After the second red rain, the apocalypse officially began. People who thought they had adapted to this changed world discovered that the real suffering was just beginning.
Next, the apocalypse will gradually reveal its hideous face and reshape the world.
The base has limited resources; it cannot support idle people, nor can it afford to support them.
People who thought they would be safe once they arrived at the base and would receive unconditional shelter discovered that they could not live in apartment buildings and could only live in disaster relief tents—even though some of them were locals whose houses were within the base area.
As for food, let alone eating meat, they are lucky if they don't eat meat at all. They can't even see a single leafy green vegetable or other vegetables that they don't usually care about. They only have coarse grains like potatoes and sweet potatoes to fill their stomachs.
Even though life is this miserable, I still need to pay rent and food. As the weather gets colder, I also need to buy clothes and shoes.
Money from the past has become worthless; now only various goods are hard currency. Even ordinary people need to work to exchange for goods.
You won't be kicked out if you don't have "money," but the free accommodation is definitely worse than a disaster relief tent. Apart from that, nothing is free.
—On the bright side, at least there was no resident fee to enter the city, and no protection fee to live in the base.
As for what ordinary people can do?
They can exchange supplies for body-refining techniques; they can exchange as many techniques as they have, or take out a loan, but only for the first technique. They can also learn combat techniques and marksmanship from instructors sent by the army—guns and bullets aren't free either. Once they have basic self-defense capabilities, they can form teams to go out and find supplies.
If they want to prioritize security, they can also help build the base and do odd jobs, such as cooking in the canteen, cleaning houses within the base area, and taking stock of supplies... There's always something they can do.
Some people attach themselves to those with superpowers, or sell their bodies for supplies. In the post-apocalyptic context, this has become normal. Even if the authorities know about it, they won't say anything. However, the official "Base Survival Manual" will certainly not support it, nor will it appear on the bulletin board of the newly created mission hall.
The base is currently only a rough framework, and the internal facilities are not yet complete. With the full upgrade of the zombies, two more major enemies, animals and plants, have been added, and the human survival situation continues to deteriorate.
The ability users can no longer be wasted on building bases. They, along with some soldiers who are skilled in combat and have mastered body-refining techniques, are now the main force in finding supplies and dealing with zombies and monstrous beasts.
Even when not on missions and staying at the base, the superhumans are still busy with many things depending on the characteristics of their abilities.
Wind and lightning powers provide electricity, earth powers turn the soil, fire powers burn plants into ash to fertilize the fields, water powers irrigate and also provide drinking water, wood powers accelerate crop growth, metal powers assist in blacksmithing, and other various supernatural abilities can also find their corresponding roles.
In short, it's no easier than for those without superpowers; in fact, the greater the instinctive ability, the greater the responsibility, and the more they have to do.
As for how to get them to do it willingly, it's simple: offer them a tempting bait, such as a cultivation technique.
Ordinary people envy those with superpowers for being able to easily obtain resources, live in apartments, and be superior to others. Superpowered people envy ordinary people for not having to go out and risk their lives. The misunderstanding between them is getting deeper and deeper. Many bases have become chaotic because of their antagonism. In the end, they turn their anger towards the base management, feeling that the management is practicing class discrimination.
Each base is protected by the military, and the management could not explain this to them, so they had no choice but to use force to suppress them.
Even those in the current army who are not superhumans possess combat strength comparable to first-level enhanced superhumans, thanks to their body-refining techniques and inherent qualities. Furthermore, thanks to the three items provided by Emperor Xiu, the army's losses so far have not been as severe as in the previous timeline.
Faced with these rioters, the authorities at least held the advantage in terms of force.
This antagonism won't last long, because people will adapt to this new social system and gradually become numb to it, but there's nothing that can be done about it.
If everyone is provided with food, clothing, and shelter for free, most people, let alone everyone, will have no incentive to contribute to keeping the base running. At this rate, the base will crumble on its own before the zombie outbreak even begins, by the end of the year.
Of all the bases, the first three are large bases, each equivalent to three ordinary bases.
The management of the three bases are all prominent figures who fight for the future of humanity. People love and support them, regardless of whether they have superpowers or not, only because of their abilities.
All the rescued scientists, along with valuable documents and materials, were sent to the three major bases. The bases mobilized all available resources to allow the scientists to study zombies, superpowers, and newly emerging alien beasts and plants.
In the end times, we can't just think about how to cope with it; we also need to find ways to overcome it, solve it, and end it.
...
At Base Five, Simon Hui was powerless to seduce women, and all five of his original female companions had been driven away by him.
Fate led him to meet Chu Rongrong, but the former was now indifferent to women, and the latter looked haggard; the two merely brushed past each other.
Chu Rongrong suffered repeated setbacks in her quest for favor, and finally decided to earn her own money. She entered the mission hall, where fate once again guided her to see the personal mission issued by Ximen Hui—to find Wang Hao.
However, she didn't offer herself up at first, since the name Wang Hao was very common. She also inquired and found out that this task, which seemed to involve just providing information, was life-threatening.
...
Di Xiu was very conscientious as a teacher. Specifically, he watched his three newly recruited students fight the zombies in front of him and did not intervene, so as not to hinder their training.
On October 28th, the 36th day of the apocalypse, Di Xiu arrived at his new destination, Jinchuan City.
There's nothing special about this place right now; it's completely deserted. Even the nearest adventure team from Base Thirteen hasn't been able to get here yet.
The city has no decent, powerful exotic plants or beasts, and looks quite ordinary, but the future zombie king will be born here.
Zombie King's real name is Cai Wenbin. He is a bad seed with an innate antisocial personality and was once a frequent visitor to the police station and juvenile detention center.
Before the apocalypse began, he was on the run because he had killed his parents.
The prelude begins with him being discovered and arrested due to his fever and weakness.
During the first red rain, he underwent a strange transformation on his way to prison.
He was a rare zombie who awakened his superpowers and regained some of his consciousness at level two. He adapted very well to his zombie identity, and after discovering that zombie flesh and crystal cores could help him improve his strength, he began to level up like crazy.
Being surrounded by zombies made it much easier to pluck their brains out, and he even managed to bite one of them.
If left unchecked, Base Thirteen will be in trouble once he gains control of the zombies.
Cai Wenbin has a very cruel and powerful goal: to destroy all of humanity.
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