After pondering for a mont, Ren Zhong gradually straightened out his thoughts.
Zheng Tian and the local "natives" had lived in this environnt for many years.
Clearly, they knew what would happen during the night before they went to sleep.
Even so, their ability to sleep soundly proved that these nocturnal attacks were as commonplace as eating and drinking.
Or perhaps, even if those night creatures, the Ruined Beasts, broke into the room, and people died in their sleep, it would still be as ordinary as the sun rising.
Everyone else was sleeping soundly; he couldn't act too panicked.
Since he was new here, he needed to blend in.
So despite his inner anxiety, Ren Zhong ultimately did not venture out to explore the situation. He just sat on the bed, clenched his fists, pressed them on his thighs, ready to run at any mont, while his watchful eyes occasionally glanced inside at the large square window, and then towards the door.
If Ruined Beasts did appear, Ren Zhong did not plan to sit stupidly and wait for death; surviving was more important than hiding himself, and he preferred to flee first.
Two minutes later, the gunfire and explosions outside grew more intense.
The clanging sound of boots ascending the steel steps also beca much more frequent.
More Night Watchn had co over to assist.
The battle outside seed to have entered a fever pitch.
Thirty more seconds passed, and the frequency of nearby gunfire and explosions gradually decreased.
Humans seed to have gained the upper hand, and Ren Zhong slowly cald down.
Just then, gunfire erupted again a bit further from the other side of the door.
Soone shouted from afar, likely from the other side.
"A First Level Ruined Beast with a tough back lizard appeared at the left entrance of Cabin 13! Four of them! Request assistance! Request assistance! I can't hold on much longer!"
"Got it! Hold on a bit longer! Just a little longer! I'm on my way!"
A Night Watchman with a gun who had previously asked for help from others imdiately replied loudly.
His voice sounded sowhat youthful and familiar.
The sound of hurried footsteps arrived.
A person holding a gun across their chest passed by outside Ren Zhong's room; it was the Night Watchman rushing to assist another location.
Half a second later, the shadow returned, nervously peering into the room.
In the moonlight, Ren Zhong and the person locked eyes, staring at one another.
Eight-tenths of a second later, the person let out a breath of relief.
"Phew, you sitting up gave a fright; I thought a Lurking Ruined Beast had sneaked into the cabin."
Ren Zhong smiled awkwardly, his mind racing.
Soone had noticed sothing abnormal about him, should he eliminate the witness?
His gaze quickly shifted, finally landing on the barrel of the person's gun that was emitting white smoke.
Ren Zhong raised his right hand, pointed with his index finger to the left, "Hey, aren't you supposed to go support over there?"
"Oh, right! See you around!"
The next second, the guy was gone.
Since he had already been discovered, Ren Zhong quietly got up and peeked his head through the door crack, seeing the young man swiftly carrying a gun with both hands running away.
Ren Zhong indeed recognized him; it was the boy from the mother-son duo he had overheard before.
The boy wasn't yet sixteen years old.
His attire now was largely similar to before, but with so differences. He had a gun, was wearing a thick vest likely for bulletproof tactical purposes, and had a belt around his waist full of neatly arranged magazine pouches.
Ren Zhong rembered that the mother and son had been discussing renting a Wrist watch to sleep early, but sothing changed, turning the boy into a gun-wielding warrior.
The other side was ablaze again, with gunfire and explosions.
The fight had resud.
Three minutes later, the noise died down, leaving only sporadic gunfire echoing in the distance.
The battle ended completely five minutes later, restoring silence outside.
After a short while, the boy returned, passing by Ren Zhong's room again.
Seeing Ren Zhong still sitting there, the boy smiled shyly, "The battle is over; you can sleep peacefully now."
Ren Zhong smiled back, "Hmm, thank you."
...
More than ten minutes later, lying in bed, Ren Zhong still couldn't fall asleep.
He checked the ti; it was already half-past midnight, pondering that since he had been seen awake, instead of tossing and turning and wasting ti, he might as well go chat with the young man.
The young man seed quite simple-minded, unlike Zheng Tian, who had heavy thoughts, making him potentially easier to manipulate.
Two moons hung high in the sky, casting a silver glow over the land.
Twenty-five iron coffin-like sleep cabins quietly stood.
As Ren Zhong stepped out of his room, the young man had already slung the distinctively designed machine gun over his back, leaning on the steel railing, looking around in boredom, seemingly without any urgency.
"Oh, you're awake?"
Spotting Ren Zhong coming over, the young man was the first to speak.
Ren Zhong nodded, "I have insomnia."
The boy gaped, unable to believe it.
As if insomnia was sothing utterly unimaginable to him.
The boy thought for a while and said in a puzzled tone, "I saw you sitting by the bed without wearing the rented Wrist watch earlier. Now you're wearing a temporary Wrist watch on your left hand? Which ans you didn't rent one?"
Ren Zhong pondered over the young man's words and decided not to hide, "Yes, I didn't rent a Wrist watch."
"Without renting a Wrist watch, you can't use the hypnotic function, but you should have fallen asleep at midnight."
Ren Zhong's mind raced, trying to unravel more about the world from the young man's words.
But he replied quickly and counter-questioned, "Aren't you awake too?"
The boy, unsuspecting, replied, "I'm different from you. I'm filling in for soone else as a Night Watchman today. I took a Potion and adjusted my biological clock."
Ren Zhong made a sound of acknowledgnt, "I slept during the day yesterday, so my biological clock is a bit ssed up."
The boy acted as if enlightened, "Oh! No wonder. But people like you are rare now. I heard that in ancient tis, without Potions, Night Watchn adjusted their biological clocks with willpower. But that's not good. I suggest you rent a Wrist watch tomorrow to hypnotize yourself. One, it aligns your lifestyle with everyone else's. Two, you earn Contribution Points. And three, you should know that if your biological clock is ssed up for too long, you'll die suddenly."
Ren Zhong: "Hmm, thanks for the advice. By the way, in Starfire Town, how many Contribution Points do others usually give you for filling in as a Night Watchman?"
"0.2, which is 0.1 more than renting a Wrist watch for a night's sleep. But frequent night watches are detrintal to health; I'm just left with no choice. Sigh."
"Why?" Ren Zhong asked, feigning innocence.
The boy sighed with worry, "I'm almost sixteen. By the way, mister, you're from out of town too, aren't you? What are your plans next? If it doesn't work out, can we leave Starfire Town together? Team up?"
"Sure, but let's talk about it when the ti cos."
Ren Zhong sighed inwardly.
Though simple, this interaction gave him a faint sense of warmth in this unfamiliar world.
The boy's mother wanted to give him a spot, intending to leave town and face death herself.
Though the boy consented, he secretly harbored intentions of leaving himself.
This poor and lonely mother and son were struggling, yet they shone with the brilliance of humanity.
No matter how tiny like a spark, or humble like wildgrass, there indeed was still light in this world.
Seeing Ren Zhong seemingly agree, the boy showed an imperceptible smile of happiness and nodded firmly, "Hmm!"
The two didn't talk for much longer; Ren Zhong pretended to yawn, returned to his room, lay down again, closed his eyes in feigned sleep, and sank into contemplation.
It seed the young man equated using a rented Wrist watch with earning Contribution Points.
This was intriguing.
Ren Zhong decided to rent one and try it out no matter what tomorrow.
However, there was still a mystery: from what the boy said, it seed that even without a Wrist watch, people should fall asleep at midnight and sleep deeply just like everyone else.
Could there be an unseen colossal biological clock in this world, influencing everyone imperceptibly?
This was too strange.
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