Chapter 3: Who to Team Up With?

After a brief conversation at the door between Wei Gang and the two men, they left with their team members.

Gu Xiaomai wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt that when Wei Gang was talking to the tall thin man and the stout man, the three of them glanced at her.

Soon, the tall thin man and the stout man approached the members of the pioneering team. The tall thin man pointed at the other and introduced, “This is Jiao Yang, the captain of the camp logistics team. I’m Mi Tang. From now on, I will be managing you. Your main task is to cultivate and plant in the wasteland to the east. Once the warriors clear a new area, you will go to harvest purified plants…”

“Of course, from now on, you can keep ten percent of the purified plants you harvest for yourself, either to eat or to exchange for points with us. Ten percent of the crops you grow also belong to you.”

“Every day, you will be provided with one dose of nutrient solution and 500 milliliters of drinking water to ensure your basic survival. The farm tools, lodging, and daily necessities will all be provided by the camp, but you must not waste, damage, or discard them intentionally. Otherwise, you will have to compensate at full price!”

“As long as you work diligently and don’t try to cheat, your daily points will be credited to your identity card.”

“Oh, by the way, prisoners sent here for labor reform won’t receive points or purified plants. Don’t come causing trouble with me — it won’t work!”

“Currently, it is the season of rapid plant growth. Although this area has been cleared, we cannot guarantee that corrupted creatures won’t appear. For your own safety, you must stay within the designated area. Especially for those among you who are criminals sent here for labor reform — if you leave the activity area, it will be considered escape, and we have the authority to shoot on sight!”

After Mi Tang’s mix of encouragement and stern warnings, he and Jiao Yang led the pioneering team to the wasteland east of the camp and pointed to a spot near the camp.

“First, clear all the weeds here. The dormitories will be built right on this patch.”

The pioneering team obediently began pulling the weeds.

Gu Xiaomai pulled weeds while wondering how these two men, empty-handed, planned to build dormitories here.

Then she saw Jiao Yang wave his hand, and five large pale yellow bags appeared before him.

Gu Xiaomai rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

What was going on? How did these things suddenly appear? Where had he hidden them?

She stopped pulling weeds and stared at Jiao Yang as he revealed the contents.

Twenty-nine wooden beds appeared, followed by bedding, daily necessities, nutrient solutions, drinking water, farming tools...

She heard a quiet whisper from Corn, “Chen Ge, is that a spatial ability?”

Gu Xiaomai heard Jiang Chen’an give a soft “Mm.”

Spatial ability? Did everyone here have such miraculous powers?

That got her wondering — would she have one too?

Excited, Gu Xiaomai thought, “Wow! That’s great! When will I awaken my ability? I’m not picky; strength ability would be fine.”

Corn’s envy was obvious in his words, and Gu Xiaomai found it hard not to feel the same way.

Not just them, but the faces of the entire pioneering team showed longing and desire, including the usually expressionless Jiang Chen’an.

The abilities had emerged twenty years ago during the global biological upheaval. Humans who mutated successfully gained special abilities; those who failed turned into zombies.

Those who neither succeeded nor failed simply experienced enhanced physical fitness — sharper senses and double the strength compared to before the upheaval.

In recent years, zombies have not appeared publicly; it’s unclear whether they have been completely eradicated or are hiding somewhere in unexplored wilderness.

Meanwhile, the number of ability holders has steadily declined due to attrition and new births, especially those with rare abilities like spatial manipulation. Such individuals are mostly found in the military or elite squads, rarely seen by ordinary people.

Most commonly seen by civilians are those with strength or enhanced vision abilities — physical extreme enhancements — followed by those who can manipulate natural elements like metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

However, ability holders remain a minority compared to ordinary people. As a result, the five major bases have been confined to their own territories for survival, with external explorations limited to areas near their bases.

Jiang Chen’an recalled what his parents had said before they died and whispered, “I heard that the better your body condition and the more purified plants and animals you consume, the easier it is to awaken an ability.”

Corn asked, “Really? Then for those of us who can barely consume nutrient solutions, wouldn’t it be very hard to awaken? If we get purified plants later, will we still be able to exchange points?”

“I’ll just eat them directly,” Jiang Chen’an said, trusting his parents.

He remembered how his parents had always insisted he eat various purified plants since childhood. Some were truly unpleasant, but his mother demanded he finish them all and maintain regular training.

It was a pity his parents died early, but thanks to the good health they nurtured in him, he was still alive.

“I’ll eat them too,” Corn resolutely followed Jiang Chen’an’s example while thinking that if there were any extras, he could give some to Grandma Gu and share some points earned so the children in the orphanage could eat better. Maybe one of them could even awaken an ability, and then their orphanage wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

Gu Xiaomai didn’t know exactly what purified plants and animals were or how they related to ability awakening, but if they were available, she wanted to eat them too.

However, Corn had already told her on the way here that the original host had lost a lot of blood, had bone marrow extracted, and was punished with six months’ labor reform on the pioneering team for stealing a special energy stone.

So, no matter how hard she worked in the next six months, she wouldn’t get a single bit!

Thinking of this gave Gu Xiaomai a headache; she felt like giving up and going on strike.

Damn it!

Who wouldn’t treasure a special energy stone, hiding it carefully?

How could a mere fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl have stolen it?

If there was no trickery involved, she would never believe it, even if beaten to death!

And the original girl — why didn’t she leave any memories for her, so she could avenge her and clear her name? She didn’t even know what to do.

Just thinking about it made her angry!

Not just those three; everyone nearby who overheard Jiang Chen’an and Corn’s conversation was already thinking of collecting more purified plants whenever they had the chance.

The more they collected, the more they could keep for themselves, not only to eat but also to save for family or exchange for points. Just imagining it made them happy.

Whether Jiao Yang and Mi Tang knew about the team’s secret desires, they didn’t show it. Even if they did, they would probably just pretend ignorance with a smile.

After Jiao Yang finished unloading everything and giving a few instructions to Mi Tang, they left.

Once the area was cleared, Mi Tang called two men to carry one of the bright yellow bags onto an open space.

He gathered everyone around and began explaining how to set up tents.

Half an hour later, under Mi Tang’s guidance, the first tent was successfully erected.

With this example, the team worked together, and the remaining four tents were also quickly set up.

The five bright yellow tents were lined up from south to north, backed against Camp E4, with a two-meter-wide aisle between each tent for ventilation and windows on both sides. The vivid yellow brought a lively energy to the barren land.

Mi Tang gathered everyone in front of the tents. “From now on, all gathering and pioneering activities will be done in groups, especially when going out to collect. The work is somewhat dangerous, so moving in groups reduces risk. This is for your own good. Over the past couple of days, you should have gotten to know each other a bit. You can start forming teams on your own.”

“Commander Mi, how many people per group?” someone asked.

“Three.”

As soon as Mi Tang finished speaking, the pioneering team began quietly moving around.

Corn leaned close to Jiang Chen’an. “Chen Ge, who should we team up with? We need someone strong and capable, otherwise they’ll slow us down, and there’s no point in having them.”

He began scanning the men in the team. “How about that big guy on the left? His arms look solid and strong. And the uncle up front—that big guy should be capable of hard work…”