Ultimately, Liu Miaomiao persuaded the others to let Lin Xinghai become their roommate.
The reason they were all able to come to an agreement was entirely because Wang Yao had asked, "What if this old classmate of yours can't control himself and decides to do something inappropriate to us? What then?"
After Liu Miaomiao blushed and declared, "If he really wants to do something, he can just come for me first," all arguments came to a close.
Watching the five women walk back, Lin Xinghai couldn't help but ask, "By the way, you haven't even asked for my opinion. What makes you so sure I'd agree to be your roommate?"
"Oh? Don't tell me you'd rather live with a bunch of rough guys?" Liu Miaomiao said, raising an eyebrow.
Lin Xinghai was momentarily speechless. Unless he was into men, he really couldn't imagine making that choice.
"Ahem!" Lin Xinghai cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment, then said seriously, "Liu Miaomiao, I have something very important to tell you."
"What's wrong?" Liu Miaomiao immediately grew tense.
"Well, it seems I've lost some of my memories after waking up from the Hibernation Pod. Partial amnesia," Lin Xinghai said, getting straight to the point.
'It was the most plausible excuse he could think of. Whether anyone else bought it or not, he was convinced.'
Sure enough, Liu Miaomiao and the other girls looked surprised. "The hibernation system malfunctioned? That's really rare!"
Hearing Liu Miaomiao's words, Lin Xinghai felt a surge of relief. 'So my bluff worked! Things like this really do happen.' He was just about to build on her comment.
However, Liu Miaomiao continued, "But it's no big deal. Just spend some Points at the medical bay and get an injection of Cell Repair Liquid. That should fix it. Want me to go with you?"
Lin Xinghai resisted the urge to curse. 'What the fuck? Has technology really advanced this much?'
"No, that's okay. I feel like my memory is already coming back, bit by bit. There's no need to waste precious Points. I just wanted to let you know what was going on," Lin Xinghai said.
"Really?" Liu Miaomiao looked skeptical.
"Absolutely," Lin Xinghai said, his expression completely serious.
The group didn't dwell on the issue any further. Instead, Liu Miaomiao introduced the other four women.
The one with the hottest body was named Wang Yao—Lin Xinghai already knew that. The remaining three were Qin Zixue, Yang Yi, and Shen Yimei.
With the introductions out of the way, it was time for the dormitory assignments.
However, before the dorms were assigned, everyone had to re-verify their personal data, which had been transferred from the database of Shelter 83.
Once confirmed to be correct, the data would be loaded onto their Identity Cards.
Within the Shelter, the Identity Card functioned not only as personal identification but also as a bank card. Each card came pre-loaded with 10 initial Points.
One Point could buy a Low Level nutrient meal. In other words, if they were frugal, it was enough for about three days' worth of food.
After that, they would have to find their own ways to get by.
However, the Star Shield Shelter was currently expanding and was in desperate need of labor, so finding a job wouldn't be a concern.
After Lin Xinghai and the others collected their Identity Cards, they were all assigned to Room 301 in Building D.
It was worth noting that when the group applied for the same dorm room, the look on the registrar's face was priceless.
He didn't make things difficult for them, though. After confirming that the women were all there voluntarily, he processed the arrangement directly.
...
"Oh my god, this is so primitive!" Pushing open the door to Room 301, the women couldn't help but exclaim after a quick look around.
The entire dorm only had three metal-frame bunk beds. As for appliances, there was just a single energy-saving light bulb—not even a fan.
On top of that, there wasn't even a bathroom inside the room—not so much as a sink. The entire floor only had two public restrooms and a single water tap.
What's more, you had to swipe your Identity Card at the tap just to get water, and it cost three Points per bucket.
That explained why Lin Xinghai had seen so many unwashed people on his way here. The water was ridiculously expensive.
Fortunately, the Shelter's upper management wasn't completely inhumane; they at least provided basic necessities like bedding.
After the women briefly made their beds, they began to lament about what they were going to do from now on.
"According to this paper, we have to find a job within two days. But there are so few positions listed here that are suitable for women," Liu Miaomiao said with a worried expression, holding a sheet of paper that had been distributed on Ji Yuan's orders.
"The jobs listed are all at the synthesis factory or the textile mill. I don't want to work in a place like that," Wang Yao chimed in. "On the way over, I saw a lot of shops that looked like they were hiring salespeople. Why don't we go check those out?"
"Aren't any of you concerned about the pay? I don't want to end up without enough Points to even take a shower." This time it was Qin Zixue who spoke up; she seemed to be the most fastidious about cleanliness in the group.
The women all started talking at once, each voicing her own opinion. Lin Xinghai watched quietly from the side. In that moment, he felt extremely fortunate to have joined the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps.
Suddenly, Shen Yimei, who was standing by the door, let out a soft sound of surprise. "What's going on outside? Why is it so noisy?"
Saying this, she pulled open the door and stepped outside.
A look of curiosity appeared on Lin Xinghai's face as well.
His hearing was the sharpest of anyone there, so in addition to the shouting, he could also make out the sounds of a fight.
Shen Yimei returned a moment later, a look of panic on her face.
"Yimei, what's wrong?" Liu Miaomiao asked immediately.
"They're collecting protection money! It's a group of guys who call themselves the Axe Gang. They're really tough fighters. I saw one skinny kid knock out a huge guy—he must've been over two hundred pounds—with a single punch," Shen Yimei said, her voice trembling.
"What?! What about the security patrol? Are they just letting it happen?" Liu Miaomiao exclaimed in shock.
Lin Xinghai walked over to the window and glanced down at the street. "The patrol is gone," he said. "Besides, the Lower Level District is so densely populated, they probably couldn't control it even if they wanted to."
He had heard Roger mention this before. The Lower Level District was indeed full of small gangs made up of petty thugs.
There had been several major crackdowns in the Lower Level District where they rounded up these thugs and sent them to labor camps, but they always went right back to their old ways after being released.
Plus, they were usually "measured" in their actions—they never killed anyone and didn't push the common folk too far.
So, in most cases, unless the security patrol caught them red-handed, there was nothing anyone could do about them after the fact.
And so, over time, the situation became what it is today.
Lin Xinghai hadn't expected to run into something like this on his very first day in the Star Shield Shelter.