Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Return to the Hospital

As the thought crossed her mind, she glanced back at Mia Keller, who was also looking at her. Sue thought for a moment and remembered she hadn’t added Mia to the encrypted Channel 4. This was her first mission, after all.

So, she activated her Skill, B-level Network Technology, and pulled Mia into the channel.

"Sue, is that the same hospital where we were admitted last time?"

"Yeah, it’s the one where you were admitted last time."

Mia Keller: ...

"AHEM, AHEM... So, that hospital has a group of extremely vicious thugs inside. Shouldn’t we tell the others ahead of time?"

"What? Thugs?" Elliot Lawrence was stunned. "When did this happen? Did you run into them? Sue, are you hurt?"

Elliot had just been listening quietly, but now he was utterly shocked. ’Thugs?’

’There are thugs on the very first day of the apocalypse?’

"I’m fine. We took off on the snowmobile before they got to us."

Sue’s voice was perfectly calm. "But let’s not be hasty. We should assess the situation first and then decide on the right time to say something. After all, why shouldn’t we get some Points out of it?"

Sue felt this piece of intelligence was quite valuable, and she wanted to secure a little benefit for herself first. But unexpectedly, she faintly heard a soft laugh in her earpiece.

"Bro, was that you laughing?"

"No, you must have misheard," Elliot replied, completely baffled. Mia Keller chimed in, "I didn’t hear anything either."

Sue: ...

’Did I mishear?’

By now, the sleds were already moving. A live feed of the mission was being broadcast directly to the bunker, where everyone could see the two teams splitting up and heading in different directions.

Tiana Lynch frowned, secretly taking off the cloth covering her eyes. After making sure no one was watching her, she found a corner and stared intently at the screen.

She couldn’t make out much through the screen, but she knew that Silas Hawthorne had taken Sue Lawrence with him, while Jason Sterling was with Theodore Frost.

’If Jason performs well this time, he might leave a good impression on Silas Hawthorne,’ she thought. ’That would make it easier to earn Points in the future.’

Tiana was still holding a grudge about not getting the last supply pack, but thankfully, supplies were everywhere under the heavy snow blanketing the city.

The freezing temperatures were the world’s best refrigerator.

Just then, Sue’s voice finally came through Silas Hawthorne’s helmet.

"Mr. Hawthorne, I have an important piece of intelligence about the hospital we’re heading to. I think it’s worth three Points."

Silas Hawthorne: ...

The wind howled around them. Their progress was slow, and they had to keep their safety harnesses buckled tight, or they’d be instantly thrown from the sled.

"Tell me first. It might not even be worth a single Point."

Silas’s voice drifted into her ears. His normal speaking voice was already pleasant, but now, transmitted through electromagnetic waves, it was like the most beautiful music in the world. It sent a tingle down half of Sue’s body.

Even Mia felt the same way. After all, the two were speaking on a public channel that everyone could hear.

"No way. One Point, minimum. Otherwise, I’m not talking."

Sue began to haggle. Then, suddenly, the others couldn’t hear their voices anymore. They had clearly switched to an encrypted channel to talk privately.

Silas saw the channel indicator jump to 3 and cut right to the chase. "One Point. Talk."

"The hospital has been taken over by a group of people. I suspect there’s a Reincarnator among them. Also, there’s more than one Superpower User inside. One of them has the Superpower of Instant Teleportation. With so many days having passed since the apocalypse began, I’m not sure if there are any other survivors left in the hospital."

There was a moment of silence from his end before Silas’s voice sounded again.

"There are survivors. As long as the hospital’s generator is still working, there are survivors."

The hospital’s heating and power generation were self-sufficient, relying on a generator buried deep underground. The building also had eight subterranean levels. When the hospital was built, part of the underground structure was designed to serve as a bunker, so it was dug very deep.

The massive accumulation of snow on top acted as the best insulation layer. The deeper you went, the warmer it got. Add to that the hospital’s own generator, and both heat and light were guaranteed. Most importantly, the hospital had vast quantities of medicine, medical equipment, and the medical personnel they desperately needed. That was why they chose the hospital as their first stop.

Silas analyzed the factors one by one in his mind.

Sue wasn’t surprised to hear his reasoning. If it were her, the first two places she’d go would be a hospital or a storage warehouse. They had already been to the warehouses, so heading to the hospital next was perfectly logical. If possible, a fuel depot would also be a necessary stop.

"Victor Keller..."

Silas’s voice came over the public channel again.

"Yes, sir!"

"Send a robot ahead to scout the situation." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Yes, sir!"

Sue: ?

’This high-tech?’

’A cyber-apocalypse??’

She instinctively looked toward Victor Keller.

They were still a kilometer from the hospital, and the sleds had stopped. She had assumed one of the robots pulling the sled would detach and go scout ahead. Instead, one of the robots’ heads suddenly opened, and a small, beetle-sized object flew out, quickly burrowing into the snow and ice.

Sue: ?????

Elliot’s shocked voice came over the encrypted Channel 4. "My god, what the hell is that thing?"

’What kind of thing just burrows straight into the snow and ice? That’s insane!’

Mia Keller said, "High-tech, right? Just seeing stuff like this makes me feel like I’m definitely going to survive."

Mia was fascinated. Although Sue had always said the apocalypse was terrifying, with this kind of high-tech support, she suddenly felt it might not be so difficult after all.

Sue nodded in agreement. ’My past life was so miserable, but this feels like heaven in comparison. Heavens, can being reincarnated really change things this much?’

’But now, the danger isn’t the natural climate,’ she thought. ’It’s people.’

The people inside the hospital, buried deep beneath the snow, were the greatest crisis.

Sue gazed into the distance. She could see the hospital now. The first four floors were completely buried in snow, with only the top five visible. But even those upper floors were unrecognizable, the entire building encased in a thick layer of ice. The fierce winds had sculpted the ice into what looked like overlapping scales, jutting out at an angle. Under the sun, the ice crystals glittered, dazzling and blinding.

If this weren’t the apocalypse, such a sight would have been breathtakingly beautiful, like admiring the magnificent ice formations in the far north. But she was in no mood to appreciate it. Instead, a growing chill of despair crept into her heart.

The Frozen Apocalypse. It truly lived up to its name.

The helmets came with a built-in telescopic function. Silas Hawthorne and the others activated their scopes, and the distant, ice-encased high-rise was instantly brought into close-up view.

The thick layer of ice made it impossible to see clearly if anyone was inside. They could only vaguely make out the silhouette of something, which seemed to be a person moving by a window.

Victor Keller reported impassively, "Mr. Hawthorne, there appear to be people inside. Awaiting your orders."

He was asking for instructions on what to do next.