45. Initial poverty alleviation

After Tang Lan understood the abilities and physical capabilities of the group, she immediately made arrangements: Xiao Linfang and Lin Songsong were to report to her directly every day; Huangfu Jinrang and Fu Yunong were to go next door to train their physical abilities and build a solid foundation; as for Shi Dong…

She looked him up and down, then waved her hand with a smile, "You can figure out how to practice on your own."

From then on, the group lived a life of leaving early and returning late.

Fu Yunong and Huangfu Jinrang had the toughest time. The instructor next door didn't treat them like newbies at all and immediately put them into high-intensity training: five-kilometer weighted run, push-ups, and sit-ups in turn. If they hadn't been training regularly, they probably would have collapsed from exhaustion on the first day.

In contrast, Xiao Linfang and Lin Songsong's progress is clearly visible.

Under Tang Lan's targeted guidance, Xiao Linfang has mastered attack techniques such as the Thorn Whip, Flying Leaf Blade, and Wooden Cage; Lin Songsong has mastered the Thousand Blade Slash and Vajra Arm, and most importantly, he has comprehended "Metal Devouring," which allows him to decompose metal weapons such as bullets fired by enemies and then integrate them into himself to strengthen his defense.

Shi Dong wasn't idle either. He explored on his own and gradually mastered three moves: Lightning Chain, Thunder Blade, and Static Cage. He could also use the power of lightning to increase his movement speed, and his combat power reached a new level.

Incidentally, we also conducted a few tests on Huahua. When the results came out, everyone was stunned. Its bite force reached an astonishing 2,000 kilograms!

It's worth noting that an adult tiger's bite force is only around 450 kilograms.

Tang Lan clicked her tongue in amazement, "This isn't a cat at all, it's clearly a giant beast!"

That's absolutely true. With Hua Hua's current size, she could easily carry someone around for several laps.

Whenever Fu Yunong and Huangfu Jinrang were exhausted from practicing, it would carry them to the door. Its back was soft and warm, and sitting on it was cozy.

Twenty days later, Secretary Li suddenly came to the door, followed by two guards carrying a heavy box.

“Miss Fu, the first batch of crystal cores is ready. The commander said that we can proceed with the first two transactions on the list first.”

When Fu Yunong opened the box, she found it filled with crystal cores. She immediately opened the system and was increasingly surprised by what she saw.

There are 30 level 4 crystal cores alone, and even 3 purple level 5 crystal cores!

She suppressed her excitement and said to Secretary Li, "Please go back and tell Mr. Yin to prepare a sufficiently large space."

Secretary Li nodded solemnly, "Yes, Miss Fu, I'll go and get back to you right away!" With that, she quickly left.

In the following days, the group continued their training as usual, only to occasionally notice unfamiliar figures loitering around the courtyard.

Huangfu Jin's eyes flickered as he activated his supernatural ability, directly controlling one of them to walk over and explain his purpose:

Secretary Li ordered them to come and keep watch, fearing they would take the crystal cores and run away.

The group was both annoyed and amused, and waved him away.

That evening, Shi Dong leaned against the headboard reading a book, while Fu Yunong opened the system to upgrade. She exchanged all the crystal cores except for the level five ones, instantly gaining over 3.1 million points!

Fu Yunong secretly clicked her tongue: If they had to search on their own, who knows how long it would have taken.

She exchanged another level 5 crystal core, and the system displayed "[Level 5 Brain Eater Crystal Core]", adding another 1500 points.

After clicking upgrade, the space area doubles, becoming a [320㎡ duplex luxury room (upgradeable)]. The temperature adjustment range is expanded to 20℃, the furniture in the living area is more complete and luxurious, and the storage room has been moved under the stairs with a built-in retractable function.

Meanwhile, the system also added three new categories: [Daily Discounts], [Strategic Materials], and [Security Defenses], while disabling the "Lucky Draw" function. Fu Yunong didn't feel it was a pity; the lottery was all about luck, and sometimes the items she won were neither useful nor worth throwing away, so they weren't that important to her.

She looked at the upgrade requirements for level six: [Accumulate 5,000,000 points + 1 level six crystal core].

Points are not hard to accumulate, but level 6 crystal cores are hard to find; they are probably hard to come by.

Looking at the [Top-Tier Special Item] that can only be unlocked at level six, Fu Yunong felt a little disappointed. She turned her head and glanced at Shi Dong beside her, secretly making up her mind that even if she eventually collected enough points to go home, she would definitely leave them with enough supplies before leaving.

On the other side, as soon as Yin Laoyi received Fu Yunong's reply, he immediately had his confidant select an absolutely secret underground space and repeatedly instructed him not to leak it.

Secretary Li suddenly remembered something and reminded him, "Sir, currently, besides a few of us, only Major Sun Hui knows the whole story."

"Sun Hui?" Old Master Yin pondered for a moment, "I understand, you may leave now."

Secretary Li bowed and withdrew, leaving Old Master Yin alone in deep thought.

A few days later, an SUV came to pick up Fu Yunong and the others. The car drove all the way to a remote part of the base and finally stopped in front of an inconspicuous house.

The group followed Elder Yin's men into the house, took an elevator down to the ground, and were surprised to find a huge enclosed space in front of them, where Elder Yin was already waiting.

"Miss Fu, let's store the supplies inside," Old Master Yin said, pointing to a warehouse.

Fu Yunong nodded, telling everyone to wait where they were.

A dozen minutes later, she emerged from the warehouse, her face slightly pale. "It's ready."

Old Yin couldn't hide his excitement and strode into the room. Seeing the mountain of rice, flour, cotton clothes, seasonings, and other supplies, his face flushed, and he reached for Fu Yunong's hand to express his gratitude. Fu Yunong subtly avoided him, her voice weary, "Old Yin, I'm a little tired. I'd like to go back and rest first."

"Alright, alright!" Old Yin nodded quickly. "Go back and rest. There were some omissions in the last list. I'll have someone make it up for you later!"

Fu Yunong waved her hand and took Shi Dong's hand as they walked out. Seeing this, Xiao Linfang quickly followed and whispered, "Yunong, are you alright?"

Huangfu Jinrang and Lin Songsong also looked worried.

Fu Yunong gave them a reassuring smile, "It's okay, it's just a bit mentally taxing."

This time, she gave half of each of the two categories of supplies. Some of them were on sale during the daily discount, with some at half price and some even at 30% off. She made a net profit of 2 million points. Adding what she had left over, she now had a total of more than 2.1 million points. She didn't touch her original crystal cores and still had one level 5 crystal core left.

Although we've escaped poverty, we're still far from our goal of buying a large motorhome.

The next day, it was Sun Hui who came to deliver the supplementary list. However, her right eye was wrapped in thick gauze, her face was haggard, and she looked much thinner than when they last met.

"Sister Hui, what's wrong?" Fu Yunong asked hurriedly.

Sun Hui sighed, "I was injured during the mission and haven't had a chance to see a doctor yet."

Fu Yunong immediately asked Xiao Linfang to take a look at her.

Unable to refuse, Sun Hui sat down and removed the gauze, revealing her entire right eye to be a bloody mess, a truly shocking sight.

A pale blue light emanated from Xiao Linfang's palm, which she gently placed over the wound. After a dozen minutes, the wound had mostly healed and looked less frightening, but Xiao Linfang still sighed, "The eyeball has been removed. I can only heal the wound; I can't restore the eye."

Upon hearing this, Sun Hui's shoulders slumped. Although she had been mentally prepared, hearing it with her own ears still left her feeling disappointed.

She took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress her emotions, and said, "I understand, thank you." Then she left without looking back.

Everyone could understand her feelings. Fu Yunong watched her back and pondered to herself: Perhaps I could talk to Old Master Yin and transfer Sun Hui to a relatively safe department.

The supplementary list included tobacco, alcohol, tea, beverages, fresh fruits and vegetables, poultry, livestock, and feed. Fu Yunong smiled enigmatically.

The next day after training, Huangfu Jinrang came over from next door to ask Tang Lan, "Instructor, do you know Cai Yun and Ouyang Peng?"

Tang Lan was somewhat surprised. "I know. They came to see me twice, but haven't come since."

The others nodded silently; no wonder he was so weak.

Half a month later, the training of the group came to an end, and Tang Lan also received orders to go out on field missions. Before leaving, she specifically reminded them that physical fitness was the foundation, and that if their physical fitness was poor, their superpowers could not be strong.

Fu Yunong then realized that not only did she need to eat well and have a strong physique, but her superpowers would also need to be stronger.

Before parting, Fu Yunong, on behalf of her partners, presented Cai Lan with a generous gift, including basic supplies as well as weapons such as firearms and ammunition.

As soon as she returned to the courtyard, Secretary Li arrived with guards, still carrying a heavy box behind him. "Miss Fu, the second batch of crystal cores is ready."

This time, the exchange resulted in an extra 4 million points. At Secretary Li's prompting, Fu Yunong gave half of the first two items on the second list.

On the way back, Fu Yunong leaned against the car window and looked outside, her thoughts drifting: she could understand that crop seeds and livestock could not be fed now, but Old Master Yin did not mention medical supplies and heavy machinery at all. Did he have other plans?

Regardless, she made a net profit of over 2.4 million yuan from this transaction, enough to buy a large RV. She just doesn't know how much the modifications will cost.

As for the points needed to go home, she sighed softly. That number was too far away, and she didn't even dare to think about it now.

Taking advantage of the rare free time, the group decided to drive around in the car provided by the base.

After walking around, I realized that the streets were much more lively than last time, and there was a hint of prosperity.

Along the way, one could often hear people discussing, all praising Elder Yin.

"If it weren't for Elder Yin, how could we have the peaceful life we ​​have now?"

"I heard that a lot of grain will be distributed tomorrow, so we won't have to worry about going hungry anymore!"

The group also discovered that the base had issued new currency, and the banknotes prominently featured Elder Yin's portrait, with a smiling face that looked exceptionally compassionate.

Huangfu Jinrang looked at these and silently curled his lip.

The group entered a small shop with a sign that read "Watchtower Restaurant" and ordered stir-fried vegetables, stewed potatoes with meat, minced meat and eggs, and a bowl of egg drop soup. The vegetables were fresh enough, but the taste was very bland; it seemed that spices were still a rarity.

When it was time to pay the bill after the meal, Fu Yunong casually took out a few crystal cores and asked the waiter, "Can I pay with these?"

Just as the waiter was about to shake his head and say no, the shop owner immediately came out to greet him with a big smile, "Sure, sure! Of course!" After counting, the owner said that this meal would require five level-two crystal cores.

Fu Yunong vomited three liters of blood; this was clearly robbery!

But on second thought, perhaps crystal cores are not far from becoming circulating currency.

The group continued strolling, and just as they turned a street corner, they saw a small group of people gathered in front of them.

Lin Songsong looked closely and saw that it was a man with a buzz cut bullying two female survivors.

What a small world!