Looking down at the lush green expanse below Yunmeng Mountain, the people of Mingyue Base cheered and celebrated in the plaza.
At this moment, Ji Shiyou stepped forward, interrupting them. Everyone was curious what could make Ji Shiyou so solemn.
"As you can see, the crops we planted on the land below the mountain have grown.
This is our hope, our future, and the foundation for Mingyue Base to grow stronger in this apocalypse.
But these crops are not like us; they cannot hide in the base. They are out in the open.
There is still some time before they mature and are harvested. To prevent damage from zombies and mutated animals,
we need to organize a guard team to protect these crops. However, this guard team is not mandatory for the base.
Participation is entirely voluntary. Even if you don't participate, you will not be violating any base regulations."
Ji Shiyou said this because he wanted to gauge everyone's sense of belonging to Mingyue Base, to see if they truly considered it their home.
"Deputy City Lord, you don't need to worry about this. The base treats us so well; we already consider this place our home.
We will protect these grains and vegetables without needing any assignment from the base. I am a fire-element ability user, so I can't help much with planting.
But I can patrol and protect. Count me in for the guard team."
After Ji Shiyou finished speaking, a bearded man raised his hand and was the first to volunteer.
"Deputy City Lord, I'm just an ordinary person. I don't have any special abilities.
If it weren't for City Lord Mingyue and all of you, I would have died in Yuncheng. The base doesn't look down on me for being an ordinary person.
Here, I have a place to live, I eat three meals a day until I'm full, and I've been assigned to work in the cafeteria.
Mingyue Base is my home. I can't do nothing to make this home better.
Although I can't patrol and defend like ability users to drive away mutated animals and zombies, I can still help with loosening the soil and fertilizing.
I will do volunteer work in the fields after my shift, and it won't interfere with my cafeteria work. Please rest assured, base."
A woman in her thirties, wearing the base cafeteria's white coat, said loudly.
With someone taking the lead, the entire plaza, whether ability users or ordinary people, began to express their commitment to Ji Shiyou.
They spontaneously formed two groups. One was composed entirely of ability users, divided into shifts.
They were responsible for twenty-four-hour, continuous patrols. As soon as they discovered zombies or mutated animals, they would drive them away or sound an alarm.
The other group was made up of ordinary people who would go to the fields for volunteer work in their spare time.
Seeing everyone actively discussing how to cultivate the crops better, Ji Shiyou smiled. His objective had been achieved.
This was the result he wanted. The apocalypse had left survivors with feelings of despair and apathy.
These emotions could make a person passive, pessimistic, and indifferent to everything, even cold. These emotions had to be eliminated.
He wanted everyone to become positive, optimistic, spirited, and hopeful.
Only then could the base have vitality, a direction, and develop prosperously.
In the days that followed, the thousand acres of crops below the mountain became the most popular place, with people coming and going almost twenty-four hours a day.
Under everyone's meticulous care, coupled with the blessings of the Water of Life and various abilities, in less than half a month, the various crops had borne abundant fruit.
Furthermore, the seeds, having been soaked in the Water of Life, had undergone morphological changes, differing greatly from normal crops.
The rice stalks in the fields grew to over two meters tall, with ears of rice reaching two feet in length.
Each grain of rice, once shelled, was as large as a peanut, and a dozen grains could cook a bowl of rice.
Other crops were also colossal. Tomatoes the size of washbasins, eggplants two meters long, and beans a meter in length. The people in the base saw this and smiled every day.
The base's bountiful harvest meant they would no longer go hungry. And to achieve such a harvest in less than a month
made them feel that Mingyue Base was heaven, a paradise in the apocalypse.
Looking at the fruitful land below the mountain, the rice and wheat were already golden yellow and ready for harvest.
Ji Shiyou decided to hold a harvest festival to liven up the entire base.
Everyone had worked hard during this period, not even sleeping well, so they deserved a good reward.
He ordered the first batch of ripe fruits and vegetables to be picked from the fields, and had Jin Xi retrieve various meats from the warehouse to prepare for a grand celebration.
That evening, in the plaza in front of the base, a blazing bonfire illuminated Yunmeng Mountain as brightly as day.
On one side of the plaza, over twenty large pots emitted fragrant aromas, with cafeteria staff busily wielding their spatulas.
Inside were delicious dishes made from freshly picked vegetables and various meats.
In the center of the plaza, earth-element ability users were using their powers to construct tables for dining.
Due to the large number of diners, Ji Shiyou instructed them to build a long table to display the food.
People could take whatever they wanted to eat, just like a buffet.
Everyone ate the food they had grown, as if it were New Year's, with expressions of contentment.
"Sister Jin Xi, why is this braised pork belly with green beans so delicious? What kind of meat is it? I've never eaten it before."
Tian Shang scooped a large bowl of braised pork with green beans, eating with gusto, soup dripping from the corners of her mouth.
"Ah? It's either rabbit meat or dog meat. They're all from the original inhabitants of this base.
Mingyue killed them that day and stored them in the supply warehouse. Today is a celebration, right?
I thought it would be a waste to keep them in the warehouse, requiring ice-element ability users to constantly freeze them. So, I took them out to improve everyone's meals."
Jin Xi was holding a bowl of tomatoes with sugar, eating heartily. She looked up at Tian Shang's bowl and said to her.
The cafeteria was also managed by Jin Xi. She remembered that the green beans were paired with rabbit meat and the meat of that mutated dog.
"Then I'll eat more of it. When Brother Wen and I first came to the base, we almost died under the claws of that damned dog.
Consider it revenge. And you know what, it's quite tasty."
Gong Que's bowl was filled with stewed potatoes, with a good amount of meat in it.
He picked up a piece of meat, put it in his mouth, and chewed fiercely.
"What you're eating is probably not dog meat or rabbit meat. I remember the potatoes were paired with snake meat, hedgehog meat, and rats."
Glancing at the bowl Gong Que was holding, Jin Xi said calmly. She remembered the cafeteria's dishes very clearly.
"Snake, hedgehog, and rats? Ugh!"
Gong Que, who had been eating with relish, frowned upon hearing Jin Xi's words.
He threw down his bowl, covered his mouth, and ran off to a corner, vomiting bile, which drew laughter from everyone.
He vowed to eat only vegetarian food from now on, and no meat, as he had developed a psychological trauma.
"Is it that serious? He's a soldier! So delicate. This meat is so delicious, I'm going to get another bowl."
Bu Zhi, like Gong Que, was eating stewed meat with potatoes. However, after hearing Jin Xi's words, he showed no reaction.
He finished his bowl and was about to get another, thus expressing his contempt for Gong Que.
"Old Ji, why don't I see Mingyue? I haven't seen her for several days."
Wen Qingtian let out a satisfied burp. Looking at the people who had started singing and dancing, and not seeing Mingyue around, he asked curiously.
"I haven't seen her for several days either. She's in her space and hasn't come out. I don't know what she's doing."
Ji Shiyou looked dejected, like an abandoned wife.