Before long, the entire group departed in the same imposing formation, leaving behind the guards, who were still bewildered and uncertain, and the residents outside the city who had gathered to watch the spectacle.
Of course, there were also people in the crowd who quietly turned around and headed in the direction of Tianze Base.
Xiao Ziran, however, couldn’t care less about any of that. Once they returned to their station, he grabbed Chu Tian and dragged him straight toward the conference room. As the base grew increasingly powerful, there were more and more matters that needed attention. Now that Chu Tian was back, he naturally became an extra pair of hands.
“Is this really necessary? I’ve only just arrived! At the very least, you could hold a welcome ceremony, throw me a little reception, or something like that. Then you could let me rest for a few days. What kind of person does this?” Chu Tian protested dramatically as the doctor dragged him along, speaking in a half-joking tone.
“No need for a welcome reception. It’s the apocalypse, so we don’t need to bother with that sort of thing. You’re looking full of energy right now, old man. You don’t need to rest. Come on, I have a few things to discuss with you.”
Xiao Ziran swiftly rejected all of Chu Tian’s suggestions and immediately turned the conversation to business.
Seeing Chu Tian being forcibly pushed into the conference room by Xiao Ziran, Quan Xiaoyu smiled and prepared to leave with Xie Mingxuan and Li Nan. On the way back just now, Li Nan had excitedly told Quan Xiaoyu all about his new friends.
Quan Xiaoyu was genuinely happy that Li Nan had made some friends. He was planning to go with him to meet those children. The last time he had seen them, they had still been unconscious.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Ziran stopped in his tracks and suddenly turned to ask Quan Xiaoyu, “Xiaoyu, would you like to join us?”
Quan Xiaoyu was taken aback. It took him a moment to react before he shook his head.
Seeing this, Xiao Ziran gave an “Oh,” then nodded. He didn’t insist and simply turned around and went back into the conference room.
This was the first time Xiao Ziran had personally invited Quan Xiaoyu to attend a high-level meeting. Quan Xiaoyu remained somewhat bewildered even now. It wasn’t until Li Nan took his hand that he finally turned around and went with him to the training ground.
Xiao Ziran had only just closed the conference room door when he saw Chu Tian standing there with his arms crossed, looking at him with a half-smile.
Xiao Ziran naturally knew what he was laughing about, but he couldn’t be bothered to respond. With a perfectly composed expression, he began discussing official business.
“Let’s start with the most important issue: people’s livelihoods. The doctor has successfully cultivated a safe, high-yield variety of potatoes, and they’re growing well in the experimental fields.
“The biggest problem now is the land. In our current environment, all the soil has been contaminated. Plants grown in it are prone to mutation, and their growth is highly unstable. Previously, we relied on earth-type ability users to create soil. The problem is that manpower is limited, so productivity is limited as well. We can’t produce enough land for large-scale farming in a short period of time. Do you have any good ideas?”
Actually, the moment Xiao Ziran mentioned the problem with the soil, Chu Tian immediately thought of a solution. However, he didn’t offer it right away. Instead, he caught the most important point in Xiao Ziran’s words.
“The doctor?”
Considering that Chu Tian had only just returned and knew nothing about the current situation, Ouyang Jing took over the explanation and began filling him in.
It turned out that not long after the base was established, everyone had discovered some crop seeds among the ruins of the old town.
Solving the food shortage was naturally the first priority in developing the base, so Xiao Ziran had begun experimenting in this area quite early on.
Pei Qianxing was one of the base’s only two plant-type ability users, so Xiao Ziran had naturally assigned him to this work. The earth-type ability users were also relieved of their combat duties and divided into two groups. One group went to help repair the city walls, while the other was assigned to Pei Qianxing to work in the fields.
They could all stimulate plant growth and cultivate crops, but sooner or later, nearly everything they grew developed some degree of mutation. At first, they had no choice but to use the most primitive method: recruiting volunteers to test whether the crops were edible.
Those who ate the crops all experienced adverse reactions to varying degrees. The most severe cases involved diarrhea that continued until the person was completely exhausted and nearly collapsed.
After a period of persistent effort and improvement, the potatoes they produced still had some side effects. They could barely serve as food to fill people’s stomachs, and because manpower was limited, large-scale production remained impossible.
Then, one day, an old man arrived outside the city, trembling on his feet and covered in dust and grime. Two young men who looked even more bedraggled accompanied him. During the identity verification process, the old man said he was a PhD in agricultural and forestry sciences, and the two young men were his graduate students.
The news spread to Xiao Ziran at lightning speed.
During this period, he had been offering generous rewards to recruit people with relevant expertise, but very few useful candidates had turned up. When this doctor arrived, Xiao Ziran even went to welcome him personally.
On the one hand, this demonstrated how highly he valued the newcomer. On the other, it allowed him to verify that the man wasn’t a fraud.
The doctor’s surname was Jing, and everyone called him Dr. Jing. He really did hold a doctorate from J City Agricultural and Forestry University. After the apocalypse began, he had even been invited to conduct research on the safety of crops in the post-apocalyptic environment for the municipal government.
On the day of the great disaster, he and his two students, who served as his assistants, had taken shelter inside a sealed laboratory. That was how they managed to survive.
After the heavy rain passed and the monsters either died or disappeared, the three of them traveled from place to place until they eventually reached Dawning Base.
Actually, they had initially gone to Tianze Base, since it was closer to J City. However, Tianze Base prioritized recruiting ability users, followed by ordinary people who were strong and physically fit.
The three of them consisted of one old man and two frail scholars. When they arrived there, nobody even bothered to listen to their inquiries. They had no choice but to travel another three days to reach Dawning Base.
Along the way, some kindhearted people driving a car gave them a lift. Otherwise, given their condition, it was questionable whether they could have reached Dawning Base alive.
Their arrival finally filled the gap in Dawning Base’s scientific research personnel, and crop research at the base was finally put on a proper scientific footing.
At Dr. Jing’s request, Xiao Ziran had a laboratory built for him. Although it was somewhat rudimentary, most of the necessary equipment and supplies had been provided. That was largely thanks to the resources Quan Xiaoyu had left with Bai Mingxi.
Finally, not long ago, they succeeded in cultivating a new variety of potatoes that could be safely produced on a large scale. The potatoes had brought Dawning Base its first bumper harvest in the experimental fields.
Naturally, Xiao Ziran now needed to consider how to expand the scale of cultivation.
Chu Tian took a deep breath, his expression extremely serious.
“I have a way to solve the soil contamination problem. However, for reasons I can’t disclose, I can’t tell you where the solution comes from.”
He looked at the two men with a trace of guilt and continued, “I need you to build an irrigation reservoir. Have water-type ability users, or use any other method you can think of, fill it with clean water every day. Find someone you trust to pour in one bottle of the concentrate I provide each day. After that, use the water to irrigate the land. I believe the soil contamination problem can be resolved very quickly.”
“As for where the concentrate comes from, please forgive me, but this matter is too important for me to disclose.”
Since this involved the secret of Quan Xiaoyu’s personal space, Chu Tian had no choice but to handle it cautiously.
“The person you choose must absolutely be trustworthy!” Chu Tian emphasized. “Because I have some other things to give you as well, and everything must remain confidential.”
He gave a wry smile. This was the trouble with keeping secrets. He couldn’t explain anything, which inevitably made it difficult to get things done without being constrained at every turn.
After hearing him out, both Xiao Ziran and Ouyang Jing fell into deep thought.
Actually, they understood why Chu Tian needed to keep certain things secret. They had traveled this road together and faced death several times. They had long since come to understand what kind of people each other were.
Chu Tian must have some very significant secret that he couldn’t reveal. But he was willing to share part of it with them, which already involved considerable risk. They could understand that.
The reason they had fallen silent was that they were considering how to keep the matter as confidential as possible.
“How about this? Leave the task of adding the concentrate to me,” Ouyang Jing said. “I’m usually responsible for inspecting the base’s infrastructure. My visits wouldn’t attract much attention, and we can keep this secret confined to the three of us.”
Hearing this, Xiao Ziran nodded as well.
Chu Tian smiled. “That would be ideal.”
“Good. Then that matter is settled. Let’s move on to the second issue—” Xiao Ziran began, preparing to continue with the remaining agenda, but Chu Tian interrupted him.
“Wait. Since we’ve already started talking about this, let me finish what I came to say. Xiaoyu and I brought something else back with us this time.”
He took two bottles out of his bag. They were ordinary mineral water bottles, each containing a thick, green liquid.
“What is this?” The liquid looked rather unappetizing, and Xiao Ziran frowned as he examined it.
“A concentrate of something. As for its effects…” Chu Tian deliberately paused, sweeping his gaze across both men’s faces in turn. “They’re equivalent to the effects of a crystal core—but much more powerful!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Ziran and Ouyang Jing’s eyes immediately lit up as they stared at the bottles. For a moment, Xiao Ziran even stopped breathing.
“Explain in detail!” His voice rose with excitement.
Ouyang Jing nodded repeatedly as well, then turned his gaze toward Chu Tian and stared intently at him.
Even Chu Tian began to feel uncomfortable under the way those two were staring at him as if he were their prey. He gave two awkward coughs to ease his embarrassment before continuing.
“I still can’t tell you where it comes from. But one bottle has roughly the same effect as ten thousand ordinary crystal cores. I recommend diluting it before use. You can dilute it with clean water. We brought back fifty bottles of this stuff.”
Author’s note:
All right, since some readers felt the previous chapter should have been the ending, let me explain.
Personally, I believe that the apocalypse isn’t just about destruction and endless fleeing. There should also be rebuilding and the search for hope. That’s why this volume is called Dawning.
Of course, danger still exists. But everyone has begun adapting to the environment and finding hope within themselves. Humanity doesn’t have to do nothing but struggle to survive; it can also evolve and continue to thrive.
That is the story I’ll be telling from here on.
The story will continue to reach new heights. However, if some readers want to treat the previous chapter as the grand finale, I won’t object either. (Covers face.)
That’s all.