Xia Mu communicated with System 003 in her mind.
“003, if my dad plants the flowers, will I still receive the reward?”
System 003 looked over the mission it had issued.
Technically, it didn’t specify that the Host had to plant the flowers personally.
However… This was only the beginning.
If the Host delegated every task to someone else from the very start, then what would the Host even do?
So, for the first time ever, System 003 lied.
Its little heart pounded nervously, and its voice became unusually quiet.
“Mu Mu… not for now. You need to plant them yourself first. Later on, you’ll be able to hire other people to manage these tasks.”
“Oh.”
Xia Mu acknowledged the answer before turning to Xia Chengren with an apologetic expression.
“Dad, I…”
“You don’t have to explain,” Xia Chengren interrupted with a shrug, comforting his daughter instead. “I understand. Besides, my health isn’t very good anyway.”
Xia Mu quickly shook her head.
She had been giving her father the cold shoulder just that morning, and now she regretted it deeply.
She never should have done that.
Her father had already endured enough.
“Dad, System 003 said I have to plant them myself first before I can let someone else take over later. It’s not because I’m worried about your health and don’t want you to work. Really. You have to believe your daughter.”
She hadn’t told her parents yet that medicine could be purchased through the System.
She wanted to surprise them.
Xia Chengren simply waved his hand.
He knew better than anyone what condition his own body was in.
Seeing how late it had become, Liu Shuang said,
“We should head home and get some rest. I’ll come over early tomorrow morning to clean.”
“You don’t have to come that early, Mom. Just come after they’ve left.”
After thinking for a moment, Xia Mu explained, “There are indicator lights outside every room. A red light means someone’s inside, and a green light means the room is empty. You can check the light before deciding whether to clean.”
Liu Shuang nodded. Listening to her daughter was the safest choice.
After all, she still wasn’t familiar with this place.
It took Ye Lixuan and Fu Honghui only two hours to reach the nearby Mighty Base.
The small base had been established inside a suburban villa district.
Most of the roads leading in had been blocked off, leaving only a single entrance guarded by four ability users.
The moment they spotted Ye Lixuan and Fu Honghui approaching, the guards immediately became alert.
One of them recognized Ye Lixuan from their previous encounter and shouted loudly,
“Stop right there! Don’t come any closer. You have to be inspected before entering the base.”
Ye Lixuan removed his sunglasses and grinned.
“We’re not going in. We just came to tell you something.”
“My teammate and I are living about thirty kilometers from here in an amazing rental property. It has hot water, electricity, televisions, and all kinds of food.”
He deliberately paused to observe their reactions.
Instead of looking excited, the guards only became more suspicious.
“If it’s really that good,” one of them asked cautiously, “then why did you leave?”
Ye Lixuan spread his hands helplessly.
“We’re here to promote it. When you find somewhere that is good, of course you want everyone to know about it. Oh, right. They’ve even got hover cars and incredibly powerful weapons.”
“Enough, enough.”
The guard snorted coldly.
“You’re dreaming. It’s already been thirty years since the Apocalypse began. Is there anything left in this world that we don’t know about?”
Ye Lixuan scratched his head in frustration.
“Believe it or not, it’s up to you. The five of us are already living there. Rent is one thousand Interstellar Federation Credits per month, and Federation Credits can be exchanged using zombie crystals.”
The guards remained unconvinced.
No matter how Ye Lixuan explained it, they refused to believe him.
Fu Honghui gently patted Ye Lixuan’s shoulder before speaking in his steady voice.
“We’re only here to let you know that such a place exists. As long as you have zombie crystals, you can survive there.”
“But what about inside this base?”
“Even if you have zombie crystals, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll live well.”
The moment those words were spoken, the refugees secretly eavesdropping nearby widened their eyes.
Even the guards hesitated.
No one understood the situation inside the small base better than they did.
There were too few ability users, which meant fewer people could go out searching for supplies.
Without supplies, maintaining such a small base was becoming increasingly difficult.
On top of that, certain powerful people inside the base acted however they pleased.
Many ability users and ordinary survivors alike were living miserable lives.
Seeing that his words had moved them, Fu Honghui turned to leave with Ye Lixuan.
“Thirty kilometers to the northeast, you’ll find a courtyard surrounded by zombies that don’t dare step inside. That’s where we’re renting.”
“The more Level 1 zombies you see, the closer you are to the courtyard. It’s completely surrounded by zombies, so if you aren’t capable enough, don’t gamble with your life trying to get there.”
After saying that, he pulled Ye Lixuan away.
“That’s it?” Ye Lixuan asked.
Fu Honghui nodded.
“There’s no point saying any more. Anyone who truly wants to survive will eventually make the journey. As for those content to rot away inside the base, no amount of persuasion will help.”
By the time the two returned, it was already one o’clock in the morning.
Not wanting to disturb Shang Xinglan and the others, they quietly returned to their rooms, washed up, and went straight to bed.
Living here really was comfortable.
The Xia family had arranged a family gathering.
Everyone was supposed to meet for dinner at five in the evening.
Soon, the families of the Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and Fourth Uncle all arrived.
The atmosphere was lively and cheerful.
Yet they waited…
And waited…
But Xia Chengren’s family never appeared.
Xia Zhengren had spent years working in government, naturally carrying an air of authority.
He sat at the head of the table with a dark expression, surveying the entire Xia family.
Everyone was present…
Except his eldest brother’s family.
Xia Xiuren frowned before turning toward Xia Wuren.
“Did you tell Big Brother about today’s gathering?”
Xia Wuren sighed helplessly.
“Of course I did. I told him, but… he stayed silent for a long time before saying…”
“What did he say?” Xia Xiuren asked anxiously.
Looking ashamed, Xia Wuren avoided everyone’s eyes.
“Big Brother said… he said he doesn’t have a job anymore, and his daughter hasn’t accomplished anything either, so they wouldn’t be coming.”
Hearing that, both Xia Xiuren and Xia Zhengren immediately remembered the phone call from several days earlier.
Their eldest brother had asked them to help find Xia Mu a job.
They had refused.
Was he really still angry because of that?
“Big Brother is becoming more unreasonable with age,” Xia Xiuren remarked.
Xia Zhengren was equally displeased.
Wasn’t his eldest brother simply making things difficult for all of them?
They had worked so hard to climb to their current positions and treasured their reputations.
None of them wanted even the slightest stain on their records.
Couldn’t their eldest brother think about them for once?
Turning to Xia Wuren, Xia Zhengren asked, “Didn’t Big Brother call you as well and ask you to arrange a job for Mu Mu?”
Xia Wuren’s gaze shifted uneasily.
“I did arrange one. But Mu Mu disliked having to start from the bottom, so she stood up to my manager and went home instead.”
“I guess… that’s why Big Brother got angry with me.”
“What?”
Xia Xiuren looked utterly shocked.
“Big Brother is actually cutting ties with his own brothers over something this trivial?”
Xia Wuren stiffened his neck.
“Exactly! And Mu Mu… her ambitions are bigger than her abilities. Does she really think she could find a better job than the one I arranged for her?”
“What kind of job did you arrange?” Xia Zhengren asked.
“A junior management position at the property management company. The monthly salary was thirty thousand yuan, plus full social insurance and housing fund benefits.”
“What?”
Xia Wuren’s daughter, Xia Yue, cried out in disbelief.
“Dad actually arranged a job like that for Xia Mu, and she still wasn’t satisfied?”
Thirty thousand yuan a month.
A J City household registration.
A house in J City. With conditions that good…
How could she possibly still be dissatisfied?