attacks on the rise, and crime spreading with the chaos, carrying a gun in the car had more or less become tolerated.

Lin Yan shut the door, ducked his head, and squeezed into the back seat.

"Last four?"

Lin Yan gave him the numbers.

The driver confirmed the ride and glanced at the destination.

"You live around there?"

"Yeah."

"Some huge monster showed up there a couple days ago. Heard the roads are still blocked. Might be hard to get in."

"It’s fine. Just drive."

More than forty minutes later, the car stopped two blocks short of the destination.

Barricades sealed off the road ahead.

"This is as far as I can take you."

Lin Yan paid the fare, got out, and continued on foot. A few minutes later, he reached the apartment building he had been renting from.

A little over half of it was still standing.

"...Well, shit."

He called Mrs. Dawson. The phone had barely rung twice before she picked up.

"Lin? Jesus Christ, thank God. I’ve been trying to reach you for days. I thought something happened to you."

"Went back home for a few days. Bad signal."

"That explains it." Mrs. Dawson let out a breath of relief. "You’ve seen the building already, right? Your room is gone too. I’ll sort out your deposit and refund whatever’s left of this month’s rent."

"Don’t bother. Consider it making up for all the cheap rent you’ve given me over the years."

"Lin—"

"Really, don’t worry about it." Lin Yan looked at the half-destroyed apartment building in front of him. "Thanks for looking after me all these years."

There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a helpless sigh.

"...You kid. Come back and visit sometime."

"I will. Take care of yourself too."

After hanging up, Lin Yan found Claire’s number and called her.

She picked up almost immediately.

"That temporary place you mentioned before. Is the offer still good?"

There was a brief pause on the other end.

"Of course. Where are you?"

"Outside my apartment building."

"I’ll come pick you up."

...

Aurelia Federal District, Ravenwood Residential Area.

The neighborhood sat northwest of the capital, roughly ten kilometers from the central district. Several kilometers farther west were a Federation training ground and a rapid-response base.

At first glance, Ravenwood looked no different from any other upscale residential community. The difference was that there were no ordinary security guards. Every entrance was staffed by armed Federation personnel, and surveillance cameras covered the public areas.

Claire brought Lin Yan through the security checkpoint and into a lakeside high-rise.

The Federation had arranged a spacious top-floor apartment for him. One entire wall of the living room was made up of floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the landscaped grounds and the lake at the center of the neighborhood. The apartment was already fully furnished, all the daily necessities had been prepared, and several sets of clothes in his current size had even been delivered in advance.

Lin Yan walked around the apartment once and couldn’t help commenting, "This is what you call temporary housing?"

"If you want, you can stay here permanently." Claire handed him the access card. "These apartments were originally prepared for people the Federation has designated for priority development. The people living here are all among the best performers from the Convergences."

"No wonder the security’s so tight."

Lin Yan took the card.

The location had clearly been chosen with care. Ravenwood sat between the center of the capital and several Federation facilities. If someone here ever lost control, they wouldn’t immediately hit the most densely populated part of the city, while nearby rapid-response units could still arrive within minutes.

Claire walked over to the refrigerator and took out a silver-gray cooling case.

"There’s also this. Compensation for the bear."

She opened the case. A single metal injector was secured inside.

"This is a first-generation strength enhancer." Claire took out the injector. "It’s the Federation’s first-generation enhancement drug made from otherworld biological materials. This version only affects muscular strength. In standardized strength tests, an average adult gains around fifty kilograms after one injection, though the exact result varies from person to person."

"So far, we haven’t found any serious side effects. The known reactions are mostly increased appetite, hair loss, or increased body hair, and they’re usually mild. Compared to the enhancement itself, they’re basically negligible."

Claire held the injector against the outside of her thigh.

"Inject it directly into the muscle. Thigh or upper arm, either works."

"Keep it refrigerated. Once you take it out, use it as soon as possible. Don’t let it warm up and then put it back in the fridge repeatedly."

She returned the injector to the cooling case and closed the lid.

"Happy with the compensation?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Claire nodded. "Oh, right. One more thing."

She took a black phone from her pocket and handed it to him.

There was no brand logo anywhere on it. Once it powered on, only a handful of simple icons appeared on the home screen.

"This is your dedicated Federation terminal. Bounties, anomalous events, and some internal assignments will be sent here from now on. Complete them and you’ll earn Merit Points, which you can exchange for equipment, enhancement drugs, and other things that aren’t available to the public."

"There’s also an internal forum. Access is currently limited to Convergence participants, ability users, and related personnel. If you want to know what’s been happening lately, you’ll find out faster there than from the news."

Lin Yan took the phone.

"Got it."

"I’ll let you rest, then."

After Claire left, Lin Yan went into the bedroom and dropped onto the bed, his entire body sinking into the soft mattress.

"Damn, this is comfortable..."

He had never slept on a bed this comfortable in his life. Even the pillows and blankets felt expensive.

After lying there for a while, Lin Yan decided he’d rested enough. Time to get down to business.

There was still one reward from the Convergence settlement he hadn’t chosen.

He opened Earth Defense Settlement.