Lin Ye moved slowly along the sidewalk. Previously, while Yu Feng was exploring the city district, other survivors had compiled a crude city map, which included the routes Yu Feng had taken and the various buildings near those routes.

Later, the survivors added the locations of various shelters to the map. Lin Ye had already memorized this map. Although the map didn’t show the library’s location, he could roughly determine which area the library was in based on the city’s layout.

The streets were deathly quiet, with no pedestrians or vehicles passing by. Some gazes from inside the surrounding buildings followed Lin Ye as he walked by. Opening the group chat, he could see screenshots posted by those survivors.

Those screenshots were extremely blurry, only showing a rough outline of Lin Ye.

Based on the information Yu Feng had provided earlier, Lin Ye found a check-in point at the intersection of two streets.

The check-in point was a coin machine similar to the one on the first floor of the Apartment Building. Checking in meant inserting the corresponding number of red coins into the machine.

This differed from the intel Yu Feng had given. When he had explored the streets, he didn’t need to insert coins, but back then, he couldn’t move freely like Lin Ye could now.

This might have been influenced by certain rules, or perhaps the system simply didn’t allow survivors to move freely outside the shelter at that time.

Lin Ye walked a bit further before sending information related to the street check-in points to the group chat.

“Damn, I’m screwed now. I’ve got less than fifty red coins left, only enough for a few streets.”

“Bro Lin is moving with the Mutation Creatures, that’s why he’s burning through so many red coins. It’s not that expensive for one person.”

“Fifty should barely be enough.”

“Uh, then I only have ten red coins left...”

“Then you’re done for, just enough to get out the door.”

“What happens if you can’t pay?”

“Probably the system will restrict your movement, just like Old Yu.”

“That’s way too harsh.”

Yu Feng: ?

“Bro Lin just passed by my building downstairs. Should we take this chance to improve the city map?”

“Sure, even though I feel like Bro Lin will send one later, we can’t just do nothing.”

...

By analyzing the city’s layout, Lin Ye marked a few spots on the map. The city library was probably near one of these spots.

The closest spot was only five blocks away, and the library was most likely located there.

After inserting a coin, Lin Ye entered the next block. Unlike the other blocks, a massive dark shadow lay sprawled on the road in this one.

‘Is that... a biological bus?’

Lin Ye used his mental energy to probe the shadow’s internal structure. He found rows of seats arranged inside, the layout very similar to a bus.

The shadow turned its head and glanced at Lin Ye, its enormous eyeballs gleaming like headlights.

“Need a ride?”

The biological bus let out a somewhat grating voice.

“What’s the fare? Which stops can I go to?”

Although Lin Ye had already planned his route, since he’d encountered a creature he could interact with, he naturally wanted to experience the process of taking a ride.

“The fare is one red coin per person per stop. Once you’re on board, you can see the stop names.”

The biological bus answered very politely.

If it had run into someone else, it wouldn’t be this courteous. As a system facility, it could see the system permission level. This survivor before it wasn’t someone it could mess with, whether in terms of strength or authority.

If the system hadn’t set a minimum price, it would have waived Lin Ye’s fare altogether.

“That cheap? Is it the same price for others?”

Lin Ye felt the other party’s attitude was a bit too deferential.

“Of course not. How could others possibly enjoy the same treatment as you?”

The biological bus answered very directly.

“What’s the price for others? Is the library on your route?”

Lin Ye wasn’t too bothered by its attitude.

“About five red coins per person per stop. The library stop is just ahead, only two stops away.”

The biological bus answered very succinctly.

“Do I still need to check in on the street if I’m taking the bus?”

Lin Ye thought taking the bus probably wouldn’t require it, but he confirmed anyway.

“Of course not, that would be way too troublesome.”

The biological bus opened its doors, inviting Lin Ye to enter its interior.

Lin Ye first sent Red Frog and the alienated body inside the bus to check for any issues. Only after confirming there were none did he step into the somewhat dim space.

The bus started moving quickly. Lin Ye also posted this information, along with the stop names that had only appeared inside the bus after it started, to the group chat.

“Holy crap! Bro Lin is already on the bus!”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it. Isn’t that normal?”

“Feels like taking the bus is a bit cheaper.”

“That’s Bro Lin. If you took it, it wouldn’t be the same.”

“So that black shadow that always passes by the window was the bus. I thought it was some terrifying giant creature.”

“Library stop, Commercial Street stop, Restaurant stop... This route has quite a few stops.”

“Having stop names makes things much easier, though I wonder what functions each stop has.”

“Should be related to gathering resources, since the Nighttime Activity is over.”

“Bro Lin should be able to get relevant info, I wonder which stop he’ll get off at.”

...

After two stops, the bus stopped at the Library station. The doors opened automatically, Lin Ye paid the corresponding number of red coins, and got off.

The city library looked no different from an ordinary library—a four-story building covering about three hundred square meters.

The library’s location was right where Lin Ye had predicted. To enter the library, he needed to pass through a coin machine.

The admission ticket to the library only cost one red coin. Seeing that price, Lin Ye knew things inside wouldn’t be cheap.

“Hello.”

The front desk at the library was a young woman wearing glasses. Those glasses were a high-tier spiritual energy item.

“I want to borrow some books. What are the rules here?”

Lin Ye stood near the front desk, not moving further inside.

“The price varies for different books. Borrowing books from the first floor only requires paying the corresponding red coins. The higher the floor, the more precious the knowledge recorded in the books, and the higher the price.

Borrowing is divided into two methods: reading inside the library or checking books out. The latter is more expensive, and if you don’t return the books within the specified time, you’ll violate the library’s rules.”

The front desk lady explained the library’s rules to Lin Ye in great detail.

“Can I go directly to the higher floors, or do I need to borrow some books from the first floor first?”

Lin Ye swept his mental energy over the bookshelves on the first floor. The surfaces of those books seemed to have some kind of defense against mental scanning.

Although he couldn’t directly read the content of the first-floor books, he could tell from their titles that these books on the first floor wouldn’t be of much help to him.