While Xia Chuhe and his group were repeatedly farming dungeons to upgrade their farm, Taotie City once again welcomed a new core force.
These people are friends of the "canaries".
As spies planted in various bases, the canaries have a seemingly insignificant advantage—they can receive supplies from their superiors.
In Guan Wuji's view, these meager supplies were nothing more than scraps peeking through his fingers, but to the evolved beings in the lower base, these "trivial things" were not something to be enjoyed casually.
For example, the food shops in every base are very quiet, and only evolved individuals with above-average strength go there to spend money. Evolved individuals who frequently go there must be very powerful.
No canary is a fool; when faced with someone powerful, they will naturally try to curry favor.
Over time, almost every canary has one or two powerful friends.
More than a hundred bases, more than a hundred canaries, most of whom are angry about Guan Wuji’s use of poison to control the crowd.
In the short term, they couldn't resist, but they could ask their friends for help. Their friends were very willing to represent the Canary in maintaining close contact with Li Yue and forming a temporary cooperative relationship with Taotie City.
The rapid development of their relationship is also thanks to Guan Wuji's help.
Faced with the collective questioning and anger of the canary group, Guan Wuji's response was to make an example of them. He chose the canary who was the most disrespectful in words and the most rebellious in actions, and directly detonated the bomb inside her body to threaten the other canaries.
Guan Wuji's actions only earned him superficial obedience from the canaries. In their hearts, however, burned an ever-increasing rage.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Li Yue instantly became the canaries' most steadfast ally, and the canaries' powerful friends also became even closer to Taotie City as a result.
There are only two ways to free the canary from control.
One option is to enter a dungeon. Li Yue used this method to escape the bomb threat before, but Guan Wuji must have had a deep impression of her, so he would never let Canary participate in a mission that requires entering a dungeon again. This method is unlikely to work again.
Secondly, they could block the signals from the upper levels. However, the most advanced technology in the wasteland is entirely in the hands of the upper levels, and even if 123 and Xiao Ai joined forces, they probably couldn't block the signals from the upper levels.
With both methods failing, Li Yue's rebellion reached a stalemate.
The only gain came from Zhuguan Mountain.
Zhu Guanshan reiterated the distribution of power at the top to everyone.
There are three major families at the top: the Lu family, the Shen family, and the steward.
The butler controls Five Star Company and has the most dealings with the base, seemingly making them the wealthiest, most prestigious, and most well-known family.
In reality, the butler was the weakest overall. Apart from money, the butler had almost nothing; the real technology was all in the hands of the Shen and Lu families.
Gene-enhancing agents, combat kits, pistols designed to counter supernatural abilities… countless high-tech products manufactured by Five Star Corporation all rely on technology from the Shen and Lu families. The butler is only responsible for assembly line production and sales.
The Shen family is very low-key, and for generations, they have focused on scientific research. They rarely appear in public and do not get involved in disputes.
The Lu family controls all the guards and reserve troops. With their military power, the Lu family can forcefully obtain the Shen family's research results and countless riches.
The three parties cooperate and check each other.
Faced with the powerful Lu family, the Shen family relied on technology, while the butler relied on... a low-class marriage alliance.
The housekeeper is not only rich in money, but also rich in beautiful women.
In each generation of the steward family, apart from the head of the family and his right-hand men, the final destination for the rest of the family members is always marriage.
Now that things had come to this, Zhu Guanshan no longer concealed her identity. She confessed to Li Yue that she was the housekeeper's third daughter.
Zhu Guanshan has two older sisters, one married into the Shen family and the other married into the Lu family.
Before Zhu Guanshan escaped from the steward, Guan Wuji was vetting the next generation of the Lu and Shen families, hoping to sell her for a good price.
Zhu Guanshan had met her "brothers-in-law." Neither brother-in-law held any real power in the family. The elder brother-in-law was a heavy drinker, constantly in a daze, and maintained his physique through drugs. He frequently bossed around the housekeeper, often beating and verbally abusing her. The younger brother-in-law was ambitious and scheming, constantly trying to get money and things from the housekeeper through her connections, attempting to seize power that didn't belong to him.
With two "good brother-in-laws" serving as examples, Zhu Guanshan felt extremely fearful of arranged marriages and hated Guan Wuji, who arranged her marriage, to the core.
So, Zhu Guanshan fled.
Having just escaped, Zhu Guanshan naively believed that marriage was a woman's ultimate destiny. She thought that to escape the fate of arranged marriage, she had to find a better marriage partner.
Therefore, she took a liking to Angelica sinensis.
Love, love at first sight—none of that exists.
All she wanted was to find someone to rely on.
However, during his brief journey through the wasteland, Zhu Guanshan learned one thing.
For a woman, the most reliable support is herself, followed by trustworthy friends.
She completely rejected the idea of a marriage alliance.
Zhu Guanshan continued to tell her story, her attitude calm and honest.
Li Yue lovingly stroked Zhu Guanshan's hair, feeling sorry for this girl who was only a teenager.
Guan Wuji was a pervert. He not only used cruel methods to create and control a large number of canaries, but he also did not spare his own children.
Zhu Guanshan rubbed against Li Yue's palm, his voice somewhat low: "I miss my sisters so much."
Zhu Guanshan's escape was full of drama and coincidence.
As the daughter of the steward, she was always closely watched over as goods were about to be traded.
But on an ordinary afternoon, the eldest and second housekeepers suddenly returned to the house together.
The eldest sister could no longer tolerate her brother-in-law's alcoholism and violence. She went home crying and making a scene, attracting most of the family members to her location. Those disgusting people only wanted to "pack up" her and send her back to the Shen family. Because of this, they even relaxed their supervision of Zhuguanshan.
As usual, the second sister came home asking for things—food, drinks, necessities, and… precious props.
In the past, when his second sister came home, Guan Wuji would give her some trivial things to get rid of her. But that day, Guan Wuji happened to be away from home, and the guard in charge of the storeroom was keeping a close watch on his second sister to prevent her from taking away anything truly useful.
None of them expected that Zhu Guanshan would take this opportunity to slip past the guards, run into the storeroom, grab something at random, and leave.
What she took was, in fact, a living map.
"I often wonder, was it because of me that my sisters came home that day?" Zhu Guanshan's eyes were filled with confusion. "But I'm so useless. I'm the most useless child in the family. I'm almost eighteen, and there's still no sign of me awakening my superpowers..."
...
After listening to Li Yue recount Zhu Guanshan's background, Xia Chuhe silently flipped through the follower's handbook, where Zhu Guanshan, whose loyalty had reached 60, was prominently listed.
Xia Chuhe made a startling statement: "She has superpowers."
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