The sun leapt out of the darkness, awakening the silent wasteland—but it did not awaken the members of the reclamation team sleeping inside the bright yellow tents.
Mi Tang had returned from training at the nearby E4 camp and came to wake everyone for land reclamation work.
“Officer Mi, isn’t this too early? It’s not even light yet.” Yumi could barely open his eyes. This was way too early!
“Ha—do you want to open your eyes before talking to me?” Mi Tang laughed in exasperation.
This kid was speaking with his eyes shut tight—how could he even tell it was daylight?
“Get up and start turning the soil. I’ll go wake the others.”
Everyone had slept comfortably that night, but not nearly enough.
Still, since Mi Tang had called them, no one dared stay in bed. They fumbled into their clothes with eyes half-closed, rubbed their faces once, and went outside.
Gu Xiaomai got dressed in a daze and instinctively wanted to wash her face to wake herself up—only then did she remember she was no longer living in the peaceful, happy world she once knew.
Her mood dipped for a moment. Hearing Mi Tang urging them to work again outside, she forced herself to get out of bed.
Then she suddenly noticed something strange—her body felt much lighter. The fatigue and soreness from yesterday were gone, even the swelling in her palms had disappeared.
Had a good night’s sleep really restored her body that much?
She immediately felt a bit happier, grabbed her hoe and rake from under the bed, and hurried out with her nutrient solution in her mouth to meet up with Jiang Chen’an and Yumi.
Seeing Yumi looking unusually sluggish, she asked with concern, “Brother Yumi, why do you look so tired?”
Yumi yawned. “Got too excited last night and went to sleep late.”
Gu Xiaomai couldn’t imagine what there was to be excited about, but she still smiled and told him to sleep earlier next time.
Today, Jiang Chen’an and Yumi assigned her the task of continuing to break up soil and clear weeds, then raking the turned soil flat.
She worked like that all day, and by noon, her morning energy was completely gone.
When she lifted her hoe to smash clods of earth, it barely rose to knee height.
Feeling wilted, she almost wanted to cry—this was too hard. Land reclamation was way too hard.
The soil was simply too hard. After a full day, they barely managed to cultivate much land.
The faster groups—those full of strong young men like Zhang Tao’s group and Liang Fei’s group—managed a little over half a mu with teamwork.
Liang Fei was the big, strong man Yumi had pointed out during team selection earlier.
The slower groups, like theirs, hadn’t even reached half a mu.
After work ended, Gu Xiaomai went straight back to bed and didn’t want to move. At first she could still hear the men joking outside, but gradually even the voices inside Tent 5 faded away.
After she fell asleep, the rough little bead inside her body once again condensed a rice-grain-sized drop of liquid, which flowed through her body and finally sank into her bone marrow.
The next day, under the training shouts and constant “snap—snap—” sounds from soldiers in the nearby E4 camp, Gu Xiaomai opened her eyes.
Having slept well, she was in a good mood. She stretched and realized all her fatigue from yesterday was gone—she even felt more energetic than the day before. It was like a full “HP recovery” overnight.
This didn’t really look like someone who had been drained of blood or overworked…
Gu Xiaomai sat on the bed thinking for a long time but couldn’t figure it out.
All she could conclude was that her body was strange.
Forget it—no point overthinking.
She decided to get up and start exercising.
From what she had observed yesterday, even though rest restored some of her strength, the recovery didn’t last—it was gone by midday.
Maybe combining exercise with health-preserving techniques would help?
Unfortunately, she had nothing here. No medicinal food, nothing like that. Only exercise was realistic.
She left the tent, walked north a bit, and began practicing Tai Chi.
Beginning stance, holding the ball, pushing…
The health exercise she was most familiar with was actually the Five-Animal Exercises, which she had often practiced with an old neighbor when she was younger.
But right now, the Tai Chi she had taken as an elective in university was more suitable.
Not only could it regulate her body and mind, but it also helped improve circulation and blood flow.
More importantly, it had some combat application—enough to give her basic self-defense in this unfamiliar world.
Mi Tang returned from E4 camp training and saw Gu Xiaomai practicing Tai Chi.
The military also had Tai Chi training methods for soldiers, but in their experience fighting corrupted creatures, Tai Chi lacked decisive killing power and aggression.
Especially for someone like him, a strength-type ability user, its enhancement was limited.
He had originally thought leading the reclamation team would be boring, but unexpectedly, in just two days, there was someone practicing Tai Chi so smoothly—and another who could wield a whip like an extension of the body.
This reclamation team really had hidden talent.
When Gu Xiaomai finished her movements, Mi Tang turned and went back to the tent area to wake everyone for another day of reclamation and planting.
For eight consecutive days, between “recovery” and “loss,” Gu Xiaomai clearly felt her body’s “capacity” increasing—both in endurance and resilience.
Even if she couldn’t fully understand what was happening, she could only tell herself that her body was improving. That was enough.
On the ninth day, Mi Tang brought corn seeds from the camp.
“Everyone has performed well during these days of reclamation. Most groups have completed their assigned land. I won’t name the slower groups—just hurry up and finish.”
Gu Xiaomai’s group knew he was referring to them. It was obvious from the state of the fields which groups hadn’t finished.
Everyone silently nodded, acknowledging they would complete the work.
“The first phase of reclamation is complete. Next is planting. Our camp will be planting corn.”
He picked up a purple-red manual seed planter and handed one to each group.
Gu Xiaomai curiously touched it. It was metal—copper-colored, but different from anything she had seen before.
“This is a manual seed planter for corn. Before use, adjust the depth screw at the bottom so the seeds are planted about two finger joints deep. Insert the tip into the soil, drop one seed through the funnel with one hand, and pull the switch with the other.”
He demonstrated carefully.
“Spacing between seeds and rows should match what I showed you. Understood?”
“Understood,” everyone replied.
“Collect your seeds from me, then go plant corn. Decide among yourselves who will plant. The rest continue turning soil.”
Yumi went to collect the seeds for their group.
Gu Xiaomai watched his cheerful back and asked Jiang Chen’an, “Why is he so happy?”
Jiang Chen’an looked at Yumi as well. “He’s never seen corn before.”
“Never seen…?” Gu Xiaomai stopped mid-sentence.
Corn was supposed to be a very common staple crop—so why had he never seen it?
Was it his environment? Or had corn become rare in this world?
Her thoughts drifted as she watched Yumi return, hugging a bag of golden corn seeds like treasure.
“Officer Mi said this is enough for about one mu. Any leftover can be used for the next plot.”
They went to Plot 7, their first reclaimed field.
All plots had been numbered—33 in total. Each group had one plot, while Mi Tang himself had five.
Yumi carefully opened the bag, admiring the golden seeds. “Chen-ge, these corn seeds are so pretty, just like the walls of the base.”
“There will be more corn in the future,” Jiang Chen’an said, patting his shoulder.
Yumi sniffed and nodded.
Gu Xiaomai looked at the seeds but didn’t see anything special. Just… normal corn seeds.
But the two of them clearly had emotional reactions—like there was a story behind it.
After Jiang Chen’an and Yumi tested the planter and learned how to use it, they left the sowing task to Gu Xiaomai.
She didn’t refuse. She accepted their kindness and said with a grin, “Thank you, brothers. I’ll repay you in the future.”
Yumi grinned back, revealing two small fangs. “We’ll be waiting.”
Jiang Chen’an walked past them. “Get back to work.”
Yumi went with him to Plot 18 to finish the remaining work.
Gu Xiaomai began planting corn.
Two days later, all 33 plots had been sown.
The first phase of reclamation and planting was complete, and Mi Tang gave the team a day off.
Most people didn’t go far, afraid of corrupted creatures appearing. They only wandered around the camp or rested.
Gu Xiaomai returned from training and sat in the tent, thinking about an important issue in life—personal hygiene.
She had once been a girl who cared deeply about cleanliness, but this place had slowly turned her into a “dirty little girl.”
Every day she wiped her face with a strip of cloth dampened with drinking water.
Others like Wan Chuncui and Wei Xiaoqin had small handkerchiefs, but Liu Ju and Meng Xue barely used water at all, just dry-wiping their faces.
Now she understood why so many people had been so dirty when they first met them.
No one was really washing.
Her skin itched constantly. Her hair was greasy enough to clump.
She wanted to bathe, wash her hair, change into clean clothes—anything to feel clean again.
But no one around her seemed to bathe at all.
Didn’t they feel itchy?
Didn’t their clothes smell after so many days?