44. Slaughter them severely.

As dusk fell outside the window, the banquet hall remained brightly lit.

Exquisite white porcelain tableware was laid out on the table, and the crystal chandelier overhead shone brightly. Waiters served the dishes one after another.

The appetizers consisted of four kinds of dried fruit and four kinds of pickled vegetables; the main course was abalone and scallop tofu soup; the staple food was venison fried rice; there were also six hot dishes: stewed free-range chicken, chicken soup with ham, chicken tofu, braised tripe with mushrooms in golden broth, boiled pea sprouts, and stir-fried shredded potatoes; and finally, four desserts were served: rock sugar white fungus soup, pea flour cake, honey-roasted sweet potato, and milk muffins.

Fu Yunong looked at the table full of dishes and could not hide her shock.

A young man sitting at the lower end of the table was particularly attentive, frequently rising to greet everyone and behaving very politely.

His name is Yin Kuan, and he is the son of Old Man Yin.

His gaze kept drifting towards Fu Yunong. In his opinion, compared to the skinny Huangfu Jinrang, the old woman Xiao Linfang, the cold-faced and unapproachable Shi Dong, and the tomboy Lin Songsong who was almost as tall as the ceiling, he preferred the pretty and gentle Fu Yunong.

With his father having specifically instructed him to cultivate a good relationship with her, he was even more determined to win her over.

Faced with Yin Kuan's attentiveness, Fu Yunong felt uncomfortable and didn't really want to respond, but out of respect for Elder Yin, she could only deal with him insincerely.

If she knew what Yin Kuan was really thinking, she would definitely turn on him on the spot: "You've really gone and picked a fight?!"

After the banquet, Mr. and Mrs. Yin personally saw them off, while Secretary Li took them home. However, the car didn't drive to the dormitory; instead, it turned into a quiet courtyard nearby. Inside the courtyard was a detached two-story building with a dim yellow electric light hanging at the entrance.

"Gentlemen, this is the accommodation specially arranged for you by the leader," Secretary Li introduced with a smile. "There is electricity and heating here 24 hours a day, hot water is always available, and a landline is provided for easy communication. In addition, cleaning staff, a cook, and a driver have been arranged, and the guards at the gate are also at your disposal. Please feel free to ask if you need anything."

This shows a great deal of sincerity.

Fu Yunong and the others thanked Secretary Li and entered the small building, which was fully furnished, spacious and comfortable.

After a quick assignment of rooms, the group went to wash up.

After Shi Dong finished washing up and carefully checked the doors and windows, just as she was about to lie down, there was a knock on the door.

Fu Yunong stood in the doorway with her arms crossed as she opened the door.

Shi Dong stepped aside to let her in, and Fu Yunong said as she walked in, "I still feel more at ease sleeping with you."

No matter how safe and comfortable this place looks, she will never forget that she is in the apocalypse.

Shi Dong glanced at her indifferently, said nothing, and simply lifted the blanket and moved to the side, "Turn off the light."

The next day, as soon as Fu Yunong and Shi Dong came downstairs, they saw that the restaurant was already quite full. Huangfu Jinrang, Xiao Linfang, and Lin Songsong were all there, and Huahua was curled up at Lin Songsong's feet licking its paws.

"Oh, my two sisters have finally arrived! We really can't bear to be apart for even a moment~" Huangfu Jinrang teased them as soon as he saw them.

Xiao Linfang nodded in agreement, "That's right, didn't you two sleep together the night before last?"

Lin Songsong chewed on her lunchbox, grinning foolishly as she did so.

Fu Yunong glared at them and walked straight to the table to sit down. "Even eating can't shut you up." On the table were soft dinner rolls, rich and fragrant soy milk, and boiled eggs.

After the meal, Fu Yunong went upstairs to set the menu, while Shi Dong led a few people downstairs to exercise.

Clearly, they were not blinded by the comfortable environment before them.

Fu Yunong opened the system panel and compared the prices of each item on the list given by Elder Yin. Rice, flour, cotton clothes, seeds, medical equipment... just checking them took up the whole morning.

When I went downstairs for lunch, the food was already laid out on the table: golden fried eggs, braised tofu, stir-fried bean sprouts with black bean dace, and a bowl of refreshing egg and bean sprout soup. The staple food was rice.

Fu Yunong finished her meal quickly and was about to go upstairs to continue her work when Shi Dong stopped her, "Do you need any help?"

Fu Yunong thought for a moment, then winked and smiled at her, "Thanks, but no need."

Shi Dong watched her figure disappear around the corner of the stairs and shrugged helplessly.

The other three looked at each other and shrugged, mimicking her gesture.

Finally, Fu Yunong converted the prices of all items into crystal cores according to the standard of "two times for basic materials, three times for rice, flour and cooking oil, five times for development materials, and ten times for heavy industry and machinery," and also specifically noted the exchange ratio of level 1 to level 4 crystal cores.

After that, she picked up the landline on the table and called Secretary Li, asking him to send someone to pick it up.

Unexpectedly, it was Yin Kuan who came, accompanied by several guards. He took the price list, carefully placed it in a safe, handed it to a guard, and solemnly said, "Send this to my father immediately, and be careful on the way."

After making the arrangements, Yin Kuan turned to Fu Yunong and said enthusiastically, "You ladies probably haven't had a proper look around yet, right? Let me show you around." Before they could respond, he had already opened the car door.

Fu Yunong and Shi Dong exchanged glances, thinking they had nothing better to do, and nodded in agreement. Yin Kuan's smile deepened; although he found Shi Dong and the others a bit of an eyesore, he still felt he was one step closer to his goal.

At first, Fu Yunong was in a good mood, but along the way, Yin Kuan kept emphasizing things, such as, "Many families in the base have several people crammed into one courtyard. There are very few families in the entire base that live in a detached house like yours," and "The cars in the base are for official business only. Private use is not allowed. We made an exception for you."

Fu Yunong secretly exchanged a glance with Shi Dong. They say time reveals true character, and this person's true colors were revealed in the blink of an eye.

The car was parked on the busiest street in the base, with many shops along the way. It was the first time Fu Yunong and the others had seen shops in the post-apocalyptic world, and they were very interested.

Yin Kuan explained from the side, "The supplies inside are rationed, and most people need to spend money and use supply coupons to buy them. Food and cloth, which are in short supply, can only be bought with grain coupons and cloth coupons."

Xiao Linfang asked, "Aren't you afraid someone will make a fake?"

Yin Kuan said smugly, "The base is very well managed. Even the streets have dedicated personnel in charge. No one can afford the consequences of being punished for falsifying documents."

After strolling around for a while, Yin Kuan returned with a small bag of fruit candies, which he presented to Fu Yunong like a precious treasure. These were rare and very valuable items.

Fu Yunong thought that she might as well take it, and that even if she didn't eat it herself, she could share it with others.

Afterwards, Yin Kuan took them to the riverbank and pointed to a narrow section of the river, saying, "Once the ice melts, we plan to build a reservoir and a power station here, so that more areas of the base will have access to electricity."

Fu Yunong asked curiously, "Do other bases also use water from this river?"

"Yes, we're upstream," Yin Kuan said smugly. "It's only because my dad is kind-hearted. If it were someone with a vicious heart, they could have blocked the water, and the base downstream would have no chance of survival!"

Shi Dong looked at the wide river and scoffed. It wasn't that they didn't want to stop them, but that they simply couldn't. If they dared to do that, they would definitely be attacked by all sides before they had the strength to crush the major bases.

The wind by the river was so strong that the group couldn't stand it for long and quickly asked Yin Kuan to take them back. Yin Kuan smiled awkwardly, "It was my oversight."

In the afternoon, Fu Yunong received a call back from Mr. Yin, who said he agreed to the price she had set, but needed some time to prepare.

Fu Yunong replied that it was possible, but she had one more request.

Before long, the base set up a special command center and established several search teams, elevating the search for the crystal core to the highest level.

In the following days, the survivors at the base frequently saw truckloads of people leaving the base with weapons, and everyone was talking about it, saying that the base was about to make a big move.

Upon hearing this news, Shi Dong thought to himself: It seems that the situation at this base is more serious than it appears, otherwise they wouldn't be in such a hurry.

Other major bases also received the news one after another. At first, they were confused, but after finding out that it was to search for crystal cores, they also formed search teams of varying sizes, not wanting to fall behind.

Following the example set by those above, many smaller bases also sprang into action. Before long, most survivors knew about the crystal cores and began to collect them intentionally.

Fu Yunong and the others didn't pay much attention to these things. They asked Secretary Li for access to the training ground, as they had long been envious of Sun Hui's moves.

The training grounds were divided into several departments, and they went to the department focused on the development and practical application of superpowers. The head of this department was a middle-aged woman with a scar running from her brow bone to her chin. The key point was that she was not a superpowered individual.

The moment Shi Dong saw her, his fighting instincts inexplicably stirred.

The woman, who had been walking over with her hands behind her back, suddenly threw a straight punch at Shi Dong's face. People present gasped in surprise, and Lin Songsong almost intervened, but was stopped by Fu Yunong.

Shi Dong tilted her head, and the force of the punch grazed her ear. She stepped forward with her left foot, twisted her body, and punched the woman in the chest with her right fist.

The woman reacted extremely quickly, blocking with her left arm across her chest. With a muffled thud, their fists collided, each being jolted back half a step. Far from panicking, a fighting spirit flashed in her eyes. She pushed off the ground with her left foot and charged forward, her right elbow aimed straight at Shi Dong's ribs.

The two exchanged blows, each punch landing hard, until Shi Dong narrowly won. The woman staggered back a few steps before regaining her balance, while Shi Dong was also panting heavily, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

The woman suddenly laughed, straightened up, and exclaimed, "That felt great!"

Shi Dong smiled too.

The woman's name was Tang Lan. She originally belonged to the special forces. Although she and Shi Dong were not in the same unit, they were attracted to each other. As a non-superhuman with rich combat experience, she was best suited to step outside the system to help superhumans develop their abilities and point out problems. She held a high position among the superhumans in the base.

"What kind of superpower do you have?" Tang Lan asked.

Shi Dong immediately unleashed his special ability, and Tang Lan, upon seeing it, exclaimed in shock, "Lightning?"

She immediately waved her hand, "I can't teach that."

That's the truth. Lightning-type is extremely rare; Fang Yan doesn't have a single one in the entire base.

When Tang Lan learned that Huangfu Jinrang was a psychic, she gasped, "My goodness, they're all so unorthodox."