Meng Ye had just escaped from the villa. Following him out were the bald man, the bun-haired girl, the silent middle-aged man who had not been affected by the bald man’s mental ability, and a couple who looked far from easy to deal with.
As for the young couple, they had already died in a pack of mutated beasts. While escaping, they encountered the beasts, and the young man instinctively dragged his girlfriend in front of him as a shield. Only after she was torn apart in despair did he seem to realize what he had done and begin to regret it, but it was already too late. He himself was then torn apart and eaten by several mutated beasts.
“Where are you all heading? How about we go together? If we run into danger, we can help each other,” the woman from the couple spoke first. She had an earth ability with strong defensive power. Just now, she had blocked a large wave of attacks with an earth shield and counterattacked quickly. Such responsiveness was something many people could not match.
“I’m going to H City,” Meng Ye said first.
“Whatever,” the bun-haired girl said.
“I don’t mind,” the silent middle-aged man also spoke.
“Let’s go together. There’s strength in numbers.” The bald man wiped the sweat from his forehead. Just now, he had tried to hide behind the others and slack off, but no one here was a fool, so naturally no one let him take advantage.
In the end, the bald man had been exposed in front of the mutated plants, animals, and zombies, forcing him to use his ability.
However, no one responded to his words. It was clear that they all had opinions about his earlier behavior.
“My name is Xu Wei, and this is my husband Zhang Qiang. We had a falling out with our original base, so we left,” the woman from the couple introduced herself first.
“Li Wenjing. If I feel uncomfortable staying with you, I’ll leave,” the bun-haired girl said. After she spoke her name, the scene fell silent for a few seconds.
“What are you all looking at? It’s not like I chose the name,” Li Wenjing rolled her eyes.
“Zhou Bing,” the middle-aged man said in a low voice.
His name, like his person, was unremarkable, but his ability was a flame that could burn everything. Meng Ye could tell that Zhou Bing’s ability was already at level seven or eight. In the apocalypse, he would be considered among the strong. Strong individuals like him usually received very good treatment in bases, so it was unclear why he was alone here.
“My name is Zhao Guangyao. A pleasure, a pleasure. Before the apocalypse, I had the honor of serving as the vice president of XX Company,” the bald man said.
XX Company had been a fairly well-known electronics company before the apocalypse, but now that it was the apocalypse, no matter what company president or vice president one had been, it no longer mattered. Those titles could not even be exchanged for a single piece of dry rations.
Seeing that his introduction did not attract even the slightest attention, Zhao Guangyao’s smile faltered briefly, and he looked somewhat embarrassed.
“Brother Meng, your base is in H City? It doesn’t seem like there’s any base in H City. After all, there are too many high-level mutated beasts there,” they chatted as they walked.
“There is. Hope Town. A very good base. There’s electricity, water, food, and housing,” Meng Ye had not intended to say so much, but when he thought of how Mayor Miao seemed to like having more people join the town, he casually did a bit of promotion.
“There’s electricity and water?” If Meng Ye had not looked so serious, Xu Wei would have thought he was joking.
Meng Ye nodded.
The others all found it hard to believe.
Meng Ye did not explain further. Seeing was believing.
Because of Meng Ye’s words, the group decided to head to H City together to see whether this so-called Hope Town was really as magical as described.
Their abilities were not weak, and even as a temporary team, they coordinated quite well. Their travel speed was much faster than when Meng Ye had been alone, and they quickly arrived at H City.
…
After Ye Huaishan and his group returned to A City Base, they immediately took the food to see the base leader.
Pushing open the office door, a man in his thirties inside looked up at them.
“Brother,” Ye Huaishan curved his lips into a faint smile. It was genuine happiness from seeing family.
“You’re finally back. Was it smooth? Did you get hurt?” Compared to Ye Huaishan, his older brother Ye Huaihe expressed his emotions much more directly. He stood up and hugged his younger brother, patting him firmly on the back. “It’s good that you came back safe!”
“Brother, not only did we complete the mission this time, I also brought back a lot of food,” Ye Huaishan said.
“Food? Really? Let me see quickly!” Ye Huaihe’s voice was filled with excitement.
He was a very good leader who sincerely cared for the survivors in the base. Now that Ye Huaishan had brought back food that could help them survive, he was naturally overjoyed.
Ye Huaishan called in the space ability user waiting at the door and had him take out part of the supplies.
Looking at the piles of instant noodles, self-heating rice, and canned food on the ground, as well as some fresh meat and vegetables, Ye Huaihe became even more excited, pacing back and forth nonstop.
“Actually, we could have bought more, but there wasn’t enough space. There are also cotton clothes and quilts there. I’ll buy another batch next time,” Ye Huaishan said.
“There are even cotton clothes and quilts? That’s great! Every winter, people can’t make it through. If we really have these supplies, this winter will definitely be much better than last year,” Ye Huaihe said. He then took out a pile of crystal cores and stuffed them all into Ye Huaishan’s hands, telling him to buy as much as possible next time. “I also have a level six space ability user under me. I’ll lend him to you then.”
Ye Huaishan took out two bottles of alcohol from his arms and handed them over. “Brother, take a look at this.”
Ye Huaihe’s eyes widened in surprise. “This is… alcohol?”
Ye Huaishan nodded. Ye Huaihe could not wait to pull out the stopper and took a big gulp of sorghum liquor.
The pure taste of alcohol flowed from his throat down to his stomach, and he felt warmth spread through his entire body.
Ye Huaihe could not help but burst into laughter, patting his younger brother on the shoulder.
“You did well this time! Whatever reward you want, I’ll give it to you! Or should I introduce you to a girlfriend?”
The faint smile on Ye Huaishan’s face disappeared instantly, and he turned to leave, while Ye Huaihe’s cheerful laughter rang out behind him.
…
When Meng Ye and his group arrived at the town, Miao Suisui was carrying gifts to visit Yu Juan’s newborn daughter.
In just a few days, the little baby had already lost her dark, yellowish complexion and become fair and tender. She smiled at everyone she saw, looking extremely adorable.
“I’m actually thinking of asking Pan Tong to be Yun Yun’s godmother. Do you think she’d be willing?” Yu Juan said. “That day, it was thanks to her that my daughter and I were saved.”
“I can’t really say. Her experiences are quite special. Why don’t you just ask her directly?” On the surface, Pan Tong had not shown much disappointment over Taozi leaving, as if it had not affected her much.
If Miao Suisui had not seen the disappointment on the day Taozi left, she might have believed it.
Miao Suisui also recalled what Li Mengrui, the busty girl from Meng Ye’s team, had told her. When their team had first encountered Pan Tong, there had been no vitality in her eyes, and her entire being had carried a sense of lifelessness.
Li Mengrui had been a psychological counselor before the apocalypse. Out of professional instinct, she had feared Pan Tong might not want to live anymore. That was why she had refused Pan Tong’s request to take Taozi away and instead asked her to travel with them.
Perhaps having a goddaughter now might give her something more to hold onto?
“That makes sense. I’ll find time to ask her myself.”
At that moment, the system suddenly beeped, indicating that strangers had arrived at the town entrance and that the robots were receiving them.
Yu Juan and her daughter also seemed somewhat tired, so after placing the eggs and milk she had brought, Miao Suisui took her leave.
As she stepped out from the two-story building, she saw a group of people being led into the town by robots, each holding a paper cup printed with the name “Hope Town.”
Among them was Meng Ye, whom she had not seen for several days.
The others were looking around the town with expressions of disbelief. This place was almost no different from before the apocalypse.
Survivors could be seen everywhere, along with children running around. Everyone was clean, and smiles were on their faces.
Xu Wei even subconsciously turned back to look. Outside was still ruins and smoke, clearly still the apocalypse.
Even Zhao Guangyao looked as if he had seen a ghost. After the initial shock, his eyes began to dart around, as if scheming something.
“You’re sure you didn’t get it wrong? It’s forty-five level-one crystal cores per day, not level-two or level-three?” Li Wenjing interrupted the robot’s explanation.
“Yes, it is forty-five level-one crystal cores per day.”
“Oh my god, is the town mayor an idiot or something?”
Mayor Miao, the “idiot” herself, had just walked up to them, and the atmosphere instantly became awkward.
“Mayor Miao, I’m back,” Meng Ye spoke first, breaking the silence. Even Li Wenjing, who feared nothing, felt a bit awkward at that moment.
Being caught talking badly about someone on the spot, Li Wenjing coughed and looked up at the sky, then down at the ground.
“So this is the mayor of Hope Town. With so many supplies, such a large town, and the construction of these buildings and this robotic system, I truly admire you,” Zhao Guangyao said in an official tone, while subtly sizing Miao Suisui up, a glint flashing in his eyes.
Miao Suisui instinctively disliked this person. She smiled stiffly and changed the topic. “You must all be tired. Let the robots take you to rest first. You can explore the town later.”
After speaking, she hurriedly escaped the socially embarrassing situation.
Xu Wei and her husband, along with Li Wenjing, lived across from each other. Zhou Bing and Zhao Guangyao stayed in another building.
They could have all stayed in the same building, but Zhao Guangyao had an inexplicable fear of Li Wenjing, so he followed the quiet Zhou Bing to another building.
Meng Ye looked around and realized that after just a few days away, the town had undergone tremendous changes. For a moment, he did not even know where to look first.
After returning home, Meng Ye called his teammates over and distributed the crystal cores among them.
This time, selling the mutated snake gallbladders had yielded a good profit. Each gallbladder sold for eight level-three crystal cores, along with dozens of level-two crystal cores.
Altogether, it amounted to over eighty thousand level-one crystal cores. Their team had eight members, so each person received more than ten thousand level-one crystal cores.
After distributing the crystal cores and adding it to their previous savings, they could finally rest for a while, just as Xia Tao had suggested earlier. After all, summer was approaching.