They arrived at the Mission Center, where it was crowded with people all selecting tasks they liked.
Wen Jiuya found it difficult to squeeze through the crowd. She looked at Wen Qiao, then at Xue Qi—the meaning was obvious. She wanted him to go, take both of their cards, and push forward to handle things.
Xue Qi first went to the side and handed in the three of their cards to apply for a team.
“What’s the team name?” a staff member asked.
Xue Qi said expressionlessly, “Wulong Team.”
The staff member looked up at him after hearing the name, somewhat unable to understand why the team name was so casual. “Are you sure? Once it’s confirmed, it cannot be changed. This machine is connected to the other three major bases. Of course, whichever base you join, they can all see it.”
“Mm.”
Seeing that he could not be persuaded, the staff member registered it as he said. “Captain?”
“Wen Qiao.”
The staff member paused. …So you’re not the Captain?
Then he swiped the three cards through the machine one by one, recording their basic information. Finally, the machine slowly printed out a new card.
After finishing, he handed the three personal cards together with the new team card to him with both hands. “You may now go complete missions with your teammates. Please keep the team card safe—it is required for submitting missions and claiming rewards. Reissuing it will require either supplies or crystal cores.”
“Alright, thank you.”
The team card had a simple design. On the front was the name Minqi Base and an image of the main gate, indicating where the card was issued. On the back was the team name.
Without pausing, they walked straight toward the mission counter and looked up at the commission board.
There were privately issued missions, such as requests for rare medicines or searching for people.
There were also base-issued missions, such as transporting food from the grain warehouse in C City. This one was already marked as taken. Like theirs, it was a mission assigned to teams cooperating with the base.
On one hand, it was to prevent danger and overly difficult tasks from being taken lightly; on the other hand, it was to prevent people from embezzling supplies—otherwise, what would the people inside the base eat?
Among the rows of missions, the most eye-catching one was the mutated rose vine—Qing Che.
It was pinned at the top. While other missions scrolled up and down, this one remained fixed at the top, enlarged and bolded. As expected, its reward was also far more generous than the others.
After no longer observing, they directly signed up. “Hello, our team would like to register for Mission Number One.”
The mission hall instantly fell silent (° × ° ). Everyone turned to look at them, wondering which team was going off to die this time.
The staff member asked, “How many people are in your team? This mission only has three slots left.”
“There are exactly three people in our team.”
“Alright, hand over the team card.”
Xue Qi gave it to him. The staff member scanned it, selected Mission 1 on the machine, and handed it back. “Tomorrow at 9 AM, assemble at the South Training Ground. Being late counts as withdrawal and will deduct 15 reputation points. The maximum reputation is 100. At 50, you can no longer take base-issued missions. At 20, you can no longer take private missions. At 0, you cannot issue missions.”
He added, “A reminder: the North Plaza is between District A and B, and the South Plaza is between District D and C.”
After speaking quickly, the staff member looked past him. “Alright, next. This gentleman…”
Xue Qi took the cards and left, telling them the information he had learned inside.
Wen Qiao said, “Pretty comprehensive. As expected, technology is the primary productive force. Not only can it record ability users, it can also track interpersonal relations.”
Wen Jiuya had no interest in complicated matters. “There’s nothing interesting left to see. Let’s go eat something good and make some food for the road while we’re at it. Then we’ll sleep well tonight, recharge, and go on a killing spree tomorrow. If we can take photos, I want to capture it before everything gets destroyed. It’ll definitely look great.”
Wen Qiao nodded. “I’ll take the photos for you. Xue Qi, don’t you have a Polaroid? If you do, give one to me.”
Xue Qi handed over a Polaroid camera and two packs of film. He rubbed his temples. Really—one was sentimental and one was practical. Truly a pair of Chinese women who loved taking photos.
No matter where they went, they always wanted to take pictures. He would stay out of it. Little did he know he would be drafted into it the next day.
The next day.
They arrived early at the South Plaza, at 8:20 AM. There were already some people there—apparently one team, all men with tall and sturdy builds.
Xue Qi lowered his voice. “It’s the Zuye Team.”
Wen Qiao replied, “Mm.”
“Xue… Xue Qi!” At that moment, a member of the Zuye Team greeted him.
Xue Qi said, “Lin Zhi, why are you here? Didn’t you go look for your parents?”
“That’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.” Then he glanced at Wen Qiao, then at Xue Qi again. His gaze turned teasing as he pulled Xue Qi aside.
“Are you two a couple? Are you? Are you?” Lin Zhi pointed at Wen Qiao. Most of his attention had been on her. Seeing that Xue Qi did not respond, he smiled wickedly and said leisurely, “Not answering? So you’re not. I actually quite like Wen Qiao. If you’re not a couple, then I’m going to make my move~”
“You dare!” Xue Qi said immediately.
Lin Zhi laughed loudly. “You like her, so why don’t you confess? What if—just what if—someone else takes her away?”
Xue Qi became slightly awkward. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Lin Zhi smiled. “I do understand. Why wouldn’t I? I know about the apocalypse. I know there are things that, if you don’t say them now, you might never get the chance to say again.”
“Because, can you guarantee whether tomorrow or accident will come first? You can’t, right? So what are you waiting for? Go for it!”
“Got it. I’ll try to do it as soon as possible.”
“When you get married, you have to invite me to the wedding. This apocalypse is still too lonely. You’re probably curious why I joined Zuye, right? I used to be a bookworm, but in the apocalypse you have to eat and get stronger. So when they were short on people, I just happened to qualify and joined. The benefits are good, so don’t worry about me.”
Xue Qi said nothing more, only patting his shoulder. “If you need anything, come find me. We plan to keep heading north, visit all four major bases, and finally settle in Base No. 1 in Capital City.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll keep it in mind, brother.”