After walking across the barren slope for about half an hour, the group spotted the evacuation entrance near a small rise in the ground. Wang Zhi glanced back at the three behind him, then quickly headed over.
It was a heavy iron door, identical to the one they had seen previously.
Wang Zhi then placed his Magnetic Card on the reader.
The door opened.
"We've arrived. Everyone go in now," Wang Zhi told the students behind him.
"Wonderful! We're saved."
After ensuring everyone had entered, Wang Zhi followed them in. The Magnetic Card automatically closed the door once it moved a certain distance away from the iron frame.
"Sirs, are you sure this is the right place?"
"Yeah, where exactly are we going?"
In this dark, narrow opening, some students were already getting nervous; these endless steps seemed as if they would never end.
"Just keep walking down," Wang Zhi couldn't be bothered to explain, silently descending the steps.
After the group walked for a while, they finally saw the end: the elevator doors!
Wang Zhi stepped forward and opened the elevator.
The interior space wasn't large enough to hold all twenty-plus of them, so they had to split into two groups. The first group, led by Fatty and Old He, took 12 students on the first trip. The rest—Wang Zhi and Ying—would take the second trip.
After confirming, Old He entered the elevator first and left with his group.
The remaining group waited for about half an hour until the elevator returned here.
"Let's go in," Wang Zhi said.
Even split into two groups, the fourteen people inside the elevator were still extremely cramped.
At this point, Ying took the opportunity to tease Wang Zhi, pressing her body against his back.
"Uh, Sister Ying, could you perhaps move back a little? It's a bit hot," Wang Zhi said awkwardly.
"Hmph, are you suggesting I should press against someone else?" Ying said crossly, looking at Wang Zhi's smug face as if he was taking advantage and pretending otherwise.
But Wang Zhi genuinely felt hot. In such a confined space, while wearing biohazard suits, he felt like the air supply was insufficient. Add to that the bloodstains on their bodies and the body odor of students who hadn't bathed for tens of days, and the entire elevator was filled with strange smells.
Ding! The elevator made a sound—they had arrived!
As soon as the door opened, Wang Zhi was the first one out; he genuinely didn't want to spend another second inside.
Once outside, Wang Zhi looked at the familiar hall. Fatty, Old He, and the others had been waiting for a long time. Fully armed guards stood all around, ready to respond to any emergency at a moment's notice.
After seeing the true appearance of the Dawn Tower, the students looked around in amazement, as if they had suddenly moved from hell to heaven.
At this moment, Wang Zhi and his group could not yet fully enter the interior of the Dawn Tower; they still had to undergo various checks.
"Please follow me to the medical bay for comprehensive disinfection and physical examination."
A woman wearing a white coat and a mask approached, signaling for Wang Zhi and the others to follow her.
"I'm glad to see you back. It must have been quite interesting outside?" the woman in the white coat said.
"There's nothing humorous about it; outside is hell on earth," Wang Zhi replied.
The woman in the white coat led Wang Zhi and his group for a short distance.
"This is it. Director Sophie is waiting for you inside." After saying this, the woman in the white coat turned and left.
Wang Zhi remembered that this Sophie was the director of the medical bay from the meeting hall earlier.
The group arrived at the medical bay, and Director Sophie first led them to the changing and disinfection rooms.
"Everyone go in, take off all your clothes, and enter the sterilization booth to clean your bodies. Gentlemen to the left room, ladies to the right."
Sophie stated this while standing in the hallway, then left the disinfection area.
Inside the room, three male doctors in white coats stood beside many small baskets intended to hold Wang Zhi's team's clothing and equipment. Wang Zhi stripped off his blood-stained biohazard suit and his own undergarments, tossed them into a basket, and walked naked into the disinfection shower room. A spare uniform hung inside the sterilization chamber.
After washing, everyone emerged from the disinfection room dressed in matching Dawn Tower issue uniforms.
"Please come this way," a medical staff member directed.
Wang Zhi arrived at the testing room. The process was simple, requiring only a blood draw. After a short wait, all they needed was confirmation that there were no hidden infection risks.
The results confirmed no hidden carriers. Upon learning this, Wang Zhi let out a sigh of relief, as any issue with any one of the four of them right now would severely impact him.
After clearing testing, Wang Zhi and the others led the students to the Mission Hall. He was eager to submit their mission results.
Information verification was complete: they had brought back a total of 24 valid survivors!
Simultaneously, 2,400 Survival Points were credited to their accounts!
After turning the students over to Dawn Tower, Wang Zhi still had one crucial task: recruiting Jia Liuli to join their squad.
"Jia Liuli, come with us," Wang Zhi called out.
Jia Liuli, hearing Wang Zhi call her from a distance, quickly jogged over.
The group took Jia Liuli to the Affairs Hall. Here, they located an unoccupied service window and walked toward it.
"Hello, we are the Sunset Glow team. I would like to invite a survivor to join our team."
"Very well. Please present the Magnetic Cards for all members involved," the attendant said.
It was only then that Wang Zhi realized Jia Liuli did not possess a Magnetic Card.
"It's like this, she is someone we just rescued from outside; she doesn't have a Magnetic Card yet. Could you possibly process one for her?" Wang Zhi asked the attendant.
"No Magnetic Card? Then her current status is Migrant. She needs to spend 1000 Survival Points to purchase Citizen status. Only with Citizen status can she enjoy all the rights and privileges of the Dawn Tower."
"Migrant? There's such a classification?" Wang Zhi was slightly confused but grasped the underlying meaning.
Anyone without a Magnetic Card was considered a Migrant. Migrants could not enjoy all rights, which implicitly meant they had no freedom.
Citizens, on the other hand, possessed Magnetic Cards, just like them. They could acquire various wealth, spend it freely, and enjoy all the privileges of the Dawn Tower.
To have Jia Liuli join the team now, Wang Zhi would need to pay 1000 Survival Points to purchase her Citizen status.
Wang Zhi stared at Jia Liuli. She currently looked completely bewildered, unaware of why everyone was looking at her. Clearly, she did not yet understand what a Migrant was, what a Citizen was, or what Survival Points even were!
Seeing Jia Liuli's helplessness, Wang Zhi recalled that day at the stadium entrance: Jia Liuli, standing alone with a single knife, facing the four of them as they looked worn out—a sight that evoked both pity and regret.
He didn't want to give up such a kind person; in this Apocalypse, he needed a teammate like that—one he wouldn't have to second-guess!
Wang Zhi glanced at Old He, who just nodded silently, offering no strong opinion.
As for Ying, he had already discussed it with her outside, and she had no objections.
As for Fatty... his opinion no longer carried much weight.
"Good, I'll purchase Citizen status for her!" Wang Zhi turned and said to the clerk in charge.
After receiving Wang Zhi's confirmation again, the staff deducted 1,000 Survival Points from Wang Zhi's team.
From this moment on, Jia Liuli held Citizen status in Dawn Tower!
After completing the enrollment procedures for Jia Liuli, the clerk handed over a Magnetic Card with the ID number 10001.
10001—this represented the very first person who transitioned from being a Migrant to a Citizen within Dawn Tower!