TL: Moonlit

Miao Bo closed his eyes as if he had made a decision. “Wen Qingling, how about making a deal? I’ll exchange one person for Fang Shenlong’s safety.”

Wen Qingling replied lazily, “I don’t know if you have someone I’m interested in.”

Miao Bo said confidently, “You’ll definitely be interested.”

Wen Qingling raised an eyebrow. “Tell me more.”

Miao Bo’s eyes gleamed coldly. “Do you remember the person you went to the Ling City Base to find?”

Wen Qingling realized something and sat up straight.

Seeing his reaction, Miao Bo knew things could work out. “The person you were looking for, Fang Zhen, is in the Yue County Base.”

Wen Qingling stood up, jumped down from the car roof, and walked up to Miao Bo, staring into his eyes. “Are you sure it’s Fang Zhen?”

Miao Bo met his gaze without flinching. “I’m sure. He’s in the base. He has relatives in Yue County and holds a certain position there. He came to seek refuge with his relatives, and I have seen him in the base before.”

Wen Qingling observed closely and realized that Miao Bo wasn’t lying.

Wen Qingling asked, “Is he the only one? Is there a person dressed in a black robe or a tall woman with him?”

Miao Bo replied, “I don’t know if there’s a woman, but there’s no one dressed in a black robe. You know about the exclusivity of the Yue County Base. Strangers or people with unknown backgrounds are targeted as soon as they enter Yue County and won’t make it to the base.”

Wen Qingling looked at him suspiciously. “Do the people in the Yue County Base never go out?”

Miao Bo sighed, “It’s not easy to get in, so who would be willing to go out? Moreover, there are so many zombies outside. Going out doesn’t guarantee a safe return.”

Wen Qingling was impressed by the tight security measures of the Yue County Base, not allowing outsiders in and not venturing out themselves. They had unintentionally cut off the invasion of the zombie horde. He couldn’t decide whether it was luck for the Yue County Base or if the people there were too ruthless, even scaring off the zombies.

Wen Qingling said, “I don’t make bad deals. Since you want to exchange Fang Zhen for Fang Shenlong, go and find Fang Zhen. Once I see him, I’ll naturally release Fang Shenlong.”

Miao Bo gritted his teeth. “Deal.”

Wen Qingling turned around and signaled, “Ji Rong, drive. Take me and Deputy Squad Leader Miao to find the person. The rest of you stay here.”

Ji Rong gestured and got into the modified off-road vehicle first.

Those left behind, including Xiong Shu, trembled and asked, “Boss, there are so many zombies here. Will we see you when you come back?”

Others, like Chang Boheng, had similar concerns.

Wen Qingling glanced at Xiong Shu and replied, “Don’t worry. These zombies are much more obedient than humans. As long as you don’t do anything foolish, they won’t attack you.”

With Wen Qingling’s words, those who knew the truth felt somewhat relieved, while those unaware shed tears, thinking that zombies couldn’t possibly be obedient. It was clearly an attempt to comfort them.Xiong Shu consoled himself, “Wouldn’t it be better if a zombie bit me?”

Then, the boss could cure him, and he would have antibodies, never having to struggle with zombies again. It would be perfect.

Wen Qingling coolly remarked, “You can give it a try. The zombie family welcomes you.”

Hearing this, members of the zombie family like Ji Rong, He Lin, and Shi Chong interpreted it as a chance for Xiong Shu to transform into a civilized zombie. However, for Xiong Shu himself, it meant that the boss wouldn’t save him. If he got bitten, the boss would abandon him and let him turn into a zombie.

Xiong Shu remained silent and meekly decided to behave like a human.

Thus, he missed the perfect opportunity to enter the desired civilized base.

Wen Qingling only took Miao Bo with him, leaving the others to face the zombies. Naturally, the people from the Yue County Base were unwilling to let Miao Bo go, but Miao Bo had made up his mind, and no one could persuade him.

So, everyone watched as they got into the car and drove into the horde of zombies. The scene of being overwhelmed by zombies didn’t happen as expected. The horde of zombies voluntarily made way for the car, and after the off-road vehicle passed through, they blocked the exit again. No one could leave.

People from the Yue County Base: “…”

What kind of sorcery is this? The horde of zombies actually made way for human vehicles? Were they blind, or had the zombies gone crazy?

Xiong Shu and his companions: “…”

The boss is truly amazing. He’s made up his mind.

Chang Boheng and his group: “…”

Dr. Wen is indeed worthy of being Dr. Wen. With such a boss covering them, why wouldn’t Xiang County Base be able to unify?

Upon receiving Wen Qingling’s signal, Xiao Hen disappeared from where he was and reappeared standing on top of a building. This tall building offered a broad view. Wen Qingling hadn’t told him where the Yue County Base and the granary were, so he had to find them himself.

After determining the orientation of the Yue County base, Xiao Hen disappeared again from the spot. In order to conserve his powers, he didn’t continuously use spatial movement but instead utilized the advantages of a civilized zombie—jumping. His jumping speed was astonishing, although it consumed some stamina.

When Xiao Hen arrived outside the walls of the Yue County base, he once again used spatial movement. However, there were limitations to the distance he could teleport, and since he couldn’t determine the exact location of the granary, he had to frequently materialize to adjust his direction. There were two instances where he was almost face-to-face with people from the base, but before they could react, Xiao Hen had already disappeared again, leaving the witnesses doubting their own eyesight.

After several adjustments, Xiao Hen finally managed to enter the granary. To his surprise, as soon as he appeared, he got buried by the food. His appearance was off, and Xiao Hen struggled in the sea of provisions. He barely managed to climb to the top but nearly suffocated in the pile.

Standing in the granary, Xiao Hen looked at the wheat piled high beneath his feet. He estimated the size of the granary and glanced out of the window. It was about two meters above the ground, and there was another row of granaries in front of it. Due to the angle, Xiao Hen couldn’t see more. He heard clear footsteps outside the window, so he stood against the wall, observing the situation outside. Two teams of people were patrolling, not allowing anyone near the granary.

Xiao Hen returned to the center of the granary, hesitating about how much food to take.

Wen Qingling’s voice timely sounded, “Take as much as you can.”

Xiao Hen knew that Qingling had probably been monitoring the situation. He asked in a low voice, “What type of food do you want?”

Wen Qingling replied, “Whatever there is, take everything if possible. Leave no grain behind.”

Miao Bo in the car: “…”

Indeed, he was a ruthless character. However, Miao Bo didn’t believe Xiao Hen had such a large storage space. The size of the space was directly related to the level of the user. He didn’t believe Xiao Hen had become that powerful.Wen Qingling wouldn’t tell him. Today’s Xiao Hen was no longer the same as yesterday’s. During the battle with the “General,” Xiao Hen’s potential had erupted, breaking through the C-rank barrier of the ability user level. C-rank was already considered a top-tier strength among human ability users, and during Xiao Hen’s transformation, influenced by Wen Qingling and the “General,” not only did his own body mutate, but his ability level also skyrocketed to a height of B-rank.

According to Wen Qingling’s knowledge, there weren’t many human ability users even at the C-rank, and B-rank was extremely rare. He didn’t know if there were ability users of a higher level, but he didn’t rule out the possibility, even if there weren’t any domestically, there might be abroad.

With Xiao Hen’s strength greatly increased, Ji Rong and Shi Chong’s ability levels also jumped up by one rank. They had been struggling at the D-rank level, but after the transformation, their ability levels had all risen to C-rank.

The only regret was He Lin. His transformation was very orthodox and, as a result, he had lost his ability in the process.

Xiao Hen looked at his own space. As a B-rank ability user with spatial abilities, he naturally had considerable storage space. However, there was also a lot of food here, so it might be difficult to take everything.

Wen Qingling’s voice came again, “Using the granary you’re in as a reference, there’s corn in the granary to your right, rice in the one directly in front, and beans in the one to the front right. The rest of the granaries are empty, so don’t waste time.”

Miao Bo was almost crying. How strong was Wen Qingling’s psychic power? He could clearly judge even from this distance, as if he was seeing it with his own eyes. It was too incredible.

Xiao Hen had no choice but to reorganize his space to avoid confusion. He could only try to take as much as possible, depending on the size of his space.

Wen Qingling kept “watching” Xiao Hen’s busyness as the food in the granary seemed to disappear into thin air, silently entering Xiao Hen’s space. Once he finished with one granary, he moved on to the next. According to Wen Qingling, he wanted everything, so he could only take it all.

Wen Qingling expressed his satisfaction with Xiao Hen’s work attitude and informed him about Fang Zhen’s situation at the Yue County base. Xiao Hen couldn’t believe he had such luck.

Wen Qingling said, “Ji Rong and I will wait for you outside the base. When you come back, we’ll send Miao Bo to find Fang Zhen.”

Xiao Hen understood that Wen Qingling probably didn’t want to send Miao Bo back at this time and risk revealing Xiao Hen’s presence in the granary, attracting unnecessary trouble. Once Xiao Hen finished moving the food and returned, everything would be settled. Even if they knew, it wouldn’t help. They couldn’t possibly snatch it back from Xiao Hen’s hands.

Xiao Hen knew that Wen Qingling was waiting for him outside the base, so he hastened his pace and filled up all the available space. In the end, there was still some remaining food that couldn’t fit, so he had no choice but to give up.

Xiao Hen appeared in Wen Qingling’s car and sat next to Miao Bo.

Wen Qingling said, “Deputy Miao, you can go find the others now.”

Miao Bo didn’t move and stared at Xiao Hen for a long time. “Colonel Xiao, have you ever considered how the over ten thousand people in the Yue County base will survive if all the food is taken away?”

Xiao Hen replied, “Back then, the Ling City base had nearly thirty thousand people and no granary. If it weren’t for the ‘General’ triggering the corpse tide, the Ling City base should have continued to exist. How did they survive?”

Miao Bo fell silent. The Ling City base was located near the city, and to obtain supplies, survivor squads would venture into the city every day, risking their lives to scavenge. Some would find success, while others would die. People relied on their own efforts to survive, and even though it was difficult, they could still make it.

But the situation was completely different in the Yue County base. Few survivors left the base since they had enough food and didn’t face the pressure of survival. Most people were unwilling to take risks outside the base. The only ones who regularly left the base were people like Miao Bo and Fang Zhen, responsible for the safety of the base. They needed to go out and drive away or hunt down outsiders.

Miao Bo understood they were living off the reserves, but the Yue County base had its rules. In the end, he and Fang Zhen were outsiders. They could stay in the base, but they had to work for it, and they weren’t accustomed to staying idle in the base, living like parasites, relying on the meager rations provided.

Xiao Hen continued, “On the way here, I saw wild grass growing everywhere in the wasteland. No one is cultivating the land. If the granaries in Yue County are emptied, it would be almost impossible for Ling City to restore agricultural production.”

Supermarkets are usually filled with rice and flour, which can’t be grown. Moreover, even though rice and flour are scarce in the apocalypse, with so many survivors scavenging for resources every day, fighting for their survival, how could they possibly overlook food?

Miao Bo found it hard to believe. “Are you planning to restore agricultural production?”

Xiao Hen glanced at Wen Qingling and said, “We originally came here to exchange some crops with the Yue County base.”

Wen Qingling didn’t even release his psychic power for this, and the result was the Yue County base leading the “Grotesque” to attack them. If they hadn’t followed, Xiong Shu and the others would probably have died there. Wen Qingling’s rational thinking was instantly extinguished, directly leading to Xiao Hen emptying the granaries.

Miao Bo’s gaze turned deep. “I know Dr. Wen can control the zombies and eliminate the possibility of casualties during the cultivation process, but in a world where mutated plants run rampant, can agriculture really develop?”

Wen Qingling placed his hands behind his head. “What’s the problem? We grow our own vegetables and fruits in the base every day. Even if mutations occur occasionally, it’s only a change in appearance and size. It doesn’t affect their edibility.”

Miao Bo remained silent for a long time before finally opening the car door.

If there was such a self-sufficient base, it would undoubtedly be the luckiest thing for the survivors seeking to survive in the apocalypse.