Chapter 15

The early winter morning sunlight dappled the greenhouse as Jiang Zihan carefully straightened the potato seedlings and watered them.

The gathering place became lively early this morning. They used shovels to clear a path around the area leading to the outside.

Jiang Zihan has been too busy these days to start the broadcast. According to usual practice, Gao Ta should have gone to the nearby area to install new surveillance cameras, but at night, in addition to Zhuifeng and the others, Lu Chenyuan also patrolled regularly, and he actually blocked those people several kilometers away. The outside world still has no way to find out what happened here.

There was some suspicion in her eyes. She originally thought that Lu Chenyuan came here with a mission. After all, it was a bit outrageous that he came here to seek refuge after being fired. Even if he lost his job, it would not be difficult to get out. Why did he have to go to the land of exile?

Here, you can enter but not leave.

Ye Sheng came over with a bucket of water and mentioned the team's upcoming exploration: "We need to go to the abandoned shopping mall farther away to see if there are any extra cars. Bicycles are still too limited in their use."

Jiang Zihan was puzzled: "You said this is just the outskirts of the deserted island, so why are there so many people here to loot supplies?"

Ye Sheng: "Doctor Jiang, you don't know this, right? Although this is along the coast, people coming in from outside are all dropped off on the shore. Gaota is not so kind as to send people to the center."

Therefore, the outer F area became their must-pass place, just like a migrating locust, how could they leave behind any good things?

Qiu Shi and his team have already been planning the area they will visit this time. Their goal is to span two districts and go to District C, which they have never been to before. However, this way, they will not be able to return in a short time.

Lu Renshuang helped pack a lot of food. Fortunately, they were strong enough to carry even this little food.

"Let's take Zhizhi with us." Jiang Zihan was still a little worried. Although Zhizhi was small, its combat power was not too weak. Moreover, as a war beast, its five senses were much sharper than those of humans.

Lu Renshuang sighed, "I originally thought I could save seeds and harvest another crop of vegetables, but I didn't expect this batch to be worse than the previous one."

The failure of planting these acres of land left her feeling overwhelmed. She didn't know what the problem was. The seedlings, which had been so strong when they were first transplanted, had grown into the skinny and emaciated state of bean sprouts.

Jiang Zihan looked at the trembling leaves and whispered, "Maybe it's not the seeds that are the problem."

At this moment, a soft "meow" sound suddenly came from behind her.

A smile appeared on her face, and she turned around skillfully and picked up the little phantom cat kitten that stumbled towards her and put it into her arms.

The two little guys who were a few steps behind were cursing and meowing as they tried their best to move their short legs. One of them was accidentally tripped by a protruding stone, and their round bodies rolled over like a ball of fur.

Jiang Zihan hugged the three little ones tightly and rubbed them one by one: "Why did you all wake up so early today?"

She glanced not far away and saw the big phantom cat standing on the ridge of the field, with its chin slightly raised. It came over and rubbed her trouser leg with its tail, as if to signal her to follow it.

It had the same attitude when it brought the kitten to seek refuge with her, always squinting at her as if giving alms.

The winter is very cold and almost all the plants outside are dead. If they can survive, they probably won't come here.

She stood up obediently and passed by the small flower bed outside. She saw a red-feathered pheasant with red feathers walking with its head held high, as if patrolling its territory.

Since its successful upgrade, its newly grown feathers have become brighter day by day. Today, it has completely transformed into red, with gold and red intersecting at the edges, as if faintly glowing with fire.

She suddenly couldn't tell whether the cub the system said was a reward was the Phantom Cat or this little chick that had accidentally been upgraded.

"Chi Yan! Walk a few more laps and remember to come back for dinner!"

Chiyan fluttered his feathers and flapped his wings to fly low. He had just leveled up and hadn't fully grasped his skills yet, so he was a little anxious.

Jiang Zihan squatted down and gently touched its head: "Don't be impatient, take your time."

The cultivation of war beasts cannot be completed overnight. If the Red Flame and Phantom Cats can grow up smoothly, the strength of the gathering place will be greatly increased. Even if everyone else goes out to explore for supplies, this place will not be easily attacked by evil beasts.

The phantom kittens lay on the ground with their eyes narrowed, and their mother licked their fur obediently. The food bowl was licked clean, with only some egg yolk crumbs left around their mouths.

They cleared out an empty room near Jiang Zihan's room. She planned to transform it into a small clinic. If the war beasts had any minor illnesses or pains in the future, they could be placed here for observation.

It would be even better if some medical equipment could be added, but I have been browsing the system mall for several days in a row and found nothing.

She gritted her teeth secretly. This broken system was just eyeing her points. There were countless low-level treasure chests in her backpack. If she opened them all at once, she might get a few bronze-level treasure chests, but she had no idea what she would get.

And even if it is revealed, you still have to think about how to explain to them the source of the things.

Jiang Zihan stuffed the remaining egg white into his mouth. The wild pheasants had laid a lot of eggs during this period, but only a small portion of them were fertilized, and the rest were sent to the kitchen.

But the cubs with the qualifications of war beasts never appeared again.

"Don't worry, don't worry." Lu Renshuang held his head and muttered to himself. The breeding of war beasts was stagnant, the research and development of potions also encountered a bottleneck, and even the harvest of the experimental fields was discounted. He couldn't help feeling annoyed.

Jiang Zihan: "You're not specialized in potion research, so there's no need to put too much pressure on yourself. The fact that you've achieved this can temporarily slow down the distortion is already quite impressive."

Lu Renshuang sighed. There weren't many people gathered there now, so these supplies were enough. But if the area continued to develop in the future, those few acres of land might not be able to sustain it.

A figure flashed outside the window. Jiang Zihan looked over and saw Lu Chenyuan walking towards her carrying a few gray fur balls.

She raised her eyebrows slightly and met those big watery eyes: "Where did you catch them?"

"I followed the traces of the siege and found their lair."

Lu Chenyuan stuffed the fur balls into the cages in the small clinic. "Looking at the deformed features of those evil beasts, they must have completely deteriorated recently. I wanted to try my luck, but I didn't expect there were wolf cubs in the den."

Jiang Zihan carefully looked at the characteristics of the little wolves, and found that they also had the signs of awakening of war beasts. She immediately glanced at Lu Chenyuan inadvertently.

This guy is too enthusiastic about breeding war beasts. Is this the reason why he came to the gathering place?

She was about to speak, but she found that the other party's face was a little serious: "What's wrong?"

Lu Chenyuan: "I doubt the previous attack by the evil beasts was accidental. Logically, they wouldn't attack in such large numbers in broad daylight, unless they were lured by something."

Jiang Zihan frowned, his gaze fixed on the nearby experimental field. The mutated beasts would require a large amount of energy. Could it be that the seedlings weren't growing well because the nutrients were being drained?

Chi Yan was resting on the fence with his little wings as a pillow. Suddenly, the alarm outside sounded again. Phantom Cat and Zhuifeng jumped up and quickly entered combat status.

Chi Yan stretched his neck to join in, but was quickly grabbed by Jiang Zihan: "Your hair hasn't even grown out yet, don't make trouble."

The attacks by evil beasts have been too frequent during this period. If the supplies outside are really becoming less and less, the number of beasts migrating here will only increase.

Lu Chenyuan punched the evil beast that was charging forward and sent it flying, his expression not looking good.

When he went out in the morning, he went to the tower. His original intention was to see if there were any seeds and potions he could take with him. However, he happened to see the surveillance camera. The fragmented images showed the movement path of the evil beast, which was slowly surrounding him with the valley as the center.

Most of this area is wasteland. Except for the dense forest which still remains green and moist, it is difficult to even form a small puddle in other areas.

But since Jiang Zihan came here, there have been more and more green plants near the gathering place. He suspected that it was because of the evil beasts' instinct to seek profit and avoid harm that they robbed this place.

Jiang Zihan's eyes flickered as he saw Lu Chenyuan repel many evil beasts by himself. He became secretly alert. With his skills, if he were to fight against the gathering place, they would probably not be his match.

The corpses of the evil beasts were burned on the spot, and a pile of black ash soon gathered outside the gathering place.

"What should we do next?" Lu Renshuang looked worried. If they moved, all their previous efforts would be in vain. But if they didn't move, they would have to be prepared for a long-term fight with these evil beasts.

"I won't leave!" Jiang Zihan said angrily. Even if they moved to a more central area with tall buildings to block the beasts, it would undoubtedly mean giving up the advantage of planting, and the situation might not necessarily be better than it is now.

"Gurgle." Lu Renshuang's stomach growled. She rubbed it a little embarrassedly. She had been busy all morning and hadn't even had a sip of water.

"When the enemy comes, we will fight them with our troops. When the water comes, we will block it with earth. Let's eat first." Jiang Zihan glanced at the dusty Lu Chenyuan. "Kui Feng is not here now, so you may have to make do with it for a while."

Steam is rising from the boiler, snow-white noodles are rolling in the soup, dotted with emerald green leaves, and then smoked bacon is added, and the salty and fragrant aroma comes out.

Lu Chenyuan looked at the bowl of noodles, his eyes unable to hide his curiosity. He had watched food broadcasts in the live broadcast room for so many days, and suddenly in the midst of the steam, he had a feeling of getting what he wanted.

He took a sip of the noodle soup first, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he began to eat it in big mouthfuls.

Jiang Zihan came to the cage with a bowl in his hand and looked at the little wolves licking their nutritious meal. The data on the system panel kept jumping.

There will be more and more war beasts gathering in the future. If she is the only one to distinguish the distortion value, although her importance can be guaranteed, she will be completely tied up and it will be difficult to escape.

She stopped chewing unconsciously and muttered, "If only there were a medical detector."

The surroundings suddenly became quiet.

She came back to her senses and smiled, "I just said it casually."

"Yes." Lu Chenyuan also put down the bowl and said confidently.

Jiang Zihan was completely stunned: "What did you say?"

"When I was in the tower before, I brought out a few instruments." Lu Chenyuan rummaged in his pocket, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over.

The installation steps of the instrument were marked in detail. Jiang Zihan pursed her lips and looked at the other person with even more suspicion.

"Do you still remember where you saved me?" Lu Chenyuan asked.

Jiang Zihan nodded.

Lu Chenyuan: "The equipment is buried nearby."