Chapter 166: The Protective Array

Many people who knew Xiao Lingye, upon hearing about what happened to him and his companions,

all believed it was the work of the scar-faced man from the big city.

Everyone knew that Scarface worked for that office supervisor.

Some things didn’t need to be deliberately concealed—everyone knew the office supervisor was the real boss behind Scarface’s crew.

Got it?

Some teams from outside the big city, hoping to curry favor with the office supervisor,

would deliberately bring all the men in their group to patronize Xiao Lingye’s business.

“Xiao Lingye offended someone powerful this time.”

“He failed at his job, so this is what he gets.”

Everyone spoke in deliberately vague terms.

So everyone understood the meaning that could only be hinted at, not spoken aloud.

Even Scarface himself thought so.

He was sure Xiao Lingye’s fate was the work of the supervisor’s men.

The reason he wasn’t informed was just to give him a warning.

If he failed at his job, he’d end up just like Xiao Lingye.

Scarface gazed out the window, speaking gloomily to the little brother behind him,

“We’re all just the supervisor’s dogs. He’s showing me that he can use me, or not use me.”

“There are plenty of people in the wasteland who can do his dirty work.”

The whole Xiao Lingye incident, from start to finish, he hadn’t known a thing about it—

that was the best example.

The little brothers all looked at each other.

The mood was heavy.

Meanwhile, Shi Yuebai, completely unaware of how wildly the rumors had spread outside,

still went to the big city villa every day to exercise.

In the sixth month of Shi Xiangrui’s pregnancy, Ying Ruoying used the food earned by Xiao Lingye and the other two to hire two more bodyguards.

These two bodyguards were responsible for her safety. They weren’t allowed into the courtyard, only to stay outside it every day.

If anyone poked around outside the courtyard, or even just passed by and looked a little too long,

the two bodyguards would drive them off fiercely.

That grandfather and grandson delivered a lot of daily necessities every day.

Besides a large number of solar panels, light strips, and bulbs, they also brought many other supplies.

For example: nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, ladles, tents, tarps...

Shi Yuebai counted the pans in the Tongziku.

There were 175 nonstick pans alone.

And they were all top-quality, imported from a certain country, eco-friendly and safe, wear-resistant, rust-proof, and with excellent heat conduction.

She looked impatiently at the area behind the public restroom, which was already piled high with goods.

Thanks to Xu Xuejiao’s arrangements, she now had 20 elderly people assigned to clear the open space behind the public restroom every day.

Actually, a large area had already been cleared.

It was about the size of a soccer field.

But because the whole area was stacked with goods, it was especially crowded.

There wasn’t even a place to set foot.

Luckily, it hadn’t rained yet. Otherwise, all these goods left out in the open would be ruined.

Shi Yuebai glanced up at the sky.

If it rained in the wasteland, it would probably be a catastrophic disaster.

Thinking about her current weight, she began to draw a new array.

A protective array.

This protective array was different from the previous dizziness array.

Without Shi Yuebai’s permission, anyone who stepped into the dizziness array would immediately feel dizzy.

But that array had its flaws.

If someone was physically strong and specially trained, they could endure the vertigo.

They might not feel dizzy at all.

Like pilots or astronauts.

People like that had undergone extensive training before the wasteland—they’d had their brains conditioned under high intensity.

They simply wouldn’t be affected by the dizziness array.

If people like that attacked the Tongziku, they could just march in with weapons.

They could fight their way in from outside the second wall, reach the Shi family, and find Shi Yuebai.

If she really wanted to make it so not even a fly could get in, she needed a protective array.

But a protective array wasn’t something just anyone could draw.

Now that Shi Yuebai’s abilities had grown,

she could challenge herself to set up a super-large protective array for her base.

She wanted to cover the entire soccer-field-sized storage area behind the public restroom, along with the second wall.

Such a huge protective array would be unimaginably complex.

In her previous life, when she was among the Wu clan, a few fools had worked together for decades and still struggled with it.

As for her current abilities... She did a quick calculation—she’d only need about 300 years to finish it.

She could do it.

Heh.

There’s a saying: “No matter how far the road, you’ll get there if you walk it.”

If you never try, you’ll never have a protective array.

But if you do, who knows—maybe she’d get lucky, regain her peak from her previous life, and finish the array in a snap.

Once she decided to do something, nothing could stop Shi Yuebai.

Leaning on her staff like a car crash victim with mobility issues, she staggered step by step to the edge of the ditch.

People came and went inside and outside the Tongziku.

To use up supplies and stimulate internal demand,

Shi Yuebai told Da Jiao to give everyone a nonstick pan, two ladles, and a tarp.

Tents had been distributed before.

The tarps were for everyone to set up another layer above their tents.

As for the point of this... Well, Shi Yuebai thought, in the wasteland, you didn’t have to justify everything.

Don’t ask—if you must know, it’s just that she had too many supplies.

If she gave a little to everyone, she’d have a place to walk through.

Now there were 29 elderly people, 10 disabled children, 7 oddballs, and 2 pregnant women.

Plus You Zhizhen.

All living inside the second wall.

Their tents were already lined up in a row, crowded together.

After everyone got a tarp, they had to stretch them out, which meant moving their tents.

So everyone set up their tarps and tents along the Tongziku, leaving a little space between each.

Just like that, they ended up living all the way from the front of the Tongziku to the base of the garbage hills on both sides.

Looking down from the public restroom, it was quite a sight.

“Yuebai, I’m off to work. I’m leaving Shi Xiangrui and Shi Fuze here with you—keep an eye on them.”

Nong Yasi pushed over a shopping cart and gave Shi Yuebai a heads-up.

Shi Yuebai lifted her eyelids and sneered.

Her staff was still drawing complex array lines on the ground.

She turned and asked Second Sister-in-law Shi, “Where’s Xu Xuejiao?”

Watch the kids? No way!

She wasn’t a nanny.

Second Sister-in-law Shi said, “Recently, a few old, weak, sick, and disabled folks have come near our team. She went to check it out.”

The team under the bridge didn’t really take in newcomers.

Ever since Team Leader Qiao brought back Shi Chengyu last time, they hadn’t bought anyone else.

Mainly because people’s hearts were complicated now.

A lot of people who looked pitiful—who knew what they’d done in the wasteland?

If you peeled back the pitiful exterior, maybe they weren’t worth it at all.

Secondly, given Shi Yuebai’s situation, it was clear that until they could protect themselves,

they really weren’t suited to take in more people.

(Author’s note: Sorry for the late update. Took the little one for a checkup today, and one test took all morning.)"