Unable to contact Xia Chuhe directly, Wang Mei contacted Li Qiusheng, who was in charge of training the new recruits.

Since Li Qiusheng hadn't discussed this matter with Xia Chuhe, he had to consult with Bu Yi first.

Bu Yi recalled the last time he reported to Xia Chuhe about the food and amusement park, where non-evolved individuals wrote stories in exchange for supplies, and Xia Chuhe completely agreed with this.

Ultimately, Wang Mei received the reply, "Escort them here first, and Taotie City will take good care of them."

Wang Mei breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this was indeed something the city lord would do. She then asked, "Has the city lord mentioned the construction philosophy of Taotie City?"

Xia Chuhe hadn't mentioned it, but Li Qiusheng vaguely knew something. Taotie City was a refuge, a place where everyone could rest safely. Because the higher-ups were pressing too hard, with repeated ambushes and assassinations, the team was caught completely off guard. Xia Chuhe could only temporarily stop, find a safe place to recuperate and gather strength.

Li Qiusheng replied jokingly: "The city lord wants to give everyone a home."

Home?

Wang Mei raised her hand to her heart. Recent experiences made her realize that the city lord was someone she could trust and rely on, and that Taotie City was a safe and fair place.

Life in the city, though ordinary, is relaxing and comfortable.

So this is what home feels like.

Wang Mei showed Li Qiusheng's information to her teammates, and the group accompanied the mother and daughter to Taotie City.

Just as she was about to arrive at Taotie City, Wang Mei received a message from another leader who asked her to report on the latest situation in Taotie City and Xia Chuhe's movements.

Wang Mei ignored the message and entered the city with a normal expression. She then asked to see the city lord, saying that she had something very important to report.

With Xia Chuhe absent, Bu Yi, who was temporarily handling city affairs in her place, received Wang Mei.

In the office where only the two of them were, Wang Mei took off her wristwatch, unlocked it, and placed it in front of Bu Yi.

“I…I was once a reserve soldier from Cape Base.” Wang Mei’s voice was hoarse. “In order to be promoted to the Guard, I took on the mission to infiltrate Taotie City…I was an undercover agent. I betrayed Taotie City and the city lord. I don’t want to do this anymore. I am willing to accept any punishment.”

As Bu Yi listened to Wang Mei's story, he flipped through the chat history on his wristwatch.

Before the information base station in Taotie City was upgraded, 123 had detected some abnormal signals, but couldn't find any specific information. However, after Xiao Ai arrived and completely upgraded the system, 123 had almost complete control over the new recruits' movements.

The information sent to Wang Mei by the base naturally did not escape detection.

Wang Mei's actions made Bu Yi fully understand why Xia Chuhe let her go in the instance.

Wang Mei was very frank, and she almost completely sided with Taotie City.

Bu Yi used his special ability to inquire and believed that Wang Mei's outcome was very auspicious. This result completely ruled out the possibility that Wang Mei was feigning surrender.

"Well, before the city lord returns, you should go and work underground. In the meantime, leave your communication devices with me."

Bu Yi confiscated Wang Mei's watch and punished her by making her do hard labor. Wang Mei did not object to this.

After watching Wang Mei leave, Bu Yi used her wristwatch to send a false message back to the base. He fabricated a fake destination for Xia Chuhe, while simultaneously disparaging Taotie City, portraying it as a third-rate city utterly incapable of protecting itself.

...

In three days, Taotie City remained largely unchanged.

Xia Chuhe, along with Xiao Ai and two other recruits, left the romance instance. The two surviving recruits looked somewhat uneasy, their attitude towards Xia Chuhe revealing a subtle respect and dependence.

Xia Chuhe didn't bother to investigate why the two had changed. Even a fool could figure it out: Xiao Ai must have designed a highlight scene for her in the dungeon.

Although Xia Chuhe could guess that Xiao Ai was involved, she could never have imagined that Xiao Ai had arranged a terrifying romance storyline for the two recruits, filled with cute elements like ghost marriages, incestuous relationships, and body doubles. In the tense and exciting ghost story plot, Xia Chuhe played a powerful Taoist priest who descended from the sky, saving the two from terrifying situations time and time again.

Therefore, when the two people who came out of the dungeon met Xia Chuhe, it was as if they had met the closest person in the world!

Lord Xia is the epitome of security! He is the only light in a dark world!

In any case, Xia Chuhe successfully completed all the plans for this love adventure—no, he exceeded expectations.

Xia Chuhe even had the idea of ​​slacking off. There were still several batches of unruly new recruits waiting for her to subdue them one by one. She really wanted to throw them all into the romance simulation and reform them.

However, considering that the romance instance can no longer increase the farm's experience points, and that two people die every time, it would make her, the city lord leading the team, seem incompetent.

Xia Chuhe eventually gave up on the idea of ​​slacking off.

New dungeons still need to be explored one by one.

After returning to Taotie City, Xia Chuhe only needs to make a decision regarding Wang Mei and the mother and daughter.

Bu Yi already had an idea of ​​how to deal with Wang Mei.

Instead of killing a completely defecting spy, it's better to use them in reverse, playing a spy-within-a-spy game with the Cape Base. Taotie City could completely utilize Wang Mei to set a trap for the Cape Base, seeking an opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Xia Chuhe secretly flipped through the follower's handbook and saw that Wang Mei's loyalty had risen to 55, so he immediately agreed to Bu Yi's plan. However, before actually using Wang Mei, some private punishment was still necessary.

As for the mother and daughter who came to seek refuge, Liao Ning temporarily arranged for them to live near the underground trading market that had already been built.

Li Yue took Xia Chuhe's advice and has recently been trying to assign some tasks to Liao Ning.

Xia Chuhe had no objection to Liao Ning's arrangements. The original plan for Taotie City included numerous breeding farms and housing for non-evolved individuals. If nothing unexpected happened, this mother and daughter might become the first non-evolved individuals to live in Taotie City.

Taotie City was temporarily in a state of peace. After a short rest, Xia Chuhe continued her farm upgrade journey.