Chapter 278 : Offering a Salute Interwoven with White and Yellow for the Birth of the King

That would be a big problem.

Of course, Lin Li wasn't talking about the dean, but the doctor in front of him.

He had even thought about what to write on his epitaph just now.

Don't complain about your dean in such an easily misunderstood situation!

It turned out he was worrying for nothing, how embarrassing.

Lin Li really wanted to throw this doctor out of the operating room right now, and then say shyly, "Ahhhhh, such a simple surgery failed, I'm so embarrassed."

But a false alarm is always better than real bad news. After confirming that he didn't need to do anything else, Lin Li packed his things and left the clinic.

"Son, I don't understand this stock, and I don't like looking at it. Can you change it to some opera for your dad to watch?"

"Dad, this isn't a stock, this is an electrocardiogram, it can't be changed!"

When Lin Li passed by the door, the waiting old man was still performing steadily.

Eager to return home, after once again threatening the driver with pooping in the car to speed up the journey, Lin Li checked the harvest of this task.

The "Low-grade Spirit Stone" was indeed just a "Low-grade Spirit Stone".

But it was reasonable for formation materials to include spirit stones.

"Vermilion Spirit Sand" was a semi-liquid, semi-solid liquid sand contained in a small porcelain bottle, vermilion in color, with crystal clear flow inside.

The "High-grade Formation Core" was a thumb-sized diamond-shaped crystal, engraved with detailed runes that looked awesome but were incomprehensible.

The "Starlight Formation Disk" was the largest of the five materials, about the size of Lin Li's fully opened hand. It was a round disk, also densely covered with lines that flowed like a galaxy. In the center was embedded a thumb-sized core very similar to the formation core, extremely bright inside, emitting obvious light.

Both the formation disk and the formation core were very hard, smashing walnuts effortlessly.

Lin Li ate walnuts while throwing the walnut shells into the trash can, and then returned these materials to the warehouse.

He didn't know how to use them.

When injecting spiritual energy into the formation disk, he could see the galaxy flowing faster, but that was it. Lin Li didn't know what to do next.

Lin Li couldn't do anything except spit all over them.

This is what happens without relevant basic knowledge. Even if Lin Li's talent in this area increased by 50%, he still hadn't reached the heaven-defying level of being able to think of a use just by seeing the material.

Lin Li materialized the "Spirit Gathering Heavenly Formation".

A gorgeous formation core the size of a palm appeared and stood in front of Lin Li. Dozens of materials Lin Li didn't recognize appeared at the same time and moved around, stopping only when blocked by walls or the bed. Illusory formation lines connected the materials across the air.

Lin Li reached out and touched the formation core, and then he could feel the specific positions of the other materials, but trying to control them felt strenuous.

He couldn't do it.

Lin Li materialized the "Spirit Spring", and found that the spiritual energy escaping from the spring eye was absorbed and gathered at the formation eye, then formed a tiny drop of spiritual liquid, adhering below.

Sure enough, he didn't guess the purpose wrong. This formation, as its name suggests, is used to gather spiritual energy.

In an immortal cultivation world with spiritual energy, it's probably a very basic formation that every immortal cultivator must know. But in modern times, it seems very useless.

If it's just to gather the spiritual energy in the "Spirit Spring", any empty shell could do it.

"What I need most is still basic knowledge." After returning everything to the warehouse, Lin Li sighed slightly.

Whether it's sword incantations or formation essentials, what Lin Li needs more now is theory.

With theory, perhaps he could try to create usable formations in modern times based on the modern environment and materials, utilizing his talent and the spiritual energy that shouldn't exist.

Even a low-end version would do.

These materials all look like they have something to them, but the problem is that he, the master, doesn't have anything to him.

Worrying is useless, he can only pin his hopes on the system for this. Lin Li put these thoughts to the back of his mind and continued to excavate the "Universe Ring".

...

Sunday night.

Late at night.

"Can't chisel anymore." Lin Li threw the ring aside and rubbed his head.

The further he went, the harder it was to expand the space of the ring. The spiritual energy consumed didn't change, it was purely that the difficulty increased, becoming more time-consuming and labor-intensive.

So much so that up to now, the inside was only a space the size of a shoebox.

And dozens of Low-grade Spirit Stones had been consumed just like that. This thing really eats spirit stones, and Lin Li's inventory was close to depletion.

Fortunately, the "Spirit Spring" showed no signs of drying up yet, and could still develop sustainably. There was no need to rush to use the "Luck Talisman" and "Random Quality Spirit Stone" to open blind boxes again.

"Chiseling during the day, chiseling during evening self-study, still chiseling after school. I've chiseled you for two days, does it feel good, huh?" In the gap of recovering his spirit, Lin Li made dirty jokes to the ring.

"Old Lin, look what you've done to my inside, it can't even close." Lin Li shook the ring and 'answered'.

A space the size of a shoebox, at least it finally had more meaning and could hold quite a few things.

Now, Lin Li put some food supplies inside.

Then, while resting, he waited for 12 o'clock to arrive.

[Update complete.]

October 28th, 00:00.

Monday.

"Happy 18th birthday to me." Hearing the system's notification, Lin Li snapped his fingers, opened his eyes, and smiled at himself.

His phone also popped up a message at this time, followed by the vibration of an incoming call.

"Happy birthday, son." Wu Min's voice appeared on the other end after he picked up, "Sure enough, you're not asleep yet."

"I was woken up by your call, Sister Min."

"Come on, I know exactly what you're like. I transferred 520 to you, consider it a birthday present."

"Thanks, Mom." Lin Li didn't have the habit of celebrating birthdays, nor would he ask for birthday presents, so he didn't mind.

[Wu Min: Transfer "5", waiting for you to receive.]

Lin Li: "..."

Putting the phone on speaker and looking at the WeChat message, Lin Li fell silent.

"Mom, why is it only five yuan." Lin Li spoke.

"Oh my, my hand was too fast, Mom missed a two and a zero, sorry, I'll make it up to you right away." Wu Min said apologetically.

[Wu Min: Transfer "20", waiting for you to receive.]

"Made it up, go accept it."

Lin Li: "..."

Carelessness Saved Wu Min Five Hundred Yuan.

"Heh, Mom, if you pay this money in installments, I'm going to the roof to attack the concrete downstairs later, and then I'll go see you in installments too."

Lin Li opened the bedroom window and shook it outside to make the sound of the wind more obvious.

[Wu Min: Transfer "1800", waiting for you to receive.]

The threat was effective.

"Alright, take this money and treat your classmates to a good time this weekend. If it's not enough, ask Mom for more." Wu Min said with a smile.

"Thanks, Mom." Lin Li smiled, nodded, and accepted.

Lin Li naturally didn't lack this money. In fact, just comparing the current balance in their cards, Lin Li might have more than Wu Min—Wu Min would save fixed deposits and buy stable financial products.

But after all, the source of his wealth was inconvenient to disclose for now, and he hadn't found a suitable reason. In order not to arouse suspicion, even if it was living expenses, Lin Li still collected it every week now.

The son will save this money for her first, and return it to Sister Min when she grows up and marries a wife.

"Did you clean the house properly yesterday like I told you? The living room and bathroom both need to be cleaned." After chatting for a while, Wu Min changed the subject and asked.

During the routine weekend call last night, Wu Min said it was time for a major spring cleaning at home, and remotely controlled Lin Li to work.

"Cleaned, cleaned, didn't I take pictures for you? Spotless." Lin Li said leisurely.

"Okay, then Mom is going to rest. You hurry up and sleep too, you have to get up for school in the morning."

"Okay."

After saying goodnight to each other, Lin Li hung up the phone.

There were messages from other people on his phone.

[Yang Liang: Happy birthday, Lin Li, transfer "88".]

[Yang Liang: Uncle knows you definitely wouldn't accept a large amount, but this is less than a hundred yuan, there's no need to refuse again.]

[Lin Li: Thank you, Uncle.]

[Yang Liang: Nothing to thank me for. Lin Li, you are eighteen now. If Uncle catches you in any entertainment venues again, I won't put a mask on you. When others take pictures, everyone will know, so you understand what Uncle means, right?]

[Lin Li: Received, I'll bring my own then.]

[Yang Liang: That's not what Uncle meant at all!!!]

[Lin Li: Don't worry, Uncle, it's been so long since I went to that kind of place, I won't go anymore.]

[Yang Liang: Good, Lin Li, you are a man now, you have to be responsible for your words, Uncle believes in you.]

[You recalled a message.]

[Lin Li: [Rose] [Rose] [Rose]]

[Yang Liang: ?]

After chatting with Yang Liang, Lin Li looked at the messages popping up in "Three People and One Dog".

[Bai Bufan: Lin Li, happy birthday [Poop] [Poop]]

[Bai Bufan has initiated a "Happy Birthday" group collection, you need to pay 888 yuan.]

[Bai Bufan: A small token of my appreciation, please accept it.]

[Bai Bufan: Where are you? Pay the money first?]

Lin Li: "..."

Only his messages were in the group, after all, the "Three People" didn't bring their phones.

As for why he spoke in the group, it was because you can't initiate a "group collection" in a private chat.

[Lin Li: Idiot.]

Sure enough, seeing Lin Li's reply, Bai Bufan immediately messaged Lin Li privately.

[Bai Bufan: STARS-804. [Picture] magnet:?xt=...]

[Bai Bufan: The big boobs you like, 3D, [Picture] magnet:?xt=...]

[Bai Bufan: Short film, plot is okay. [Picture] magnet:?xt=...]

[...]

He was spammed by a series of popping messages.

Lin Li: "..."

What the hell is this, it's all fucking links.

Lin Li, completely uninterested, long-pressed, selected all with a look of disgust, and forwarded and saved them while holding back nausea.

[Bai Bufan: This is all I've collected recently, offering a salute for the birth of the king!]

What kind of fucking salute is this.

Besides Bai Bufan, Wang Ze, who also brought his phone this week, also sent blessings.

Heard his senior sister also brought her phone.

After dealing with all this, Lin Li finally turned his attention to the system.

Monday, the system also updated, adding a chance to refresh the commodity slot.

This time, Lin Li wasn't in a hurry to use it.

Because he currently had 830 System Currency on hand. During the day today, after the school morning assembly announced Wang Yuhui's matter, Task 5 could probably be completed, getting another 100 System Currency.

If he went to the apocalypse later and could complete Task 2 of sending the Beautiful Lady home, he would get another 100, which would make 1030 System Currency.

Enough to exchange for the mecha.

And after exchanging for this mecha, Lin Li wouldn't be able to save up for or exchange for a second one in the short term, so it was most appropriate to use the free refresh chance on its slot.

Moreover, the historical System Currency obtained would reach 2800, unlocking slot five, which might also be refreshed.

And if he didn't complete Task 2, then he would just refresh the "Upgrade Talisman" slot.

So he saved it for now.

Getting up, Lin Li changed his clothes, took his things, and went to the bedroom.

Set off.

A white light flashed, outside the dilapidated building, the sky was dim.

Checking the watch he left on the ground, fifty-nine minutes had passed, longer than last time. After calculating, it was also based on the 1:170 ratio.

His stay time became six hours, half an hour more than last time.

Checking the "Universe Ring", it was still in his hand, and the things inside were successfully brought over.

After confirming this, Lin Li returned to the base where he separated from Hu Fei and the others. Hu Fei, Ye Jing, and Shi Dongchen were all already there.

Downstairs, there were two vehicles that looked like heavy pickup trucks parked. There were remains of several zombies around. Hu Fei had a lot more bloodstains on him, and was currently squatting next to the car eating.

"Big Brother! Sister-in-law!"

Seeing Lin Li, Hu Fei immediately stood up and shouted, ignoring the few zombies attracted by this.

And when Ye Jing and Shi Dongchen saw Lin Li dragging two large bags of supplies over again, their eyes also lit up.

In their eyes, Lin Li had made multiple round trips in one day, bringing a large amount of supplies.

He was too good to them.

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Lin!" Shi Dongchen immediately called Ye Jing and Hu Fei forward to take the heavy supplies.

Then Shi Dongchen pointed to the two cars parked behind and introduced to Lin Li: "Little Brother Lin, we've got the cars you wanted. Both are fully fueled, and we've prepared a lot of spare fuel."

"One is enough for me." Lin Li nodded, then asked what he cared about more: "What about the Beautiful Lady's identity information and address, do you have any clues?"

Hearing this, Shi Dongchen's expression immediately showed helplessness and apology: "Sorry, Little Brother Lin, the Beautiful Lady, she... has a slight difference from when she was alive.

"Plus, the means and technology we can use now are really limited. After going back and discussing it with everyone, if she only has those things in the bag, there is absolutely no way to confirm her identity information, let alone her address."

Shi Dongchen spoke very tactfully.

The Beautiful Lady now wasn't just slightly different from when she was alive, she was basically a skeleton now. Without molecular-level identification technology, there was really no way to confirm her identity.

Let alone her address.

So Lin Li wasn't surprised by this answer, just nodded regretfully.

"Okay, thank you, I'll figure something out myself."

"Little Brother Lin, although we really can't find the Beautiful Lady's home, we are willing to become her family! We sincerely invite you and the lady to join the shelter, we will definitely entertain you with the highest standard of etiquette!

"The shelter can become your new home!"

Seeing this, Shi Dongchen immediately spoke eagerly.

This was the only rhetoric Shi Dongchen could think of on the way back and forth.

He could tell during the day that Lin Li was far less eager for gold than Ye Jing described this morning, so Shi Dongchen was worried that the shelter would no longer be attractive to him.

The policy had long changed from initially avoiding letting the other party know the shelter's information, to now wishing Lin Li could become a member of the shelter.

If Lin Li was willing to come, it wouldn't matter if they gave him the leadership.

Settling for the next best thing, if they couldn't be Lin Li's family, being the bride's family would also be fine.

But hearing Shi Dongchen's statement, Lin Li originally wanted to shake his head, but raised an eyebrow. It seemed... somewhat feasible?

A home isn't immutable. If the Beautiful Lady suddenly moved, would the system approve?

An unreliable idea meeting an unreliable system might just be reliable.

But to make the plan a bit more reliable, after thinking for a while, Lin Li still asked:

"Shi Dongchen, in your world, when buying a house in the past, did you need a contract or something?"

"Of course we needed it before the apocalypse."

"Then does your shelter have contracts?" Lin Li asked.

"Things without binding force after the apocalypse were abandoned long ago. Why do you suddenly ask this, Brother Lin..."

Shi Dongchen didn't know why Lin Li asked this, and answered cautiously.

"The Beautiful Lady just told me that she is willing to move to your shelter, she plans to move."

Before the stunned Shi Dongchen's eyes could light up, Lin Li continued:

"How about this, you drive one car back with the things first, then clear out a single room, the kind with a bed, and draft a contract. The content is to officially transfer the ownership of this room to the Beautiful Lady, making it her private property.

"These supplies will be considered the payment the Beautiful Lady makes for this. Then just sign and fingerprint it directly. Make the process as formal as possible, close to the situation before your apocalypse..."

Shi Dongchen: "?"

Then he nodded somewhat hesitantly: "No problem."

Although he didn't know why Lin Li had this request, agreeing first was definitely right.

"..."

"Then go do it now, I'll wait for you to finish and come back." After exhorting some details, Lin Li signaled.

"If we need a formal signature and fingerprint... do we need to take the Beautiful Lady away first?"

Shi Dongchen had already arrived next to a pickup truck. After Hu Fei loaded the supplies brought this time into the back space, he asked.

Lin Li shook his head, then dug out a hand from the snakeskin bag and handed it to Shi Dongchen:

"If I give you the whole person, I won't be able to try other things. I'll give you this hand, so signing and fingerprinting won't be a problem, right?"

Shi Dongchen: "..."

A bit hardcore.

"Mhm, no problem, absolutely no problem." No matter how much Shi Dongchen cursed in his heart, he had to smile on the surface.

"Go." Lin Li then let Shi Dongchen and Hu Fei leave.

"Ye Jing, how do you drive vehicles in your world, teach me."

Lin Li kept Ye Jing behind. After those two left, he opened the other pickup truck, sat in the driver's seat, and signaled.

He hadn't driven a car yet, and there were differences between the two worlds, so he definitely had to learn first.

"Okay." Ye Jing nodded, immediately went to the passenger seat, and started instructing: "Your left foot is..."

When the car zoomed out, Ye Jing fastened her seatbelt.

Lin Li drove the heavy pickup truck swaying left and right on the road, rampaging.

Attracting and knocking away many zombies.

"..."

Half an hour later.

"Driving is quite fun." Lin Li said with a smile.

"But riding in a car is quite not fun." The pale-faced Ye Jing beside him disagreed.

Lin Li smiled. Actually, Ye Jing didn't need to worry. With the help of his comprehension and possible mecha index, although the vehicles in this world were quite different from modern ones, he quickly felt handy.

If it weren't for the limited performance of the modified pickup truck, Lin Li felt he could do some high-difficulty maneuvers.

He was deliberately speeding later on.

He also learned how to drive. Before waiting for Shi Dongchen to return, Lin Li took the Beautiful Lady to find a room with a bed nearby, and then started exercising.

After the exercise was completed, until Lin Li quietly walked two miles away, the task was not completed.

But he had already said to the air before that this was the Beautiful Lady's new home.

It seemed the system didn't approve.

It seemed he still had to pin his hopes on Shi Dongchen's side.

More than an hour later, Shi Dongchen and Hu Fei drove back again.

"Is it done?" Lin Li asked.

"Done, we made three copies of the contract, brought one over, you can take a look. If anything needs to be changed, we'll change it right now." Shi Dongchen nodded, and also took out a stack of papers for Lin Li.

It was even printed out, just the ink was a bit uneven, it seemed the ink quality was poor.

Usually, there are many traps in contracts, but the one in his hand had no traps at all. All clauses basically favored the buyer: the Beautiful Lady.

Seeing the skeleton bloody handprint on the last page, Lin Li nodded, threw the bed he just found onto a pickup truck, and spoke:

"Then let's go, set off for your shelter now. You three take one car and lead the way in front, the Beautiful Lady and I will take one car."

"Okay."

The group then set off. Because there were many disturbed zombies along the way, they didn't drive fast.

No wonder the time it took to drive back and forth was about the same as the time it took Ye Jing to 'walk' back and forth.

More than forty minutes later, they finally arrived outside their so-called residential area.

The rusty iron gate was sealed with heavy chains, vines drilled out from the cracks in the wall, crawling all over the mottled wall like green blood vessels. The buildings were much more intact than the area Lin Li came from, but could also be described as dilapidated.

It indeed didn't look like anyone lived on the ground.

First assisting Hu Fei in dealing with all the zombies that followed them, Lin Li dragged the Beautiful Lady and followed them into the hidden tunnel outside the residential area.

"Are these lights turned on specifically for me?" Lin Li pointed to the light sources inserted in the narrow passage and said.

The light sources didn't match the surrounding environment, looking like they were placed temporarily.

"Yes." Shi Dongchen nodded.

At first it was extremely narrow, only allowing one person to pass. After walking dozens of steps, it still only allowed one person to pass. Reaching the end, it still only allowed one person to pass.

And there were even traces of people living there.

Letting Lin Li live in this place, waking up in the middle of the night having lived enough and looking for Dichlorvos, hitting his head on the ceiling and fainting again, he couldn't even die if he wanted to.

But after all, it was the apocalypse, Lin Li knew his thoughts were somewhat like "let them eat cake".

It was only after truly entering the underground garage area that the situation finally improved.

Lin Li saw several survivors, all sizing him up with complex gazes carrying curiosity, confusion, and pleasant surprise, either covertly or directly.

Everyone's condition didn't look very good.

"Where is Room 180?" Lin Li maintained his due vigilance, his mind on his task.

The contract clearly stated the information of the room owned by the Beautiful Lady.

"Over here." Shi Dongchen pointed forward.

Actually, it was very easy to recognize. At a glance, he could lock onto the space blocked by a curtain, which had the brightest light, no one around, and looked exceptionally clean.

"Okay, thank you." Lin Li nodded, then exhorted: "I might leave the shelter to go outside for a while later. Before I speak, please do not talk to me."

"We will definitely follow your wishes." Shi Dongchen immediately nodded upon hearing this.

He, who originally planned to say something, immediately signaled Ye Jing and Hu Fei not to follow, letting Lin Li and the Beautiful Lady enter the room alone.

The room was cleaned very neatly—at least compared to the outside, it was very clean, and there was a bed that looked quite soft.

It seemed there was no need to bring in the bed he had specially collected outside, fearing the shelter didn't have a decent one.

Closing the curtain.

Lin Li, just like last time, started the final bed exercise, doing it for half as long again as the time approved by the last task.

Then, bed exercise, complete.

Laying the Beautiful Lady flat on the ground in a sleeping posture, Lin Li put all the clothes he had collected in the hospital before on her, and lit them with a lighter.

After staying for a while, it should be roasted.

Then, deep sleep, complete.

Covering the Beautiful Lady with a quilt, putting out the sparks on her body, and tucking in the corners of the quilt, Lin Li left the room without a word, and left the shelter silently under the gazes of more survivors.

Under the watchful eyes of the guards at the entrance, Lin Li opened the exit of the tunnel and walked out onto the ground.

[Task 2 has been completed.]

[You have received rewards: Title: Put on Pants and Don't Recognize Anyone; Physique Improvement: Image Charm increased by 10%; Random System-oriented Item 1; System Currency 100.]

(End of Chapter)