Li Qingyu, weaving through the corridors, returned to his shelter, took a cold shower, washed his clothes, and, naked, ran to the stove to dry off.
His pants were worn through at the knees and backside. Even the sturdy work robe made of coarse gray fabric couldn't withstand his leaps through the ruins.
His shoes were also in disrepair – the soles had almost fallen off. He needed new boots.
He placed an iron sheet with a depression on the stove, greased it with Holy Oil, took out a ceramic pot, scooped a spoonful of starch, and began to bake flatbreads.
Soon, a fragrant starch flatbread was ready. Li Qingyu began to eat.
As soon as he swallowed a piece, an icon flashed in the lower-left corner of his vision: "Holiness."
"Holiness: The power of the Emperor, Master of Mankind, protects you. You will know no doubt or cowardice. Evil will not touch your body, Chaos will not penetrate your mind. The Light of Humanity is eternal. Energy +5. Duration: 2 hours."
After swallowing the flatbread, soaked in holy oil, Li Qingyu felt a wave of warmth run through his body – an incredible lightness.
The "Holiness" state not only gave +5 Energy but also completely reset accumulated Chaos Corruption.
In the world of Warhammer 40k, everyone is to some extent infected by corruption.
For ordinary people, a corruption level of about 0.001% is normal. But on worlds invaded by demons, it can soar to 200% or even 2000%.
If the scale goes off the charts, the person distorts and turns into a demonic abomination.
But one flatbread from Li Qingyu reset everything. In a word – bliss.
Although 0.001% seems like a trifle, the difference between "almost zero" and "absolute zero" is colossal.
Now, completely purified, he felt his soul as clear as a tear. An indescribable feeling.
He hastily fried the remaining starch, using up a bottle of oil, and got fifteen Holy Flatbreads.
After washing the pot, he dried it by the stove and put the finished flatbreads in it.
After that, he collapsed into sleep and passed out without a second thought.
Waking up, he checked his stats and inventory without getting out of bed.
Stats: Strength 13, Endurance 14, Energy 12.
Firearms – 16, thrown – 15. The rest unchanged.
Weapons: lasgun ×1, semi-automatic rifle SIT ×1, shotgun ×1, homemade automatic ×2, pipe shotgun ×1, homemade gun ×1.
Magazines: for lasgun ×1, drum magazines for 30 ×2, for homemade guns ×6, for pistols ×3.
Ammunition: 8.9×55mm ×340, 8.9×55 BB ×76, homemade ×421, 35mm shotgun shells ×80, pistol rounds ×15.
Grenades: gas ×6, smoke ×2.
Equipment: SIT body armor (lvl 3) ×1, SIT helmet (lvl 3) ×1, disc harness ×1, medium backpack ×1.
Consumables: Holy Oil ×2, Holy Flatbreads ×15.
Loot: needles ×78, rage injectors ×24.
Finances: 45,890 fertilizer tokens.
Having finished his inventory, he got dressed, opened the door, and headed for the Fertilizer gang's territory.
Before, it was teeming with crowds, but now only a few passers-by. Even the guards at the gate were different.
Li Qingyu habitually entered Black Merchant Nepal's shop. Glancing at the grim owner, he silently laid three Rage Spine Modules on the table.
"As agreed. Give me the refrigerator. And payment for the kills – Xiao Dao should have reported."
Nepal silently nodded to his subordinate. The man brought a refrigerator and placed it on the table. The merchant himself took a pack of tokens from under the counter and slapped them down in front of the mercenary.
Li Qingyu counted – sixty-three chemists, four swine – twenty thousand one hundred. All correct.
He scooped up the money, slung the refrigerator over his shoulder, and was about to leave when Nepal called out: "Wait. There's more work."
Li Qingyu turned around: "State it."
"The losses are heavy, but we are not giving up on the reactor," Nepal said. "The Electric Eye has opened its coffers and is raising an army. We will strike again in a month. But the Chemists are recovering faster: their drugs attract crowds of junkies. We need to slow down their recruitment."
"What do I need to do, and how much will you pay?" Li Qingyu asked businesslike.
Nepal took out a backpack with thirty-five kilos of explosives and placed it on the table.
"Take this to the Chemists' base, choose a dense spot, and blow it up. I'll pay ten grand and my friendship."
Li Qingyu calculated: it couldn't be simpler. "Taking it."
*Ding!* Quest accepted!
"Black Merchant Nepal asks you to slow down the Chemists' gang recruitment. The explosion will destroy a sufficient number of recruits. Reward: 10,000 tokens, reputation with Nepal lvl.2."
"How will I prove success?" Li Qingyu clarified.
"I have eyes among the Chemists. If it blows up in a crowd, I'll know," the merchant replied.
"Wait!" Li Qingyu threw back.
He ran back to his shelter, dropped everything unnecessary, stripped naked – even took off his underwear and boots, only wrapping a rag around his leg – and headed for the dungeon.
First, he returned to the reactor, then jumped through a breach on the first level to the Chemists' territory.
The landscape was hellish: furnaces all around, smoke, poisonous smog, crowds of emaciated people who looked more like skeletons.
Recruitment was in full swing. As soon as the chemists waved their syringes, the junkies themselves rushed forward – life for a dose!
The crowd was boiling. There was no more space – people filled every gap between the furnaces.
Naked Li Qingyu, assessing the situation, dashed straight into the thick of it, swinging his "equipment" left and right. No one was even surprised – who knows what kind of dose-fanatic had run in. No one tried to stop him.
He pushed through the mass of bodies like an eel, making his way closer to the center, where the chemists were distributing doses.
It's unknown how long it took, but eventually, he broke through to the table itself.
One of the chemists, smiling, offered him a syringe: "So you're a tough guy! In a hurry to serve the gang? Here – you'll fly to the heavens."
He glanced at Li Qingyu's muscular body and wondered if he should send him to Mother as a masseur.
Li Qingyu knocked the syringe out of his hand and yelled, "Get lost! I only smoke 'Cosmos'!!"
He jumped onto the table. Thousands of eyes fixed on his "equipment." The moment became too solemn and absurd at the same time – but since everyone was watching, he had to say something powerful.
He came up with it.
"For the Space King!!" he roared.
He pulled the cord. Thirty-five kilograms of explosives detonated. Consciousness went out instantly – without pain.
A second later, Li Qingyu opened his eyes in his shelter – naked again, as if reborn.
Eight hours had passed since then. Yes, the respawn cooldown is eight hours, but an improved bed might shorten it.
He jumped up, dressed instantly, and rushed to Nepal. Running up, he held out his hand: "Hand over the cash!!"
Nepal's eyes bulged. He looked at the mercenary as if he had seen a ghost.
"Wait... You died?"