Sparks were still flashing in the charcoal pile. Chen Hao's fingertips held a freshly printed piece of paper titled "Defense Optimization Draft." He folded it into a small piece and stuffed it into his inner pocket, his movements so slow it was as if he were giving his brain time to breathe.

Nana stood beside them, her finger swiping across the terminal screen, data appearing one by one. She didn't speak, but the progress bar on the screen kept moving. Susan sat against the wall, her coat draped over her shoulders, her eyes half-closed. Carl was helped back to his lodgings, saying before leaving that he had to deliver the first truckload of ore tomorrow.

The fire is going out.

Just then, the sentry's walkie-talkie crackled to life.

"Three kilometers away, there were two teams, without any equipment, holding up white cloths."

Chen Hao looked up and glanced at Nana.

Nana had already pulled up the thermal imaging. Two squads, nine people in total, all with normal body temperatures, moving at a steady pace, and making no stealthy movements. She nodded: "Doesn't look like an attack formation."

“Susan,” Chen Hao said.

Susan opened her eyes and reached directly for her tool bag at her waist.

"Go to the eastern bunker and observe."

"Again?" She frowned. "You just finished and you're back?"

“This time it’s different,” he said. “They’re raising a white flag.”

“The white flag could also be a decoy.” After she finished speaking, she stood up, brushed the dust off her pants, and turned to leave.

Carl, who was about to rest, turned back upon hearing the news, grabbed a telescope, and climbed up the south platform. Chen Hao led two guards to the outpost and stopped behind the cordon.

At the edge of the forest path in the distance, two groups of people slowly approached. The two in front raised their hands; one held a white cloth tied to a wooden stick, and the other carried a burlap sack. They stopped and stood still thirty meters away.

Chen Hao did not move forward.

The person on the far left of the other side took a package out of the sack, placed it on the ground, spread his hands, and took two steps back.

Then the second person also put down a bag.

Then everyone took five steps back and stood still.

Chen Hao stared for a while, then turned to the walkie-talkie and asked, "Nana, did they talk?"

“There is an audio signal,” she said. “The volume is low and the content is unclear. But I have matched a basic communication model from the database, so I can test it.”

"broadcast."

A few seconds later, a message came over the base's loudspeaker: "Peaceful visitors, please state your purpose."

The people outside were stunned for a moment.

One of the men, dressed in gray, pointed to himself, then to the package on the ground, made a cutting motion, and then pointed to his mouth.

It means that the food we brought is edible and can be opened in front of you.

Chen Hao thought for a moment, then waved for the guards to stay put. He walked ten meters forward and stopped at the gap in the barbed wire fence.

"Did you watch yesterday's fight?"

The man in gray nodded, gestured an explosion with his fingers, and then gave a thumbs up.

Chen Hao chuckled: "Praising me? Or are you afraid of me?"

The other person couldn't understand, but he could see that Chen Hao's expression had relaxed, so he took out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and handed it over.

It was a hand-drawn map. Several water sources, a piece of arable land, and a mark that read "clay pit" were marked.

Chen Hao couldn't read the words, but the picture was very clear.

He turned around and called out, "Susan! Bring some fruit!"

Susan emerged from the bunker, carrying a basket of freshly picked berries. She walked over to Chen Hao, put down the basket, picked a ripe one, took a bite, chewed it twice, swallowed it, and then handed the rest to Chen Hao.

Chen Hao took it and ate it too.

He pointed to the package on the ground and made the same gesture: open it and eat.

One of the other party immediately stepped forward, opened the first package, which contained dried biscuits and strips of meat. The second package contained a bundle of herbs, with intact leaves and a slightly bitter aroma.

Chen Hao nodded.

"Let them inside the wall, but not past the core area," he said into the walkie-talkie. "Karl, bring out the tables and chairs."

Karl responded and, along with two other people, dragged two folding tables and several plastic stools out of the workshop and set them up in the open space inside the fence.

Of the eight people on the other side, only four representatives entered; the remaining five stayed outside the perimeter cordon, squatting on the ground and waiting.

Nana walked over and stood behind Chen Hao, whispering, "I suggest using a non-confrontational language mode."

"Just say they're welcome to visit, don't use any words you can't understand."

Nana pressed play, and the standard welcome message played again through the speakers. At the same time, she gestured for the other person to sit down.

The man in gray took the lead and sat down.

No one spoke.

The atmosphere was tense.

Chen Hao grabbed a handful of berries and placed them on the table. He then took out a small knife from his pocket, cut the berries in half, and gave a piece to each person. As he ate, he said, "Do you understand how we guard the wall?"

The other party nodded.

One of them gestured with his hands, imitating the vibration when the sound wave device was activated, and then pretended to cover his ears and back away.

Chen Hao laughed: "Now you know how powerful you are?"

The man nodded quickly, then pointed in the direction of his camp and made a "small" and "weak" gesture.

It means—we don't want to fight, we just want to live.

After finishing the last bite, Chen Hao wiped his hands and asked, "What do you want?"

After a moment of silence, the man in gray took out a small cloth bag from his backpack and poured out a few seeds. They were black, oval, and looked like beans.

He pointed to the seeds, then to the fields in the base, and made a sowing gesture.

Chen Hao understood: "You want to change your planting techniques?"

The man nodded vigorously.

“Okay,” Chen Hao said, “but we won’t give it away for nothing.”

He stood up and shouted towards the workshop, "Bring me some tools!"

Carl brought over three modified shovels and a hoe, all made from recycled metal, with sharpened blades that would last a long time.

Chen Hao placed the tools on the table: "These are for your seeds, and we'll add another intelligence sharing session. In the future, notify us in advance if you discover any suspicious teams."

The four men exchanged glances and quickly reached an agreement. The man in gray extended his hand and shook hands with Chen Hao.

After the handshake, Nana began demonstrating the assembly process of the water purification device. She laid out the parts on the table, explaining the principles as she operated the device. Although the other party didn't understand the technical terms, she slowed down her movements and used diagrams, which the technician watched very attentively, even taking notes on paper with a charcoal pencil.

Susan sat on the side, arms crossed, watching the whole thing. After the demonstration, she whispered to Chen Hao, "They give us gifts today, and tomorrow they want us to do all the work. Do you trust them?"

“I don’t trust people,” he said. “I trust transactions.”

"Trading also carries risks."

“There are many risky things.” He looked at the five people waiting outside the cordon, “but it’s better for them to come than to hide. At least they’re willing to talk.”

Susan didn't say anything more, but simply pushed the remaining basket of fruit to the middle: "Take this for them."

Before evening, the two sides reached a verbal agreement: the 15th of each month would be designated as the material exchange day, at an abandoned gas station three kilometers east of the base. The three parties would take turns sending people to supervise the exchange, and the carrying of weapons would be prohibited; violators would be disqualified.

The other party left behind dry rations, herbs, seeds, and the hand-drawn map as a gift for their first contact.

When they left, they put away the white cloth they were holding and walked with a more relaxed gait.

Chen Hao stood inside the wall and watched them walk away.

"Is the map useful?" he asked Nana.

Nana was already scanning the map on her terminal, comparing it with old exploration data. "The marked locations of the clay pits match the satellite remnants 82 percent. Two new water sources have been added, but they haven't been entered into the system yet."

"Then it's not a fake image."

“Not entirely true,” she said. “The ‘safe passage’ marked on the west side passes through a radiation zone and is currently not safe to pass through.”

"At least they didn't lie to us all."

"They may not have known that it was a radiation zone."

“Then we’ll have to meet again.” He smiled. “We need to teach them to recognize danger.”

Susan walked over, carrying the cloth bag containing herbs. "These leaves can cure fevers and treat wounds. They're better than what we have."

"That's good," he said. "Next time, let them bring more."

"Are you really planning to keep switching?"

“Otherwise?” he looked at her. “After a fight, you can’t spend your whole life staring at every bush.”

She snorted: "Then remember to set the rules. Don't end up having to support the whole village."

"Only those who benefit know." He looked down and patted the dust off his trousers. "Right now we're strong, so they come to us with gifts. But the day we're weak, they won't even let you knock on their door."

Nana suddenly looked up: "They just recorded a recording."

"who?"

"The visiting technician had a miniature memory chip in his left ear, and I detected an unusual signal in the thermal imaging."

Chen Hao wasn't in a hurry; instead, he smiled and said, "Let them record. Anyway, what I teach is what I can make public. The real skills are hidden in the workshop; they can't see them."

Should we warn them?

“No need,” he said. “Knowing they’re recording gives us the upper hand. Next time we meet, I can deliberately leak some false information and see who spreads it.”

Susan glanced at him: "You're quite the schemer."

“This isn’t the shadow,” he said. “This is life.”

The sun has set halfway.

Carl was inspecting the handover site, measuring distances with a tape measure, coughing occasionally. His head was still bandaged, but he didn't stop.

Chen Hao walked back to the command platform, spread out the hand-drawn map, and weighed down the four corners with stones.

Nana stood to the side and began marking the trustworthy areas.

Susan turned to go back to the medical corner, but after a few steps she stopped and turned back to say, "I'll participate in the next exchange."

Chen Hao nodded: "Okay. You'll be in charge of inspecting the goods."

“It’s not just about inspecting the goods,” she said. “I’m also bringing some new formulas with me. To let them know that we’re not just about fighting.”