Chapter 185: Unregistered Residents

Lin Yun pressed her lips together, knowing the system had no intention of telling her anything more.

Just then, another message came through from Song Xizheng.

Song Xizheng: "Tong Yin just got dragged onto a float by some girl in a red vest and hauled off somewhere. Strange, isn’t it? I wonder where they’re headed. Damn it, why couldn’t it have been my float they took instead!"

Song Xizheng: "Also, something seems off with Tong Yin. She looks unconscious, not making a sound at all, just letting that girl carry her away without any resistance."

After sending the message, Song Xizheng let out a heavy sigh.

Why hadn’t it been his float that got picked?

Rose glanced briefly at Tong Yin slumped in the passenger seat, sighing softly. Where was she even supposed to find an outsider willing to help? This whole situation was proving genuinely difficult.

After thinking it over, Rose decided the best she could do was bring Tong Yin somewhere safe for now.

Worried Tong Yin might suddenly wake up along the way, she fed her two more pills just to be sure.

Rose did the math — those two pills should keep her asleep for a day or two at least.

"Tong Yin, please, make it out of here safely."

She took one last long look at Tong Yin before driving the flower-covered cart back toward its usual spot.

Rose didn’t dare approach Linglan directly, worried it might jeopardize whatever plans Linglan already had in motion.

After returning the flower cart, Rose carefully wiped away any trace that she’d used it before hurrying off.

Nalan and the others searched throughout the night, yet still found no sign of the missing survivors.

Having been harassed all night without rest, Lin Yun’s frustration alone could probably have powered ten vengeful sword spirits.

She sighed, slung her backpack over one shoulder, and headed back out the door once more.

Today she needed to finish her three assigned tasks quickly and rush straight back to the shelter to finally collapse and rest.

Before she’d even reached the pirate ship to meet Song Xizheng, she crossed paths with Linglan, hurrying anxiously toward her.

The moment Linglan spotted Lin Yun, she visibly let out a breath of pure relief.

"Thank goodness, it’s so good to see you again."

"Could I possibly ask you for a favor? I’m genuinely begging you here."

Lin Yun’s brow furrowed as she studied Linglan, wondering exactly what she was up to this time.

Linglan glanced around cautiously, then pulled Lin Yun toward some quieter spot nearby.

Before long, the two of them arrived somewhere thoroughly deserted.

Linglan remained cautious the whole way, and once she’d confirmed no one else was around, she finally spoke. "I know you’ve already been to the puppet theater, and that you know about Tong Yin’s situation. I need to ask you — please take Tong Yin with you when you leave this place."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Lin Yun cut her off at once.

"No, listen — you definitely have a way to do this. If you just bring her back to your shelter with you, she could return to the transit station alongside you, and the system would surely restore her identity properly!"

"Her personal panel is still functioning perfectly fine — it’s only the system connection that’s gone. As long as she makes it back to the transit station, there’s still a genuine chance for her!"

Linglan explained excitedly that she’d already arranged for Rose to spirit Tong Yin away. All she needed now was Lin Yun’s agreement, and Tong Yin could be sent to safety.

"Have you even stopped to consider that she’s already become an unregistered resident by now?"

Lin Yun regarded Linglan with an expression that gave away nothing at all.

She couldn’t bring herself to accept bringing a stranger back to her own shelter.

The shelter was the most private place any survivor had — how could she bring an outsider back there?

Tong Yin was a person, after all, not some stray cat or dog she could simply pick up along the way.

"No, that can’t possibly be true!"

"Please, just take her with you, and I’ll hand over absolutely everything I’ve saved up over these past two years! Just take her along, that’s all I ask!"

Linglan grabbed hold of Lin Yun’s arm, well aware that this was the very last day remaining.

She’d already looked into Lin Yun’s situation and knew she’d completed two and a half days’ worth of tasks on her very first day, meaning she wouldn’t emerge again tomorrow — so she had to secure her agreement today.

"And what happens if she doesn’t recover properly once she’s back? Does she even have any points to her name? How is she supposed to live in the main city without any points at all?"

"You do remember the difference between the main city and the outlying districts, don’t you?"

"Besides all that, I barely even know this woman, and I have no particular obligation to help her."

As far as Lin Yun was concerned, dragging Tong Yin along would be no different from taking on a great burden of trouble.

Beyond that, the system would almost certainly never allow Tong Yin to become a survivor again.

[Correct — she has already become an unregistered resident. From the moment her system connection vanished, she stopped being a native of this place entirely; that precise change is what makes her an unregistered resident now.]

The system’s voice rang out clearly in Lin Yun’s mind, seemingly finding Linglan’s request just as unreasonable as she did.

Linglan froze at the news, utterly stunned.

Right — if neither the system nor the main city would ever recognize her, then what exactly would become of Tong Yin once she made it back?

Her life would almost certainly turn out even worse than it currently was.

Here, at least, Tong Yin still had Linglan looking out for her. But if denied recognition back there, she’d become someone anyone could freely mistreat.

"I don’t know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish here, but I can’t help you with this. I’m just an ordinary person, and I have no wish to bring trouble down on myself."

Lin Yun sighed once more. She didn’t have the power to take on the entire amusement park, let alone the system itself.

She gave Linglan a brief pat on the shoulder before walking away from the secluded corner.

A soft beep sounded from her panel just then, and she guessed Song Xizheng was probably growing worried, not having seen her in a while.

After replying to his message, Lin Yun quickly made her way toward the pirate ship.

Linglan stared after her, watching the direction Lin Yun had gone.

What was she supposed to do now?

Would Tong Yin really be stuck here forever, even with her personal panel still working perfectly fine the entire time?

After finally meeting up with Song Xizheng, the two of them hurried past the carousel and the whack-a-mole stall without stopping.

They’d become regulars at both attractions by now. The carousel girl had grown remarkably well-behaved lately, not even daring to run off for fear Lin Yun might catch her again.

"It’s almost lunchtime, Sister Lin — what should we do next?"

"Hmm..."

Lin Yun genuinely wasn’t sure herself.

"How about the puppet theater? It eats up plenty of time, and it’s safe too," Song Xizheng suggested.

What he said held up well enough, honestly. As long as you simply sat in the theater and watched, even if the puppets tried anything hostile, they were far too fragile to actually pose any real threat.

"Sure, let’s do that."

So the two of them headed into the puppet theater for what was now their fourth visit.

The same baby-faced young man in a green vest happened to be on duty again today, and he greeted them warmly the moment he spotted them.

"We meet again! What show would you two like to catch today?"

"The ’Amusement Park’ show starts in about ten minutes. Interested? Everything else won’t start again until after lunch."

"That one, then!"

The two of them settled on it immediately without any further discussion.

"Right this way, then, follow me." The baby-faced attendant stepped out from behind his counter and led the pair toward the theater.

Oddly enough, though, the theater he brought them to turned out to be the very same one where they’d watched "Red Sleeves Tower" during their last visit.

"Since ’Red Sleeves Tower’ got pulled from rotation, this theater’s been converted over to show ’The Amusement Park’ instead now."

"Go ahead and head inside — it won’t be long before it starts."

The baby-faced attendant smiled cheerfully and skipped off to attend to other business.

Song Xizheng had just placed his hand on the doorknob, about to push it open, when he noticed Lin Yun staring intently at something nearby.

"What’s wrong, Sister Lin?"

Lin Yun snapped out of her thoughts and pointed toward the puppet she’d just been watching so closely. "I’m not sure why, but I could’ve sworn it moved just a little bit there?"