RIACMET chapter 233

 

By the end of September, the temperature had dropped below 50 degrees.

Those with superpowers no longer needed to distribute supplies to ordinary people. Daily life returned to normal, with base officials providing basic water and electricity and leaving the rest up to the people.

Recently, broadcasts frequently reported attacks on small shelters by zombies. The general public trusted the authorities, especially the South City Base. Thanks to its abundant resources and strong military force, the South City Base had become the leader among all major bases.

Consequently, more and more ordinary people and those with superpowers began arriving from other places.

Among them were many professionals in specialized fields whom the base was actively trying to recruit:

Scientific researchers, engineers, doctors, teachers, technical personnel, and others.

Meanwhile, smaller bases were constantly disbanding, and rescue teams from Nancheng Base, coordinated by Zhou Li, Cheng Jing, and others, began searching for migrating survivors in need of help.

However, Minister Wang had ordered Team 017 to remain at the base for the time being, until the crystal-core power plant could operate normally.

The more people the base took in, the more important stability became. After all, more people meant more problems.

Even so, Jiang Nian rather enjoyed the mundane things people did when their lives weren’t in danger.

For example:

Rustle, rustle—

He and Cheng Jing had just finished their daytime shift and didn’t want to bother their elders. They chose to head straight back to the dorm to eat. The intercom was still on, and Tang Ji’s slightly excited voice came through.

“Brother Nian, Brother Nian, someone in Lane 159 caught their mistress cheating, and there’s a fight going on. Want to come take a look?”

Jiang Nian poured food from the cafeteria into a bowl. Upon hearing that, his eyes lit up.

“How many people? Men and women?”

In the kitchen, Cheng Jing brought out a plate of stir-fried pork, his own homemade snack. Seeing Jiang Nian’s expression, which showed that he loved gossip, Cheng Jing shook his head helplessly.

“Three. It’s the usual setup—two men fighting over one woman.”

Tang Ji responded, then added,

“The guy who got cheated on is a psychic.”

Jiang Nian shrugged.

“Forget it. I like multi-person combos or something more exotic. The standard love triangle is boring. Just watch it and tell me how it ends later. Don’t let anyone die at the beginning.”

Tang Ji replied, “Alright, got it, brother. Brother Zhou and I are on it. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“That’s enough for now. I’m going to eat.”

Jiang Nian said, temporarily cutting off the channel.

He grinned at Cheng Jing’s indescribable expression.

“Patrolling the base is like being on the front lines of melon eating. You just can’t avoid it.”

Cheng Jing gave him an unamused look.

“Your team is seriously the most gossipy in the entire legion.”

He hadn’t been rotating with the teams lately, and he was like an unleashed husky—practically going crazy.

“Haha…”

Jiang Nian burst out laughing but didn’t argue.

“Life in the apocalypse is miserable. You’ve got to know how to have fun. Otherwise, people will go crazy from watching too much doomsday tragedy. My mental state’s already not normal.”

As long as no one died, he always enjoyed the drama, especially the bloody love triangles.

The apocalypse eroded people’s sense of morality, and Ximen Qing, Pan Jinlian[mfn]Ximen Qing was a fictional merchant, womanizer, and murderer from the Song Dynasty in Yanggu County, Shandong. And Pan Jinlian is the archetypal seductress and later became the goddess protector of brothels and prostitutes. Both are characters from the 14th-century Chinese novel The Water Margin.[/mfn], Aquaman, and the Sea Queens emerged one after another.

Some were blatantly obvious, some were sneaky, and some stole hearts by pretending to be serious.

As observers, they sometimes acted as mediators. They listened to gossip without saying a word, but they enjoyed it to the fullest. This really did help lighten the gloomy mood.

Unable to refute this, Cheng Jing lowered his head and served more food to Jiang Nian, encouraging him to eat more so that he would have the energy to “eat melons,”. Zhou Rongbin wasn’t exactly the serious type from the beginning, and Tang Ji treated them like birds of a feather.

Jiang Nian accepted the food with a smile and casually asked,

“Brother Jing, how’s the crystal-core power plant doing?”

Cheng Jing nodded.

“It’s entered the core equipment testing stage. If you want to check it out, I can take you there.”

“…”

Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

“Maybe next time. Xiaohui messaged me yesterday, asking me to stop by the store today if I had time.”

Li Shuhui had decided not to work in logistics anymore, and she would now be in charge of running the store. Uncle Li and the others agreed. Jiang Nian didn’t want to settle down, and there would be more things to handle in the future, so it was better to have someone trustworthy to help.

Cheng Jing reminded him:

“It’s still really hot. Be careful.”

Jiang Nian stayed quiet and behaved himself. This living dad of his liked to say things like that from time to time.

…

As the extreme heat began to ease up, the commercial streets at the base gradually returned to life.

Some shop owners didn’t make it, and their stores were reclaimed by the base and put back up for rent.

During this busy period, Li Shuhui ran the grocery store nonstop, earning so many points and rare metals that Jiang Nian smiled even in his sleep. She kept detailed records of all the income and expenses for each shop because they belonged to everyone.

At the same time, the people coming and going gradually figured out Li Shuhui’s strengths and connections. In addition to regular transactions, psychics who came to the store started using it as an “intelligence station” for regulars.

They asked around, exchanged all kinds of information, and used it to trade for rare materials and items. The grocery store acted as a middleman.

This happened more and more often, and over time, the nature of it began to shift.

Li Shuhui discussed it with Jiang Nian, thinking it could be a way to earn more points.

“Brother Jiang Nian, I think we can do this. We’d be able to gather more useful intel this way. In today’s world, strength and background are everything. It would help us earn people’s trust, which is something we can take advantage of.”

“… ”

After taking in the situation, Jiang Nian leaned back in his chair and pondered for a while before speaking seriously.

“Paid intel, indirect trust-gaining…isn’t this just like a bounty hunter organization? It’s pretty similar to Brother Jing’s old security company before the apocalypse. I’ll talk it over with Brother Jing later. It sounds promising, but it could also stir up trouble.”

Li Shuhui suddenly realized:

“You’re right. My dad and older brother were worried it’d cause too much trouble, too. They told me not to make decisions on my own.”

“Yeah.”

Jiang Nian had already come to a conclusion. After leaving the store, he headed to the base’s task guild and the labor market near the four gates to scout the area.

He found that many teams with superpowers had already accepted private missions, the most common of which were to find and escort people.

Overall, though, these were all minor tasks. In this case, their team might be able to try a few “small moves” of their own.