On the sixth day of the game, it started raining.

Qianyue was awakened by the pattering raindrops, and just as she sat up, she heard the system's announcement.

System prompt: "Heavy rain is approaching. The movement of all parties will be disrupted, and the possibility of infection will increase. Players, please prepare as soon as possible."

Qianyue: "Heavy rain?"

She looked up at the gloomy sky. Fine raindrops fell on her eyelashes, but she was oblivious to them. She only noticed the rolling dark clouds in the sky and the faint flashes of lightning in the clouds.

"It's going to rain heavily."

If that's the case, then we can't stay around these ruins.

The pile of ruins where Qianyue is currently located is about as high as a small hill, but the reason why it can only be called a "pile" instead of a "hill" is because there is an essential difference in their structure.

There are various plant roots in the soil of the hill that can be used to prevent soil erosion, but the pile of ruins is different. Once it rains heavily, the things on the surface will only collapse continuously along with the water flow. If it continues for a longer time, I am afraid that this place will be washed away.

The most important point is that the ruins are littered with garbage.

It would be fine if the rain lasted until the end of the dungeon, but I'm afraid that after the heavy rain there will be a severe drought. By then, all the garbage will ferment, the smell will be unbearable, and all kinds of monsters will come out.

Players might be spared the pain of oozing sores, but negative statuses were inevitable. Qianyue wasn't a doctor, lacking the professional bonuses. Even if she had more medical supplies, it wouldn't be enough.

“This is forcing people to cooperate.”

Qianyue clicked her tongue twice, jumped off the rubble, and headed towards the direction where the patrol team disappeared last night.

She had heard from someone before that, in order to maximize resource conservation and maximize their value, before any official patrol, the commander would always plan an optimal route based on the conditions near the base. Since Yu Chengyi mentioned that the leader of this base was a former soldier, it was likely he was unaware of this.

So Qianyue didn't need to go through the trouble of finding the base location. She just had to wait near the fixed patrol route and follow it.

Inside a subway station in the northern suburbs.

Du Yue was discussing the distribution of supplies with someone when the patrol team came back halfway through his conversation.

Among the team, there were three indigenous people and two players. Each of them was wearing a raincoat made of plastic bags, cardboard boxes, etc., but they were still inevitably wet and looked a little tired.

"Take a break."

The people in charge of logistics rushed over and distributed food and medicine.

All these things were collected and handed over by the residents of the base from various places for unified allocation.

Although the effects of ordinary items will be greatly reduced when players use them, the natives do not have so many concerns when using player items.

They would not be surprised why players eat bread every day and why all the medicines are gone after they get them.

Because in their minds, this is "common sense", including the fact that people will not leave any traces after death.

——Of course, the real reason might just be that the planning team was lazy;)

Seeing the people coming back, Du Yue stopped the discussion and asked, "Xu Chuan, did you find anything?"

Xu Chuan is the captain of the team and also a member of the trio that had previously appeared near Qianyue's cat ear cave.

Ever since he had a falling out with the other two players, he joined Du Yue's team.

Xu Chuan said: "We walked around as planned and didn't meet anyone along the way."

"Didn't meet anyone?" Du Yue frowned. "No one?"

Xu Chuan nodded.

In fact, they themselves are a little strange.

Although this place is remote, according to the usual patrol situation, if you go out at this time, you will at least encounter a few indigenous people or individual players. It is impossible that there is no one at all.

Someone speculated: "Maybe it's because of the rain?"

It's just a little rain, not enough to cause this.

But it was too early to draw conclusions. Du Yue was silent for a moment. "Let's wait until the second team comes back. Everyone else, get ready and leave with me in ten minutes."

The entire base has a small permanent population, only about thirty in total. Apart from ten players, most of the rest are indigenous people.

A small number of them are elderly and children, who are simply unable to take on the responsibility of patrolling.

Therefore, there are actually only more than 20 people who can be dispatched in the entire team.

Du Yue divided these more than twenty people into five teams.

The total patrol time for each team is one hour. In order to avoid unexpected situations, they will send out the second team half an hour to forty minutes after the first team sets out.

To use a circle as an analogy, it is equivalent to someone patrolling the upper and lower half of the circle at the same time, alternating continuously, and there are people on every road.

In this way, it can be avoided to a great extent that someone can find out the patrol time and take the opportunity to sneak in.

But this time interval is still too long.

Some people lamented: "There are still too few people."

Another person retorted, "That's true, but if more people come, we won't be able to provide much more supplies."

The supplies of the indigenous people are not so bad. Before, the elderly and children were not doing nothing. They would form teams to search the ruins on their own. It’s just that it rained today that they didn’t go out.

But player supplies are really a headache.

The base provides shelter and doctor's treatment bonus, but players also need to hand in some food and medicine items every day for unified distribution.

There should have been more players before, but it's easier to put things in your pocket than to take them out, so those people left later.

Xu Chuan sighed and said, "Let's get a few more players. At least there will be supplies distributed every day."

Since we can’t go out on rainy days, doesn’t that mean we can only rely on the daily output of players like us?

After a long time, it is inevitable that some people will have second thoughts.

Du Yue frowned as he saw the low morale. He then asked, "How's things going in the trading area?"

In addition to the base for everyone to rest, they also have a small market - the one that Yu Chengyi had visited before.

However, due to risk considerations, the market and the base were not in the same place. There was still some distance between them, but it was still within their sphere of influence.

Outsiders who don't want to join the base can rest there. Although the base doesn't provide asylum, it's still a "safe zone," so many people stay there.

Xu Chuan: "More and more people are coming here, and many of them are just staying there."

He said with a worried look on his face, "If this continues, there won't be any trouble, right?"

When this was mentioned, everyone's heart was lifted.

Besides the organizers' collection, one of their sources of supplies was the market. After all, this was a suburban area, and the types of supplies they could collect were very limited. They had to exchange some supplies with outsiders.

But if someone suddenly starts a commotion at the market, they will more or less suffer as well.

However, Du Yue seemed to have expected this, and his expression was very calm: "Don't worry, even if someone causes trouble, it won't happen today."

The crowds at the market weren't pushovers, so even if someone started a disturbance, they'd probably be banded together to suppress it. If they really wanted to cause any damage, they'd need at least a few more bandits.

But since everyone has been able to hold on until now, they probably value their lives and will not act rashly.

There are still three and a half days left until the end of the dungeon. Unless we are at our wit's end, there will probably be no commotion at the market.

However, having said that, Du Yue still needs to see the specific situation with his own eyes to feel at ease.

He stood up, grabbed a long-soaked raincoat and put it on, then called out to the others, "It's almost time, let's get going."

"good."

The other four people quickly took the "raincoat" and followed Du Yue out.

After a round of patrols, this batch of "raincoats" are actually in a bit of a bad state.

But these were just some impromptu things they'd made that morning, and with insufficient raw materials, they could only make a few of them. Even if they were tattered, it was better than getting sick or infecting someone after getting caught in the rain.

The station was still some distance from the subway entrance, and the five of them were walking along. As soon as Du Yue reached the subway station entrance, he stopped immediately.

Du Yue: "The rain is getting heavier."

Other players in the team echoed, "We told you there would be heavy rain."

Du Yue paused and suddenly changed his mind.

He said to the indigenous people at the end of the team, "The plan has changed. You stay in the base. After the other team returns, you are not allowed to go out. If Du Yuanlang disobeys orders, tell him that he will bear the consequences."

Du Yuanlang was currently in the patrol team that had set out later and had not returned yet.

The person whose name was called was stunned, but nodded. The others also became nervous.

"Brother Yue, what happened?"

Du Yue's expression eased slightly, and he soothed her, "It hasn't happened yet, but it's expected to happen soon. It's better for us to prepare in advance."

"This rain is coming down hard, and the weather will probably change soon. Take out all the flood control sandbags in the subway station and stack them up like I taught you this morning."

"Get your blast shields out too. The reason no one's taking action is probably because they've already been attacked. We need to be prepared for action at any moment."

Move, move?

The man was shocked, but did not question Du Yue's actions.

The base was built under the leadership of Du Yue. Those who stayed here now have fought with Du Yue and are convinced of his decision. Naturally, they would not question his arrangements too much.

The man suggested, "Why don't you take one too? If it rains hard, it can at least block the rain."

Du Yue was somewhat helpless: "...No need."

The explosion-proof shield is quite heavy, and even in normal combat, special shield soldiers are needed to hold the shield, not to mention holding it on the head to "block the rain."

If they brought something like this on patrol, they would be asking for trouble. The rain wasn't heavy at the moment, so getting wet for a while wouldn't be a big deal. On the contrary, holding a shield would make it easier to deplete their stamina.

However, they did bring weapons like maces, which they placed in their backpacks in case of emergency.

Du Yue instructed: "Just protect yourselves. If you encounter an emergency, escape to the tunnel."

"receive!"

After saying that, Du Yue led his men into the rain.

But this time, they did not take the optimal route that had been planned before.

When a passerby raised questions, Du Yue explained, "This rain shouldn't last long, but many things will probably be useless once they get wet. We need to hurry and gather supplies before the rain gets any heavier."

As for why they changed the route, it was simply because they had walked that route too many times and had searched almost everything.

Du Yue was a man of strict character and a strong sense of responsibility. He meticulously instructed, "Under the current circumstances, once the rain stops, it will be very easy for an epidemic to spread."

"That's why medicine is particularly important. Prioritize gathering food and medical supplies, and put everything else aside for now. We'll head directly to the market later."

Everyone responded quickly and cheered up.

Unfortunately, the suburbs were short of supplies. Many items were either damaged in the explosion or soaked by rain, rendering them completely unusable. They spent a long time collecting supplies along the way, but the results weren't particularly ideal.

About half an hour later, the group arrived at the so-called market - an underground parking lot of a suburban house.

This parking lot was originally very large, but after being bombarded by artillery fire, many parts collapsed or were blocked, and in the end only a small area was left usable.

At the same time, because of the existence of the sewage system, the rain has not affected the market for the time being.

But judging by the tilted piles of rubble around it, it was only a matter of time before the rain flooded the parking lot - but those people didn't seem to realize that.

Du Yue, who had served in the military, didn't want to see so many people sacrificed here, so he instinctively said, "Let's go change our things first, and then ask if anyone is willing to go with us."

Everyone followed the order, and Du Yue also turned around and entered the venue.

The team members were chatting with the people closest to him, so he walked straight to the innermost part. He caught a glimpse of a figure in his peripheral vision and suddenly paused.

Sitting in the corner was a female player with a ponytail. She was hugging her knees with her head down and it was unclear what she was doing. There was no trading item written in front of her, and she seemed a little out of place with the people around her.

Du Yue felt something strange.

But this was a market after all, so he assumed the other party was also doing business. He stood there and observed for a moment, then walked forward calmly and tentatively said:

"Are you buying or selling here?"

The man didn't speak or move.

Du Yue frowned, feeling something was wrong.

He didn't think the other person didn't hear him, after all, there were only the two of them here. But the man didn't react at all.

——Is he in a state of catatonic state and on the verge of death, or is he going crazy because his mental value is too low?

Du Yue approached cautiously, "Are you okay..."

Before he could finish his words, the man suddenly raised his head.

Du Yue immediately became alert and subconsciously reached his hand to the right, thinking: Is he really crazy?

However, this thought only lingered in his mind for a moment, and the next second the other party slowly called out his name.

"Du Yue?"

She was sleeping soundly but was woken up inexplicably. Qianyue was a little angry but she didn't expect the person to be Du Yue, so she was stunned for a moment.

Du Yue was also stunned.

Only then did he see the other person's face clearly. At the same time, the key words of his memory about this face emerged in his mind -

The second copy; the stone house; beating up Du Yuanlang.

There was a flash of surprise in his eyes, which then turned into a secret inquiry.

"Do you know me?"

If he remembered correctly, they seemed to have only met once in the second copy.

How did the other party know his name?

But seeing Qianyue's unhesitating expression, Du Yue knew the answer.

His face immediately darkened and he said with certainty, "You know me."

Qianyue: “…”

This person is too sharp.

She made a mistake.

However, having just reached an agreement with her current blind date (unilaterally), Qianyue doesn't want to have anything to do with her previous blind date.

So she pretended not to hear and asked, "What's the matter with you waking me up?"

Du Yue: "Woke up?"

Qianyue said expressionlessly, "Is it hard to tell? I'm resting."

Du Yue: "...Sorry."

I really didn't notice.

When ordinary people go to the market, they all keep a close eye on their finances. How could anyone sleep under other people's noses so openly?

"Excuse me. I thought you were here to make a deal."

Qianyue said lazily: "That's what I originally planned, but there's nothing here that I want."

Du Yue asked: "What do you want to change?"

Qianyue said nonchalantly, "A raincoat, an umbrella—oh, or that gun in your right pocket will do."

Du Yue's pupils dilated slightly, but his expression remained calm: "How did you tell that?"

Qianyue shrugged: "I saw you were just about to pull out your gun—"

She paused, narrowing her eyes warily. "You don't want to rob supplies in front of so many people, do you?"

Du Yue: “…”

This was the first time in all his years as a soldier that he had been misunderstood like this. The man's face stiffened slightly, and he looked a little unhappy. "I'm sorry, I just thought you were mad, and I didn't mean to hurt you."

Qianyue: "Okay."

Seeing that the topic was successfully changed, Qianyue said a few perfunctory words and didn't say anything more.

She now regretted following Yu Chengyi's advice and coming to the northern suburbs.

"Served in the army" and "very powerful", plus Du Yue in front of her, what else is there that Qianyue doesn't understand.

So, is Du Yue, who has honorably retired, here to play in the dungeon? I heard he's here specifically to play games with his younger brother. Is Du Yuanlang also here?

Qianyue: ...If I had known, I wouldn’t have come.