The heavy rain was pouring down without any sign of stopping.
At this time of day, it should have brightened up already.
But today, only gray gloom filled the space between heaven and earth.
The fierce sound of wind and rain intertwined, blowing Lu Yuan's white coat fluttering under the eaves.
In the sky, a military drone quickly cut through the rain curtain, flying over the clinic.
Whether dissatisfied with such weather or for other reasons, Lu Yuan's eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
Slap!
Just as the drone flew over Lu Yuan's head, a gust of wind carried the rainwater and struck the windproof, waterproof, and bulletproof drone, dropping it into a puddle on the ground.
Looking at the time, Lu Yuan stood under the eaves for a while longer.
Soon, Liu Yuan came out dragging her feet from the end of the corridor. She was wearing a bright red dress, about to go to the changing room to change into her nurse's uniform.
The clinic was closed today, but because there were patients who needed care, Liu Yuan still had to work.
Just as she reached the changing room door, Liu Yuan's expression froze.
Then she closed the changing room door she had just opened, went under the eaves outside the reception hall, and stood behind Lu Yuan.
"Boss?"
Inhaling deeply the moist air blowing in from the wind and rain, Lu Yuan said lightly: "It's too noisy outside, go take care of it."
"On your way back, buy two steamer buns from Li Aunt's place."
"Also get two cups of soy milk, haven't had it for a long time, from Chen Master's place."
"Oh right, check on Old Wang too. If he remains stubborn, dig a hole by the roadside and bury him."
Liu Yuan repeated Lu Yuan's words to herself, and asked: "Boss, how exactly should I 'take care of it'?"
Lu Yuan frowned and said, "How could you become as dumb as Lin Youyou?"
"To 'take care of it' means you first watch how they handle things, then treat them the same way."
"I see, then I may need to bring some helpers."
"Do as you see fit."
"Then, boss, could you please step aside for now?"
"Why?"
"Which one underground would dare come out with you standing here?"
"Ah right, I forgot about that."
Lu Yuan turned and walked towards his break room. Liu Yuan went to the third underground level of the warehouse.
The thick iron door opened a small side door.
Standing at the end of a long, dim corridor, Liu Yuan took out a whistle and blew hard.
"Whoosh—"
"Little cuties! Playtime is here!"
The whistle sounded far down the corridor. Next moment, roars both high and low rang out from behind the rows of dark doors!
In a flash, the previously dead silent hallway became as lively as a marketplace!
Liu Yuan walked down the corridor with her arms crossed, saying as she went, "You all know the rules—every playtime means your room inspection by Dr. Lu gets delayed by three more months."
"No room inspections by Dr. Lu means none of you get to leave, ever."
"Participants in last playtime, 391, 392, 394, this time, it's 395's turn..."
Liu Yuan's voice wasn't loud, yet somehow every room seemed able to hear her words.
As she finished speaking, the noisy rooms quieted down noticeably.
Soon, Liu Yuan arrived at Room 395.
Passing Room 393, she paused.
"393, want to play?"
There was not a sound from the room, quiet as if no one was inside.
Liu Yuan waited for a bit. Her eyes showed some satisfaction, "Keep at it, 393. You're one month away from Dr. Lu's inspection. Dr. Lu definitely looks forward to the day you succeed."
Clang—
The sound of chains shifting came from behind the door. Liu Yuan lightly knocked on the door panel in response.
At Room 395's door, hearing the banging sounds coming from within, Liu Yuan sighed softly.
She took out a set of keys, found #395, and opened the door.
This room was very small, but special—the entire room was less than 10 square meters, with a water tank taking up over 90% of the space.
Regular rooms, no matter how small, would have nutrient solution delivery pipes and a tiny bathroom. But besides the water tank, this room had nothing else.
Now, Liu Yuan stood at the door as the water in the tank slowly gathered together, gradually forming a "person" made of water ripples.
To be precise, it was a human-shaped water current.
Liu Yuan gave a thumbs up and praised, "Amazing! It looks like you're close to evolving into a Superpowered Being!"
Superpowered Beings were a level above Ability Users.
Legend says Ability Users who strengthen their ability coefficient to 10.0 will evolve from ordinary Ability Users into Superpowered Beings.
The human-shaped water flow shook its head, and the extremely lifelike face made of all water ripples revealed a bitter smile: "Still far from it, I just barely broke through 5.0 to 5.1."
The voice of the human-shaped water flow sounded like gurgling water too, crisp and pleasant.
Delight immediately showed in Liu Yuan's eyes. "That's still very impressive! With you this time, I can just watch you guys play!"
"Haha! Lazy little nurse as always..."
"Hehe, come with me!"
Next, Liu Yuan went to Room 396. Hearing no movement inside, she didn't show the same satisfaction as at 393's door. Somewhat regretfully, she spoke into her walkie-talkie, "Boss, Room 396 can be cleaned out. The rescue target has completely lost all life signs."
Lu Yuan's voice quickly came through the walkie-talkie. "Got it, have Lin Youyou go this afternoon."
At Room 397, Liu Yuan heard a very rhythmic knocking on the door panel.
She opened the door. This room was about 20 square meters, plain and ordinary. The only special thing was an oil painting hanging on the wall.
Liu Yuan didn't see anyone inside. Helplessly rolling her eyes, she said, "397, stop playing! I'm leaving if you don't come out!"
"Wahhh!!"
Suddenly, a panicked shriek came from right above Liu Yuan's head. The next second, a man with white face paint, red lips, and emerald green eye shadow like a clown appeared upside down in front of Liu Yuan.
His feet were hooked to the ceiling. His whole body swung back and forth in front of Liu Yuan like a swing.
Liu Yuan rolled her eyes again and grumbled, "How childish!"
She turned and left. The "Clown" grinned widely with a hee-hee, bouncing after Liu Yuan without making a sound.
At Room 398, Liu Yuan didn't hear any movement inside either. Like at 393, she said, "398, keep it up! Just two more months!"
At Room 399, before Liu Yuan even got close—Boom!!
A sudden huge noise came from inside, startling the bouncing Clown behind Liu Yuan into an extremely exaggerated jump on the spot. The human-shaped water flow also splashed up some ripples.
Liu Yuan muttered, "Don't wanna go, fine! No need to throw a tantrum..."
Standing in front of Room 399, Liu Yuan glanced down the corridor and spread her hands helplessly. "Sorry everyone, my access only goes up to 399."
"Want to come out and play with me, you gotta behave yourselves and get Dr. Lu to move you to the front rooms!"
Finally, Liu Yuan went to Room 001 and brought out her free labor, the zombie infection case from that room.
"Let's go Xiao Yi, time to play!"
The zombie infection case excitedly punched his big pecs again and again, even proactively grabbing the iron chain on the wall to hand to Liu Yuan.
Liu Yuan slapped it and said, "Seeing how happy you are, looks like you'll be staying here forever!"
On the way back, passing Room 261, Liu Yuan knocked on the door and said, "261, help me out please, it's raining outside and I'm taking the little cuties out to play!"
An exceptionally aged voice came from inside. "Got it..."
And so, Liu Yuan led a zombie chained with an iron chain, a puddle of water, and a clown out of the underground corridor.
As she passed through the -2nd floor mezzanine, Liu Yuan slowed her pace. The zombies became like an obedient kitten, the anthropomorphic waterflow directly transformed into a puddle slowly creeping across the floor, and as for that clown...
He acted extremely foolishly by stepping forward and knocking on the door.