Emily opened her mouth to speak but ultimately said nothing. She was young and didn't know what to say in such a situation. Clarissa, seeing her hesitation, smiled gently and said, "Don't worry so much. We have time, so there's no rush right now."
"Let me show you to your room."
"Thank you, Clarissa," Emily said with a sigh of relief. Honestly, making a choice right now was difficult for her. Emily had no experience in such matters and didn't know what to do. She was just in her early twenties, still in college, and had not yet stepped into the real world. She was a naïve university student.
"Master, is Emily going to be one of our companions too?" Lillian asked curiously.
"Probably. She meets the criteria, but I won't force her. She can make her own choice," Sylas replied, kissing Lillian.
Everyone blushed slightly.
"I must treat everyone equally," Sylas said with a smile, kissing each of the women in turn. Sydney blushed even more.
After a bit of playful banter, Sylas felt that he had fully recovered. The healing ability was indeed very useful. If Sylas relied on his own ability to gradually recover his mental energy, it would take at least half a day to fully recuperate. However, with the healing ability, it only took about an hour to recover completely.
Originally, Sylas had considered using the healing ability during battles. However, it seemed that its effectiveness was greater when used after the battle was over. Of course, this was the current situation; once the healing ability's level increased in the future, its effectiveness would also become stronger.
With his energy restored, Sylas had no intention of lingering and quickly set out again. The next part of his mission went extremely smoothly; at the next hospital, he found six doctors at once. Hospitals indeed had a higher concentration of doctors.
For these valuable professionals, Sylas showed some leniency, taking them back home to check on their families. If their families were already dead, there was nothing he could do, but if any family members were still alive, he brought them along as well. This earned Sylas the gratitude of the doctors, who promised to work diligently for him.
Sylas didn't really care about their gratitude. At this point, he held all the power, and the doctors had no choice but to comply. Including the two doctors from before and the five he just found, he now had eight doctors and needed to find two more.
Sylas had also visited Dr. Eloise's home, but unfortunately, he didn't find her there. However, he did see a photo of Dr. Eloise, confirming that she was indeed a very beautiful woman. If she were still alive, she would probably meet the criteria for a prime candidate for slavery. But it seemed she was likely dead, so Sylas didn't dwell on it. There was no point in worrying about someone who couldn't be found.
Now, he only needed two more doctors to complete the task. Sylas continued searching the remaining hospitals. Unfortunately, his luck seemed to have run out. He visited two hospitals in a row without finding any living doctors. The only ones he encountered were zombie doctors. Sylas put these zombie doctors out of their misery, sparing them further suffering.
"Keep looking. There must be more doctors," Sylas muttered to himself. If necessary, he could broadcast a message across the city, asking hidden doctors to come out. There were surely doctors still in hiding, but Sylas hadn't found them yet.
Although he hadn't found any more doctors, Sylas's efforts weren't in vain. He had gathered all the drugs and medical equipment from each hospital. For the time being, he wouldn't have to worry about medical supplies.
Now, there was only one hospital left. Without wasting time, Sylas headed straight into the hospital to search for doctors. As he approached, his spirits lifted. He could sense that there were living people inside. The previous hospitals hadn't had any survivors, but now he finally encountered some, increasing the chances of finding doctors.
Sylas didn't hesitate and flew directly to where the survivors were. Interestingly, these people were not on the ground floor but in the basement. This might be why they had survived—the basement storage room.
At the entrance, Sylas saw the sign indicating the basement storage room of the hospital. Since there were no windows to enter through, he had to use the main door. He grabbed the door handle, used his lock-picking skills, and unlocked the door. A twist of the handle and the door opened.
The door had been locked from the inside, and no one expected it could be opened from the outside. So, Sylas entered easily.
The noise of the door opening startled everyone inside the storage room.
"Someone's coming in?"
"What's going on? How did someone open the door?"
"Damn it, wasn't the door locked? Who opened it?"
Everyone was panicking, shouting, and cursing. Once the door was open, whatever was outside could come in. No one knew if it was a human or a zombie. If it was a human, they might be okay, but if it was a zombie, they were doomed.
The door to the hospital basement storage room opened, and Sylas walked in. Seeing that it was a living person and not a zombie, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. If a horde of zombies had stormed in, it would have been the end for them.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" a man asked bravely.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause you trouble. I'm looking for doctors. Do you have any doctors here?" Sylas asked as he scanned the crowd. He was searching for doctors to complete his mission and also checking if there were any attractive women among them.
"Doctors? We don't have any doctors here," the man said, clearly wary.
Sylas glanced at the man and used his telekinesis to lift him into the air. The man struggled and screamed in terror, only to find an invisible force covering his mouth and preventing him from moving. Fear gripped his entire being.
"I'm giving you a chance to live. Are there any doctors here? If your answer doesn't satisfy me, you'll die," Sylas said coldly, removing the telekinetic hold on the man's mouth.
Everyone was stunned by this display. They realized that the man before them must be an extraordinary individual. The term "extraordinary" had spread through the network, and most survivors knew that some people had awakened supernatural abilities and were called extraordinaries. They were also referred to as new humans or mutants, though the names varied, the meaning was the same.
"Yes, yes, we have a doctor here," the man cried out in fear, terrified that Sylas would kill him.
"You should have said so earlier and saved us all this trouble," Sylas replied coolly.
He didn't want to use force, but some people just needed a push. Sylas understood their wariness towards a stranger like him—it was only natural. However, no one could stop him from accomplishing his mission.
Sylas addressed the crowd, "I am the leader of the Hope Base. I'm here to find doctors for our base. At my base, doctors receive good treatment and can be guaranteed enough food."
"Guaranteed enough food?"
"Is that true? Is it really that good?"
"Too bad I'm not a doctor."
The crowd murmured in surprise, some skeptical and others eager.
"Doctors, step forward," Sylas repeated.
A few individuals exchanged glances and then stepped forward. There were three doctors, two men and one woman. Sylas was delighted; with these three, his task would be complete. He only needed two more doctors, but having an extra was beneficial.
"Are you all doctors?" Sylas asked.
"Yes, we are all doctors," the three responded.
"Great. Do you have family? You can bring your family with you. Once you reach the base, just focus on your work," Sylas told them. Although his base had a small population and didn't need many doctors now, it would grow, and more doctors would be essential.
The offer to bring family caused a stir among the doctors, who looked towards the crowd. One of the doctors cautiously asked, "How many people can we bring? Can we take them all?"
"Taking everyone isn't possible. I don't need that many people right now," Sylas replied.
Sylas said calmly, "However, considering your position, here's the deal: if any of you have valuable skills, speak up. If you're useful, you can come along."
Hearing this, a few people stepped forward and introduced their skills. But Sylas had no use for a bank manager, a senior accountant, or an oil painter, so he rejected them all. What would he need these people for? Run a bank?
"How about me? I'm a laborer. I've worked on construction sites for over ten years. I can do all kinds of construction work," a middle-aged man said.
The man had a muscular build, clearly someone who did hard labor regularly. Sylas was intrigued and nodded with a smile. "You can come. Follow along."
Laborers were indeed valuable, excellent for heavy work. Out of the entire crowd, this laborer was the only one Sylas found useful. The rest were disgruntled but didn't dare say anything foolish. Their lives were at stake, after all.
The laborer was overjoyed and grabbed a woman beside him. "This is my wife. Can she come with me?"
Sylas looked at the woman, a slightly attractive woman in her forties. She seemed a bit uneasy but also hopeful.
"Are you really married?" Sylas asked.
The woman hesitated before nodding. "Yes."
Sylas could tell they weren't actually married. The woman was well-maintained, unlikely to be the laborer's wife. But he didn't care about such details. As long as both parties were willing, it didn't matter to him.
"Okay, she can come too," Sylas said calmly.
The laborer was ecstatic upon hearing this.