Chapter 100: Go to the Base? Only If She’s Lost Her Mind

Jiang Yan’s brows furrowed slightly. “What specific requirements?”

“They’re transporting people in batches. Tomorrow, they’re taking men aged 16 to 35 and women aged 18 to 30. Of course, if someone has a special skill—like carpentry, welding, cooking—or if they’re a really strong swimmer, the age range can be relaxed a bit.

The people who got on the boat today were all young folks from other areas. There wasn’t much space left, but a few from our buildings managed to squeeze in. Still, if you go to the base on your own, the authorities will accept you too.

Their base is set up at the Anming Twin Towers now. Both the north and south towers have over sixty floors, so they can still fit quite a few people.”

Su Dai glanced at the pitch-black window, pressed her lips together, then continued, “Honestly, we all feel like it’s obvious—they’re just picking out the best young laborers and the most fertile women. The officials say they’ll come back for the rest in later batches, but anyone with half a brain can guess what’s really going on.

Most families have elderly and kids to care for. In this kind of terrible weather, who could just leave their family behind and go alone? So, not that many people are actually choosing to go. But Anming has millions of people—even if only a small number from each area go, it adds up.

And that’s not even counting those who live in the high-rises near the Twin Towers—it’s much easier for them to get there.”

Jiang Yan wasn’t surprised by the authorities’ approach.

Before the apocalypse, in disaster relief, the old, weak, sick, and pregnant were always rescued first.

But things were clearly different now.

The authorities were obviously struggling just to take care of themselves.

Otherwise, they’d want as many people as possible to go to the base.

After all, a large population is always an advantage.

Jiang Yan didn’t dwell on it, instead looking at Su Dai. “Are you guys going tomorrow?”

Judging by Su Dai, Sun Jingtao, and Ye Qing’s ages, they clearly met the requirements.

Plus, Sun Jingtao had a military air about him, making people think of the phrase, “If there’s a war, I’ll answer the call and win.”

“We’re not going,” Su Dai replied without hesitation.

Her answer actually surprised Jiang Yan a little.

“Oh?”

Su Dai saw the surprise on Jiang Yan’s face and gave a wry smile. “When we were out scavenging for supplies, we ran into several groups of officials also looking for resources. From what we saw, the base is still in its early stages—more like a temporary shelter. It can’t hold that many people, and the management inside is pretty chaotic.

The worst part is, the people at the top are busy fighting for power, trying to secure their positions while things are still unstable. The ones doing all the hard work are the people at the bottom, working themselves to the bone. And if you go to the base, it’s not like you get a free ride—you have to complete daily tasks, and they’re not easy.

Honestly, we’d rather be self-sufficient. At least we’re free and don’t have to answer to anyone.”

What Su Dai didn’t say was that all this inside information actually came from Sun Jingtao’s private investigations.

Some things, after all, were better left unsaid.

Jiang Yan listened thoughtfully.

She wasn’t interested in going to the official base either.

But you couldn’t just shut yourself off from the world—some information was too important to miss.

In her view, no matter how unpredictable future disasters might be, as long as humanity survived, there was always hope for a solution.

After all, in the five million years from ape to human, there had been no shortage of world-ending disasters, and humanity had survived them all.

Of course, the power struggles within the authorities were another matter. In terms of manpower, resources, and technology, the government definitely had its advantages.

Maybe, with enough research, some scientists could invent something to help people adapt to these disasters.

But that would probably take years, decades, maybe even centuries.

And even if such benefits or technologies did emerge, only those at the top would get to enjoy them first.

Ordinary people would be lucky just to hear about them.

But she certainly wouldn’t give up her right to know.

That was why she’d chosen Qianshui Bay in the first place—to live quietly in the city, hidden in plain sight.

Seeing Jiang Yan lost in thought, Su Dai asked, “What about you, Jiang Yan? Are you going tomorrow?”

Jiang Yan shook her head without hesitation. “I’m not going either.”

Right now, there was no place better than her fully-stocked house and her space.

She had no worries about food or drink—why give up a comfortable life to go work for the base? Only if she’d lost her mind.

“Oh, by the way, the people who came today said someone reported you to the authorities for having a gun. Do you want to hide or stash it somewhere tomorrow?” Su Dai’s eyes lit up as she remembered and quickly reminded her.

Jiang Yan just smiled lightly. “No need.”

“I’m just worried they’ll come looking for trouble,” Su Dai said, still concerned.

It wasn’t that Jiang Yan was illegally carrying a gun, but in this environment, a firearm was a huge deterrent—everyone saw it as a precious commodity.

Those with a strong desire for power wouldn’t let it go, either.

If they found a legal excuse, they could just take both her and the gun.

“Whoever makes the claim has to provide the evidence. Reporting is one thing, but finding proof is another. Besides, at a time like this, I doubt the officials have that much free time,” Jiang Yan replied calmly.

She could just toss the gun into her space—the bodies with bullet holes and the shell casings were long gone.

Even if they turned Qianshui Bay upside down, they’d never find it.

And with the weather outside, the official boats probably wouldn’t even make it out.

Even if they did, she wasn’t afraid.

If she wanted to fight, she could. If not, she could just slip into her space and see who could outlast whom.

Seeing Jiang Yan’s calm and fearless expression, Su Dai finally relaxed.

The rain outside was getting heavier, the wind howling, and the raindrops were being whipped around so hard you could see the shape of the wind.

Her balcony was just regular glass, not soundproof at all.

It felt like the roof could be blown off at any moment.

Su Dai was about to say something else when—

Creak—the door opened, and Ye Qing walked in.

There was some blood on his hands—he must have just finished dealing with Zhang Dan’s body.

He bent down, grabbed a rag to wipe his hands, then pulled a key from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Yan.

“Jiang Yan, for safety’s sake, Tao and I found a lock and locked the fire exit on the 32nd floor. If possible, let’s all go in and out together. If you need to go out for something special, just let us know.”

“Alright,” Jiang Yan said, taking the key.

The fire exit actually had a lock, but by regulation it wasn’t supposed to be locked during normal times, so the property management’s key had long since disappeared.

But these weren’t normal times—locking the door was definitely safer.

Even if people were wary of them, you never knew who might get up to something bad."