Chapter 40

A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

These days, the thing people in Hope Base talked about the most was the grocery store called Jiucang.

The key to the heated discussion is the limited-edition space equipment and fresh fruits and vegetables sold in the store, as well as the subsequent rise of the delicious flour.

At first, people were more concerned about the space rings that once only existed in novels, the various fresh fruits and vegetables that became extremely rare after the end of the world, and the lucky ones who came up with things with high potential value.

Because of Jiucang Grocery Store, many people dream of becoming lucky enough to get rich overnight.

When going out, they gradually developed the habit of picking up anything that looked like seeds. Some people also went to dig up some low-level mutant plants, but unfortunately most of the latter were not brought into the base.

As for the flour sold in stores.

At first, few people paid attention to flour because it looked rather ordinary compared to other products in the store, not to mention that it was more expensive than other flours on the market, so few people bought it.

It wasn't until the next day that the base cafeteria added several new types of noodles for lunch.

After the apocalypse, it is not as convenient for people to cook for themselves as before the apocalypse.

First of all, very few people have access to electricity, and most people have to find firewood if they want to cook. Secondly, not everyone has the tools needed for cooking, and few people bring pots, pans, and other things when they flee, not to mention that many people don’t know how to cook, so many people choose to eat in the base cafeteria.

After all, the food in the cafeteria is not expensive. Even for ordinary people, as long as they work hard to participate in the tasks issued by the base that are suitable for them, the salary they receive is enough for them to eat the cheapest food in the cafeteria.

Therefore, as soon as those new noodles are launched, many people will discover and try them. After all, the prices are not expensive, except for those with added vegetables and meat.

This attempt made me feel the difference.

These new noodles, even the simplest steamed buns, are very delicious, unlike the noodles in the past which always had a strange smell.

At first, some people suspected that it was a problem with the cooking skills in the base cafeteria. Later, they found that all the flour had a strange smell. To be more precise, all the food had quickly deteriorated after the apocalypse. Even if it was still edible, the taste was not good.

Most people have almost gotten used to the unique smell of post-apocalyptic food, so the sudden appearance of noodles without any strange smell is very surprising. After asking around, they found out that they were sold by Jiucang Grocery Store.

The base canteen does not provide this kind of noodles every day, so many people go to Jiucang Grocery Store to buy it.

When a person with supernatural powers discovered that eating this kind of pasta could restore his supernatural powers, although it was rare, it did exist.

Flour suddenly became popular, even more popular than space equipment and fresh fruits and vegetables. After all, only a few people can afford the former, while the latter can only be tasted but not filled the stomach.

Flour is different. Pasta can be used as a staple food. Pasta made from this flour is more filling than other foods. In addition, it can restore superpowers. Now, both ordinary people and people with superpowers are scrambling to buy it.

Of course, there is another point: flour is much cheaper than space equipment and fresh fruits and vegetables. It can be said to be the most cost-effective of Jiucang Grocery Store.

Some people even come to queue up before dawn, so that Gu Qi can close early every day. It can be said that it is the store with the shortest daily business hours in the base, but its turnover is the highest in the entire base, which attracts many people's envy.

But when they thought of the level six expert in the store and the Dawn Ability Group, those people could only watch with envy and did not dare to do anything.

In addition to the Jiucang Grocery Store, Deputy Base Commander Qian's eldest son who "came back from the dead" also attracted a lot of heated discussion.

After all, before this, Deputy Base Commander Qian and his son Qian Chaoduo had always said that Qian Bei had died accidentally.

After his "resurrection from the dead" this time, he explained that he did not die after falling into the zombie group, but accidentally awakened his superpowers and was able to escape.

Gu Qi who heard this rumor: Why does it sound familiar?

It can be said that it is 90% similar to her experience in her previous life, but what she awakened at that time was the wood-type superpower, and unfortunately she turned into a zombie in the end. Qian Bei "awakened" the water-type superpower.

However, the reason why Qian Bei has aroused so much heated discussion is not only because of his "resurrection" and his fourth-level superpower, but more importantly, as a water-type superpower, his combat ability is not weaker than that of ordinary fire-type, gold-type superpowers.

Qian Bei's appearance made the water-based mutants realize that they were not only water supply tools, but also had the ability to fight and kill enemies like other mutants.

Gu Qi was also a little surprised when he found out.

She knew better than anyone else that Qian Bei's abilities were not accumulated slowly like other fourth-level psychics. He had possessed them for a very short time.

But he was able to develop other uses of water-based abilities in such a short period of time, and was not fooled by the so-called "water-based abilities have no attack power" and "people with water-based abilities can only provide water". It is obvious that he not only has good talent, but also a good brain.

This gave her another idea.

However, whether to take action or not still needs to be determined in a decisive manner. We will have to wait and see after the crisis at Hope Base is over.

After all, having good talent and a good brain does not define a person.

Listening to everyone's discussions, Gu Qi came to Gu Yuan's office to say goodbye.

"Are you leaving today?" Gu Yuan was a little surprised. Although his sister had told him that she would leave a long time ago, he didn't expect it to be so soon, and he couldn't help showing a reluctant look.

"Yes, we have to leave today."

She was also a little reluctant. For her, it had been too long since she last saw her brother, having spent decades in her previous life and hundreds of years in the world of immortal cultivation. This time, they were together for only a dozen days.

If possible, she would naturally like to stay for a while longer, but the situation in the cave did not allow her to stay for long.

The cave cannot be left in the spiritual sea for too long before it is repaired. It has been a little restless in the past two days, and the spiritual energy in the cave has shown signs of weakening. The time required for spiritual plants and fruits and vegetables to mature has increased.

If this continues, not only will the cave be damaged, but Jiucang will also be damaged.

Seeing that his sister had some unspeakable reasons for leaving, Gu Yuan did not try to persuade her to stay. Instead, he asked in a gentle voice, "Do you need me to arrange for someone to help you look after the store?"

Gu Qi took out two high-level puppets: "They will be in charge of the store."

"Click"

Gu Yuan dropped the pen in his hand: "This... can you still accommodate people in your space?"

Meeting his surprised look, Gu Qi remembered that he had not told his brother about the puppets, and hurriedly explained to him that these were just two advanced puppets, which looked no different from humans on the outside, but they had no heartbeat and were different from normal humans on the inside.

Finally, Gu Qi spread his hands and said, "No one lives in my space."

There are indeed no living people in the cave, only mutant creatures and half-zombies, and half-zombies cannot be considered normal humans.

"That's good." Gu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

He thought that people could live in his sister's space, and just now he wondered whether the person who named the mutant creature also lived in her space. Fortunately, this was not the case.

"Let me take you out." Gu Yuan stood up and simply tidied up the things on the table.

Gu Qi didn't refuse and said, "It's just right that I will release the two puppets after I go out. Brother, you can help me bring them to the store."

The two of them walked slowly, chatting as they walked.

Seeing the entrance to the base right before his eyes, Gu Qi pursed his lips and warned, "Don't wait until I leave and then become too busy and neglect your health. Even a person with superpowers can't stand your day and night work."

"Okay." Gu Yuan's eyes were gentle as he reminded her, "Don't forget to eat on time. Don't be so busy refining pills and weapons that you forget to eat. You're not yet ready for fasting."

"You too." Gu Qi snorted, "Brother, you always forget to eat when you're busy."

After saying that, he couldn't help but muttered softly: "I should have deleted those introductions earlier..."

But this is just talk. In fact, even if she knew it earlier, she would not do this. She would only think about whether the writing is detailed enough.

Both of them are very clear about this.

"I will also remember to eat on time." Only by living well can he accompany his sister better, and he can't bear to make his sister worry.

Thinking of his past before the apocalypse, Gu Yuan added, "You can ask Tiantian next time you come. She's your little fangirl and she definitely won't lie to you."

Looking at her brother standing in front of her, Gu Qi couldn't help but feel a tightness in her heart. She suddenly felt a little regretful. She regretted that after she turned into a zombie in her previous life, she was afraid of scaring her brother and didn't go to see him.

Before his death, my brother learned that he was left in front of a group of zombies. How desperate must he have been when he heard Xiang Haoyu and the others fabricate stories about how he was eaten by zombies?

Gu Qi dared not not to think about it, nor did he want to think about it.

She smiled and said, "I'll make a note of that. If Tiantian tells me that you didn't eat well, I'll punish you by making you eat the meals I cooked for three days, with green onions added to all the dishes."

Gu Yuan, who didn't like onions, smiled helplessly but still nodded in agreement.

only……

"Are you punishing me or yourself?" Gu Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly. "If I remember correctly, don't you really dislike cooking?"

Gu Qi was silent.

Before the end of the world, she really didn't like cooking and felt uncomfortable when she smelled cooking fumes.

Later, after being a zombie for decades in the apocalypse, I got used to all tastes.

After traveling to the world of immortal cultivation, her life was not very good at first. Even if she didn't like cooking, she still had to cook in order to survive. At that time, she didn't have a brother who taught her good cooking skills just because she didn't like cooking.

Gu Qi didn't answer, but pointed ahead and said, "We're here."

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the gate of the base.

Seeing that she didn't answer from far away, Gu Yuan didn't ask any more questions, but just said: "Let me take you out, don't you have to pick someone up?"

Gu Qi nodded and raised his hand to remove the soundproof barrier around the two of them.

Seeing this, Gu Yuan understood and stopped chatting.

When I was about to walk out of the base gate, I suddenly heard the sound of someone falling behind me.

How could someone fall down here?

Gu Qi turned around and saw a familiar-looking person. When she looked over, the person had already gotten up from the ground, saying, "I'm so unlucky today! Even a small stone is against me!"

The man kicked the pebbles away as if to vent his anger.

The kicked stone flew towards Gu Qi. When it was about to hit her, she raised her hand and waved it. The stone was crushed into powder by invisible energy and scattered on the ground.

"I'm sorry!" The man apologized hurriedly in a panic, saying, "It was my fault that I didn't see you, Master Xi, and I almost hurt you by mistake."

He fumbled around his body for a while, and finally took out a small bag from his waist bag, opened it and revealed the crystal core inside.

He held the bag of crystal cores in front of Gu Qi and said, "Please forgive my mistakes and accept this apology."

"...Okay." Gu Qi took the bag of crystal cores, picked one at random, and then threw the rest back into the other person's open waist bag.

"This one is enough."

The man was a little hesitant. He took out the bag and wanted to continue persuading Gu Qi to accept it. He looked like he was in pain but had to make an apology in order not to offend the strong man.

"No need." Gu Qi didn't take it and said, "I've taken what I should take. You can take the rest."

Have you taken what you should take?

The man was stunned for a moment, and when he came to his senses, Gu Qi had already walked away.

So, did Lord Xi already get the note? The man scratched his head, somewhat puzzled. He had clearly only seen the other party take a crystal core, nothing else.

After noticing the gazes of other people around him, he didn't chase after her for fear of arousing suspicion. He could only pretend to check the remaining crystal cores in the bag. After a moment, he turned around and left with peace of mind and continued to do "serious" things.

On the other side, Gu Qi had already walked out of the base gate and came to the car that Gu Yuan had prepared for her.

Without a soundproof barrier, Gu Yuan could only pretend to be respectful and said, "I wish you a safe journey, Master Xi. Don't forget to come back and visit me when you have time."

Gu Qi also maintained the persona of Lord Xi and just nodded coldly.

Jiu Cang transmitted a voice: "Aqi, once the cave is upgraded to another level, I will be able to carve a teleportation array. Then I will be able to teleport even over long distances."

So, Aqi, don’t be sad.

Gu Qi's eyes lit up, and he quickly sent a message to tell Gu Yuan about the teleportation array.

The sudden surprise immediately dispelled the reluctance and sadness of parting in the brother and sister's hearts.

After Gu Qi got in the car, he suddenly remembered something.

"Brother, you still have to walk me a little further!" She said to Gu Yuan through voice transmission, "I haven't given you the puppet yet. I can't just turn a living person into a living person here."

Gu Yuan: “…”

That makes sense.

The remaining sadness in their hearts immediately dissipated, and a smile appeared in their eyes.

A few minutes later, Gu Qi got out of the car, stepped on the flying sword and said goodbye.

Gu Yuan watched her fly away before driving the two puppets back to the base.

After flying for a while, Gu Qi remembered the note that was just sent by Xin Nan's men. The reason why he felt that the person looked familiar was because that person was the one hiding in the corner that day.

[Deputy Base Commander Qian's surgery was successful, but his talent is lacking. He can only exert the strength of a level 1 at level 4, and needs to take stabilizers every day, otherwise he will experience a superpower nuclear riot.]

Gu Qi's lips curled slightly, this is really good news.

I had previously felt a little regretful for not being able to see the results of Deputy Base Commander Qian's surgery, but now that regret has disappeared.

but……

A fourth-level ability can only exert the strength of a first-level ability. Deputy Base Director Qian probably has more than just a lack of talent.

When Qian Bei was having the surgery, she had specially input spiritual power to help stabilize the fusion, which allowed the full power of the fourth-level supernatural core to be brought into play. As for Deputy Base Director Qian, naturally, he could not have such treatment.

In other words, the success of his operation was beyond Gu Qi's expectations.

The first two times, both Qian Bei and Qian Chaoduo were blessed by her spiritual power, but the former was to help them successfully merge and stabilize, while the latter was to help them save their lives and ensure that the supernatural core could not be successfully merged.

But it’s better this way. When the crisis comes, that will be the “good day” she has chosen for Deputy Base Commander Qian.

Doesn’t he like to design ways to trap people in hordes of zombies or piles of mutant creatures?

If you like it so much, why not try it yourself?

A gentle breeze blew past me.

The wind not only carries the smell of decay, but also the fragrance of flowers that comes from nowhere.

Scattering the ashes of the note in the wind, Gu Qi looked into the distance.

"Jiu Cang, let's go to the mountain range we came from first. Maybe there's a place suitable for a cave dwelling there."

"good."

*

The Qinglin Mountains were called the Death Mountains after the end of the world.

Few people who enter this mountain range can come out alive, and the few who can escape are mostly seriously injured. It is said that this mountain range is full of advanced mutant plants and animals.

In the late apocalypse, this desperate place where one could hardly survive turned into a deadly place where no one could survive.

These are Gu Qi’s main impressions of the Death Mountains.

In her previous life, she had never set foot in this mountain range. She only knew that Xiang Haoyu had had an adventure there, and there were also some true and false rumors.

There are two that are mentioned the most.

One is that this mountain range has changed a lot after the end of the world compared to before the end of the world. A new mountain range rose on the other side of the crescent-shaped mountain range due to the earthquake, forming a circular mountain range.

The second is about the middle part of the circular mountain range.

No one had ever entered that area even in the early days of the apocalypse. All we knew was that just by getting close to it, the use of supernatural powers became extremely sluggish and accompanied by tingling all over the body.

The former is recognized by the majority, while the latter is objected by some.

Someone said that he had also been close to the middle area, but he did not feel any sluggishness in the use of his supernatural powers or tingling all over his body. Instead, the use of his supernatural powers was extremely smooth, and his body seemed to be soaking in a hot spring.

In addition, there is a feeling that his superpowers are endless, as if there is an invisible "charger" that is constantly charging his superpowers.

This person is Xiang Haoyu.

It was from him that Gu Qi heard this unique feeling about the central area of the Death Mountains.

However, Xiang Haoyu also said that when he wanted to enter the central area, he encountered a ghost wall. No matter how he walked, he could not get in. Until he encountered a high-level mutant beast, he was chased by it and had to leave.

"Jiu Cang, what do you think of this place?"

Gu Qi sat on the flying sword and observed the mountains below from a high vantage point.

It was only after she flew to a high altitude on her sword that she remembered that the mountain range nearby when she came back was the Death Mountains that were rumored in her previous life.

Compared to now, the Death Mountains in the previous life were much larger, and the outermost area was very close to the Hope Base. It should have been caused by the continuous expansion day after day, which is why she didn't think of it before.

At this time, the Death Mountains had not yet been completely shrouded in the fog that lingered all year round. The circular mountain range still looked relatively clear, with only the very center covered in fog, making it difficult to see what was inside.

Jiu Cang, who was sitting next to her, looked at the mountains below for a moment and revealed a look of surprise: "I feel like there seems to be a spiritual vein below, and it's of very high quality."

Gu Qi: "It seems I was right."

Even if she was not quite sure before, after hearing what Jiu Cang said, she was already 90% certain about her guess.

When she recalled the rumors about the central area of the Death Mountains in her previous life, the first thing that came to her mind was: Could that central area be a place of absolute spiritual power?

Supernatural energy and spiritual power come from the same source. For cultivators, just getting close to the Absolute Spiritual Land will cause them to feel stagnation of spiritual power. The stagnation of spiritual power can sometimes cause a tingling sensation all over the body, and the same is true for supernatural users.

But Xiang Haoyu's feelings about the central area gave her another guess.

Not only is that area not a place without spiritual energy, on the contrary it is a place with very rich spiritual energy.

When the concentration of spiritual energy is too high, it will cause spiritual power to stagnate, and it will also cause tingling all over the body due to excessive spiritual energy flowing into the body. However, for some people with special physiques or high talents, the opposite is true.

Compared to the Absolute Spirit Land, this speculation is obviously more likely.

But now I am only 90% sure. For the remaining 1%, I have to go in and investigate before I can get the answer.

After all, the world is so big that there are all kinds of wonders. It is not impossible for a spiritual land to appear in an area with abundant spiritual energy in this doomsday.

Gu Qi drove his flying sword towards the mountains below and said to Jiu Cang, "If there really is a spiritual vein down here, we can build our cave residence inside. What do you think?"

Jiu Cang nodded without thinking and said, "What Aqi said is good."

Even if there is a spiritual land below, as long as Aqi wants to build a cave here, he will find a way to move a spiritual vein here, which is the same.

Gu Qi, who saw his thoughts, said helplessly: "Be careful..."

She suddenly stopped talking halfway. She was about to say that she should be careful of being found by someone. When she was in the world of immortal cultivation, Jiu Cang had moved spiritual veins and even mountains together.

Fortunately, it was the retreat peak of the ancestor of the hostile sect. After being found by the other party, the sect not only suffered no losses, but also successfully doubled the amount of money that the other party had owed for a long time.

She doesn't have any hostile sects here.

However, as soon as this thought arose, Gu Qi reacted. It was not just a hostile sect, she didn't even have a sect here. Those spiritual veins in the apocalypse were ownerless.

Realizing this, Gu Qi said thoughtfully, "It seems that it is not impossible?"

The spiritual vein moved to the vicinity of the cave residence, which was not only beneficial to the cave residence, but also to the mountain where the spiritual vein was located. Otherwise, when he was in the world of immortal cultivation, Gu Qi's cave residence would not have been moved from the original periphery of the sect to the central area of the sect.

"I hope there's a hidden spiritual vein beneath the base."

Jiu Cang suggested seriously, "How about we move it here?"

"Hope there are hidden spiritual veins under the base?" Gu Qi's movement to control the flying sword paused, and the descending flying sword suddenly stopped.

Jiu Cang nodded: "I just discovered it when I was leaving. There is a crack in that hidden spiritual vein that is gradually expanding, and spiritual energy is gradually overflowing."

"No wonder..." Gu Qi murmured with an understanding look.

This would explain why the Hope Base in the previous life was besieged by such a large-scale wave of monsters.