ARBW Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Because Lin Mian was prone to anxiety and unease, Pei Yuhuai made an effort to increase their intimacy whenever he logged into the game in the following days.

Yes, as soon as he logged in, he would shower Lin Mian with kisses, hugs, and even lift him up.

After going through this routine, Lin Mian’s anxiety would mostly dissipate, and they would also gain a significant amount of intimacy.

The sooner they could raise their intimacy to 500, the sooner Lin Mian could enter Pei Yuhuai’s world.

Once Lin Mian was able to enter Pei Yuhuai’s world, his anxiety and unease would naturally disappear.

On this day, another small building in the town was completed.

Pei Yuhuai took some time at noon to log in and began arranging for the townspeople to move in.

The newly built two-story building could accommodate quite a few people at once.

Pei Yuhuai first arranged for the children and women to move in, with the women on the second floor and the children on the first.

There were four rooms on the second floor, which could barely house eight women.

There were five rooms on the first floor, which could accommodate over a dozen children.

Until more houses were built, they would have to make do with the limited space.

Having the women on the second floor provided better privacy, and since they were all women, it was more convenient for their daily lives.

The children were more active and playful, so having them on the first floor was safer and made it easier for them to come and go.

The town had a total of 139 people. After subtracting those who had fled in the past few days and Lin Mian, there were now 129 people left.

With the completion of this building, 20 people had moved in, leaving 109 people still needing accommodation.

Originally, Pei Yuhuai had planned to arrange for Cheng Xiaowan to move into the town’s first building as well.

However, because Lin Mian and Cheng Xiaowan were close, and Lin Mian usually lived alone, Cheng Xiaowan ended up moving into the villa with him.

This way, even if Pei Yuhuai wasn’t in town, the two of them could take care of each other.

After subtracting Cheng Xiaowan, Pei Yuhuai only needed to solve the housing problem for the remaining people.

After learning that they were all real people, Pei Yuhuai no longer intended to support them for free.

This time when he logged in, he discussed the future plans for the town with Lin Mian.

Pei Yuhuai could provide them with houses that had water and electricity.

However, he couldn’t guarantee that he would continue to supply them with daily necessities indefinitely.

They would need to learn to fend for themselves, such as by farming or hunting monsters outside the Outer City.

Lin Mian, however, thought this was unlikely. Many people in the town had no Abilities and didn’t dare to leave the town.

Moreover, they were good-looking, and if they left the town, whether they were caught by people from the Inner City or the Outer City, the outcome wouldn’t be good for them.

Lin Mian: “They have no Abilities or weapons. If they go out on their own, they won’t survive.”

Pei Yuhuai: “They can learn to farm. It shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

Lin Mian shook his head, “The town hasn’t been polluted yet, so maybe they can farm for a short while. But once the land is polluted, the water beneath it will also be polluted, and the food they grow won’t be edible.”

Hearing this, Pei Yuhuai frowned.

He still knew too little about this world and hadn’t paid much attention to the world’s background when he first looked into it.

So… the water and land in this world could also be polluted.

Wouldn’t this world eventually face extinction?

If the world were to face extinction, then… wouldn’t the Nobles who created the Virus be digging their own graves?

Seeing Pei Yuhuai’s confusion, Lin Mian explained further.

“Mr. Pei, some of the people living in the Inner City are Earth-based Ability users. With them around, the land won’t be polluted. They also have Plant-based Ability users who can grow special plants that are immune to pollution.

Additionally, the people in the Inner City are all Nobles who have taken the Gene Serum, so they are immune to the zombie virus. The reason they live in the Inner City now is not to guard against the zombies outside but mainly to protect themselves from the Lower Class People in the Outer City.

Many of the Lower Class People are from the middle and lower classes. Since they learned that the Virus was developed by the rich to eliminate them, many of them harbor deep hatred for the Nobles.

The Nobles don’t have enough guns and ammunition to kill all the Lower Class People at once. So they built the Inner City and separated themselves from the Lower Class People with high walls.

Once the Lower Class People outside either turn into zombies due to the Virus or are killed by zombies, the Nobles in the Inner City will send the Mutants to clean up the zombies and mutated plants outside. Eventually, this world will only have Mutants and Nobles left.”

After listening to Lin Mian’s explanation, Pei Yuhuai asked, “Aren’t they afraid that the Mutants will turn around and kill them once that happens?”

The Mutants listen to them now because the Nobles control the supplies.

But if the Lower Class People are all dead, and the zombies and mutated plants are gone, wouldn’t the Mutants just kill the Nobles and take over?

Lin Mian shook his head again, “The Mutants are all Lower Class People who mutated after being infected with the Virus because they hadn’t taken the Gene Serum. It’s said that while they gained Abilities through infection, their bodies suffered irreversible damage. They need to continuously inject the Gene Serum to prolong their lives. And the formula for the Gene Serum is controlled by the Nobles, so they can’t kill the Nobles.”

Pei Yuhuai nodded, realizing there were so many layers to this.

It was indeed quite cunning.

Knowing that Earth-based Ability users could prevent the land from being polluted, Pei Yuhuai decided to choose a trustworthy person to become an Earth-based Ability user.

As long as they had an Earth-based Ability user, the town could farm on its own.

Even if Pei Yuhuai stopped logging in to complete tasks in the future, they wouldn’t starve.

With this in mind, Pei Yuhuai selected a tall young man from the townspeople.

This young man was none other than one of the two people who had been responsible for distributing supplies.

Pei Yuhuai had some impression of him; he was a straightforward and honest person who always completed the tasks assigned to him diligently.

Pei Yuhuai had him summoned to the villa and immediately knocked him out with a sedative.

He had an Ability Slot in his possession, which he had obtained as a reward from the intimacy system with Lin Mian.

Coincidentally, he also had an Earth-based Ability, so he used the Ability Slot on the young man.

The young man’s name was Qin Yueming, and he was 27 years old.

He trusted Pei Yuhuai completely. After being knocked out by Pei Yuhuai, he woke up not angry but instead obediently asked what he needed to do.

Pei Yuhuai looked at him and said, “I just injected you with a serum that will give you an Ability.”

Qin Yueming was stunned. He instinctively looked down at his body.

He didn’t notice anything different—his stomach wasn’t cut open, and he wasn’t missing any limbs. How could he suddenly have an Ability?

Pei Yuhuai, seeing his bewildered expression, was about to ask him to try out his Ability.

But Qin Yueming frowned and waved his hand, and a pile of dirt suddenly appeared on the smooth floor in front of them.

Qin Yueming was startled and immediately wanted to kneel down to apologize, but Pei Yuhuai stopped him.

“It’s fine. Just clean it up later.”

Qin Yueming cautiously asked, “This… this seems like an Earth-based Ability?”

Lin Mian, standing nearby, nodded, “Yes, this is an Ability Mr. Pei has given you. You must be loyal to Mr. Pei from now on.”

After confirming that he indeed had an Earth-based Ability, Qin Yueming couldn’t help but laugh joyfully.

Once he finished laughing, he remembered that Mr. Pei and Lin Mian were still there. He awkwardly grinned and then began to pledge his loyalty to Pei Yuhuai.

“Mr. Pei, don’t worry. Even if you hadn’t given me this Ability, I would have followed you. Now that you’ve given me this Ability, you’re like my second parent. I will definitely follow your arrangements.”

“You don’t need to follow my arrangements. Just listen to Lin Mian.”

Hearing this, Qin Yueming immediately turned his gaze to Lin Mian, eagerly awaiting his instructions.

Lin Mian wasn’t the type to lead, so he smiled sheepishly.

“Then… why don’t you lead the townspeople in farming from now on? That way, even if Mr. Pei isn’t around to take care of us, we won’t starve.”

Qin Yueming nodded, then looked at Pei Yuhuai in surprise, “Mr. Pei, are you… are you planning to leave?”

They had seen Mr. Pei building houses here and thought he would stay permanently.

Pei Yuhuai glanced at Lin Mian, “I might take Lin Mian with me in the future, but… that’s a long way off. For now, I’ll do my best to help everyone survive.”

Pei Yuhuai said this mainly to reassure Lin Mian.

But unexpectedly, Qin Yueming looked both touched and happy upon hearing this.

“Then how should I explain my Ability to everyone?”

If he told them that Mr. Pei had given him the Ability, they would surely go crazy.

Someone might even betray Mr. Pei and reveal that he had Abilities.

This would put Mr. Pei in great danger.

Whether it was the Nobles, the Lower Class People, or the Mutants, they would all want to capture Mr. Pei.

To avoid putting Mr. Pei in danger, Qin Yueming needed to ask how he should explain his Ability.

Pei Yuhuai wasn’t too concerned. He had combat robots, multiple Abilities, and a cheat system.

Even if others found out he could give Abilities to ordinary people, he was confident he could escape unscathed.

But he glanced at Lin Mian. Their intimacy hadn’t reached 500 yet, so Lin Mian couldn’t follow him back to his world.

For Lin Mian’s safety, he needed to be a bit more cautious.

Thinking this, Pei Yuhuai said, “Don’t go back today. Find a place to hide tonight and return to your original residence tomorrow morning. Then tell them you accidentally got infected with the Virus yesterday. You thought you’d turn into a zombie, but instead, you awakened an Ability overnight.”

Qin Yueming nodded. He planned to dig a hole outside the town to hide in.

Tomorrow, he would sneak back into town and explain it as Mr. Pei had instructed.

As for whether others believed him, there was no evidence linking his Ability to Mr. Pei.

As long as he didn’t admit it and Mr. Pei didn’t say anything, it would be hard for anyone to connect the two.

After that, Qin Yueming left the town alone, and Pei Yuhuai stayed with Lin Mian in the villa for a while before logging off.

The next day, Qin Yueming returned with his Ability. When everyone found out he had gained an Ability, their reactions were mixed.

Some suspected it had something to do with Mr. Pei.

But without evidence, their suspicions remained just that.

Others thought Qin Yueming was incredibly lucky. He had gone out to do something for Mr. Pei, got infected with the Virus, and then awakened an Ability.

It was just too lucky, too coincidental.

Regardless of what they thought, having someone in their town with an Ability was a good thing for everyone.

The town had over a hundred people, and among them were all sorts of individuals.

Some were more proactive. Seeing they now had an Earth-based Ability user, they began organizing everyone to start farming.

Water could be fetched from Lin Mian’s house or the other building.

As long as they had water and land, growing food shouldn’t be too difficult.

Another day passed, and it was the weekend.

Pei Yuhuai didn’t return to the family estate as usual. He planned to stay at his own place on Saturday and return to the estate on Sunday to spend time with his family.

On Friday night, he logged in as usual, and the first thing he did was increase his intimacy with Lin Mian.

Pei Yuhuai held Lin Mian and gave him a soft, sweet kiss.

After the kiss, Lin Mian, blushing, asked, “Mr. Pei, do you have the day off tomorrow?”

The underlying meaning of this question was whether Pei Yuhuai could stay the night.

Pei Yuhuai, being as sharp as he was, immediately understood what Lin Mian was hinting at.

Pei Yuhuai cleared his throat. Ever since he found out that Lin Mian was a real person, he had never chosen the last option in the intimacy interactions.

In other words, even though they had been in love for so long and he had even proposed to Lin Mian, they hadn’t been intimate since that first time.

Lin Mian was probably feeling anxious again, which was why he was subtly asking Pei Yuhuai to stay the night.

Looking at his sweet, soft wife in his arms, Pei Yuhuai thought that since they had already done it once, doing it again shouldn’t be a problem.

After all… the experience wasn’t entirely real; it felt a bit like a dream.

So Pei Yuhuai nodded, planning to choose that interaction later in the night.

But the next second, he saw Lin Mian start taking off his clothes in front of him.

Pei Yuhuai’s eyelids twitched, feeling that Lin Mian was being unusually enthusiastic today.

Lin Mian was a shy person and rarely took the initiative so directly.

Thinking this, Pei Yuhuai opened Lin Mian’s personal profile and noticed that Lin Mian was drunk.

Lin Mian had been in a good mood today; his Ability had reached level four.

In the afternoon, Cheng Xiaowan had brought some people over to hang out with him.

He had opened two bottles of red wine and shared them with everyone.

Red wine had a low alcohol content.

Lin Mian thought that even if he hadn’t drunk before, he wouldn’t get drunk.

But clearly, he had overestimated his tolerance.

He had only taken a few sips before feeling dizzy. Cheng Xiaowan, seeing him in a daze, worried that Pei Yuhuai would be angry if he found out, so she quickly left with the others.

Pei Yuhuai could sense the game character’s feelings but couldn’t smell the alcohol. Otherwise, he would have noticed something was off when they kissed earlier.

Lin Mian was indeed feeling anxious again. After getting drunk, he had been alone in this big house, feeling as if he had been abandoned.

So when he saw Pei Yuhuai, he suddenly became so passionate.

He wanted Mr. Pei to kiss him, to hurt him, so he could feel more real.