Hyperthermal Hell || Apocalypse Paradise #1 [Complete]

38: An Unexpected Level-Up

If one had to be more accurate, the mattress was actually a thin black blanket. When she laid on it, she could smell a faint sour stench and even the bed board... When Lin Sanjiu flipped to her side, the bed made a sharp, unpleasant creak.

Even though it was totally dark, Lin Sanjiu could still clearly see everything within her small cubicle. The air circulation in the basement was poor, so there was a musty smell in the air. There were a few nails on the walls of the cubicle that were probably used for hanging clothes. The condition of the space was considerably shabby—despite the walls, she could even hear the sound of her sleeping neighbor scratching herself. As she laid in her bed, unable to fall asleep, she wondered if it was because of the new environment.

If the people here only developed their heat-resistance ability through medication just as Hu Changzai described, she did not see the point in staying. After all, her main reason for joining the Oasis was to find a consular officer, not because of the availability of food and water here. 'What is the possibility of a consular officer being here when this large group almost only consists of ordinary people?'

However, it didn't seem right to leave immediately after they had just arrived. Lin Sanjiu did not know why, but she suddenly recalled the suspicious figure she happened to see before. 'It's alright, we can stay here for a few days and observe the situation.'

Disjointed thoughts ran through her mind, and before she knew it, her eyelids gradually grew heavier and she grew drowsy. Just when she was about to fall asleep, an intense current flowed through her entire body.

Lin Sanjiu instantly opened her eyes and suddenly shivered uncontrollably. The tremors from her body were so violent that her bed frame started producing 'thud thud thud' sounds that rang out distinctively through the quiet environment. She wanted to move her fingers, but she found that she had lost control over her body just like before... Even though the current running through her body did not give the same feeling, it was not entirely foreign to her. 'Damn it! Why did my ability choose such a poor timing to evolve!'

Gritting her teeth, she decided to fling herself onto the floor since the bed frame was too noisy and might attract attention. During this period, there was no way she could defend herself; it would be terrible if a stranger came in now. Even though the Oasis seemed peaceful, she did not want to take such risks.

However, she was not even able to move, so how could it be easy for her to flip herself over?

Using the momentum of her body movements, she managed to push herself slightly away from the wall, her long hair sliding from the bed. 'This isn't enough,' Lin Sanjiu thought anxiously to herself. But she was too late. Her neighbor's deep breathing sounds suddenly stopped then she heard a creak from her neighbor's bed. The person seemed to have gotten up. Thereafter, she heard footsteps heading for 1629's entrance. The footsteps stopped at the curtains.

"Hey... are you new here?" a woman lectured softly in a dissatisfied voice. "How could you do such a thing right now when everyone is sleeping? Don't you two have any shame! Stop it now!"

Even though she had lost control over her body, her mind was still clear. Lin Sanjiu was stunned for two seconds before she realized what her neighbor meant. She could feel herself almost vomiting blood — that woman had mistaken her for doing that! Although, she couldn't deny that the bed was making a lot of noise.

The woman waited for a while outside, but the noise continued in a rhythmic manner. She finally felt a little suspicious and lifted the curtain. When she saw Lin Sanjiu, she immediately cried out in shock. "Hey, are you alright?"

Despite being unable to speak, Lin Sanjiu felt a momentary wave of relief, which was quickly replaced by anxiousness once again. The neighbor that rushed in was a long-haired woman in her thirties who wore light yellow Winnie-the-Pooh pajamas. The woman was rather decisive, as she immediately helped Lin Sanjiu down from her bed and propped her head on her thigh.

"Hey, can you speak?" The woman hit Lin Sanjiu's face repeatedly, the slapping sounds ringing out. "Is this one of your epilepsy seizures?"

Lin Sanjiu could no longer tell if she was trembling due to the evolution or due to her anger.

Thankfully, the process was rather short. After a brief period, she gradually calmed down and regained control over her body. Once she discovered that she could move on her own accord, Lin Sanjiu immediately leaped up from the woman's thigh. She glared at the woman for a second; she wanted to say something but realized that the woman had done nothing wrong. Hence, she finally managed to force herself to say, "I'm okay. Thank you."

The woman gave her a blank stare without leaving. Then, she asked, "What sort of illness do you have? Does this happen frequently? Does this happen often when you sleep? Should I request for Xiao Yu to assign a different room for you?"

The woman was driving her mad. Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and snarled, "I am not sick! You don't understand. This is just a normal reaction that takes place when your ability evolves."

"Huh?" As expected, the woman was shocked and started observing her from top to bottom. "You evolved naturally? Me too!"

Lin Sanjiu felt a sudden rush of disappointment, as her vengeance failed her. She sighed. "So, why couldn't you tell?"

"I didn't know this... I arrived here very early on. My abilities did not evolve further even though I've been here for some time."

This was most likely because the Oasis was too peaceful.

"Okay... Anyway, I should still thank you for your help. I'm Lin Sanjiu, and you are?" Lin Sanjiu quickly adjusted her emotions and extended her hand out to the woman.

The woman touched her hand very briefly, which Lin Sanjiu took for a handshake. Following which, the woman replied, "I'm Fang Dan. Let's try to keep our distance. After all, I don't know how long you'll survive."

After saying these mysterious words, Fang Dan stood up and turned to leave.

'Are the posthumans living in the Oasis all weirdos without any social skills?' Lin Sanjiu had a strong urge to bury her face in her hands to lament.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?"

Fang Dan looked back at her innocently, "New members like you with strong abilities are usually assigned to difficult missions. So, the survival rate of your type is not high." Then, she left without showing much concern.

Lin Sanjiu watched as she left, not knowing what to say. The walls were not soundproof, so she could clearly hear Fang Dan returning and lying back on her own bed. Within ten minutes, the soft snoring noise returned.

'It's psychologically suffocating to speak to this woman,' Lin Sanjiu ranted, not taking to heart about Fang Dan's comments about the difficult missions. She had already gone through her fair share of strange and dangerous experiences here in this Hyperthermal Hell. 'Was it even possible for the Oasis's missions to be more lethal than that pocket dimension?'

Going off of the sounds she heard, Lin Sanjiu concluded that Fang Dan was fast asleep. After lying in the dark for a long time, Lin Sanjiu finally stretched her palms out cautiously.

She decided to check the state of her ability. This time, when the evolution was complete, she had an intense impulse to summon out a card. It was quite clear to her that this advancement was related to her card ability. With a simple thought, a card appeared in her hand. There was no sign of the usual white flash. Instead, the card appeared without any sign.