Chapter 493 - 490: Arrival at Dongwu Shelter
Lin Xinghai and the others took only about an hour to clear out the zombies, but collecting the Elemental Crystals took even longer.
With everyone working together, and even the 100 Combat Robots mobilized to help move the bodies, they finally finished collecting the Elemental Crystals in an hour and a half.
In the end, the 67,000 Elemental Crystals, plus the rewards for killing the zombies, amounted to a total of 1,492,000 Huaxia Coins. If they added the Huaxia Coins earned from the previous two locations, their total earnings now reached a staggering 1,909,400.
After calculating this number, not only were the others unable to remain calm, but even Lin Xinghai’s breathing grew a little heavy.
They had earned so much in just over a day. If they also converted the mission’s reward of Credit Points into Huaxia Coins, it would be close to 2.5 million Huaxia Coins.
The money earned in a single day was equivalent to half of all his savings back at the Star Shield Shelter.
’And what’s more, I’m planning to make another big haul on the way back!’
And if this money were distributed based on contribution, at least half of it would belong to him.
Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. ’The stronger I get, the easier it is to make money.’
As for the others, they were ecstatic.
In many people’s eyes, successfully completing a 50,000 Credit Point mercenary mission was already an incredible feat, especially since they were just a team of freshmen.
But no one had expected that going on a mission with Lin Xinghai would bring such terrifyingly huge extra benefits.
At this moment, it wasn’t just the members of the Xinghai Squad; even Zhou De, who had witnessed it all firsthand, felt a sense of unreality, as if the post-apocalyptic world this group lived in was different from the one he knew.
He felt like Lin Xinghai’s group wasn’t on a mission—they were just picking up free money.
Of course, he also understood that this was just his own misconception, based entirely on their immense strength. If it had been any other squad, the outcome would likely have been completely different.
But regardless of what everyone was thinking, after a brief moment of excitement, they all quickly reigned in their emotions and continued their journey. After all, the mission wasn’t over yet.
The rest of the journey proceeded without any incidents. If there was one, it was a miscalculation of the time.
Lin Xinghai had originally thought they would reach the Dongwu Shelter before 12:00 PM, but because collecting the Elemental Crystals took so long, they didn’t arrive until 1:30 PM.
As they entered the underground tunnel of the Dongwu Shelter, everyone finally relaxed.
Lin Xinghai began to observe this Shelter, comparing it to the Star Shield Shelter. The Dongwu Shelter was located less than 30 kilometers from Dongwu City, meaning it was practically right on its border.
Such a short distance was actually a bit dangerous for things like missions, but the advantages were also obvious: it was more convenient for gathering resources from the city.
’Ultimately, whether it’s good or bad all comes down to strength.’
Moreover, Lin Xinghai noticed that their tunnel was very long and had a steep incline. Without taking any elevators, they simply drove straight down the tunnel and into the Dongwu Shelter, located more than 200 meters underground.
Once inside, the rest of the layout was more or less the same as the Star Shield Shelter. ’But then again, that’s normal. These Shelters were all uniformly planned and constructed by the state during the Great Cataclysm.’
Therefore, there wouldn’t be any major differences, and any that did exist were later modifications made by the shelters themselves.
And Lin Xinghai noticed that the Dongwu Shelter was also clearly undergoing expansion.
Zhou De was at his side, giving Lin Xinghai various explanations.
"It seems that with the end of the Great Cataclysm, all the medium-sized shelters are going all out to be promoted to large-scale bases!" Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but remark.
"Isn’t that the truth! The higher-ups are all well aware of the situation with the Abyssal Passages. If we don’t pick up the pace, we probably won’t be able to hold on once a few more Abyssal Passages open up." As Zhou De spoke, his mood grew somber.
"I believe that with our efforts, the situation will improve," Lin Xinghai said, not sounding overly grave.
After all, unlike others, he had the help of his system. His growth Speed was incredibly fast. As long as he had a few years, he could become one of humanity’s top powerhouses, or even break his limits and surpass everyone.
It was precisely because of this confidence that he didn’t share the same pessimistic outlook as others.
Zhou De could also hear the confidence in Lin Xinghai’s words.
If it had been anyone else, he might have warned them not to be overly ambitious.
But facing Lin Xinghai, he couldn’t bring himself to say such a thing.
’Perhaps only a top-tier genius like him has the confidence to say something like that.’
’Besides, looking at it from another angle, if even a talented Demon like him lacks confidence in the future, then that would be the true disaster for humanity.’
Soon, Zhou De gave the group a brief tour, then left two guards to guide them while he went back to report on his mission.
The two guards led Lin Xinghai and his group to the best hotel in the Dongwu Shelter.
"You all can rest here. Also, these are your temporary identification credentials. With these, you can go anywhere in our Dongwu Shelter except for the restricted military zones. Finally, I hope you all have a pleasant stay," one of the guards said politely as he brought them to the hotel entrance.
Lin Xinghai exchanged a few pleasantries with him, accepted the temporary credentials, and then led everyone toward the hotel.
"Good work, everyone. Let’s rest here for two hours, then we’ll look around a bit. You can all buy some local specialties or whatever. After dinner, we’ll head back overnight," Lin Xinghai said as they walked.
"Huh? Why the rush?" Little Fatty couldn’t help but ask.
"A day has already passed. Even if we travel at full Speed, the return trip will take a fair amount of time. Not to mention, we need to find a city along the way to properly clean out some zombies. I’m planning to earn 5 million Huaxia Coins on this trip before we head back."
"In other words, the round trip will take two days. Our plan is to take on one mission per week."
"So, after we get back, everyone will have five days for Cultivation, and then it’ll be time to accept the next mission."
"Anyway, Time is tight. Unless you don’t want to get good rankings in the next monthly exam," Lin Xinghai said in a calm tone.
At this, even Little Fatty fell silent. It was true. With the monthly exams, midterms, and final exams hanging over their heads, they really didn’t have the luxury of relaxing.
"Oh, right! Later, find Zhou De and borrow their long-range communication equipment. Transfer the program your company developed and install it onto the Combat Robots."
"If there are any problems, debug them as quickly as possible. I don’t want any slip-ups with this. Otherwise, with just the twenty-some of us, even if we have the strength to kill the zombies, we won’t have the energy to collect the Elemental Crystals," Lin Xinghai instructed further.
Little Fatty nodded repeatedly. After giving his instructions, Lin Xinghai withdrew 10,000 Low Level Elemental Crystals from the members in charge of storing them before returning to his room.