Chapter 249 : Lin Li Puts on His Pants and Doesn't Recognize Anyone

October 20th, Sunday.

[Seek out and personally experience... (100/100; 1/4).]

The "number of times" part of Task 4 was completed without any difficulty.

There was no need to buy a security gate. Some shopping malls had this equipment at their entrances. He just walked back and forth through each gate a few times. When there was no one else waiting and the security guards didn't care, he swiped a few more times, and the remaining count was quickly filled.

As for the "types" part.

Lin Li had already purchased a comprehensive physical examination package.

He bought it from a private physical examination institution.

A CT scan is very routine and naturally included in the package. The private institution he went to also had an ultrasound diagnostic device, so Lin Li bought an extra one to experience together.

Although it's usually large companies and enterprises that buy physical examinations from such institutions, purchasing them in bulk as employee benefits, and it's definitely not as cost-effective for an individual as going to a public hospital.

But for Lin Li, spending a bit more money to save time on making appointments and queuing was worth it.

And because he bought a premium package, even if Lin Li needed to change the time temporarily, it was completely fine.

A normal physical examination costs anywhere from a few hundred to a thousand yuan out of pocket, but Lin Li's package cost nearly six thousand yuan for one time, and that was in a small place like Xiling.

Those who didn't know might think Lin Li was now living the life of a little Chen Yuying.

It could only be said that the balance in his account gave Lin Li ample courage for life.

When Lin Li had nothing to do, he loved to fondle the gold under his bed, fondling it until it had a dewy glow.

As for the MRI, Lin Li also specially ran to the hospital this morning to try and make an appointment.

When the consulting doctor learned that Lin Li had no physical discomfort and only wanted an examination because he heard MRIs could detect hidden signs of disease, his first reaction was naturally to persuade him that it was completely unnecessary and that he could pursue some cheaper alternative examinations.

His intention was naturally for Lin Li's own good, but under Lin Li's persistence and pleading, the doctor didn't continue to persuade him and still wrote an examination order.

After all, an MRI has no side effects, and its use itself includes physical examinations for disease prevention. It's just that ordinary people can't afford the cost—an MRI examination for one body part basically costs over a thousand yuan.

Lin Li didn't need a full-body scan. The examination order was for the brain, which would probably take about half an hour.

However, Lin Li also explained to the doctor that if any patient needed this examination later but couldn't get an appointment, he could tell him anytime, and he would cancel his and give the spot to the other party.

After all, there was only this one machine in all of Nansang. He didn't want his task to affect people who truly needed it.

If a tragedy really happened because of this, Lin Li was afraid he would be like the auntie who accepted Bai Bufan's seat yesterday, waking up in the middle of the night to slap himself and say, "I'm so fucking damned."

Even if he couldn't get an MRI, it didn't matter. When Lin Li was gathering information, he found that besides the most basic electromagnetic induction principle, there was also a metal detector that used short waves for detection.

Perhaps that could count as a new type.

However, this thing had few applicable scenarios, so there were few of them. Lin Li only found one detector listed for over two thousand yuan on a second-hand platform. Fortunately, it was in the same city. If the MRI didn't work out, he could spend a hundred yuan or so under the pretext of testing it and have them scan him with it.

Night fell.

Lin Li moved several large boxes of chocolate, compressed biscuits, and other food he had purchased from the supermarket last night into the bathroom, opened them, and stacked them all into snakeskin bags.

He also brought two packets of seeds, but Lin Li was doubtful whether this stuff could "pass the review."

[Update complete.]

When the time came, the message arrived as promised. Lin Li opened the time travel interface, but unfortunately, it was still squeezing toothpaste, and he didn't see any intuitive updates.

After exchanging for another bottle of five "Fasting Pills," Lin Li chose to refresh this slot.

[You have refreshed a "Quality Upgrade Talisman": 100 system currency. Replace?]

[Quality Upgrade Talisman: Placed on a refined magical treasure and nourished with spiritual energy, it has a probability of upgrading the magical treasure's quality. The difficulty of upgrading increases with the current quality of the magical treasure, with a minimum of 1%. If the upgrade fails, the success probability of using a "Quality Upgrade Talisman" on this magical treasure next time will increase.]

*Upgrading the quality of a magical treasure?*

Lin Li currently only had two magical treasures: the "Death-Substituting Jade Buddha" and the "Emotion-Hiding Desire-Storing Bottle." Being able to upgrade a magical treasure's quality was definitely good. If he could get a few more uses out of his Guardian Angel, it would be a massive profit. But the problem was that the "guaranteed" probability it gave seemed a bit low.

But actually, for a top-tier magical treasure, a 1% probability of upgrading didn't seem low.

Lin Li's current unknowns were its success probability on magical treasures of different qualities, and what quality his two magical treasures belonged to.

The system didn't say.

*Should I just use it blindly in combination with the "Luck Talisman"?*

Then the cost of trial and error would suddenly be a bit too high. Without a guarantee of success, he only had 480 system currency in total right now. Trying it once would cost 250 combined.

If it failed, Lin Li would feel like he was that 250 (idiot).

So although Lin Li replaced the item slot, he didn't buy it.

He would wait until there was a suitable situation later.

After finishing his preparations, he took a deep breath, picked up the things in front of him, and with a flash of white light, Lin Li arrived at Planet Mingyuan.

"Phew—"

Letting out a long sigh, Lin Li dropped the several huge snakeskin bags beside him.

The things he left here last week showed no signs of being touched.

Lin Li stepped forward to check his watch. The time was indeed as he estimated. It was now 2:00 PM in Yunguang City. Nearly an hour had passed since he last left, or to be precise, nearly 56 minutes.

1:180.

Opening a bag, sure enough, the seeds, which also involved living things, were not brought over.

He looked at the system interface.

[5.29.55]

The countdown displayed this number.

Lin Li frowned slightly.

If he remembered correctly, he calculated last time that he could only stay for a maximum of five hours.

*Did it increase by half an hour this time? My calculation error couldn't be that big, it must be an increase just for this time.*

*Will it increase every time?*

Recording this change and suppressing this doubt that required more intelligence to verify, Lin Li equipped the [Breath of Demons and Monsters] title.

He retrieved the communicator he had placed separately in another building and pressed it. Lin Li dragged his entire net worth, including the Beautiful Lady, towards the location agreed upon with Ye Jing and the others.

As he approached, he could see the expectant gazes of the three people. Lin Li felt they hadn't left at all during this hour.

"Come over and get it yourselves," Lin Li shouted to Ye Jing and the other two, then led the few fan-zombies behind him into a nearby building and shook them off.

Ye Jing was naturally the first to arrive.

"The food you wanted. I couldn't bring the seeds," Lin Li signaled her to open it and look.

Shi Dongchen and Hu Fei also followed.

When Ye Jing opened the nearest bag and saw bundles of chocolate tightly wrapped in plastic, a quantity far exceeding the expected hundred bars, her excitement was beyond words.

Not to mention there was more than one bag.

The bag Shi Dongchen opened was full of biscuits, which looked very dense and filling, and there was also some canned food next to it.

There was actually a third bag.

The bag Hu Fei opened contained the remains of a zombie covered in layers of sexy lingerie.

Hu Fei: "?"

"Hello, Sister-in-law!"

*Damn, I opened a hidden variant.* Hu Fei took a step back, knelt down, kowtowed three times loudly to the Beautiful Lady, and shouted.

Lin Li: "?"

"Who the fuck told you to call her Sister-in-law?"

"Lin Li, Shi Dongchen is useless, you be my big brother!" Hearing this, Hu Fei turned to Lin Li and said with expectant eyes.

Shi Dongchen: "..."

"It's not about being a big brother or not. Even if I am your big brother, she is not your sister-in-law." Lin Li couldn't really get angry at Hu Fei and said in amusement.

"I understand! Lin Li, in the future when the Big Sister-in-law asks me, I won't tell her about you and the Little Sister-in-law," Hu Fei thought seriously for a long time upon hearing this, and finally looked up and said solemnly.

"..."

*You thought very well, don't think next time.*

Lin Li smiled in relief, waved his hand, gave up explaining, and looked at Shi Dongchen, repeating:

"I couldn't bring the seeds over."

"Understood, it's fine. Having these is already enough to solve our urgent needs! Thank you! Lin Li, thank you so much. We will go back now, dismantle the rest of the gold blocks, and bring them to you!"

Shi Dongchen wasn't disappointed upon hearing this. To be honest, the amount of food in front of him far exceeded his expectations.

He originally thought that given Lin Li's attitude, filling one backpack would be ideal. He didn't expect him to directly drag over two huge, full snakeskin bags.

Shi Dongchen had to use both hands to even briefly lift either of these two bags.

It seemed Lin Li was much kinder inside than he appeared on the surface. If he had used a different approach at the beginning, the result might have been better.

Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret in this world.

"I'm not in a hurry for the gold blocks. If it's convenient, just bring me some water and cooking utensils and tableware like pots and pans," Lin Li waved his hand and said nonchalantly.

He still had nearly two million yuan worth of gold at home that he hadn't sold. Lin Li's only purpose for coming to the apocalypse this time was to complete Task 2 and get the reward.

Right now, creating a "dinner" environment as much as possible to avoid the system judging the task as incomplete was the top priority.

"Okay! Cooking utensils and tableware, right? We'll go back and prepare them immediately!"

Shi Dongchen wasn't afraid of Lin Li making demands; he was afraid of Lin Li not making demands. Hearing this, he immediately nodded and agreed very quickly.

"Then... we'll take the things back first?" Then his voice asked tentatively.

"Mhm."

"Okay, okay. If you need anything, just press the communicator to contact us, and we will come here immediately!" After Shi Dongchen finished speaking, he looked at Hu Fei: "Hu Fei, take the things, let's go."

Hu Fei remained motionless, still kneeling and bowing to the Beautiful Lady.

"Hu Xiaojing!" Shi Dongchen shouted.

"What!" Hu Fei, with his head on the ground, finally responded.

"Take the bags, we're going back to the shelter!" Shi Dongchen said with a headache.

"Only Big Brother and Sister-in-law can order me. You are no longer my big brother, Shi Dongchen."

"Little Brother Lin, look..." Shi Dongchen smiled bleakly.

Lin Li instead found Hu Fei more and more interesting, so he simply took out a whole bundle of chocolate from the snakeskin bag and placed it beside Hu Fei:

"No matter how your shelter divides it, this bundle is yours. Now, take these things and go back with them."

Hu Fei then stood up, hugged the chocolate, looked at Lin Li, and said happily: "Big Brother, only Lin Li is my big brother!"

"What if Shi Dongchen says he'll give you two bundles separately later?" Big Brother Lin Li asked.

"Then he is my little brother!" Hu Fei answered every question.

Lin Li gave a thumbs up upon hearing this. *Truly a stable fence-sitter.*

After getting permission, Hu Fei carried one snakeskin bag in each hand and followed Shi Dongchen away.

Lin Li noticed that the veins on Hu Fei's arms didn't even bulge. This was indeed not within the realm of a normal person. Even using [Charge], he couldn't do it as calmly as him.

*If only I could awaken some superpower too.*

*Time stop, hypnosis, world modulation mode, anything is fine. I'm not picky.*

Ye Jing disappeared from sight first, probably to lure away the surrounding zombies to prevent Hu Fei from being attacked on the way back to the shelter.

After all three left, Lin Li found a nearby building, went upstairs, lay on the snakeskin bag, looked at the sky, and waited for time to pass and the cooking utensils to arrive.

When Ye Jing returned with Hu Fei, nearly two hours had passed.

4:00 PM in the apocalypse.

It was about time to start preparing dinner.

In this environment, it was also a major project.

"Big Brother! Sister-in-law! Where are you!" Hu Fei, carrying the snakeskin bags, shouted loudly in the middle of the road, seemingly not caring if it would attract zombies.

"Here."

After Ye Jing and Hu Fei came up, Lin Li opened the snakeskin bag that had contained food not long ago.

Now, on top was a bucket of water, and underneath were all tableware and cooking utensils.

They must have been specially washed, as they were basically very clean.

"Is this bucket of water enough?" Ye Jing came over and asked.

"It's enough," Lin Li nodded, taking the things out one by one and arranging them.

"Uncle Shi stayed at the shelter to handle the supplies you gave. He'll come over after he's done. If you have any orders, just press the communicator now, and he'll come immediately," Ye Jing then explained.

"Okay, no need for now."

At the bottom, there was actually an irregularly shaped gold block, looking like it had just been knocked off as they said. It was very heavy, conservatively estimated at ten catties.

Another three million at least.

Although he didn't really need it, as a person who had transcended high-level tastes, Lin Li was still happy to get it.

"Do you need any help? I also know some cooking," seeing Lin Li start organizing the tableware, Ye Jing stepped forward and volunteered.

"I actually do," Lin Li nodded.

"Great!"

Lin Li pointed at the snakeskin bag and said to Ye Jing, who was rolling up her sleeves ready to wash her hands: "Help me put the Beautiful Lady together."

Ye Jing: "?"

"Keep her in a human shape, thank you," Lin Li said very politely.

"Okay..." Ye Jing rolled down her sleeves, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and began this arduous task.

"Sister-in-law, tell me if it hurts..." Standing in front of the Beautiful Lady, she hesitated for a moment, remembered Shi Dongchen's instructions, and whispered.

—Shi Dongchen: Ye Jing, remember, from now on, the Beautiful Lady is not a zombie, she is a living Beautiful Lady!

"Big Brother Lin Li, then what do I do?" Hu Fei squatted next to him, took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket, and asked while eating.

"Can you cook?"

"I'm very good at eating."

"Then just stay on the side and chat with me," Lin Li said with a smile.

Hu Fei nodded, then looked up at the sky: "Sky, um, sky, the sky is like the sky, sky..."

Then he scratched his head: "Big Brother Lin Li, I can only chat this much about the sky."

*(Translator's Note: "Chat" (liao tian) literally means "chat sky").*

"Hu Fei, what is your superpower?" Ignoring Hu Fei's hardcore "chatting about the sky," Lin Li asked while processing the ingredients.

"Big Brother, my name is Hu Xiaojing," Hu Fei emphasized before answering.

"Alright, Xiaojing, what is your superpower?"

"I'm very hard, my whole body is very hard." As Hu Fei spoke, he picked up a piece of rubble from the ground and smashed it against his forehead.

Apart from leaving a dust mark, there was indeed no injury.

"Is your strength unaffected?"

"Oh, I have that too, my strength is also very big."

"Can you beat zombies?"

"I can. They can't scratch or bite me, but I can keep hitting them. I'm not afraid of zombies at all. Uh, I'm not afraid of idiots with no brains like me," Hu Fei seemed to remember that there were mutant zombies and specially added.

"How did you awaken?"

"When I was fighting zombies, I suddenly became powerful."

"..."

After a Q&A session that basically covered Hu Fei's personal information, Lin Li changed to asking about the shelter's situation.

"How many people are in your shelter now?"

"Big Brother Lin Li, I promised Little Brother and the others not to casually tell outsiders about the shelter," Hu Fei hesitated for a moment upon hearing this and said.

"Then just tell me seriously, won't that do?" Lin Li asked in confusion upon hearing this.

Hu Fei froze for a moment, then suddenly realized, his eyes clearing up: "That's right!"

"Big Brother Lin Li, our shelter currently has over two hundred people..." Hu Fei's attitude immediately became much more proper, his sitting posture became serious, and he began to seriously leak intelligence.

Ye Jing on the side: "..."

*He's already stupid, and you're still teasing him.*

However, she didn't stop him. Shi Dongchen and her current intention was to strengthen the connection between Lin Li and the shelter as much as possible, hoping he would go to the shelter to "visit" or even choose a place to "live" or use as a foothold.

Regarding information about the shelter, after getting that food, even if Lin Li asked her now, she would tell him everything in detail.

...

Putting the bone-pounded meatballs into the boiling water to cook, Lin Li also gained an understanding of the shelter's situation.

The scale was neither big nor small, about two hundred people.

They lived underground. To be precise, they had opened up the entire underground parking lot of a residential area and utilized it, covering a large area.

To avoid the shelter being discovered by zombies, their main way of leaving the shelter was to detour through a nearly hundred-meter tunnel to reach the surface outside the residential area.

There were passages leading directly out from within the residential area, and their "farmland" was also inside the residential area, but they had to be used with caution, ensuring the surrounding zombies had been lured away by Ye Jing.

There weren't many with supernatural abilities, only about twenty, and most of them were abilities without much use. People like Ye Jing and Hu Fei were already considered the cream of the crop in the shelter.

For food, the shelter currently relied firstly on continuing to scavenge outside, and secondly on growing crops within the residential area, but they couldn't make ends meet. None of them had truly eaten a full meal for a long time.

Water relied on storing rainfall and filtering, and the situation was much better than food.

The shelter's electricity previously relied on fuel generators, but now mainly relied on solar energy to maintain it. Just keeping the lights on took all their effort.

As for the firearms on hand, there were only a dozen or so usable guns, and only over a thousand rounds of ammunition left—but nearly a thousand of those rounds had been affected by dampness and were prone to problems.

It was indeed a shelter living very hard.

"Phew—"

Lin Li opened the pot lid, steam rising.

It was already 6:30 PM on Planet Mingyuan, and the sky was gradually starting to darken. Although zombie activity had nothing to do with day or night, not being able to see was inherently dangerous for humans.

There was less than an hour left before his stay limit in this world.

Pouring out the dish, Lin Li held a bowl, scooped up a meatball with a spoon, and came to Ye Jing's side.

"Open your mouth."

"Ah—"

"I meant open the Beautiful Lady's mouth."

Ye Jing: "..."

Ye Jing immediately shut her mouth.

*Damn it, so shameful! I want to find a hole to hide in!*

Then she helped according to Lin Li's instructions, watching Lin Li scoop a spoonful of meat broth into the Beautiful Lady's mouth, which then leaked out from her mouth.

"Help me stuff it into her stomach, thank you," Lin Li didn't care about this result and said to Ye Jing.

*Gratifying. With Ye Jing here, I don't need to do these disgusting jobs myself.*

Ye Jing: *Fuck.*

"Is it delicious?"

After Ye Jing finished, Lin Li looked at the Beautiful Lady.

This time, without needing Lin Li's eye signal, Ye Jing controlled the Beautiful Lady to nod.

"If it's delicious, eat more. How about you eat it all? I'm actually already full, after all, your beauty is a feast for the eyes." After Lin Li finished speaking, he looked expectantly at the system.

No reaction.

*Fuck, beauty isn't enough to eat?*

Then there was no other way.

Lin Li changed to a brand new spoon, washed it repeatedly several times, took off his helmet and mask, and Lin Li first smelled it using the wafting method.

He could only say that his cooking talent was still performing stably. With the seasonings and ingredients all brought from Earth, the cooked taste was still quite fragrant and appetizing.

Looking at this dish collaborated on with the Beautiful Lady, Lin Li took a deep breath.

*It should be safe.*

*Bottoms up, brothers!*

[Kissing the Beautiful Lady deeply on the forehead... (4/4)]

[Task 2 completed.]

[You have received rewards: Physique Improvement: Image Charm increased by 10%, Lower Body Physical Strength increased by 50%; Random System-oriented Item * 1; System Currency * 200.]

[You have obtained "Sub-Title (50%)".]

[Sub-Title: After use, you can equip an additional sub-title, and the effect of this title will be 50% effective.]

*Finally fucking completed.*

His hard work was not in vain.

[The beautiful encounter comes to an end. There is no never-ending banquet in the world. She is not your only one, and you are not her forever. You both know this very well.

But it doesn't matter. Time never stops, but beauty is eternal.

Draw a perfect full stop to the fate between you and the Beautiful Lady!]

[Task Triggered!]

[Task 2: Drive the Beautiful Lady home, have one last session of bed exercise, wait for her to fall asleep, and leave without saying goodbye.]

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

[Put on Pants and Don't Recognize Anyone: When equipped, as long as you are wearing pants, no one can clearly see or identify your identity information through any means, but you cannot see anyone's face.]

*(End of Chapter)*