Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Trading Crystal Cores for Better Equipment

When they heard Li Xingye say he was preparing to return to the urban center of Rong City, everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Lin Wei, who had successfully advanced to the Fourth Rank and was now Duan Qianyu’s assistant, meekly raised his hand. "Chief, there are so many zombies in the city center. Can we even clear them all out...?"

But Duan Qianyu’s eyes lit up. "Your idea to go back to the city is perfect! The city may have been ruined, but a lot of the equipment just stopped working because the power was cut. If we go back, we’ll have more infrastructure we can modify directly, which would save us a lot of trouble.

"The only problem is what Lin mentioned—too many zombies. We’re still hundreds of kilometers from Rong City. It’s one thing for superpower users, but migrating ordinary people... I’m afraid the outlook isn’t very optimistic."

It was more than just "not optimistic." Given the intelligence of the current High-level Zombies, a large-scale migration would very likely trigger a zombie horde.

When that happened, forget about ordinary people; even low-level superpower users might not make it out alive. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The only way to migrate would be to clear out all the zombies along the route beforehand and ensure there were no High-level Zombies in the vicinity.

However, some Third Rank zombies could already awaken superpowers. Although they were only Level 1, as they continued to evolve, it was said that Seventh Rank zombies could even awaken two different superpowers!

They might not be able to do anything to a top-tier superpower user like Li Xingye, but killing some low-level superpower users and ordinary people would probably be no different than reaping vegetables.

Haozi also chimed in, "The city center has always been a black hole. We only hear about people going in, never about them coming out. Everyone guesses there are probably even higher-level zombies inside. Boss, isn’t this a bit too risky?"

In their minds, it would be more feasible to just find a slightly larger town near Rong City and use it as a base.

Not long after the apocalypse began, some people had tried to hold out in the urban center of Rong City. But once everyone discovered how difficult it was to store food and that zombies evolved faster in more densely populated areas, they had all basically fled.

Those who remained, of course, died there.

No one knew how powerful the zombies inside had become. Even with all their confidence in Li Xingye’s strength, a zombie was still a zombie. One scratch, and there would be no coming back.

After listening to everyone’s opinions, Li Xingye didn’t rush to object. Instead, he simply said, "I understand everything you’ve said. For now, this is just a concept. We’ll discuss the details after I go in deep for a reconnaissance mission.

"Sister Zhang, over the next two days, I’ll hand over the food from my space to you. The base’s reserves should be enough for a little less than half a month, so I can be gone a couple of extra days."

He hadn’t dared to travel too far before because he was worried the base would run out of food in his absence, especially since Sister Zhang’s space was limited.

But after a period of continuous trial and error, Lin Wei and the others had discovered that if they made a slurry from the soil dug out of the space and coated the boxes with a thin layer, it could actually extend the food’s shelf life!

Although it would still spoil eventually, compared to the previously all-too-brief "shelf life," it was a pleasant enough surprise.

Furthermore, with more people joining, there was now a sufficient workforce. The base’s defensive line had been re-established, and Li Xingye had positioned himself as the base’s cornerstone and protector, generally staying out of the public eye. This way, his long trips wouldn’t attract too much attention.

He had only told the core members present about this trip, so they could prepare.

As for everyone else, it was safer for them not to know his whereabouts.

After all, there were now several Sixth and even Seventh Rank superpower users in the base. If they knew Li Xingye wasn’t around, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t get some ideas.

Sister Zhang was a veteran who had been with Li Xingye for a long time. Hearing his words, she nodded. "My superpower recently leveled up to Level 5, and my space has gotten a lot bigger. Boss, you don’t need to worry about the base. Just focus on your own safety."

After the meeting was dismissed, Li Xingye had Duan Qianyu stay behind and asked about her progress on various devices.

Duan Qianyu shot him a look. "There’s nothing suitable to send to your little girlfriend right now. But I’ve been meaning to ask you, have you ever thought about giving her Zombie Crystal Cores directly?"

Li Xingye narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Duan Qianyu said, "I’ve been studying Crystal Cores for a long time, and I’ve found that they’re more concentrated and pure than any energy source we’ve ever seen before. For example, let’s take the most common pre-apocalypse energy source. A tank of gasoline can power a family car for about six or seven hundred kilometers.

"But I recently compared the energy efficiency. Two ordinary First Rank Crystal Cores can power an SUV for nearly a thousand kilometers. Do you realize what that means?"

Li Xingye knew that Duan Qianyu and Lin Wei had been tinkering with a Crystal Core generator, but he hadn’t expected them to have already successfully replaced a car engine with one powered by Crystal Cores.

He gave Duan Qianyu a strange look. "I thought the devices you were researching before only used Crystal Cores to activate stored superpowers. When did you start researching replacements for conventional energy?"

Duan Qianyu scoffed and said perfunctorily, "This is why the brains of researchers are so precious. Brutes wouldn’t understand."

’A thought suddenly crossed her mind: Qiangzi had been reporting to her lab every day recently, giving her his entire share of candy and chocolate, just to pester her about whether she could invent a device to break through the barriers between spaces. After becoming one of them, she had learned a few things about Li Xingye and the "Space God," so of course she guessed why Qiangzi was doing it. After all, according to Qiangzi, it was the first time the "pitiful and helpless" but explosively powerful Li Xingye had ever been so devoted to a girl. For a moment, Duan Qianyu even felt that Qiangzi should be wearing a butler’s uniform and smiling with satisfaction.’

The thing was, there were some things that Qiangzi wouldn’t understand even if she explained them. He would just scratch his head with a silly grin and push everything in his arms toward her. "You’re so smart, these are all for you. I heard from Lin that you always forget to eat when you get busy. You need to eat to have the strength to keep researching."

This left Duan Qianyu feeling a bit helpless, so she decided to explain it directly to Li Xingye. "I know our base’s supplies all depend on the Space God. So, we’ll only do better if she’s doing well.

"But more importantly, I also want to get better equipment from them, which she probably can’t manage on her own. So I was thinking, we could use the Crystal Cores as an opening, to see if we can establish a higher-level trade channel."

Li Xingye understood what Duan Qianyu meant. He pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Now is not the time."

Duan Qianyu understood. "I know, the base hasn’t relocated yet, so we wouldn’t be able to use any new things we got..."

"No," Li Xingye said seriously. "We wait until I’ve prepared enough Crystal Cores, and I can ensure that Wanwan won’t be harmed because of them."