Xiao Ling cautiously crept into the well-preserved biological laboratory. According to the intel she had gathered, this was a lab under the Watchman Morning Company.
Here, she might be able to find the virus serum she needed.
As a top-ten survivor, she had naturally dug deep into the background of this Doomsday World.
And so, she knew that the Profound Virus was connected to the Watchman Morning Company.
She had actually gone to Watchman Morning's headquarters, but it had already collapsed for some unknown reason before she got there.
She found nothing she wanted in the ruins, coming away completely empty-handed.
But that was fine. She'd had more luck in other places.
She even received a reward from the Doomsday Game once: 0.1 attribute points.
Aside from event rankings, there were, of course, other ways to get system rewards.
Namely, by exploring the world and turning in items required by the Doomsday Game, one could receive corresponding rewards.
However, this method of getting rewards was based on exploring the Doomsday World. It was also extremely difficult and thus not suitable for most survivors.
Only top-tier survivors like her had the luxury of exploring the world on top of just trying to survive.
[Warning: Violator is one kilometer away from you]
[Tip: Kill the violator and you will receive a bountiful reward]
[Note: The violator is extremely powerful and has already killed 5 survivors.]
Xiao Ling was startled. 'There are violators in the Doomsday Game?' As for the fact that they'd killed five survivors, that wasn't a big deal to her.
Every survivor who had made it this far had a life or two on their hands.
But what really caught her attention were the three notifications. The normal order should have been Tip, Note, and Warning. This time, however, the Warning came first.
Combined with the "extremely powerful" line in the Note, it was clear the Doomsday Game didn't think she could kill this violator.
'Retreat...?' Xiao Ling's first instinct was to run. But for once, the normally decisive woman hesitated.
The main reason was the two words "bountiful reward" in the Tip. She had never seen a reward of this caliber before.
'If I actually manage to kill this violator, I could use that reward to further extend my lead.'
'Never mind anything else, if I can just hold on to first place for a few more events, becoming the number one survivor wouldn't be impossible.'
'I'll take the gamble, then.' Xiao Ling didn't see anything wrong with her decision. It wasn't as if she'd never had to risk her life before.
'To get by in the apocalypse, you have to risk it all.'
Powerful Mutated Zombies, treacherous fellow survivors—she'd seen it all.
She immediately took out a rifle she'd acquired. Bullets were extremely precious to her; she was loath to use them on anything other than Mutated Zombies.
Just as she chambered a round, Xiao Ling froze.
Because she saw something she would never forget for the rest of her life.
It wasn't a person who emerged, but a robot-like humanoid lifeform, also holding a gun.
From what she could see, it was a tranquilizer gun.
In an instant, Xiao Ling understood their plan. 'They're trying to capture me alive!'
She didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, but her opponent was faster. Before she could even fire, a tranquilizer dart shot out.
The dart lodged itself right in her shoulder. She had no idea what kind of anesthetic they'd used, but it took effect with incredible speed. She didn't have time to fight back before her vision went black.
And then, she lost consciousness.
"My prediction was spot on. Good thing she didn't fire, or taking a full clip would've hurt," Qi Suian said.
The Tai Sui God had its nanite repair swarm, and Qi Suian had Death Recast, so neither had to worry about damage or injury.
Still, getting shot hurts. Qi Suian wasn't a masochist; why would he go looking for pain for no reason?
"Alright, time to loot the body. Let's see what kind of lucky find we've got."
The AI was quick. It soon found a special vial.
[Secondary Solid Clearing Serum]
[Quality: D]
[Effect: When carried, grants one-time immunity to Profound Virus infection. The item is consumed after use.]
'This thing... is an item? How did she get it?'
Qi Suian recalled that in his past life, Xiao Ling had been a survivor at the very top of the Pyramid. In the current event's rankings, however, she hadn't even broken into the top three.
'So where did she get a D-rank item?'
'She either got it from a remnant Watchman Morning branch, or she got it from the Doomsday Game.'
Qi Suian leaned toward the first possibility, but the effect was somewhat similar to the 'Lowest-Grade Enchantment: Poison' he had acquired before. It was like a rule-based passive.
'One-time immunity to Profound Virus infection... It doesn't specify the degree or intensity of the infection, which means it guarantees a cure.'
'From this, it seems the Doomsday Game gives out few rewards, but even the lowest-quality ones embody some sort of underlying rule.'
'If my guess is right, then it's understandable why the rewards are so scarce.'
'But what use is this thing to me?'
'It can't be for me to just cure myself of the Profound Virus infection, can it?' Qi Suian's eyes narrowed.
'She came all this way to deliver something. The "lucky find" is either her or this D-rank item.'
'First, let's rule her out... wait, no, not necessarily. If her talent is special enough, she might be useful for my research on the Profound Virus.'
'Could it be that after I changed my strategy from "resistance" to "Slave Capture Team," the luck aspect of Celestial Fate: Profound started to shift? Is it no longer trying to turn me into the Zombie Dominator?'
With the 'Virus Suppression' talent, Qi Suian's race and alignment had already begun to deviate from human, shifting toward the Profound Virus faction.
So, naturally, Celestial Fate: Profound was no longer set in stone.
'I need to confirm this.'
'If this direction is truly correct, a fully realized Celestial Fate: Profound would surely be even more powerful.'
As for the talent downgrading upon leaving the Profound World, Qi Suian naturally had to figure out what the '???' was to prevent it.
This was a matter of life and death. Once Celestial Fate: Profound dropped from X-rank to SSS-rank, Qi Suian would be unable to resist the Doomsday Game's obliteration.
He had only survived this long by using his X-rank talent to resist it.
So even if this wasn't the right development path, he still had to find what the '???' concealed.
He suspected it was the source of the Profound Virus, which made its location obvious.
'It has to be in the hands of the Watchman Morning Company. Where else could it be? Surely not in the ruins of the Ancient Dian Kingdom, right?'