“These are all level three crystal cores. I have now absorbed the gold crystal source, so I don’t need them anymore. But you have just reached the early stage of level three, which is the time when you need to consolidate your strength.”

Gu Mingyue placed the crystal cores into Shen Ming's small hand. After absorbing the crystal source, both her mental and metal-type abilities had leveled up to the mid-stage of level four. The energy from these crystal cores could not help her level up; it could only replenish what she needed.

"You found such a big hidden danger for the base in advance, you deserve it."

She earnestly told Shen Ming that his loyalty to her had now reached 100, and that she would add 100 days to his lifespan and points every day. She liked such a loyal, obedient, and useful employee.

As soon as he got his hands on the crystal core, Shen Ming felt abundant energy flowing from his palms into his limbs and bones; he couldn't refuse it even if he wanted to.

Only after he had fully absorbed the information did he grasp the key point that Gu Mingyue had just mentioned.

"Boss... you got the crystal source! Ahhh! I knew it, boss is the best!" Su Xiaoyu was the first to react, shouting even before Shen Ming.

Shen Ming then chimed in, "Congratulations, boss!"

Gu Mingyue obtained this gold-element crystal source in her previous life, but she obtained it a few years earlier in this life.

She didn't experience any significant psychological changes.

She was busy removing the mental residue left by those psychic invaders from Li Zhong and the others. She made a shushing gesture, and then her eyes emitted a white light.

Li Zhong, Zhang Sheng, and the others felt as if a clear spring had suddenly entered their muddled minds, making them feel exceptionally comfortable. Soon after, their stomachs churned.

They gagged for a long time, spitting out a small section of finger and a piece of flesh before regaining consciousness.

"Thank you, boss. Although we've been feeling groggy these past few days, there have been times when we regain consciousness. We're really afraid of becoming useless like this. Thank you, boss, for saving us."

Li Zhong and the others said with lingering fear, and some even began to sob quietly.

Gu Mingyue patted the group lightly to reassure them before scolding them in a low voice: "Your vigilance is too poor. A squad of ten should at least have one member return to report. Remember to carry a signal gun with you at all times, and fire it if anything goes wrong."

"Fortunately, the psychic who invaded your minds was below level three, otherwise you would have become their accomplices without anyone knowing."

Zhang Sheng and the others all lowered their heads after being scolded by her. Li Zhong was even more ashamed. He was a late-stage level two earth-type ability user, yet he was also caught in her trap.

Gu Mingyue pondered for a moment. Since she had made up her mind to establish a base, this kind of thing was inevitable. No one has a smooth life forever. The most important thing was to accumulate points as soon as possible to exchange for the Super Survival Suit.

If other bases encountered this situation, they would probably feel disgusted and eliminate these members whose minds had been invaded, but Gu Mingyue had no intention of taking their lives.

"Then I'll fine you six months' worth of basic crystal core wages and make you clean the city while wearing warning signs. No objections, right?" Gu Mingyue said coldly.

This group of people had already escaped death by sheer luck, and now they were rescued by Gu Mingyue using her supernatural abilities. They felt nothing but gratitude towards Gu Mingyue, and their loyalty level became 100.

There was not a trace of complaint; they accepted the punishment with gratitude.

Gu Mingyue would try her best to keep the base members who were helping her accumulate points, but she didn't have such kindness towards others.

"Zhengjiabao! How dare they touch my employees and attempt to seize the Mingyue Base!" Gu Mingyue's eyes flashed coldly as she led everyone out of the room.

"It seems we should expand the territory of Bright Moon Base before attacking the humanoid monsters!"

Gu Mingyue didn't give Li Zhong and the others much time to recover. After Gu Mingyue lifted the mental invasion and awakened all their memories, some of their memories of Zhengjiabao slowly returned.

Gu Mingyue's motto is to get up from where you fall, unless you are truly outmatched.

So he took Li Zhong, Zhang Sheng, and others, and followed a large group of mutated animals, and set off for Zhengjiabao.

At this moment, Zhou Yanli, dressed in a black suit, arrived at the Bright Moon Base with the people from the Nirvana Chamber of Commerce. Gu Mingyue stopped the attack plan and led them into the reception room.

Zhou Yanli wore a gentle smile, but the black wooden box he carried with him was filled with the heads of core members of Zhengjiabao.

"I heard that Boss Gu broke through the first black zone, so I came here to celebrate."

Gu Mingyue smiled at his gentle, gentlemanly smile, then looked at the whole box of human heads beside him and teased, "Other people give rare materials, ancient antiques, or ginseng as congratulatory gifts. Your gift is really special, a box of human heads?"

"Boss Gu, don't you like it? I've taken care of half of the Zhengjiabao members for you. These past few days, they've invaded two more small bases, doubling their numbers. I've saved you a lot of trouble!"

Gu Mingyue's eyes widened in inquiry. This person actually knew she wanted to attack Zhengjiabao? Are the people from the Nirvana Chamber of Commerce all so well-informed?

The two chatted for a few minutes and exchanged information.

It turns out that Zhou Yanli wanted to form a cooperative relationship with Gu Mingyue to invade the Black Domain. With Gu Mingyue's powerful superpowers combined with his amplification ability, he was confident that he could safely obtain the next crystal core.

Gu Mingyue was also interested, but when she heard that the first crystal source would be given to them after the cooperation, and then they would split it in half, a hint of dissatisfaction appeared in Gu Mingyue's eyes.

"People's hearts are unpredictable these days, Chairman Zhou. If you want me to agree, you should at least show some sincerity." Gu Mingyue's lips curled slightly.

"I have reached a plan with Hope Base to launch a counterattack on the humanoid monsters' lair. If you can come and help, I can agree to your request immediately."

"The humanoid monsters are about to regroup to reach level four or five. You have so many ordinary people in your base, and you're actually going to counterattack them? Boss Gu, are you kidding me?!"

Zhou Yanli's gentle smile cracked slightly. Gu Mingyue was highly capable and could kill monsters easily, but the others were not.

A monster lair contains at least several thousand monsters, whose wounds heal in minutes, making them not much easier to kill than the monsters in the Dark Domain.

Zhou Yanli's amplification ability has limitations on the number of users and the time. He only wants to use it in the Black Domain to quickly acquire other offensive abilities.

He simply couldn't understand why Gu Mingyue, who was already a level four ability user, would still be interested in these humanoid monster crystal cores with very low energy!

Their second collaboration also ended in failure.

"Boss Gu, I hope you succeed." He said dismissively, then left the Bright Moon Base with his bodyguards in all-black suits.

Before leaving, he glanced at the base members who had no superpowers and shook his head repeatedly.

He admitted that Gu Mingyue was very capable, but her choice this time was definitely wrong. She could have quickly leveled up with him to become the strongest in the apocalypse, but she insisted on leading this group of weaklings to kill humanoid monsters. He couldn't understand it.