Under the scorching heat, there were at least dozens of people standing next to the small dark room. A layer of white light covered them all, but their postures were fixed, standing straight as if in military training.

So people outside saw that they were all staying in their comfort zone, but the expressions on their faces were extremely uncomfortable.

"What's wrong with them? Isn't the weather good? Why do they look like that?" Some people didn't know the situation yet, and looking at their state, they thought they were acting out a play.

The dozen or so people inside were unable to move within the aperture and could only passively endure the simulated environment of the small dark room. After only ten minutes, they were sweating profusely and their faces were flushed.

Someone who knew the situation explained the whole story to those who came later. After knowing the reason, everyone expressed their gratitude to those who were trapped inside and punished.

Serves you right!

Many of them came to the town later, and naturally they have suffered a lot. If it were in the past, these people might have driven them away. How could they not be angry?

"It's not like there's no place to live or food to eat in this town right now. These people are so selfish!"

But some people have raised objections.

"They seemed to have only exchanged a few words, yet they were punished like this. Isn't that too harsh? Don't they have any freedom of speech at all?"

Some people can't stand them doing this, or they think that they also complain from time to time, and if they are monitored, wouldn't they have no privacy at all?

At this time, Qin Lou just walked out of the building and went straight to the aperture. He looked at the person who had just raised the objection. Now there were many people gathered around, so it was a good time to explain. Otherwise, people would just follow the crowd, which would not be conducive to the development of the town.

"They were punished not just for their speech, but more importantly, some of them were planning a conspiracy to prevent outsiders from entering, but we caught them before they could even come up with it. Furthermore, they were captured on surveillance cameras in a public place, so there's no need to worry about your privacy."

After Qin Lou finished speaking, he directly played the surveillance video in the restaurant, which clearly recorded their conversation at the time. They were eating while complaining about things on the forum, and they also spoke loudly about wanting to get rid of those who wanted to come in and compete with them for resources.

The people present felt a chill down their spines, and some couldn't help but take out their cell phones to record these people's faces.

"Of course, there are only a few people involved. This is the first time something like this has happened in this town, so we decided to punish everyone involved. Even those who just said something similar in public will be punished together."

After everyone understood the whole thing, there was naturally no reason to object. Many people looked at those people inside who were sweating all over and had dry and chapped lips, and for the first time they felt that only two hours was a bit too light.

The people inside naturally didn't know what the people outside were thinking, but this aperture didn't block their sight, so when Qin Lou played the video, they could also see the reactions of the people present. A heat rushed from the soles of their feet up to their faces, and for a moment they didn't know whether it was the temperature that caused their faces to burn, or because of the shame in their hearts.

Two hours passed quickly. When the time was up, the aperture disappeared and they were naturally released.

The moment they were freed from their restraints, their legs unconsciously softened and they collapsed to the ground. The warm floor did not stop them from breathing heavily on the spot, and they felt like their throats were about to smoke.

This is what it feels like to be scorched by high temperatures...

They all looked at each other, without any other thoughts in their mind. Now they just wanted to go back to the house and have a good rest.

They only felt it for two hours in the small town, but the temperature outside remained high all day long. Today's temperature was close to 60 degrees. Many people who went out had to rely on ice patches to walk normally, not to mention those bases that were not prepared at all.

Q City

This was originally a coastal city, but the post-apocalyptic pollution also spread to the coast here, causing people in the base to have to take an extra step if they want to purify the seawater. It was okay during the winter before, as they could barely survive with the help of snow water.

However, after the temperature rose, they found that the water resources they had previously stored were evaporating faster and faster, and finally they had to rely on people with water-related abilities to maintain the needs of the base.

But the number of people is there, and there is no way to meet everyone's needs. But when there is no other way, everyone can only endure it.

"Mom, I'm so thirsty, can I have some water?" A little child was lying in his mother's arms, his lips were cracked, and he asked his mother in a hoarse voice. His mother was also disheveled and shook her head helplessly. It was not that she didn't want to speak, but she could no longer shout.

When the water shortage reaches a certain level, they may only be able to drink a few sips of water every day, and then barely stuff themselves with dry meat or plants that they accidentally find to fill their stomachs.

The leader of the base was also trying hard to find a way to survive, but he tried his best and finally sat on the hot rocks. The people who were still holding on in the building were also confused for a while. He really had no other choice.

"Excuse me, is the leader of Q City here?"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside. The leader realized that someone was coming. The first thing he did was to close the door behind him tightly, tell them not to make any sound, and then go out alone with a nervous mood.

He was worried that the people outside might be those wandering around. He had heard before that people from the base were tricked out or directly pulled out, and when they were found, there was nothing left. He looked at the yellow land outside the door, and his heart was filled with sadness.

"Are you the leader of this base? We have a cooperation we would like to discuss with you." It was the people from He Huai's faction in City C who were coming outside. This place was relatively close, so they arrived quickly.

After the base leader went out, he saw several people standing next to a car. They were dressed neatly and had good complexions. They didn't look like vicious people.

"It's me. What cooperation?" He asked nervously, pulling at the corner of his clothes, which he hadn't changed for a long time.

The people from City C stepped forward and informed him of the specific matters one by one, and even showed him pictures from their mobile phones. After the base leader understood, his breathing became rapid and he could feel his heart beating violently. If this could really be arranged in the base, they wouldn't have to endure the current terrible environment!

"I...I need to go in and ask first..." Although his heart was clamoring to immediately agree to have something to eat and water to drink, he still had to go in and ask about the crystal core.

He didn't pay attention to this kind of thing at first. After defeating the zombies, he seemed to have thrown it into a corner.

The person from City C nodded in understanding and asked the other party to go back and ask. He turned around and kicked the person who was tied up by supernatural powers at the back of the car.

"These scumbags! I just reported this to Chief He Huai. These people were probably in City C before, and now they're looking for someone in City Q. I'm really astonished at why they would do this. They're planning to attack people, worse than beasts!"

There were several people on the ground whose clothes looked relatively neat, and they were not as pale and skinny as people are nowadays. At first glance, there was still a lot of flesh on their faces.

Just thinking about how the meat on their bodies was raised made everyone present feel nauseous.

"The leader said that we should take him back first. We need to pay attention to his safety and keep a close eye on him during the journey. If he runs away, it will be dangerous to the people around him." A man read out the message on his mobile phone.

"Don't worry, the restraint ropes provided by City B are very useful. To be honest, this is my first time riding in such an RV. It's really luxurious!" They were all excited because it was the first time they rode in the car provided by Shi Jiu today.

While they were chatting, the leader of the base in Q City came out again, but this time he came out to welcome them in. He had just gone back to inquire, and even if they didn't take the crystal core seriously, they didn't throw it away either. Many of them even had wealthy families.

Finally, the base in Q City had air conditioners, freezers, and the most important survival supplies, and the entire base was revitalized.

But at present, Q City is just a relatively small base, and many people have fled to other cities. Finally, the leader of the base decided to survive this period temporarily, and they arranged a route directly to Sifang Town in B City. His intuition told him that life might be better there.

In addition to City C, the small team from City E also started to set off. More and more cities were found, cooperated, and received good rescue. Many bases or people that were about to collapse were able to survive, and the reputation of the small town grew. Many people even fought a desperate battle, purchased enough supplies, and set out on the road to City B.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

Shi Jiu looked at the slowly rising experience points. Although there were not many people yet, she still planned more residential areas. After all, the final number of people had to reach 250,000 before she could upgrade.

The weather has been getting hotter recently, but even so, many people will endure the discomfort and come here bravely before they can feel relieved.

So if the temperature drops a little later, maybe more people will come.

001 watched the progress bar rise, feeling very excited. He had never expected the task to be completed so quickly. It was worth all the effort he had put in...

Shi Jiu had been busy with things in the town park these days. By the time she remembered her previous plan, people from City C and City E had already set out to search for the surrounding cities.

And after their cooperation, some cities recovered and also went out to look for more cities. So in just a few days, there were more and more people from various cities on the forum.

Ever since those who secretly wanted to boycott outsiders and stir up trouble were punished, the people in the town have become much more harmonious towards those on the forum.

Even if they really didn't want them to come, they didn't dare to say anything. Otherwise, they would find a roundabout way to save the situation and tell them that the journey was long, and if they could still survive in the base, they shouldn't take such a big risk.

Shi Jiu did not stop this. As long as it did not persecute others, she would not care about these things. Besides, as long as she could stay in her own base, there was really no need to move.

So as time went on, her progress bar slowly advanced and her experience points increased little by little.

Suddenly, she thought of Chang Gu who had followed them back before. There seemed to be no news about him after entering the town, so she went straight to find Qin Lou.

"Where is the former leader of City F? Has he been doing anything recently?"