Chapter 79
Inside the human survivor base in B City.
After the initial chaos, the base formed by the surviving humans was beginning to take shape. Although it was still very simple, it could at least provide a “home” where people could rest safely.
But all of this was not free. Because now, what the base lacked the most was, first, resources, and second, labor!
The base was built on the edge of a new development zone in B City. This area was sparsely populated. Because it had not yet been developed, the occupancy rate of the residential buildings was very low. Relatively speaking, there were fewer zombies, more land, and more empty houses, so it was chosen as the initial location of the base.
After people had gathered in this area, they had started to build a defense system without stopping, organizing manpower to build a simple city wall, cleaning up the zombies in the survivor base, and building new houses…
Xia Qingxue’s family now had a total of nine people and was divided into two buildings. Originally, they had arrived late and could only be assigned to a hastily built row of wooden houses. But the base encouraged residents to exchange supplies for work points, and then exchange work points for other things.
The sound insulation of the wooden houses was almost nonexistent. It was simply impossible for nine people to live squeezed together. The daily noise made it impossible to sleep, and the area was not safe. They could always hear information about people losing things.
Xia Qingxue had exchanged a batch of food for two buildings. She and her parents had one, and the others had one.
Originally, Xia Qingxue did not want to put too much pressure on her family, so she did not say what she had paid. As a result, someone had taken all of this for granted and even complained about why their family of three had only one room, while the other room had six people!
Xia Qingxue thought for a moment. It just so happened that the base was recruiting espers. She simply confessed her ability, and then, under her aunt’s overjoyed and scheming gaze, she joined the officially formed esper team.
Whatever. After all, she couldn’t just sit and eat up all her supplies just because she still had food in her space.
Her ability was very useful. As soon as she applied to join the army, she received attention. The supplies she had previously handed in to exchange for the building were returned to her. Joining an officially organized esper team had preferential treatment. Not only were the rewards for completing missions generous, but she could also be assigned a family room for free.
Of course, while the treatment was preferential, the tasks of the esper team were not easy.
According to the characteristics of each person’s ability, the esper team was divided into different types. Xia Qingxue was assigned to the supply collection team.
Xia Qingxue was a central figure, but she had no real power and also had to obey the captain’s command. But she was the safest one. All her teammates had to prioritize her and the supplies in her space.
At first, she was not given any very important tasks. Most of the time was spent on training and getting along, but this also earned her basic work points.
But Xia Qingxue was still a little anxious. She actually had the intention of returning to A City to find Xia Weishuang. It was unrealistic to go alone, and it was safer to have teammates. But after joining the organization, many things were not as simple as she had initially thought. She had to prioritize the mission.
Besides Xia Qingxue working outside, the other members of the Xia family were not idle either. The youngest baby was taken care of by the two old people, who were also responsible for the housework. Under Xia Qingxue’s arrangement, the men of the Xia family did not go to repair the protective wall, but joined the safer house-building team. Her mother and Aunt Xia joined the logistics department and were responsible for cooking in a large pot.
Now, the base was in a state of revival. Resources were scarce, and countless mouths were waiting to be fed. Everyone was busy, but obviously, this still could not solve the most critical problem.
So Xia Qingxue received a very important mission. She and her elite teammates, who had been selected, went to the suburbs in another direction of B City to transport the grain from the storage area back.
The task was very large. The space and the accompanying convoy could not complete the task in one trip, so they had to run back and forth twice.
When she came back the first time, Xia Qingxue handed in the grain, slept for most of the day in the quarantine area, and was covered in scars. Only after she woke up was she allowed to go home to visit her family.
There was only one day’s time, because she had to go back a second time soon.
As a result, in this little bit of rest time, Xia Qingxue was stopped by someone.
“Wait! The deputy minister wants to see you!”
“Deputy minister?” Xia Qingxue was very puzzled, because besides seeing those high-ranking officials when she had just joined the organization and was listening to the leader’s speech with everyone, she had never communicated with the so-called deputy minister.
She didn’t know her at all.
“Yes. She said she has something to ask you.”
“Oh, alright then.”
Xia Qingxue did not think much of it and followed them to the deputy minister’s office. The deputy minister was also an esper, a very young woman.
Originally, a woman of her age would not have much power in her hands, but now the world had changed. When the disaster descended, no one could receive preferential treatment based on their status in human society. A beggar would turn into a zombie, and a high-ranking official would also turn into a zombie.
The leadership of B City and A City was largely incomplete. After they were merged, they were quickly reorganized, and fresh blood was absorbed. The apocalypse did not care about anything else, only that the strong were king.
Of course, this did not mean that they were a monolith. Since ancient times, humans have been very good at internal strife. After passing through the external crisis and entering a relatively safe period, the contradictions that had been forcibly suppressed would probably erupt.
The deputy minister’s name was Gu Minzhi. Her father was the mayor of A City. She had important information in her hands and also had a powerful ability. Under the operation of Mayor Gu, Gu Minzhi had become the deputy minister of the external affairs department and managed many espers.
Of course, Xia Qingxue did not know the above.
“You’re Xia Qingxue, right?” Gu Minzhi sat behind her desk, her legs crossed, looking very relaxed.
“Yes. Is there something you need from me?”
“Do you still remember me?”
“Huh?” Xia Qingxue was dumbfounded.
“It’s nothing. Actually, I’ve seen you once, but you’ve probably already forgotten. We were very far away at that time, and I didn’t greet you. It’s like this.” Gu Minzhi pretended to push the plain glasses on her nose and said, “I recently heard something from a rescue team that came back from A City. It’s related to you, so I came to ask.”
“What is it?” Xia Qingxue’s eyes suddenly lit up. She thought, could it be that they’ve found my sister?
“I heard that you have a sister and a younger sister, both with abilities, and they are trapped in A City, with a very powerful and terrifying monster by their side.”
“Yes!”
“I’m sorry to inform you that we haven’t found any trace of them, but you can tell me in detail. If it’s valuable, I’m willing to arrange for someone to rescue them.”
In fact, Gu Minzhi had heard it from Colonel Zhang by chance. Colonel Zhang had not taken the matter of the sisters’ abilities seriously, but Gu Minzhi would not treat it as a little girl’s lie.
That woman, Xia Weishuang, looks very strange. Maybe she really has an ability.
Of course, this was not important. What was important was Sang Lu.
Xia Qingxue was in a struggle. She didn’t know if she should tell the whole truth. Seeing Xia Qingxue’s struggle, Gu Minzhi gently persuaded her.
“Actually, I’m your sister’s friend. Otherwise, how would I have seen you? Don’t tell anyone about this, or I’ll be accused of abusing my power, and the impact will be very bad.”
“A friend?” Xia Qingxue was stunned.
Gu Minzhi said, “Your sister’s name is Xia Weishuang. Her parents are dead. She has long, straight black hair, has studied many minor languages, and has a homosexual lover named Sang Lu. But three years ago, Sang Lu unfortunately died in an accident, and she fell into depression and has been working from home ever since. She doesn’t like to eat candy, but she likes to eat sorghum candy and nougat. Her cooking skills are terrible, she has never succeeded in baking, and she likes small animals. What do you think? Am I right?”
Xia Qingxue was dumbfounded. “Yes, that’s right.”
Gu Minzhi said with a smile, “Actually, when your sister was sick, I would often visit her. Our relationship has always been very good.”
“So you can trust me. My feelings are the same as yours. Aigh, when I knew that your sister hadn’t turned into a zombie, my heart—I really wanted to save her quickly. Come on, little sister Xue, what do you know? Tell me, so I can arrange for someone to rescue her as soon as possible.”
Xia Qingxue asked, “Can you arrange for me to go too?”
Gu Minzhi shook her head with regret. “No. Your ability is very important. You have to be in it. But don’t worry, I will do my best to save your sister. The more details you say, the higher our success rate will be.”
Xia Qingxue took a deep breath and said, “Alright, deputy minister. Since you’re my sister’s friend, I have to tell you the truth.”
“Hmm?”
Xia Qingxue bowed to her and said, “I’m sorry, I lied! Actually, my sister doesn’t have an ability. I just said that because I wanted her to be saved. I’m really sorry. I’m too selfish!”
The corners of Gu Minzhi’s lips twitched, and she let out a speechless “ha.” “No ability?”
Xia Qingxue said nervously, “Yes. My younger sister has an ability. She’s actually a child we picked up on the road. She has the ability to attack zombies at close range. She just waves her hand and a light appears, and an ordinary zombie will fall. Her ability is relatively weak. She can’t use it after fighting two zombies. I was afraid that if I only mentioned her ability, the organization wouldn’t pay attention…”
Gu Minzhi scratched her hair and frowned. “Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. Why don’t you tell me the details of the monster by your sister’s side? The more detailed, the better.”
Xia Qingxue slowly asked, “Deputy minister, how do you know that the monster is by my sister’s side?”
Gu Minzhi: “…Cough, didn’t you say so?”
Xia Qingxue let out an “oh” and said she had forgotten.
“She is actually, my sister’s girlfriend. I don’t know her ability. I only know that she can transform, her attack power is very strong, and her attack range is very wide.”
Gu Minzhi asked, “Is that all?”
Xia Qingxue nodded. “That’s all. We were separated very quickly. I don’t know much.”
“Alright then. You can go back and rest first. I’ll inform you if there’s any news.”
“Then I’ll be going. Thank you for your concern, deputy minister!”
After leaving the office, Xia Qingxue calmly returned home. During the day, her family was all out working, and the room was very quiet.
She lay on the bed and slowly clenched her fists.
What was this deputy minister trying to do… She was clearly not her sister’s friend at all. If she had often visited her sister as she had said, why had she never seen her? Every summer vacation, Xia Qingxue would stay at Xia Weishuang’s house, and she would also visit her on ordinary holidays, but she had never seen this person.
And why had her sister never mentioned having such a friend?
Xia Qingxue and Xia Weishuang were very close. She knew about Xia Weishuang going to the stray cat base, and she also knew about her making new friends.
There was no such thing as having a very good friend, but she had never seen or heard of her.
Deputy Minister Gu must be lying. But why?
Xia Qingxue couldn’t figure it out. But now she knew one thing, that her sister was still alive after meeting Sang Lu.
She had never said for sure that Sang Lu was by Xia Weishuang’s side, but Gu Minzhi had thought so from the beginning. Then, she must have seen this scene with her own eyes. To want to know Xia Weishuang’s situation meant that she was still alive, because it didn’t matter what ability a dead person had.
That’s great, that’s great.
Xia Qingxue hugged her pillow and buried her face in it.
