Night was falling.
The group hurried back to the dormitory building before it got completely dark.
The 300-odd survivors from the School of Engineering gathered in the small plaza between the dorm buildings.
In the center of the plaza lay gunny sacks filled with the corpses of Monster Rats.
Two emergency lights, scavenged from the academic building, cast a bright glow that pierced through the white mist, banishing the surrounding darkness.
The emergency lights inside the academic building had rarely been used, so they still had plenty of charge when the survivors found them.
Dean Wu and Teacher Zhou stood by the Monster Rat corpses. Teacher Zhou, holding a list, began to speak:
"I will now announce how we'll be distributing the spoils we collected this afternoon."
"First, the Monster Rat corpses. Han Ning, Lin Tianhe, and Chen Linyu contributed the most and also killed the most Monster Rats. The three of them will be allocated sixty. If anyone has an issue with that, raise your hand now."
At his words, the crowd fell silent. No one raised a hand.
'Standing in the crowd, Han Ning did a quick mental calculation. Yin Yi had killed over fifty Monster Rats, and Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu had probably killed a few each. Teacher Zhou's distribution seemed fair.'
'The five white rats, on the other hand, were killed entirely by Yin Yi and weren't part of the general distribution.'
'The rest of the Monster Rats were killed by others, and he had no intention of claiming a share of their kills.'
After a few seconds, Teacher Zhou continued, "For the remaining Monster Rats, if you made a kill, you'll receive that number of corpses. If you didn't make a kill, you'll be allocated a share based on your performance in combat. Logistics and medical personnel will each receive an extra half a Monster Rat corpse…"
"I will now read the list of those who killed Monster Rats. If you hear a mistake, please speak up immediately."
"Luo Chen, two…"
"Liu Zhiran, one…"
"…"
Teacher Zhou spoke quickly, reading off the name of every person who had participated in the afternoon's battle and killed a Monster Rat.
After some brief discussion, the remaining 123 Monster Rats were distributed among the other students.
Next was the distribution of supplies from the academic building.
Of all the scavenged supplies, the most precious were undoubtedly the two diesel generators and several barrels of nearly full diesel fuel from the academic building's basement.
Having contributed the most, Han Ning and his two comrades were once again allocated a large share of the supplies.
The fifty kilograms of fresh water naturally went to them. In addition, Han Ning received two emergency lights, several unopened bags of snacks, a dozen or so notebooks, five power banks, two mobile phones, two tablets, three large electric scooter batteries... and a whole slew of other miscellaneous items.
The rechargeable batteries in the emergency lights had been modified to charge mobile phones, making them incredibly useful for both lighting and powering other devices.
When the crossing happened, many classes were in session in the academic building. As a result, there were a ton of power banks in the classrooms—almost one for every two or three people.
In an environment where energy was scarce, getting a share of charged batteries and power banks was a true blessing.
...
After collecting his share of Monster Rat corpses and supplies, Han Ning first went to visit Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu in their dorm.
Because their injuries were so severe, the two of them were staying in the room next to Dr. Chen's, allowing them to receive prompt care from the beautiful doctor.
Han Ning gave them some of his supplies, stayed for a little while, and then returned to his own dorm.
After a simple dinner, Han Ning didn't immediately convert the Monster Rat corpses into Energy. Instead, he eagerly pulled out his phone and plugged it into a power bank.
DOOT DOOT DOOT DOOT~
Seeing the phone's screen light up, Han Ning felt his eyes well up with tears.
It had been over ten days. This was only the second time he'd used his phone since the crossing!
He'd used it for the first two days after the crossing began, but once the battery died, he hadn't touched a phone or computer since.
"Bobo?"
Yin Yi, who had never seen a phone before, sidled up to Han Ning like a curious child, "examining" the screen in a way he couldn't comprehend.
"Yin Yi, can you see the screen?" Han Ning asked with a smile, showing Yin Yi his anime-style phone wallpaper.
"Bobo…" Yin Yi swayed its body, and a feeling of affirmation emanated from its Spiritual World.
"How strange… It can see without eyes…"
Han Ning muttered to himself. After a moment's thought, he opened up the *Naruto* episodes he had downloaded on his phone. He found a scene from the Fourth Great Ninja War arc—the one where Thousand Hands Hashirama appears—and played it for Yin Yi.
"Bobo?"
Yin Yi's emerald-green body flickered in the light of the phone screen as it "watched" the anime, seemingly confused.
"Yin Yi, you watch this for a bit. I've got something to do," Han Ning said, patting the flower on Yin Yi's head with a gentle smile.
"Bo!" Although it didn't quite understand Han Ning's intention, Yin Yi obediently began to watch.
Meanwhile, Han Ning walked over to the stinking Monster Rat corpses. Fighting back his nausea, he touched each of their bodies in turn.
[Energy +0.15] [Energy +0.16] [Energy +0.19]…
From the sixty Monster Rat corpses, he had given ten to his two roommates, leaving him with fifty. In total, he gained about 8 points of Energy.
Combined with the 7.8 Energy from the five white rats, his total came to 16 Energy.
Sixteen points!
Han Ning stared at the flashing text on his status panel, a long-forgotten excitement surging within him.
'He'd never had such a profitable fight!'
'The battle with the Monster Rat swarm had been dangerous, but the rewards were just as great.'
Without a moment's hesitation, he converted some Energy into Attribute Points and maxed out Yin Yi's three primary stats.
Body—+
Power: 3→5 (Max 5)
Body: 4 (Max 4)
Agility: 2.5→4 (Max 4)
Spiritual Energy—+
Spiritual Energy: 5
Remaining Energy: 12
He noticed that the prompt next to the Spiritual Energy attribute was gone.
That meant Yin Yi could continue to enhance its Spiritual Energy.
Han Ning spent more Energy, adding points to the Spiritual Energy attribute one by one.
Spiritual Energy: 5→6→7→8→9→10 (Max)
WHOOSH~
Suddenly, small whirlwinds stirred the still, windless air of the dorm room.
Emerald-green motes of light, rich with the essence of Life, formed tiny vortexes that slowly swirled around Yin Yi.
Faint specks of purple and white light were mixed in with the swirling emerald vortex.
Bathed in the swirling light, Yin Yi's body began to grow.
Half a minute later, the light faded, revealing a transformed Yin Yi before Han Ning.
It had grown to a meter tall. Its body, once merely emerald-green, now had the very texture of an Emerald. Silvery-white patterns ran across its surface, adding a touch of mystique.
The pink flower on its head had grown even paler, with the base of its petals already showing signs of turning white.
The roots beneath it had transformed into thick, grayish-white tendrils, like those of a great tree. They gripped the floor firmly, exuding a cold, hard sense of power.
The branches on its sides hadn't changed much, and since its Vine Whips weren't extended, Han Ning couldn't immediately tell what was different about them.