“Uh…”
Suddenly being called “Captain Brother,” and by a soft, cute, and helpless (living alone in a tunnel) girl at that, the captain stiffened his expression but softened his tone:
“I’m Zhou Qian. Just call me Captain Zhou. What can I do for you?”
Huai Yu curved her eyes, her voice gentle: “I built a house, but it doesn’t seem to keep out the rain very well. I wanted to ask if I could trade these pine cones for a piece of plastic sheeting?”
“Built a house?” Captain Zhou frowned: “It hasn’t even been two days… you built it yourself? What kind of house!”
Huai Yu gestured: “Just break some branches for support, then pick some leaves and lay them on top!”
“But the leaves aren’t laid tightly enough…”
She was a bit conflicted. Although she knew rainwater would drip down along the curve of the leaves, the Growth Acceleration had produced too few and too small phoenix tree leaves, so she could only lay two layers, which inevitably made her worry.
The guard and Captain Zhou both fell silent.
They weren’t unfamiliar with the idea of building a house with branches and leaves.
But first, the other party was a delicate young girl who seemed to have been well-protected before. The house she built in just over a day…
They didn’t dare imagine.
Larger branches—she probably couldn’t even break them.
Second, it was early spring. Even if there were some trees in the border areas, most of the leafy ones now were small-leaved evergreen shrubs.
To layer these small leaves densely enough to block wind and rain…
Captain Zhou looked at her pitiful state. Although he knew she was a zero Contribution Points freeloader, he still sighed.
As soon as he sighed, Huai Yu grew nervous: “Captain Brother, can I trade?”
She took the heavy string of pine cones from her shoulder, her attitude growing even more earnest: “I searched for a long time near the Rose Corridor yesterday to find these—they’re edible! Can I trade them?”
Those were probably thrown over by the Rose Corridor while driving away alien plants, or blown over by strong winds…
In any case, just imagining this delicate girl walking along the dangerous Rose Corridor, searching all the way, not knowing how many miles she traveled to gather this little bit of food…
Captain Zhou could no longer maintain his stern expression.
He waved his hand, and a soldier beside him stepped forward: “Go to logistics and use my Credits to exchange for a waterproof tarpaulin, lightweight—is 20 square meters enough? Never mind, 40 square meters. If there’s extra, it can be laid on the ground to prevent dampness.”
Huai Yu’s lips moved. She wanted to say that her new house was built large and sturdy. Although the interior was only a little over ten square meters, 40 square meters would be just enough to cover the entire round roof, with maybe a few bricks weighing down the edges—it really couldn’t be laid on the ground.
But it didn’t matter. Captain Brother was kind, and she was content.
After giving the order, Captain Zhou added: “Even lightweight tarpaulin has some weight. When you cover the roof with it, make sure the house is well-supported.”
“Plastic sheeting is lighter, but it blocks wind, not cold. In a couple of days when it rains, the temperature will drop very low.”
Huai Yu nodded obediently, realizing that although Captain Zhou across from her had a dark complexion and a serious demeanor, his heart was exceptionally considerate.
She hadn’t even thought about the temperature dropping!
She obediently handed over the pine cones.
Captain Zhou didn’t seem to want them.
But after hesitating for a moment, he still took them, then was startled by their heavy weight—
“About ten pounds, you carried it all the way here?”
Huai Yu nodded. She really wanted a vehicle, but since she didn’t have one, she had no choice but to carry it on her back.
It was incredibly heavy.
The man, however, smiled. “Not bad! You’re starting to look like someone who can stand on their own two feet now, and you can endure hardship too… Having zero Contribution Points was probably because your family protected you too well, but times have changed. You’re your own greatest support now!”
He waved his hand. “Ingredients are hard to come by these days. These pine cones don’t seem to have mutated much. They can probably be exchanged for 10–15 Contribution Points, just enough to cover that tarpaulin.”
“Well done!” he encouraged her. “The waterproof tarpaulin weighs about twelve pounds. It’s sun-resistant, anti-aging, and durable—don’t waste it!”
As a logistics staff member jogged over, a thick stack of tarpaulin instantly bent Huai Yu’s back under its weight.
…
Watching Huai Yu slowly drag the tarpaulin away, clutching it as she made her way back to the camp, the logistics staff chuckled:
“It’s rare to see a young girl with such a self-reliant spirit, and she even knows to trade goods for resources. We really should have sent someone with a vehicle to help her carry it back.”
Another person laughed. “Exactly. Look at her dirty face and tattered clothes… Tsk, she probably didn’t even dare to wash her face.”
Even though it’s safer now, for a young girl living alone, it’s better to stay a bit dirty. Who knows whose child she is? How did her family manage to protect her so well during all that chaos before?
Now that everything is back on track, it’s just…
Forget it, no point dwelling on it. It’s been six years since the Cataclysm, and all kinds of unexpected situations have happened—nothing is surprising anymore.
Captain Zhou, however, said solemnly, “She’s lacking a lot of things! Does she need a toothbrush and toothpaste? Towels? Pots, bowls, ladles, and basins?”
“If she could carry ten pounds of pine cones here, she can carry twelve pounds of tarpaulin back.”
“She’s finally mustered the will to be self-reliant and break free from that zero Contribution Points. Don’t mess it up and ruin her spirit.”
But then again, he couldn’t help but wonder: “How come we’ve never collected so many pine cones? Is it because the Rose Corridor over there is close to the mountains?”
The logistics staff stifled a laugh. “Probably because she’s a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. She hasn’t witnessed how dangerous the Rose Corridor gets every summer and autumn, so she dared to rummage through the bushes near the Rose Corridor.”
They couldn’t get close to that area, so it’s no surprise they’ve found nothing there over the years.
Surely she didn’t cross the corridor to pick them from the mountains, did she?
Captain Zhou handed over the bundle of pine cones. “Here, it’s been years since we’ve cracked any nuts. Let’s crack some pine nuts today—test them, see what their Mutation Value is, and if they’re edible.”
After the Cataclysm, all plants have mutated to some extent. The only difference is whether they’ve exceeded the Critical Value.
Plants that exceed the Critical Value go mad, growing rapidly, expanding, and craving all kinds of nutrients—people, animals, flesh and blood… anything nourishing.
That’s why, over the past six years of struggle, they’ve worked together to kill the maddened plants. Those they couldn’t kill, they drove into the Wasteland by any means necessary.
As for those within the normal Mutation Value range, most have become nearly inedible.
Take pine nuts, for example. They used to be rich, fragrant, and sweet, but now they might be bitter, astringent, or numbing.
How bad they taste depends on their Mutation Value.
But—
“Holy shit! What’s going on? The Mutation Value is only 3?”
Even the mutation index in the air is only 3!
Everyone instantly crowded around, staring intently at the large green number—
“Test it again! Report again!”
“Beep—”
“Still a 3!”
Everyone exchanged glances, then cheered: “Give me a handful! This one definitely isn’t bitter!”
“What are you thinking, wanting a handful? Do you think your face is that big?!”
“Bah! Don’t you dare grab it! It’s mine! I traded 50 Credits for this tarp!”