Chapter 60

The crowd stirred with excitement. They had initially thought that since they were being asked to line up for rice, each person could at least hope for a bowl.

Somehow, as the news spread, it became certain that each person would receive a small bowl.

Even though they were told to bring bags, everyone just brought a small plastic bag tucked in their pocket. They didn’t dare bring a big one, thinking a small one would suffice.

But then they heard it—each person would receive two *jin* (about 1 kilogram)? That much?!

Two *jin* of rice! If they rationed it carefully, it could last a long time!

With the *Contribution Points* they earned, they could even exchange for water, at least enough to drink a few more sips!

The woman holding her child was so moved she cried. They had originally planned to save the rice to cook porridge for the child, but now that each person was getting two *jin*, there was no need to save it specially—her child’s own two *jin* would be enough!

"I... I’ll go home and get a bigger bag!" Her husband was the first to react and hurried off.

Others who didn’t have big enough bags also realized and rushed home to get them.

When they returned with their bags, each person received two *jin* of rice. Those with families put it all together, and the glistening white rice looked like a huge bag.

Just thinking about the taste of rice made them swallow hard. Those who received the rice didn’t say much to each other; they just held their rice and went home.

That night, the aroma of rice filled almost every household.

The next day, everyone had smiles on their faces. Although the rice wasn’t enough to fill them up, being half-full was still a big improvement.

But some were worried: "Do you think the base will give out so much this time and then stop later?"

"I’m scared too. I didn’t dare eat much, just a little."

"Hey, haven’t you heard? The rice will be distributed once a week from now on, and the amount will be the same as yesterday!"

"Really? But how long can the base keep giving out so much? What if it runs out and we have nothing to eat?"

"No need to fret about that. Didn’t you see yesterday? Captain Lin brought a whole truckload of rice."

"But even a whole truck will run out eventually."

"Why are you in such a hurry? I haven’t finished!" The speaker said impatiently. "Captain Lin has already arranged for people to clear the land and start farming!"

"Farming? But I heard seeds won’t grow."

"That’s for ordinary seeds. Mutated seeds can grow." Someone who knew a bit more quickly added, "Before, weren’t the Plant Superhumans cultivating mutated seeds? Maybe they succeeded?"

"Only a little bit," someone else who knew the situation said. "My son is a Superhuman, and he said the Plant Superhumans growing seeds only have enough for themselves."

"Then how did Captain Lin get mutated seeds to farm?"

"You don’t know? I heard this from my son." The mother of a Superhuman smiled mysteriously, deliberately teasing them.

The others were curious and urged her: "Just tell us! Stop stringing us along!"

"Yeah, hurry up and tell us."

Satisfied, the woman slowly said, "It’s all thanks to Old Cheng’s son!"

"Old Cheng’s son? Wasn’t he out of town and hasn’t returned?"

"Your information is outdated. He and Old Tian’s son both came back, all the way from City A, and brought several Superhuman friends with them!"

"What does that have to do with Old Cheng’s son?"

"It has everything to do with it! I heard from my son that the rice we’re eating was found by him!"

"Oh, we should thank him then. I was wondering where the base got so much rice to give us."

"Not just that!" The woman saw they were already discussing among themselves and hardly listening to her, so she quickly coughed to get their attention.

"What else? Hurry up and tell us!"

"Yeah, you take so long to say anything, we have to guess ourselves."

The woman had no choice but to say, "Those mutated seeds were given by Old Cheng’s son. Otherwise, why would they suddenly decide to farm when they hadn’t planned to before?"

Under everyone’s astonished gazes, she added, "I heard that after the land is cleared, the base will expand its borders, and then they’ll recruit a group of skilled farmers to manage the fields."

Everyone got excited. They were all farmers—who didn’t know how to farm? If you didn’t, you’d be laughed at in the village.

Everyone thought they were skilled farmers and rushed to say: "I can do it! Back in the village, my family’s crops had the highest yield!"

"You’re just bragging. You actually had nine *mu* of land, but you always reported eight."

In the village, crops were harvested by machine, and reporting one *mu* less meant paying less for harvesting.

The exposed person blushed and stammered, "Well... even with nine *mu*, my yield wasn’t bad!"

"Pfft, my crops grew the best."

"You have the nerve to say that? You were the laziest in the whole area. Weeds grew all over your field, and you couldn’t be bothered to pull them."

"I used pesticides! Why would I need to pull them?"

Even the village slackers were eager to prove themselves. This wasn’t like before—farming in the post-apocalyptic world was definitely a good job, since it meant controlling the village’s food supply!

In the past, they could farm casually since the yield wouldn’t differ much, and they wouldn’t starve. But now it was different.

They argued until someone said: "What’s the point of arguing now? It’s not like winning means you’ll actually be chosen."

Everyone snapped back to reality. Right, what was the point of arguing? They scattered in every direction.

Alright, better hurry up and work to earn *Contribution Points*. Now they had food to eat, but water was still scarce.

Earning more *Contribution Points* meant they could at least exchange for more water.

—

Mrs. Cheng was walking on the road and noticed everyone was unusually friendly toward her today. Several people she didn’t know came up to her with smiles and greeted her.

Mrs. Cheng was puzzled but still smiled and chatted politely with them.

When she got home, she heard from Mr. Cheng: "Several people stopped me to chat today. It took me forever to get home."

Mrs. Cheng slapped her thigh: "Me too!"

Later, they heard that Old Tian and his wife had also run into several very enthusiastic people.

Everyone was confused and couldn’t figure out what was going on.

It was Cheng Zhiyan who explained the reason.

The group suddenly understood, feeling a surge of pride—ah, our son was truly amazing!

Tian Qiao returned home to find his parents looking at him with unusually gentle eyes, which gave him goosebumps. He rubbed his arms and said, "Mom, Dad, please don’t look at me like that. It’s creeping me out."

Old Tian and his wife: "..."

Oh well, our son had always been like this. They were used to it.

Meanwhile, Cheng Zhiyu also noticed his parents treating him even better than usual. He didn’t think too much of it, mainly because they had always been good to him.

He was pondering more important matters. Compared to clearing land for farming, the water shortage in the base was currently the top priority.

He had discussed it with Lin Kang. The village’s small river was polluted and completely undrinkable; water was a real problem.

Little River Village wasn’t at the headwaters of the river, but it wasn’t far from the river source, and there were no villages further upstream.

When Cheng Zhiyu was a child, he often played at the river source with his friends. There was a small spring there, likely fed by groundwater, continuously flowing from the spring.

Honestly, everyone in Little River Village had an emotional attachment to this small river, including Cheng Zhiyu. Now that the river water was unusable, it left a bad feeling in their hearts.

Moreover, the base was desperately short on water.

Cheng Zhiyu decided to go check out the spring. Since Lin Kang was managing the base, he felt it necessary to show respect and inform him before taking action.

Upon hearing this, Lin Kang had a complicated expression. "Are you sure you want to go?"

Cheng Zhiyu nodded and asked, "Is there a problem?"

Lin Kang sighed. "Little River Village has always relied on this river. With the water shortage, how could we just ignore it? I’ve sent people there several times before, but each time they came back empty-handed, and several were injured. Eventually, no one was willing to go anymore."

Cheng Zhiyu wasn’t surprised that the base had already attempted this. Given the severe water shortage, it was only natural they had taken action. Clearly, they had encountered a difficult problem.

He asked, "Is there something there?"

Lin Kang replied, "According to those who went, there’s a powerful mutant creature there. Anyone who approaches the spring gets attacked. With the hot weather and water shortages everywhere, I suspect the creature is guarding the spring, treating it as its own private property.

The good thing is, as long as people don’t approach the spring, it won’t attack. So, there have been injuries but no fatalities."

That mutant creature didn't sound too vicious.

Cheng Zhiyu still decided to check it out. "Since it won’t attack unless we approach the spring, there’s no harm in going to take a look."

Lin Kang was really touched. He looked at Cheng Zhiyu with emotion and said, "You’re willing to go despite knowing the danger—truly putting the base’s needs first. Whatever the outcome, I thank you on behalf of everyone."

Seeing Lin Kang’s eyes get red-eyed with emotion, Cheng Zhiyu wasn’t sure what to say. Ah… he was pretty emotional.

After a moment of thought, Lin Kang said, "I’ll send someone with you."

Cheng Zhiyu wanted to refuse, as Cheng Mo and the others would be going with him anyway. There was no real need for extra people, and if they couldn’t solve the problem, sending more wouldn’t help.

Before he could speak, Lin Kang added, "Don’t refuse just yet. The person I’m sending would be useful."

Cheng Zhiyu was puzzled.

Lin Kang smiled and explained, "Her ability is to communicate with mutant creatures. Since the creature guarding the spring seems relatively mild-tempered, perhaps we can resolve this peacefully."

Cheng Zhiyu hadn’t expected such an ability. But if she possessed such a skill, it would indeed be useful to bring her along.

He didn’t refuse further and agreed.

Soon, Cheng Zhiyu met the superhuman who could communicate with mutant creatures. She was a woman in her thirties with short hair, appearing very capable.

Since Little River Village was quite large and Cheng Zhiyu had often been away for school, and she had married into the village, he didn’t know her.

The woman, named Lin Jiashu, smiled upon seeing Cheng Zhiyu and the others. "I’ve heard about you all for a while now. It’s great to finally meet you."

Tian Qiao asked, "You’ve heard of us? Are we famous?"

"You didn’t know?" Lin Jiashu seemed surprised. "It’s all over the base. They say you provided the rice this time, and Mr. Cheng also supplied the base with mutated seeds. Everyone was thrilled to hear that the base could start farming again. It feels like there’s hope now."

Lin Jiashu spoke earnestly. She was the only superhuman in her family, and her ability wasn’t particularly useful, so life had been tough for them. The night they received the rice was the best meal she’d had since the apocalypse began.

"Ah, it’s nothing, haha." Tian Qiao felt oddly embarrassed being praised like this for the first time.

Zhou Min scratched his head. He hadn’t thought much of it before, but now he felt a faint sense of… pride?

Tian Manman stood there zoning out, lost in thought as usual. His tendency to drift off was nothing new to the group.

Cheng Mo: My Zhiyu is so kind.

Without further delay, they set off in an SUV toward the spring.

To assess the condition of the river, they drove along its banks. They noticed leaves and other debris floating in the water, which wasn’t a major issue, but there were also animal carcasses, already rotting and emitting an awful smell.

At least there were no zombie bodies.

To clean the river, they’d need to send people to clear it out properly. But for now, the priority was to check the spring.

On the way, they encountered a zombie. Lin Jiashu was startled. Her ability was support-type rather than combat-type, so she was still afraid of zombies.

Fortunately, Cheng Zhiyu and the others easily dealt with the zombie. Lin Jiashu let out a sigh of relief as she watched them burn the zombie on the spot.

No wonder they managed to return from A City. They were truly impressive. Lin Jiashu had ventured out of the base at great risk, her nerves on edge the entire time, but now she felt much more relaxed and at ease.

Tian Qiao chattered away with Lin Jiashu. "Sister Jiashu, since your ability lets you communicate with mutant creatures, that must be really powerful, right?"

Tian Qiao imagined it like this: a mutant creature preparing to attack humans, Lin Jiashu stepping forward, reasoning with it, successfully persuading it to leave, and peacefully resolving the conflict.

However, Lin Jiashu gave a bitter smile. "To be honest with you, my ability isn’t very useful."

Cheng Zhiyu was puzzled. "How so?"

Lin Jiashu explained helplessly, "Really, although mutant creatures have developed some intelligence, that doesn’t mean they can communicate. Most of them are like children—they don’t listen to me, and meaningful communication is impossible. Some mutant creatures are naturally aggressive; their only thought is to kill any enemy they encounter. They haven't learned to communicate.

So far, I’ve only been able to communicate slightly with naturally gentle plant-eating mutants, but those kinds don’t attack humans anyway."

After hearing this, Cheng Zhiyu understood. "I get it. We were thinking too simply."

Cheng Mo played with Cheng Zhiyu’s fingers, chin propped on his hand as he watched him.

Cheng Zhiyu used to be uncomfortable with that intense staring, but now he was used to it.

Zhou Min had a brainstorm and said to Lin Jiashu, "Since you can communicate with mutant creatures, you shouldn't let this ability go to waste. Why don’t you try taming one?"

Lin Jiashu sighed. "Easier said than done. Communication is already a problem."

"Hey, we could find one that’s naturally easy to tame, like a cat or a dog," Zhou Min suggested.

Tian Qiao snapped his fingers: "You know, that actually has potential."

Cheng Zhiyu added, "If adult mutants can't be tamed, maybe we should try raising them from a young age."

Lin Jiashu was intrigued. During the apocalypse, who wouldn’t want the ability to protect themselves? If she could tame a mutant, at least her own safety would be better guaranteed.

But it wasn’t that easy. To get a juvenile mutant, you’d first have to defeat an adult one, right?

Lin Jiashu gave a wry grin: "If the opportunity arises, I’d be willing to give it a try."

As they spoke, they arrived near the spring. The group got out of the car.

"Hey? Where are the mutants?" Tian Qiao looked around but didn’t see hide nor hair of one.

"Must be hiding," Zhou Min muttered.

Cheng Zhiyu glanced around. Near the spring was a patch of grass tall enough to hide in. Perhaps because it was close to the spring and the soil was moist, the grass grew exceptionally lush.

Tian Qiao saw the clear water continuously flowing from the spring and couldn’t resist edging closer to wash his face. But as soon as he approached, he felt a sudden gust whip past him.

Cheng Zhiyu shouted, "Heads up!"

Tian Qiao dodged just in time and saw a tree not far away sliced clean through. He patted his chest, heart hammering.

"Damn, it ambushed us?" Tian Qiao muttered.

The group watched as the grass rustled, and an elk emerged with a limp, watching them cautiously and emitting low warning sounds.

It seemed just as Lin Kang had said—as long as they didn’t approach the spring, the elk wouldn’t attack first.

"Hey, buddy, we mean no harm," Zhou Min waved.

Not far from the spring, there were also animal corpses fouling the water, polluting the river. The elk had likely sensed the contamination and was guarding the spring, drinking only from it.

But for those living downstream who needed the water, the situation was pretty dire.

Seeing that the group stayed, the elk got agitated and attempted to attack them several times.

Cheng Mo raised his hand and blocked the wind blade. Noticing Cheng Zhiyu’s furrowed brow, he smiled: "I’ll handle it."

Cheng Zhiyu stopped him: "No, let’s see if there’s another way."

Cheng Mo didn’t want to upset him and withdrew his hand: "Alright, I know you’re soft-hearted."

Lin Jiashu quickly tried to explain to the elk, striving to convey that they meant no harm and only needed water as well.

Hearing this, the elk grew even angrier and attacked again. In its eyes, these humans were after its water!

In nature, competition for water resources is the fiercest. Without water, survival is impossible—how could it possibly give up its water?

Cheng Mo deflected the attack and looked at Lin Jiashu: "Can this elk actually communicate or not?"

If it couldn’t, they’d have to find another way. He didn’t want Cheng Zhiyu worrying about the base running out of water.

Lin Jiashu hurriedly replied: "Let me try again."

She quickly told the elk that they weren’t there to compete for the spring.

The elk hesitated, seeming unwilling to trust them: Then why are you here?

Seeing it was willing to communicate, Lin Jiashu breathed a sigh of relief: "We want to clean up this area. We live downstream, and the river is polluted—we can’t drink the water."

She kept her language as simple as possible to ensure the elk could understand.

The elk pawed nervously, as if torn over whether to trust them.

Its movements were somewhat stiff, looking a bit awkward.

Cheng Mo narrowed his eyes: "It’s injured."

Because of the distance, Cheng Zhiyu and the others had only noticed the elk limping but hadn’t seen anything else. Now, upon closer inspection, they realized the elk’s right front leg was somewhat festering, looking almost like…

"Whoa, it’s infected with the zombie virus!" Zhou Min exclaimed, and went on guard instantly.

Hearing this, Tian Manman tightened his grip on his broadsword. If it were just a mutant, they could try communicating, but with a zombie, there was no talking to it.

Cheng Zhiyu was also tense but noticed something off: "Zombie virus infection spreads quickly, but we’ve been here for a while, and it wasn’t infected."

He looked at Lin Jiashu, who nodded: "It can still communicate."

Being able to communicate meant it was still conscious.

After all, even humans infected by zombies are completely controlled by the virus. The fact that this elk was still conscious meant it hadn’t been fully infected—or at least, not entirely.

Everyone had been nervous upon hearing the elk was infected, but now they realized this elk had actually fought off the infection!

"Maybe there’s something special about it?" Zhou Min’s eyes lit up: "Does it have a special power?"

Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "It’s just an ordinary wind-based ability, but it’s very powerful."

This mutant was pretty high-level.

"Maybe if its level is high enough, it can resist the zombie virus?" Tian Qiao guessed. If that were true, it would be great news.

"Maybe it has something to do with the elk itself?" Cheng Zhiyu wasn’t sure either: "I’ve never heard that a high ability level grants immunity to infection."

No one dared draw conclusions yet, but they had to admit this elk was valuable. Perhaps they could draw some blood for research.

Was this ability common among high-level mutants, or was this elk just special?

Cheng Zhiyu asked Zhou Min: "Can you heal its leg?"

Zhou Min scratched his head: "I’m not sure."

Mainly because he’d never encountered this situation before.

Zhou Min could confirm one thing: "If we cut off the infected leg, I can regrow it."

Everyone went quiet.

How to put that? "We can heal your leg, but we have to cut it off first?"

Uh… Would the elk attack them if it heard that?

The tense standoff resumed, and the elk became restless, trying to drive them away.

Lin Jiashu attempted to reason with it, but the elk was too suspicious to trust them.

Breaking out in a nervous sweat, she said helplessly: "We can communicate, but it just doesn’t believe us."

Cheng Zhiyu and his group felt overwhelmingly powerful to it, especially Cheng Mo, who was one of the few beings that evoked a deep, bone-deep fear in it since it gained its abilities, making it even more hesitant to let them get closer.

"Are we just going to leave like this?" Zhou Min said, unwilling.

The base's water problem needed to be solved urgently, no matter what.

Tian Qiao: "What else can we do? Use force? Definitely not. This elk has the ability to resist the zombie virus—maybe we could even develop a vaccine through it."

Though it sounded far-fetched, but what if it's possible? As long as there was even a slight possibility, they couldn’t take the risk.

Lin Jiashu tried to communicate with the elk again, but this time it warned them directly—if they didn’t leave, it would attack again.

Tian Qiao said helplessly: "Maybe we should just go—"

Before he could finish, he saw Cheng Zhiyu pull out a black... pumpkin.

Oh, a mutated pumpkin.

Cheng Zhiyu used Little Iron to split open the pumpkin's shell, and instantly, the pumpkin's enticing fragrance wafted out.

The elk, which had been grazing on wild grass for months: "?"