Ch 119: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Shen Qing was still Shen Qing—raised in hardship, grasping onto any sliver of hope with a relentless will to grow. Though this setback was heavy, it was only temporary; it wasn’t enough to break him. Allowing himself to fall sick and wallow in exhaustion for a few days was already his limit. Soon enough, he forced himself to recover and move forward.

After confirming that he was the only one who could see the cave and that neither Song Kaiji nor Miao Shi could pass through it, Shen Qing’s original plans were completely upended. He had to quickly adjust his strategy and rework his path forward.

If he refused to give up on his relationship with Song Kaiji, then he would have to travel between the two worlds. His sphere of influence couldn’t just expand in Anping County—he had to develop it in the apocalypse as well.

And it wasn’t just about him and Song Kaiji. He had once planned to have a healing-type ability user treat Miao Shi’s lingering complications from childbirth, but now that was impossible.

However, this illness did give him a chance to learn about the medicines in the apocalypse. A tiny, oval-shaped capsule, completely devoid of bitterness, could take effect within hours—Shen Qing was amazed. Medicine was, by far, the most expensive commodity in the apocalypse. For injuries, one could still seek out healing-type ability users, but for chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes, their effectiveness was limited. Medications like metformin and insulin had skyrocketed in price, reaching astronomical sums, yet they were still nearly impossible to obtain.

Now that he had the jade pendant space, he no longer had to worry about medicine expiring or going bad. If he got the chance, he would collect as much as possible—not just to treat Miao Shi and Grandmother Miao’s ailments, but also to store general broad-spectrum medicine. Who knew when it might save a life?

Beyond that, Shen Qing recalled the novel he had been listening to. The first 90% was about the protagonist farming and doing business, but the last 10% suddenly shifted—she married a fallen prince, used modern knowledge to improve crop yields and develop military weapons, and was eventually granted the title of Junzhu, becoming the prince’s consort. Then, the old emperor passed away, a young emperor ascended, and her husband became the regent. They became the most powerful couple in the entire dynasty.

Though the last 10% felt rushed and disconnected from the rest of the story, Shen Qing still grasped what the author was trying to convey—power was essential. To be safe, to have true control, one had to become the kind of person who was publicly second-in-command yet held even the emperor in check.

After chatting more with book lovers like Qu Weiwei, Shen Qing discovered that many novels ended this way—the protagonist always had to become the strongest, the one with the most power. Only then would the story be satisfying, only then would they be truly safe.

Shen Qing wasn’t particularly ambitious, nor did he think he had the ability to reach such heights at present. But he understood now that, whether in his time or in the way modern people viewed the past, power was always at the core of everything.

As for the apocalypse, Song Kaiji had already built their team into a strong force. Tang Wenjie’s ability had been improving rapidly, and he had recently broken through to level five. Ever since Qu Weiwei absorbed that gold-type crystal, her wood-type ability had mutated, allowing her to fight Tang Wenjie on equal footing. With Gu Bingbing’s addition, their team’s strength had risen another level.

With three mid-to-high-level ability users, they were now a solid mid-tier ability squad—one that others wouldn’t dare provoke lightly. When Shen Qing returned to the base that day and saw Song Kaiji in conflict at the gates, it had been over territory disputes during missions.

Outside the safe zone of Red City Base, there were several prime locations close to the city center that were frequently contested by various ability users. The people they clashed with assumed that, since their team was small and their leader—Song Kaiji—was a seemingly powerless space-type ability user, they could be easily bullied and pushed out of the area.

But they were in for a rude awakening. Tang Wenjie and Qu Weiwei teamed up and gave them a solid beating. Even then, that squad was unwilling to back down. Later, when they ran into Song Kaiji again at the base gates, they started hurling insults and provocations. That time, Gu Bingbing was the one to teach them a lesson—leaving a thin ice blade grazing the challenger’s neck, cutting off a few strands of their hair.

From this, it was clear that while their team was strong, their small numbers and lack of a formidable presence still attracted trouble from those who didn’t know better. Some ability-user squads, even those weaker than theirs, had the advantage of sheer numbers—looking intimidating simply because they had a large group.

Their team, however, was now quite wealthy: food and water were no longer a concern. The food all came from Lantang Village, and with Gu Bingbing around, they could simply melt ice for drinking water, saving even on water costs. In the apocalypse, food and water were the most expensive commodities. Just by eliminating those expenses, they had already saved an enormous amount. The crystal nuclei they had accumulated from Zizhou and their recent missions were piling up. Apart from what they absorbed for cultivation, they hardly had any other use for them. A rough count showed they had no less than ten thousand.

Shen Qing discussed expansion with Song Kaiji. “We’ll keep our core team the same, still living in this villa. But we can rent a few apartments in the outer city and recruit some lower-level ability users. Taking them along on missions will make sure no one dares to look down on us.”

With their metal cage tactics, it wouldn’t even be dangerous to bring ordinary people along. They wouldn’t even have to spend extra resources to support these recruits. Killing zombies from inside the cages would allow them to earn enough crystal nuclei to sustain themselves—Shen Qing wouldn’t be losing anything.

“If we find anyone particularly talented and with good character, we can consider bringing them into the core team.” This idea was inspired by how the inner and outer city were structured. If the base could have an inner and outer city, why couldn’t their team?

They could even divide things further: an inner team, a middle team, and an outer team. Shen Qing had too many secrets, and it wasn’t convenient to have too many outsiders inside the villa. They could rent the villa next door and place outstanding recruits from the outer team there. Their treatment would match the core team, but they wouldn’t be too close.

Why would Song Kaiji disagree? Shen Qing still had the option to leave, but Song Kaiji would be living in the apocalypse permanently. Naturally, the stronger his team, the better his survival environment. More importantly, the entrance to the mountain cave was fixed near Red City Base—it couldn’t be moved. Who knew what the future held?

Lately, Shen Qing had been obsessed with novels, and Song Kaiji had read a few as well. Many apocalypse stories described zombie hordes wiping out small bases. While Red City Base was a mid-to-large-sized base and unlikely to be destroyed, it was better to be safe than sorry. Strengthening their team would not only help Red City Base but also ensure they had enough power to return to the mountain cave if the base ever fell.

This event had shaken not only Shen Qing but also made Song Kaiji start thinking about long-term survival.

During dinner, while everyone was gathered, Shen Qing and Song Kaiji brought up the expansion plan. No one had any objections. Song Kaiji glanced at Gu Bingbing and hesitantly asked, “Sun Cheng has approached me several times, hoping to join our team. Now that we’re recruiting in the outer city, and he won’t be living with us, do you think we should take him in?”

He wasn’t asking this just to upset Gu Bingbing. In fact, he had noticed that she still had some lingering feelings for Sun Cheng. However, Sun Cheng had his own problems. Every time he met Gu Bingbing, he would start by saying all the right things, only to later bring up his family, which would immediately set off Gu Bingbing’s temper.

This cycle had repeated so many times that even Song Kaiji found it exhausting to watch. He wasn’t insistent on recruiting Sun Cheng—he just wanted to gauge Gu Bingbing’s true feelings.

After a brief silence, Gu Bingbing finally said, “If he joins alone, or if he brings his parents but ensures Sun Xian also goes on missions and kills zombies, then recruit him. But if he still wants to coddle Sun Xian, letting him sit around doing nothing, then forget it.”

Song Kaiji nodded without saying more, simply sighing inwardly. Sun Xian was a grown man in his twenties, yet he leached off his brother and sister-in-law, even stealing food from his niece. It was disgraceful. He, Tang Wenjie, and Qu Weiwei were all younger than Sun Xian, yet they had fought their way through the apocalypse to reach Hongcheng Base. Sun Cheng had spoiled his brother far too much, ruining what could have been a good marriage. What a waste of Gu Bingbing.

Love was between two people, but marriage involved so much more—it was filled with complications. But Song Kaiji wasn’t the only one sighing. Shen Qing and Tang Wenjie also felt a strange sense of melancholy after hearing Gu Bingbing’s response.

Qu Weiwei, on the other hand, had no room in her mind for love—only food. She grabbed a large serving of dried green beans and said, “We should recruit a wood-type ability user too. They don’t have to do anything else—just stay home and grow vegetables. I don’t have the energy for it anymore. We don’t need to sell vegetables outside anymore, but we should at least make sure we have fresh produce at home. It’s been way too long since we had fresh greens on the table.”

With the outer city team forming, their demand for vegetables would only increase.

Ever since Qu Weiwei’s wood-type ability had mutated and strengthened, she had developed a liking for going on missions and killing zombies. The disgust she once felt had lessened—either because she had adapted or because she had become stronger. Now, with a single lash of her vine, wrapped in a layer of metal, she could skewer five or six zombies at once, meaning five or six crystal nuclei in an instant. Compared to this, selling vegetables just wasn’t worth it anymore. These days, she refused to return from a mission unless she had fought to her heart’s content.

Building a career and growing stronger had become her new passion.

Since it wasn’t a major issue, Shen Qing agreed and turned to Yu Le. “I’ll leave this to you, Lele. Tomorrow, go to the outer city and put up recruitment notices. Do some preliminary screening.”

Yu Le had been quietly eating, focused on the grains of rice in her bowl. Suddenly being called out, she was startled, then overjoyed, nodding rapidly. She had always worried about contributing too little, afraid of being seen as a burden and thrown out. Now that Shen Qing had assigned her a job, she finally felt useful. “Boss, don’t worry! I’ll get this done properly. I won’t let you down!”

Shen Qing and Song Kaiji had already discussed it. They wouldn’t kick Yu Le out, but they also didn’t want her to be idle. It was best to make full use of her abilities, letting her handle clerical and administrative tasks. The team had ability users for combat, management fell to Shen Qing and Song Kaiji, logistics was handled by Mother Tang and Father Gu. Yu Le was perfect for overseeing coordination and paperwork. Once the outer city team was established, she could handle resource distribution, payroll, and lodging arrangements. Young people were quick learners, and she would adapt well.

With Yu Le in charge of recruitment, Shen Qing also had her keep an eye out for more transmigration novels. He had learned a lot from the last one and wanted to read more to study how modern minds approached business in the past. Sometimes, as he listened, Song Kaiji would even teach him to recognize characters and learn about this world’s knowledge.

While Shen Qing’s team discussed the recruitment plan and the initial benefits they would offer new members, elsewhere in the base, some people were growing anxious over Qu Weiwei’s absence from the vegetable market.

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Thingyan (Editor/Admin): So so sorry for not releasing new chapters lately. I started a new project for my school and it has been awfully stressful. One more week and I’ll be done with it and be able to do more frequent updates like before 😅🥲