Chapter 62 Rainfall

On the first day of October, the residents of Xinghuo Base heard the gentle voice of a female announcer on the loudspeaker: "Good morning, residents of Xinghuo Base! October is the season for sowing seeds. Please take care of yourselves amidst your busy schedules!"

Upon hearing this announcement, the residents of the base burst into laughter. Generally speaking, autumn is the harvest season, but the Spark Base does the opposite, making October the sowing season.

After the laughter subsided, a sense of melancholy washed over everyone. Everyone wants a harvest, but without sowing, there's no harvest. The past few months had been so hot that no matter what kind of seeds were planted, they would only die from the heat. If the weather continues to be this hot, even solar panels won't be enough.

Everyone looked up at the blazing sun, a sense of melancholy creeping in: When will this sweltering heat finally end? In previous years, everyone would be wearing autumn clothes by October. But now the temperature is still a whopping forty degrees Celsius—when will it ever stop?

In the meeting room of the activity center, Jiang Rong and his superpowered team sat down for a rare chat. For the past few months, their team had been running around, busy with various matters for the base. Entering October, although the burden on their shoulders was still heavy, it was much lighter than last month.

The basic structure of the base has been completed; all that remains is to construct it according to the blueprint.

Their team now has twelve regular teammates. In addition to the original seven, the team has welcomed five new members: Jiang Jinhu, Wang Chenggang, Zheng Zhanqing, Wang Ting, and Meng Weixian. Among the five new members, Jiang Jinhu is a fire-type ability user, Wang Chenggang is a speed-type ability user, Zheng Zhanqing can control beasts, and Wang Ting can become invisible.

Meng Weixian is the only ordinary person, but the fact that he can sit here shows that he has demonstrated abilities that are no less than those of people with superpowers.

Now they are about to welcome their thirteenth teammate. With this person, Jiang Rong's team will become a team with both offense and defense.

After chatting for a while, there was a knock at the door. Jiang Rong sat up straight and smiled, "Oh, coming."

The conference room door slowly opened, revealing a scruffy, unshaven face. Seeing this person's face, Ruan Hanyu exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, it's you!"

She recognized him. She remembered the first time she brought cat litter to the market to exchange for something, this man was singled out from the crowd by Guan Tou'er to help skin a wolf. Ruan Hanyu remembered that he was still a student, living in a very, very far place. He was terrible with directions and tried to ride a small bicycle home.

What was this person's name again? Ruan Hanyu has been quite busy lately and has forgotten his name.

The man opened the door and paused, then looked around before becoming nervous. He hadn't expected to find the Starfire Base's most powerful team of superhumans inside. He lowered his voice, "Captain Jiang, what can I do for you?"

Jiang Rong smiled and beckoned to him, "Come in."

After the visitor entered, Jiang Rong stood up and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Hu Hechu, the thirteenth member of our superpowered team."

Everyone stood up and applauded: "Xiao Hu, welcome, welcome!" "Hey, I knew you'd get some skills!"

Compared to everyone's excitement, the newcomer Hu Hechu was completely bewildered and didn't understand what was going on: "Huh?" Was he dreaming? How did he suddenly become a core member of the superpowered team?

Hu Hechu hesitated and said, "Captain Jiang, are you sure you're not mistaken? How can my superpower be included in the superpowered individuals' team?"

He did awaken his superpower, but he felt that his superpower was not practical and far from meeting the standards for entering the core team of the Starfire Base.

Jiang Rong smiled slightly and tapped the computer in front of him. A chaotic scene appeared on the projector screen—images of the rebels storming the activity center.

When the rebel leader attempted to shoot the civilians, a warm, orange glow enveloped the people in the activity center. The situation was chaotic, and few noticed the orange light. However, this scene was faithfully recorded by the surveillance cameras on the wall, which is why Hu Hechu was there.

Jiang Rong said slowly, "Xiao Hu, you are a remarkable man to think of taking care of ordinary people even when you are being hurt yourself. Our team needs people like you."

Moreover, the ability to grant defense to hundreds of civilians present at once demonstrates Hu Hechu's immense power. No wonder Guan Shao spotted him in the crowd at a glance; it's just a pity that Hu Hechu himself was completely unaware of just how powerful he was.

Hu Hechu opened his mouth, his eyes gradually reddening: "Me, can I really do it? I have many shortcomings, can I really join the superhuman team?"

Hu Hechu always thought of himself as a slow-witted person, even his ability to discover his superpowers was several steps slower than others.

The base treated him well, providing him with food, clothing, and job opportunities, and he tried hard to integrate into this big family. However, due to his personality, he always felt that there was an invisible gap between him and the people around him.

During this period, it was fine while he was working, but whenever he had a break, Hu Hechu felt an unprecedented loneliness. Before today, he had been trying to find a team that would accept him. He never expected that the first team to extend an olive branch would be the most powerful superhuman squad at the Starfire Base…

Jiang Rong extended her hand to Hu Hechu: "Of course, welcome to the team!"

Ever since the superhuman team wanted to expand, Jiang Rong had been keeping an eye on some powerful and special superhumans in the base, and Hu Hechu was one of those who came into his sight at that time.

Hu Hechu's special ability is defense; he can create beautiful defensive shields that block a lot of damage. After he demonstrated his ability at the activity center, Jiang Rong officially set his sights on him. After several tests, he decided to formally recruit Hu Hechu into their team.

Hu Hechu turned his head and wiped his eyes awkwardly, then shakily extended his hand, "Captain Jiang. I'm sometimes a bit slow. If there's anything I've done wrong, please remember to tell me, and I'll definitely correct it."

Jiang Rong patted Hu Hechu's hand: "You did a great job, don't doubt yourself. Our team is the best!"

Hu Hechu received a warm welcome from the other members of the superhuman team. Completely stunned by the incredible news, Hu grinned foolishly. Even after he sat down in his assigned chair, his expression remained dazed.

After the thirteenth member of the superpowered team returned, everyone sat down together for the October meeting.

The Xinghuo base in October has two major tasks: planting seeds and making clothes. They need to plant seeds and fruit trees on 75,000 hectares within a month. They also need to restart the garment production line and prepare clothing and supplies for the entire base to get through the winter by the end of December.

Chu Qiang chuckled and said, "Making clothes isn't too difficult. The equipment and personnel are readily available, and we have enough materials. We can produce over 100,000 sets of winter clothes and quilts before December. The main problem is that Xiao Jiang, you have a heavy workload, so you and your wood-type ability team will have to work overtime."

Since the base was built, the most frequent tasks undertaken by its members have been land reclamation and land preparation. Now, the base's infrastructure, including fields and irrigation ditches, is in place; all that's left is to cool the land and begin sowing.

After the great crisis, many seeds were unable to adapt to the changes and quietly died. Even if seeds were found and scattered, only a few would sprout. Therefore, every seed planted needed to be checked for vitality by a wood-type ability user.

This was a massive undertaking, far beyond what Jiang Rong could accomplish alone. Fortunately, there were one or two hundred wood-type ability users in the base, and from the moment they entered, Jiang Rong had distributed a large number of seeds to them to observe their activity.

Under the selection of wood-type ability users, the seed activity rate in the warehouse reached as high as 90%. Before the temperature drops, several tons of seeds still need to be selected, putting considerable pressure on the wood-type ability users.

Hearing Chu Qiang's words, Jiang Rong was quite optimistic: "It's alright, it hasn't rained yet, and the most abundant seeds left are wheat seeds, which can not be sown until the end of October or the beginning of November."

Based on past experience, it won't be long before heavy rains fall and the temperature returns to normal. From October to mid-December, there are two and a half months suitable for crop growth, but only some short-growing vegetables can be sown during this time. Crops that can be used as staple foods, such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, have long growth cycles and can only be sown the following year.

However, having nearly three months of sowing time is enough, so that the people at the base can at least eat some green vegetables and prepare some vegetables for the winter.

As they were speaking, Guan Shao suddenly stood up and looked out the window at the sky. Jiang Rong asked, "What's wrong?"

When Guan Shao turned his head, his eyes were filled with a smile. "The world has changed."

Guan Shao is a lightning-based superpower user. Since awakening his ability, his sensitivity to the weather is more accurate than that of a satellite. If he says the weather is going to change, then the weather will definitely change.

Sure enough, less than two hours after Guan Shao finished speaking, dark clouds appeared in the sky. The scorching sun was blocked by the clouds, and the earth exuded the unique smell of an impending thunderstorm.

People in the base put down their work and excitedly looked up at the sky: "Clouds! Look! Is it going to rain?" The elders gave an affirmative answer: "Yes, this rain will be heavy."

Everyone's expectations were gradually rising, and they would accept it even if it rained black rain again. They had been suffering from drought for far too long. Since the black rain, not a single drop of rain had fallen from the sky. The ponds and ditches in the base had long since dried up, and the larger rivers were almost dry.

Come on, let it rain! Only when the rain falls will everyone have a chance to survive!

The announcer's gentle voice blared again from the loudspeaker: "Heavy rain is approaching. Residents, please stop what you are doing and seek shelter in the nearest building. Residents who are at home, please disconnect the power to your electrical appliances to avoid being struck by lightning..."

As the heavy rain began, the loudspeaker announcement was accompanied by static. Instead of seeking shelter in nearby houses, people who heard the announcement came out in groups, excitedly pointing and gesturing at the overcast sky.

Seeing that the people in the base didn't take the announcement over the loudspeaker to heart at all, Jiang Rong sighed and picked up the microphone: "Residents, the rainwater from this rainfall event may be acid rain. Acid rain is harmful to the human body, so please try to avoid getting wet. If you accidentally get wet, don't panic, just remember to shower and change clothes when you get home."

The young woman talked until her throat was dry, but she couldn't bring the excited people back. Jiang Rong only needed to say one sentence, and they took off running towards home.

The rumbling thunder grew louder as it approached, and the world grew darker.

"Clang—"

A flash of lightning suddenly erupted, illuminating the entire base. Large, transparent raindrops fell from the sky, striking the parched ground and creating small puddles. The gray-black interior was quickly soaked by the rain, and the dampness of the earth filled people's lungs.

People under the eaves cheered: "It's raining!" Cheers echoed in every village and field of the Xinghuo Base; they were finally saved!

Author's Note:

I'm releasing a chapter unexpectedly, let's see how many of you noticed!