The sun has set.

As the city lights gradually came on, the spherical bird deterrents on the high walls flashed in the darkness, emitting a dazzling light.

These lights can obstruct the vision of mutated birds while maximally damaging their built-in radar systems, rendering them unable to make judgments.

Zhao Gang hung the clean clothes one by one on the branches of a tree next to the cowshed.

Zhao Xiaoxiu stood to the side, purring and calling the dozen or so flying chickens back to their nests.

Even though she saw their plump bodies, her mouth was drooling uncontrollably.

But I always kept in mind that these were the landlord's chickens, and I couldn't kill and eat them.

Perhaps worried that their free-range chickens would be targeted by others, the landlord had repeatedly emphasized to the father and daughter that the chicken meat was tough and dry and not tasty at all.

However, Zhao Xiaoxiu had never eaten flying chicken before, so she didn't know whether what the landlord said was true or false.

Ultimately, due to the human cub's excessive and ferocious craving for food, the situation was resolved.

The landlord's dozen or so chickens refused to go back to the cowshed no matter what.

But they dared not return to the open fields after dark, lest they become food for other ferocious mutated plants and animals; they could only pitifully huddle by the cowshed door.

With a nutrient solution in her mouth, Zhao Xiaoxiu shrugged at her father, who had just finished hanging up the clothes and returned to the cowshed, her little face full of helplessness.

Zhao Gang patted his cub's head and casually plucked out a chicken feather that had somehow gotten stuck in his head.

"Huh?" Zhao Xiaoxiu looked at the falling chicken feathers and rolled her round eyes in surprise.

Zhao Gang somehow got hold of two bicycle wheels, pushed the bicycle outside, and, by the light of the torch, replaced the bicycle's leaky tire.

They also installed a small wooden stool on the horizontal bar.

After he finished, he waved to Zhao Xiaoxiu and asked her to sit on it and try it out.

Zhao Xiaoxiu ran over in surprise, and Zhao Gang stretched out his arm, grabbed her under the armpit, and lifted her onto the small wooden stool on the horizontal bar.

She's quite young, and the small stool is just the right size for her.

Zhao Gang attached a flashlight to the handlebars of his bicycle and rode around the village paths twice with his daughter.

The wheels whirred smoothly, a cool breeze brushed past her ears, and stray hairs flew to her nose, making Zhao Xiaoxiu sneeze violently from the itch.

Achoo!

Tears and snot bubbles sprayed out at the same time.

Zhao Gang stopped the car with his foot on the brake and hurriedly tilted his head to look at his cub with concern.

A disheveled Zhao Xiaoxiu: "..."

Many low-grade, mutated lantern grasses that emit light have been transplanted to both sides of the village roads.

The mutated lantern plant can repel mosquitoes and its ping-pong ball-sized fruits on its branches emit light and can provide illumination.

However, the fruit is only available between July and October.

Right now, the lantern fruits are still in their ripening season, and the lantern fruits along both sides of the road emit an orange-red light, looking like two colorful light strips from a distance.

Fearing that his young cubs would catch a cold from the wind, Zhao Gang pushed the cart back to the cowshed.

Sitting in the car, Zhao Xiaoxiu swung her legs and asked, "Dad, are you going to do the cleanup mission with Uncle Meng and the others tomorrow?"

Before returning to the East District camp, Meng Lao Er extended a mission invitation to Zhao Gang.

Let Zhao Gang think it over, and he'll go directly to the outer perimeter of the high wall to find them tomorrow morning.

He'll just tell Shen Que when the time comes; it's 100% reliable.

The cleanup mission launched by Taoyuan Base this time covers a wide area, involves a large number of people, and also provides tools and considerable compensation.

All supplies found within the cleared area are considered personal property.

Except for mutated plants and animals of grade C or above, this item must be handed over to the Peach Blossom Base.

If it weren't for the fact that Peach Blossom Base doesn't accept individual participation in missions, and only accepts hunting teams, more than half of the Hope Base survivors in the East Camp would have left.

Of course, hunting teams also don't want slackers.

As for Zhao Gang, the Meng brothers are well aware of his abilities, and since Shen Que is someone they know, bringing one or two people into the team shouldn't be a problem.

However, we still need to be careful about interpersonal relationships.

In Meng Lao Er's own words, if you get anything good, remember to give some to the regimental commander.

Zhao Xiaoxiu was very tempted, firstly because the supplies found in the cleanup area would belong to her personally.

Secondly, she wanted to see what the large-scale cleanup of Taoyuan Base was about.

Zhao Gang immediately noticed Zhao Xiaoxiu's anticipation and nodded with a smile: "Let's go together."

Zhao Xiaoxiu was overjoyed, "Great!"

As for whether the hunting team can accept her, a child, joining the team, that's not something she needs to worry about.

If Daddy says we should go together, there's bound to be a way!

The father and daughter returned to the cowshed, parked their bicycles, quickly wiped their faces, and lay down on the straw bed to rest.

The door to the cowshed was open, letting in fresh air.

At the same time, it's good to keep an eye on the dozen or so chickens flying around the door, lest they get into trouble and offend the landlord.

The safety of Taoyuan Base is quite high.

Zhao Xiaoxiu slept soundly that night and woke up naturally at dawn.

I dressed myself, making sure to wear long sleeves and overalls to cover my arms and legs.

As for shoes, she only had one pair of well-fitting rubber sandals, so she had to wear an extra pair of long socks, tucking her trouser legs into the socks to ensure that her skin was not exposed and to make it easier to move around.

Zhao Gang carried a wooden bucket in from the ditch behind the cowshed, wrung out a handkerchief, and had the tentacles wipe Zhao Xiaoxiu's face.

The river water looks very clear. Zhao Gang said, "Someone sprays pesticides on this river regularly, so there's no problem washing clothes, washing your face, or taking a bath."

He had just seen people from the Taoyuan base spraying pesticides on the upstream embankment when he went to fetch water.

Zhao Xiaoxiu remarked, "This place looks better than the Hope Base."

Zhao Gang remained noncommittal; to him, the human world was all the same, gray and white.

Only Zhao Xiaoxiu in front of us has a different kind of color.

With his tentacles, Zhao Gang took out a comb and hair tie and helped Zhao Xiaoxiu comb her hair. Then he took out the nutrient solution and watched her finish it.

The father and daughter packed up quickly, cleared out their backpacks, took only their weapons and empty backpacks, locked the cowshed, and rode their bicycles toward the outer wall of the city.

As dawn broke in the east, white mist drifted among the hills and plains, and vast fields of farmland stretched out in all directions from the high walls, seemingly without end.

The local residents of Taoyuan Base, who got up early, had already taken their farming tools to the fields.

They mostly use the most primitive tools such as hoes, sickles, carrying poles, and wooden buckets. Occasionally, you can see a few agricultural machines harvesting quickly on the land covered with green vines.

Zhao Xiaoxiu opened her eyes wide and saw round potatoes, about the size of footballs, appearing in the harvester's trailer.

"There really are potatoes the size of footballs!"

Upon meeting the Meng brothers, Zhao Xiaoxiu couldn't wait to share the new things she had just seen with them.

Meng Laoda's reaction was indifferent, which clearly indicated that he had seen it.

Meng Lao Er and Meng A Po were very accommodating, both showing surprised expressions in response.

Mother and son: "Really? Is it true?"

"Unfortunately, we can't buy them." Shen Que walked over with his team members, laughing jokingly, and shrugged regretfully at Zhao Xiaoxiu.