The convoy continued moving, and before long, the vast harbor came into view.
The longshore cranes stood silently, towering over everything.
Beneath them were densely packed, layered stacks of shipping containers, forming a maze of steel.
Not far away, two freighters floated quietly on the gray sea.
What made hearts race even faster was that many containers had their cargo clearly labeled:
Medical equipment, precision machinery, crystals, outdoor gear, chemical reagents, canned food, frozen seafood…
Zhou Wangye said, “Lin Ran, you and I will team up. The others will go with Secretary Gu. Splitting up will make us faster.”
He then looked at Gu Xiangwan: “Secretary Gu, you decide for yourselves which supplies are useful.”
Gu Xiangwan understood his meaning perfectly: any resources that could help establish the base were to be taken.
“Understood, President Zhou. We won’t fail our mission,” she nodded.
She realized now was not the time to question why Zhou Wangye only stayed close to Lin Ran.
She shouldn’t have been jealous of Lin Ran earlier—almost exposing her own feelings.
She had a clear advantage: being Zhou Wangye’s personal secretary with a massive personal spatial dimension.
As long as she hid her feelings, Zhou Wangye would trust her forever.
She believed that one day, he would fall in love with her.
As for that fool Lin Ran, she posed no real threat.
Besides, she was about to die anyway.
She watched Lin Ran’s back and sneered coldly.
Unexpectedly, Lin Ran suddenly turned around.
Gu Xiangwan didn’t have time to retract her cold smile or the murderous intent in her eyes—they were exposed plainly in the sunlight.
Lin Ran met Gu Xiangwan’s gaze and gave her the middle finger.
Gu Xiangwan’s eye twitched; she felt Lin Ran had changed.
Previously, she would have immediately complained to Zhou Wangye, claiming Lin Ran was glaring at her with some secret sinister plot, and then acted cute to get him to protect her, which would only irritate him further.
But now, Lin Ran didn’t immediately run to Zhou Wangye; instead, she was openly provoking her.
“小 Gu, snap out of it, we need to move,” Secretary Wang said.
Gu Xiangwan quickly replaced her expression with a soft one and turned back: “Coming.”
Zhou Wangye went ahead, keeping Lin Ran protected behind him.
There weren’t many zombies in the harbor; even if every human had turned, there still wouldn’t be that many.
Besides, with Zhou Wangye’s current abilities, even a harbor full of zombies wouldn’t be a problem.
He stopped in front of a container. “This contains German-imported medical equipment for cardiac care. Collect it into your space.”
Lin Ran asked, “Do I take the whole container too?”
A bolt of lightning opened the container doors for her. “No, just the items inside. Taking the whole container would be too bulky.”
Lin Ran complained, “Isn’t that inconvenient?”—though inwardly she was thrilled.
Perfect—this made it easy to smuggle supplies into her ring space.
If she took the whole container, Zhou Wangye would surely keep track of the container count.
He patiently reassured her: “Take your time inside. I’ll guard the container entrance. He Sheng didn’t come, so I have to guard, can’t stay with you constantly.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve checked inside. No zombies. While I’m at the door, no zombies will enter—it’s completely safe. No need to be afraid.”
Seeing Lin Ran pouting, worried she might act up, he added: “On the way here, we saw imported chocolate. I’ll bring it for you after this.”
Lin Ran asked, “All for me?”
Zhou Wangye nodded with a smile.
When had the Zhou family ever shortchanged her mouth? In the apocalypse, when seeing food, she couldn’t help but stash it in her space.
Lin Ran happily agreed: “Deal.”
Zhou Wangye watched her gleefully collecting medical equipment into her space and shook his head, thinking, she’s really easy to please.
He reflected on whether he had been too harsh with her before.
After spending the whole day together, he realized Lin Ran wasn’t that annoying—she was like a mischievous child.
If you contradicted her, she would push back.
But if you reasoned with her politely, she would obey.
Thinking back, he really had used the wrong approach before.
Lin Ran followed Zhou Wangye, lingering among the containers.
By the time night fell, their 1,000-cubic-meter spatial dimension was completely full.
In her ring space, she had smuggled in plenty of supplies as well.
Not just snacks and fruits—two large containers of imported ice cream were among them.
Even medicines, medical devices, daily necessities, down jackets, quilts, household appliances, frozen seafood—all filled her space like a small storehouse.
Following the male lead was truly rewarding.
She couldn’t help but marvel: zero-cost shopping is amazing!
Zhou Wangye’s communicator buzzed in time.
“Let’s regroup with He Sheng and the others. Time to head back to the villa.”
Lin Ran asked, “Weren’t we going to the pharmaceutical factory and other places? Back already?”
Zhou Wangye explained, “The helicopter from Jing City has already arrived at the villa. As for the medicines, grandfather said he would handle them.”
“The priority now is to return to Jing City safely.”
Lin Ran obediently nodded: “Understood.”
The medicines they collected at the harbor and the operations center were already sufficient; she was just asking casually and didn’t expect Zhou Wangye to answer.
Even Zhou Wangye didn’t expect that, a day ago, he hadn’t wanted to say a word to Lin Ran.
But today, he had explained so much.
Seeing Lin Ran obediently walking ahead proved that if you explained things clearly instead of suppressing her, she really wouldn’t act up.
Perhaps he had indeed used the wrong approach before.
He pulled out the walkie-talkie from the operations center: “Attention, gather at the harbor gate in half an hour.”
When they met, Gu Xiangwan immediately asked, “President Zhou, everything went smoothly?”
Zhou Wangye nodded and asked back, “And you all?”
She reported: “The 1,000-cubic-meter space is full. 200 cubic meters are less important items, which can be cleared if more critical supplies arrive.”
Zhou Wangye: “Good.”
Meng Yan stepped forward: “President Zhou, I’ve awakened my abilities too.”
He lifted his hand, and a wall of earth rose into being.
Secretary Wang, narrow-eyed, said, “While collecting supplies, we encountered two mutated zombies. When they were about to attack Xiao Gu, Meng Yan panicked and awakened his abilities.”
“Now our team has all elemental abilities: metal, wood, water, fire, earth.”
Meng Yan ignored Secretary Wang’s teasing and looked gently at Gu Xiangwan.
He Sheng stepped forward, presenting several mutant zombie cores: “President Zhou, these are the mutant zombie cores we collected at the harbor.”
Zhou Wangye didn’t take them: “Since you collected them individually, they belong to you.”
No one refused—they all wanted to level up their abilities quickly.
Meng Yan handed his core to Gu Xiangwan: “Xiangwan, can you keep this for me?”
She refused: “You need it more now. Absorb it first, give me any extras later.”
Meng Yan considered and agreed—he needed the core more than anyone.
Among the team, he was the only first-level ability user.
Only by leveling up could he protect Xiangwan better.
So he stored the core in his bag for future absorption.
Secretary Wang saw this and gave an auntie-like smile: “Meng Yan, you really are honorable—already handing over your loot!”