Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Grandpa... His Voice Is So Young?

Two days later, Li Xingye set out alone under the cover of night.

Before leaving, he went into his space and planted all the seeds he’d had people collect over the past two days in the flowerbeds. He also picked out a batch of chickens and ducks and placed them in the base’s breeding farm, which had been covered with soil from his space.

Experiments had shown that as long as the poultry were on the spatial soil, it seemed to block the apocalyptic environment’s contamination, allowing them to become normal food.

The people, who hadn’t seen normal, live poultry for who knows how long since the apocalypse began, practically treated the breeding farm like a zoo. Every eye glittered with hope for the future.

But there were also other glittering eyes, hidden in the crowd.

"Frenzy Base has live poultry that can be raised normally, as well as grain. I suspect it has something to do with the soil. I will find a way to get some soil samples back here as soon as possible."

Sent along with the message were several photos taken from extremely well-hidden angles.

They included pictures of Frenzy Base’s current potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as the single fruit tree they had planted due to the limited soil area. It was already laden with golden oranges, making everyone who passed by drool with desire.

The base’s breeding farm and cultivated grove were the most heavily guarded areas. At most, people could only feast their eyes on them through the superpower-infused wire fence. These were rare resources for the entire base, so each person was only allotted a single quota per week to buy one item with points.

But this was also the hope that motivated everyone to work hard and live on.

In the base now, there was no shortage of basic food, but fruit and meat were still scarce resources. They were prioritized for superpower users who contributed more to the base—they still had to spend points, but their purchasing limit was slightly higher than that of ordinary people.

As for ordinary people, they had a fixed quota and could also buy directly from the cafeteria. Everyone was already content with this kind of life.

After all, just being able to live as people instead of food, and being able to buy a piece of fresh fruit—something previously unimaginable—every so often just by working hard was more than anyone could ask for.

Naturally, there were those who, relying on their superpowers, tried to sneak in. But the moment they crossed the wire fence, they triggered vines lurking in the ground. Amid the person’s screams and curses, they were tightly wrapped up by the vines and thrown out of the base.

Killing the chicken to scare the monkey is always effective. This was especially true after they witnessed the legendary "Number One of the Apocalypse," Li Xingye, defeat a Fifth Rank superpower user with just the vines he’d left behind, without even showing up himself. After that, even those who had ideas of their own didn’t dare to make a move.

Li Xingye didn’t rush to fly directly to the provincial capital. He "swept through" various towns and cities along the way. This time, however, he wasn’t just looting gold and jewelry from villa districts; he was also keeping a sharper eye out for any unsprouted seeds.

Preferably orchid seeds, of course.

Just as Li Xingye was engrossed in exploring a former flower and bird market, Chi Wan’s cheerful voice rang out. "Brother Xingye, what are you doing?"

As the space continued to evolve, the two of them could now communicate directly with just a thought, without even needing to enter the space itself.

"Treasure hunting," Li Xingye chuckled as he gathered some scattered, shriveled seeds. "What’s up?"

"Hehe, I need a favor from the great master~" Chi Wan stretched, walked to the window, and hopped onto the sill to sit, swinging her feet. "An old man said he’s bringing over a piece of wood today that might have Ghost Orchid seeds on it... A Ghost Orchid! If it really blooms, my life will be complete! So, pretty please?"

Amused, Li Xingye opened his space and casually grabbed a bottle of water, taking a couple of sips. Before he could even speak, he saw that Chi Wan had already entered the space at some point. She was sitting cross-legged on a large cardboard box, smiling at him. "Sometimes I feel like we’re on a video call. We’re face-to-face, but neither of us can leave this little frame."

From Chi Wan’s perspective, Li Xingye’s lips were moist from the water he’d just drunk. After being well-fed for these past few days, his face, once so thin it was just skin and bones, had filled out a little. His features had become smoother, and he looked even more handsome.

Chi Wan propped her chin on her hand, staring at Li Xingye’s face, and suddenly sighed. "Brother Xingye, you must be the most popular guy at your base. You’re so handsome and so powerful..."

Li Xingye had been about to go along with it and make a joke, but the words changed as they reached his lips. He lowered his gaze, his voice tinged with a bit of dejection. "How could I be? The truth is... I know they’re all afraid of me."

Chi Wan’s head snapped up, her voice full of disbelief. "Why?! You give them food, you protect them, what right do they have to be afraid of you?!"

She looked as if she was ready to charge forward and argue with anyone who dared to say a bad word about Li Xingye in front of her.

Li Xingye looked at Chi Wan’s puffed-up cheeks and almost couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch them. But he held back the impulse and said softly, "It’s alright, really. I’m used to it. It’s natural for people to feel a sense of awe toward beings who are too powerful. It’s not a bad thing. At most... it just gets a little lonely sometimes.

"But I have you now, so it doesn’t matter if other people are afraid of me. Wanwan, you’re not afraid of me, right?"

Hearing Li Xingye utter such gentle, almost foul-play words, Chi Wan, who had just been angry, now only felt her cheeks grow slightly warm.

’So I’m... that important to him?’

She cleared her throat and mumbled, "Brother Xingye, you’re a really, really, really good person. How could I be afraid of you? If they’re afraid of you, it’s because they have no taste! You’re super great, so don’t you ever doubt yourself."

Li Xingye’s heart softened. ’Chi Wan really is a sweet little angel.’ At the same time, he felt a bit guilty for tricking her by playing pitiful. It seemed a little out of line.

Feeling rather sheepish, he reached out and gently ruffled the top of Chi Wan’s hair. "Thank you, Wanwan. I won’t feel sad about this kind of thing anymore."

’After all... when I was young, I really did doubt myself because of how others feared and avoided me. So this doesn’t really count as lying to Wanwan... right?’

Besides, Li Xingye admitted to himself that he was being quite despicable, using a little trick on Chi Wan just in the hopes that she would pay more attention to him.

What Qiangzi had said before about opening a tunnel between spaces had, after all, taken root in his heart. He sometimes couldn’t help but wonder, if he could go to Chi Wan’s side, would he... also have a chance?

But as things stood, he couldn’t be by her side anytime, anywhere, like the friends she had around her. So he had to find some way to fight for her attention.

Just as Li Xingye was trying to shake off his feelings of guilt, Chi Wan suddenly exited the space. "Brother Xingye, someone’s knocking. It might be that old man. You get back to what you were doing, and don’t you dare think badly of yourself again, okay~"

"Mm, don’t worry, I..."

Li Xingye’s words, along with the smile on his face, came to an abrupt halt when he heard the conversation from Chi Wan’s side.

’An old man... would his voice sound that young?’