Chapter 83: Base Tour 2

Yi Peng led a group of people toward the cave.

As he walked along the path, he could sense the undercurrents in the group, but the cave itself was brightly lit, in stark contrast to the darkness outside. The large, rough-hewn cave walls reflected the light, making the inside surprisingly bright!

“Brother Yi, this cave is so bright and warm!”

“Yeah, it’s nothing like outside.”

In the apocalypse, the cold was enough to kill—if the monsters didn’t get you first, the chill would. Those with abilities could manage, but for ordinary people, it was a real struggle.

It was common for people to freeze to death in the corridors.

But now, inside the cave, it was warm and cozy. It almost felt like being back in a pre-apocalypse apartment.

Some of the corridors were cool and damp, but with the abilities of the powered people, the rooms and halls were completely different.

The soft, white light made everything feel almost dreamlike.

After settling their luggage in their rooms, Yi Peng and the group gathered in the corridor.

“Brother, you’re back?”

“Yeah, Xiao Yu, what’s up?”

He didn’t recognize these lighting devices—there definitely hadn’t been any before.

Yu glanced at the new lamps and explained, “These are things Sister Sang Chu brought back. They’re really bright, and every room basically has one. Here, let me show you.”

He took out a lamp—when he closed it, the light disappeared; when he pressed it, it lit up again.

“Every room has one of these?”

Yu (an ability user) looked at him and nodded. Yu used a key to open a room, and sure enough, there was a lamp inside. “Sister Sang said one per room is enough. Just put it on the table, and you can move it around if you need to. Turn it on for light.”

Yi Peng handed the keys back to him. “You have five family members, so take five sets of keys. The rooms with three peach blossoms on the door are three-bedroom suites, and the ones with a single blossom are singles. It’s easy to tell. If you keep walking down the hall, you’ll find the cafeteria, water source, bathhouse, and restroom. Right now, our base only has Ah Chu as a water ability user—she purifies and distributes the water. For now, everyone bathes in the storage pool, and after you’re done, collect the used water for the restroom. It’s a bit inconvenient, but these living conditions are much better than most bases.”

Yu replied sincerely, “These accommodations are already really good, Brother Yi. Don’t worry, I know what to do.”

Qian was a thin, dark-skinned girl standing behind her brother. She asked timidly, “Brother Yi, are these things for ability users only, or can anyone use them?”

Xia Han (an ability user) chimed in, “Brother Yi, what about food? How do we get it?”

At his old base, if you wanted to eat, you had to provide blood for the wood ability users to grow food. He’d left because he didn’t want to be treated like a blood bag anymore—at least Yi Peng didn’t look at people that way.

But now, talking about food made his heart clench with anxiety.

Yi Peng said, “Don’t worry. I may not be the boss here, but I keep my word. No one here will treat you like a blood bag. In fact, this whole base belongs to Sang Chu—the woman you saw earlier. Just follow the rules here, or don’t blame me for being strict.”

“No, no, Brother Yi, you can count on us.”

Yi Peng said, “Alright, go pick your rooms. Ah Chu is waiting for me.”

“Okay, okay, we’ll go pick now.”

Yi Peng handed over all five keys and went to choose his own room.

Each room’s lock and key were specially made by robots. Before the lock was set, the key could open any room, but once you chose your room, you could use the control panel to bind your key and lock together. After that, your key would only open your own room.

Each room had a wooden plaque. As Yu followed him into the room, he pointed at the plaque and said, “Write your name and family members’ names on this plaque and hang it on the door. Ability users, come with me to find Sister Sang. The rest of you can rest or look around as you like. I live in the first room up front—my name is Yu. If you need anything, just come find me!”

Yu was basically the dorm manager now!

Xia Han said, “I’ll head out first. Dad, brother, you guys write the names on the plaque and then get some rest.”

Xia Ru said, “Go ahead, Dad’s got me here.”

“Okay, brother, if anything comes up, just find Yu. I’ll be back soon!”

He still didn’t know much about this base—he’d only followed Yi Peng out of trust. He’d thought Yi Peng would be the boss or at least someone important, but now it seemed things weren’t quite as he’d imagined.

He felt a little uncertain inside.

Among the five ability users, there was a girl who kept her head down, hair messy and face dirty, always walking at the back of the group.

On the mountain

Lu Minli watched as Sang Chu took out a bunch of seeds and asked curiously, “Ah Chu, what are those?”

“These are things I found in the demon realm. They look like peach blossoms on the outside, but they’re actually very dangerous. Since you wanted to make this place my post-apocalyptic Peach Blossom Spring, and since our base is called Peach Blossom Spring, we might as well plant some peach trees. These peach blossoms can serve as a second line of defense.”

Lu Minli said, “Are you guarding against psychic ability users?”

He already knew that his people were afraid of ability users. Even though those mutated plants were dangerous, they seemed a bit helpless against psychic users.

If these peach blossoms could really serve as a second defense, it would at least add another layer of security.

“Yeah. Right now, we don’t know how powerful psychic ability users can get, so I plan to plant a ring of peach blossoms around the base. That way, we’ll have a bit more peace of mind.”

Lu Minli understood Sang Chu’s thinking. Keeping her unconscious all the time wasn’t a solution. He needed to find the psychic users’ weaknesses and also have her teach everyone some countermeasures, so they wouldn’t be helpless if they ran into psychic users again.

Looking at the group not far away, Lu Minli exchanged a glance with Sang Chu. She looked up, and saw Yi Peng leading the ability users toward her.

Yi Peng said, “Sister, let me introduce everyone. This is Yu, a wood ability user; Yu’s mother, Ya Ru; the only girl in their group, Gao Qiu; third brother Xia Han; third brother An Hao; and this is the leader of our base, Sang Chu. You all know Lu Minli, so I won’t introduce him again.”"