After Bai Zemin returned to the village, the entire Baiquan Camp immediately became agitated as each and every task he entrusted began to be carried out to the letter by his subordinates.
* * *
Fu Xuefeng in the company of Zhong De, Cai Jingyi, and Kang Lan, headed towards one of the places most crowded by all the survivors.
"So this is the famous street called Renaissance Street." Fu Xuefeng said in wonderment. "If it wasn't for the bad organization, this place would definitely look fabulous now! Even Phoenix Street in our village up north might not be comparable."
Renaissance Street was a square space that stretched over 3 kilometers long and 2 kilometers wide. There, regardless of whether they were survivors with good positions within the establishment or whether it was a survivor struggling to fill their stomach by settling for relief rations, everyone would be able to find something that suited them and their needs.
Even soul evolvers often frequented Renaissance Street.
The Phoenix Street that Fu Xuefeng was talking about was actually the most popular shopping street in Beginning Village. Soul evolvers who went out to hunt on their own or formed groups with acquaintances after finishing their duty hours often took the goods they obtained to Phoenix Street to sell them or to trade with others for something they might need.
However, between Renaissance Street and Phoenix Street, there were two notable differences.
The first and most obvious difference was that Renaissance Street had at least twice the number of people that walked down Phoenix Street on a daily basis, so the atmosphere was undoubtedly a lot more lively.
As for the second difference, it was precisely as Fu Xuefeng had said. Because there were so many people of all kinds roaming around the place, brawls would often break out among groups all along Renaissance Street.
Furthermore, since the government naturally favored those it was convenient for them to favor, problems were often brushed aside with the poorest taking the short end of the stick; this was something that in Beginning Village's Phoenix Street did not happen as the rules in the regime of Bai Zemin were lax for its citizens but extremely harsh for those who broke them. Even a level 2 Noble like Shangguan Bing Xue could not simply go and kill someone just because she felt like doing so as she would first need to present proof of the reason why she wanted to take the life of X survivor.
Of course, considering Shangguan Bing Xue's current relationship with Bai Zemin, if she took someone's life first and then explained her motives to Bai Zemin it was highly doubtful that she would suffer more than a small punishment unworthy of mention.
"Well, soon this place will also begin to be ruled by Bai Zemin's words so everything will look more organized." Kang Lan said calmly.
"Indeed."
"Without a doubt."
Zhong De and Fu Xuefeng nodded in agreement with Kang Lan's words.
When the four of them were alone, there was no need to act strange so they all referred to Bai Zemin by name since there were no unfamiliar people among them. As the four of them were the first followers of Bai Zemin, their trust with him was also different from the trust he had with his other subordinates.
"Jingyi, are you alright?" Kang Lan looked at Cai Jingyi with concern.
Cai Jingyi had been a little weird for the past hour or two. Not only did she not have that trademark smile of hers, but she would occasionally even mutter strange words under her breath or blush tremendously as if she was suffering from some kind of rare disease. Therefore, Kang Lan finally could not bear this anymore and decided to ask if everything was alright.
However, Kang Lan didn't get any answer as Cai Jingyi simply nodded and muttered, "Mm. I'm fine with it."
"This girl…. She didn't even listen to what we've been talking about all this time." Kang Lan frowned slightly.
"Just let her be. Maybe she's tired. A lot has happened in the span of 24 hours after all." Zhong De said calmly as he looked at Cai Jingyi, who looked lost.
Kang Lan sighed and said no more. In any case, she did not understand the reason why Bai Zemin sent the four of them to accomplish such a simple task that could easily be carried out by one.
However, they would soon understand the reason why Bai Zemin did what he did.
* * *
The so-called Hope Square was an open area approximately 5 kilometers wide x 5 kilometers long. Hundreds of long tree trunks had been haphazardly laid out and there were also about forty stands with several large tables each and a large makeshift roof to protect the workers and food from the rain in case of a storm.
This was the place where relief rations were handed out to survivors who simply didn't want to work, didn't have the energy to work, or to those who had no chance of getting a job because the government felt that jobs like digging holes or building more walls were just a stupid way to waste food on "useless survivors".
This place always became crowded at exactly the same time but there were also a few survivors who for the sake of saving energy simply slept right there despite the ridicule they received every time another survivor passed by them.
These survivors knew very well that all they were doing was waiting for death to take them and that they would not be able to resist much longer at this rate. However, after more than 60 days of being malnourished, their bodies naturally ceased to be what they were in peak condition so that now even if they wanted to go out and fight the zombies or beasts they barely had the energy to walk several steps let alone pick up a spear or a sword.
In fact, there were many survivors who in the past did not want to work let alone go out to fight but after experiencing for several weeks how terrifying it was to feel their lives slowly fading away, they wanted to do anything in exchange for being able to have good food on a daily basis. It was just that with their current conditions that opportunity had already disappeared from their lives from the moment they began to slowly rot away.
It was around 10 o'clock in the morning and even though it was still 2 hours before it was time to deliver the relief rations, there were more than 600 survivors who had already gathered and many more who were slowly approaching from different corners of the base.
Just at that moment, a small commotion arose when under everyone's surprised eyes 5 cargo trucks slowly approached the center of Hope Square.
Bang!
"Ah!"
"What is that!
"Monster!
"Idiot, stop pushing and don't run anymore!
"It's a soul evolver!"
…
The survivors panicked and many of them broke into a run when they saw Nangong Yi using his Second Order Dragon Transformation skill (newly evolved) and descending from one of the trucks with a mighty leap.
Nangong Yi frowned at the commotion and not wanting more trouble to appear than they already had, he shouted loudly, "ALL OF YOU, SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!"
His voice was like the true roar of a beast that spread far and wide and reached with precision each of the survivors who were still trying to flee. Although it was loud and frightening, it really was an effective method since as if by prior agreement they all stopped until they slowly realized that their lives were not in danger and only then did they relax enough to observe the situation in more detail.
"Hmph. Why the hell do I have to do this anyway?" Nangong Yi complained in a low voice. Due to his skill, his voice sounded hoarser than normal and it was really awkward to listen to.
"Don't complain. Zhong De has another task to complete and Yan Tu was killed by Bai Zemin because of his betrayal. Only you alone can move those beasts without moving several soul evolvers."
At that moment, an extremely beautiful voice similar to silver bells ringing softly amidst the gentle spring breeze sounded from inside one of the cargo trucks.
Under the dazed eyes of the survivors, the most beautiful woman they had ever seen in their lives slowly descended from the cab.
Wu Yijun was wearing a robe with good defensive properties of Rank 1 that although not as beautiful as the clothes she loved so much, had been forged by her loved one, so the value of this robe in her eyes was priceless. Furthermore, even though the robe was dull in color and lacked the decorations that the ladies loved so much, Wu Yijun's body was just too sexy so regardless of what she wore and in conjunction with her innocent face she would always look beautiful.
She 100% ignored everyone's stares and with a slight smile said to Nangong Yi, "Besides, this was Bai Zemin's order so unless you want to get a beating you better get to work."
"… I really need to contact the Organization for the Protection of Endangered Animals." Nangong Yi complained quietly.
Wu Yijun shook her head as she smiled bitterly. Nangong Yi was old enough to be her father but he actually liked to joke around quite often.
(A/N: In case anyone didn't understand, Nangong Yi is currently transformed into a dragon. Hence his words in the above paragraph).
Under the surprised eyes of the survivors, Nangong Yi with the help of the drivers opened the box that hid the contents of the trucks.
Immediately, there was another small commotion as Nangong Yi began to carry and unload from the trucks the bodies of five tigers whose sizes were comparable to that of two tigers together each.
For these survivors living behind the base walls, this was probably the first time they had seen mutated beasts since except at the beginning of the apocalypse when the zombies began to roam and kill anything that moved, they had not had the courage to go out.
These five creatures had been hunted precisely to fulfill part of the task that Bai Zemin had given Wu Yijun. The beasts name was Sailing Tiger and it was an agility-type beast whose levels were 15, 16, 18, 20, and 21.
Once Nangong Yi took down the lifeless Sailing Tigers from the trucks, a team of more than 100 people began to work after taking down the tools from the trucks. All they had to do was to process the meat, blood, fat, cartilage, gall bladder, liver, heart, and anything else that could somehow be consumed by the human body since previously a different team had taken the pelts, claws, and teeth of the beasts.
Approximately 3 hours later, Hope Square became more populated with around 7,000 survivors. This caused a deep frown to appear on Wu Yijun's pretty face as she realized that more than 1/3 of the total population of Baiquan Camp was actually destitute; this was certainly far more than she expected to find.
One hour later, the mouths of all the survivors turned to water and their stomachs began to growl as if the beast within them had finally found a purpose for which to awaken.
This was not for nothing as from the forty food stalls and the more than 100 tables that had been set up at each of them, an extremely delicious smell of cooked meat began to emanate. Even though it was only cooked meat, it had been two months since these survivors had tasted any of meat, so when they smelled that familiar yet unfamiliar scent, they all looked at each other in disbelief.
None of them could even believe in the possibility that they were going to be fed with meat instead of rice water. However, when the armed man guarding each station with a light machine gun gave the signal under the consent of the beautiful woman who watched calmly from the side and when the first survivor received a bowl filled to the brim with meat soup, these survivors finally realized that all this was really happening and that it was not a trick played by hunger.
That first survivor did not even wait to get to one of the trunks to sit down when the hunger that threatened to drive him mad forced him to take the first spoonful of meat soup into his mouth.
The steps of the man froze and his eyes widened in shock. Those closest to him noticed that the 30+ year old man's pupils trembled as if he had experienced some kind of shock.
However, just as everyone was wondering if the meat soup was actually contaminated and the thought of retreating was beginning to be born in the hearts of all, that first survivor suddenly went mad as he began to ferociously gulp down the bowl of broth as if it were some kind of divine delicacy.
"I want more! Please give me one more bowl and I won't eat tomorrow!!!" The man turned around and knelt down on his knees as he looked at the armed soldier with pleading eyes.
The armed man frowned and was about to punch the man for getting in the way of the line when a clear voice rang out across Hope Square:
"All those of you who have finished your portions, please stay a little longer as I have an important announcement to make. One which will undoubtedly be to the liking of many of you." Wu Yijun stood on the roof of one of the trucks and said slowly, "Of course, those who wish to leave are free to do so and will still receive daily rations. However, those who leave today without listening will definitely regret it for the rest of their lives."
"I'll stay, of course I'll stay!!!" The survivor who had tasted the meat soup shouted shrilly before standing up and running over to a trunk to sit down and look at the large pot greedily.If it wasn't for the sanity he still had, this man would definitely have jumped regardless of the armed soldier a few meters away.
Wu Yijun nodded in satisfaction as this was the result she expected before ordering, "Continue without blocking the line or you will be punished severely. If you behave yourselves, you will all be given one more bowl later."
The carrot and the stick. Wu Yijun was really the daughter of a family full of politicians after all.
But the hit-and-then-caress method actually proved effective once again as soon the lines began to move.
When the second survivor tasted the meat soup, her reaction was exactly the same as the first…. The same happened with the third, with the fourth, the fifth, the sixth…. Soon, more than 3000 survivors had received green messages in their retinas.
[You have received Health +3]
[You have received Strength +4.]
[You have received Stamina +3.]
[You have received Agility +4.]
…
When the words that the meat soup was actually extremely beneficial to the body and when the other survivors noticed how the conditions of those who had tried it improved markedly in a matter of seconds, another commotion arose.
* * * * * * *
Chapter +2600 words again <3
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
