The sun climbed high into the sky, and the blazing sunlight streamed through the windows into the house. Mi Beibei’s legs trembled from exhaustion.
She didn’t have the energy to cook, so she casually boiled a packet of instant noodles. After swallowing it down, she collapsed onto the bed to rest.
She knew that when Liu Jingming arrived later, another tough battle awaited her—she would have to pass all those heavy supplies through the window.
Half-asleep, Mi Beibei gradually drifted toward unconsciousness.
Just as she was about to fall asleep completely, she suddenly jerked awake.
Rubbing her eyes, she forced herself to sit up through sheer willpower.
Her body felt completely drained, and every movement was incredibly difficult. Even so, she slowly shuffled like a ghost into the storage room and opened the window.
Only by opening the window could sounds from the apocalypse world reach the real world, allowing her to hear when Liu Jingming and the others arrived.
The hands of the clock moved steadily.
Sitting in the chair, Mi Beibei’s head kept nodding forward. She nearly fell off the chair once again.
She straightened herself, rubbed her eyes, stretched her sore limbs, and rolled her stiff neck.
Looking out the window, she spotted several familiar figures approaching in the distance.
It was Liu Jingming, Zhang Minglang, and the others.
Moments later, they arrived beneath the window.
Liu Jingming greeted her first.
“Boss Mi, long time no see!”
His voice was cheerful, carrying a rare vitality that was unusual in the apocalypse.
Beside him, Zhang Minglang simply nodded politely.
Although he said nothing, there was warmth in his eyes.
Immediately afterward, Yang Xiaoyi and Gu An’an squeezed forward at the same time.
Almost simultaneously, they called out,
“Boss Mi, long time no see!”
The two glanced at each other, each unwilling to lose, as if competing to see who was closer to Mi Beibei.
Seeing this, Mi Beibei smiled.
“I’ve finally been waiting for you. Long time no see! I couldn’t get any medicine this time, but I have 1,800 jin of rice, 1,500 jin of flour, 700 jin of cooking oil, 100 boxes of dried goods, 200 boxes of compressed biscuits, 20 boxes of self-heating rice meals, 50 boxes of seasonings, and 600 jin of fresh pork.”
She recited the inventory smoothly.
The numbers had already been memorized by heart.
Hearing the list, satisfaction flashed across Liu Jingming’s eyes, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
He handed the exquisite leather suitcase he was carrying to Mi Beibei.
“Boss Mi, this is the payment for this shipment.”
The moment Mi Beibei’s fingers touched the suitcase, her heart skipped a beat.
Gold bars again.
In any era, gold bars were hard currency.
Even after several transactions, receiving such a large amount of gold still made her heart race.
Fortunately, she had learned to keep a calm expression.
Maintaining a polite smile, she skillfully opened the suitcase.
The familiar golden shine greeted her eyes.
Inside were twenty neatly arranged gold bars, each weighing fifty grams.
Not one more.
Not one less.
Mi Beibei nodded lightly.
“Alright, let’s begin transferring the supplies.”
She had just turned around to fetch the goods when Liu Jingming raised a hand to stop her.
A mysterious smile appeared in his eyes.
“Boss Mi, please wait a moment. We’ve specially brought you a gift this time. Take a look.”
As he spoke, he gestured for someone beside him to bring over a square box.
At that moment, Gu An’an leaned closer.
“Boss Mi, our captain specially requested this from the Base Chief.”
Not wanting to be outdone, Yang Xiaoyi quickly added,
“Our captain requested it from the Base Chief too.”
Mi Beibei raised an eyebrow and looked at the box.
“What’s inside?”
Liu Jingming lightly tapped the top of the box.
Instantly, the small box twisted and expanded as though it were alive.
Metal parts clicked loudly.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a robot standing about 140 centimeters tall.
It had a round head, a cylindrical body with a metallic sheen, and glowing blue patterns flowing through its mechanical joints.
“Th-This is a robot?!”
Mi Beibei instinctively took half a step backward, her eyes filled with shock.
In her world, robots this advanced only existed in science fiction movies.
She had never imagined seeing a real one in the apocalypse.
Liu Jingming smiled and patted the robot’s metal shell.
“Last time we saw how hard you had to work moving all those supplies. After we returned, we told the Base Chief about it, and he specially sent us this helper for you.”
Before he finished speaking, he touched a control panel on the robot’s back.
The metal shell folded inward like rippling waves.
In the blink of an eye, it had transformed back into a neat square box.
The box was passed through the window into Mi Beibei’s hands.
She gently rubbed its cool metallic surface.
“How do I activate it?”
Liu Jingming pointed to the top of the box.
“See this dark mark? I’ve already restored it to factory settings. Just press here to bind it to yourself.”
Looking closely, Mi Beibei indeed found a circular mark with faint glowing patterns.
The moment her finger touched it, a translucent control panel suddenly appeared.
A mechanical voice echoed.
“Please bind the user’s information.”
She placed her palm over the glowing circle.
A blue light flashed.
“Ding! Binding successful. Please name your robot.”
Mi Beibei thought for a moment.
“I’ll call you Baby.”
“Ding! Name registered successfully. Baby is delighted to serve you!”
A warm yellow halo lit up around the robot’s head.
“Please assign a task, Master!”
“Pass all the supplies in the house through the window.”
The moment Mi Beibei gave the order, the robot emitted a soft mechanical hum.
With a click, two flexible mechanical arms extended from both sides of its body.
Like nimble human arms, they firmly grabbed the supplies on the floor, carried them neatly to the window, and passed them outside one by one.
The entire process flowed smoothly.
Its metallic joints gleamed coldly as they moved.
Mi Beibei could only stare in stunned amazement.
When the last item in the storage room had been passed outside, blue lights flashed across the robot’s body.
A mechanical voice sounded again.
“Large quantities of supplies detected in other areas. Execute transportation task?”
“Yes, transport them.”
The moment Mi Beibei answered, Baby immediately turned and hurried toward the living room.
The mountains of supplies stacked throughout the living room and kitchen rapidly disappeared as the robot’s mechanical arms picked them up one after another.
Baby moved effortlessly between the rooms.
Its mechanical joints operated with perfect precision.
Heavy boxes and packages seemed weightless in its hands.
Within a short time, the enormous piles of supplies had completely vanished, all of them passed through the window into the hands of the space ability users outside.
Watching the robot finish the task so efficiently, Mi Beibei’s eyes sparkled with delight.
Turning toward Liu Jingming, she sincerely said,
“This gift came at exactly the right time! Captain Liu, Captain Zhang, thank you so much. Please also thank your Base Chief for me. This solves one of my biggest problems!”
Liu Jingming smiled proudly, unable to hide his satisfaction.
He waved his hand.
“Boss Mi, you’re too polite! As long as you’re happy with it. I’ll definitely pass your thanks on to the Base Chief exactly as you said.”
Just as Liu Jingming was about to say goodbye, Mi Beibei suddenly called out,
“Captain Liu, Captain Zhang, if you have more robots like this—or any other high-tech equipment—feel free to exchange them for supplies!”
Hearing this, Liu Jingming narrowed his eyes into crescents, smiling as shyly as an old fox.
“Don’t worry! Next time we’ll definitely bring something that will satisfy Boss Mi.”
Mi Beibei nodded.
Then she suddenly remembered a question that had been on her mind for a long time.
Looking at Liu Jingming, she asked curiously,
“Captain Liu, are there still many survivors in your base? I’ve been here for almost a month now, but I’ve only ever seen your team and Captain Zhang’s team. You’re both from the same base. Is there only one survivor base around here?”
Hearing her question, Liu Jingming casually brushed imaginary dust from his shoulder.
The harsh sunlight of the apocalypse cast mottled shadows across his military-green jacket.
“Boss Mi, there are still quite a lot of survivors in Country C.”
He gave a faint smile, his voice carrying the roughness of someone who had endured countless hardships.
“It’s just that this area belongs to the territory controlled by the Xiangyang Base. People from other bases rarely come here.”
As he spoke, he unconsciously rested a hand on the knife at his waist, the cold metal pressing against his fingertips.
“The apocalypse isn’t like the old world. Every faction has clearly defined territory. Crossing into another group’s territory without permission could easily get you killed.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Mi Beibei nodded thoughtfully.
Liu Jingming wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued,
“Every shipment for Xiangyang Base is escorted back by Captain Zhang and me together. After all, these supplies determine the survival of tens of thousands of people in the base…”
Mi Beibei’s heart stirred.
She had never witnessed the horrors of the apocalypse with her own eyes.
Yet from the occasional expressions Liu Jingming revealed, she could glimpse just how cruel that world truly was.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn’t find the right words.
In the end, she simply said,
“I’ll see if I can prepare even more supplies for the next trade.”
“Good.”
Liu Jingming nodded.
“Then we’ll be counting on you, Boss Mi.”