"Really? That thing can still be extracted?"
Lin Xiuyuan still remembered the time they encountered the mutated yellow weasel at North Mountain, where he was forced to dream about the college entrance exam.
"Naturally, it’s possible. We also encountered one by chance and only managed to extract these. The mountains nearby are too dangerous now, no one goes there anymore,"
Guan Shouzhong’s words were filled with regret; this thing was quite useful for interrogating people.
"It’s better not to make this public,"
Lu Hao handed back the item in his hand to Guan Shouzhong, knowing that if someone with ill intentions found out about this, they likely wouldn’t use it for good.
"Don’t worry, only you guys know,"
Guan Shouzhong smiled. Now, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart. And with the supply of materials and Crystal Cores retrieved from Yang Xingye’s Space, the base had enough to last for a while.
"What about those close to him?" Lu Hao asked.
"The guy has confessed everything. We’ve already sent people to capture them. Once found, they’re to be stripped of all positions within the base,"
Guan Shouzhong looked at the list in his hand, astonished that a mere warehouse director was connected to so many of the base’s management. The items found in his Space were just part of it. There might have been even more resources previously given away through his connections.
"Looks like you’re going to have a big reshuffle here,"
"A reshuffle is necessary, but we don’t have that many people available,"
Guan Shouzhong couldn’t help feeling a bit melancholic. He found that when facing the members of Dragon Ruler, he could sigh and speak freely without fear, perhaps because of the familiarity that Big Brother Chen gave him.
"Use the capable ones, but don’t settle out of desperation; people are discovered gradually,"
Lu Hao thought of Liang Jiuhui from the S City Base.
At its inception, S City Base indeed had only a few people managing it. Later, it was Liang Jiuhui and his people who slowly selected others. At least they were all trustworthy people. This place was like the S City Base in its early stages, or maybe even less developed than that.
"Alright, now that inventory of all the Crystal Core stock has been completed by finance, let’s go trade,"
Guan Shouzhong stood up and said. With supplies secured, he now had the confidence to properly manage the base.
The number of Crystal Cores embezzled by Yang Xingye from his Space turned out to be much more than they initially thought; now when all the base’s Crystal Cores were counted together, there were over 4.5 million.
"That’s the amount we would expect,"
Huang Yunxiang said to everyone with a smile.
"The expected amount?"
Not understanding, Guan Shouzhong looked puzzledly at Huang Yunxiang.
"What I mean is, this is our first time here. During the three or four months at D City Base, we also accumulated two to three million Crystal Cores, so I thought your previous 3.2 million was too few,"
Huang Yunxiang explained.
Now Guan Shouzhong understood and responded, "This base was established relatively late. On one hand, collection of Crystal Cores had been stopped for a while, and moreover, the teams’ enthusiasm for killing Zombies hasn’t been high."
Highlighting the current situation of the base made Guan Shouzhong’s headache begin anew.
Lu Hao, seeing this, knew that the problems here weren’t as simple as just a shortage of people. Still, he said nothing and quickly began removing supplies from his storage bag.
"Big Brother Chen, aren’t we counting the Crystal Cores?"
Xiang Sanjin asked, thinking they would spend the whole afternoon counting Crystal Cores.
"No need to count. We can trust this time,"
Lu Hao replied, believing that not a single Crystal Core would be missing from here now.
So he really only distrusted Yang Xingye, Xiang Sanjin thought with boundless emotion. A feeling of being trusted and treated differently arose; he resolved to with Tian Yongyi when he got back.
Guan Shouzhong hadn’t expected that Big Brother Chen and his companions would be so straightforward this time. In less than half an hour, their trade had concluded.
Looking at the sacks of grain placed in front of him, Guan Shouzhong felt they were more than just grain; they were his confidence.
Yet, he saw Chen Daming still taking supplies out of the Space.
"Isn’t that all? Why are there more?"
Unable to help himself, Guan Shouzhong asked—the quantity had already been confirmed just now.
"We’ve left some extra. You help us sell these, and when we come back next time, we’ll collect the corresponding Crystal Cores. Here is the bill,"
Lu Hao explained simply.
Guan Shouzhong and the others exchanged glances in confusion. For free? Just left here for them?
"Don’t worry. We made this decision because we trust you. If we can’t retrieve as many Crystal Cores next time, we won’t trade here any longer,"
Lin Xiuyuan reassured the few who still didn’t fully grasp the situation.
"That won’t do. When you come next, we’ll definitely have the Crystal Cores for you. Please make sure to trade at our base in the future,"
Guan Shouzhong immediately insisted, anxious. Dragon Ruler’s trust was surprising, especially after what had transpired just yesterday.
If you weren’t acquainted with Xiao Hao from before, we wouldn’t be so agreeable, the family thought silently to themselves.
"Mhm, we’re planning to leave today. Take care,"
Lu Hao said to the family before departing.
"Leaving today? Isn’t that a bit quick? Won’t you rest here for a few more days?"
None of them had expected the Dragon Ruler to be in such a hurry to leave right after trading—and he also seemed reluctant to let them go so soon.
"We’ll be back after some time. We don’t have many supplies left, so we need to continue searching along the way,"
"Yes, we’ll be back,"
Lin Xiuyuan smiled, showing a set of white teeth. They would step out and then be able to step back in!
"Fine then, be careful on your way. It’s best not to go through Z City in H Province; that area is too dangerous,"
Guan Shouzhong didn’t try to persuade them to stay, seeing that they seemed set on leaving.
"Z City used to be a transport hub, right? If we continue forward, it should be on the way,"
Su Xiangzhe recalled.
"But it’s also one of the most populous urban areas before the Apocalypse. Like H City, it is a Dead City, and is much larger than H City. The dangers inside are unknown; you can go around it,"
Guan Shouzhong urged, as H Province Base was located in a scenic spot of a third-tier city with originally less traffic. Deeper in were remote rural areas, relatively safer, but Z City...
"We understand, thank you for the warning,"
Lu Hao said. Another Dead City, huh?
Yet, it seemed as though Guan Shouzhong’s words had caused everyone from the family to light up at the prospects.