Chapter 135 High-Ranking Cadre Benefits
The reason why Feather Fan was willing to use such precious gasoline was to conserve his supernatural power.
Although fire-type ability users can conjure fireballs out of thin air, even if these five fire-type ability users exerted all their strength, they would not be able to completely burn down the underground root system of a third-tier mutated banyan tree.
With Yu Shan's guidance and Jiang Tao's brilliant command, the fire quickly began to spread along the underground root system.
Not far away, the banyan tree was swaying wildly, its branches whipping around and making a shrieking sound that was quite eerie.
Even though the soldiers in the convoy had seen many horrific scenes of the apocalypse, the shrill sound gave them goosebumps.
Fortunately, after consuming five large barrels of gasoline, totaling over a hundred liters, the banyan tree finally died.
It was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and resource-intensive, but the results were good.
This large banyan tree produced one third-tier wood spirit core, four second-tier wood spirit cores, and more than twenty first-tier wood spirit cores.
Upon learning that the Feather Fan had a contracted exotic plant, Jiang Tao did not hesitate to hand over all of her third-tier and second-tier wood spirit cores.
Feather Fan didn't hesitate to refuse; she did indeed urgently need the Wood Spirit Core so that her daughter, Wanwan, could recover her strength as soon as possible.
After completely removing the banyan tree, Yu Shan and Jiang Tao both breathed a sigh of relief. If left unattended, this banyan tree would soon become a hidden danger in the area.
Over time, it may even extend its underground root system to the entire city of Shanggui.
By then, Shanggui City will become a no-man's land.
Jiang Tao reported the removal of the banyan tree to the division headquarters, but the first question Commander Bai asked was: "Was that little darling Miss Zuo Shan injured?"
"No, in fact, she was the first to locate the banyan tree and offered effective suggestions. Otherwise, we might not have been able to completely eradicate it today," Jiang Tao reported honestly.
"Good, good, good! Not only does she possess such extraordinary abilities, but she is also brave and resourceful. You have truly found a treasure for our 76th Army this time!" Commander Bai said.
After dealing with the banyan tree, the convoy successfully arrived at Shanggui City.
As Yu Shan drove through the streets, looking at the familiar city where she had once lived, a feeling of being in another world welled up within her.
For a moment, she felt a sense of trepidation, as if she were returning home.
She wanted to run towards the Jinxiu residential area where her parents lived, but she was afraid that when she got to her own doorstep, she wouldn't see her parents and younger brother.
The convoy drove straight in and arrived at the 76th Army's garrison.
After the apocalypse, the city's population plummeted, and the army that was originally stationed outside the city moved its base into the city to protect the survivors.
Jiang Tao led everyone to Anju Community, the largest residential community in Shanggui City.
This area used to be a prime school district, with the most expensive housing in the entire city.
Yu Shan learned from Jiang Tao that this once largest residential community now houses five thousand soldiers.
Three thousand people lived in the original buildings, while two thousand lived in temporary, simple steel-framed houses.
When Yu Shan saw these simple steel-framed houses, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.
The apocalypse is often accompanied by extremely hot or cold weather, and these simple steel-framed houses are neither cold-resistant nor heat-resistant.
The climate change isn't too severe right now, so we can just bear with it and it will pass.
When the climate changes drastically, it will be difficult for humans living in these makeshift houses to survive.
Jiang Tao ordered that the five newly joined members, including Yu Kaile, be allocated a two-bedroom apartment with an elevator.
Yu Shan was assigned a separate two-bedroom, two-living-room apartment, located in the building closest to the regimental headquarters.
This building is currently inhabited by high-ranking leaders of the 76th Army, and Yu Shan enjoyed the treatment of a high-ranking cadre for once.
Indeed, in an era where strength reigns supreme, ability determines your social standing.
Ignoring the envious glances from others and not even bothering to see her new home, Yu Shan asked Jiang Tao for leave after settling in, as she was going to visit her parents.
Although Jiang Tao was worried about her safety, he had no reason to refuse her request.
In the end, they could only send four powerful Tier 3 ability users to her as her guards to accompany her to find her family.
It wasn't that Jiang Tao was being overly cautious, but rather that there were still hundreds of thousands of zombies in Shanggui City.
No matter which street you walk on, a group of zombies may suddenly appear at any time.
Yu Shan knew his good intentions and didn't intend to refuse.
If she manages to find her family on this trip, she will definitely make them move into the new house she was just assigned.
Yu Shan has already inquired and found out that currently only officers at the battalion level and above are allowed to have their families move into the Anju residential area.
However, she is a special talent and enjoys the treatment of officers at the division level or above, and her family members can accompany her to the military base.
Yu Shan regretted it; if she had known she would receive such treatment, she should have brought her grandparents to the city with her.
However, she also knew that her grandparents were better suited to living in the village.
There they have old friends and neighbors, and a relatively safe environment.
If they actually entered the city and faced a massive number of zombies, they wouldn't even be able to fight; they'd be terrified.
This time, Jiang Tao assigned her four third-tier ability users as bodyguards, which was quite a high level of protection.
After all, the apocalypse has only been going on for two months, and the levels of superhumans are all very low. At level three, they can already do whatever they want.
The four guards were completely baffled as to why they were tasked with protecting an unknown young woman.
The only woman among the four is Fang Jiajia, a spirited girl with short, ear-length hair.
She is of the fire element and has a fiery temper. Because she privately speculated that Yu Shan was probably the daughter of a high-ranking leader, she did not treat Yu Shan well.
"Hmph! Some people just don't know what's important. It's the end of the world, and they still waste resources carelessly."
"They should be sending us to kill zombies, but instead they're making us accompany them on a family visit," Fang Jiajia complained.
One of the companions was a middle-aged man named He Wenli, who was an earth-type ability user and had a relatively calm personality.
Worried that the two would start arguing, he quickly came out to mediate:
"Comrade Zuo, Comrade Xiao Fang is young and has a fire element, so she has a quick temper. Please don't take it personally."
"Hehe, it's alright. Originally, this was just my private matter, and it really shouldn't have involved official power."
However, Commander Jiang saw that I was weak in combat and was worried about my safety, so he asked you all to accompany me on this trip.
"After I've brought my family to Anju Community and settled them in, I'll treat everyone to a meal," Yu Shan said frankly.
Her attitude was neither humble nor arrogant; she neither became angry nor groveled in weakness, which made the four of them look at her with new respect.
In the past, the family members of high-ranking leaders they had met often failed to grasp the situation and, despite the impending apocalypse, still acted as if they were superior.
He Wenli quickly changed the subject, saying, "By the way, Comrade Zuo, have you kept in touch with your parents since the apocalypse?"
"No, I've been out of contact with them. I went to a village in the countryside where my grandparents live."
"Thanks to God's mercy, they all survived," said the feather fan.
"My God! Your grandparents survived! That's so lucky!" He Wenli exclaimed.
After all, when the apocalypse comes, more than 90% of the population of society will be lost. Under such circumstances, those who can survive will definitely be mostly young and middle-aged men.
Then there are those who have awakened their special abilities, whose survival rate is also relatively high.
However, relatively few elderly people are able to awaken supernatural abilities.
For an ordinary elderly person to survive in this model is truly an incredible stroke of luck.
"So, your parents live in Shanggui City, and this is your first time entering the city since the apocalypse?" Fang Jiajia couldn't help but ask curiously.
By now, her aversion to the feather fan had almost completely disappeared. After all, someone who would risk their own safety to go find their grandparents in the countryside after the apocalypse must be of good character.
What's more, she's so beautiful!
Fang Jiajia had previously thought that Fang Jiajia's beauty was something that disgusted her, even when she thought Fang Jiajia was the daughter of a high-ranking official.
After all, survival in the apocalypse is not easy. To be able to maintain fair skin and beauty two months after the apocalypse must be due to one's family's power.
Now that we know she spent more than half a month alone with her grandparents in the countryside, it's clear she relied on her own abilities, not her family background.
Yu Shan discovered that these four guards were really naive; they accepted her simply because she was in the countryside keeping the elderly company.
But that's good, because she won't have to spend so much energy trying to appease them anymore.
She dislikes playing mind games with people and prefers simple, straightforward relationships.
Fang Jiajia is a local. After the apocalypse, she awakened a fire-attribute ability. Because her ability level rose quickly, she was absorbed into Jiang Tao's ability group.
With her as a local guide, Yu Shan quickly arrived at the Hongsheng residential area where her parents lived.
This is a residential community that is over ten years old. Three years before the apocalypse, there were rumors that the government planned to demolish it.
Later, for some unknown reason, it was dropped.
However, for the Zuo family, whose finances were not particularly abundant, the demolition was not a good thing.
It sounds like they'd compensate with a bigger house, but renovating a new house will definitely cost a lot of money.
Although Yu Shan had won several awards before she left, none of them were national awards, and the prize money was not high.
Moreover, there is a younger brother in the family, and the parents will definitely have to work hard to save money for the younger brother's future education, house purchase, and marriage.
Out of guilt over the feather fan, her parents decided to save up a dowry for her as well.
Therefore, the family does not look forward to the demolition and relocation as soon as possible, but hopes to wait until the younger brother gets married in the future before the demolition and relocation.
In this way, you'll have enough savings when you get the money back, and you can exchange one property for two, using the new one as your wedding home, and only need to renovate it once.
Yu Shan naturally knew her parents' plans, and she agreed with them.
Moreover, at that time, she was focused on winning an award in the next world competition so that her family could directly buy two new houses.
At this moment, Yu Shan looked at the unfamiliar yet familiar neighborhood in front of her, feeling quite complicated.
To her parents, she had only been in a vegetative state for a few months, but to her, two or three decades had passed.
So much time has passed that her memories of her parents and younger brother have become somewhat hazy, but the bond of blood remains.
Deep down, she hoped they could all be safe and sound.
Before entering the residential area, Yu Shan even superstitiously prayed, "May all the gods and Buddhas protect my family and keep them safe."
Wandering zombies occasionally appear in Hongsheng Residential Area.
Despite numerous post-apocalyptic cleanup efforts by the military, the sheer number of zombies was simply too overwhelming to be eliminated in a short period.
This resulted in the zombies being largely eradicated in the neighborhoods closer to Anju Community, but in areas further away, the zombies were still leisurely wandering around.
Upon seeing the zombies in the neighborhood, Fang Jiajia was the first to rush forward and kill them.
The other three did not take the initiative; they formed a triangle, firmly protecting the feather fan within it.
They will only kill the zombies when their attacks are right in front of them.
Feather Fan did not make a move. For her now, killing one more or one less person was actually insignificant.
Walking along the path from her memory, she found that the vegetation in the neighborhood had become lush and tall.
If it weren't for the faintly visible building number signs, she wouldn't even be able to find her own home.
Cities are indeed different from rural areas; plant mutations seem to be more common there as well.
The advantage is that she had already adapted well to mutated plants when she was on the Green Algae Star, and could easily avoid aggressive mutated plants.
He Wenli noticed that Yu Shan's physical strength and speed far exceeded his expectations.
Her walking speed forced them to almost jog to keep up.
He couldn't help but praise, "Comrade Zuo, your stamina is truly amazing!"
“I am a marathon runner,” Feather Fan said.
"A marathon runner? Oh! I remember now, I watched your race before, you won the championship at the provincial games!"
"I still remember your name, you're called Zuo Shan!" Fang Jiajia slapped her forehead, looking excited, just like a die-hard fan.
Yu Shan never expected that anyone would remember her, a previously unknown provincial games champion.
After all, only national champions or world champions are usually remembered by ordinary people.
At that moment, she suddenly felt that her long-distance running training over the past ten years had been worthwhile.
In an era teeming with celebrities, she, a relatively unknown sports star, still has fans.
Amidst their laughter and conversation, they finally arrived at Unit 3, 5th floor.
The reason I chose this floor was actually because it was cheap. After all, most people wouldn't choose a floor below the eighth floor in an apartment building with an elevator.
However, in the apocalypse, with power and water outages, the fifth floor could be considered a golden floor.
First of all, it's not too low, so the safety factor is high.
Secondly, it's not too tall, so climbing the stairs isn't too tiring.
Upon arriving at the building entrance, Yu Shan discovered that a password was still required to enter.
Given the power outage, the identification system in front of this building should have been equipped with batteries.
The residents installed the precious batteries into this system to prevent the zombies from breaking in.
After all, zombies below the seventh rank don't have the intelligence to input passwords; they just brute force their way into the door.
The main gate of the community was replaced with a heavy steel gate during the previous renovation, which the zombies could not break through.
Back then, the residents of the community complained that the renovation was just a superficial job, and that the water supply, drainage and heating pipes had not actually been replaced.
The only changes were replacing the building's main entrance with a higher-quality one and painting the exterior walls white.
Unexpectedly, this impractical building entrance became the strongest defense against the zombies.
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