“Are we really going in just like this?” Bai Mingxi asked. Once again, he felt just how conspicuous their group was.
“We’ll go in like this,” Chu Tian said.
“Won’t that be a little too high-profile?” Bai Mingxi asked, somewhat worried.
Being high-profile had its advantages, Chu Tian explained. “For example, it’ll let us get into the upper circles of this base quickly. I don’t intend to waste too much time here. I just need to find out the information we’re looking for.”
With that, the off-road vehicle, which had been parked for quite some time, finally started moving and headed straight for the city gate.
Before they could even get out of the vehicle, someone quickly came over to greet them. He looked like a minor officer in charge of guarding the gate.
Quite a few people were still lining up to enter the city, but Chu Tian and the others were undeniably conspicuous. Someone had noticed their movements early on, and the moment they approached, that person came forward to meet them.
The group got out of the vehicle together. Chu Tian wore a cold, arrogant expression, and Bai Mingxi was equally expressionless. Quan Xiaoyu, on the other hand, still looked as he usually did.
The man approaching them wore a broad smile, but as he drew near, the two little ones jumped down from the vehicle and gave him a terrible fright.
Seeing a stranger, the two little ones let out several unfriendly growls in his direction. The man was so startled that he stumbled and nearly fell over.
However, he had evidently seen his fair share of things. With Li Nan soothing the two little ones, he quickly regained his composure. Looking at Li Nan with an expression full of awe, he said, “So you’re a Beast Tamer, sir! Your battle pets are truly as mighty as tigers!”
His words were full of flattery.
Li Nan glanced at him before turning away without answering. In the man’s eyes, this was clearly a powerful person who considered him beneath notice. In reality, Li Nan had never encountered a situation like this before and simply had no idea how to respond.
The man, however, didn’t take offense in the slightest. Instead, he thought it was only natural. He could tell that Chu Tian was the leader of the group, so he immediately turned toward him and asked respectfully, bending forward slightly, “Are you gentlemen ability users looking to enter the city?”
Chu Tian gave a slight nod without answering.
The man smiled again. “Although you gentlemen are—there are still certain rules for entering the city…”
“I understand. We pay the required supplies,” Chu Tian said expressionlessly.
Seeing that they understood the rules, the man secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing they wanted was to get into an argument with ability users. That would only bring endless trouble. He immediately put on another smile and said, “All fees for ability users are reduced by half. However… we may need you gentlemen to provide proof that you’re ability users.”
The man assumed that Chu Tian and the others had probably come from either Capital Base or Qiguang Base. Although relations among these three major powers were rather delicate nowadays, they still cooperated in quite a few areas. One example was their mutually recognized ability-user identification.
“No need.”
Chu Tian’s tone remained cold, but his response left the man momentarily stunned. What exactly did he mean by no need?
Chu Tian then added, “No need to trouble yourselves. We’ll give you the full amount.”
Now the man understood. Chu Tian meant that they didn’t need the discount for ability users and would simply pay the same rate as ordinary people entering the city. That way, they wouldn’t need to provide proof of their abilities.
The man immediately nodded and bowed, agreeing readily. He led Chu Tian and the others to complete the entry formalities. He also explained that as long as they had enough supplies, they could even drive their vehicle into the city.
It’s really that easy?
Bai Mingxi glanced at Chu Tian in surprise. The man hadn’t even asked where they came from. As long as they paid the required supplies, he was willing to let them in? The management here was astonishingly lax!
“Isn’t he afraid we’ll bring the virus into the city?” Bai Mingxi muttered quietly in Chu Tian’s ear.
In fact, they weren’t carrying the zombie virus. They had something much worse: an actual zombie.
As he spoke, Bai Mingxi glanced back at Xie Mingxuan, who was walking behind them with Quan Xiaoyu leading him by the hand.
After a month of evolution, Xie Mingxuan’s skin had basically regained a human color. Under Chu Tian’s guidance, he had also learned to conceal his sharp fingernails. The only glaring flaw left was his eyes. His pupils were still nothing more than tiny black dots, while the whites filled almost the entire eyeball. Anyone who looked at him could tell immediately that he wasn’t human.
Chu Tian immediately shot Bai Mingxi a warning glance, signaling him to shut up.
The rest of the process went smoothly. Chu Tian generously handed over the required supplies and even gave the man an extra pack of Zhonghua cigarettes. The moment he saw the cigarettes, the man broke into an enormous grin, looking as though he had just struck it rich.
As a result, before Chu Tian and the others entered the city, they were given an extra piece of information.
It concerned crystal cores.
The man quietly reminded Chu Tian that if they encountered zombies, they could collect the crystal cores inside their heads. The authorities were currently gathering these things, and they could be exchanged for supplies at the official shops inside the city.
This exchange system had only been established a week ago. For now, the information was circulating only among ability users, and most ordinary people still knew nothing about it.
At last, they entered the city without a hitch. Chu Tian and the others received orange cards, since they had no intention of staying long. After getting their vehicle settled, they finally began strolling through the streets of Liming Base.
“Strange. Judging from the way those people from the An family acted, they must have noticed the existence of crystal cores quite early. Why did they only start collecting them a week ago?” Bai Mingxi asked, full of doubts.
“It’s not strange,” Chu Tian said with a soft sigh. “Don’t forget what Liming Base was built on. It was established by people who fled from the south. After the apocalypse, they spent most of their time on the road. How could their foundations possibly compare with those of Capital Base and Qiguang Base? It’s perfectly normal that they were the last to receive the news.”
“Then does that mean the person the An family sent to deliver the information has already reached Capital Base?” Bai Mingxi asked again.
Chu Tian shook his head. “It’s hard to say. The first group of people Wei Li sent out were the ones we encountered in the woods. Everyone except two who went missing was killed. As for what else he might have done after we left, we don’t know. Besides, they may have other ways of transmitting information. We won’t be able to figure any of this out until we return to Capital Base.”
While the two of them quietly discussed these matters, their group had already become the center of attention on the street by the time they looked up again.
Several young men who looked like wealthy young masters were strolling leisurely down the street. Behind them followed a strange man and a child, but the most eye-catching sight of all was the two imposing tigers.
Many people voluntarily stepped aside, hiding in the corners of the street and whispering among themselves.
The buildings on both sides of the street were extremely dilapidated, with none of the features one would expect of a city. Everything looked drab and gray, completely devoid of color.
The people here also seemed to prefer hiding in the shadows. None of them dared to face the group directly.
However, the farther they walked, the more the scenery began to change.
There were more people on the streets now, and their clothing was considerably thicker. Although they still moved aside when they saw the group, they no longer fled into the shadows.
Farther ahead, the city seemed to come alive all at once, finally taking on the appearance of a prosperous little town from before the apocalypse. The original shops along the streets were all closed, but stalls had been set up all around them. Some were elaborate, others crude, and the goods displayed on them came in all shapes and sizes.
Most of the goods were everyday necessities. They didn’t see anyone selling food. Instead, most people were bringing food to exchange for other items.
With money no longer in use, food was probably the most popular currency now.
The most widely circulated item was a round, green, flatbread-like food.
Old Zhou had mentioned it before. Apparently, it was made from an edible mutated plant mixed with various grains. The ratio was roughly eighty percent mutated plant and twenty percent assorted grains of all kinds. There was no particular recipe or standard; they simply mixed together whatever they had.
Since this mutated plant could be cultivated after the apocalypse, these green round cakes had become the main staple food for people living in the base.
One packet of instant noodles could be exchanged for five of these cakes. They were highly filling, and five were enough to feed an adult man for an entire day.
Women and children ate less, so two or three could get them through a day.
As for cigarettes, alcohol, and similar goods, those were high-end luxuries available only at shops established by the authorities. They were sold exclusively to ability users and people with power and influence.
Quan Xiaoyu was a little curious. He took Li Nan around to look at the stalls, but soon returned in disappointment.
There was nothing particularly interesting. Most of the goods were supplies salvaged from the ruins, and they were nowhere near as good as the things he and Bai Mingxi had in their spatial storage. There really wasn’t much worth looking at.
Seeing Quan Xiaoyu display such rare curiosity and childish enthusiasm, only to return disappointed, Chu Tian could do nothing but rub his head.
“I’ll take you to their official shops later. Maybe they’ll have something fun there. If there’s nothing here, there’ll be something in Capital Base.”
Quan Xiaoyu obediently nodded without saying anything. He continued walking at the back, leading Xie Mingxuan and Li Nan along with him.
Farther ahead, the surroundings suddenly became a riot of color and extravagance. Although there were no neon lights like those before the apocalypse, the streets still carried an air of indulgence and debauchery.
The buildings lining both sides of the street suddenly became clean and orderly, with their doors thrown open. Numerous men and women stood at the entrances. They were all very young, and there were even children among them.
Compared with the drab, dusty people they had seen earlier, these people were dressed neatly and meticulously. Their faces were clean, and not a strand of their hair was out of place.
It was as though all the bright colors that had disappeared from the city had suddenly gathered on their bodies. They wore all kinds of beautiful clothes that had only been seen before the apocalypse, making the entire street seem vibrant and alive.
And yet, beneath that vibrancy lay an unmistakable air of extravagance and moral decay.