《Surviving In A Wasteland: I Can Evolve Endlessly》 Chapter 1 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio A great scientist once said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what the Third World War will be like, but the Fourth World War will definitely be fought with stones and wooden sticks!¡± This great scientist, who changed the entire world of Physics with only theoretical knowledge, was so pessimistic about the future of mankind. The reason was that human society had finally mastered the power to destroy the world! If a war exploded for the third time, it would definitely be devastating. Forbidden nuclear weapons would be the final trump card of every major country and the last grand fireworks of human civilization. And this prediction was like a curse, it broke out when no one was prepared. For some unknown reason, perhaps it was a ¡®dispute¡¯ that ordinary people would never understand in their entire lives. The Third World War broke out without any warning! At first, it was only a local conflict, but it later escalated into a full-scale war between two small countries. Then, the small countries stirred up the big countries, and the interest network built in peaceful times became the driving force that pushed every country to take part in the war. All the countries on the blue planet were not spared. They were all involved in this world catastrophe! In the end, the people were furious, the economy was crippled, and they had used all their trump cards. However, there was still no clear winner, and no one was convinced of the other! What should they do now? At this time, a hot-tempered man from a big country gave the answer. The forbidden nuclear weapons! When the first nuclear weapon rose into the air, it was like a domino effect, causing a chain reaction. Even the countries that were guarding the bottom line had no choice but to open pandora¡¯s box and press the button to destroy. When nuclear weapons filled the sky, humans were able to enjoy the most beautiful fireworks in their lives. However, this was the only time. After that, the world was reduced to ruins! Almost all the cities had been destroyed. The high-rise buildings that once represented the glorious moments of human civilization had all become ruins. The number of humans, which had already been rapidly decreasing due to the war, had been reduced by 99% after this destruction. If there were no other changes, the remaining few people would gradually wither in the coming days. Until the human race disappeared from this planet! This was because the scariest part of a nuclear explosion was not the explosion, but the radiation pollution after the explosion. After the nuclear explosion, the natural environment and resources were completely polluted by radiation. The air and water were heavily polluted, and the soil was also scorched. The atmosphere was blocked by nuclear dust, and the sun was almost no longer shining on the Earth. The entire world fell into a dead silence. In such an environment, the surviving humans were struggling to stay alive while facing death¡¯s door. Some people tried to build new cities and restore their former glory, but in the end, they found that it was all in vain. In such a situation where the entire world was destroyed, humans had not only lost their homes and resources, but also the most important thing. [Civilization] What was civilization? Order, law, morality¡­ These words were the product of civilization, or perhaps it could be said that they were characteristics and necessary factors. In order to survive in the ruins, under the situation of an extreme shortage of resources, humans had completely abandoned these. In times of peace, there were already people who would jump in line. Now that they were all about to die, who would still abide by order or morality? Hence. Exploration and searching became the main theme of the ruins! Snatching and fighting were secondary and had become the norm! A glass of water and a mouthful of food could make two people fight to the death. If any extraordinary resources were discovered, it would lead to a great war! Only the last one standing could have it! In the ruins, a corpse-like figure was lying next to a reservoir. If it wasn¡¯t for the occasional shiver of his body, anyone would have thought that he was a dead man. Occasionally, people would pass by, but they would just give him an unsympathetic glance as if they were looking at garbage on the side of the road. In the ruins of this once glorious city, there were more survivors, and such a situation was too common. People were dying of hunger, thirst, or death at every moment. Everyone who had lived until now was already numb to this. The next one to die might be them! If they had the time to pity others, they might as well go find food and water for themselves! It had been three days since Zhou Yuan last drank a cup of water. Ironically, there was a reservoir in front of him, and it was filled with ¡®water¡¯. However, the water inside had been contaminated. Those who drank it were all dead. Therefore, Zhou Yuan would not drink it unless he had no other choice. However, what could he do if he didn¡¯t drink? If he couldn¡¯t find clean water, he would still die if he continued like this. In today¡¯s world, due to nuclear pollution, clean water resources were very scarce. The only water resources available were controlled by others, and there were only two ways to obtain water. Either they would work for others, and after the labor, they would obtain drinkable water. Or they could exchange for it directly with scarce resources, such as food or useful tools. As long as it could help people survive in the wasteland, anything was fine! Unfortunately, Zhou Yuan could not do either of these things. It was a vicious cycle. If you want to get food and water, you have to work. However, one needed strength to work. Without enough food and water, someday, one¡¯s body would not be able to take it and one would be abandoned. As for the scarce resources? The scarce resources nearby had long been plundered clean, and if one wanted to obtain scarce resources, they would have to go further and into more dangerous places. Moreover, the prerequisite for all this was to have a good body and physical strength. Therefore, after returning empty-handed for the first time, Zhou Yuan had fallen into a vicious cycle! Due to the lack of food and water, the area he explored was getting closer and closer, and the more so, the fewer supplies he could find. In the end, he would drag his tired body to work for others, but no one wanted him. ¡°Damn it!¡± Zhou Yuan cursed as he looked at his reflection in the water. ¡°F*ck, other people can live in luxury when they transmigrate, but when it comes to me, it¡¯s a World War and survival in the wasteland?¡± ¡°If you want me to survive, at least give me a cheat! This is a scam!¡± As Zhou Yuan complained, he cupped the contaminated water and mumbled. ¡°Perhaps, just a small sip will be fine, and the body can take it?¡± ¡°If I can find food and water in time, I might not die if I have the strength?¡± With this thought in mind, Zhou Yuan held the water and slowly approached his dry lips. Even though he knew that these thoughts were all lies, Zhou Yuan, who was extremely thirsty, had no other choice. One could go three days without food, but not without water. This was because food only replenished the energy and trace elements that the human body needed. Even if a person didn¡¯t eat for three days, their fat and muscles would temporarily break down and produce energy to withstand it. However, if the human body did not have enough water¡­ It would cause the blood to stop circulating, and if this continued, it would lead to death! Zhou Yuan closed his eyes and raised his hands to his lips. His chapped lips were slightly open. However, at that moment, a crisp sound suddenly rang out! [Unlimited Evolution System is being activated¡­] Chapter 2 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The sudden voice, which sounded as if someone was speaking beside his ear, startled Zhou Yuan. With a shake of his hands, all the contaminated water in his hands spilled out. Zhou Yuan looked around in a panic. After realizing that there was no one around, he muttered to himself in disbelief. ¡°System?¡± [Host, I¡¯m here!] Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes were filled with ecstasy as he became more energetic. The system that he had been waiting for so long had finally arrived! The heavens didn¡¯t want him to die! Zhou Yuan¡¯s throat moved and he made a swallowing motion. In his dry mouth, there was not a single drop of saliva. The simple action rubbed his throat painfully. ¡°You¡­ What functions do you have?¡± [Unlimited evolution, as the name implies, means I can evolve everything! Anything!] [Animals, plants, and even non-living things!] [For example, an ordinary rice plant, after evolution, can grow indefinitely under harsh conditions and produce edible food in large quantities.] [An ordinary river fish can become an active water purification fish that is capable of purifying water after evolution!] [I can even allow non-living things to evolve crazily and achieve unexpected results!] Zhou Yuan hurriedly asked. ¡°Then what should I do? What do I need to do to evolve the item?¡± Upon hearing the system¡¯s self-introduction, Zhou Yuan¡¯s first reaction was to evolve an ordinary item into a rare resource in the ruins and then exchange it for water. For example, could the rusty nail next to him evolve into an iron rod made of cast iron? In this case, it would become a very handy weapon, which was what everyone in the ruins wanted. If he exchanged it for clean water, he could definitely get a big cup! Although the system said that it could evolve an ordinary river fish into an active water-purifying fish that could purify water, the problem was that he did not have any ordinary river fish on hand. Even if there was, when would he be able to finish purifying the water in this reservoir? He would probably die of thirst before the purification was completed! That was why Zhou Yuan¡¯s mind was filled with exchanging an evolved item for clean water! The system¡¯s emotionless voice sounded. [Every evolution will consume a certain amount of system gold coins. The current amount of gold coins required is: 100] [Host, your gold coin balance is: 0. Evolution count: 0] [You can exchange any item for gold coins. I will determine the value of each item!] [Warm reminder: in the current ecosystem, the rarer an item is, the more gold coins it can be exchanged for!] Zhou Yuan was in despair when he heard this. There was no need for him to ask as he already knew that the rusty nails, contaminated water, broken cement blocks, bricks, and so on beside him had no value at all. This meant that he had nothing on him, so what could he use to exchange for gold coins? Moreover, he was severely dehydrated and could not search for any valuable resources. It was difficult for him to even stand up! This was another dead end! Without rare items, there would be no gold coins. Without gold coins, how could there be a chance to evolve? Without the chance to evolve, it meant that there would be no clean water, and¡­ He would still be dead! F*ck! Zhou Yuan could not help but curse in his heart. Would he still die after activating the system? As if sensing Zhou Yuan¡¯s despair, the system¡¯s voice automatically sounded. [As this is the first time you¡¯ve activated the system, you¡¯ll be given a free evolution chance.] [If the host wants to use it, you can specify a certain object, whether it is a living or non-living thing!] Newbie gift pack? Zhou Yuan was ecstatic! It was too timely! It had saved his life! After struggling to sit up, Zhou Yuan immediately picked up the rusty nail beside him. However, at this moment, Zhou Yuan began to hesitate. Perhaps it was because he had a chance of survival, his shriveled body had synthesized some adrenaline. Just like the last burst of his life, his spirit became better, and his thoughts became more active. This made him reconsider how to use this precious opportunity to evolve. If it was just a rusty nail, he could exchange it for clean water. Then, after he finished drinking the water, he would still be in a state of having nothing! Although he would still have the opportunity to evolve things after he had found and exchanged a rare item for gold coins from the system. However, this path was filled with uncertainties and potential risks! The first potential risk was that he might be attacked on his way to exchange for water with the iron bar. It wasn¡¯t like this had never happened before. He had been robbed many times. If he was robbed, then all his previous efforts would be in vain. The system would be useless, and it would not change the outcome of him dying of thirst. The second potential risk was that even if he successfully exchanged for clean water, replenished his moisture, and regained his strength¡­ Then, his next move would be filled with uncertainties. He didn¡¯t dare to say that he would definitely be able to find something of value and exchange it for the gold coins needed for the next evolution. If he had this ability, he wouldn¡¯t have fallen to the point of dying of thirst! Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, it was neither safe nor cost-effective to evolve an item to exchange for water. Based on his gaming experience from his previous life, Zhou Yuan¡¯s first thought after coming to his senses was to find a way to continue his development. It was like he was playing a farming game. He had to make full use of the advantages he had in his hands and should not make decisions without any consideration of the consequence. The evolution given by the system was the only bargaining chip in his hand, and he had to think about how to use it. Zhou Yuan, who was deep in thought, could not help but look at the water reservoir beside him. The system could evolve everything, so could it be used directly on the contaminated water? If it was possible, could it be evolved into clean water? Although this idea was very illogical, things like transmigration and the system had already happened, so what if it was more ridiculous? Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan immediately asked in his heart. ¡°System, if I evolve this contaminated water, what will be the effect?¡± [The evolution effect of non-living beings is unknown. It may be good or worse!] This reply immediately made Zhou Yuan hesitate. Perhaps it might be good, or worse? In that case, the probability was 50 ¨C 50! However, if the water evolved into something worse, it would be a 100% bad thing for him! After hesitating for a while, Zhou Yuan mumbled. ¡°I¡¯ll take a gamble and give it a go!¡± ¡°I used to play games that are luck-based. I don¡¯t believe my luck is that bad!¡± ¡°System! Evolve the water in this reservoir!¡± If he could evolve all the water in this reservoir into clean and drinkable water, then his future days would be superb. [Okay.] The system¡¯s voice rang out indifferently. In his daze, Zhou Yuan seemed to see a ray of light shooting into a reservoir. All of a sudden, the contaminated water, which was originally filled with impurities and looked like black water, became clear at a visible rate. In the blink of an eye, the water in the pool became so clear that the bottom could be seen! It was like a drop of ink falling into a cup of water, spreading out instantly, and then reversing the process. The ink that had spread out shrank into a ball and disappeared. The water in the cup became clear again! Chapter 3 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio A moment later, the changes stopped. The system¡¯s tone sounded. [Ding! Congratulations, host, the evolution is complete!] [This evolution has consumed one evolution chance. The result of the evolution is: Contaminated water =>Drinkable water!] Zhou Yuan was overjoyed when he heard the message. He could not help but mutter. ¡°The heavens didn¡¯t choose to kill me!¡± Then, he immediately buried his head in the reservoir and started drinking the water crazily. Zhou Yuan had not drunk a single drop of water for three days. He was like a sponge that had been exposed to the sun and was in dire need of water. After a round of drinking, Zhou Yuan lay down and let out a long breath. His slightly swollen stomach did not make him feel uncomfortable at all. At the moment, he could only feel the comfort of having his thirst quenched. Every cell in his body was cheering. ¡°F*ck! Those who waste water should die!¡± Zhou Yuan cursed in a low voice. He was scolding himself for not knowing how to save water in the past, and at the same time, he was also scolding the humans who did not cherish water resources back in the day. The reason why life could be born was because of the existence of water! 70% of the human body was made up of water, so the importance of water was self-evident. Zhou Yuan rested for a while before turning over and sitting up. He looked at the reservoir beside him, which still had a lot of water left, and immediately found something to cover the reservoir. Then, he collected some water bottles around him. As the most common product in the glorious era, plastic bottles could be seen everywhere in the ruins. However, no one was collecting the junk for a single cent now. After filling the remaining water into the bottles, Zhou Yuan looked at the bottles in front of him and felt a sense of security. In the following days, he would not have to worry about drinkable water. As long as he consumed them wisely, these bottles of water would be enough for him to drink for ten days to half a month. After resolving the crisis of life and death, Zhou Yuan could not help but think about how he was going to live the rest of his life. First of all, as someone who had experienced a life of luxury in peaceful times, Zhou Yuan would definitely not be satisfied with just drinkable water. This requirement was too low! With such a powerful ¡®Unlimited Evolution System¡¯, as long as he operated it properly, he could even build a new city or even a Kingdom, let alone live a rich life. After all, with the system¡¯s support, he didn¡¯t have to consider the restrictions of Science and Technology on production and development. In the previous world, in order to increase the production of food, it required selfless scientists to research day after day, year after year. Only with a technological breakthrough could they achieve an increase in production. And now, as long as he had enough gold coins, he could instantly evolve anything. The ability to completely break the norm would allow him to quickly establish his own kingdom. Although Zhou Yuan did not want to be the king, there were some things he had to do in order to have a better life. The premise and core of all this was the system. To be more precise, it was the gold coins of the system. With the gold coins, he would have more evolution chances, and with the evolution chances, he would have infinite possibilities! For him, the most important thing now was to search for rare items and exchange them for gold coins. What could be considered a rare item in the apocalypse? There were many! Food, drinks, clothes, and other necessities. From a small bag of instant noodles to a large vehicle that could be started. All of them were considered rare items! According to the system¡¯s definition, as long as it could help people survive in the wasteland, it would be considered a valuable item. The lesser the item was, the more scarce it was. Although Zhou Yuan could search for these rare items himself, it would be too inefficient. The best way was to become an ¡®exchange merchant¡¯, just like those people who controlled water resources before. He wanted others to bring rare items to him in exchange for resources. And now, he had some water that he couldn¡¯t finish in a short time. Exchanging water for other people¡¯s scarce resources, then exchanging it for system gold coins to obtain evolution chances. Ultimately, he could use the system to evolve items again and obtain more resources! This plan was perfect! After some consideration, Zhou Yuan set a rigid rule for himself. He had to control the exchange ratio. If he could exchange an item with a mouthful of water, he would definitely not use a glass of water. This was not cruelty, this was the law of survival. If he was too generous, then he would be the one to suffer in the end, and he would be the one to die. Zhou Yuan, who had lived two lives, experienced such a drastic change, and had just survived a life and death crisis, was now as cold-hearted as an employee who had killed fish for ten years without any mercy. With that in mind, Zhou Yuan packed the water bottles in his bag and was ready to leave. At this moment, six exhausted figures were walking toward him. Zhou Yuan focused his eyes and a few names popped up in his mind. These six people were all his classmates after he had transmigrated. After the war broke out, there were still many survivors in their city as it was not the main target of the attacks. More than half of the teachers in Zhou Yuan¡¯s school managed to survive. Therefore, Zhou Yuan was not surprised to see his classmates in the vicinity. To his surprise, the prettiest girl in the class, Tian Jinghan, was also there. At this stage, it was no longer easy to find food and clean water with a simple search. Even Zhou Yuan, a man, almost died of thirst. Yet a beautiful and delicate-looking classmate was still alive? After some thought, Zhou Yuan finally understood. No matter what, women always had one more way to survive than men. This was inborn, and there was no other way. Shaking his head, Zhou Yuan prepared to leave. In this era where humans were against one another, he had no right to judge anyone. It was all for the sake of survival. At this moment, Zhou Yuan frowned. He noticed that the six people were walking straight toward him, and they were walking faster and faster. In the end, they were actually sprinting. Looking at the water bottles that he had yet to put away, Zhou Yuan immediately understood. The other party saw that he had water in his hand and wanted to ask for some water. Zhou Yuan did not panic. He did not immediately put away the water bottle, but instead picked it up. He had always wanted to be an ¡®exchange merchant¡¯, and now he could use these students to test his skills. However, one must always be on guard against others! Zhou Yuan casually picked up the rusty nail and held it tightly in his hand. If anyone had any ill intentions, they would have to suffer being pierced by a nail. Being pierced by a nail at this time was not as simple as tetanus. All kinds of germs and viruses, coupled with radiation, would kill anyone who was punctured. The six of them approached Zhou Yuan and looked at the clear water in the bottle with shining eyes. Even without Zhou Yuan¡¯s explanation, they knew that this was clean water that could be drunk. After all, at this point in time, almost all the water was black and contained a lot of impurities. Almost all the water that was slightly clear was drinkable. Not to mention the crystal clear water in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hand, which was almost comparable to the mineral water in the past. They looked at the water bottle and could even recall the sweet taste. In an instant, they swarmed over like bees, wanting to ask for the water. Chapter 4 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Seeing the clean water in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands, their eyes lit up and they kept swallowing. One had to know that water was harder to obtain than food at this stage. To the human body, water was more important than food. From a personal point of view, thirst was more unbearable than hunger. Therefore, when they saw the clean water in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands, everyone¡¯s body had a huge reaction and they all wanted to drink to their heart¡¯s content. Zhou Yuan could not help but sneer when he saw his classmates ¡®expressions. He could still clearly remember the time when he was about to die of thirst. These students were disdainful and indifferent as if he was nothing! Now, they wanted to drink his water for free? Absolutely impossible! Zhou Yuan¡¯s sneer caused the few of them to shift their gazes away from the water bottle with great difficulty and turned to look at the owner of the bottle. Only then did they realize that the owner of the bottle of water was Zhou Yuan. This made everyone¡¯s heart skip a beat. Zhou Yuan had once been despised and looked down upon by them because of his lack of physical strength. And now¡­ He had actually obtained such a good water resource? How the tables have turned. Thinking of this, everyone had mixed feelings. However, the complicated emotions did not last long. Everyone began to show flattering expressions. As the saying goes, whoever feeds you is your mother. One is to put their loyalties where their interests lie. To them, Zhou Yuan, who had water, was closer to them than their father. ¡°Brother Zhou! Let me have a sip, just one sip! I¡¯m dying of thirst!¡± ¡°Brother Zhou, you even copied my homework when we were in school. It¡¯s not too much to give a friend a sip of water, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m begging you, Zhou Yuan, please give me some water to drink! I¡¯m really going to die of dehydration!¡± ¡°Brother Zhou, as long as you let me drink water, I¡¯ll do anything for you!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± At this moment, everyone seemed to have turned into a dog, wagging their tail and begging him for a mouthful of water. Upon seeing this, Zhou Yuan once again experienced the cruelty of this era and the preciousness of resources. However, Zhou Yuan did not show a trace of pity in the face of his former classmates¡¯ pleading. Putting aside the fact that this group of people had once been indifferent and looked down on him, he would not be a good person even if they had not. If he was to be a generous person now, he would be the one who would be harmed in the end. After sizing up his classmates, Zhou Yuan coldly said, ¡°If you want water, you have to exchange it with your things. Otherwise, there¡¯s no room for negotiation!¡± The six of them were stunned. Exchange something for the water? This was normal. After all, the human civilization had collapsed, and all the money had become waste paper. Even gold and jade were nothing but scrap metal and rocks in the face of survival. Therefore, everyone returned to the primeval times where they made the most simple trade, bartering. However¡­ They were Zhou Yuan¡¯s classmates. Did they really need to exchange something for water? They were already calling him ¡°Brother¡±, what¡¯s wrong with giving them some water to drink? Why did he not care about their past relationship? At this moment, a boy wearing glasses said, ¡°Zhou Yuan, you can¡¯t be so cold-blooded. We¡¯re all classmates, and we should help each other in times of need!¡± With someone taking the lead, the others immediately became motivated. ¡°Yes, yes, don¡¯t be too selfish. We¡¯re all classmates. Can you bear to see me die of thirst?¡± ¡°Zhou Yuan, I see that you have a water bottle in your bag. You must have found quite a lot of water, right? Can you share some with me?¡± ¡°In the face of such a disaster, everyone can only survive if they unite. You are too selfish!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Zhou Yuan¡¯s expression turned even colder as he thought to himself after hearing these ridiculous words. ¡°Hehe, just now you were calling me Brother Zhou, but now you¡¯re calling me Zhou Yuan just because I asked you to exchange for the water?¡± They changed their attitude so quickly! Selfish? Who wouldn¡¯t be selfish now? The selfless people had all died long ago! When he was dying of thirst, none of them gave him a sip of water! Must he share the water with them just because he had more in his bag? What kind of weird logic was this? Before the war happened, why didn¡¯t he see them go to those rich people and say, ¡°You guys have so much money, share some with me.¡± Zhou Yuan could not stop complaining in his heart. These people really made him feel disgusted. They were clearly selfish people by nature, yet they still insisted on saying that they were selfless and united. It was really nauseating! Taking a step back, Zhou Yuan assumed a defensive stance and coldly said, ¡°Don¡¯t say such ridiculous and childish words. If you don¡¯t plan on exchanging it with something, forget it!¡± The six of them looked at each other when they saw Zhou Yuan¡¯s indifferent and cold-blooded appearance. They had originally wanted to put in a few good words and get some water to drink but they did not expect Zhou Yuan to be so alert. They were helpless in this situation. Snatch it? For these educated students, although civilization had collapsed, they generally would not resort to violence. Besides, everyone was already very tired and weak. If they were to fight, even if it was one on one, they might be injured. At this time, injuries were basically the same as death. Coupled with Zhou Yuan¡¯s posture and the rusty nail in his hand, they immediately gave up on the idea. In the silence, one of the male students reached into his pocket and took out a lighter. He then asked tentatively, ¡°Look, can I¡­ exchange this for the water?¡± Zhou Yuan took a closer look. A lighter? He took it and held it in his hand, turned it over to check, and lit it up twice. On the surface, he was checking if the lighter was usable, but in reality, he was asking the system. ¡°System, system, how many gold coins can this be exchanged for?¡± [Detected a lighter, functional, remaining fuel: 63%!] [Exchangeable for 100 gold coins!] Zhou Yuan was overjoyed to hear this. One had to know that the current system evolution only cost 100 gold coins! This meant that a lighter could be exchanged for a chance of system evolution. And the price he had to pay might just be a mouthful of water. This¡­ A small capital with huge profits! Although he was very excited, Zhou Yuan¡¯s face remained cold and expressionless. As a qualified ¡®merchant¡¯, he had to be able to hide his emotions. Otherwise, he would not be able to do business well. If he revealed a happy expression now, the other party would definitely raise the price. Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan said without revealing his thoughts, ¡°I can exchange it for a small cup of water!¡± Zhou Yuan made a gesture. A small cup was actually just a sip. Hearing this, the male student frowned and said in dissatisfaction, ¡°This lighter of mine is undamaged, and there¡¯s still a lot of oil inside!¡± ¡°I can use it many, many times, and you¡¯re only exchanging this little bit of water for me?¡± Zhou Yuan showed an impatient expression and handed the lighter back. ¡°Are you going to make this exchange or not? I don¡¯t really care even if you don¡¯t!¡± In the city ruins, it was much easier to obtain a tinder. There were many large fires burning in many places that had not been extinguished yet. Therefore, a fire source was not rare. This was also the reason why Zhou Yuan was so surprised that a lighter could be exchanged for 100 gold coins. It was also the reason why Zhou Yuan was so fearless. It was up to the male student whether he wanted to make this exchange or not. He was the one begging him for water anyway. Seeing this, the male student licked his dry lips and hurriedly said, ¡°Exchange, exchange, exchange!¡± Chapter 5 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Zhou Yuan kept the lighter and poured a mouthful of water into the male student¡¯s bottle. The water level in the wrist-thick bottle was only one inch high. The male student was very happy to see this. He immediately took a small sip and held it in his mouth, unwilling to swallow it. Then, he immediately twisted the bottle cap and stuffed the remaining half into his clothes. Water was hard to come by, and the clean water from Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands was even harder to come by. He had to drink it sparingly, as it could save his life at a critical moment. Following one¡¯s successful exchange for the water, the others immediately couldn¡¯t hold back. After all, everyone¡¯s mouths were dry. If they didn¡¯t replenish their water, they might die from dehydration. With someone as an example, they knew now that Zhou Yuan really would exchange the water. Hence, everyone took out the few items they had to exchange. ¡°Zhou Yuan, what do you think of my shaver? Branded! Phillips!¡± ¡°I have a bag of instant noodles here. How much water can I exchange for half a piece?¡± ¡°Look, this is an umbrella that I just found. There are only two holes in it, but it¡¯s still working! It¡¯s not too much to exchange for a bottle of water, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± Facing these ¡®enthusiastic¡± customers, Zhou Yuan didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he took out the items one by one and asked the system. As Zhou Yuan had expected, although these items were valuable, they were not as valuable as the lighter. Each of them could only be exchanged for a small number of gold coins. However, Zhou Yuan did not reject any of them. As long as they had value that could be exchanged for gold coins, he would exchange them for water. However, correspondingly, the amount of water given was much less. It was only a small sip, enough to moisten the mouth and throat. This made a few of them very dissatisfied. They all expressed that their things were very useful and deserved more water. Nonetheless, under Zhou Yuan¡¯s cold and unyielding attitude, everyone could only give in. The water was in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands, and he was the only one who could decide whether to exchange it or not. Every time someone questioned him, Zhou Yuan would immediately return the item and turn to the next person. He didn¡¯t give them a chance to bargain at all. It was up to them to trade or not. As it turned out, Zhou Yuan¡¯s attitude was very effective. The rest of the people behind him did not make a sound. They took out whatever they did not need and took as much water as Zhou Yuan gave them. Zhou Yuan was very satisfied with this scene and could not help but nod to himself. That¡¯s right, he shouldn¡¯t be too easy to talk to, or else the greed in people¡¯s hearts would be a bottomless pit. If he was easy to talk to, all the water he had wouldn¡¯t be enough to fill these people¡¯s stomachs! Everyone wanted to use trash items to exchange for clean water, and some even wanted to exchange for something with nothing. Like that shitty shaver, so what if it was branded? It was useless without electricity! Zhou Yuan had given him the least amount of water since the item was trash and could only be exchanged for one gold coin. The instant noodle was not bad. Half a piece could be exchanged for 18 gold coins. Other than the lighter, Zhou Yuan gave him the most water. As for the broken umbrella, it was the one that Zhou Yuan had the most complaints about. The umbrella had holes in it, and that shameless classmate wanted to exchange it for an entire bottle of water? He didn¡¯t exchange with them. Zhou Yuan¡¯s attitude was unyielding. He felt that he had to establish his authority. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do business in the future! While everyone was fighting to exchange for the water, someone could only watch anxiously from the side. Tian Jinghan, the class beauty. There was nothing she could exchange for as she had nothing on her. As a frail and delicate woman, she was able to live until now thanks to her appearance. However, it was also because of this that she did not have an active position among the group of students. Most of the time, she was just a decoration, and she played a dispensable role. When the others found water and food, they might give her some if they were happy, but not a single bit if they were not. With regard to searching for resources, she often could not snatch anything. Sometimes, she was the first to see something, but other stronger members would occupy it first and she would not have a share. She had also deeply realized the principle of hiding a treasure would get her into trouble, so she usually did not keep anything on her. Everything she obtained was used to exchange for food and water. Therefore, she had nothing on her at the moment and could not exchange for the clean drinkable water from Zhou Yuan. However, when she saw her classmates drinking the water, she couldn¡¯t take it anymore. She was extremely thirsty, but since everyone was experiencing the same situation, it was fine. However, when the people around her were all drinking water to rehydrate themselves, and she was the only one who could only watch¡­ That feeling was simply too unbearable! Not only physically, but also psychologically! However, Zhou Yuan¡¯s attitude had already expressed his determination. If there¡¯s nothing to exchange, he would not give it to you! What could she do? Thinking of this, Tian Jinghan had to use the means she used before. She lowered her head and approached Zhou Yuan. She then asked in a quiet voice, ¡°Zhou Yuan, I¡­ I don¡¯t have anything. Can you give me some water to drink first?¡± ¡°When I find something useful, I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± Even though everyone was dirty and looked like vagrants. In order to maintain her charm, Tian Jinghan still did some cleaning. At the very least, she was much cleaner than the boys. At this time, she asked carefully with her hands crossed. Her face showed a little timidity and shyness as she made a feminine posture. Her appearance was very pleasing to the eyes. If it was in the past, Zhou Yuan might have given it to her directly. However, now that Zhou Yuan had experienced the fickleness of human nature and the coldness of the world, he did not feel a single ripple in his heart. He didn¡¯t soften his heart just because the other party was a woman and she was very beautiful. There were so many beautiful women out there, why should he let her drink his water for nothing? Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan directly said, ¡°You must use items to exchange for it. This is the principle!¡± Facing Zhou Yuan¡¯s unyielding attitude, Tian Jinghan was very angry and unhappy. Who was she? The class beauty, the top student! She was first in class in both looks and grades! She had an impression of Zhou Yuan. He seemed to be an ordinary student who was slacking off in school. In the past, she wouldn¡¯t have bothered with such people. The difference in status between the two of them was like the difference between cloud and mud! Now that she had already put down her pride and begged him, how could Zhou Yuan still had such an attitude? It was really infuriating! However¡­ Thinking of this, Tian Jinghan¡¯s face changed. She couldn¡¯t help but sigh in her heart. That was what she thought, but what could she do in this post-apocalyptic world? Everything had changed¡­ Just like now, she could already feel the mocking gazes from the people around her. In the past, as long as she frowned, someone would show concern to her. However, at present, upon seeing that she had no water to drink, the people around her only looked at her with mocking eyes. She used to be an important figure in the class. The teachers liked her, and the students chased after her. Now, everything had changed! In this environment where everyone was struggling to survive, all her status and advantages had disappeared. The only thing left was her good looks. After thinking for a while, Tian Jinghan approached Zhou Yuan again. Then, as if she was afraid of being heard, she took the initiative to move closer and whispered, ¡°Can I use¡­myself to exchange with you?¡± Chapter 6 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio After Tian Jinghan gave her offer, she looked a little shy. Her cheeks turned slightly red and her eyelashes blinked. She was very alluring. However, Zhou Yuan was unmoved by such a scene. In the face of life and death, no matter how beautiful a woman was, she was just a skeleton in his eyes! Not to mention, for this class beauty to have lived to this day, it was very likely that she was no longer clean. Zhou Yuan was a clean freak when it came to this. Therefore, Zhou Yuan said coldly, ¡°I¡¯m a germophobe!¡± ¡°Rather than that, it¡¯s more practical for you to hurry and search for supplies.¡± Hearing the word ¡®germaphobe¡¯, Tian Jinghan¡¯s face instantly became extremely ugly. Zhou Yuan was implying that she was not clean. This could be said to be a great insult to her. Even though she was indeed not clean anymore. Moreover, although her voice was soft, Zhou Yuan¡¯s voice was loud. When the other students heard this, they immediately understood. They all had a look of disdain and ridicule on their faces. Tian Jinghan had also used this move on them. Three of the five had taken her offer before. When they saw Zhou Yuan¡¯s disgust towards Tian Jinghan, they didn¡¯t sympathize with her but instead gloated. This was the dark side of human nature. When the environment was stable, everyone regarded Tian Jinghan as a goddess. No matter how many dirty thoughts they had, no one dared to reveal them. However, when the world was ending and survival became their main priority on the wasteland¡­ They relied on food and water to trample on their former goddess. In order to obtain morbid satisfaction. In the face of survival, they all began to protect themselves and scoffed at their former goddess. It was as if belittling Tian Jinghan would make them nobler. In comparison, Zhou Yuan was a person who was willing to exchange with others and he would not force the other party to trade with him. He seemed a lot more decent! However, people would often push the blame on the person in front of them. Tian Jinghan didn¡¯t blame those people for abandoning her after using her. Instead, she felt great resentment towards Zhou Yuan. She couldn¡¯t help but think. ¡°Why can¡¯t you give me some water to drink first?¡± ¡°I already said that I¡¯ll give you the items later. We¡¯re all classmates, why don¡¯t you believe me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m willing to exchange my body for it.¡± ¡°What right do you have to despise me, Zhou Yuan?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a germaphobe? I am not clean?¡± ¡°Just look at your own unkempt appearance!¡± The more Tian Jinghan thought about it, the angrier she became. Her sense of shame and self-esteem that had been hurt by Zhou Yuan exploded with intense anger. Finally, Tian Jinghan couldn¡¯t take it anymore. She screamed like a shrew, ¡°You cowards!¡± ¡°You¡¯re willing to lower your head and exchange something for that little bit of water, allowing him to exploit you!¡± ¡°There are five of you. Don¡¯t you dare to make a move?¡± ¡°There¡¯s still a lot of water in his bag. We can grab them and share them with everyone!¡± ¡°I swear! I¡¯ll accompany whoever gets the water for three days!¡± As soon as she said this, the five people were stunned and looked at each other. Then, everyone had a strange expression on their faces. They had all replenished the water in their body and their strength had recovered. Hearing Tian Jinghan¡¯s words, they suddenly had many thoughts. That¡¯s right, why not snatch them? Previously, everyone was extremely thirsty and no one resisted Zhou Yuan¡¯s unyielding attitude. However, now¡­ The atmosphere suddenly became a little strange. ¡°Hmph!¡± Zhou Yuan¡¯s sneer attracted everyone¡¯s attention. He raised the bottle that was half full in the air and said coldly, ¡°I¡¯ll give it to whoever slaps her first. ¡± Hearing this, the eyes of the five male students suddenly lit up, and they rushed to Tian Jinghan. Tian Jinghan¡¯s face was dazed and she didn¡¯t react in time. She was slapped a few times. These few people acted extremely quickly, afraid that they would not be the first to act. Thus, the force of their slaps were naturally very heavy. Tian Jinghan stumbled and fell to the ground, her face red and swollen. Zhou Yuan glanced at Tian Jinghan with disdain. Water was more important than women these days. If one couldn¡¯t satisfy their basic survival needs, who would care about a woman¡¯s stinky skin? Unfortunately, Tian Jinghan didn¡¯t understand this. Zhou Yuan tossed the water bottle over and turned to leave. The small bottle of water naturally caused an intense fight, but in the end, the five of them came to an agreement and split the water. Then they left, and from beginning to end, no one looked at Tian Jinghan, who was on the ground. Tian Jinghan laid on the ground motionlessly. Compared to the physical pain, the pain in her heart was more unbearable. At this moment, the thought of self-liberation was extremely strong. However, even after picking up a sharp piece of tile and pressing it against her neck, she still could not bring herself to do it. After a long time, a low mumble came from the reservoir. It was like the lamentation of a lonely soul or the curse of a demon. ¡°I can¡¯t die! You¡¯re the ones who should die!!!¡± Tian Jinghan stood up. Under her disheveled hair, her eyes exuded a strong sense of resentment. She didn¡¯t say a word and walked toward the depths of the wasteland. ¡­¡­¡­ Zhou Yuan was standing in front of a pond that was emitting a pungent smell. He frowned and fell into deep thought. The previous exchange had given him 184 system gold coins. He would have a second evolution chance. After leaving the few students, he pondered as he walked. How should he use this evolution chance to maximize his benefits? When he saw the pond full of polluted and stinky water, he had thought of purifying it. However, after thinking about it, he gave up. First of all, the system had said that the evolution of non-living things was unpredictable. It could be better or worse. In the previous evolution, his lucky attribute had burst forth and turned the pool of water in the reservoir into clean drinking water. According to the general rule, if he was to use the evolution on the water again¡­ There was a high probability that nothing good would happen. It was like buying a lottery ticket. If you win the first time today, it might be your good luck. However, if you bought it the next day, there was a high chance that you would not win. If it could still hit, then luck would not only be an attribute of yours, instead you might actually be the reincarnation of a lucky man. Zhou Yuan did not think that he was the reincarnation of a lucky man, so he did not dare to bet his second evolution chance on water. There was another important point. Even if he was lucky enough to turn the water in the pond into clean drinkable water again. Such a large pond would definitely attract the covetous eyes of others! At that time, it might attract people from dozens of kilometers away to fight for it. He was alone and weak, so it was impossible for him to protect himself. Therefore, after considering all the above, Zhou Yuan gave up on this option. From the previous incident with Tian Jinghan, Zhou Yuan also realized one thing. There were no moral laws in the doomsday wasteland. There were many cases of people hiding precious resources and getting into trouble every day. In the future, he would be able to obtain a lot of resources or supplies through the system. He had to have enough power to protect himself! However, how could he obtain the ability to protect himself? Zhou Yuan fell into deep thought. Chapter 7 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio He left the small pond that was emitting a pungent rancid smell. Zhou Yuan continued walking. While observing the surrounding environment, he would enter the houses from time to time to search for supplies. At the same time, he was thinking of ways to obtain the ability to protect himself. Hire people as bodyguards? That might not be safe. In an environment without morality or law, the bodyguard might stab him in the back. Look for firearms and other weapons? In the ruins, firearms were extremely rare. It wasn¡¯t like the Hollywood blockbusters in his previous life, where everyone had a gun when the end of the world came. To find a gun was like looking for a needle in a haystack. After eliminating these two points, Zhou Yuan was left with only the system. The Unlimited Evolution System could evolve all plants, animals, and non-living beings. Humans were also animals. Then the system, which claimed to be capable of evolving everything, would definitely be able to make him evolve. With that in mind, Zhou Yuan immediately asked the system, ¡°System, if I use this evolution chance on myself, what will the consequences be?¡± The system also seemed to be stuck for a moment. Two seconds later, it replied in Zhou Yuan¡¯s mind. [The host is a living being. The effects of evolution can be predicted.] [There are three most likely outcomes.] [ 1. Strengthen. Your physical fitness becomes extremely good. You will be able to resist the infection of radiation, viruses, and bacteria!] [ 2. Mutation. Your body will undergo a mutation and gain great power.] [ 3. Evolution. You will be walking on an unknown path of evolution.] [All three of the above developments are possible.] Zhou Yuan immediately asked, ¡°What¡¯s the second one? What kind of changes will happen?¡± [For example, you might become muscular and obtain a height of two meters.] [Or, grow a second pair of arms with infinite strength and so on.] [Parts or whole of the body would mutate.] Hearing this, Zhou Yuan immediately frowned. Initially, he was very interested in the second path after hearing that one could possess great power. However, after listening to the system¡¯s explanation, he didn¡¯t want to take the second path at all. He was fine with being muscular and two meters tall. What the hell was with that second pair of arms? Could he still be called a human? Shaking his head, Zhou Yuan turned his attention back to the first and third paths. The first path didn¡¯t say what kind of power he would have. However, from the literal meaning, it seemed pretty good. His physical fitness would become extremely good, which meant that his stamina and body condition would also become very good. Then, if he was to have a conflict with an ordinary person, he would be able to protect himself. After all, most people were emaciated and didn¡¯t even have the strength to walk. In addition, he also had a high resistance to radiation, viruses, and bacteria. This would be very practical. At the very least, it would ensure that he would not fall sick easily in the future, and that his life would not be shortened due to radiation. The third development was an unknown evolutionary path? This sounded a little strange. However, the word ¡®unknown¡¯ made Zhou Yuan a little nervous. If it did not meet his expectations, he would have wasted a chance to evolve. However, after some thought, Zhou Yuan made up his mind. He decided to use the evolution chance on himself. If he had to choose one out of the three, the chances of him becoming a four-armed or three-legged man were lower. He could accept the other two developments. With that thought in mind, Zhou Yuan decisively entered a nearby house. Then, he said to the system in his heart, ¡°System, I¡¯ll use this evolution chance on myself!¡± [Okay.] The system¡¯s voice sounded indifferently. Zhou Yuan felt goosebumps all over his body. Then, an intense pain burst out from his body. Zhou Yuan¡¯s face contorted with sweat. However, he gritted his teeth and didn¡¯t make a sound. After an unknown period of time, the pain disappeared and the system¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°Ding! Evolution complete. Congratulations, the host¡¯s body has been greatly strengthened and has gained a strong resistance.¡± [Now, the host¡¯s resistance to all radiation, viruses, and bacteria is maxed out.] Zhou Yuan heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this. He was lucky that he did not become a four-armed man. Through the half-broken full-body mirror in the room. Zhou Yuan realized that his originally delicate face had become more angular and handsome. His figure had become very well-proportioned as if it had been fine-tuned. There were obvious muscles on his arms and abdomen. He seemed to have grown a few inches taller, and his trousers were shorter than before. In addition, his strength had also increased. He could easily lift a 200 to 300-kilogram concrete slab from the ground. Zhou Yuan was overjoyed to see such a change. Although it was not to the point of having boundless strength, it was already far beyond ordinary people. As long as he didn¡¯t encounter any firearms, he had the basic ability to protect himself. Currently, the evolution only required 100 system gold coins. Zhou Yuan was quite satisfied with the results. However, Zhou Yuan¡¯s expression immediately changed. A strong sense of hunger welled up in him, and his stomach made a loud noise. This enhancement not only consumed one evolution opportunity. It also consumed the energy in his body. Zhou Yuan, who did not eat much, was even hungrier now! He took out the limited amount of food in his bag and finished it in two or three mouthfuls. However, it was of no use. ¡°I can¡¯t take it anymore, I need to quickly find someone to exchange for food.¡± ¡°Otherwise, I feel like I¡¯ll starve to death here.¡± Zhou Yuan muttered to himself. He walked out of the house and ran forward at top speed. However, when he passed by a residential building, he stopped. After his body had been strengthened, his five senses had also become very sharp. His sight, smell, and hearing had all become very powerful. The reason why he stopped was because he smelled a strong fragrance when he passed by. There was the smell of meat, but not all of it. It seemed to be meat mixed with other side dishes and placed in a pot to cook. Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes immediately lit up. Following the scent, he came to the 15th floor of the residential building. This floor had the strongest fragrance. Zhou Yuan heard two voices in the corridor. One of them had a tender voice and seemed to be very young. The two strangers ate and occasionally talked in low voices. Zhou Yuan walked quickly to the door and coughed lightly. Immediately, the sound of conversation disappeared, even the sound of chewing was gone. Zhou Yuan could almost imagine what would happen after the two of them heard his voice. With food in their mouth, their entire body turned stiff. He coughed again to clear his throat. Zhou Yuan said in a calm tone, ¡°Friends inside, I have no ill intentions.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just hungry, so I want to exchange for some food. ¡± ¡°I can trade clean drinking water for it.¡± Zhou Yuan waited for a moment after he finished speaking. However, the people inside did not reply to him. It was obvious that the other party didn¡¯t want to show their face and didn¡¯t want to exchange with him. However, Zhou Yuan¡¯s stomach was getting hungrier as he smelled the fragrance. He couldn¡¯t help but knock on the door. ¡°Friend, I really don¡¯t have any ill intentions.¡± ¡°I just want to exchange for something to eat.¡± Even though civilization had collapsed, Zhou Yuan had his own bottom line. He disdained to use violence to achieve his goal. However, it was obvious that the people in the room did not believe Zhou Yuan. Five or six seconds after Zhou Yuan shouted for the second time, a cold female voice came from the inside. ¡°There¡¯s not enough food, I won¡¯t trade.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not welcome here, please leave!¡± Zhou Yuan shook his head helplessly. Sometimes, it seemed that fists were easier to convince people than reason. He took two steps back and kicked out. The door was kicked open with a bang. However, in the next second, a figure rushed up with a knife. Chapter 8 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The door opened, and the person inside began to attack Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly. He easily dodged her attack. Then, he used his left hand to control the woman¡¯s right arm, which was holding the knife. With his right hand, he pressed her head against the door, making a loud bang. The woman struggled violently, but she couldn¡¯t break free. She lifted her knee and was about to land a hit on Zhou Yuan¡¯s crotch. Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes flashed as he pressed forward. He had stopped the woman¡¯s movement. The two of them were like a couple in love, leaning against the door and making out. Looking at the exquisite but cold face in front of him, Zhou Yuan said helplessly, ¡°I really just want to exchange for some food.¡± Zhou Yuan¡¯s stomach growled in time as if to prove that his master was not lying. Rumble! Hearing this sound, the woman¡¯s expression remained cold as she tried to resist. Who wasn¡¯t hungry these days? Not many people could fill their stomachs. At this time, a tender cry suddenly sounded. ¡°Let go of my sister!!!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a big bad guy!!!¡± The woman¡¯s face changed and she immediately shouted, ¡°Guoguo! Don¡¯t come out!¡± Zhou Yuan looked over and saw a little girl at the bedroom door, looking over with tears streaming down her face. The little girl looked to be about five years old and was very thin. She wanted to come over, but she didn¡¯t dare to. Seeing her sister being bullied, she was very anxious. In the end, she could only stand there and cry. Zhou Yuan was speechless when he saw this. He just wanted to get some food, but now he made it seem like he was bullying a woman and a child. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go, so don¡¯t attack me again. ¡± ¡°Otherwise, I won¡¯t be polite anymore. Do you understand?¡± The woman pursed her lips and hummed in agreement. Zhou Yuan slowly released his grip and took two steps back. The woman, who had regained her freedom, immediately ran towards the little girl named ¡®Guoguo¡¯. She held the little girl in her arms. Then, the two of them stared at Zhou Yuan warily. At the same time, a trace of regret appeared in the woman¡¯s heart. At first, she thought she was cooking on the 15th floor with her sister. Even if the fragrance spread out, no one could accurately find them. She didn¡¯t expect that they would still be discovered. At this moment, she was filled with regret and felt that she had been too careless. Gulp¡­ Zhou Yuan¡¯s stomach started growling again. Zhou Yuan took out a bottle of water from his bag and said seriously, ¡°This bottle of water in exchange for the food in your pot, is that okay?¡± The woman looked at the clean water in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hand and licked her lips. Even though she did not lack water, it had been a long time since she had drunk such clean water. Even the water she used to cook food was once polluted before she purified it. There were no viruses or bacteria in it, but it contained radiation. It¡¯s not good for your health if you drink it often. Today, she had no other choice. It wasn¡¯t easy for her to get a piece of meat and some vegetables. She wanted her sister to eat something warm, so she had no choice but to cook with this kind of water. After some thought, the woman said coldly, ¡°I can only exchange half a pot!¡± Zhou Yuan did not say anything and simply threw the water bottle over. He was about to starve to death and didn¡¯t want to waste his breath. The woman caught the bottle and immediately opened it to take a small sip. The sweet taste made her eyes light up instantly. She then brought the bottle of water to her sister¡¯s mouth. The little girl wiped her tears and tasted the water pitifully, but there was no big reaction. Her eyes were fixed on the pot of food that was in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands. The diameter of the pot was about one meter, and it was semi-circular in shape, like a stir-fry pot. It was filled to the brim with food, emitting a strong fragrance. Compared to this, even the sweetest drinking water was not attractive at all. Zhou Yuan did not care much. He picked up the chopsticks beside him and started eating. The woman¡¯s face turned cold, but then she blushed slightly. The chopsticks were the ones she had used just now. Soon, when Zhou Yuan was 80% full, he returned the pot to the woman. When the woman saw that the pot was almost half full, she relaxed a lot. So far, she didn¡¯t think that Zhou Yuan was a bad person. The woman brought the pot to the little girl¡¯s side. She said in a gentle and soft voice, ¡°Hurry up and eat.¡± The little girl replied with an ¡®Okay¡¯ and asked innocently, ¡°What about you, sister?¡± The woman smiled and said in a low voice, ¡°I have just finished eating, the rest is all yours.¡± The little girl was very easy to coax. She naively believed the woman¡¯s words and obediently ate. This time, Zhou Yuan was ready to leave after eating and drinking his fill. At this moment, the woman stopped him and said, ¡°Do you still have water?¡± ¡°Do you accept any other items in exchange?¡± Zhou Yuan nodded and said indifferently, ¡°I accept. What do you have? Take it out and let me see.¡± The woman then took out a package from the bedroom. Then, in front of Zhou Yuan, she began to take things out. Zhou Yuan shook his head at the sight. This woman was not cautious enough. She didn¡¯t even understand the principle of not revealing her wealth. If she accidentally took out something that was very precious in the eyes of others¡­ She might bring trouble to herself. After taking out a mess of things, the woman looked at Zhou Yuan quietly. Zhou Yuan walked forward and asked the system one by one. [No value.] [No value.] [Three gold coins!] [Worthless] [Seven gold coins!] [No value.] [No value.] [Two hundred gold coins!] Zhou Yuan was speechless! Most of them were worthless, but some could be exchanged for several gold coins. This situation was within Zhou Yuan¡¯s expectations. However, he did not expect something of such high value to suddenly appear. It could be exchanged for two hundred gold coins! Zhou Yuan suppressed his excitement and feigned nonchalance as he examined the little trinket in his hand. It was a semi-transparent crystal the size of his thumb. However, it felt heavy in his hand. At first, Zhou Yuan did not pay any attention to this and only casually asked the system. He did not expect to be so surprised. At the same time, the woman¡¯s expression changed. She looked at the crystal in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hand with a trace of fear in the depths of her eyes. She immediately covered it up. Zhou Yuan asked the system in his mind. ¡°System, system, what is this thing? Why does it worth so many gold coins?¡± [This is the crystalline core condensed from the body of the lowest level zombie. It contains a little energy.] Zhou Yuan was speechless. A bunch of question marks appeared on Zhou Yuan¡¯s face. Zombie? Finally, there were zombies! The crystalline core of the lowest level zombie could be exchanged for 200 gold coins? This, this was it! Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes glowed with excitement. If he could get more crystalline core, he would be able to obtain more evolution chances. At that time, wouldn¡¯t he be able to use the chances as he pleased? Then, he could put his base construction plan on the agenda! However, Zhou Yuan¡¯s face turned serious as he thought of this. The appearance of zombies meant that these things were likely to sweep across the entire wasteland in a short time. Those who already had a hard time surviving would eventually become zombies. In that case, he had to develop his base as fast as possible. With his current strength, he was not afraid of zombies at all. However, he didn¡¯t want to spend his days fighting zombies. Wouldn¡¯t it be good to build a safe base and farm there? Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan raised the crystalline core and asked, ¡°Where did you get this?¡± Chapter 9 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The woman knelt down and tidied the little girl¡¯s hair. She didn¡¯t want the little girl¡¯s hair to get into the soup. After hearing Zhou Yuan¡¯s question, she pretended to be calm and said, ¡°This information is worth a bottle of water!¡± ¡°That crystal, two bottles of water!¡± Thinking of the horror she had experienced, the woman asked for a sky-high price. She felt that these two items were worth the price. Zhou Yuan laughed and said, ¡°That is quite an exorbitant price?¡± ¡°But I can only give you half a bottle of water for the information and this crystal!¡± The woman¡¯s expression turned ugly when she heard this. She was extremely dissatisfied with Zhou Yuan¡¯s bid. Although she didn¡¯t know what the crystal was for. However, since it was dug out from a zombie¡¯s head, it must be valuable. She had read a lot of movies and novels in the past. In her opinion, even if it wasn¡¯t worth two bottles of water, he should at least give her one. In the end, Zhou Yuan only offered her half a bottle, including the location of the zombie. Was this bargaining? He was clearly not sincere! The woman¡¯s face turned cold again. ¡°You can leave. I won¡¯t exchange for half a bottle of water.¡± Zhou Yuan shook his head helplessly. However, he still patiently analyzed the situation. ¡°Although the zombies just appeared and very few people know about it.¡± ¡°However, you should also know that this thing will soon spread all over the world!¡± ¡°When that happens, it won¡¯t matter if there¡¯s any news or not.¡± ¡°And I can obtain this crystal at any time.¡± ¡°All I paid was some waiting time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m already being very sincere by offering you half a bottle of water as an exchange. ¡± After saying that, Zhou Yuan took out a bottle of water and gulped down half of the bottle in front of the woman. Then, he took the remaining half of the bottle and said, ¡°Do you want to make the exchange? If not, I¡¯ll just leave!¡± The woman still said coldly, ¡°No, you can go!¡± Zhou Yuan immediately turned around and left. However, with his back to the woman, a smile appeared on his face. Even though he said he didn¡¯t want it, he definitely did want it! Zhou Yuan was well aware of the woman¡¯s thoughts. As expected, the woman said after Zhou Yuan took three steps, ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°I want, I¡­¡± As soon as the words left her mouth, the woman immediately felt that something was wrong and instantly changed her words. ¡°I¡¯ll exchange for half a bottle of water.¡± Zhou Yuan slowly turned around and calmly threw the half-filled bottle of water over. Then, he bent over and picked up the zombie core that she had thrown away earlier. Then, he looked at the woman and waited for her to tell him where the zombies were. The woman took the bottle with a strange expression. First, she felt that the man in front of her was too wasteful. Half a bottle of water could last anyone for two to three days, but this man just drank it all in one go? What kind of nouveau riche was this! Secondly, she was a little disgusted that it had been drunk by someone else. So, she decided to boil the water later to disinfect it. Seeing that Zhou Yuan was still staring at her, the woman muttered, ¡°The last time I saw the zombie, it was in a building not far from here.¡± ¡°There were only two or three zombies at the time. I killed one to search for supplies in the house.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if the rest are still there.¡± Zhou Yuan said impatiently, ¡°You just need to tell me the location.¡± The woman walked to the window and pointed into the distance, ¡°It¡¯s there!¡± Zhou Yuan also walked to the window. After confirming the direction and appearance of the residential building, he turned around and left. He was determined to get the zombies¡¯ crystalline cores. He couldn¡¯t waste any more time. If the zombies ran away, he wouldn¡¯t even have a place to cry. Even though he could obtain more later on. However, the development of the base was a step slower. What if the zombie virus broke out before his base was even built, and the number of humans decreased again? By then, it would be even slower for him to build his base. In addition, food, water, building materials, and so on. The difficulty of obtaining these resources would be multiplied. At that time, if he relied on himself, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do it even if he died of exhaustion. Moreover, even though he didn¡¯t want to be a savior, he still had to be careful. After all, if he wanted to live a comfortable life in the future, he could not do without ¡®society¡¯. What was society? To put it bluntly, they were humans! With more people, society would naturally form. If all human beings turned into zombies, he wouldn¡¯t be able to live a comfortable life, then what was the point of him planning all these? Therefore, it was necessary to build a base as soon as possible and save as many people as he could. The crystalline cores of these zombies were very important to him. After eating and drinking to his heart¡¯s content, Zhou Yuan was full of energy. Naturally, his speed was extremely fast. Soon, he arrived at the building. It was a super large residential building, but half of it had already collapsed. As soon as he arrived downstairs, Zhou Yuan relied on his extraordinary hearing to hear the roars coming from inside the building. Zhou Yuan was overjoyed. He immediately found the entrance and walked in. Although half of the residential building had collapsed, the remaining half was still like a maze. It took Zhou Yuan a long time to find the zombies by following the sound. However, Zhou Yuan was surprised to see the so-called zombies. The first zombie that appeared in front of him looked like an old man. Its limbs were twisted, joints dislocated, as it staggered towards Zhou Yuan. Although the way it roared and its strong desire for human flesh and blood was very zombie-like¡­ However, in general, it seemed very weak! When he thought about the ¡®low-grade zombie¡¯ that the system had mentioned, he suddenly felt a sense of regret. Zhou Yuan immediately asked, ¡°System, what is the grade of this zombie in front of me?¡± [Scanning¡­] [Scan complete!] [This corpse has not condensed a crystalline core, so it does not have a grade.] Zhou Yuan was speechless. After all this time and effort, could all the zombies in this place be of no grade? Zhou Yuan casually picked up a steel pipe, took two steps forward, and directly exploded the zombie¡¯s head. After that, he didn¡¯t give up and fiddled with its head. As expected, there was nothing but rotten flesh and blood. At this time, the system automatically rang. [Two energy fluctuations have been detected. They¡¯re coming this way.] [Host, please be prepared!] Energy fluctuation? Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes lit up. The zombie¡¯s crystalline core contained energy. What else could have energy fluctuations here other than zombies? With that thought in mind, Zhou Yuan excitedly held the steel pipe with both hands and swung it twice like he was playing baseball. A moment later, two howls, one deep and one sharp sounded. Two zombies appeared at the end of the corridor. Although their movements were exaggerated and their running postures were awkward due to dislocated joints, the two zombies were extremely fast. Their roars shook the heavens, and black blood and pus spurted out of their mouth from time to time. They looked very much like a zombie. They were much more powerful than the previous one. If an ordinary person saw this scene, they would probably be scared half to death. However, Zhou Yuan was not afraid. Instead, he was overjoyed. In his eyes, they weren¡¯t zombies that could eat humans. Instead, they were two shiny crystalline cores worth 400 system gold coins that could give him four evolution chances! Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan let out a strange cry and took the initiative to charge forward. Chapter 10 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio An ordinary metal pipe was able to display its might in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands. His physical fitness could be said to have exceeded the limits of the human body. Two low-grade zombies were naturally easy to deal with. Zhou Yuan quickly wiped the two crystalline cores clean with a rag and held them in his hand. ¡°System, exchange these two crystalline cores for gold coins!¡± [Received.] The system¡¯s voice sounded indifferent, and Zhou Yuan felt the weight in his hand lighten. The zombies¡¯ crystalline cores had disappeared. On the system¡¯s screen, his gold balance had reached 744. Seeing this, Zhou Yuan was stunned. He had used an evolution chance previously, so he had 84 gold coins left. Later on, he exchanged the crystalline core from the woman for 200 gold coins. Now there were two more crystalline cores, which could be exchanged for 400 crystals, which meant that he should have 684 crystals in total. Why was it 744 now? ¡°System, why are there 60 extra gold coins?¡± ¡°How many gold coins did you exchange for these two crystalline cores?¡± [The system determines the value of an item based on its rarity and energy.] [These two cores have more energy. Each one costs 230 gold coins.] Hearing this, Zhou Yuan¡¯s expression turned serious. He recalled that the two crystalline cores he had just seen were indeed brighter than the one he had gotten from the woman. Zhou Yuan squinted his eyes. He realized something. The zombies were slowly getting stronger. This was not a good sign. As this would mean that one day, the zombies hidden in all dark corners would grow to a certain level. They would start a large-scale operation to hunt and kill humans. This was something that was almost certain to happen. In the beginning, Zhou Yuan was also very puzzled as to why the zombies were all hiding and not coming out to hunt for humans. Now that he thought about it, it was probably because they were all very weak. A strong sense of danger rose in Zhou Yuan¡¯s heart. He had to speed up his development! However, before that. He still had to search the entire residential building. If there were zombies in there, he couldn¡¯t let them go. They were all good zombies that were worth at least two hundred system gold coins! Two days later. Zhou Yuan was searching for zombies while he was on his way. He had finally arrived at his destination. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t find any more zombies in the past two days. However, he did find some supplies and survival items. Leaving behind some items that he could use, Zhou Yuan exchanged the rest with the system. His gold coins balance had also broken through the 800 mark, and he now had eight evolution chances. This made him feel at ease. He stood in front of a broken gate. Zhou Yuan took a deep breath and walked inside. The reason why he chose this place as his destination was because¡­ On one hand, it used to be an Agricultural University. There were many fields on campus where students used to do experiments and research. Furthermore, it was located in the suburbs so the damage was not severe. The radiation level was relatively low too. It was said that there was still land here that could grow food. On the other hand. It was one of the few places suitable for survival, so it had become one of the largest gathering places for surviving humans. Well, it was only limited to this city. Zhou Yuan was not sure about the further places. Therefore, Zhou Yuan felt that this was the most suitable place for him to build his base. The only problem was that this place was already occupied by many people. The melons were divided into various areas. He needed to spend some time organizing them. Thinking of this, a cold glint flashed across Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes. After experiencing a life and death crisis and killing zombies with his bare hands, he was no longer the young and inexperienced student he once was. As he slowly walked inside, more and more people gathered around him. Many people were half-dead, sitting or lying down, waiting for death. However, there were still some people who looked well and were staring at Zhou Yuan with fierce eyes. To be more precise, they were staring at Zhou Yuan¡¯s bag. They seemed to be considering if they should make a move on this strange kid. Ignoring their gazes, Zhou Yuan walked forward steadily. Perhaps Zhou Yuan¡¯s nearly 1.9-meter tall and straight posture gave him a sense of oppression after he had been strengthened. Along the way, there were no ignorant people who attacked him. Zhou Yuan was a little disappointed. When he arrived at the core area, the atmosphere instantly became lively. The noise was endless. There were three well-preserved buildings in a triangular shape. Two of the buildings were for teaching. One was big and the other was small. The rooms and corridors above were filled with people. The third building was not a storied building, but a standalone. It was like a villa. It was the former residence of the university¡¯s founder, which was later transformed into a small library. However, it was now occupied by a group of rough people, who completely defiled it by eating, drinking, and pooping in it. Looking outside the library, some people took out the books inside and used them as firewood. Zhou Yuan could not help but shake his head. These books were the symbols of human civilization, and they recorded the crystallization of human wisdom. Now, they were actually being used as firewood for warmth. It was truly a waste of God¡¯s gift! However, Zhou Yuan had no intention of stopping them. After all, this was the general environment. No matter how precious a crystal was, it was not as precious as a mouthful of water. After spending some clean water, Zhou Yuan pulled a person over and understood the structure of the forces here. In general, the two teaching buildings were similar. There were many rooms above, and each room had its own owner. It was divided among dozens of forces of various sizes. The biggest force here was the group of people living in the small library. It was said that the boss was once a butcher. When the disaster happened, he just happened to be delivering pork to the school cafeteria. In the end, he relied on his ruthlessness and a truck of pork to occupy land and become the King, with many underlings under him. After understanding the situation, Zhou Yuan fell into deep thought. How was he going to develop here? He wanted to build a self-sufficient base that could withstand the zombie tide. He had to control the entire campus. It wasn¡¯t just the land, the houses, but also the people! In this doomsday, human lives were not worth much. However, people were also a type of resource. In the future, Zhou Yuan would not be able to do everything by himself. He had to train some subordinates. However, this kind of thing couldn¡¯t be rushed. It needed to be pushed forward slowly. The most important thing for him now was to gain a firm foothold. Zhou Yuan¡¯s idea was to choose a force to attack. This force could not be too big, but it could not be too small either. He might not be able to deal with a big one, but a small one would not have any deterrent force. Then who should he choose? Just as Zhou Yuan was hesitating and was about to use drinkable water to exchange for information with the locals¡­ He noticed a commotion at the entrance of the library. Many people were prostrating on the ground as if they were welcoming an Emperor. Then, a burly man with a full beard walked out. Beside him was a charming woman. Seeing this woman, Zhou Yuan suddenly exclaimed, ¡°Tian Jinghan?¡± Tian Jinghan, the class beauty who he hadn¡¯t seen in two days, was here. And from the looks of it, she had become the butcher¡¯s¡­Lover? Zhou Yuan¡¯s voice was not loud, but Tian Jinghan still heard him. She looked over in confusion and her eyes lit up. Eh? The person who called her was actually a handsome man! Then, her expression changed drastically, and her face instantly turned ugly. Tian Jinghan¡¯s face was full of hatred, she gritted her teeth and said, ¡°Zhou Yuan!!!¡± Chapter 11 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio After seeing Zhou Yuan. The humiliating encounter from two days ago appeared in her mind again. Tian Jinghan¡¯s delicate face instantly became ferocious. The killing intent in her eyes almost overflowed. If looks could kill, Zhou Yuan¡¯s soul would have already returned to hell. However, in the next second, all of Tian Jinghan¡¯s resentment disappeared, and her expression returned to normal. Then, she revealed a charming expression again and acted coquettishly to the burly man beside her. ¡°Hubby~~~¡± ¡°Do you love me or not?¡± As she spoke, she kept rubbing her body against the bearded butcher. The bearded butcher instantly showed an expression of enjoyment. Inside his loose pants, the dragon raised its head again. The bearded butcher pinched Tian Jinghan¡¯s round buttock and teased. ¡°Little hussy, I just fed you and you¡¯re hungry again?¡± Tian Jinghan didn¡¯t feel any shame at all. Instead, she pouted and took the initiative to cater to him. ¡°Do you love me or not?¡± The bearded butcher chuckled. ¡°Love! I love you to death!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve promised you everything, don¡¯t I love you enough?¡± A trace of viciousness flashed across Tian Jinghan¡¯s face, but she instantly recovered. Then, she said pitifully. ¡°If the bad guys who bullied me come, are you willing to help me vent my anger?¡± Hearing this, the bearded butcher¡¯s eyes instantly widened. ¡°What? Did someone bully you?¡± ¡°Is it the group of students you were talking about yesterday?¡± ¡°Where are they? I¡¯m going to chop them up!¡± Hearing this, Tian Jinghan was overjoyed. She pointed at Zhou Yuan and said. ¡°It¡¯s him! He¡¯s the one who deserves to die the most!¡± ¡°He clearly had water, but he didn¡¯t let me drink it!¡± ¡°He even used the water to encourage others to beat me up!¡± Tian Jinghan¡¯s finger instantly cleared the area. The people who were originally watching the show had all left. Zhou Yuan was the only one left standing calmly at that spot. He couldn¡¯t help but applaud when he saw Tian Jinghan¡¯s performance. She really played this beauty trap, combined with borrowing someone¡¯s hand to kill another person, to perfection. Zhou Yuan could not help but sigh at the series of changes in her expressions. If this person had been born during the peaceful time on the blue star, she would have won all the acting awards in the entertainment circle. Even the best actress couldn¡¯t act as well as her! The bearded butcher angrily held Tian Jinghan closely as he approached Zhou Yuan. ¡°What the f*ck are you clapping for!¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who didn¡¯t give my darling water and even got people to beat her up?¡± Zhou Yuan nodded his head lightly and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± The bearded butcher immediately revealed a cruel smile and said, ¡°You dare to admit it, looks like you¡¯re still a man.¡± ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, then you shall atone for your sins!¡± He then shook his head slightly, and the two minions behind him walked over with evil smiles. They were all holding knives in their hands. Seeing this, the people around them started to cheer. In the doomsday wasteland, almost all types of entertainment had disappeared. Watching people fight, watching people get killed. These exciting and bloody moments had become hobbies enjoyed by many people. There were even people who placed bets on the spot. ¡°The market has opened! I will be the dealer! 1 to 3!¡± ¡°I bet a biscuit that he won¡¯t last more than five minutes.¡± ¡°A piece of dried rat. I bet he¡¯ll be killed instantly! After all, his opponent is the butcher¡¯s right-hand man!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet half a bottle of black water on his death!¡± ¡°You coward, he¡¯s definitely going to die. What¡¯s the need to bet?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true. I think this person is quite interesting. He¡¯s not flustered in the face of danger but instead, is calm and composed!¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just say that he is scared silly! Calm and composed? That is an interesting way of putting it!¡± In the midst of the noisy discussion. The two lackeys who claimed to be the bearded butcher¡¯s left and right arms screamed as they charged at Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan also slowly walked forward. The three of them brushed past each other. Everyone only saw a blurry shadow, as if someone had made a very fast movement. Most people didn¡¯t manage to see the fight clearly. Then, they saw Zhou Yuan still walking forward. The two lackeys behind him, on the other hand, took two steps forward and fell to the ground, twitching. Immediately after, two pools of blood quickly spread from the two minions¡¯ necks, covering the ground. In an instant, the entire venue fell silent. In the two teaching buildings not far away, the people who were cheering also froze there. Everyone looked at the ¡®left and right arms¡¯ on the ground, and then at the young man who was still as calm as ever. They could not help but feel a chill! In the doomsday wastelands today, killing people had become a common occurrence. Every few days, there would be a similar show. Even the bearded butcher had killed people in public, slaughtering them like pigs. However, everyone was still deeply shocked by the scene in front of them. It wasn¡¯t just because they didn¡¯t have high hopes for Zhou Yuan in the beginning¡­ Zhou Yuan¡¯s calmness and indifference after he had killed someone¡­ And the way he killed was so¡­ elegant! It was as if to this young man, he had just casually swatted two flies to death. This made people feel a chill from the bottom of their hearts. It was so cold that it could freeze them to death! In comparison, the bearded butcher¡¯s cruel and crazy way of killing was more like an outlet for extreme fear. The dealer who opened the bet was both happy and scared. He was happy because everyone had bet on the young man¡¯s death, but the young man was not dead yet. Therefore, he, as the dealer, had defeated everyone. Meanwhile, he was afraid because he had used the life and death of that young man to be a dealer. Would he get into trouble with the young man? Thinking of this, he looked at the lifeless ¡®left and right arms¡¯ in the pool of blood. The dealer¡¯s fear reached its peak. On the other side, the bearded butcher only showed surprise when he saw his subordinates being killed. There was no other fluctuation in his emotions. He was neither afraid of Zhou Yuan¡¯s skill, nor sad about the death of his two subordinates. However, beside him, Tian Jinghan was shocked. She had not expected Zhou Yuan to become so powerful in just two days. Despite that, after the shock, she still revealed a gloating smile. If Zhou Yuan displayed great strength but did not kill anyone. Perhaps the bearded butcher would stop out of fear, and might even rope in Zhou Yuan. However, now that Zhou Yuan had killed someone, the bearded butcher would definitely not let him off. Tian Jinghan immediately added fuel to the fire. ¡°Hubby! Just look!¡± ¡°This person is really too evil!¡± ¡°You must kill him!¡± The bearded butcher showed a smile and touched Tian Jinghan¡¯s round head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Hubby will help you vent your anger!¡± After saying that, he reached behind his waist and pulled out a gun. Zhou Yuan¡¯s pupils shrank. With his vision, he could clearly see that it was a self-made gun. Although it was self-made, that was still a gun! His sense of danger instantly reached its maximum value! Zhou Yuan¡¯s body leaned forward and instantly increased his speed to the maximum. A distance of more than ten meters was covered in the blink of an eye. Bang! A gunshot was heard. Everyone¡¯s eyes widened in shock. However, they realized that the young man was already standing beside the bearded butcher. There wasn¡¯t a single injury on his body. The bearded butcher, on the other hand, had a dagger in his chest. It was bleeding profusely. The bearded butcher slowly lowered his head and looked at his chest. His eyes were filled with disbelief and regret. With his last breath, he fell to the ground, full of unwillingness. ¡°Whoosh!¡± The crowd¡¯s reactions exploded! Everyone was shocked to the extreme! This youth had actually killed the bearded butcher? For a moment, everyone felt like they were dreaming! The bearded butcher was entrenched in this place and had committed many evil deeds. It wasn¡¯t that no one had tried to resist, but they all failed. His cruel and overbearing image had long been deeply rooted in people¡¯s hearts. In secret, people called him the living warlord Dong Zhuo. This showed how brutal he was usually! However, today, he was actually killed by a foreign youth? For a moment, everyone¡¯s eyes were focused on the young man who was silently adjusting his breathing! Chapter 12 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio It was a camp with thousands of people. At this moment, the entire place was in dead silence. After Zhou Yuan calmed his breathing, he slowly stood up. Tian Jinghan came back to her senses and fell to the ground in fear. Her face was deathly pale as she looked at the bearded butcher on the ground, her eyes filled with fear. She wasn¡¯t sad at all that the bearded butcher had died. Although on the surface, she was pandering to him in every way possible, in her heart, she was actually about to die from disgust. However, since the bearded butcher had died at Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands, would she, the instigator, have a good ending? Even if she used her toes to think, she knew that it would not be good! Tian Jinghan hurriedly turned over and kneeled at Zhou Yuan¡¯s feet. She hugged Zhou Yuan¡¯s leg and kept begging for mercy. ¡°Zhou Yuan, I was wrong! I was wrong!¡± ¡°Please spare me! I¡¯ll do whatever you want me to do in the future!¡± ¡°I¡¯m your slave!¡± ¡°Master! Master, please spare this servant!¡± As she pleaded, she tried to raise her head. She gave Zhou Yuan a smile that was uglier than a crying face. She was hoping that Zhou Yuan would spare her life for the sake of her appearance. However, was Zhou Yuan such a person? He didn¡¯t even think much of this class beauty when he exchanged water for items. Now that this flower had been touched by a pig for two days, he felt disgusted just by looking at her. Breaking free from Tian Jinghan¡¯s hug, Zhou Yuan pulled out the dagger from the bearded butcher¡¯s body and slowly squatted down. Looking at the fear on Tian Jinghan¡¯s face, Zhou Yuan couldn¡¯t help but shake his head. ¡°If you knew this would happen, why did you do it then?¡± ¡°You should be very clear about this.¡± ¡°The era of that civilization has become a thing of the past.¡± ¡°And in this man-eating world, if you can¡¯t kill your enemy, you will be killed by your enemy.¡± ¡°Remember this lesson in your next life.¡± Hearing these words, Tian Jinghan¡¯s expression changed from pitiful to dull, and then to resentful. ¡°No matter which era it is, I¡¯m always above the rest!¡± ¡°You disgusting losers should kneel and lick my boots!¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t I drink water!¡± ¡°Why won¡¯t you give me water!!!¡± ¡°Why¡­Uh, uh ¡­¡± Tian Jinghan¡¯s crazy and resentful voice suddenly stopped. Zhou Yuan slowly stabbed the dagger into Tian Jinghan¡¯s heart. Until the 20-centimeter blade had completely sunk into her flesh. With the matter resolved, Zhou Yuan stood up with ease. He patted off the dust and blood on his body, like an old farmer who had just finished his work. Then, he casually glanced around. No one dared to look at him in the eyes! At this moment, a hunched man walked to Zhou Yuan¡¯s side with a package in his hands. ¡°Hello, hero!¡± ¡°Thank you for eliminating the evil person from Agricultural University¡¯s camp.¡± ¡°This is a small gift to express my gratitude.¡± ¡°Please accept it.¡± Zhou Yuan looked at the interesting fellow in front of him and revealed a half-smile. This person was around 30 years old, and he was the one who had used his life as a betting chip. The so-called thank you gift was actually an apology and a plea for mercy. This person was just putting on a layer of flattery. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Zhou Yuan asked indifferently. ¡°Hero, my name is Zhang He.¡± ¡°May I ask what¡¯s your name, Hero?¡± Zhou Yuan almost burst out laughing again. ¡°Why do you sound like you¡¯re acting?¡± ¡°There is no need to be so restrained.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Zhou Yuan. ¡± ¡°Take these things and get a few people to clean up this place.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an eyesore,¡± Zhang He immediately agreed. ¡°Alright, Mr. Zhou.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go now. ¡± However, there was no need for Zhang He to shout for help as people immediately took the initiative. The subordinates of the bearded butcher were worried that they couldn¡¯t find an opportunity to perform. When they heard this, they immediately ran over. To show that they had drawn a clear line with the original owner, some of them even cursed and kicked the bearded butcher¡¯s body when they were moving it. Zhou Yuan did not care about this at all. After this little episode, he could be considered to have gained a firm foothold here. There was an 80% chance that no one would find trouble with him. For this, he suddenly felt that he should thank Tian Jinghan. Forget it, she was already dead anyway. Zhou Yuan walked into the library under the watchful eyes of countless people. In the library. Zhou Yuan shook his head as he looked at the scene. The butcher had turned such a nice little villa into a pigsty. Despite that, Zhou Yuan still covered his mouth and nose and searched the room patiently. The butcher had dominated this place for so long, so he should have had a lot of good things. However, after a round of searching, Zhou Yuan was left speechless. There was only some food and drinks in the entire house. The rest of the items were mainly for fun and use. Some of them could only be used by women. As for the valuable things, it might be the self-made gun he got from the butcher. After asking, the system gave a price of 30 gold coins. Since it was difficult to use and not safe, Zhou Yuan decisively exchanged it. Sitting on the sofa, Zhou Yuan was a little disappointed. However, Zhou Yuan was stunned when he saw it from the corner of his eyes. There was a shelf in the corner that had no books but an inconspicuous package on it. Zhou Yuan walked over and opened it. He was overjoyed. It was filled with vacuum-packed seeds. Rice, wheat, various fruits, and vegetables! It had everything! There was even the label of the Agricultural University on it. In an instant, Zhou Yuan¡¯s depression and speechlessness disappeared. To Zhou Yuan, this bag of seeds was definitely the biggest fortune in the wasteland. Although the environment had changed and it had become more difficult to grow plants. However, one should not forget that Zhou Yuan was a man with a system. After an evolution, it would definitely create a batch of seeds that could adapt to the wasteland environment. Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan impatiently picked out two of the most practical ones. Potatoes and sweet potatoes. These two had high production. Furthermore, they were unlike rice and wheat, which had to be threshed and peeled, or even ground into powder before they could be eaten. As long as these two vegetables were ripe, they could be eaten raw. With two bags of seeds in hand, Zhou Yuan ran out of the room. Zhou Yuan¡¯s reappearance attracted everyone¡¯s attention. After looking around, Zhou Yuan called Zhang He over again. ¡°Does the butcher have land?¡± Zhang He replied respectfully. ¡°There is. Shall I take you there?¡± Zhou Yuan nodded, and the two of them walked to the side. The so-called field was very close to the teaching building and the library, less than two hundred meters apart. All the land that could be planted was surrounded by ropes of different colors. When they arrived, Zhang He pointed ahead and said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, the red rope in front belongs to the butcher.¡± Zhou Yuan nodded as he held the seed and chanted in his mind. ¡°System, spend 100 gold coins to evolve these two bags of seeds.¡± Here, Zhou Yuan played a trick to see if he could find a bug. Logically speaking, these two bags of seeds were separately packaged, so they should consume two evolution chances. [200 gold coins are required for two evolution chances.] [Please confirm if the host wants to evolve.] Zhou Yuan pursed his lips. As expected, he could not cause a bug. ¡°Yes, evolve them.¡± In an instant, an invisible force entered the two bags of seeds, changing the structure of the seeds. [Evolution complete. The two bags of seeds have evolved into: ] [Agricultural University¡¯s high-yield sweet potatoes = anti-radiation rapid-production sweet potatoes] [Agricultural University¡¯s high-yield potatoes = anti-radiation rapid-production potatoes] [The growth cycle has been reduced to one-tenth of the original, and the production has been increased by ten times.] Zhou Yuan was overjoyed! With this, Zhou Yuan would never go hungry again! With this in mind, Zhou Yuan immediately tore open the packaging and poured out the seed. The seeds of the sweet potatoes were like brown Gomoku, while the potatoes were the lumps of the potatoes themselves. Seeing this, Zhang He stepped forward and said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, I¡¯ll find someone to help you plant them.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this personally!¡± Zhou Yuan did not refuse. It just so happened that he wanted Zhang He to find someone to watch over these 24/7. This was to prevent some hungry ghost from digging out the seed to eat. At this moment. An angry voice sounded. ¡°Is this how you should plant them?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have any common sense?¡± Chapter 13 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The voice belonged to a woman. Zhou Yuan frowned and turned around. Zhang He also looked over with a stiff smile. He really wanted to know who was so ignorant as to dare to speak to the fiend Zhou Yuan in such a tone. They saw a neatly dressed woman standing behind them. She seemed to be less than 30 years old and looked very young. She was very beautiful. It was a kind of intellectual beauty. Although her clothes were old, they were clean. There was a pattern on it, which was the symbol of the former Agricultural University. Zhang He¡¯s expression changed. He quickly whispered to Zhou Yuan, ¡°Mr. Zhou, her name is Fu Mengyu. She used to be a teacher at Agricultural University.¡± ¡°They are now the guests of honor of the major forces in the camp.¡± ¡°Because she and her group of students can grow food.¡± ¡°All the latest food in the camp came from her hands.¡± Zhou Yuan looked at the woman named Fu Mengyu in surprise. To be able to grow food from the past in the doomsday wasteland, he could tell that this woman was not simple. However, Zhou Yuan only took a glance at her. After all, his seeds could no longer be treated with common sense. It was a new species that could fully adapt to the wasteland environment. Therefore, the so-called common sense or knowledge of the past could not be used on how to plant in the wasteland. Hence, Zhou Yuan ignored her and said to Zhang He, ¡°Go and find a few people to help me plant it.¡± Zhang He was startled when he heard this, but he nodded in agreement. Although he also felt that it was a waste to plant the seed like this, who asked the person who planted it to be a fiend! He couldn¡¯t say anything to refute Zhou Yuan¡¯s order because he cherished his life. Fu Mengyu, who had been ignored, frowned. She walked to Zhou Yuan¡¯s side in a few steps and said in a reprimanding tone, ¡°Even if you¡¯ve never planted before, you should have some basic common sense, right?¡± ¡°Even in the past, sweet potatoes and potatoes were best planted in April and May.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already August!¡± ¡°Moreover, there¡¯s no sunlight at all during this period of time. How can the seeds you planted germinate and survive?¡± ¡°Even if we take ten thousand steps back, for this kind of rhizome crop, their seeds must first be disinfected and stimulated before planting!¡± ¡°If you continue like this, the seeds will be ruined by you!¡± ¡°Do you know how precious seeds are now?¡± Listening to the endless chatter around him, Zhou Yuan felt like he was being lectured by his teacher in the past. However, although the other party was a teacher, he was not a student. Zhou Yuan slowly stood up, his eyes cold. His entire body exuded a dangerous aura. Fu Mengyu¡¯s expression stiffened when she saw Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes. Only then did she remember that the young man in front of her was not her student. He wasn¡¯t the leader of the various forces who begged her to grow food. Instead, he was a fiend who had just killed the butcher in front of everyone! Fu Mengyu was instantly terrified. She couldn¡¯t help but think that she was done for. However, Zhou Yuan was only using his gaze to make Fu Mengyu shut up. He didn¡¯t do anything to her. After all, he was not a homicidal maniac. As long as it wasn¡¯t a threat to him or something that really angered him. He would not kill people easily. Seeing Zhou Yuan squatted down again, Fu Mengyu heaved a sigh of relief. She felt that she had escaped a calamity. However, when she saw the fiend in front of her took out a bottle of extremely clean water and poured it onto the ground. In an instant, Fu Mengyu felt provoked again. ¡°How can you be so wasteful?¡± ¡°That water is meant for drinking, and you just poured it on the ground?¡± ¡°Did you transmigrate here?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know how precious pure water is now?¡± ¡°You¡­You¡¯re really wasting God¡¯s gift!¡± ¡°You¡¯re both ignorant and stupid!¡± Zhou Yuan also knew that using the drinking water on the plant was too extravagant. However, this was his first time planting them, and he wanted to succeed in one try. So, he used the water in his bag. What if the crops didn¡¯t grow with the contaminated water? Anyway, he still had four bottles left, so he wouldn¡¯t be short of water in the short term. If there was a lack of water, he could go and purify it. After all, he had the system with him. Besides, it was his freedom to use whatever he wanted. Why would he need others to criticize him? Zhou Yuan was really annoyed by the repeated impertinent remarks. Whoosh! Zhou Yuan stood up abruptly and approached Fu Mengyu. His eyes were unusually cold. ¡°One more word and I¡¯ll kill you.¡± Fu Mengyu broke out in a cold sweat. Her expressions were dazed from shock and she couldn¡¯t come back to her senses for a long time. At this moment, the people that Zhang He had called had already arrived. Under Zhou Yuan¡¯s command, the four of them began to plant the plants. In fact, the workload wasn¡¯t that heavy. The two bags of seeds weren¡¯t much. There were probably more than a dozen of them. Very quickly, the seeds were planted. Zhou Yuan took out a bottle of water as a reward and asked Zhang He and the others to take turns looking after the land for him. This was to prevent people from destroying or digging up seeds to eat. Zhang He and the others accepted it excitedly. After all, the purity of the water in Zhou Yuan¡¯s bottle was extremely rare. It was almost evening. Zhou Yuan returned to the library to rest. He opened the door and windows to let out the smell, cleaned up a little, and ate some of the butcher¡¯s kitchen inheritance. Zhou Yuan fell asleep. It had been a long time since Zhou Yuan had slept on a soft bed, so he fell asleep very quickly. At the same time. The camp outside was still very lively. Everyone was talking about Zhou Yuan, the jinx who had suddenly appeared. The bosses of the major forces all warned their underlings not to provoke Zhou Yuan. They were even forbidden from getting within ten meters of the library. Meanwhile, in a classroom in the smaller teaching building. The 500-square-meter classroom was divided into small rooms with wooden boards and plastic. A group of young people was talking non-stop to Fu Mengyu. ¡°Ms. Fu, that man is a homicidal maniac. Why did you provoke him?¡± ¡°Teacher, you really shouldn¡¯t have done that. You shouldn¡¯t come into contact with him before you understand his temper!¡± ¡°I think what Ms. Fu said is right. That person is wasting the seeds and drinking water. It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know how precious these two things are.¡± ¡°So what if I know? What¡¯s the point of being killed by that person because of a disagreement?¡± The students¡¯ commotion gave Fu Mengyu a headache. She said impatiently, ¡°Alright, all of you shut up!¡± The crowd immediately stopped arguing. They all relied on Fu Mengyu to obtain a stable source of food and living supplies, so they did not dare to offend her. After a moment of silence, Fu Mengyu sighed. ¡°Sigh, a demon just left and another one came.¡± ¡°When will Agricultural University return to the hands of us, teachers and students?¡± In fact, she did not care about the houses or land at Agricultural University. It was the seeds in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands. She had saved them from the laboratory of Agricultural University. However, in the end, the bearded butcher found out and snatched it. Later on, she could only use the excuse of helping the butcher grow food to occasionally get some. Now that the butcher was dead, the seed had fallen into the hands of an even more dangerous and unreasonable person. Fu Mengyu suddenly felt that the future was bleak. Originally, she had wanted to rely on these seeds to develop crops that were adapted to the current environment. She wanted to save mankind from the apocalypse. Now, everything seemed to be hopeless. However, on second thought, Fu Mengyu¡¯s expression became arrogant again. ¡°That stupid and ignorant bastard.¡± ¡°When he fails, again and again, he¡¯ll naturally come back to beg me!¡± ¡°I just hope that he won¡¯t waste too many seeds!¡± Fu Mengyu was very confident about this. After all, she was the only one in the camp who could grow food! These students were just her assistants. As soon as she said that, all the students began to flatter her. They had even said things like ¡°Ms. Fu is the best¡± and ¡°Ms. Fu can save the world¡±. Within a short period of time, the mood of the classroom, which had been transformed into a residence, was joyous and harmonious. Chapter 14 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio The next morning. Zhou Yuan woke up feeling refreshed after a good night¡¯s sleep. Just as he was about to have breakfast, he was attracted by the noise outside. It was as if a group of people was exclaiming in admiration. ¡°That¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°Did they mutate?¡± ¡°How did that happen?¡± Such words were the most common. Zhou Yuan randomly made a simple version of Roujiamo with a piece of bread and jerky. He then walked out with the Roujiamo in one hand and clean water in the other. When he opened the door, he realized. There was actually someone dozing off outside the door. The man was awoken by the sound of the door opening and stood up instantly. Seeing that it was Zhou Yuan, he said in a panic, ¡°Mr. Zhou, Zhang He asked me to stay here and watch over you.¡± ¡°He tasked me to inform you to go to the field to take a look as soon as you woke up.¡± Zhou Yuan took a bite and found that the bread was as hard as a rock. After taking out the dried meat, he was about to throw away the bread. However, he found that the person in front of him kept peeking at the bread and swallowed his saliva. Then, he threw it at him. ¡°Tell me, what happened?¡± The man caught the bread in a flurry and quickly stuffed it into his arms. Then, he nodded and bowed, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Zhou.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like this, Mr. Zhou. We have only planted the seeds yesterday.¡± ¡°Yet, they sprouted after one night!¡± Despite saying that, this person didn¡¯t even believe his own words. However, he had seen the sprout with his own eyes. In an instant, the man¡¯s gaze towards Zhou Yuan was not only filled with fear but also with a trace of admiration. In this wasteland era, those who could grow food were people worthy of worship! They could even be called gods! Zhou Yuan was pleasantly surprised. According to his calculations yesterday, it would sprout in about one to two days. In the past, potatoes sprouted slower than sweet potatoes, about 20 days. After the evolution, the growth cycle would only be one-tenth of the original, which was exactly one to two days. However, in reality, it only took one night which was really fast. Zhou Yuan immediately nodded and said, ¡°Hmm, not bad. Let¡¯s go take a look.¡± The two of them walked forward and soon arrived near the field. At this moment, his field was surrounded by people. After all, growing crops in this era was something worth celebrating. Not to mention, no one had ever seen a crop that sprouted overnight! It was a miracle! Seeing that the road ahead was blocked, Zhang He¡¯s underling shouted, ¡°All of you, move!¡± As soon as he said that, everyone who was watching the sprouted crops frowned. There were even some hot-tempered brothers who looked fierce and wanted to teach the person who shouted a lesson. However, when everyone turned around, their expressions froze. It was¡­ Zhou Yuan! In an instant, their angry expressions turned into calm ones and each of their fierce-looking faces revealed a smile. The change in their expressions was very abrupt, and the scene was very interesting. Zhang He¡¯s underling looked a little proud. He was like a fox exploiting a tiger¡¯s might. Zhou Yuan followed the path and walked to his own field. At this moment, the tender shoot on the potato side had just broken through the soil and was about the height of a little finger. On the other side, the seedlings of the sweet potatoes have already grown to the size of an arm. Zhou Yuan casually plucked the seedling and nodded his head in satisfaction. At this rate, he estimated that he would be able to harvest it in about 15 days at most. However, the exact time would depend on the actual situation. 15 days was the estimated time that Zhou Yuan had calculated by dividing the growth cycle of these vegetables in the past by 10. At this moment, there was a commotion in the crowd. Fu Mengyu led a group of students and squeezed in. They were all dumbfounded when they saw the lush green seedlings. At first, they were all in deep sleep. Then, they were suddenly woken up by someone who told them that the seeds that Zhou Yuan had planted had sprouted overnight. When they heard about this, none of them believed it. They thought that the person who told them this news had a problem with their brain. Among them, the worst was a college student who had studied agriculture-related majors for two years. Not to mention, there was also a teacher who had obtained the title of Professor before the age of thirty. How was it possible for a seed to sprout overnight? It was simply a fantasy! Before the disaster. Perhaps some crops¡¯ seeds could also have such an unexpected situation. However, in the current wasteland environment, even if God came, it would be impossible for the seeds to germinate overnight! This was the confidence that professional knowledge gave them. Therefore, Fu Mengyu immediately rushed over with her students. However, after coming here and seeing those green seedlings with her own eyes¡­ Whether it was Fu Mengyu or the students, their worldview almost collapsed. What the f*ck was going on? Could there really be a God in this world? Or was this just a coincidence? Or perhaps, it was all a lie? Fu Mengyu immediately turned to Zhou Yuan and said, ¡°There¡¯s definitely no seed that can germinate overnight in such an environment!¡± ¡°Did you deliberately get someone to move them over from another place?¡± Zhou Yuan could not be bothered with her. Zhang He, who was standing at the side, replied, ¡°Ms. Fu, you¡¯re making an accusation against me!¡± ¡°Last night, my brother and I took turns keeping watch.¡± ¡°No one was able to get close to this field during this period.¡± ¡°Are you saying that we¡¯re lying to everyone and Mr. Zhou?¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re just worried about losing your position, so you¡¯re slandering Mr. Zhou!¡± Zhang He was confident that Zhou Yuan was the reason the seed could germinate. This was because he had helped others plant these seeds before. Other than Fu Mengyu, no one else know how to grow them properly. However, Zhou Yuan¡¯s plants had sprouted overnight! Zhang He did not know how to explain that this was not a miracle. After much thought, he finally came up with a piece of evidence. These seeds had been watered by Zhou Yuan with the water in the bottle! Therefore, the problem should be with the water! The seeds were still the same, but there was a problem with the water. No one knew what Mr. Zhou Yuan had done, but he had used the clear water straight to hasten the growth of the seeds, causing them to sprout overnight. This was the logic that Zhang He had thought about for the whole night before coming to this conclusion. Otherwise, it really didn¡¯t make sense. After convincing himself of this logic¡­ Zhang He made a decision. In the future, he would follow Zhou Yuan¡¯s lead. This was because he was a powerful and generous person who could make the seeds germinate overnight. Zhou Yuan was capable and mighty! If he, Zhang He, didn¡¯t follow him now, when would he? Therefore, when Fu Mengyu questioned him, Zhang He retorted without hesitation. If this was in the past, he would never have offended Fu Mengyu. After all, this was a woman who was regarded as an important guest by all the bosses in the camp. Hearing Zhang He¡¯s words, Fu Mengyu was so angry that she was about to explode. However, she did not have any evidence to prove her suspicion. Therefore, she could only swallow her anger and stop arguing. However, she did not give up and tried her best to move forward. She leaned forward in an attempt to see the seedlings clearly and find their flaws. Unfortunately, in the end, Zhang He started to chase them away. She did not see any flaws. Fu Mengyu rolled her eyes and thought of a smart idea. ¡°Zhou Yuan. You¡¯re Zhou Yuan, right?¡± ¡°I can help you take care of these seedlings.¡± ¡°How is it?¡± ¡°Everyone recognizes my agricultural skills. I can definitely take care of your seedlings and raise their yield.¡± Although she said that, in her heart, Fu Mengyu thought. ¡°Hmph! It must be fake, how could there be such a seed!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let me find any flaws, or I¡¯ll definitely expose your hypocritical face!¡± In the face of Fu Mengyu¡¯s self-recommendation, Zhou Yuan said without even lifting his head. ¡°I don¡¯t need you.¡± This one sentence was enough to break Fu Mengyu¡¯s defense! She had already lowered her voice and was willing to work for him! Yet, what kind of attitude was this? Didn¡¯t he know that in the past, she would only help when the other bosses begged her? Fu Mengyu was so angry that her chest heaved up and down violently, creating layers of ripples. However, she could do nothing about Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan rejected the offer because he really did not need it. These were all seeds that had been evolved by the system and did not require any special care. And even if he needed to, Zhou Yuan would not choose this annoying female teacher. Ignoring Fu Mengyu, Zhou Yuan took out another bag of seeds. After spending 100 gold coins to evolve. He gave it to Zhang He¡¯s underlings and asked them to plant it. This packet was rice, and after evolution, it became [anti-radiation super rice]. Zhou Yuan was looking forward to seeing how powerful it would be. Chapter 15 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio He saw Zhou Yuan take out a new bag of seeds. Fu Mengyu immediately frowned and looked over. When she realized that the bag contained rice seeds, she was instantly furious. This was because rice seeds were too precious and too difficult to grow! If he could cultivate rice that was suitable for the current environment, he would be able to solve the food problem quickly. However, even she had not been able to successfully cultivate rice. Rice was much more precious than potatoes and sweet potatoes. It is not easy for them to survive. If potatoes and sweet potatoes were like rough men who grew crops¡­ Then rice would be the delicate young lady. From the cultivation of seeds to the cultivation of seedlings, and finally to the transplanting of rice seedlings. All of these segments had very high environmental requirements. The most basic thing was that as the seedlings grew, the water requirement would also increase. When it came to transplanting rice, it had to be a paddy field. However, in the current situation, who could be so extravagant as to use drinkable water to get a paddy field? If anyone did that, they would definitely be attacked by everyone. They don¡¯t even have much water to drink, and someone was using it to plant rice? Are you serious? Therefore, this was also the reason why no one had ever planted rice before. Fu Mengyu had the support of so many people, but she could only grow a small area of rice in her own experimental field which was less than one square meter. This was also because she failed many times and was forced to stop. She had no choice. It was a waste of both seeds and water. As for using polluted water to make paddy fields? Fu Mengyu had already tried, but it didn¡¯t work. The potatoes and sweet potatoes could still be watered with a small amount of radiation-containing water. However, rice needed to be constantly soaked in water, and it was not possible to use polluted water for long periods of time. Therefore, when Fu Mengyu saw Zhou Yuan take out the rice seeds, she was shocked. Her first thought was that the seeds were going to be ruined. Her second thought was that he would waste a lot of drinking water. However, because of her previous warning, she didn¡¯t dare to speak. She was afraid that Zhou Yuan would really kill her. However, when she saw Zhou Yuan casually hand the seeds over to his underlings, she was stunned. After that, he asked his underlings to dig a simple ditch and then spread the seeds inside. Fu Mengyu couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore. ¡°Do you even know how to plant rice?¡± ¡°How can you scatter the seeds like this? Even if it¡¯s not disinfected or treated¡­¡± ¡°Even so, we still need to make a nursery. Plant the seeds in a compact way to maintain water and nutrition.¡± ¡°After the seedling grows up, then¡­ Then¡­¡± Fu Mengyu kept repeating the word ¡°then¡± for a long time, but she still could not continue her sentence. She looked at Zhou Yuan in fear, her body trembling uncontrollably. Zhou Yuan said indifferently, ¡°What did I say yesterday?¡± Fu Mengyu stuttered, ¡°You, you said you¡¯ll kill me if I keep talking.¡± Zhou Yuan patted Fu Mengyu¡¯s shoulder and said gently, ¡°The seeds have sprouted. I¡¯m in a good mood today. ¡°I¡¯ll let you off this time. ¡°But don¡¯t do it again.¡± Zhou Yuan¡¯s tone was very gentle as if he was conversing with an old friend. However, the cold aura that it emitted was filled with a sense of oppression. Anyone who got patted on the shoulder by someone who had killed a butcher in public would be afraid. Fu Mengyu nodded. Zhou Yuan turned around in satisfaction. However, at this moment, Fu Mengyu could feel the gloating and even mocking gazes from the people around her. She couldn¡¯t take it. She felt like she had lost all her dignity. Her head heated up, and she actually said, ¡°Even I didn¡¯t succeed in planting rice, so you are guaranteed to fail as well.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m helping you to correct your mistakes. How can you still be so stubborn?¡± ¡°Just treat it as if I¡¯m too talkative. It¡¯s really hard to reason with an ignorant person.¡± Fu Mengyu regretted her words as soon as she said them. However, her stubborn personality allowed her to finish the next two sentences. The result was Zhou Yuan turning around to slap her, causing her to faint. This shocked the surrounding crowd. One had to know this at this campsite. The bearded butcher was the most powerful force. However, Fu Mengyu was the most influential one. Even the bearded butcher had to follow her wishes sometimes. If one person offended the bearded butcher, they would also offend one power organization. Perhaps there were still people who were willing to protect this person in order to fight against the bearded butcher. However, if he offended Fu Mengyu, he would not be able to survive in this camp. It was because all the bosses wanted to get closer to Fu Mengyu. He could use this person as a gift. Therefore, Fu Mengyu and the other teachers and students¡­ Although he did not have much power in the camp, he had a lot of influence. Previously, Zhou Yuan had only threatened them, so they did not mind. But now, Zhou Yuan had made his move. For a moment, many people felt that something was going to happen. With Fu Mengyu¡¯s personality, she would never let it go. When the group of students saw that their teacher had been beaten up, they were instantly filled with righteous indignation. ¡°Ms. Fu is only expressing her opinion. Is there anything wrong with that?¡± ¡°She has every reason to scold you! What you¡¯re doing is wrong!¡± ¡°You¡¯re wasting the seeds, and you¡¯re going to waste drinking water too. How can you be so unreasonable?¡± ¡°Did you go to college? Have you learned anything related to agriculture?¡± ¡°Ms. Fu¡¯s advice is meaningful and sincere. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t appreciate it, but how dare you hit her?!¡± ¡°Ms. Fu is the hope of mankind. She¡¯s destined to cultivate a new variety of food in the future. If she¡¯s injured by you, you¡¯ll be the sinner of all mankind!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think that you¡¯re so powerful and amazing just because you killed a few people!¡± ¡°There are so many of us here. If you have the ability, come and kill us all!¡± One point of view was that once an individual joins a group, their intelligence would be gone. Any decision or words would be affected by the entire group. Zhou Yuan immediately agreed with this point of view. This group of students probably thought that¡­ More people meant justice, and more people meant power. Unfortunately, in this era, none of this was applicable. However, Zhou Yuan simply turned around and flashed his dagger at the group of cowards. Everyone carried Fu Mengyu and fled in a hurry, not daring to make a sound. Zhou Yuan shook his head in disdain. At the moment, growing food and preparing for the construction of the base was his priority. He really didn¡¯t have the time to deal with this group of self-righteous people. However, if she really angered him, it would be inevitable that this dagger would see blood again. After chasing away the flies, Zhou Yuan returned to planting rice. The onlookers also slowly dispersed. However, everyone¡¯s expression was a little strange. Seeing this, Zhang He whispered to Zhou Yuan, ¡°Mr. Zhou, I¡¯m afraid this group of people are waiting to see you make a fool of yourself.¡± ¡°You hit Fu Mengyu. That woman won¡¯t let you off.¡± ¡°If you can grow rice, everyone might not fall out with you.¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t grow rice, you might¡­¡± Zhou Yuan did not even raise his head as he said indifferently, ¡°I¡¯m not planting rice for anything else, I just want to fill my stomach.¡± ¡°What other people think has nothing to do with me. ¡°If anyone dares to stand in my way, I¡¯ll chop off your hands and feet.¡± Zhang He did not say anything else. Since he had decided to follow Zhou Yuan, he had complete trust in him. Chapter 16 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio In the classroom. The students carried Fu Mengyu to the bed. Fu Mengyu opened her eyes slowly. ¡°Ms. Fu, you¡¯re awake!¡± ¡°Ms. Fu, are you alright?¡± ¡°Are you alright?¡± Seeing that Fu Mengyu had woken up, the students immediately came forward to show their concern. Fu Mengyu looked around in confusion. It took her a long time to remember what had happened. Instantly, she exploded with anger. Whether it was in school or at home¡­ She was still in this camp. Her status was extremely high. No one dared to disobey her. She was the only one who slapped others. When had she ever been slapped? Moreover, he slapped her so hard that she fainted. She had never encountered such a situation in her 30 years of life. Fu Mengyu held her swollen cheek, a touch of viciousness in her eyes. She had to take revenge for this! ¡°Ms. Fu, you should apply some safflower oil on your cheek.¡± Fu Mengyu turned her swollen cheek towards him without a word. The student was very smart and went forward to help Fu Mengyu apply the safflower oil. Another student carefully said, ¡°Ms. Fu, what should we do after this?¡± ¡°Are we just going to let that murderer waste the seeds and drinking water?¡± Fu Mengyu snorted. ¡°This is the last time. ¡°Originally, I still had some hope for this person. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that after he succeeded once, he would arrogantly think that he could grow rice. ¡°After this, is he also going to arrogantly plant fruits and vegetables?¡± ¡°I will not allow the seeds to be ruined by him again!¡± ¡°This time, I have to get the seeds back once and for all.¡± All the students¡¯ eyes lit up when they heard this. However, someone said worriedly, ¡°Ms. Fu, we¡¯re all alone. How can we fight that murderer?¡± Fu Mengyu rolled her eyes at the student. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid enough to fight with that person? ¡°We¡¯re all cultured people! ¡°That kind of evil person naturally needs to be dealt with by another evil person.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show him that in this camp, I, Fu Mengyu, am not to be trifled with!¡± Fu Mengyu became more and more excited as she spoke. In the end, she said, ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to those bosses now.¡± ¡°They definitely wouldn¡¯t want an existence stronger than the butcher to appear in this camp.¡± Fu Mengyu was about to stand up, but she felt dizzy and fell back onto the bed. Zhou Yuan¡¯s slap had given her a concussion. Under the persuasion of the students, Fu Mengyu could only lie in bed and rest. Fu Mengyu looked at the ceiling with a ferocious expression. She couldn¡¯t help but clench her teeth and mutter to himself, ¡°Zhou Yuan, I¡¯ll make you pay for what you¡¯ve done!¡± On the other side. After Zhou Yuan planted the rice seeds, he immediately got someone to bring him to inspect the surrounding water resources. Not long after, they arrived at the lakeside under Zhang He¡¯s lead. This was an ornamental lake on the campus of Agricultural University, and fish had once been raised here. Now, it had become a pool of stagnant water. However, the water here was cleaner than the water in the previous reservoir. At the very least, it wasn¡¯t black. It was just a little yellow. The nuclear radiation was also much less. Most of the people in the camp drink the water here. After filtering, purifying, and boiling for disinfection, it was barely drinkable. Although drinking it for a long time was harmful to the body, many people had no choice but to use it. The water used to water the rice was also obtained from this lake. After carefully examining the surrounding terrain, Zhou Yuan silently planned the water pipe route that was going to be built in the future. After all, he was going to farm on a large scale sooner or later, and he couldn¡¯t always use manual labor to carry water. That would be too inefficient and time-consuming. Therefore, it was necessary to draw the water over. Zhang He was unaware of Zhou Yuan¡¯s plan and thought that Zhou Yuan wanted to monopolize the lake. Hence, he immediately tried to dissuade him. Zhou Yuan only smiled and did not explain much. He told Zhang He to go back and guard the fields while he strolled around the ruins of the Agricultural University campus. He wanted to inspect the surroundings of the camp and plan for the future base. In the camp. After Fu Mengyu rested for half a day, she immediately went to the nearest boss¡¯s place. The boss¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw Fu Mengyu. Not only could Fu Mengyu grow crops, but her looks and figure were also top-notch. She was someone that many people dreamed of having. However, after Fu Mengyu explained her purpose for coming¡­ The boss, who was nicknamed ¡°Old Black¡±, suddenly became serious. After some serious consideration, he sighed. ¡°Ms. Fu, we want to deal with that little brat too.¡± ¡°But now that he¡¯s grown food, I¡¯m afraid many people will stand on his side!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it a little inappropriate to make a move now?¡± Fu Mengyu retorted, ¡°Then, when will it be appropriate?¡± ¡°After he gains a firm foothold?¡± ¡°After his grain is ripe and he ropes in more people?¡± ¡°Or should I wait until he has full control over you and humiliates you?¡± Old Black¡¯s face turned even darker. ¡°Ms. Fu, you can¡¯t say that.¡± ¡°Everyone just wants to fill their stomachs and survive.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no point in fighting and killing.¡± Fu Mengyu sneered, ¡°Is there no point in fighting and killing?¡± ¡°For you to have your current status, don¡¯t you also have blood on your hands?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t speak of such high-sounding moralism with me. It¡¯s all about the benefits.¡± ¡°That person had a large bag of seeds left behind by the butcher. He might also have a technique to induce the growth of seeds.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you tempted by these? Is it not enough for you to take action?¡± Speaking of seeds and the technology to induce the growth of seeds¡­ Old Black was a little moved, but he still said, ¡°There are so many things in this world that can move my heart.¡± ¡°There¡¯s one in this room right now.¡± ¡°But, there are some things that you can¡¯t get even if you are moved.¡± Fu Mengyu ignored the meaning behind Old Black¡¯s words. She stood up and said, ¡°It¡¯s up to you if you want to join or not.¡± ¡°In any case, I¡¯m definitely going to bring that person down this time!¡± ¡°In the future, if you need my help, don¡¯t blame me for being heartless.¡± Hearing this, Old Black didn¡¯t ask Fu Mengyu to stay. He allowed her to leave. In fact, in his heart, he naturally wanted to help. In fact, his ambition was even greater, and he wanted to monopolize it. His nickname, Old Black, was not only because of his dark skin. It was because he was black-hearted! Therefore, this time, he decided to watch the fight from a distance. After all, Zhou Yuan¡¯s performance in killing the butcher was too shocking. Fu Mengyu was in a bad mood because she did not manage to convince the first person that she sought after. Fortunately, the bosses she found after Old Black all agreed, so she didn¡¯t make a wasted trip. She returned to the classroom after dark. Fu Mengyu stood in the corridor, looking at the library not far away. Her eyes were filled with viciousness. ¡°Just you wait!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s settle the score tomorrow.¡± In the library. Zhang He looked for Zhou Yuan with a grave expression. He had heard from a friend that Fu Mengyu had joined forces with several major powers to deal with Zhou Yuan. Therefore, he immediately came to inform Zhou Yuan. However, after Zhou Yuan found out about it, he said without a care, ¡°It¡¯s fine, let them be.¡± Zhang He said worriedly, ¡°Mr. Zhou, if they were to join forces, even the butcher would have to back off a little.¡± ¡°You have not fully established your position yet, you should think of a countermeasure.¡± ¡°I have good relationships with some people. I can help you build connections.¡± Zhang He¡¯s idea was simple. If the other party was looking for help, they could also find help on their side. Let¡¯s just play the game of alliance. In response, Zhou Yuan only instructed, ¡°No need. You only need to find a water bucket, the bigger the better.¡± Zhang He¡¯s face was filled with confusion. Why did he need water buckets when people are coming to beat him up? Zhou Yuan did not explain and only said, ¡°Just wait to see a good show tomorrow.¡± Chapter 17 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio It was a quiet night. The next morning. Everyone had a feeling that a storm was coming. Currently, there were two of the strongest forces in the camp, as well as a group of smaller forces. Their core members were all rubbing their hands. They couldn¡¯t help but look at the eye-catching library. As time passed, more and more people arrived. When Fu Mengyu and the other bosses appeared, everyone started to walk toward the library. Along the way, many people hurriedly made way for him, afraid that they would suffer an unexpected disaster. At this moment, the two people guarding the entrance of the library couldn¡¯t help but tremble. After all, the hundreds of people on the other side looked very intimidating. Just as the two of them were about to escape, the library¡¯s door was opened. Zhou Yuan walked out calmly. When the two of them saw Zhou Yuan, they immediately found their pillar of support and quickly stood behind him. At the same time, Zhang He and two other people carried a huge bucket and walked over from the side. When Zhang He saw Zhou Yuan, his face was filled with excitement. He put down the water bucket and couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Mr. Zhou, our rice has sprouted!¡± ¡°It¡¯s growing very well!¡± As soon as he said that, Fu Mengyu and the group of bosses who were not far away were stunned. Everyone¡¯s faces were filled with shock. Fu Mengyu even shouted, ¡°Impossible! It¡¯s impossible!¡± How could the rice seeds grow so easily? The rice seeds could germinate overnight? Who was he trying to fool?! Even if the rice seeds could be grown, it was impossible for them to germinate so quickly! Fu Mengyu ran toward the field in disbelief. Seeing this, the bosses followed Fu Mengyu. When they arrived at the paddy field, they were all dumbfounded. The land that had just been scattered with rice seeds yesterday was now lush and green. All of them were rice seedlings. Indeed, as Zhang He had said, they were growing very well! Fu Mengyu suddenly stopped talking. The truth was right in front of their eyes. The rice had been planted by Zhou Yuan. This was simply unbelievable! She had built the best experimental area in the past. Every day, she would take care of the rice seeds, fertilize them and water them. However, in the end, the rice seeds all rotted in the soil. There was not a single time when a seedling was successfully cultivated. Yet, now, the rice seeds that Zhou Yuan had casually scattered had actually sprouted? What was this? Fu Mengyu felt that all the knowledge she had learned over the past 20 years had been in vain. She could not understand how Zhou Yuan¡¯s rice seeds could survive so easily. Was there a problem with this world, or was there a problem with the knowledge she had learned? It was not surprising for potatoes and sweet potatoes to sprout overnight. However, the fact that even rice had actually grown in just one day and one night? If the rice took about a week to germinate normally, Fu Mengyu could still accept it. Now, this was completely beyond common sense. It didn¡¯t make sense at all! The students who had rushed over upon hearing the news also saw the seedlings. All of them were shocked and then fell silent. They didn¡¯t know what to say. Just yesterday, they were all saying that Zhou Yuan was wasting the seeds and drinking water. But now, they have been proven wrong. Without any drinking water, the rice seeds still sprouted. He didn¡¯t waste any seeds or drinking water. Then, the students looked at the potato and sweet potato seedlings that had grown very tall. Their hearts were filled with bitterness. They kept feeling like they had gone to a fake university. How could the crops planted by the god of death germinate so quickly and grow so well? Who could explain this? The students looked at their teachers. However, they noticed that Fu Mengyu¡¯s expression was gloomy and she seemed to be thinking about something. At the side. The group of bosses looked at each other and communicated with their eyes. The bosses of a few small forces already had the intention to retreat. They were facing someone who was much better at growing crops than Fu Mengyu, and who was extremely powerful. They didn¡¯t want to offend him. After all, everyone just wanted to live. With such a powerful person joining the camp, everyone¡¯s life would be better. Even the two most powerful bosses fell into silence. They thought about whether it was worth it to attack Zhou Yuan. After all, peace and stability were a must if one wanted to live a better life. Now that Zhou Yuan¡¯s value had risen again, they were somewhat shaken. Cooperation was better than confrontation, and many people wanted to see mutual benefits. At that moment, Fu Mengyu sensed a strange atmosphere. Hence, she immediately said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do you all want to give up?¡± ¡°Just planting rice is enough to make you cower?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve grown so much food back then, but I¡¯ve never seen any of you respect me more!¡± ¡°Besides, doesn¡¯t this mean that he has the technology to induce the growth of seeds?¡± Fu Mengyu thought about it for a while and finally concluded that the reason the seeds sprouted so quickly was that Zhou Yuan had an unknown catalytic technology. Otherwise, she would really break down. After all, even with all the knowledge she had, she could not explain this phenomenon. ¡°Let¡¯s take action and snatch this technology back.¡± ¡°In the future, everyone can grow a large amount of food. Isn¡¯t that better?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to be afraid of Zhou Yuan anymore!¡± ¡°Could it be that you want to wait for Zhou Yuan¡¯s food to ripen and then rope in more people?¡± ¡°And in the end, have full control over you and become more powerful than the butcher?¡± ¡°If any of you are willing to cower under someone else forever, then pretend I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± ¡°Those who are willing to help, follow me!¡± Fu Mengyu¡¯s words made the wavering bosses become firm again. There was one thing that Fu Mengyu was very accurate about. The bosses were all ambitious. They couldn¡¯t accept the fact that there was an existence even more powerful than the butcher taking control over them. They exchanged a glance. The bosses all followed Fu Mengyu and returned to the front of the library. Seeing that everyone had returned, Zhang He said proudly, ¡°How is it? Are you convinced this time?¡± ¡°Ms. Fu, can you make the rice seeds germinate in one day and one night?¡± ¡°Bosses, do you still want to guard this woman?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious whose technique is better?¡± Zhang He was still worried that the other party would make a move, so he wanted to persuade those bosses. He hoped that a few of them would turn against Fu Mengyu and not attack Zhou Yuan. Fu Mengyu ignored Zhang He and snorted at Zhou Yuan. ¡°Zhou Yuan, I¡¯ll give you a chance.¡± ¡°Hand over the seeds and the technology.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll forgive you for offending me yesterday.¡± ¡°Otherwise, you¡¯ll regret it!¡± Zhou Yuan remained unmoved as he sat on the single sofa that had been brought out. He said to Zhang He and the others calmly, ¡°Pour all the water in the small buckets into this big bucket.¡± Zhang He and the others immediately did as they were told. Although they had no idea what Zhou Yuan was planning to do. However, after the success of the rice seeds, they had an unconditional trust in Zhou Yuan. Chapter 18 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Zhang He found a large black bucket. The tag was still there, with the words ¡®water transport bucket¡¯ and ¡®capacity 8 cubic meters¡¯ written on it. Zhou Yuan asked Zhang He and the rest to pour the small buckets of lake water into the large one. Fu Mengyu laughed. ¡°You¡¯re still playing tricks when a great disaster is imminent.¡± ¡°Zhou Yuan, I¡¯m talking to you!¡± ¡°Do you think that you can treat it as if nothing happened after you hit me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you, I¡¯m not that b*tch who won the butcher¡¯s favor with her body.¡± ¡°My allies combined are much stronger than that butcher!¡± ¡°You must give me an explanation today!¡± Hearing this, Zhou Yuan said in disdain, ¡°What¡¯s the difference between you and Tian Jinghan?¡± ¡°She relies on her body, you rely on farming.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference in essence?¡± ¡°All of us are just relying on others.¡± Fu Mengyu¡¯s defense was broken with one sentence. Fu Mengyu realized that she could not keep her cool in front of Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan¡¯s tone was contemptuous and his expression was always calm. Every time she saw it, she couldn¡¯t help but get angry. Seeing Zhou Yuan was like seeing the most rebellious student in the class. It really made her extremely angry. ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you can keep this up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tear your mouth apart later and see if you can still talk to me like this.¡± Fu Mengyu turned around and was about to ask the bosses to send people to subdue Zhou Yuan. However, at this moment, she heard Zhou Yuan say, ¡°I should thank you¡­¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you, the camp wouldn¡¯t be so full today.¡± ¡°Since everyone¡¯s here, I¡¯ll make an announcement.¡± ¡°From today onwards, I¡¯ll start trading drinking water here.¡± ¡°In the future, if you have anything of use or not, you can bring it over to exchange for clean drinking water.¡± Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard this. What did that mean? Was this person scared silly? There were so many people cornering him, and yet he was telling them that he wanted to sell drinking water? Where was the drinking water? Hopefully not the one in the big black bucket¡­ The lake water was poured in front of them, they all knew that the water inside was polluted. Wouldn¡¯t he want to deceive people behind their backs? Fu Mengyu was stunned for a moment. After understanding what Zhou Yuan meant, she burst into laughter. She clutched her stomach and almost had a stroke. ¡°Zhou Yuan, have you been scared silly by our stance?¡± ¡°Selling water? You¡¯re selling a bucket of polluted water from the lake?¡± ¡°You were angry when I said you were stupid. Now it seems that¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re not stupid. You¡¯re really foolish!!!¡± ¡°Can you be any more foolish?¡± ¡°Even those water shops know how to filter and purify the lake water at night before selling it to others.¡± ¡°Meanwhile, you are trying to sell it after pouring the lake water in front of everyone.¡± ¡°Do you think everyone is an idiot?¡± ¡°You¡¯re really a joke!!!¡± Fu Mengyu¡¯s words gained everyone¡¯s approval. Seeing Zhou Yuan¡¯s serious expression, everyone burst into laughter. After the apocalypse, this was probably the happiest time the surviving humans had laughed. The bosses also shook their heads. The fear and caution they had for Zhou Yuan had been greatly reduced. It didn¡¯t matter how powerful or terrifying a person was. As long as one did something that others thought was stupid, the pressure that this person had on others would be greatly reduced. Zhou Yuan was like this. Even if the bosses from before joined forces, the normal civilians would still be able to escape. However, now, almost everyone was afraid of Zhou Yuan. After all, Zhou Yuan¡¯s display of his individual strength was too shocking. That was why they were so afraid. Even with so many of them working together, they were still afraid that Zhou Yuan would fight to the death and kill some of them. After all, no one could guarantee who Zhou Yuan would target. Everyone could become that unlucky person. However, when Zhou Yuan tried to sell the contaminated water in the lake as drinking water in front of everyone¡­ Their fear and pressure instantly weakened a lot. One of the bosses directly sneered, ¡°Zhou Yuan, are you crazy?¡± ¡°When the butcher wanted to scrape off some oil, he took out real jerky.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that his selling price was very expensive,¡± ¡°Now, you¡¯re trying to sell something and could only come up with such a stupid idea?¡± ¡°Do you think we¡¯re all idiots?¡± ¡°Or, do you want to force a deal?¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to ask the bosses here!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you a piece of advice. You¡¯re an outsider. It will not do you good for being too arrogant!¡± Another one said, ¡°Zhou Yuan, you can make the seed sprout overnight.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you can turn the contaminated water in the lake into clean drinking water?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll just kneel at your feet.¡± ¡°Because if you can do it, you¡¯re almost no different from a God!¡± ¡°When that time comes, I will definitely kneel in front of you and repent!¡± ¡°So, Zhou Yuan, are you a God? Hahaha!¡± The boss couldn¡¯t help but laugh after he finished speaking. Even Zhang He and the others beside Zhou Yuan shook their heads helplessly. The newly established organization¡¯s trust in Zhou Yuan had cracked. They were still wondering what Zhou Yuan would do. In the end, he decided to sell a bucket of contaminated water as drinking water? What was he doing? They¡¯re already cornered! Zhang He¡¯s face was filled with confusion. He could not understand what Zhou Yuan was up to. At this moment, Fu Mengyu waved her hand and said, ¡°Alright! Don¡¯t waste your breath on him!¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s so scared that he has mental problems.¡± ¡°Zhou Yuan, I¡¯ll ask you one last time.¡± ¡°Are you willing to hand over the seeds and the technique to induce the growth of the seed?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re willing, then hurry up and hand them over. It¡¯ll save us the trouble of fighting and making things difficult for everyone.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re not willing, just say so. Let¡¯s see who¡¯s the real deal!¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t teach you a lesson today, you really won¡¯t know your place!¡± Zhou Yuan slowly stood up from the single-seater sofa after he was done enjoying the clown¡¯s performance. This action instantly shocked everyone. They had all thought that Zhou Yuan was going to attack them. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they saw that Zhou Yuan had only walked to the side of the bucket. As he walked toward the large water bucket, Zhou Yuan thought to himself, ¡°System, evolve the water in the bucket.¡± [Received.] [Evolution complete. The contaminated lake water has been converted into clean drinking water.] As the big black bucket was not transparent, the water transformation process could not be seen. However, Zhou Yuan naturally trusted the system. He walked to the bucket with a glass cup in his left hand, which he found in the library¡¯s display cabinet. His right hand pulled out a hollow metal tube from somewhere. Zhou Yuan then inserted the metal pipe into the bucket. The clear water immediately flowed out. Zhou Yuan filled his cup. He drank it in one go in front of everyone. This scene once again attracted the ridicule of Fu Mengyu and the others. Meanwhile, Zhang He could clearly see the water in Zhou Yuan¡¯s cup. He was stunned! Chapter 19 Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio There was some distance between them. Fu Mengyu and the rest did not see the color of the water that Zhou Yuan had drunk. Even if someone saw it, no one would care. After all, even if the water was completely black, as long as a small amount splashed in the air, it would still be transparent. Therefore, everyone thought that Zhou Yuan had drunk the contaminated water from the lake. Fu Mengyu said sarcastically, ¡°Zhou Yuan, are you attempting suicide?¡± ¡°Actually, even though you slapped me, I didn¡¯t want to fight with you or anything like that.¡± ¡°As long as you apologize and hand over the seeds and the technique to induce the growth of the seed, everything will be fine!¡± ¡°Everyone is happy!¡± ¡°Even if you are not willing to hand them over.¡± ¡°All we will do is beat you up and snatch your stuff.¡± ¡°I actually didn¡¯t want you to die.¡± ¡°But now, sigh, why are you drinking that lake water? It¡¯s so dirty!¡± Fu Mengyu¡¯s words seemed to be a stark contrast to her own expression. From her words, it seemed like she wanted to reconcile with Zhou Yuan. However, her expression was filled with gloating. Although she said that she didn¡¯t want Zhou Yuan to die, she was actually hoping that Zhou Yuan would die as soon as possible. The other bosses also chimed in. ¡°Zhou Yuan, are you trying to prove that the water you¡¯re selling is drinkable? Where did you come from? Why is your brain so strange? Are you trying to make me laugh to death with your joke?¡± ¡°Zhou Yuan, you¡¯re actually a talent! Why hurt your own body? I originally wanted to give you a job that could support you, but now it seems that there¡¯s no need. If you drink the lake water directly, you¡¯ll become a sick ghost soon!¡± ¡°He deserves it. Why is he acting tough for no reason? In the end, he was so scared that he lost his mind. He wanted to sell contaminated water and took the initiative to drink contaminated water.¡± ¡°They¡¯re really a pair of idiots. Look at Zhang He, who¡¯s on his side. He looks like he¡¯s seen a ghost.¡± ¡°Hahaha, I guess he¡¯s also dumbfounded. He thought that he¡¯d followed a capable man, but in the end, the man himself directly broke his trust!¡± Just as everyone was ridiculing Zhou Yuan. Only Zhang He and the rest were staring blankly at the cup that Zhou Yuan had been drinking from and the metal tube that was stuck in the black bucket. As they were close, they could see it clearly. The water that flowed out of the bucket was extremely clear. It was as clear as the bottled water that Zhou Yuan had given them previously! At that moment, the end of the metal tube was blocked by Zhou Yuan¡¯s fingers, but the water was still dripping down. Zhang He walked forward in a daze, took the string of water beads with his hand, and then put his finger into the water. Zhang He¡¯s eyes widened instantly. The water didn¡¯t have a bitter or sour taste. Instead, it was a little sweet. Although it was only a drop of water on his finger, he could taste the sweetness. One had to know that even if one only drank a little of the lake water, it would still be very sour and smelly. However, the water in the bucket was sweet! Zhang He¡¯s eyes were filled with disbelief. Could it be that the lake water that he had poured into it had now become clean drinking water? He said in a trembling voice, ¡°M-Mr. Zhou, m-may I have a sip?¡± Zhou Yuan passed the cup and the metal tube to him before he sat back on the sofa. ¡°You¡¯re the first one to follow me. Here¡¯s a cup for you.¡± Zhang He tried his best to block the metal pipe and prevent the water from flowing out. Then, he slowly opened the cup and filled it with half a cup of water. Looking at the clear water in the cup, Zhang He¡¯s face seemed to glow. It was as if the cup was a Holy Grail, and the water was holy water. He first took a small sip carefully, and the sweet taste instantly made his eyes widen. Then, he poured all the water into his mouth, closed his eyes, and tasted it carefully, not willing to swallow it. At this moment, Fu Mengyu and the others burst into laughter. ¡°Look at that Zhang He, he also went to drink the water like an idiot! Hahaha!¡± ¡°Hey, Zhang He, you¡¯re working too hard for your new master. Aren¡¯t you afraid that the contaminated water will poison you to death?¡± ¡°If he¡¯s willing to die, who can stop him!¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Listening to the noise around him, Zhang He, who was always extremely tactful and harmless in front of others, suddenly had the urge to kill someone for the first time. ¡°You clowns¡­¡± ¡°All of you, shut up!!!¡± The first sentence was muttered by himself, but the second sentence was shouted out. This sudden roar immediately attracted everyone¡¯s attention. Some of the bosses had unkind expressions. Since Zhang He dared to speak to them in such a tone, they had to teach him a lesson after dealing with Zhou Yuan. Zhang He¡¯s face was strangely flushed. He half-squatted on the ground, his right hand blocking the metal pipe, and his left hand pointing at Fu Mengyu and the group of bosses. He scoffed, ¡°You idiots!¡± ¡°A miracle has happened before you. It¡¯s fine that you don¡¯t know anything, but you actually dare to speak so rudely!¡± ¡°Ignorance and stupidity are not enough to describe you!¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying this is contaminated water?¡± Zhang He retorted, and then his tone became respectful. ¡°Mr. Zhou, please allow me to call you Mr. Zhou!¡± ¡°May I ask if I can show these stupid mortals your divine miracles?¡± Zhou Yuan said indifferently, ¡°Show it. Hurry up, there¡¯s still a lot of work to do.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zhang He bowed respectfully. Then, he asked someone to bring him a glass container. This was also one of the items on display in the library. It was a decanter that people used to use to sober up red wine. After Zhang He took the transparent decanter, he carefully moved his hand away and let the water flow out of the metal tube. He used the decanter meticulously, and the expression on his face was as if he was doing something sacred. On the other side, Fu Mengyu had already lost her patience. When Zhang He took the decanter, she shouted, ¡°Stop acting mysterious!¡± ¡°Zhou Yuan, I¡­!!!¡± Just as she was about to give her ultimatum. She suddenly noticed the water in the decanter. It was so clear that it was as if it didn¡¯t exist! This time, Fu Mengyu was stunned on the spot. What was that? Wasn¡¯t it polluted water? Why was it so clear? At this time, the others also discovered that the water was unusually clear, and they all revealed expressions of disbelief. Where was the lake water? Everyone had seen Zhang He and the others pour contaminated lake water into the lake. It had a sour smell and the color of the water was yellow. Why did it all become clear water now? With such clarity, one could tell that it was drinkable water! Even if the lake water had been filtered, purified, and boiled for disinfection, it would still have a bitter taste in the end. It would not have become so clear. However, now, even though nothing had been done to it, why did it become so clear? A miracle? Everyone recalled Zhang He¡¯s words. They were shocked to the extreme. Could it be that this was really a miracle? If this wasn¡¯t enough to prove that it was a miracle, then¡­ Then what about the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice that had been planted continuously and sprouted overnight? When they added all these events together, wasn¡¯t Zhou Yuan a miracle bestowed by a God? Instantly, everyone had the urge to kneel down and worship! Chapter 20 - Put on the Agenda Chapter 20 Put on the Agenda In the dead silence. Zhang He raised the decanter with a look on his face as if he was holding something sacred. At this moment, he had already completely regarded this as a miracle. He regarded Zhou Yuan as a God in this world. After all, other than this explanation, he could not think of any other way to explain what was happening in front of him. The contaminated water that had just been poured into the bucket had turned into clear and sweet drinking water in the blink of an eye. If this wasn¡¯t a miracle, what was it? In addition, the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice that Zhou Yuan had planted in succession all sprouted within a day. When all these things were put together, who else could do it other than the gods? Zhang He immediately rejected the idea of Science and Technology. He had never heard of such a thing even in the glorious era. In the current environment of the wasteland, it was not possible to do this with technology. Zhang He bowed to Zhou Yuan respectfully, then shouted at Fu Mengyu and the rest, ¡°What are you guys doubting? Who are you guys mocking?¡± ¡°With such a miracle in front of you, what else do you have to say?¡± The bosses all stared at the clear liquid in the decanter, dumbfounded. They were all the bosses of at least a hundred underlings. Their lives could be considered to be very good in this camp. There were people serving them food and drinks every day. However, even they had never drunk such clear water. A year after the disaster, there was no such clear water. Not to mention that so many years had passed. For a moment, everyone was silent. Fu Mengyu looked at the decanter in a daze and mumbled, ¡°Impossible, that¡¯s impossible!¡± ¡°That¡¯s contaminated water, not drinking water.¡± ¡°There is no God in this world, there is definitely no God.¡± Till the end, Fu Mengyu was still a teacher. Whenever she encountered something, she would try to figure it out from the root. It was just like how Zhou Yuan made a seed sprout overnight. She had not slept well for the past two days because of this matter. As soon as she closed her eyes, all kinds of knowledge flashed through his mind, trying to figure out the principle behind the seeds¡¯ overnight germination. Unable to figure it out, she could only attribute it to the fact that Zhou Yuan had the unknown technology to induce the growth of seeds. One of the reasons she had targeted Zhou Yuan so much was because of that slap. Another reason was to find out if Zhou Yuan had the skill. If he did, what was the principle behind the technology? However, now, an even more exaggerated and fantasizing scene was happening right in front of her. At that moment, Fu Mengyu¡¯s worldview collapsed. She felt like she was in a dream. The world was no longer what she was familiar with. When the students saw their teacher in such a state, they didn¡¯t know how to comfort her. They were equally shocked by this scene. The water contaminated by nuclear radiation became drinking water in the blink of an eye. This¡­ It felt like they had wasted their time in University! Furthermore, they did not even see Zhou Yuan touch the water. He just walked over and inserted a metal pipe into the barrel. Then, the water that flowed out would become clean drinking water! They didn¡¯t even know how to find an excuse to explain this fantasy. Previously, the seeds had sprouted overnight, so they could question the seedlings that were transplanted from other places at night. It could be assumed that Zhou Yuan had unknown technology that could accelerate the growth of seeds. Now, they were completely speechless. Just as Zhang He had said, the only explanation seemed to be a miracle. Just as everyone was filled with shock. One of them said loudly, ¡°Mr. Zhou, do you accept the exchange of everything here?¡± Everyone looked over. Fu Mengyu¡¯s face darkened. It was Old Black, who had rejected her before. The strength of his subordinates could be considered one of the best in the camp. He didn¡¯t agree to work together before, but now he was calling Zhou Yuan, ¡®Mr. Zhou¡¯. What did he mean by that? Fu Mengyu looked at Old Black unkindly. Zhou Yuan replied indifferently, ¡°Anything,¡± ¡°But it must be valuable.¡± Old Black chuckled and nodded, throwing a black thing to his underling. Then, the underling immediately ran to Zhou Yuan¡¯s side and held it up with both hands. Zhou Yuan picked it up and saw that it was a multi-purpose knife wrapped in black leather. He asked the system in his heart how much it was worth. [Exchangeable for 150 gold coins.] This price surprised Zhou Yuan, but he immediately understood after taking another look. He found that besides all kinds of small knives, saws, and screwdrivers, there was also a magnesium bar. This magnesium rod alone was worth the lighter from the beginning. Throwing a bottle to Zhang He, Zhou Yuan said slowly, ¡°One-third of the height.¡± Zhang He immediately understood. He filled the bottle with a third of the water and gave it to Blackie¡¯s subordinate. Old Black finished the water in one gulp without complaining that it was expensive. Then, he let out a satisfying sound, and his eyes immediately lit up. Old Black said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, do you have any way to cooperate with me so that I can get a stable supply of drinking water from you?¡± Zhou Yuan replied indifferently, ¡°No, currently only items are accepted for an exchange!¡± He needed a large number of items and system gold coins to have the opportunity to evolve. The 800 gold coins that he had saved up previously were used to evolve the seeds of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice. The water in the bucket had just evolved again. Now, he only had around 400 gold coins left. He wanted to build a base and develop it. Zhou Yuan felt that he would need at least ten thousand gold coins. After all, the system needed to spend gold coins to evolve each individual item, which was very deceptive. Therefore, he had to get enough system gold coins from exchanges as soon as possible. Old Black wasn¡¯t surprised, he just smiled, ¡°Okay, please wait a moment, Mr. Zhou.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll immediately get my brothers to organize the items at home and send them over for exchange. We¡¯ll support Mr. Zhou¡¯s business. With that, Old Black cupped his hands and left with his men. From the beginning to the end, he didn¡¯t even look at Fu Mengyu, who had an ugly expression. Just as Fu Mengyu was about to say something¡­ One of the bosses beside her suddenly spoke. ¡°Mr. Zhou, I apologize for my offense just now. I¡¯ll come over to support your business later.¡± Fu Mengyu looked at the boss in disbelief. Out of all the bosses, this person was the fastest to agree with her. He said that he would support her unconditionally. Yet now, he was the first one to turn against her? Fu Mengyu¡¯s face suddenly looked as if she had eaten sh*t. Moreover, the moment this boss opened his mouth¡­ The rest of the people spoke up. They all expressed that it was all a misunderstanding and would definitely support Zhou Yuan¡¯s Water Shop business. Fu Mengyu¡¯s face darkened every time someone spoke. In the end, she stood there all alone. She had completely turned into a clown. Upon seeing this, Zhang He sneered and said, ¡°Ms. Fu, do you still remember why you came here?¡± ¡°If you¡¯ve forgotten, you should go back and think about it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t stand here and affect Mr. Zhou¡¯s business. You¡¯re going to bring in bad luck!¡± Hearing Zhang He¡¯s sarcasm, Fu Mengyu couldn¡¯t take it anymore. Her eyes rolled back and she fainted. The students beside her immediately rushed forward and carried her back in a sorry state. Zhou Yuan tossed the multi-functional knife to Zhang He and ordered, ¡°The exchange price will be based on this.¡± ¡°The scarier something is, the better it is.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t just accept all kinds of trash.¡± Zhang He understood tacitly and said respectfully, ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± Zhou Yuan nodded and returned to his room. With Zhang He¡¯s intelligence, he definitely wouldn¡¯t suffer a loss. He was very assured. Now, he had to plan his future development. After all, after this round of exchange, he would have a large number of gold coins. It was time to put the construction of the base on the agenda. Chapter 21 - Active Water Purification Fish Chapter 21 Active Water Purification Fish In the afternoon. After more than half a day. Half of the water in the big black bucket had already gone down. The entrance of the library was filled with all kinds of items. Zhang He carefully sorted out the items and stacked them up into several piles. After Zhou Yuan saw it, he immediately asked Zhang He to carry them into the library. Then, he sat comfortably on the sofa and asked the system about each of them. ¡°How much is this worth?¡± [85 gold coins.] ¡°Hmm, not bad. What about this?¡± (3 gold coins.) ¡°Oh, trash. How about this?¡± This time, the system didn¡¯t answer immediately, as if it glitched for a moment. Then, for the first time, the system¡¯s voice seemed to have a tone. [The system can instantly scan all the items in front of you.] Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment before he finally understood what the system meant. The system was saying that it could calculate the value of all the items at once. It was asking him to please stop asking one by one. After being slightly startled, Zhou Yuan said, ¡°Alright, how much are these things worth?¡± (Scanning¡­] (Scan complete!) ¡°There are a total of 673 items. Among them, 634 are worth less than 100 gold coins, and 39 are between 100 and 200 gold coins.¡± [Total value: 2458 gold coins] It was within Zhou Yuan¡¯s expectations that the price of the fruit would not exceed 200 gold coins. After all, only a zombie crystal c energy was worth 200 gold coins. The items that the refugees had dug out from the ruins were all man-made, so it was normal for them to be below 200. Fortunately, there were a lot of gold coins, and in the end, he had more than 2000 gold coins. [Host, please confirm if you want to exchange all of them for gold coins.] Zhou Yuan did not hesitate and said, ¡°Exchange all of them!¡± (Understood.] In an instant, the pile of items in front of him disappeared like a dream. On the system¡¯s screen, his gold balance became 2873. Zhou Yuan was not worried that others would question why so many items had disappeared. After all, he was already a god-like figure in the eyes of Zhang He and the others. Looking at the four-digit gold coin balance, Zhou Yuan was filled with motivation. Although the sky was getting dark, he was ready to start the base construction plan immediately. However, at this moment, the system took the initiative to say, [The system has detected that the host¡¯s balance has reached four digits for the first time. More functions have been unlocked.] [Now, you can use more gold coins to evolve items into something greater.] (For example, 100 gold coins could originally evolve contaminated water into drinking water. Now, 200 gold coins could be spent to evolve contaminated water into a nutrient-rich solution.] (User may even spend more gold coins to evolve the contaminated water into fluid energy.] Hearing this, Zhou Yuan asked doubtfully, ¡°More gold coins? How many gold coins do you need?¡± (1000 gold coins can be used to evolve contaminated water into the lowest level of fluid energy.) 1000? Heh. Zhou Yuan pretended that he did not hear that. Although this fluid energy sounded very high-end, it seemed that he had no use for it at the moment. All in all, the system was now saying that the more gold coins he spent, the better the effect of the evolution. Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan clenched his fists. He was considering if he should evolve his strength again. However, after thinking for a while, he gave up. With his current physical fitness, it could be said that it would be difficult for him to find an opponent. In addition, he now had Zhang He and so many underlings. He was safe for the time being. The most important thing now was to build the base, and not a single gold coin could be spent carelessly. Zhou Yuan nodded and walked out of the room. At this moment, Zhang He had already packed up the stall outside the door. He immediately walked over respectfully when he saw Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan ordered, ¡°Two things,¡± ¡°First, spread the news that I want to buy live fish. The price is negotiable.¡± ¡°Second, find some people to help me build a wall. They will be rewarded with drinking water.¡± Zhang He respectfully agreed, then carefully asked, ¡°Mr. Zhou, the wall¡­ Where should we build it? And¡­how?¡± Zhou Yuan threw a piece of paper to Zhang He and said, ¡°This is the blueprint. It¡¯s marked in detail. Build the one on the lakeside first.¡± Zhang He carefully unfolded the folded blueprint. When he understood the contents, his face was filled with surprise. This was because the map roughly depicted the entire camp. The two teaching buildings, the library where Zhou Yuan lived, the fields, lakes, and ruins of buildings of various forces. Then, a solid line was used to mark out the areas in many places. It was indicated on the side that the solid line represented the wall. If one looked at the overall situation, these walls would cover more than half of the camp. At present, it included the library, the fields, the lake, and the ruins of buildings. If all the walls were built, this area would be separated from the two teaching buildings. Zhang He could not understand why Zhou Yuan would do this. However, this did not affect his loyalty in carrying out Zhou Yuan¡¯s orders. After what had happened this morning, he was now completely devoted to Zhou Yuan and would follow him until death. Therefore, after receiving the blueprint, Zhang He immediately started looking for people. On one hand, he had people spread the news about wanting to purchase live fish. On the other hand, he began to look for laborers and people who knew how to build houses. It was a quiet night. The next morning. Zhou Yuan walked out of the room. Looking at the big bucket of fish in front of him, he was a little stunned. The bucket was half a meter in diameter and almost a meter in height. It was filled with fish. Zhang He, who had been waiting for a long time, said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, I wasn¡¯t sure what kind of fish you like.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I took two to three of each.¡± ¡°Do you think these are okay?¡± Zhou Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. The reason why he wanted live fish was not to eat them. ¡°I¡¯m not planning to eat the fish.¡± ¡°By the way, why can we still catch so many fish?¡± When Zhang He heard Zhou Yuan say that the fish was not meant to be eaten, he looked a little embarrassed. Then, he explained, ¡°You may not know this, but in the early stages of the disaster, there were still many fishes.¡± ¡°Including the lake not far away.¡± ¡°However, later on, the water quality became worse and worse, and the fishes started to die in large numbers.¡± ¡°In order to continue developing, many people catch the fishes and keep them in their own ponds.¡± ¡°So, these fishes are not naturally wild.¡± ¡°They¡¯re all raised by the families themselves. Zhang He felt a little emotional. ¡°However, as time passes ¡­¡± ¡°Water resources are becoming more and more scarce. Most people can¡¯t afford to raise fish.¡± ¡°When you¡¯re extremely thirsty, you can even finish the water used to raise fish.¡± ¡°However, with your presence, this campsite will definitely not lack water in the future.¡± ¡°You are the savior sent by the heavens!¡± At the end of his sentence, Zhang He couldn¡¯t help but flatter Zhou Yuan. However, he sounded so stiff that Zhou Yuan felt a little scared. ¡°Carry the bucket of fish and follow me.¡± Zhang He and his underlings carried the bucket and followed behind Zhou Yuan. They arrived at the lakeside. At this time, there were already hundreds of people working in full swing. The outline of the wall had already appeared. Walking down the stairs, Zhou Yuan arrived at the water¡¯s edge. At this distance, the sour and stinky smell of the lake water was extremely pungent. Zhang He covered his nose and asked in a muffled voice, ¡°Mr. Zhou, are you going to raise fish in the lake?¡± ¡°This¡­ the fish will die in contaminated water.¡± The fish were kept in indoor ponds or fish tanks. Although they had escaped the destruction of the apocalypse, the fish had become an existence similar to the flowers in the greenhouse. It was impossible for them to survive in the polluted water in the wild. Zhou Yuan ignored Zhang He and said to himself, ¡°System, 100 gold coins to evolve the fish in this bucket!¡± (Received.) [Evolving.) [Evolution complete. The ordinary river fish has evolved into ¡°Active Water Purification Fish¡±!] Chapter 22 - Its About to Explode! Chapter 22 It¡¯s About to Explode! When Zhou Yuan asked the system to evolve the fish. In his daze, Zhang He seemed to have seen a flash of light enter the bucket. The flash was fleeting, but he was sure he saw it. Zhang He quickly looked at the fish in the bucket. Then, he was shocked to find that the originally half-dead fish had actually started to jump around. Zhang He was very excited. When he saw this, he thought that Zhou Yuan was using his divine power in front of him. Then, he saw Zhou Yuan pour the fish from the bucket into the lake. The fish just flapped and swam away energetically. Zhang He was even more certain than shocked. Zhou Yuan used his divine power to modify the fish so that they could adapt to the polluted water in the wild. Zhang He was extremely excited to witness this. He believed that Zhou Yuan¡¯s use of divine power in front of him meant that he had complete trust in him. It was a symbol of status. In the future, when Zhou Yuan became a God, he would definitely be his representative in the mortal world! Of course, all of this was under the premise that he served Zhou Yuan well. Therefore, when he thought of this, Zhang He¡¯s expression became even more respectful and he lowered his posture even more. After Zhou Yuan released the fish, he could clearly see that the fish left a clear trace in the yellow water. However, it disappeared in an instant. Zhou Yuan knew that it was the effect of the Active Water Purification Fish. Wherever it passed, the water quality became better. It was just that it would be diluted by other contaminated water very quickly, which was why this situation occurred. Zhou Yuan stood up and said, ¡°Get someone to watch the lake and prevent people from catching the fish.¡± ¡°Speed up the construction of the wall. Try to finish it in about ten days!¡± ¡°The first phase of the project doesn¡¯t need to be too tall. It¡¯s fine as long as it¡¯s as tall as a person.¡± Zhang He replied respectfully, ¡°Your wish is my command!¡± ¡°But ¡­¡± Zhou Yuan was speechless. ¡°Speak normally.¡± Zhang He nodded, his expression was still as respectful as before. ¡°Should I always use drinking water as payment?¡± ¡°Last time¡­ The water was almost used up.¡± Since yesterday, he had been exchanging water for people and paying the workers. The half bucket of water would soon be empty. Zhou Yuan pointed at the lake and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the water here will be drinkable soon. We¡¯ll use the water here!¡± Hearing this, Zhang He was a little confused. Then, his eyes widened. Why would the water be drinkable so quickly? Could it be related to the fish just now? At this thought, Zhang He looked up at the lake. Only then did he realize that there were clear traces on the surface of the water that disappeared in a flash. A miracle, a miracle! Zhang He was extremely excited. He quickly bowed and said yes. On the other side, in the teaching building. All the bosses were gathered here. The leader of the group was Old Black, who had exchanged water with Zhou Yuan first. He knew that Zhou Yuan was building a wall around the lake. Everyone felt that something was wrong, but they did not know how to stop Zhou Yuan. After all, no one cared about the lake water, and no one wanted it. Only those who had no water to drink would take the risk to drink the water from the lake. Therefore, Zhou Yuan had basically taken over an ownerless place. If Zhou Yuan was an ordinary person like everyone else, they would not have had any other thoughts. However, Zhou Yuan was a ¡®God¡¯ who could make crops sprout overnight and turn contaminated water into drinking water in an instant! In that case, the lake that was full of polluted water was a huge resource of immeasurable value! Thinking of this, everyone felt a little uncomfortable. They felt that they had suffered a loss. After all, they had been living at the campsite for several years, and Zhou Yuan was just a newcomer. Thus, the bosses gathered together to discuss countermeasures. To put it bluntly, they wanted to gain some benefits from Zhou Yuan. For example, they would be fine with Zhou Yuan taking the lake as long as he could provide the bosses with clean drinking water regularly. In the old business terms, it was to give everyone some shares and dividends. Some people supported this suggestion, while others thought it was wishful thinking. They believed that with Zhou Yuan¡¯s personality, he would not share the benefits without a reason. So slowly, the discussion turned into an argument, and finally into a quarrel. In the end, the quarrels stopped, and everyone was silent. This was because they realized that no matter what, they were not qualified to negotiate with Zhou Yuan. It was not because they were afraid of Zhou Yuan¡¯s strength, but because of his miraculous skills of sprouting overnight and turning into clean water in a second. It didn¡¯t matter if it was the so-called ¡®divine power¡¯ or some unknown technology. As long as Zhou Yuan was willing, he could recruit countless followers in a short time. Furthermore, these followers were different from the underlings of these bosses. They would definitely be loyal and devoted! One look at Zhang He and one would know. Many people at the campsite were jealous of Zhang He. Furthermore, how did Zhang He manage to recruit hundreds of workers overnight? It was all because of Zhou Yuan¡¯s current reputation and influence! In the silence, one of the bosses said, ¡°Old Black, you have the highest level of seniority and authority here.¡± ¡°What are your thoughts?¡± Old Black looked around and chuckled. ¡°In my opinion, there are two ways to get benefits.¡± Upon hearing this, all the bosses were suddenly interested. ¡°First, resist.¡± ¡°Just like what Ms. Fu did before, everyone should work together to fight against the outsider.¡± ¡°Force Zhou Yuan to give us some benefits, be it food or water.¡± As soon as he said this, some people shook their heads silently. They had tried this path before, but it didn¡¯t work. It was not because they felt that they could not defeat Zhou Yuan. It was just that many people didn¡¯t want to fight. Just as Old Black said, they needed to work together. However, there were always people who had second thoughts, which led to failure in the end. Yesterday, they could still make a move in the end. However, when one of them gave up, everyone was scared. At that time, they all wanted to befriend Zhou Yuan and obtain clean drinking water. ¡°Second, cooperation.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll pay with labor or items to establish a close relationship with Zhou Yuan.¡± ¡°After all, no matter what he wants to do in the future, he can¡¯t do without people.¡± ¡°Just like now. He wants to build a wall, but if there was no one, how can it be built?¡± ¡°This path is more reasonable and safer, but¡­¡± Old Black looked at the bosses with a half-smile. ¡°In the future, we won¡¯t be able to call the shots in this camp.¡± Upon hearing this, a few hot-tempered men immediately expressed that they couldn¡¯t accept it. Thus, the room began to quarrel again. At the same time. Zhou Yuan, who had just returned from his inspection work, was suddenly blocked by someone. He frowned and looked up. He found that the one who stopped him was the woman who had sold him the zombie crystalline core. At this moment, the woman was holding the little girl¡¯s hand, and both of them had sallow faces. It seemed like they hadn¡¯t eaten or drunk for a long time. The woman seemed excited to see Zhou Yuan. She stretched out her hand, and there was a transparent crystal in her hand. It was the zombie crystalline core. Zhou Yuan pointed to his exchange booth and said, ¡°Go over there to exchange for water and food. Those are all my business.¡± However, the woman¡¯s face was a little serious as she said, ¡°That thing is going to explode!!!¡± Chapter 23 - If Youre Not Ruthless, Your Position Will Be Unstable Chapter 23 If You¡¯re Not Ruthless, Your Position Will Be Unstable Hearing the woman¡¯s words. Zhou Yuan¡¯s pupils contracted and his expression turned serious. Judging from the woman¡¯s tone and the zombie crystalline core in her hand¡­ ¡®That thing¡¯ was obviously referring to the zombies! The zombies were about to explode? Did she mean that they were becoming more active? After looking around, Zhou Yuan brought the woman into the library. When they entered the room, the woman still stubbornly stuffed the zombie crystalline core into Zhou Yuan¡¯s hand. Zhou Yuan took it and weighed it in his hand. Then, he took some food and water from the kitchen. However, to his surprise, the woman shook her head and refused. ¡°I won¡¯t trade this crystalline core for food. I¡¯ll trade it for you to protect me and my sister.¡± When the little girl heard her sister¡¯s rejection, she reluctantly retracted her little hand. Her little face wrinkled, looking aggrieved. She hadn¡¯t eaten much for two days in a row, and she was really famished. Zhou Yuan furrowed his brows and then threw the food and water over with a smile.¡± ¡°You¡¯re pretty smart.¡± ¡°However, that¡¯s a different matter.¡± ¡°Exchange the crystalline core for food and water. The information you brought will allow you and your sister to join my base.¡± The woman had clearly understood that Zhou Yuan now held a high position in the camp through a series of information. Furthermore, with the construction of the walls, she knew that Zhou Yuan was trying to prevent the future zombie horde. That was why she wanted to use the crystalline core in exchange for a chance of survival. The woman stood there awkwardly with her sister in her arms. When she saw Zhou Yuan¡¯s sincere expression and her younger sister¡¯s longing for food and water, she was stunned. The woman pursed her lips and quietly brought the food and water over. The two sisters started eating. After gobbling down the food, the two sisters finally regained their spirits. Zhou Yuan patiently waited for the two to finish their meal before asking, ¡°Tell me in detail.¡± The woman wiped her mouth and said slowly, ¡°The zombies have started to move and attack humans!¡± ¡°Although there are only a few of them at the moment, and their offensive power is not strong.¡± ¡°But¡­I think it won¡¯t be long before the scene in the movie will happen.¡± Zhou Yuan nodded. The reason why he built the walls was to defend against a future zombie outbreak. The woman must have realized this, so she moved in advance in an attempt to find shelter. However, she was surprised to meet Zhou Yuan. After some thought, Zhou Yuan called Zhang He over. ¡°Arrange a place for her to stay. She¡¯ll follow you from now on.¡± ¡°She¡¯ll help to share some of your work.¡± Hearing this, Zhang He¡¯s eyes became alert and a sense of danger rose in his heart. He was like a child who had just heard about the arrival of a second child to the family and felt that his position was about to be lost. However, Zhang He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the woman¡¯s beautiful face. He felt that Zhou Yuan valued this woman for some other reason. In that case, there would be no conflict with his ¡®loyal subject¡¯ status. ¡°Alright, Mr. Zhou.¡± Zhang He¡¯s attitude was as respectful as ever. The woman clenched her fist imperceptibly when she saw this. She couldn¡¯t help but think that she had made the right bet! Zhang He then left the library with the woman and the little girl. After the woman brought the news about the zombies, he was stunned. Zhou Yuan¡¯s sense of urgency grew stronger. In the following three days, he had Zhang He continue to recruit people and speed up the construction of the wall. This action deeply provoked those bosses. In their eyes, Zhou Yuan¡¯s intention was not only to build the wall. It was another way of recruiting underlings and expanding his influence. Therefore, when their underlings started working for Zhou Yuan¡­ They could no longer sit still. Thus, on this day, a large group of people once again gathered in front of the library. When Zhang He, who was supervising the water sales, saw this scene, he sneered and whispered something to his underling. On the teaching building, Fu Mengyu, who had disappeared for many days, reappeared. She looked at the library with a cold expression and said, ¡°Hmph, you feel a sense of crisis now? What were you doing earlier!¡± ¡°Back then, if only ¡­¡± Fu Mengyu was so angry that she couldn¡¯t speak when she thought of what had happened that day. It was not only because of Zhou Yuan, but also because of the bosses who had betrayed her. In front of the library. Old Black led all the bosses and said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, please show yourself. We have something to discuss with you!¡± No one answered. Seven or eight seconds later, Zhou Yuan pushed the door open and walked out of the library. As soon as Zhou Yuan appeared, Zhang He immediately ordered his men to carry the sofa out. Sitting down firmly, Zhou Yuan said indifferently, ¡°What is it?¡± Old Black said with a smile, ¡°Mr. Zhou, I wanted to talk to you about the construction of the wall today.¡± ¡°This campsite is shared by everyone. Isn¡¯t it bad for you to surround it without permission?¡± Zhou Yuan raised his eyebrows. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s not good?¡± ¡°The places I¡¯ve surrounded used to be the butcher¡¯s territory.¡± ¡°Since I have killed him, shouldn¡¯t this territory belong to me?¡± Old Black said helplessly. ¡°The butcher¡¯s territory belongs to you, but the lake doesn¡¯t belong to him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s for everyone.¡± Zhou Yuan revealed a look of disdain. ¡°Shared? It¡¯s mine now.¡± ¡°What do you want to say?¡± No matter how the world changed, the law of the jungle was eternal. Hearing Zhou Yuan¡¯s words, all the bosses¡¯ faces turned ugly. Blackie¡¯s smile disappeared as well. ¡°Mr. Zhou, living in the current world is difficult. Everyone is just trying to survive!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve occupied so many water resources. Can you use them all?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s better to take it out and share it with everyone, including the seeds.¡± ¡°Of course, we won¡¯t let you suffer any losses,¡± Their intention was revealed. This time, Old Black¡¯s plan was similar to Fu Mengyu¡¯s last time. Although the method and the way he spoke were gentler, his purpose was to force Zhou Yuan. A few days ago, they had sat together to discuss it, but in the end, they had not come to a conclusion. However, Zhou Yuan had been recruiting more and more workers these days. They couldn¡¯t sit still and chose to unite to fight against Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan smiled. ¡°You are still so persistence about your evil intentions.¡± Old Black said seriously, ¡°We really want to get along with you in peace, Mr. Zhou.¡± ¡°But your actions are too overbearing.¡± ¡°If I let you continue like this, this camp will be yours to rule in the future!¡± ¡°Where can we find a place to stay?¡± ¡°So, Mr. Zhou, you should consider my words carefully.¡± ¡°Otherwise, it won¡¯t do you any good.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to be enemies with so many of us, do you?¡± ¡°This time, our strength is twice as strong as last time!¡± Fu Mengyu had only managed to rope in a small group of people last time. After all, at that time, there were more people like Old Black. They chose to watch the tigers fight from a distance and wanted to be the fisherman who reaped the benefits. However, this time, they felt threatened. Therefore, they chose to unite against Zhou Yuan. Seeing this, Zhou Yuan slowly stood up and took out his dagger. Originally, he wanted to live in peace. After all, stability was the key to faster and better development. However, it seemed that sometimes, blood was still needed to intimidate. If one was not ruthless, one¡¯s position would be unstable. Seeing Zhou Yuan¡¯s stance, everyone on the other side became cautious and their faces turned serious. At this moment. A voice rang out. ¡°Mr. Zhou, let me do it.¡± Chapter 24 - Excited Chapter 24 Excited The person who spoke was Zhang He. Zhou Yuan was a little surprised. However, when he turned around, he was shocked. Behind Zhang He, there was an endless stream of people rushing over. Most of those people were workers who built the wall. A small portion of them was in tattered clothes, but they had ferocious expressions and were holding knives, axes, and clubs. The number of people was roughly in the thousands. When this large group of people ran over, the entire arena was immediately packed. Zhang He coldly shouted, ¡°Hello, Mr. Zhou!¡± ¡°Hello, Mr. Zhou!¡± A loud sound reverberated throughout the entire camp. The bosses¡¯ faces turned dark, and Old Black¡¯s face turned even darker. Fu Mengyu, who was gloating upstairs, also had an ugly expression on her face. She felt even more fearful. No one had expected that Zhou Yuan had only been here for less than a week. He had actually roped in so many people. After all, Old Black and the other bosses only had a thousand underlings. The former butcher only had a total of 200 men. It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want to recruit more underlings, but they couldn¡¯t afford to keep too many people. People followed them just so that they could have a full meal and live a better life. If one can¡¯t even satisfy this request, who will follow them? This was also the reason why there were so many bosses in the camp. Some people would stop recruiting after recruiting a certain number of people. In order not to be bullied, the remaining people would definitely have to stick together. As time passed, many small groups were formed. And now, Zhou Yuan had recruited so many people by himself. He had instantly become the boss of the most powerful group. This was very tricky. Old Black and the others didn¡¯t dare to act rashly. Zhang He looked at the person opposite him and smiled awkwardly. ¡°Do you still want to bully Mr. Zhou with your numbers advantage?¡± ¡°Now, tell me, who has more men?¡± ¡°I¡¯m warning you, Mr. Zhou¡¯s greatness is not something you can offend.¡± ¡°What do you want to do? Come at me.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see who¡¯s the real deal with our hands!¡± Zhang He was very firm in his words. It wasn¡¯t just because of the thousands of brothers standing behind him. It was also because Zhou Yuan was looking at him. When the boss was around, he had to show off. Otherwise, how could he get a promotion and a raise? Old Black took a deep breath. ¡°Zhang He, what are you so arrogant for?¡± ¡°We¡¯re discussing something with Mr. Zhou. It¡¯s not your place to interrupt!¡± Zhang He snorted in disdain. ¡°Then what can you do about it?¡± ¡°You!¡± Old Black was furious. This Zhang He used to be a boss. However, he was the most trashy kind. He had more than a dozen brothers under him, and they were just eating and waiting for death every day. He loved to place bets. Usually, he would be tactful when he met anyone, acting like a good person, and no one dared to offend him. It was a huge contrast to his current appearance! Back then, Zhang He didn¡¯t even dare to make a sound when he saw him. Now, however¡­ Old Black suppressed his anger and said to Zhou Yuan, ¡°Mr. Zhou, it seems like we can¡¯t have a proper conversation today.¡± ¡°But I hope you can consider it carefully.¡± ¡°Everyone¡¯s doing this for survival. It¡¯s not good to make too much of a fuss.¡± Then, he turned to the person beside him and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Some of the bosses frowned, not understanding what Old Black was doing. The situation had already become like this, yet they were leaving? Although there were many people on the other side, however, they have quite a few too. At most, they would just fight. Why was Old Black so cowardly? However, since most of the people had left, they didn¡¯t dare to stay. When they returned to the teaching building. Someone finally couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Old Black, why did you take cover after making a big fuss again.¡± ¡°This is making us look like we¡¯re afraid of him.¡± ¡°Fight him! Let¡¯s fight to determine the victor!¡± Old Black stood still and turned around. ¡°After the outcome of the battle is decided, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Which one of us can survive until the end?¡± ¡°Some people suffer more losses, while some suffer less!¡± ¡°Who will get more and less in the end?¡± Old Black¡¯s words silenced everyone. Although these people seemed to be united now¡­ In the end, there would definitely be problems. It was not about scarcity, but uneven distribution. If they relied on violence, even if they won in the end, there would be problems when distributing the benefits. After considering the final distribution, there would definitely be people who would slack off during the fight and preserve their strength. In this case, some people would contribute more, but their losses would be greater, and their strength would be weakened. Meanwhile, people who put in less effort, would suffer fewer losses, and become stronger. When it was time to distribute the resources, there would be problems no matter how they were distributed. As a result, they would fight with each other again. They would fight each other, and everyone would be in a mess. In the end, everyone was a loser and there were no winners. This was also the reason why Blackie didn¡¯t want to start a conflict even though he agreed to unite against Zhou Yuan. Even if he wanted to use violence, he would have to have a complete advantage. Now that Zhou Yuan had more than a thousand men under him, it was not wise to confront him directly. After hearing Blackie¡¯s words, everyone understood. Now, however, there was a problem. What about the follow-up? Should they just silently agree that Zhou Yuan would be the only one to dominate and eventually ride on everyone¡¯s head? Just like that? Old Black said in a deep voice. ¡°We still have to resist, but we have to¡­¡± Before he could finish, a voice said, ¡°Now you know that you need to fight against him?¡± ¡°If you had listened to me back then, you wouldn¡¯t have let him grow to this extent!¡± The crowd turned around and saw Fu Mengyu walking over, surrounded by many students. Old Black hmphed coldly, ¡°If you¡¯re here to mock me, there¡¯s no need to.¡± Fu Mengyu shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not here to mock you. I¡¯m here to help you.¡± ¡°After all, the enmity between Zhou Yuan and me is more severe than any of you.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a thorn in my heart!!!¡± Old Black¡¯s expression softened. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s join forces!¡± Fu Mengyu stretched out her fist, her face solemn. ¡°You¡¯re talking nonsense. We¡¯ve already joined forces.¡± Old Black didn¡¯t hold back at all. ¡°No, no, no! Your understanding is too narrow!¡± Fu Mengyu wagged her finger and said, ¡°Not only these but also those unspecialized characters!¡± ¡°The more people there are, the more power there is.¡± ¡°Why did you guys back out today?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t it because Zhou Yuan now has thousands of men under him?¡± ¡°If we have more people on our side, two thousand, or even three thousand!¡± ¡°Then why should we be afraid of Zhou Yuan?¡± ¡°As for the distribution problem that you¡¯re worried about, I can tell you.¡± ¡°By then, we can not be separated at all. We can work together to survive better.¡± ¡°As long as I have the seeds in Zhou Yuan¡¯s hands and the technique to induce the growth of the seeds.¡± ¡°And his technology to purify contaminated water into drinking water.¡± ¡°Defeat him and obtain these techniques.¡± ¡°Not only will we not starve to death, but we can even build a new world!¡± Fu Mengyu¡¯s mouth was quite sharp. Many people were moved by her words. However, Old Black was still suspicious, ¡°There¡¯s a problem.¡± ¡°If we recruit too many people, food and water will not be enough.¡± ¡°If they can¡¯t fill their stomachs, those individuals will not follow us!¡± Fu Mengyu laughed. ¡°Ever since they built the wall around the farm, you guys haven¡¯t seen Zhou Yuan¡¯s crops, have you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve asked my students to secretly take a look.¡± ¡°The potatoes and sweet potatoes that were planted less than a week ago have grown beyond our imagination.¡± ¡°According to my student¡¯s description, I speculate that the food can be harvested in a few days!¡± ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll still be short of food if we get Zhou Yuan¡¯s technology?¡± As soon as she said this, everyone¡¯s faces were filled with shock. Good Lord, how many days has it been planted? A full five days? Or six days? They could harvest the crops just like this? If this was the case¡­ There was hope! For a moment, the bosses looked at each other. Their faces revealed a trace of excitement. Chapter 25 - Zombie! Chapter 25 Zombie! In the library. Zhang He stood beside Zhou Yuan respectfully. After a long time, he said carefully, ¡°Mr. Zhou, Old Black and the others probably still have bad intentions.¡± ¡°Do you want me to find an opportunity to¡­¡± Zhang He¡¯s current focus was on stabilizing Zhou Yuan¡¯s position. He wanted to get rid of all the unstable frs that threatened Zhou Yuan. In this case, his own position would also become more and more stable. However, Zhou Yuan had no interest in this. If he had that time, he would rather spend it on building walls and reclaiming land. ¡°As long as they don¡¯t come looking for trouble, just ignore them for now.¡± ¡°Your task is to supervise the construction and let those people build the wall with all their strength.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try to complete the closed loop within two days.¡± ¡°I can tell you for sure that not long from now, there will be a major event that will turn the world upside down!¡± He looked at Zhou Yuan¡¯s serious expression and heard his unprecedented tone. Zhang He felt a sense of urgency. What could have made the omnipotent Mr. Zhou so serious? Zhang He could not help but feel nervous. ¡°What¡¯s that woman¡¯s current job?¡± Zhou Yuan suddenly asked. Zhang He was taken aback. He knew that Zhou Yuan was asking about the person who had been handed over to him a few days ago, so he quickly replied,¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re asking about Ling Xue, right?¡± ¡°I let her follow me first. On one hand, she can learn and familiarize herself with the environment.¡± ¡°On the other hand, it¡¯s also to build up her prestige.¡± ¡°Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid she won¡¯t be able to suppress the people below.¡± Actually, there weren¡¯t that many reasons. Zhang He was afraid that Zhou Yuan would have other thoughts about that woman. Therefore, he had not assigned any work to her for the time being. Otherwise, he would have been sent to work with the underlings. As it turned out, he had made the right choice. Hearing Zhou Yuan¡¯s question, Zhang He was impressed by his own sixth sense. Ling Xue? Zhou Yuan was stunned. Only then did he realize that he didn¡¯t even know her name. Helplessly shaking his head, Zhou Yuan said, ¡°Ask her to bring some people to reclaim the land beside the lake inside the wall.¡± ¡°That plot of land will be used to plant more food in the future.¡± Zhang He immediately agreed. Zhou Yuan thought for a while and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go for a stroll.¡± ¡°To check the progress of the wall¡¯s construction.¡± Under Zhang He¡¯s lead, the two of them arrived at the construction site. After three days of construction, the wall on the other side of the lake was completed. The potato, sweet potato, and rice fields had also been completed. The only thing that was missing now was the extension of both sides toward the library and finally forming a closed loop. If the closed loop was completed, then the library, the fields, the lake, and part of the building ruins would be completely surrounded by the fence wall. With that, the prototype of the base would be formed. Even if there was a zombie outbreak, they would be safe for the time being. Zhou Yuan felt that with the two-meter-tall wall and the defense of the people inside the wall, they could definitely block the zombies he had killed before. He was afraid that there would be more powerful mutated zombies. However, Zhou Yuan felt that mutated zombies would not appear at this stage. After all, even the woman called Ling Xue could kill another zombie. It was clear that as of now, the zombies were still weak. Moreover, the current wall was only the first phase of the project. It would continue to be strengthened and improved in the future. In the end, it would become a solid barrier! Two peaceful days passed. There were two things that had happened that made Zhou Yuan happy. The first was that the first batch of potatoes and sweet potatoes could already be harvested. Even the paddies had already begun to grow and would ripen in no time. The speed of its growth had exceeded Zhou Yuan¡¯s expectations. Zhou Yuan surmised that the larger and luscious the plants, the faster the growth rate. Therefore, the actual time was much earlier than he had expected. He had thought that it would take at least half a month, but it had only been less than ten days. The other thing was that the wall would complete its final closed-loop today. The last gap was right in front of the library. However, at this time, even though nothing unexpected happened, an accident still happened. After two days of silence, Old Black and Fu Mengyu made a comeback. They chased away the workers who were building the wall and threatened them that if they were to continue, the group will push down all the walls. When Zhou Yuan, who was harvesting the crops, heard the news, he was instantly enraged. In order to build the base, he backed down time and time again, but in the end, this was the result. This time, he had to teach them a lesson. Zhou Yuan rushed over with a shovel. In front of the library. Zhang He¡¯s expression was ugly as he confronted the others. On the opposite side. Under Fu Mengyu and Old Black¡¯s lead. There were twice as many people as the last time, standing behind them. The entire campsite only had about three thousand people. In other words, other than the 1000 men under Zhou Yuan. The rest of the people were gathered by Old Black and Fu Mengyu. Zhang He could not help but feel regretful. These few days, he had been busy with the construction of the fence wall and the reclamation of barren land. The food had also ripened. He had too many things to do! However, it seemed that his blatant disregard for these people was what led to the current situation. Otherwise, he would have definitely fought for surveillance if he found out that the other party was gathering individuals. If he had fought for it, it would have been impossible for the other party¡¯s momentum to grow to such an extent! Zhang He said coldly, ¡°Ms. Fu, Old Black!¡± ¡°What a big move!¡± ¡°With so many underlings, aren¡¯t you afraid that you won¡¯t be able to feed them?¡± Hearing this, Fu Mengyu smiled and said, ¡°Of course I¡¯m afraid!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re here today to eat the rich!¡± Eat the rich? Who could feed more than 2000 mouths? Zhang He said angrily, ¡°Mr. Zhou has let you off time and time again, and you¡¯re returning his kindness with ingratitude?¡± ¡°A dog knows how to wag its tail when it¡¯s given a mouthful of food to eat!¡± ¡°What about you guys?¡± Old Black stepped forward. ¡°But the problem is that Zhou Yuan won¡¯t even give us a mouthful of food or water.¡± ¡°Not only that, but he also wants us to have no food to eat. What do you think we should do?¡± Zhang He was furious and wanted to retort. Zhou Yuan¡¯s cold voice was heard. ¡°It was you who pushed away my hands that were holding the food and water!¡± ¡°I originally wanted to live in peace with you, but now it seems that I was naive!¡± Everyone looked over. They saw a figure stepping on the completed wall, like an ancient hero, slowly walking over. He was even holding an iron shovel in his hand! Zhou Yuan landed on the ground and walked toward Fu Mengyu and Old Black. As he walked, he said, ¡°Zhang He, organize people to build the wall! Let¡¯s see who dares to stop us today!¡± ¡°Anyone who dares to take one more step closer will die!¡± Zhou Yuan was facing two thousand people alone, but his momentum was not weak at all. Fu Mengyu sneered, ¡°Then let¡¯s see how strong you are.¡± Humans were forgetful creatures. Due to the fact that Zhou Yuan had not made a move the previous two times, his intimidating power of killing the butcher had almost disappeared. Everyone¡¯s fear of Zhou Yuan had begun to dissipate. Therefore, at Fu Mengyu¡¯s command, seven or eight strong men rushed out. Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes flashed coldly as he immediately charged forward with his shovel. Under the blessing of rage, he dealt with these minions in a few moves. This time, Zhou Yuan had deliberately been ruthless. Two of them had half their heads cut off by him. The bloody scene immediately stimulated everyone¡¯s eyes. The thousands of people in the audience were dead silent. Even Fu Mengyu and Old Black became silent after seeing Zhou Yuan¡¯s killing. However, there was no turning back. Since they had already made their move, they couldn¡¯t give up halfway! This time, they would not stop until they achieved their goal! At the thought of this, Fu Mengyu gritted her teeth and was ready to let everyone rush forward. However, at this moment. A series of strange roars sounded from all directions. The crowd started to scream in fear. ¡°Ahh! Zombie!¡± ¡°The zombies are here! Quickly run!¡± Chapter 26 - Panic Chapter 26 Panic An extremely terrified scream came out of nowhere. The people inside the wall couldn¡¯t help but look outside, not understanding what had happened. Zombie? What was this, some kind of joke? Before they could find out what was going on, chaos broke out in an instant. The people outside the wall began to flee in panic. In a short period of time, countless zombies had mixed in with the 2000 people. The horrifying scene stunned everyone in the base. Zhou Yuan shouted, ¡°Zhang He, organize people to block the gap in the wall!¡± ¡°Also, have everyone spread out and defend the wall. ¡°You can¡¯t let any zombies or humans in, do you hear me?¡± Zhang He was jolted awake by Zhou Yuan¡¯s voice and hurriedly began to organize his men to block the gap in the wall. At this time, many people had already reacted and rushed toward the gap in the wall. Old Black and Fu Mengyu were leading the way. There were zombies behind them, and they didn¡¯t have the courage to go through the zombie crowd and retreat to the teaching building. They could only try to hide behind the wall. However, Zhou Yuan had been waiting for them. Zhou Yuan kicked one of the lackeys and said in a cold tone, ¡°This road is blocked, whoever comes will die!¡± Fu Mengyu criticized angrily, ¡°Zhou Yuan, do you still have any humanity left in you?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine if you didn¡¯t remind everyone that there are zombies and secretly build a wall.¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re still stopping us from entering, are you even human!¡± In her opinion, Zhou Yuan was extremely selfish and had ill intentions! He didn¡¯t share the seeds, he didn¡¯t share the technology, and he didn¡¯t tell anyone about the zombies. He built a fence wall but didn¡¯t let her in to hide from the zombies. Zhou Yuan revealed a cruel smile. ¡°Have you forgotten the purpose of your visit?¡± There were always some people who wanted to stand on the high ground and demand others to do this and that. However, they just didn¡¯t think about what kind of person they were. Fu Mengyu and the rest had ill intentions toward Zhou Yuan from the very beginning. Although they said that they were doing it for everyone¡¯s good, in reality, it was because of their own desire. Some wanted seeds, some wanted food, and some wanted status. From the very beginning, they had all wanted to leech off Zhou Yuan. In the end, they still blamed Zhou Yuan for everything It was truly laughable! If they had held on to the concept of peaceful development from the very beginning¡­ Zhou Yuan would not go too far. Even though they kept running to the library to ask him for this and that. From the beginning to the end, Zhou Yuan had only chased them away and had not taken any extreme measures. When their people came to exchange for water and food, he asked Zhang He to treat them normally. Now, however, Zhou Yuan could no longer give in. The size of the entire base, as well as the food and water currently stored. Supporting more than a thousand people was already a stretch. Zhou Yuan had planned to resist this wave and eliminate the contestants. How could he allow this group of enemies, who he was just about to deal with, to come in? Old Black¡¯s face looked terrible. ¡°Mr. Zhou, what happened before was a misunderstanding.¡± ¡°Now, let us go in first.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just apologize to you!¡± Old Black thought he was sincere enough, so he walked toward Zhou Yuan. In response, Zhou Yuan simply swung his shovel horizontally and blocked the entire gap in the wall. At this moment, the gap in the wall was about to be filled up with the hard work of Zhang He and the others. Seeing Zhou Yuan¡¯s firm attitude, Old Black¡¯s expression suddenly turned ferocious. He suddenly turned around and rushed toward the teaching building with his people. Compared to Zhou Yuan, he was more willing to face the zombies. If his group worked hard, they might not die at the mouth of the zombies. If they were to fight against Zhou Yuan, they would be considered lucky to be able to charge in. However, they would not have a good ending e Don¡¯t forget, there were thousands of people inside the wall. At that time, they would definitely be thrown out again. With that in mind, Old Black made up his mind and rushed to the teaching building. As long as they could get back to the teaching building and block the few entrances. They would be able to live on temporarily. Old Black and the others had also fought their way out of chaos and disaster. At this time, their ferocity was stimulated, and their legs stopped shaking when facing the zombies. Their journey back to the teaching building was very smooth. However, one person was dumbfounded. Fu Mengyu also followed Old Black and the others to the teaching building. However, she could only run a few steps before she was stopped by a zombie. After she screamed and ran away from the zombie, she raised her head and realized that she was already far away from Old Black and the rest. She wanted to rush over, however, there were many zombies in between. Fu Mengyu panicked when she didn¡¯t get a response after shouting for them twice. ¡°Bring me along!!!¡± ¡°Wait for me!¡± Her voice immediately attracted the zombies. The two zombies abandoned the body that had been gnawed on and charged at her while roaring Fu Mengyu screamed, turned around, and ran toward the wall behind her. ¡°Zhou Yuan, save me!¡± ¡°I was wrong! Please save me!¡± ¡°What I did in the past was wrong, it¡¯s my fault!¡± Fu Mengyu apologized as she ran, trying to get Zhou Yuan to save her. However, Zhou Yuan was surrounded by several zombies. When Zhou Yuan finished off the zombies and turned back to look, he realized that Fu Mengyu was no longer breathing. The two zombies were lying on top of her, continuously gnawing at her fresh flesh. In the end, Fu Mengyu¡¯s arm was still extended toward Zhou Yuan. Her eyes were filled with deep regret and fear. Zhou Yuan was not the least bit affected by this. This Fu Mengyu had always harb intentions and wanted to take his life. Her death was not to be regretted! If she hadn¡¯t been bitten to death by the zombies and had run to him instead¡­ Zhou Yuan would have killed her personally! There were more and more zombies. Those who were bitten or killed slowly began to change. The speed of the mutation was extremely fast. The dead would all become zombies in a few minutes. At this moment, Zhang He shouted, ¡°Mr. Zhou, the gap is about to be filled up. Please hurry over!¡± There was a two-meter wide gap in the wall. With Zhang He and the others¡¯ full strength, they managed to block it in a short while. At this time, the opening was half a meter wide and had already been piled up to a meter high! Zhou Yuan shouted, ¡°Block it completely! Don¡¯t worry about me!¡± Zhou Yuan could easily jump over the wall. Zhang He also understood this, so he immediately got his men to continue building the wall! A moment later, the wall was blocked. There were almost no living people in the large open space in front of them. Almost half of the people died on the spot, while a small portion fled back to the teaching building The bloody field was filled with zombies. Slowly, a group of zombies surrounded the building Another group of zombies ran to the wall and scratched it. Seeing this, Zhou Yuan, who was standing on the wall, heaved a sigh of relief. At first, he was afraid that the zombies would pile up and climb the wall. Now, it seemed like they were still very weak. All the zombies were just standing outside the wall, stretching out their discolored arms and nails while roaring. After the situation had been settled, Zhou Yuan finally had the time to think about other things. Looking at the countless zombies outside, his expression gradually became excited. Were they zombies? No! These were all shiny crystalline cores! Chapter 27 - Construction of the Wall Chapter 27 Construction of the Wall Looking at the zombies outside the wall, Zhou Yuan was very excited. To him, these zombies were not scary at all. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that there were too many of them outside the wall, he would have jumped down and killed a few. Zombies that could come out to attack people were at least low-grade. They definitely had a crystalline core. Then, with this¡­ Two hundred, four hundred, eight hundred¡­ Zhou Yuan could not even count how many gold coins he could exchange for. Besides, there were so many zombies. Would they all be low-graded zombies? Would there be those of the higher grade? The crystalline cores of higher-grade zombies were definitely more valuable! Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan became even happier, and his hands itched. However, he temporarily suppressed his impulse and didn¡¯t jump over to kill the zombies. He turned around and jumped on to the wall. Zhang He immediately went up to him. At this moment, other than the cold sweat from fear and panic, Zhang He¡¯s face was filled with respect and admiration. He finally understood why Zhou Yuan had asked him to build the wall. From the looks of it now, this clairvoyant was really too powerful! ¡°Mr. Zhou, thank you for your protection!¡± ¡°You guided us to build the wall and willingly took us in.¡± ¡°Otherwise, we would have been killed by the zombies!¡± Everyone nodded in agreement at Zhang He¡¯s words, looking at Zhou Yuan with respect and gratitude. They had previously called Zhou Yuan a fool in private. They thought that Zhou Yuan insisted that they build the wall because he had nothing better to do. However, since Zhou Yuan would pay the workers well, they were all very willing to do it, and no one dared to question him. They didn¡¯t care if someone was willing to be a sucker. However, now that they thought about it ¡­ They were the clowns. Without Zhou Yuan¡¯s wall, they would have died outside. Zhou Yuan casually waved his hand and asked, ¡°Have you sent people to guard the other walls?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t let the zombies run in.¡± ¡°We also have to prevent those who escaped into the teaching building from sneaking in.¡± Zhang He nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s all been arranged!¡± The entire wall was roughly an irregular oval. as Zhang He had arranged for a total of 700 to 800 people. Zhou Yuan nodded in satisfaction and then ordered, ¡°Find me some strong ropes. I have use for them¡± Zhang He did not know what Zhou Yuan was up to. However, he carried out the order unconditionally. Soon, a strong bundle of nylon rope was sent over. Zhou Yuan found the end of the rope and quickly made a retractable knot. Expanding the circle¡¯s diameter, Zhou Yuan jumped back onto the wall. Then, like a cowboy, he swung the rope over his head, spun it twice, and threw it out. The rope accurately caught one of the zombies. Zhou Yuan exerted some strength and the rope retracted, tightly binding the zombie. Then, the zombie was dragged to the front by Zhou Yuan. ¡°Move aside!¡± Zhou Yuan shouted as he reminded the people inside the wall. The zombie flew up from the ground and was thrown into the wall by his terrifying strength. When the people inside the wall saw a zombie being thrown by Zhou Yuan, they immediately scattered in fear. However, when they saw that the zombie was tied up and unable to move, they gathered around it again. Most people, except for the workers who were blocking the gap, had been blocked by the wall and had not seen the zombies. Now, they were all discussing it. ¡°F*ck, it¡¯s really a zombie! It looks exactly the same as those in the movies.¡± ¡°You actually suspected that the zombies are fake? Why don¡¯t you get it to bite you?¡± ¡°Get lost, I¡¯m not stupid! Then again, why did Mr. Zhou catch a zombie?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s to widen our horizons.¡± ¡°Do you think you are that important? If you want to widen your horizons, can¡¯t you just climb the wall and see the zombies for yourself?¡± ¡°Then what do you think Mr. Zhou is doing?¡± ¡°If I knew what Mr. Zhou was thinking, would I still be this confused?¡± Under everyone¡¯s watchful eyes, Zhou Yuan jumped off the wall and arrived in front of the zombie. Upon smelling the fresh human scent, the zombie became restless. It kept struggling and screaming. However, the more it struggled, the tighter the knot became. The zombie¡¯s body was already twisted and deformed. Without the support of its hands, it couldn¡¯t stand up at all. Taking the shovel from Zhang He, Zhou Yuan smashed the zombie¡¯s head into pieces. Zhou Yuan then stepped forward and used a small stick to poke at the mushy paste. When he saw the appearance of a crystalline core, his face immediately showed joy. He had specially chosen this zombie. It was a newly mutated zombie that had just been bitten. The reason why he took so much effort to bring it over was that he wanted to see if there was a crystalline core in the head of a newly mutated zombie. This time, it did not disappoint him. He was very surprised. Zhou Yuan wiped the crystalline core clean with a rag and put it in his pocket. It was only then that he realized that the people around him were all looking at him with fear in their eyes. Zhou Yuan¡¯s series of actions were beyond their understanding. However, their realization made them feel that Zhou Yuan was a little¡­abnormal. Which normal person would deliberately tie up a zombie and smash its head with a shovel for fun? Which normal person would use a small stick to poke around in a zombie¡¯s broken head? Which normal person wouldn¡¯t feel disgusted and even smile after messing around with a zombie¡¯s insides? Zhou Yuan! Therefore, in their eyes, Zhou Yuan was not only powerful and had magical abilities. There was another label for him: a pervert. Zhou Yuan understood the look in their eyes. He stood up and shook his head indifferently. If he was a pervert, then so be it. In any case, he still had to make many decisions that would seem not only perverted but also cruel to outsiders. By making them feel that he was abnormal in advance, they could also be mentally prepared in advance. ¡°Zhang He, deal with this zombie.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zhang He replied respectfully. With that, Zhou Yuan picked up the shovel and climbed up the wall again. Then, amidst the exclamations of the crowd, he jumped over the wall. Zhang He immediately got someone to set up the frame that was used to build the wall. Everyone quickly set up the frame and climbed up the wall. At this moment, Zhou Yuan¡¯s figure was already surrounded by zombies. Zhang He was about to order his men to help Zhou Yuan when he heard Zhou Yuan shout, ¡°Look after the base, I¡¯m fine!¡± Upon hearing this, Zhang He gave up the idea of supporting Everyone was dumbfounded as they watched Zhou Yuan slaughter his way through the zombie crowd. Zhou Yuan¡¯s voice and the violent roars of the zombies had attracted the attention of those who had fled to the teaching building. They were shocked to see Zhou Yuan fighting to his heart¡¯s content. There was actually someone in this world who wasn¡¯t afraid of zombies? Not only was he not afraid, but he even dared to enter the zombie crowd and fight. They looked at the figure who was waving the shovel and smashing the zombies¡¯ heads. Everyone in the teaching building couldn¡¯t help but feel scared. If there weren¡¯t any zombies, they would be the ones who had their heads smashed! Thinking of this, some people also had the same idea. If they had sought refuge with such a person before, they wouldn¡¯t have been so embarrassed by the zombies. Instead, they could stay behind the wall comfortably. However, there is no use crying over spilt milk. What¡¯s done is done. After an unknown amount of time. Zhou Yuan, who was covered in blood, stopped hunting and returned to the wall with a large bag of zombie crystalline cores. Chapter 28 - The Regenerative Tree Chapter 28 The Regenerative Tree After jumping off the wall. Zhou Yuan did not do anything, but the people around him took two steps back in fear. Zhou Yuan, who was now covered in blood, was scarier than a zombie in their eyes. And that was indeed the case. He was a man who could kill zombies consecutively without any fear. If zombies had intelligence, they would also be afraid of him! Zhang He lowered his head and walked over. ¡°Mr. Zhou, what are we going to do next?¡± Zhou Yuan did not say anything but gave Zhang He a look. The two of them walked into the library. After entering the house, Zhou Yuan took off his blood-stained clothes and said, ¡°Is there anyone causing trouble in the base?¡± Zhou Yuan¡¯s question confused Zhang He. Causing trouble? Definitely not. However, a qualified subordinate would definitely be able to read the mind of his superior. For Zhou Yuan to ask this question, he naturally had his own reasons. Then as a subordinate, Zhang He couldn¡¯t simply understand Zhou Yuan¡¯s meaning of causing trouble. Thinking of this, Zhang He nodded and said, ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s just a small fight. I¡¯ve already had people suppress it!¡± As soon as he said that, Zhang He was very impressed with his own reaction. This answer was watertight. However, Zhou Yuan¡¯s next words made him break out in a cold sweat. ¡°This base is too small.¡± ¡°There are too many people.¡± Zhang He lowered his head. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks to his chin, and finally dripped on the ground. Zhou Yuan had two meanings to this sentence. First, the base was too small to accommodate so many people, so they needed to expand the base. Second, there were too many people, so he had to¡­reduce the number. Connecting the dots, Zhang He was sure that Zhou Yuan meant the latter. That¡¯s why he asked if anyone was causing trouble. If there were, they would definitely be disposed of. Zhou Yuan took out a piece of paper from the table and threw it to Zhang He. ¡°Strengthen the walls, harvest grain, reclaim wasteland, build houses, and so on.¡± ¡°If there¡¯s anything I didn¡¯t think of, you can add it yourself.¡± ¡°Remember, the goal of everything is to improve and strengthen the base.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to see people sleeping all around the base after ten days or half a month.¡± ¡°If you need anything, come to me. I¡¯ll solve it for you.¡± ¡°This is the plan I made. Take a look and quickly arrange for people to start working in various jobs.¡± ¡°Last but not least, you have to give me a name list.¡± ¡°On the list, remember clearly what job, how many people there are, and what each person¡¯s name is.¡± ¡°For those who are not assigned a job, make a separate list.¡± Holding the proposal that Zhou Yuan had thrown at him, Zhang He nodded and said respectfully, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll definitely do a good job.¡± Zhou Yuan was obviously trying to reduce the team¡¯s size. This situation was similar to the past when big companies had to lay off their employees. Those who were not suitable would be dismissed. In the past, when employees were laid off, they could just spend some time looking for new jobs. Now, however, should one be laid off, what would happen to them? Thinking of the countless zombies outside the wall, Zhang He couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill. At the thought of this, Zhang He¡¯s attitude became even more humble. He was afraid that he would be thrown into the zombie crowd by Zhou Yuan if he performed poorly. Seeing Zhang He¡¯s expression, Zhou Yuan¡¯s expression softened. The reason why he spoke so coldly earlier was that he suddenly had a realization while killing zombies. Now that there was a zombie outbreak, many people in the base seemed to have to rely on him to survive. Just like afore. He wanted the zombie crystalline cores and he was killing them by himself. Each of them was more cowardly than the other. They didn¡¯t dare to come over to kill the zombies. He had worked hard to obtain the crystalline cores and exchanged them for gold coins to evolve all kinds of resources. In the end, didn¡¯t those people benefit from it without doing much? This was something that Zhou Yuan could not accept, and something that he had never thought of. Therefore, as soon as he came back, he wanted to target the thousand-odd people in the base. On one hand, they couldn¡¯t just sit and eat, they had to speed up the construction. There were zombies everywhere outside, so they could only live in the base for the time being. In that case, there was still food for the time being, but what about the other supplies? What would they do when there was a shortage of food one day? Therefore, he had to ignite everyone¡¯s enthusiasm and motivation. If he couldn¡¯t get them to adapt to the situation, he would have to subject them to forceful measures and suppress them. For example, everyone had to have a job and contribute to the construction of the base. Another example was to force everyone to go out and hunt zombies regularly and use crystalline cores to exchange for time to live in the base. Zhou Yuan thought of many ways to solve this problem. However, these measures had to be taken step by step. On the other hand, it was also because he couldn¡¯t let these people develop the habit of being lazy. They couldn¡¯t just eat and wait for death. These people were all survivors of the disaster. They had experienced that kind of rich and carefree life. Should everyone return to their previous lives under his leadership, even if it was only one percent of the past standard¡­ The bad nature of these people would be stimulated infinitely. For example, if they didn¡¯t want to work, they would be sly enough to slack off during their work, and so on. There was even the possibility of a rebellion. Zhou Yuan could not accept this, so he had to take precautions. He needed them to know the main purpose of the base and who built it. Who was the one that helped them in their survival? Otherwise, there would be endless trouble in the future! Zhou Yuan¡¯s expression softened when he saw Zhang He¡¯s nervousness. He reminded him, ¡°I won¡¯t kill the innocent.¡± ¡°But I won¡¯t let trash stay in the base.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t have to worry.¡± Zhang He heaved a sigh of relief. He really thought that Zhou Yuan would throw all the unemployed and incompetent people out of the wall, or even kill them directly! After bidding farewell respectfully, Zhang He took the plan and immediately called for his right-hand man. Then, he quickly gathered everyone and arranged their work in an orderly manner. The people who had been on guard duties and those who reinforced the wall would continue their respective job. The harvest and the reclamation of the wasteland were given to the same group of people. They had been doing this before, so everyone was familiar with it. However, when it came to the construction of the house, Zhang He faced a problem. According to Zhou Yuan¡¯s request, the house had to be a proper one and not some refugee tin house or tent. At the very least, they had to build a house made of brick and wood. There were a lot of bricks in the ruins and they would not be used up so quickly. However, wood was rare. He did not store any wood in advance. There were only four or five crooked trees in the entire base, and they were not even as thick as a person¡¯s thigh. After some thought, Zhang He found Zhou Yuan again. He remembered that Zhou Yuan had told him to look for him if he needed anything. Zhou Yuan brought him to the crooked trees without a word. Looking at the small tree in front of him, Zhou Yuan thought to himself, ¡°System, 100 gold coins to evolve these trees.¡± [Okay.) [Ding! Evolution completed. Ordinary sapling has evolved into a Regenerative Tree.) ¡°Regenerative tree. This species of tree has a well-developed root system. As long as its root exists, it can grow rapidly.¡± This time, the system directly viewed these trees as a whole, which surprised Zhou Yuan. Not long after, under the horrified gazes of Zhang He and the others¡­ These crooked trees grew into towering trees in a dozen seconds. Each tree was as thick as three people hugging each other, and they were as tall as several stories. Zhang He and the others were so shocked by this miracle that they all knelt down. Chapter 29 - Panicking Chapter 29 Panicking As this place was located behind a pile of ruins. It was blocked by a half-collapsed building. Apart from Zhang He and a few others who were following Zhou Yuan, no one else saw this miraculous scene. Looking at the few people who were kneeling, Zhou Yuan said indifferently, ¡°Get up and quickly get to work.¡± ¡°There will be more of such things in the future. You can¡¯t just kneel there every time, right?¡± Zhang He and the others quickly stood up, but they still bowed and lowered their heads. Previously, it was just their guess and imagination. Now, a magical scene had happened right in front of their eyes. Instantly, Zhang He and the others saw Zhou Yuan as a God who had descended to the mortal world! After Zhou Yuan left, Zhang He immediately organized his men to cut down the trees. The wood would be used to build the houses. After all the work was arranged, Zhang He spent two days sorting out the name list. More than 700 people were working, and more than 400 people were unemployed. In fact, if they were to push it further, these four hundred people could also be assigned to a job. However, Zhang He remembered Zhou Yuan¡¯s words. No trash. Therefore, he used the selection system. If one could do a good job, then one could stay. If one didn¡¯t do a good job or have a bad attitude, then get lost. Under such a system, resentment would naturally develop. However, they were all suppressed by Zhang He¡¯s tough tactics. Zhang He couldn¡¯t help but think whenever someone complained. ¡°If I show you mercy, then Mr. Zhou will be merciless to me!¡± ¡°So, for my own sake, you guys should get lost.¡± Therefore, even Zhou Yuan was surprised when he saw the name list. There were actually so many unemployed people. Zhang He looked at Zhou Yuan¡¯s surprised expression and was about to explain. At this time, roars came from the distance. ¡°Mr. Zhou!¡± ¡°I¡¯m begging you!¡± ¡°Please save us!!¡± ¡°I¡¯m willing to be your slave!¡± The voices were a little unclear, and they came from a distance. Immediately, Zhou Yuan could tell that these were the people who the zombies had cornered in the teaching building. After some thought, Zhou Yuan walked out of the room and climbed up the wall. Zhang He followed closely. The people in the teaching building instantly became excited upon seeing Zhou Yuan appear on the wall. ¡°Mr. Zhou, I beg you to save me!¡± ¡°If this continues, we¡¯ll either be bitten to death by the zombies or be trapped in here till death!¡± ¡°We are running out of food and water!¡± After this person finished speaking, many people instantly agreed. The basic content of their message was similar. They were all asking Zhou Yuan for help. Zhou Yuan was unmoved by their pleas for help. He said coldly, ¡°I don¡¯t need trash here, so how are you going to convince me to go and save trash?¡± Hearing that Zhou Yuan was willing to talk to him, the man became excited. ¡°Mr. Zhou, I, I¡¯m not a good-for-nothing!¡± ¡°I¡¯m in good health. I can bear hardships and work.¡± ¡°I used to work at a construction site!¡± After this person finished speaking, someone else immediately added. ¡°And me, I used to be a security guard. I¡¯m in good physical condition, and no tenant can beat me.¡± ¡°I used to be a physical education teacher! My body is awesome!¡± For a moment, it seemed as if they were applying for a job, and their request for help had turned into a self-introduction. Seeing this, Zhou Yuan coldly said, ¡°Since you¡¯re all so healthy, why don¡¯t you fight the zombies?¡± ¡°If you kill your way out of the zombie crowd, you can go and find supplies, right?¡± As soon as he said this, everyone in the teaching building was speechless. Fighting the zombies? It wasn¡¯t that no one had tried it in the past few days. However, no one had ever successfully made it out. Facing a zombie that was not afraid of pain and only wanted to eat people¡­ The cowardice, timidity, and fear of humans put humans in a disadvantageous position. When people fought with each other, it was said that the ruthless ones were afraid of the dazed ones, and the dazed ones were afraid of the ones who didn¡¯t want their lives. The current situation was that these survivors were all considered ruthless characters. However, they encountered zombies that didn¡¯t care about their lives. No, the zombies had no life. Therefore, no one dared to face the zombies. Not to mention killing their way out of the zombie crowd¡­ So what if they killed their way out? How could they avoid the zombies? How were they going to find supplies when they were being chased by the zombies? Therefore, everyone felt helpless after hearing Zhou Yuan¡¯s words. ¡°Mr. Zhou, we don¡¯t even have one-ten-thousandth of your ability!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t beat the zombies!¡± Zhou Yuan laughed when he heard this. However, his smile was very cold. ¡°You can¡¯t even defeat the zombies, and you still say you¡¯re not trash?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you! I can accept you into the base. ¡° ¡°But! I have conditions!¡± ¡°First, you must come to my wall on your own.¡± ¡°Second, each person has to use three zombie crystalline cores as payment.¡± ¡°Otherwise, I won¡¯t let you in even if you come to me!¡± ¡°The zombie¡¯s crystalline core is in the zombie¡¯s head. It looks like a crystal.¡± ¡°How is it? Isn¡¯t it simple?¡± ¡°I only want three. My request isn¡¯t too much, right?¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t even do this, you should just jump down from the building and die!¡± Hearing this, the people in the teaching building fell silent. It was obvious that this was Zhou Yuan¡¯s test. Only by doing so could they prove their worth and gain the right to enter the base. After a long time, someone shouted, ¡°Mr. Zhou, do you keep your word?¡± Zhou Yuan ignored the ridiculous question and jumped off the wall. Regardless of whether he kept his words, did they have a choice? They would either die in the school building or in the mouth of the zombies. Or, they could choose to believe in him and take the risk. What¡¯s the point of asking that? After jumping off the wall, Zhou Yuan said to Zhang He, ¡°Call everyone here.¡± ¡°I have something to announce!¡± Zhang He thought to himself, ¡°Has the day of layoff finally arrived?¡±. ¡°Yes!¡± Soon, more than a thousand people gathered in the open space of the base. The 700 people with work were standing on the left, and the remaining 400 people with no allocated work were on the right. Zhou Yuan stood on the high ground and said, ¡°I gave the people in the teaching building a chance just now!¡± ¡°As long as they can get to the wall on their own and hand over three crystalline cores, I¡¯ll let them take refuge in the base.¡± ¡°Hearing this, aren¡¯t you guys glad that you entered the base early?¡± Upon hearing this, some of them did feel lucky. There was also some gloating. However, Zhou Yuan¡¯s next words sent them straight into the abyss. ¡°But don¡¯t celebrate too early.¡± ¡°I also have a request for you!¡± ¡°Those who are working must hand in one crystalline core a month!¡± ¡°Those who don¡¯t have any work on hand, hand in one core every three days!¡± ¡°This is the cost of living in the base, consider it rent!¡± ¡°I¡¯m done. Who agrees and who disagrees?¡± As soon as Zhou Yuan finished speaking, a person hiding in the crowd immediately said indignantly, ¡°This base doesn¡¯t belong to you alone. We all worked together to build it.¡± ¡°What right do you have to ask us to do this?¡± Instantly, many people agreed, and the scene became noisy. Zhang He panicked when he saw that. Zhou Yuan, on the other hand, started laughing This laugh was unusually cold! Chapter 30 - Evolve Himself Chapter 30 Evolve Himself Zhang He did not expect this. He had just told Zhou Yuan that the people who were causing trouble in this base had all been suppressed. It hadn¡¯t even been a few days and someone had put him in an awkward position in public. His heart was filled with anger, but more than that, he was panicking. Zhang He stole a glance at Zhou Yuan. When he saw that his superior was smiling, he panicked even more. What did it mean for a god of death to smile when he was provoked? His killing intent was strong! Zhang He immediately said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, let me handle this.¡± Zhou Yuan nodded, and Zhang He heaved a sigh of relief. The fact that Zhou Yuan was willing to let him deal with it meant that Zhou Yuan still trusted him and was not dissatisfied with him. Then this matter would be much easier to handle. Zhang He immediately gave a look, and the fighters trained by his subordinates swarmed out and pulled out the few people who had spoken just now. The fighters pinned them to the ground as if they were prisoners. Zhang He said to the crowd angrily, ¡°This base doesn¡¯t belong to Mr. Zhou, but to you?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done your part! But didn¡¯t you get paid?¡± ¡°Whose food did you eat? Whose did you drink from?¡± ¡°Who protected you when the zombies appeared?¡± ¡°Have you forgotten all these?¡±. ¡°A bunch of cruel and unscrupulous things!¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you, you can choose not to listen to me, but you can¡¯t offend Mr. Zhou!¡± ¡°Whoever dares to commit this crime again will end up like these people!¡± Chop! As Zhang He spoke, he raised a tree-chopping ax and directly chopped one of them to death! Fresh blood splattered everywhere, making Zhang He look even more ferocious! If one was not ruthless, one¡¯s position would be unstable. For the sake of his status, Zhang He did not hesitate to kill to express his stance! Seeing this scene, the crowd didn¡¯t have much of a reaction. These were the only few people who were unconvinced of Zhou Yuan. The others were very convinced of Zhou Yuan¡¯s abilities. Otherwise, they would not have been willing to work for Zhou Yuan. After cleaning up the dregs, Zhang He raised his bloodied ax and shouted, ¡°Do you guys still want to live the life that you used to live?¡± ¡°Do you still want to live that kind of life where you can¡¯t have the next meal?¡± ¡°Are you still willing to live in fear every day?¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you, I don¡¯t want to!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I swear to follow Mr. Zhou to the death!¡± ¡°He can make the seed sprout overnight! He can turn contaminated water into drinking water!¡± ¡°He can predict the future and build a wall to resist zombies!¡± ¡°As long as we follow Mr. Zhou, a beautiful life is waving to us!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you guys still want to persist in your wrong ways?¡± ¡°Mr. Zhou can provide you with everything you need, and all you have to do is to work.¡± ¡°He was just asking you to kill a zombie regularly!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t even fulfill such a request?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you might as well just die!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste the food and water here!¡± Zhang He was not polite at all. He did not give this group of people any ounce of respect or dignity. After taking a breath, Zhang He continued, ¡°Compared to those people in the teaching building, you guys are already very fortunate!¡± ¡°More than half of their 2000 people died!¡± ¡°The rest of them are also trapped in the teaching building. Their food will be finished soon!¡± ¡°If they want to enter our base, they have to hand in three crystalline cores!¡± ¡°Compared to them, Mr. Zhou is much more lenient with you guys!¡± ¡°What else do you want?¡± ¡°Besides, do you think that Mr. Zhou is just sending you all to your deaths?¡± ¡°You guys are letting down Mr. Zhou¡¯s good intentions!¡± ¡°Mr. Zhou is doing this for¡­¡± Zhang He¡¯s speech was extremely vivid. From the reason why they were asked to hunt zombies to the future development of the base. He said that everyone had to go out and that they couldn¡¯t be trapped in here by the zombies. Everyone would have a better life in the future. How could they be trapped by zombies? Also, the environment in the future might become more and more brutal. Zhou Yuan also wanted to cultivate everyone¡¯s physique and courage so that they could live better in the future. In short. Zhou Yuan was right! They were all wrong! One had to know how to be grateful! Zhang He¡¯s mouth turned dry as he spoke. Many people in the crowd were already excited. Upon noticing that, he couldn¡¯t help but nod in relief. At last, he made the final arrangements. ¡°Everyone, follow our previous arrangements. If you have work on hand, return to your posts immediately!¡± ¡°Those without jobs, come with me to kill zombies later!¡± om ¡°Did you hear me clearly?¡± ¡°Clear!!!¡± After everything was settled. Zhang He heaved a sigh of relief. When he turned around, he realized that Zhou Yuan had already left. However, he didn¡¯t think too much about it. He called over a few smart underlings and started to discuss how to kill the zombies. After all, none of them had Zhou Yuan¡¯s physical fitness and reaction speed. If they went out of the wall, they would only be food for the zombies. Therefore, they had to find a more efficient and safer way. It would allow everyone to kill zombies and return safely. Otherwise, if everyone died, who would do the work? Soon, Zhang He came up with a set of theories and methods to kill zombies. Everyone confidently came to the wall and prepared to climb over it. On the other side. While Zhang He was busy sucking up to him, Zhou Yuan had already left for the library. At this time, he looked at the gold balance on the system screen and fell into deep thought. After a series of exchanges, his gold coins had reached a new peak of 2558. He also unlocked the ability to spend more gold to achieve stronger evolution. He had brought back more than 100 crystalline cores after killing a wave of zombies. As he didn¡¯t need the evolution chances for the time being, he didn¡¯t exchange them for gold coins straight away. When he converted them into gold coins, his balance reached a terrifying 24786. The system¡¯s reminder was immediately followed by a whisper, which could break through one¡¯s defense silently. (Detected that host¡¯s gold coins have exceeded five digits. Activating new function of the system.) (You can spend ten times the amount of gold coins to carry out a targeted evolution.] (For example, the host originally spent 100 gold coins to evolve himself, but the effect might not be the same.] [Now, you can spend ten times the amount of gold coins to determine the effect of the evolution.) [If you want more arms, you just need to tell me in advance.] Hearing this, Zhou Yuan fell into silence. Why did the system sound like it was trying to bewitch him? Which normal human would be willing to have four arms? Wasn¡¯t two enough? After criticizing the system in his mind, Zhou Yuan began to think seriously. In the end, he decided to strengthen himself again. Now that zombies had appeared, there was no guarantee that other monsters or even more powerful zombies would appear in the future. It was necessary to maintain his strength at all times. After thinking for a long time. Zhou Yuan muttered in his heart, ¡°System, I will use 1000 gold coins to evolve myself!¡± [Okay.) Chapter 31 - Increase In Power Chapter 31 Increase In Power (Please specify the evolution direction.] Zhou Yuan replied without hesitation, ¡°Strengthen my body and increase my strength. Don¡¯t do any other evolutions or mutations.¡± Whether it was the unknown path of evolution or the strange mutation, Zhou Yuan did not want any of them at the moment. His physical strength was the most reliable. (Received.) As soon as the system¡¯s voice fell, a familiar pain filled his body again. Zhou Yuan could not help but bend his body and clench his fists so tightly that his veins were popping out. After a moment, the pain disappeared, and what followed was an endless sense of relaxation. It was as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted. After getting used to it, Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes searched the room. Ultimately, he chose a stainless steel spoon. He held it with both hands and rubbed it. The hard spoon was like plasticine. It was constantly changing its shape in his hand. This kind of power was simply inhuman. Zhou Yuan felt that he could almost be considered as having the legendary indestructible body of Vajra. The defense and strength of this body were truly frightening The 1,000 gold coins had not been spent in vain. Zhou Yuan stretched his arms and legs in satisfaction before lying comfortably on the sofa. The construction of the base was already in order, and his strength had risen again. He could not find an opponent. What should he do next? Zhou Yuan was at a loss. At this moment, a buzzing sound made his eyes light up. Zhou Yuan turned around and rushed out. Upon reaching the outside of the house, he quickly caught the culprit who caused the buzzing. It was a small insect, and the buzzing sound came from its wings. Zhou Yuan did not know its specific name or species, but it seemed to be a new species that had mutated under nuclear radiation. It looked like a Dragonfly. Its wings and the way it flapped its wings were exactly the same as a Dragonfly. However, it had a sharp needle for a tail, like a bee¡¯s. When Zhou Yuan caught it, it struggled in his hand and attacked him with the spike on its tail. However, it could not pierce through Zhou Yuan¡¯s skin. Zhou Yuan fell into deep thought as he looked at the unknown insect in his hand. When he was hunting zombies, he had been thinking about how to conserve his energy. Other than zombies, he could also save his energy when he needed to do anything in the future. The best way was to train his subordinates. For example, he could choose a few loyal people and let them evolve into powerful beings. However, this idea had its risks. Now, Zhang He and the others seemed very loyal. However, after obtaining power, that might not be the case. This was human nature! He might even be stabbed in the back. Zhou Yuan was confident that he could solve all kinds of accidents. However, backstabbing was very disgusting. Zhou Yuan didn¡¯t want to deal with it when it really happened, nor did he want to waste his effort to prevent it from appearing. Therefore, he decided that he was not going to consider raising the strength of his subordinates. He would think about it when the time was right. The other way was to find a small animal to evolve. The only problem with this method was whether the evolved animals would still be obedient. If they didn¡¯t listen, then everything would have been in vain. As he looked at the insect in his hand, Zhou Yuan asked in his heart, ¡°System, if I evolve this insect, will it listen to me?¡± (The host can spend 100 gold coins to bind with it.) Zhou Yuan nodded and covered the insect in his hand with a transparent cup. Then he said, ¡°System, 100 gold coins. Try to upgrade it.¡± ¡°In addition, I will also pay you another 100 gold coins for direct binding.¡± [Okay.) Immediately after, the insect in the cup began to struggle violently, knocking itself against the wall of the cup repetitively. A moment later, the little bug fell on the table and stopped moving. Zhou Yuan thought it was dead and was about to move the cup away when he heard a ¡®thud¡¯. The little insect actually pushed the cup away and flew out by itself. Originally, this little insect¡¯s flying speed and trajectory were similar to a Dragonfly¡¯s, but now, it was more than twice as fast. Finally, the little insect stopped in front of Zhou Yuan. It had a pair of compound eyes on its tiny head. An invisible connection connected both sides. Zhou Yuan could actually read a human-like expression on its face. However, looking at the weak insect in front of him, Zhou Yuan asked in dissatisfaction, ¡°System, 100 gold coins only allowed it to evolve to this extent?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the use of flying faster!¡± As if it could feel Zhou Yuan¡¯s disdain, the little insect slowly stopped on his collar and rubbed against him like a puppy. [Because the target¡¯s potential is too low, 100 gold coins worth of evolution can only reach this level.] Zhou Yuan chuckled when he heard this. He felt like the system was saying, ¡°You can¡¯t even bear to spend gold coins, and you want to evolve an insect into a fighter jet?¡± After some thought, Zhou Yuan said slowly, ¡°System, I will spend 1000 gold coins to evolve this little insect!¡± [Please confirm if you want to specify the evolution direction.] ¡°Not specified!¡± (Okay.) If it was not specified, it would be a random evolution for 1000 gold coins. This was a treatment that Zhou Yuan had never received before. Of course, Zhou Yuan was more unwilling to bear the consequences of random evolution. After the evolution began, the little bug fell to the ground and twitched non-stop. Ten seconds later, the little bug grew to the size of a basketball. Another ten seconds or so, it had become the size of three basketballs. Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at the ¡®small¡¯ insect that was still growing in size. Time passed. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. In this one month, the changes in the base could be said to be earth-shaking! Houses rose from the ground. Although they were not as strong and clean as the previous buildings, they were built by everyone¡¯s hands. It gave everyone a strong sense of achievement and belonging. This was already the third wave of crops. The originally muddy lake water was now extremely clear. The shallow part of the water could be seen with a glance. In addition, in a month¡¯s time. More than 300 people had died in the base, and all of them were killed while hunting zombies. However, the number of people on the base remained at more than 900. New people came out of the teaching buildings and handed over three crystalline cores to enter the base. After Zhou Yuan¡¯s provocation, people began to hunt for zombies and enter the base. However, there were still many people who were unwilling to work under Zhou Yuan and chose to stay in the teaching building. Even if they could kill their way out of the zombie crowd, they would only find some supplies and food, and not enter the base. me Zhou Yuan did not care about this at all. The days passed by. The development of the base was getting better and better, but the zombies seemed to be endless. The smell of blood continued to attract new zombies from unknown places. And on this day. Just as Zhou Yuan wanted to kill his way out and find the origin of the new wave of zombies, a group of strangers suddenly appeared below the teaching building. There were a total of six people, all wrapped tightly in various colored cloth. The most exaggerated one only revealed his eyes. This immediately attracted the attention of the people in the teaching building and the base. Zhang He informed Zhou Yuan immediately. Chapter 32 - A Monster-Like Body Chapter 32 A Monster-Like Body Zhou Yuan arrived at the top of the wall. The group of people was not far from the base. At this moment, a strange scene happened. The zombies that would bite anyone they saw actually retreated slowly after seeing this group of people, not daring to get close. This scene piqued Zhou Yuan¡¯s curiosity. Could it be that this group of people had a way to drive away the zombies? No wonder they dared to walk in the zombie-infested wilderness. The group of people stopped not far from the wall. They looked at the base and seemed to be communicating in low voices. Seeing this, Zhang He reminded him softly, ¡°Mr. Zhou, this group of people doesn¡¯t seem to have good intentions!¡± To this, Zhou Yuan said indifferently, ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see what they are up to.¡± On the other side. The man, who was wrapped in black cloth with only his eyes exposed, said, ¡°Captain, what¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°The same old method?¡± The man, who was referred to as captain, had a burly figure and broad shoulders. The area under the cloth was bulging as if his body was all muscles. ¡°No, this time we¡¯ll go in and rest first.¡± ¡°The people we are meeting this time seem to be quite interesting.¡± Hearing this, the person who spoke earlier frowned and looked at the base¡¯s wall with disdain. The captain spoke again, ¡°Fourth brother, don¡¯t be too impulsive later. Restrain yourself after you go in.¡± ¡°I feel a little uneasy.¡± ¡°Almost like something is watching us in the dark!¡± The fourth brother, who only revealed his eyes, waved his hand impatiently. Everyone then followed the captain¡¯s footsteps and walked towards the wall. When they came closer, the captain said in a clear voice, ¡°Friend, can you let us in to rest for a while?¡± ¡°We¡¯re too tired from the journey.¡± Zhang He wanted to reject the offer on Zhou Yuan¡¯s behalf. In his opinion, this group of people was really strange. However, Zhou Yuan stopped him and said, ¡°Anyone can enter my base.¡± ¡°As long as each of you hands over three zombies¡¯ crystalline cores!¡± The captain was surprised to hear this. The man, who was called ¡°Fourth brother¡±, laughed in disdain. ¡°Three crystalline cores?¡± ¡°Is your base the heaven?¡± ¡°Do you know the value of three crystalline cores?¡± ¡°Even if you tear up the land of your base, you can¡¯t even sell it for three crystalline cores!¡± Zhou Yuan said indifferently, ¡°Oh? Isn¡¯t crystalline core just anywhere?¡± The fourth brother fell silent. Zombie crystalline cores were indeed valuable in the place where they came from. However, here, zombies were everywhere. The value of the crystalline core did drop slightly. However, the fourth brother immediately said, ¡°That¡¯s because there is a huge wave of zombies here.¡± ¡°Generally speaking, a crystalline core is hard to find.¡± ¡°I can understand that you¡¯re all ignorant and don¡¯t know the value of the crystalline core!¡± ¡°After all, you¡¯re all cowards hiding in a corner!¡± Upon hearing this, Zhang He and the others were instantly enraged. Was this the attitude one should have when entering someone else¡¯s base? Just as he was about to scold the man, Zhou Yuan stopped him. ¡°Oh, then you know the value of a crystalline core?¡± ¡°Of course, I know. Crystalline core¡­¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± The fourth brother wanted to continue but was stopped by the captain in time. The function of the crystalline core was not a secret. However, to some people, it couldn¡¯t be exposed at will. Otherwise, the deepest secret of these people would be made public. Right after he was stopped, the fourth brother instantly reacted. ¡°You¡¯re trying to trick me into telling you?¡± ¡°You want to get beaten up, don¡¯t you?¡± Zhou Yuan shook his head and felt that it was a pity. As far as crystalline cores were concerned, he only knew that they contained energy and could be exchanged for gold coins in the system. However, he had no idea about its actual use and value. He had almost managed to get the information out. Zhou Yuan¡¯s gaze fell on the captain. After the captain stopped his fourth brother, he took out 18 zombie crystalline cores, put them into a small bag, and threw them at Zhou Yuan, who was on the wall. ¡°Friend, we really just want to borrow the place to rest. We don¡¯t have any ill intentions.¡± After weighing the crystalline cores in his hand, Zhou Yuan nodded and said, ¡°Come in,¡± Zhang He immediately put down the ladder they had made. When the group of people saw this, they all smiled mockingly. Despite that, under the leadership of the captain, they all chose to climb the ladder to the wall. However, when it was time to go down the wall, some people still chose the ladder. The fourth brother snorted disdainfully and said, ¡°Go, go, go, go to the side.¡± ¡°You¡¯re delaying my business.¡± After saying that, he leaped and directly jumped down. One had to know that the wall was no longer as tall as it was in the beginning. Not only was the wall ten meters tall, but its thickness had also been widened to two meters. It could be said to be impregnable. However, this height of ten meters was not worth mentioning in the eyes of the fourth brother. He jumped down and landed steadily with a bang. Then, as if nothing had happened, he patted the dust off his body. This scene shocked Zhang He and the others. Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes were filled with a hint of excitement. Things seemed to be getting more and more interesting The group arrived at the housing area. These were all new and under construction houses. Zhang He led the way and arranged rooms for these people. These houses occupied a large area and were more than enough to accommodate six people. At first, the permanent residents of those bases could live in rooms of ten people. However, even so, the fourth brother was very dissatisfied. ¡°Hey! You¡¯re arranging such a place for us?¡± ¡°We spent 18 crystalline cores to get in!¡± ¡°Even dogs don¡¯t live in these houses!¡± Zhang He and the others were even angrier when they heard this. However, before Zhang He could say anything, one of the fourth brother¡¯s companions spoke first. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you if you keep talking about dogs!¡± The fourth brother was stunned for a moment, then he immediately laughed awkwardly and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I forgot!¡± Zhou Yuan could not help but think as he watched this. Could that person¡¯s nickname be related to ¡®dog¡¯? Or was there some other reason that he couldn¡¯t bear to hear people use the word ¡®dog¡¯ as an analogy? With a thought, Zhou Yuan said indifferently, ¡°Zhang He, arrange a better place for our guest.¡± When Zhang He heard this, he didn¡¯t agree immediately, which was rare. He wasn¡¯t disobeying Zhou Yuan, he was targeting those people. ¡°Mr. Zhou, this is the only house left!¡± After saying that, he turned to look at the fourth brother. ¡°You really have a lot of complaints in a day!¡± ¡°It¡¯s up to you to stay!¡± These words instantly enraged the fourth brother. ¡°What did you just say?¡± ¡°You dare to talk to me like this?¡± ¡°Are you tired of living!¡± As he spoke, he was about to move forward. Although the fourth brother seemed impressive when he jumped off the ten-meter-high wall, Zhang He was not afraid at all. After all, this was their base, and they had thousands of brothers. He did not know why Zhou Yuan had been so patient, but he could not take it anymore! ¡°Attack!¡± Zhang He ordered when he saw the other party charging over. Immediately, a group of muscular men with knives, axes, and clubs in their hands rushed out and surrounded the man. Who knew that when the fourth brother saw this, he became even angrier, like a lion that was provoked by a hyena. With a ripping sound, the black cloth covering the fourth brother exploded. He revealed his true appearance. Zhang He and the others were instantly shocked. Zhou Yuan¡¯s eyes lit up in surprise. The reason was that under the black cloth of this so-called fourth brother, there was a monster-like body. Chapter 33 - This World Is too Boring Chapter 33 This World Is too Boring After the fourth brother broke free from the black cloth, his face and neck which were covered in black fur were exposed. As he roared, he revealed his shark-like teeth. The inhuman characteristics and the terrifying roar made him look like a monster. The base guards organized by Zhang He were shocked. However, they had even killed many zombies Te When they realized what was going on, not only did they not retreat, but they also took a step forward. The knives, axes, and clubs in their hands were about to stab into the other party¡¯s face! Seeing this, the fourth brother became even angrier. He roared and was about to attack. At the critical moment, two voices sounded at the same time. ¡°Stop!¡± ¡°Fourth brother!¡± The former was Zhou Yuan, while the latter was the leader of the group. The two of them looked at each other and revealed an understanding expression. This conflict could have been completely stopped. It was just a matter of a sentence from each of them. However, neither of them spoke at the first moment and only stopped them at the last moment when they were about to fight. They both had the intention to test each other. The captain spoke first, ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t manage my subordinates well.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, we have no ill intentions.¡± Hearing this, Zhang He snorted, ¡°No ill intentions?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t have any ill intentions and still belittled us from the beginning to the end?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t like our base, don¡¯t come!¡± ¡°Moreover, the fact that you look like this¡­ I¡¯m starting to doubt if you¡¯re even human!¡± Hearing this, the captain sighed. He also removed his own cloth. When the others saw this, they did the same as their captain and removed their cloths. Zhou Yuan took a look at them. Good heavens, they were all grotesquely shaped! The reason why the leader of the team was so burly and had wider shoulders than the average person was because he had four arms. He had hidden the other two under the cloth. The others also had their own characteristics. The one, who wanted to kill the fourth brother when he heard the word ¡®dog¡¯, took off his mask and cloth, revealing that he was really a dog-headed man. His tongue subconsciously stuck out. There were more. A man with a monkey¡¯s tail and fish scales. A woman with vertical pupils and a snake¡¯s tongue. The last one, who was a shorty, had a pair of demonic goat horns. Other than the four-armed captain, everyone else had some animal characteristics. Whenever a person revealed their true appearance, it would cause a burst of exclamations and discussions from the surrounding people. Everyone revealed a shocked expression. The arrogant fellow could be explained as having thick body hair and a problem with his teeth. These four arms, a tail, scales, horns, and eyes. How could this be explained? Only a ¡®monster¡¯ would make sense! This world was too crazy. Not only were there zombies, but monsters had also appeared! Zhang He and the others were stunned. Zhou Yuan looked at the captain¡¯s four arms and immediately understood. In the doomsday wasteland, even zombies could condense crystalline cores with energy. In that case, it was not surprising that there were evolved bodies and mutants. Even though they didn¡¯t have the system. However, in the greater world, anything was possible. There must be other ways to achieve evolution and mutation. Therefore, Zhou Yuan was not surprised at all. Zhou Yuan nodded his head as he looked at the thick arms. The four arms were quite strong, not as ugly as he had imagined. However¡­ Zhou Yuan shook his head. He still couldn¡¯t accept getting a second pair of arms for himself! It was too strange, he wouldn¡¯t seem like a human! The captain allowed the people around him to size him up and even waved his four arms. It was as if he was showing off its body. After a while, he explained, ¡°Mr. Zhou, right? my name is Ma Haobo.¡± ¡°Although we look like this, please don¡¯t be afraid!¡± ¡°We are not monsters, we are just humans whose bodies have evolved.¡± ¡°Some people call us mutants, but we like to call ourselves¡­ New humans.¡± ¡°So, please don¡¯t worry. We don¡¯t have any ill intentions. We won¡¯t hurt you.¡± His words were very sincere, and many people let down their guard. However, Zhang He asked coldly, ¡°No wonder he was fine after jumping off a ten-meter high wall.¡± ¡°So there¡¯s such an identity!¡± ¡°Speak! What¡¯s your purpose for entering our base in disguise?¡± The base was finally built. Now, it was more and more prosperous by the day. Zhang He would never allow anyone to destroy it. Zhang He¡¯s feelings for the base were deeper than Zhou Yuan¡¯s. This was because he had participated in every construction here. He was not like Zhou Yuan, who was a hands-off shopkeeper. Hearing Zhang He¡¯s question¡­ Captain Ma Haobo said, ¡°As I said, we just want to come in and rest.¡± ¡°I used the cloth to wrap my body so that I won¡¯t scare normal humans like you.¡± ¡°Fourth brother has an impulsive temper. I apologize on his behalf.¡± ¡°As for our purpose, it¡¯s to find more humans on the wasteland.¡± ¡°More, new human beings who have evolved like us.¡± ¡°If we can upgrade it even further, our goal will be to build a new world!¡± ¡°The brilliant civilization of mankind shouldn¡¯t be silent or even disappear just like that!¡± ¡°This is our ultimate goal!¡± Hearing Ma Haobo¡¯s words, Zhang He¡¯s expression eased a little. However, there was a deep sense of vigilance in the depths of his eyes. Zhou Yuan waved his hand and said, ¡°Zhang He, have everyone back down.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t treat our guest like this.¡± ¡°Hurry up and clear out another room.¡± Ma Haobo immediately declined, ¡°No need, no need. This room is quite good.¡± ¡°The six of us are like real brothers. It¡¯s no problem for us to sleep together.¡± Zhou Yuan smiled and said, ¡°Zhang He, send some food and drinks to the guests later.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be neglectful!¡± ¡°You guys rest, I won¡¯t delay any further.¡± With that, Zhou Yuan turned around and left. With his back to the crowd, the corners of his mouth slowly split open. Night fell. In the room. Sensing that the people outside were still watching, the fourth brother, who was like a black bear, said in a low voice,¡± ¡°Captain, I just don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Why did you lower yourself and talk so much to them?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it better to get rid of them quickly and rush to the next target location?¡± ¡°If the elders knew you were like this, they would definitely be unhappy with you.¡± As soon as he said that, Ma Haobo, who had been tidying up the floor silently, suddenly looked gloomy. ¡°You¡¯re using the elders to pressure me?¡± His gentle voice contained a cold chill. It made the fourth brother shiver. ¡°Uh, no, I definitely didn¡¯t mean that.¡± Hearing this, Ma Haobo¡¯s expression eased a little. ¡°I told you, this human base is interesting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a little different from the ones we¡¯ve destroyed before,¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about other things. Mr. Zhou alone is using zombie cores as currency.¡± ¡°Do you dare to say that he¡¯s an ordinary person?¡± The fourth brother mumbled, ¡°I don¡¯t care if he¡¯s ordinary or not, can he beat the six of us?¡± ¡°Spread the zombie virus, harvest the crystalline cores, and leave.¡± Ma Haobo laid down on the floor comfortably. He sighed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this world is too boring.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy to find some fun, don¡¯t mess it up.¡± Hearing the captain¡¯s words, the fourth brother and the others also laughed. However, little did they know that there was a pair of compound eyes hidden in the dark staring at them. Chapter 34 - Fight For the Seeds Chapter 34 Fight For the Seeds The next morning. Ma Haobo¡¯s group of six all walked out of the room and strolled around the base. Upon receiving the news, Zhang He immediately got his men to follow closely to prevent them from doing anything that would harm the base. Looking at the people following him from a distance, the bear-like fourth brother snorted in disdain. In his eyes, these ordinary humans were like delicate flowers that could be crushed with a single step. Captain Ma Haobo didn¡¯t care at all. He put his four arms behind his back and slowly walked forward. As he walked, he admired the surrounding scenery. The base actually didn¡¯t have much scenery. Only the crops that were either mature or lush appeared more spectacular. In front of a field, a few people who were working looked curiously at these strange-looking people. Ma Haobo didn¡¯t care about those gazes. His attention was attracted by the crops in the fields. This was because he saw that the crops in the vicinity were different from what he remembered. Not only did the planting season seem to be chaotic, but even the grain itself was problematic. It could even be said that it had completely refreshed his views of the world. Take the corn for example. What did it mean to have a bunch of corn stalks that looked like tumors? Although he hadn¡¯t seen corn for a long time if he remembered correctly¡­ One plant would only grow one corn! At most, it would give birth to two, and one of them would definitely be undeveloped. Here, however, there was a string of seven to eight fully developed corns. Was this a new species produced by nuclear radiation? Also, what was with the potato that was bigger than a basketball that they had dug up? Was there such a big potato before the disaster? Forget about the potatoes, what about the rice? Was there a grain of rice that could match up to half a fist in size? Was this a long starch ball? Ma Haobo couldn¡¯t figure it out, but he was extremely shocked. The way he stared at the crops was the same as how the people who were working looked at them. Both sides were filled with shock and curiosity. The others were also shocked. The fourth brother said in a low voice, ¡°Captain, their crops seem to have evolved like us!¡± ¡°Do you think it¡¯ll have the same effect as the zombie¡¯s crystalline cores if we eat them? Maybe it can make us even stronger!¡± The dog-headed man sneered, ¡°What are you thinking?¡± ¡°The zombie crystalline core is formed by gathering all the energy in a human body.¡± ¡°Even if these crops have some effect, it¡¯s estimated that it¡¯s about the same effect as the so-called ginseng on ordinary people.¡± ¡°That¡¯s better than nothing,¡± The woman, who had her snake¡¯s tongue out, twisted her body and walked to Ma Haobo¡¯s side, asking, ¡°Captain, are you planning to take the seeds away?¡± Ma Haobo¡¯s two arms naturally wrapped around the woman¡¯s slender waist. ¡°Yes, but I am more interested in the production.¡± ¡°People like us are far stronger than ordinary people. We¡¯re destined to eat a lot!¡± ¡°If such high-yield crops could exist, we would no longer have to worry about food.¡± ¡°The only problem is how long the growth cycle of these crops is.¡± ¡°The potatoes are so big. If they grow for too long, they won¡¯t be as good as ordinary potatoes.¡± The woman grinned, revealing two sharp eyes of determination. She smiled and said, ¡°We can take it slow after we¡¯re done with our matter!¡± ¡°It¡¯s already in our pocket anyway.¡± Ma Haobo didn¡¯t comment. He came to the field and asked, ¡°Hello, can you tell me where you got your crops¡¯ seeds from?¡± The man¡¯s face tensed up. He was very vigilant. ¡°Why are you asking this?¡± Ma Haobo said helplessly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I really don¡¯t have any ill intentions,¡± Hearing this, the man¡¯s attitude became slightly better. ¡°The seeds were provided by Mr. Zhou.¡± Hearing this, Ma Haobo and the others were a little surprised. From the looks of it, this person meant¡­ The reason why these crops had such changes was because of that young Mr. Zhou. ¡°How long does it take for your crops to be planted and harvested?¡± Upon hearing this, the man proudly raised his thumb and said, ¡°Mr. Zhou¡¯s seeds are all like this!¡± ¡°Not only is it high in yield, but its growth rate is also top-notch!¡± ¡°Even the most difficult to ripen rice only need a month.¡± ¡°Potatoes and sweet potatoes will grow in around ten days!¡± ¡°The corn and wheat have only been around 20 days old!¡± As soon as he said that, Ma Haobo and the others were shocked. The woman¡¯s waist stopped swaying, and she even forgot to retract her snake tongue. The dog-headed man opened his mouth wide, and his tongue drooped to the side. The fourth brother¡¯s black fur fluttered in the wind, and he unknowingly opened his mouth wide. When they finally reacted, they said the same thing in unison. ¡°That¡¯s impossible!!!¡± In today¡¯s era, everyone knew how difficult it was for plants to grow in the wasteland. How could there be crops that could grow so fast? Even weeds couldn¡¯t grow so quickly! The environment that crops needed to grow in was incredibly difficult to find as well! Without enough water and sunlight, how could they survive? Not to mention the fact that it could instantly bear fruit in ten days to half a month! This was simply impossible! It was simply a fantasy! Corn was in bunches, potatoes were bigger than basketballs, rice was as big as a fist, and so on. It was understandable if these changes were due to the influence of the current environment, which led to mutation and evolution. After all, even living people like them could evolve. They weren¡¯t surprised by the mutation and evolution of the plants. They had seen similar mutations in other places before, but they were not as exaggerated as the one here. However, then again, what the hell was this growth rate? Even if it was in the past, it would not have been possible to grow it so quickly on the most fertile land. Looking at these ¡®monsters¡¯ making a fuss, the workers immediately had a look of disdain. Their gaze seemed to be implying that they, Ma Haobo and the others, were a group of people who have never seen the world! This made the group want to vomit blood. They had roamed the wasteland and seen too many people and things. When it came to worldly experiences, the entire base of more than a thousand people added together couldn¡¯t compare to any one of them. Now, however, they felt like they were being looked down upon. After leaving the field, the six of them walked to an empty place in silence. The fourth brother said in a low voice, ¡°Are we being looked down upon?¡± The dog-headed man nodded silently. Ma Haobo sighed. ¡°The changes in the new world are indeed different every day!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t even know what tomorrow will be like!¡± ¡°This is a whole new world. We can¡¯t look at it the way we usually do!¡± ¡°We must get these seeds.¡± ¡°Not just the seeds. We also need to know what caused these seeds to become like this.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s something like a technique, we have to get it.¡± ¡°After all, according to what the farmers said¡­¡± ¡°We can conclude that their seeds were the same as before, nothing special.¡± ¡°The seeds only became what they are today after they passed through Mr. Zhou¡¯s hands.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± At this point, Ma Haobo¡¯s four arms clenched into fists and collided with each other. ¡°We must obtain all the techniques and seeds!¡± Chapter 35 - The Base Chapter 35 The Base The captain, Ma Haobo, expressed his determination with a firm tone. In his opinion, the crops in this base were too important. It could be said to be the foundation for the establishment of a new world! Even as new humans, their survival on the wasteland was only slightly easier than ordinary humans. Sometimes, it would be even more difficult due to their large appetite. Therefore, getting a stable source of food was one of their goals when they traveled through the wasteland. When he thought of this, Ma Haobo suddenly admired himself. If he had not cared about anything and killed indiscriminately like his ignorant fourth brother¡­ They might miss out on the precious seeds of the crops here! As he thought about it, Ma Haobo rolled his eyes at his fourth brother. Having sensed that he was being scorned, his fourth brother was a little confused. ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see if this unique base will continue to surprise me.¡± Ma Haobo took the lead and walked in front. Not long after, the six of them arrived in front of the lake. When he saw a little girl drinking water by the lake, he was stunned. Ma Haobo immediately frowned. Even for new humans like them, polluted water could be life-threatening. Even if they didn¡¯t die, they would be seriously ill and their body would not be as good as before. Therefore, when they saw the little child drinking the water in the lake, their first reaction was that the little girl would die. Ma Haobo hesitated for a moment before running over to stop the little girl. Although they called themselves new human beings, they still evolved from ordinary human beings. Naturally, they still had a sense of familiarity with human cubs. Besides, in the current era, having children was a very difficult thing. Most women found it difficult to get pregnant. Even if they could get pregnant, they would usually not choose to have children. This was because it was too much of a burden. Not to mention food and water, there was no clean and hygienic place to give birth in. It was rare to see children in the wasteland. In addition, ordinary children could also become new humans. Therefore, Ma Haobo only hesitated for a moment before setting his mind to saving the little girl. However, just as he reached the lakeside, his outstretched hand froze in mid-air. It was because Ma Haobo saw that the lake water wasn¡¯t the foul-smelling polluted water that he had thought it was. Instead, it was so clear that one could see the bottom. It was almost transparent. There were even fish swimming in the water. The others followed Ma Haobo to the lakeside. When they saw the crystal clear lake water, everyone was shocked. The group walked slowly to the lakeside and looked into the water in a line. The water surface reflected their dumbfounded expressions. Ma Haobo came back to his senses. With a complicated expression, he reached out for a handful of water and brought it to his mouth. The moment it entered his mouth, it tasted sweet! The other five people did the same. They scooped up some water and took a sip. In an instant, everyone¡¯s faces were filled with enjoyment. This was because they had not drunk such clean water for a long time! Ma Haobo calmed himself down and asked with a kind expression, ¡°Little friend, do you know why the water here is so clear?¡± The little girl Guoguo looked at them curiously. She wasn¡¯t afraid at all. She even wanted to touch the horns of the goat-horned man and the tail of the scaled man. Hearing Ma Haobo¡¯s question, Guoguo didn¡¯t reply. Instead, she asked, ¡°You, why do you have four arms?¡± Ma Haobo was startled for a moment before revealing a smile. However, before he could reply, Guoguo asked, ¡°Are they deformed?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your mother? Did she not want you anymore?¡± ¡°Poor thing, you are even more pitiful than Guoguo!¡± ¡°Guoguo is very healthy, and I have my older sister by my side.¡± ¡°I can eat my fill every day now. Guoguo is very happy.¡± Ma Haobo¡¯s head went blank as he listened to the little girl¡¯s mumbling. Deformed? Abandoned by his mother? This way of thinking¡­ ¡°She¡¯s just a little kid,¡± Ma Haobo comforted himself. The fourth brother laughed naively, which immediately attracted the little girl¡¯s attention. ¡°Uncle, your beard has grown to your chest. How can you not shave it? it¡¯s too unhygienic!¡± ¡°Also, did you eat too much sugar and have your teeth eaten by a parasite?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t eat candy anymore. Give them to Guoguo, Guoguo will share your burden!¡± Instantly, the fourth brother¡¯s face turned darker than the fur on his chest! This caused the others to burst into laughter. Guoguo then chose her next target. ¡°Sister, are you hungry?¡± ¡°Your waist is so thin. You must be so hungry! Your body is nothing but skin and bones. Too pitiful!¡± ¡°Guoguo knows how it feels to be hungry.¡± ¡°Ah, sister, what happened to your tongue?¡± ¡°Oh, I understand!¡± ¡°You must have been too hungry the last time you ate, so you ate too quickly and bit your tongue in half!¡± ¡°Sister, you¡¯re even more pitiful than the deformed uncle!¡± Suddenly, the woman who was flicking her tongue stopped laughing. Her vertical pupils narrowed as she stared at the little girl in front of her. Should she eat this little girl alive, or should she dig for her crystalline core after turning this little girl into a zombie? She was seriously considering these options. This time, the others were all holding back their laughter. They were afraid that the innocent sharp-tongued youngling would target them next. At this moment, a shrill scream was heard. Not too far away, Ling Xue saw the strange-looking people surrounding her sister and immediately screamed in fear. She rushed to the lakeside as fast as she could and pulled Guoguo into her embrace. Ling Xue vigilantly stared at the six ¡®monsters¡¯ in front of her. She was one of the higher-ups that Zhou Yuan had personally recruited into the base and had been promoted by Zhang He several times. She knew much more than those who did farm work. She understood that these people in front of her most likely did not have good intentions. Therefore, when she saw her sister being surrounded, she almost went crazy! Looking at the beautiful woman in front of him, Ma Haobo asked again, ¡°Hello, do you know why the lake water is so clear?¡± ¡°Do you guys usually drink the water from here?¡± Ling Xue replied to his question with a cold face, ¡°This is the secret of our base!¡± ¡°If you want to know, go ask Mr. Zhou!¡± After saying that, she quickly left with her sister. Looking at the two sisters leaving, Ma Haobo didn¡¯t feel dejected. Instead, a look of excitement appeared on his face. He turned around and looked at the lake. He couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°It seems that Mr. Zhou is much more interesting than we thought!¡± They called themselves new humans and thought that they were of a higher level than ordinary humans. In the past, fancy actions in movies and TV shows, such as flying on roofs, walking on walls, and having immense strength were all seen as a kind of divine power or spell. They were capable of doing all these. However, they could not make the crops grow in ten days. They could not make a lake full of clear water appear on the polluted wasteland. To be able to do this, one was almost like a god! However, there was someone who could achieve all these that they couldn¡¯t do. And this someone was in a base of ordinary humans. The instigator was also an ordinary human. For a moment, the six of them had the same thought in their minds. What kind of person was this Mr. Zhou? Chapter 36 - Lets Have a Spar Chapter 36 Let¡¯s Have a Spar Standing by the lake, the six of them fell into deep thought. The guesses they had about Zhou Yuan¡¯s identity made them temporarily silent. After a long time, the fourth brother spoke first. ¡°Captain, could this Mr. Zhou be an evolved human being?¡± ¡°However, his appearance hasn¡¯t changed. It¡¯s just that his ¡®abilities¡¯ have evolved.¡± If the crops and the water in this lake were all from Mr. Zhou¡¯s hands¡­ That was the only explanation. After all, Mr. Zhou looked no different from an ordinary person. Ma Haobo glanced at his fourth brother with sympathy in his eyes. ¡°He knows the value of the crystalline core, so he asked his men to kill the zombies.¡± ¡°He also has magical abilities.¡± ¡°Therefore, he is an evolved new human being. There is no doubt about it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re thinking about his identity.¡± Ma Haobo was really speechless at his subordinate¡¯s naivety. Zhou Yuan was a new human being. Was there even a need to question that? The problem was, who exactly was Zhou Yuan? Was he a member of another Homo Evolutis faction? Or could he find the Secret of Evolution by coincidence and was a wild Evolver? If it was the former, they would have to think of a countermeasure. This was because if they were not careful, they would start a war between the Evolver organizations! If it was the latter, then it would be simple. They could lick every bone in this base clean! The woman with the snake¡¯s tongue gave a constructive suggestion. ¡°Captain, I think this Mr. Zhou is probably a wild one.¡± ¡°First of all, in our intelligence system, there is no mention of any organization that has the ability to grow magical crops.¡± ¡°If any organization had such crops, they would have been attacked by the masses!¡± ¡°Either they take out the seeds and share them with everyone, or get destroyed and have their seeds shared amongst the winners!¡± ¡°Secondly, if he¡¯s from an organization ¡­¡± ¡°That organization would not allow him to build such a simple base in such a remote place.¡± ¡°He also can¡¯t be the only Evolver guarding this base.¡± ¡°After all, for an Evolver to have magical seeds and a technique to purify water.¡± ¡°Which organization wouldn¡¯t take this situation seriously?¡± ¡°So, he¡¯s most likely a wild one.¡± After listening to the woman¡¯s analysis, Ma Haobo nodded slightly. He thought so too. However, it was better to be safe than sorry. To ensure that nothing would go wrong and he could get what he wanted safely, Ma Haobo decided to test the waters first. ¡°Although I agree with your analysis, we still need to find out the truth first.¡± ¡°After all, for him to be able to do so many amazing things, even if he¡¯s a wild Evolver, his strength can¡¯t be underestimated.¡± Hearing this, the other five people all had an ¡®I knew it¡¯ expression. They knew their Captain all too well. Everyone had predicted this result. However, even though they were used to it, they still couldn¡¯t help but complain. ¡°Captain, you¡¯re too cautious!¡± ¡°Captain, have you forgotten about the rules of evolution?¡± ¡°One cannot have the best of both worlds at the same time!¡± ¡°Usually, those with mutated bodies don¡¯t have strong supernatural abilities! Vice versa!¡± ¡°Since Mr. Zhou can mutate crops and purify water, there¡¯s a high chance that he¡¯s an ability user and not a mutant.¡± ¡°His combat ability shouldn¡¯t be too strong. That¡¯s why you¡¯re being too cautious, Captain!¡± It wasn¡¯t that there weren¡¯t any all-rounders, but there were too few! It was so rare that even the Evolver¡¯s circle would not consider this. That was why people came up with such a rule. Evolvers were divided into mutants and ability users. For example, the fourth brother, dog-headed man, scaled man, goat-horned man, and even the captain. All five of them were mutants. There were obvious changes to their body, and their physical combat power was very strong As for the woman with the forked tongue, although she had also mutated, it was relatively less. It was considered an evolution that was more inclined to an ability user. Her main fighting her vertical pupils. A complete ability user basically had no changes in their appearance. Their combat power was relatively weak, but they had magical abilities that were almost like divine powers and spells. Mutants and ability users were all evolved humans. Simply put, the difference between the two users was that one was a warrior and the other was a mage. Ma Haobo didn¡¯t comment on his team members¡¯ complaints. Caution was a weakness at times, but more often than not, it was a strength. The wasteland was full of danger, especially when it came to things related to Evolvers. It was not too much to be ten thousand times more cautious! Even if the process was a little troublesome and time was delayed. It was much better than being careless and having an accident happen in the end! In general, the combat power of an ability user was relatively weak. However, this only meant that their body¡¯s combat power was weak. Sometimes, the fighting style of some ability users could be very strange and unpredictable. Therefore, Ma Haobo¡¯s vigilance towards Zhou Yuan did not decrease at all. After deciding on the strategy, the six of them immediately headed toward the library. ¡­ In the library. Zhou Yuan sat on the sofa and looked at the six people in front of him. He asked with a faint smile, ¡°Why am I hunting zombies?¡± Ma Haobo nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°When ordinary people see zombies, they will only avoid them out of fear. However, you organized people to hunt them down.¡± ¡°I want to know why.¡± From Zhou Yuan¡¯s answer to this question, Ma Haobo could make a simple judgment. Was Zhou Yuan a wild or a member of some organization? However, it could only be used as a reference for judgment and could not be confirmed. After all, people could lie. Zhou Yuan spread his hands and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t that simple?¡± ¡°The zombies are blocking the way outside, I can¡¯t go out!¡± ¡°I want to live!¡± ¡°There are still so many people under me who need to survive and eat.¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible to stay in this base forever.¡± Ma Haobo was obviously not satisfied with this answer. He shook his head and said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, you don¡¯t have to brush me off.¡± ¡°I¡¯m talking about hunting zombies, not just killing them!¡± ¡°You know the value of a zombie crystalline core.¡± ¡°In other words, what I want to ask is¡­¡± ¡°How do you know the value of a zombie crystalline core?¡± Ma Haobo was practically pointing at Zhou Yuan¡¯s nose and asking, ¡°Are you working for an organization?¡± Ma Haobo¡¯s probing wasn¡¯t very obscure or secretive. It was a simple and direct question. Zhou Yuan slowly shook his head and said, ¡°I found the crystal in the zombie¡¯s head very pretty.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I wanted to collect and admire them.¡± ¡°Then, it slowly became the currency of the base.¡± ¡°These things have no value to me.¡± ¡°I still have a lot here, do you guys want some?¡± Zhou Yuan took out a one-meter tall wooden box from his bedroom and threw it on the coffee table. Whoosh! He opened the lid and it was full of zombie crystalline cores! These were all collected by him in the past month, from what he and the thousand men under him had hunted. There were more than 2000 zombie crystalline cores in total. In an instant, Ma Haobo and the other five fell silent. They had seen so many crystalline cores before. However, those cores didn¡¯t belong to them. 2,000 crystalline cores¡­ This was a huge sum of currency no matter where it was. They were a little¡­tempted! That was why they were silent. Zhou Yuan looked at the expressions of the six people in front of him and the corners of his mouth curled up. The reason why he took out the crystalline cores was to test these people¡¯s attitudes toward them. He wanted to use it to verify the conjecture in his heart. This conjecture was that the so-called evolvers were related to zombie crystalline cores. From the looks of it now, it definitely had a lot to do with this. Suddenly, the silent atmosphere was broken. Ma Haobo said seriously, ¡°Mr. Zhou, can I spar with you?¡± Chapter 37 - Instant Defeat Chapter 37 Instant Defeat ¡°Sparring?¡± Zhou Yuan said, pretending to be surprised. ¡°This term is very ancient!¡± ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve encountered someone using this term in my life.¡± ¡°But, why?¡± In response to Zhou Yuan¡¯s question, Ma Haobo explained, ¡°You should be an Evolver like us.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that the direction of our evolution is different.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I want to spar with you,¡± ¡°If possible, I would like to invite you to join us.¡± The last sentence couldn¡¯t be more fake. Ma Haobo and the rest had never thought of inviting Zhou Yuan to join them. Their goal from the very beginning was to turn the humans in the base into zombies and harvest their crystalline cores. Furthermore, they had already made up their minds to obtain the seeds of the crops and the water purification technique. In other words, they were now standing on the opposite side of Zhou Yuan. It did not matter if Zhou Yuan was a wild Evolver or not. Naturally, Zhou Yuan would not easily believe the nonsense of these people. However, he was still very happy to spar. After all, ever since he became stronger, his opponents were either ordinary humans or zombies. He had never foughany other evolved human before. Zhou Yuan really wanted to know how strong he was now, and he also wanted to fight to his heart¡¯s content. Therefore, Zhou Yuan agreed without hesitation. ¡°Sure, I also want to exercise a little.¡± The two of them looked at each other and smiled. They did not say anything. The group of people came to the open space outside the house. Ma Haobo¡¯s four arms had all ten fingers crossed, and they were stretched in reverse, making a crackling sound of bones colliding. Zhou Yuan, on the other hand, stood there casually, like a spectator. ¡°Mr. Zhou, let me give you a reminder.¡± ¡°Our captain is very powerful!¡± The woman with the snake tongue winked at Zhou Yuan as she reminded him. Zhou Yuan smiled indifferently and did not say a word. The fourth brother crossed his arms and revealed his saw-like teeth. He said with a smile. ¡°Mr. Zhou, you must be careful!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to be brave!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not embarrassing to admit defeat in time.¡± ¡°After all, if you were to be injured or even¡­die!¡± ¡°Your underlings won¡¯t have anyone to rely on!¡± The fourth brother¡¯s words seemed to be a kind reminder. In reality, it was full of mockery and disdain. If Zhou Yuan did not know that this group of people had ill intentions, he would have really thought that they were concerned about him. After Ma Haobo finished stretching his limbs, he said calmly, ¡°These brothers of mine are very direct, I hope Mr. Zhou doesn¡¯t mind!¡± Zhou Yuan did not say anything and just waved his hand. This made Ma Haobo feel insulted. After all, most ability users would not allow mutants to get close to them. Therefore, in sparring, the ability user would usually make the first move as they would need time to accumulate power and use their abilities. If a mutant was to attack immediately, the ability user would usually end up in a miserable state. Therefore, to Ma Haobo and the rest, Zhou Yuan¡¯s action was more like an arrogant provocation. Upon seeing this, the fourth brother immediately laughed and said, ¡°Captain, go easy on him!¡± ¡°If we hurt Mr. Zhou, we won¡¯t be able to leave this base.¡± The snake-like woman charmingly twisted her body and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I believe in Mr. Zhou¡¯s strength!¡± As she said that, she threw him a flirtatious look. At this moment, Zhang He, who had heard the news and rushed over, saw the situation and immediately ordered his men to surround Ma Haobo¡¯s group of six. He had thought that the other party had finally revealed his true colors and was about to make a move on Zhou Yuan. After Zhou Yuan¡¯s explanation, Zhang He asked his men to leave. However, everyone was still standing around, staring at the six mutants. Zhang He had always believed that this group of people, who no longer looked like humans, definitely had an ulterior motive. So he didn¡¯t understand why Mr. Zhou was so indulgent with them. Not only did they enter the base, but they were also allowed to tour the base without restraint. Wasn¡¯t this the equivalent of showing off a thick stack of cash on a street full of gangsters and robbers? Mr. Zhou should understand the principle of not revealing one¡¯s wealth. He would not make such a low-level mistake. So, why? Zhang He really couldn¡¯t understand. However, no matter what he thought, the sparring began. ¡°Be careful!¡± Ma Haobo shouted coldly and rushed forward. Buzzzzzz! A cloud of dust rose from where he was standing. In the blink of an eye, Ma Haobo was in front of Zhou Yuan. Two right fists were thrown out at the same time, one aimed at Zhou Yuan¡¯s cheek and the other at his left rib. If this attack had landed, even the fourth brother would have been defeated instantly. Therefore, Ma Haobo was very confident. He thought that Zhou Yuan would either be killed in an instant or use his ability to block. Who knew that right after he swung his fist, he felt a sense of emptiness. The Zhou Yuan in front of him slowly dissipated! An afterimage? Just as this thought came to Ma Haobo¡¯s mind, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His entire body was instantly smashed into the pile of dirt at the side. BOOM! A cloud of dust rose. Ma Haobo almost couldn¡¯t breathe. He felt intense pain in his abdomen and cheeks. This was¡­ The scene from earlier flashed through Ma Haobo¡¯s mind. Just as he was about to hit Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan dodged with even greater speed and even gave him two punches. One punch to the abdomen, one punch to the face! Was that even possible? Ma Haobo¡¯s heart was filled with endless horror! The guy he thought was an ability user had displayed a physical strength that was even stronger than him, a mutant. His speed, strength, and reflexes were all crushed! As the dust settled, Ma Haobo stood up with much difficulty and looked at Zhou Yuan, who was still standing at the same spot with a calm expression. His heart was filled with shock. Was this Zhou Yuan¡¯s true strength? Ability user his ass! He was clearly an extremely powerful mutant! However, if he was a mutant, why didn¡¯t his body mutate or beastize? Also, how does one explain the magical crops and the clear lake? For a moment, Ma Haobo was at a loss! On his side, were the five people who were originally full of confidence and were watching the sparring like a show. At this moment, their eyes were bulging and they were dumbfounded. What had happened? Why did their captain fall with a face full of pain? What had happened in that instant? Those who were weaker than Ma Haobo did not see Zhou Yuan¡¯s movements clearly. Thus, they were all very confused. Only the woman with the forked tongue could see it clearly. Her eyes were wide open, but her pupils were narrowed into a thin line. The scene replayed in her mind as she muttered, ¡°So fast! He¡¯s so strong!¡± ¡°Just now, he defeated our captain¡­instantly!¡± As soon as she said this, the others finally reacted. Immediately, everyone¡¯s face revealed a stupefied expression. The fact that it was the complete opposite of what they had expected had brought them an even greater shock. The captain was defeated in seconds? Did this really happen? Zhou Yuan looked at his fist and frowned. He said with a voice filled with dissatisfaction. ¡°Why are you so weak?¡± Chapter 38 - Please Send Support Chapter 38 Please Send Support After hearing Zhou Yuan¡¯s words¡­ Ma Haobo almost couldn¡¯t suppress the blood that gushed up. He coughed twice and covered his stomach with one hand and his mouth with the other. He stood up with his remaining two arms. ¡°Mr. Zhou is indeed powerful. I was too careless!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to rest for a while. Goodbye.¡± With the help of the woman with the forked tongue, Ma Haobo and the others left in a sorry state. They returned to the room that Zhang He had arranged for them. The fourth brother closed the door tightly and said with strong disbelief, ¡°Captain! What¡¯s up with that Zhou Yuan?¡± ¡°Is he really that powerful?¡± Ma Haobo¡¯s strength was the strongest among them. Even among the small teams in the organization, they were ranked. Yet their captain was defeated by Zhou Yuan in seconds? What happened to Zhou Yuan being an ability user? Which ability user could use his fist to defeat a mutant in seconds? Ma Haobo took a deep breath and felt the pain in his abdomen and cheek. His eyes couldn¡¯t help but show endless ferocity and viciousness. He was not as good-tempered as he seemed. It could even be said that his temperament and methods were much more vicious than the others. However, when there was a need, he would hide and deliberately show kindness. Now, his disguise had faded. Being defeated by two punches made him understand that this base wasn¡¯t something that could be taken down easily with some small tricks. He had to strike like lightning. Thinking of this, Ma Haobo said coldly, ¡°Contact Shi Lin and ask his team to come over to support!¡± ¡°Tell them the truth about the situation here!¡± The dog-headed man asked, ¡°Are we really going to inform them?¡± Shi Lin was the leader of another team, and as of currently, his team was looking for a hunting target on the other side of the city ruins. There was no problem in informing them, as teams had to help each other. However, the problem was that apart from the members of Shi Lin¡¯s team, there was an important figure. He was an elder in the organization! Other than his respected status, he was also known to be particularly powerful. Correspondingly, his temper was also very bad. If he knew that they couldn¡¯t even take down a wild Evolver, not only would they not be rewarded, they might even be punished. That elder¡¯s punishment was not easy to endure. Those who had experienced it had basically lost half their lives! Ma Haobo¡¯s eyes flashed with a thick haze. ¡°We must inform them!¡± ¡°Even if the elders punish us, we must inform them!¡± ¡°Zhou Yuan is too powerful! We can¡¯t take him down by ourselves!¡± ¡°If we miss out on these crops and some precious techniques that we don¡¯t know about, and the elders find out later, the punishment we receive will be even more severe!¡± ¡°It¡¯s even possible¡­that we will be executed!¡± ¡°You should all understand the value of this base!¡± ¡°So, hurry up!¡± The dog-headed man no longer hesitated upon hearing this. He crouched on the ground and said in a low voice,¡± ¡°Don¡¯t act rashly, wait for my news.¡± After saying that, the dog-headed man exerted strength on his four limbs and ran out like a real dog. He was extremely fast! Using the wall as a stepping stone, he easily leaped over the ten-meter high fence. The dog-headed man disappeared into the depths of the wasteland. In the wasteland, there was no such thing as electricity communication. Therefore, only the faster and more durable dog-headed man could go and inform the others. In addition, his sense of smell could also help him find another team faster. However, neither the dog-headed man nor the remaining five people in the house noticed it. Not far from the house, in an unremarkable corner. A pair of compound eyes suddenly appeared. After looking at the place where the dog-headed man had disappeared, it disappeared again. ¡­¡­¡­ In the ruins. There was a building that was still standing firmly among the ruins. The building was huge, and there were thousands of rooms. It was originally a gathering place for the survivors. And now, all of them were walking dead. In a certain room. A group of seven people was currently resting. Six of them had the characteristics of mutation and beastification. There was a birdman with a pair of black wings on his back. There were two-faced people who had a second pair of eyes on the back of their heads. There was another mutant with sharp claws and fangs on its limbs, while the other had extra joints on its legs. There was also one who was extremely fat, with a nose like a pig¡¯s. The most special one had his entire head covered in scale armor as if he had become a pangolin spirit. However, no matter how fierce the six of them looked¡­ When they faced the last young man, all of them trembled with fear. They were like a mouse meeting a cat. This young man looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old. However, as he sat there with his eyes closed, the others didn¡¯t dare to make a sound. They even acted cautiously when they wanted to shift their positions. With every movement, they would pause for a short while and look at the young man. It was as if they were afraid of disturbing the young man. Suddenly, a voice was heard. It woke up the zombies in the building and the young man who was resting with his eyes closed. In an instant, the six people¡¯s expressions changed drastically, and their eyes were filled with fear. ¡°Lord Elder! Team Leader Shi Lin! Are you guys here?¡± Hearing the noise coming from downstairs, Shi Lin was first frightened, then angry, and then scared. Finally, he knelt in front of the young man and said in fear and trepidation, ¡°My lord, I¡¯ll help you deal with it. You can continue to rest!¡± The young man¡¯s face was expressionless as he said, ¡°Bring him here.¡± Shi Lin said respectfully, ¡°Yes, my lord!¡± After saying that, Shi Lin knelt down and took two steps back. Then he turned around and rushed downstairs. His face was filled with anger. When he reached the fifth floor, Shi Lin jumped down directly from the top. He landed right in front of the dog-headed man. Shi Lin looked at the dog-headed man with a cold gaze and said fiercely, ¡°You may want to die but I don¡¯t. Don¡¯t drag me into this!¡± ¡°If we disturb the elder, who can withstand his anger?¡± ¡°Can you?¡± After traveling for half a day, the sky was about to turn dark. The dog-headed man was so tired that he was panting heavily, and his mouth was covered in white foam. After hearing Shi Lin¡¯s words, he also showed fear on his face. ¡°Team Leader, Team Leader Shi Lin, I didn¡¯t do it on purpose.¡± ¡°I was just anxious to inform you guys as soon as possible!¡± Shi Lin coldly snorted and said, ¡°Go f*cking explain to the elder!¡± After saying that, he lifted the dog-headed man up as if he was weightless and quickly climbed up the stairs. Soon, Shi Lin brought the dog-headed man into the room and threw him in front of the young man. The dog-headed man knelt on the ground and said nervously, ¡°E-elder, I, I¡­¡± Facing this young man, the dog-headed man couldn¡¯t even speak a complete sentence. The young man slowly opened his eyes and said, ¡°If you can¡¯t say it in three seconds, you¡¯ll die.¡± The dog-headed man¡¯s eyes widened. It was as if his governor and conception vessels had opened and welcomed the soul of an incredible speaker into his body! ¡°We encountered a human base!¡± ¡°The base has miraculous crops that can solve our food shortage!¡± ¡°There¡¯s even a technique that can purify an entire lake!¡± ¡°But the owner of the base is too strong! The captain sent me here to ask for reinforcements!¡± After finishing these four sentences in three seconds, the dog-headed man broke through the peak of his speaking speed. The young man¡¯s expression changed slightly. He put down his crossed legs and said indifferently, ¡°Tell me in detail.¡± Chapter 39 - A Behemoth Chapter 39 A Behemoth The dog-headed man heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the young man¡¯s words. The fact that the elder was willing to listen to him meant that he was not in any danger of dying. ¡°It¡¯s like this, elder, we¡­¡± The dog-headed man told the young man everything. Compared to the young man, Shi Lin¡¯s team members were more surprised and even more so as they listened on. When they heard that the crops could ripen in ten days to half a month, their faces were filled with disbelief. As for the fact that the entire lake was so clear that the bottom could be seen, they scoffed at it even more. These two things seemed to be impossible to them. How could it possibly appear in an ordinary human base? When they heard that the owner of the base had defeated Ma Haobo in seconds, they were stunned. Everyone looked at the dog-headed man as if he was an idiot. Especially Shi Lin. Ma Haobo and him were old rivals. The two of them were equally powerful. If Ma Haobo was defeated in two punches, didn¡¯t that mean that he, Shi Lin would be defeated too? What a joke! Ma Haobo and him were both elite captains in the organization. Above them were the elder candidates, and further up were the true elders. This was enough to show their strength! The person who could defeat them in seconds had to be at least an elder. How could an elder-level figure appear in an ordinary human base? For a moment, Shi Lin felt that the dog-headed man¡¯s brain was damaged. However, despite all the complaints in their hearts, Shi Lin and his team members did not dare to say a word. They were afraid that they would make the elder unhappy. After the dog-headed man finished speaking, there was no sound in the room for a long time. After a while, the young man slowly said, ¡°Is everything you said true?¡± The dog-headed man knelt down and said in a hurry, ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth, I swear on my life!¡± The young man stood up, and the items in the room moved on their own without any wind. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Shi Lin quickly bowed and said, ¡°Yes!¡± Leaving behind the thousands of zombies that had just mutated. Shi Lin didn¡¯t show any reluctance. Since the elder had said that they were leaving, they could not disobey. Besides, if what the dog-headed man said was true, that human base was worth ten million times more than the thousands of zombie crystalline cores. ¡­¡­¡­ In the base, inside the library. Zhang He found Zhou Yuan. ¡°Mr. Zhou, those people are a scourge. Why don¡¯t you drive them all away?¡± ¡°I keep feeling that there¡¯s something wrong with them,¡± Zhou Yuan took the last bite of corn and threw the kernel into the trash can. He smiled faintly and said, ¡°Even you can see something is wrong, so why can¡¯t I?¡± In fact, Zhou Yuan had already known the other party¡¯s intentions through his little pet. From the first day they moved in, he had let his pet out to monitor them. The insect, which he had caught and looked like a dragonfly, was able to accomplish its mission successfully due to its evolution. After its evolution, not only had its body and wings expanded to five meters long, but it also obtained a very powerful skill. Camouflage. It was like the most typical chameleon or some poisonous snake in the animal world. The pet that Zhou Yuan named ¡®Xiaoqing¡¯ had an insane ability to camouflage itself. As long as its skill was activated, it could perfectly blend in with the surrounding environment, invisible to the naked eye. Due to the binding, Zhou Yuan could use Xiaoqing¡¯s vision to see things. In other words, Zhou Yuan knew everything that the green dragonfly had seen and heard. It could be said that other than being powerful, Xiaoqing was also a perfect ¡®monitor¡¯. Zhou Yuan drank a cup of water and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just let them be.¡± Seeing how calm Zhou Yuan was, Zhang He was relieved. This was the confidence that Zhou Yuan had built up time and time again after he turned the tide. As long as Zhou Yuan believed that there was no need to worry, Zhang He was completely at ease! However, what Zhou Yuan said next shocked him for an entire year. ¡°This group of people originally just wanted to turn us all into zombies.¡± ¡°Now there¡¯s one more reason for their stay.¡± ¡°They want to kill me and take all the crops in the base along with the fish in the lake!¡± ¡°I really want to know what their trump card is!¡± Zhang He was dumbfounded when he heard this. He didn¡¯t need to worry about this? Then when should he start worrying about something? Zhang He swallowed and asked, ¡°Um, do you need me to do anything?¡± ¡°Or do you have any plans that you need my help with?¡± Zhou Yuan originally wanted to say that he did not need anything. However, he had a sudden thought. If the other side had more reinforcements, there might be more than a dozen or more. On his side, including Xiaoqing, he only had two people. He was afraid that he might meet some problems. If he was careless and the other party took the opportunity to hurt the people in the base. The result would not be beautiful! Although Zhou Yuan did not really care about the safety of the people in the base, he was still worried. After all, those people were working for him. If Zhou Yuan had the ability, he would still try to protect them. Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan looked at Zhang He and said in a bewitching tone, ¡°Zhang He, can I¡­trust you completely?¡± Hearing this, Zhang He knelt on the ground. ¡°Zhang He is willing to follow Mr. Zhou forever. I¡¯ll go through fire and water without hesitation!¡± ¡°Even if everyone betrays you, I will be the last one standing by your side!¡± Everyone knew how to talk and flatter, but as time passed, things might not stay the same way. However, Zhou Yuan did not mind. Although he had always been against helping his subordinates increase their strength. However, one or two was still acceptable. At the very least, if he was backstabbed, he had the ability to handle them! ¡°I hope you can remember what you said today.¡± After Zhou Yuan finished speaking, he said to the system in his mind, ¡°100 gold coins for the evolution of the person in front of me!¡± (Okay.) ¡°Uh ah!¡± Zhang He instantly fell to the ground and rolled around in pain. He did not know what had happened to him. The pain flooded his mind. A moment later, the pain receded like a tide. Zhang He, who was covered in sweat, stood up with an expression of disbelief. ¡°This, this is ¡­¡± At this moment, his muscles bulged and he became very strong. Moreover, his ears had become much larger than before, and they were constantly trembling. Nails grew out of his hands. They were so sharp that he could leave deep marks on the wood with a light scratch. Zhang He jumped up and down in disbelief and waved his arms. The abundant physical strength and power made him unable to believe that this was his own body. A sound came into his ears. Despite it being soft and clear, it made him feel that it was a little blaring. However, the feeling of being able to hear the sound of a mosquito flapping its wings made him feel very surprised. ¡°M-Mr. Zhou, what¡¯s wrong with me?¡± ¡°Did you¡­¡± Zhou Yuan curled up on the sofa and said indifferently, ¡°This is mutation. In other words, evolution!¡± ¡°You¡¯re the same as those few people now!¡± Zhang He kneeled on the ground again. He knew that his change was definitely the work of the omnipotent man in front of him. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Zhou, for your kindness of rebirth!¡± Zhou Yuan waved his hand and dismissed him. Zhang He went outside and couldn¡¯t wait to run to the open space to test his body. The result made him very excited. His current strength was many times that of ordinary people. Especially the destructive power of his hands, which was extremely abnormal. It could even cut through metal. His hearing had also been greatly enhanced. He could even hear the chatting of the workers who had yet to fall asleep a few hundred meters away. Just as he was feeling his body with excitement, a strange buzzing sound suddenly rang in his ear. Zhang He looked in a particular direction in shock. That was where Ma Haobo and the others were. In a corner nearby. There was a huge monster! He could hear, but he couldn¡¯t see it. Chapter 40 - A Decent Opponent Chapter 40 A Decent Opponent Zhang He, who was shocked, returned to his room. He did not know what it was. However, he didn¡¯t sense any evil intent from that ¡®thing¡¯. So, he went back to his room to rest. In his opinion. Zhou Yuan was definitely ten thousand times more powerful than him. Since even Zhou Yuan had not said anything, there was no need for him to meddle in this matter. After consoling himself, Zhang He lay down comfortably. His partner, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately burrowed into his arms. As the person who was second in position after their leader, he stood above the thousand people in the base. Naturally, he did not lack women. With a soft fragrance in his arms, Zhang He fell asleep peacefully. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly woke up from his sleep. Only then did he realize that the sky was already starting to brighten. At this moment, a voice reached his ears. ¡°Elder, this is the place!¡± ¡°Look at this corn. How can it grow like this?¡± ¡°Look at the size of the potato!¡± Elder? What an ancient way of calling someone! Was there anyone in the base who was called that? No!! Zhang He instantly sobered up. He could tell that the owner of the voice was Ma Haobo. For Ma Haobo to address someone as an elder¡­ Oh no!! At that thought, Zhang He immediately rushed out of the room. He ordered his men to gather the underlings and rushed to the library. Originally, he would need two minutes to run from his room to the library. Now, it was only ten seconds! ¡°Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou?¡± ¡°It seems like someone from their side is here!¡± ¡°We¡­¡± Zhou Yuan¡¯s voice came from the roof. ¡°I¡¯m here. Come up.¡± Zhang He was stunned for a moment before he understood. He took two steps back and spat on his hand. Then, he rushed forward, kicked his legs, and grabbed the protruding part of the wall with both hands. After which, he exerted his strength several times and arrived at the roof. Zhou Yuan was currently sitting on the roof, looking at a group of people ¡®touring¡¯ the fields in the distance. Zhang He looked into the distance for two seconds and said worriedly, ¡°Mr. Zhou, it seems like another group of people has arrived.¡± ¡°One of them is called elder.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a name or a title.¡± ¡°Anyway, that Ma Haobo was very respectful to that person!¡± Before they could even send away the wolves, a group of tigers and leopards came. It was truly difficult to survive on the wasteland! Zhou Yuan had a faint smile on his face and did not say anything. At the same time. The young elder in the field seemed to have sensed something and looked directly at Zhou Yuan on the roof. Seeing this, Ma Haobo immediately said, ¡°Elder, that is the owner of this base.¡± ¡°I, I¡¯m ashamed, I¡¯m not his match.¡± The young man opened his mouth and said in an indifferent tone, ¡°Trash.¡± Ma Haobo didn¡¯t dare to say anything. He could only silently accept the evaluation. The teenager then walked toward the library. After a while, they arrived at the library. Zhou Yuan and Zhang He were still standing on the roof, looking down from above. Their posture made Shi Lin and the others furious. Shi Lin gave a signal with his eyes, and a team member behind him immediately walked out. It was the man whose legs were especially long and had an extra joint. He slightly bent his leg and exerted force. His legs pushed him into the air like springs. ¡°The elder is here, and you dare to stand on such high ground?¡± ¡°You¡¯re looking for death!¡± His long legs twisted in the air and kicked toward Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan¡¯s expression did not change as he remained still. Beside him, Zhang He¡¯s eyes focused. His figure moved as he jumped into the air to fight with the long-legged man. His hard nails were like the claws of a ferocious beast, instantly leaving bloody marks on the other party¡¯s leg. The man with long legs screamed and fell to the ground. Zhang He¡¯s body was also caught by gravity and he began to fall. As soon as he reached the ground, a huge figure rushed at him again. The person¡¯s goal was not to save the long-legged man but to face Zhang He head-on. It was another member of Shi Lin¡¯s team. He was extremely fat and had a pig¡¯s nose. Like a pig, he charged at Zhanghe recklessly. Zhang He, who could not react in time, could only take the attack head-on. At this moment, a figure descended from the sky. He stretched out his hand and stopped the pig-headed man. It was Zhou Yuan, who had just jumped down from the roof. The pig-headed mutant¡¯s fierce charge was like a child¡¯s play in front of him. He easily stopped the mutant, then with some force, instantly threw him to the side. Seeing this, Shi Lin¡¯s eyes widened, and he was about to take action himself. However, at this moment, the young elder¡¯s voice rang out, causing him to stop in his tracks. ¡°You are very strong, but you have not mutated or beastified.¡± ¡°I¡¯m very interested in this.¡± Zhou Yuan smiled and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same?¡± ¡°They¡¯re afraid of you and they refer to you as an elder.¡± ¡°This means that you should be very powerful!¡± ¡°Yet I don¡¯t see any signs of mutation or beastification on you.¡± The young elder shook his head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m different from you. They¡¯re afraid of me for another reason.¡± ¡°Oh? Why don¡¯t you show me?¡± Zhou Yuan appeared to be very relaxed and did not seem to be alarmed by the number of enemies. The young man didn¡¯t answer, but asked, ¡°Those crops and that lake were all your doing?¡± Zhou Yuan nodded. The young man asked again, ¡°Are you willing to join our organization?¡± ¡°A person like you should be focusing on bigger things.¡± ¡°Hiding in this remote corner is a waste of your abilities!¡± Shi Lin and Ma Haobo were both shocked by his words. They thought that once the elder came, he would kill Zhou Yuan without saying anything and take everything away. However, they had never expected that the elder would actually want to rope in Zhou Yuan. This¡­ To be personally invited by an elder to join the organization, he must at least be a candidate for an elder. It was almost like reaching the heavens in a single step! One must know that the members of their organization made up one-third of the total number of new humans. There were only two other organizations that could compete with theirs. The elders in their organization were all powerful big shots and couldn¡¯t be seen normally. Thinking of this, Shi Lin¡¯s forehead was full of sweat. He didn¡¯t know if he had offended the elder when he ordered his subordinates to attack just now. Facing the teenager¡¯s invitation, Zhou Yuan pondered for a second and said, ¡°I refuse.¡± The young elder asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to reconsider?¡± Zhou Yuan shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve considered it.¡± The young man nodded. ¡°What a pity.¡± After that, there was a moment of silence. The oppressive atmosphere made the mutants not even dare to breathe. Zhang He also felt very uncomfortable. It was as if there was an invisible pressure filling every inch of space in the vicinity, squeezing out all the air. After a while. For the first time, the teenager showed an obvious emotional fluctuation. He sighed and said, ¡°Sigh, I didn¡¯t want to fight you.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re too ungrateful.¡± ¡°As for the crops and the fishes in the lake, I have to bring them back to the organization.¡± ¡°So ¡­¡± ¡°Die!¡± Just as he finished speaking. The small stones and mud on the ground all floated up. The young man¡¯s clothes fluttered in the wind. He walked toward Zhou Yuan, step by step. Shi Lin and Ma Haobo were stunned. The elder had used all his strength right from the start. Was he treating Zhou Yuan as someone on the same level as him? The two of them looked at Zhou Yuan in unison. Zhou Yuan smiled faintly and said, ¡°Zhang He, step aside.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t disturb my mood.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve finally met a worthy opponent.¡± After saying that, Zhou Yuan carried himself with confidence and enthusiasm as he took a step forward.