Ch 177: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Red City Base, Refugee Camp.

Recently, a woman in the refugee camp had awakened a water-based ability by sheer luck. Her children were on the verge of starving and dying of thirst—so was she. At the last moment, a mother’s love triggered her potential, and she awakened her ability.

Her family barely managed to survive, but life hadn’t improved much. As a level-one water ability user, all she could do was produce a thin trickle of water from her fingertips, just enough for drinking. She had no offensive capability whatsoever. Every day, she kept just enough water for her family and then drained her mental energy to trade water for a little food. There was no way for her to save up crystal cores to cultivate her ability, let alone afford the fee to enter the city.

She was a single woman with three children, constantly on guard against the predatory gazes around her. Twice already, as soon as she obtained food, someone had stormed into her tent and stolen everything. Now, the moment she returned to her tent, she stuffed food into her children’s mouths as quickly as possible.

Today, she was even more uneasy.

At some point, two strange women had moved into the tent beside hers. They seemed to be sisters—one was a cripple, and the other had her face covered in black grime, with tangled, matted hair sticking to her skin. Of course, in the slums, where water was precious beyond measure, who could afford to wash? Their disheveled appearance wasn’t surprising.

But something about them felt off.

The grimy woman always sat at the entrance of her tent, staring at her with an eerie, chilling gaze—sometimes, she even examined her children.

Though they looked as miserable as the other refugees, they somehow didn’t seem to be long here.

The woman quickened her pace. But as she entered her tent, she sensed someone following her.

Terrified, she whirled around, eyes wide in alarm, and yanked out a sharpened scrap of iron. “What do you want?!”

It was that strange woman.

But with a swift movement, the woman easily disarmed her, snatching the iron shard away. Before she could scream, the stranger pressed a finger to her lips.

With her other hand, she pulled out several packets of instant noodles from her cloak and lowered her voice.

“Don’t scream. I’m here to save you.”

The woman’s eyes widened even further.

The strange woman—Chen Jiaxi—disgustedly pulled at the greasy strands of hair stuck to her face. This was the seventh level-one ability user she had picked up in the refugee camp within three days. Of course, she wasn’t just collecting ability users at random—she had already read the woman’s memories.

She was a good person, in terms of morality. Among her three children, one wasn’t even hers—it was the child of her deceased cousin. Before dying, the cousin had entrusted her with both supplies and the child. The woman had taken the supplies but had also kept her promise, never letting that child go hungry as long as she had food herself.

Chen Jiaxi felt a certain kinship with her.

The woman soaked the instant noodles in cold water—this way, they wouldn’t give off any aroma that could alert others, and her starving children wouldn’t suffer stomach aches from eating them dry. After ensuring her children were fed, she looked at Chen Jiaxi with deep suspicion. If this had been a man, she would have assumed he had ulterior motives. But this was another woman—why would she give away food? A few packets of instant noodles were incredibly valuable in the apocalypse.

“What do you want me to do?”

Chen Jiaxi glanced at her. “Relax, I won’t harm you. I want you to join our team, our base. We will supply you with unlimited crystal cores to strengthen your ability. We will provide food and shelter so your children can eat well and stay warm. Of course, once your ability reaches a combat level, you will have to fight alongside us. Do you agree?”

The woman was stunned.

Joining a team, unlimited crystal cores, food, shelter—every single thing was something she never even dared to dream of. Although she still had serious doubts about this strange woman, what choice did she have? After only a brief hesitation, she nodded. “I agree.”

Chen Jiaxi smiled in satisfaction and called out toward the neighboring tent. Moments later, the crippled woman from next door hobbled inside. However, the moment she entered, her limp vanished completely.

The woman’s eyes widened in shock, and she instinctively shrank back.

But the “crippled” woman—Qu Weiwei—simply flashed a bright smile. “This time, we’re sending three families at once. Much more efficient than one at a time.”

These past few days, Chen Jiaxi and Qu Weiwei had been hiding in the refugee camp, selecting individuals they deemed promising to bring back and train. Now, Qu Weiwei would escort the new recruits while Ge Bingbing swapped in to protect Chen Jiaxi—after all, someone with strong combat ability had to stay behind.

Meanwhile, Chen Jiaxi carefully read the memories of each recruit. If someone had a deceitful or cunning nature, even if they were already a level-two ability user, they weren’t worth taking.

Aside from scouting for ability users, they also considered strong, able-bodied people for recruitment. Many of these people remained stuck in the refugee camp not because they were weak, but because they had families to care for. In Red City Base, that was a disadvantage. But to Chen Jiaxi, these were precisely the people worth bringing in.

Their base was still under construction and required a large workforce for logistical support. Building city walls, for example, was a perfect job for family members. Even the woman’s eldest child, a fourteen-year-old girl, could be useful. She was still just a middle schooler, but kids before the apocalypse were well-nourished—at over 1.6 meters tall, she was strong enough to carry bricks, fill gaps, and mix cement.

Once the families were settled, to put it bluntly, keeping them inside the base as “hostages” ensured that the ability users and strong fighters wouldn’t betray them. With their families secure, they would fight all the harder for their new home.

When Song Kaiji had first relayed Shen Qing’s idea of taking over Red City Base, Qu Weiwei and Tang Wenjie had been completely shocked.

But Chen Jiaxi? She didn’t think it was unrealistic at all.

“Are you all underestimating yourselves?” she asked, looking at Qu Weiwei, who was still pointing a finger at her. “Do you have a problem with this? Right now, in all of Red City Base, I doubt there are more than three ability users who can overpower you. And across the entire base, there are probably fewer than ten who could take you in a fight.”

Qu Weiwei was stunned. “But… I…”

But she had never actually fought them, so how could she know she would win? “My ability was just… fed to me by Little Boss Shen with crystal cores…”

Since joining Shen Qing’s squad, in just over a year, Qu Weiwei had advanced from a level-three plant ability user to a level-nine mutated plant ability user. Meanwhile, the highest recorded ability levels in Red City Base were only level ten—just two people, one fire-type and one lightning-type, neither of whom had mutations.

Even in a one-on-one battle, Qu Weiwei wouldn’t necessarily lose, despite the elemental disadvantage. And neither of those two people were tied to the military or government—they were independent ability users. In fact, one of them had recently been looking for a way to leave Red City Base and follow the special envoy to the capital.

Tang Wenjie, on the other hand, was a level-eight metal ability user. After absorbing a mutant zombie’s crystal core, his ability hadn’t mutated, but from the start, his power had been stronger than others of the same rank. When sparring with Qu Weiwei, who was a level-nine, he actually won more often than not.

Ge Bingbing was level-eight ice, Song Kaiji was level-seven mutated spatial, Shen Yan was level-seven fire, and Lü Ji was level-seven wind.

At level five and above, leveling up became increasingly difficult. Among all the ability users in Red City Base, those at level seven or higher accounted for maybe a quarter of all high-rank fighters. And Shen Qing’s squad? They alone held about a third of those.

Not to mention the many mid-level ability users Shen Qing had personally nurtured from level one to five or six using crystal cores.

With this many high- and mid-level ability users, it wasn’t a matter of if they could take over Red City Base—it was a matter of when. How could they be compared to some weak underling trying to kill a powerful group?

“Just because you were fed to level nine, does that mean you’re not actually a level-nine ability user? Do you think other level-nine ability users never used crystal cores to get there?” Chen Jiaxi sighed deeply.

To her, the reason they hadn’t taken over Red City Base yet wasn’t because they couldn’t—it was because these so-called “college students” were too timid.

Just looking at Qu Weiwei, she got the feeling that if this girl were in a job interview before the apocalypse, when asked about her expected salary, she would have wanted to say 10,000, but instead, she’d stammer out 6,500, then go home worried she’d asked for too much and ruined her chances.

They lacked experience. They lacked the audacity to just go for it and deal with the consequences later.

Qu Weiwei: Are you spying on me? That was way too specific. Shut up, QAQ.

After all, before the apocalypse, she had spent a month and a half job hunting and still hadn’t found work when everything collapsed.

But after Chen Jiaxi pointed it out, they finally realized just how strong they had become.

Chen Jiaxi rolled her eyes. Strong was an understatement.

Shen Qing had access to resources from another world. Forget food—things like salt, sugar, and even traditional medicine, all strategic supplies, were entirely within his control. Even the government of Red City Base couldn’t compare to that. Once their own stores of salt and sugar ran out, they had to trade for them with other bases, usually offering crops or military tactics, like the iron cage strategy Shen Qing’s squad had developed.

Even if someone else had a quarter of Red City Base’s high-level ability users, they still wouldn’t be able to seize control—because even if they managed to drive out the government and military, they wouldn’t be officially recognized by the capital and wouldn’t know how to govern.

But Shen Qing’s squad? They didn’t have to worry about any of that.

All Shen Qing needed was control of Red City Base’s leadership. If he provided food and lowered the cost of entry, the people would gladly support him.

Wasn’t that exactly how their small base was already thriving?

Even the ordinary workers there had hope in their eyes, because they knew that as long as they worked, they would never starve.

A small base could run this way.

A large base? All they needed was more food and more firepower.

And food? For Shen Qing, that was never a problem.

And as for military strength? Besides continuing to purchase firearms on the black market, the next best approach was to cultivate as many loyal ability users as possible. Unlike the ability users in Red City Base, who had to balance survival with training, their team didn’t have to trade crystal cores for food. Every single crystal core they earned from missions went directly into ability cultivation. They had an endless supply, allowing their powers to grow at a rate unmatched by those in Red City Base.

Moreover, Chen Jiaxi believed Shen Qing’s thinking was highly forward-looking. They had already become mortal enemies with the research institute. Even if they chose not to attack Red City Base, did they really think the base would just sit back and let them develop freely once they discovered they had built their own stronghold nearby?

It was only a matter of time before they were found. Their base was barely over ten kilometers from Red City Base.

Strike first or suffer the consequences later!

Rather than waiting for Red City Base to discover them and come hunting—especially since Lu Yanghui and his people would never give up on capturing Shen Qing after realizing another dimension existed—why not take the initiative and seize control of Red City Base first?

Chen Jiaxi watched as Qu Weiwei disappeared into the night with the woman and her three children, along with two other families. Yawning, her gaze shifted to a man not far away. But just as quickly, she tensed, glancing warily to her right. Everything seemed normal—no one was there.

Still, with Qu Weiwei gone and no one to protect her, Chen Jiaxi immediately retreated into her tent.

---

Meanwhile, Song Kaiji, after recovering from his injuries, had only spent two more days in the apocalypse before returning to Lantang Village.

Before leaving, he had asked Zhang Sujuan, Tang Wenjie, and Qu Weiwei for a vial of their blood.

Zhang Sujuan, of course, had no questions—she trusted her son completely.

Tang Wenjie and Qu Weiwei, on the other hand, cluelessly let him draw their blood before belatedly asking, “Wait… what’s this for?”

Song Kaiji: …They just thought to ask now? Wasn’t it a bit late?

He brushed it off with a vague response. “I’m not sure if it’ll work. I’ll tell you if it does.”

Surprisingly, they actually dropped the subject after that. Song Kaiji sighed—just the three of them, with their level of intelligence (himself included)… Even if they did make it to another world, what kind of chaos could they really cause?

Once everything was set, Song Kaiji made a mad dash back to Lantang Village. Three days without seeing Shen Qing and his precious daughter? He missed them to death!

---

At that moment, Shen Qing was busy dealing with Magistrate Lin’s family.

Since his childbirth, Lin Ning had visited Lantang Village multiple times. He and Lin Zao had even attended Quan Jie’s washing ceremony and one-month milestone. Magistrate Lin himself had sent a gift through Lin Ning.

But this was the first time Magistrate Lin and his fulang had personally come to the village. Shen Qing wasn’t sure why they had come and was feeling a little nervous. The rest of the villagers were even more terrified. They were already scared stiff whenever they saw patrolling officers carrying blades—now, just catching a distant glimpse of the county magistrate had their knees shaking.

Magistrate Lin hadn’t expected that despite all of Shen Qing’s wealth and properties in the county, he still lived in such a small and somewhat humble courtyard in the village. However, the sight stirred old memories in him. Before he had passed the imperial examination and earned his title, he had lived in a similar courtyard with his husband and Lin Ning.

Perhaps nostalgic, he strolled around the yard with his fulang for quite some time.

Meanwhile, Lin Ning had already made himself at home, hugging and kissing Quan Jie before turning to Shen Qing with a pout. “I heard! Your man came back! I rushed over, hoping to catch a glimpse, but I missed it! Why didn’t you tell me? And why did he leave after only two days?!”

He was dying of curiosity! What kind of man was Quan Jie’s father? Seeing that Quan Jie had black hair and black eyes, he was probably not a foreigner, right?

Shen Qing smiled. Just the thought of Song Kaiji being able to stay in this world, of them being able to live together permanently, filled him with happiness. “He’ll be back in a few days. We’re also going to hold a proper wedding ceremony—of course, you’ll be invited.”

Lin Ning circled around Shen Qing, examining him closely, until Shen Qing felt embarrassed and touched his face. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lin Ning sighed. How had he ever doubted Qing Ge’er’s preferences before? Just look at him now—his face full of joy, tinged with the kind of bashful sweetness only someone deeply in love could show. He had never thought he’d see Shen Qing looking like this.

Whoever this mysterious man was, if he had managed to capture Qing ger’s heart like this, Lin Ning was now even more curious.

Quan Jie let out a few sleepy sounds, and Xique immediately came over to take her, carrying her to Miao Chunlei for a feeding. With his hands now free, Shen Qing finally asked, “Magistrate Lin, what brings him to my humble home today?”

It didn’t seem like a casual visit—he hadn’t brought any gifts or anything of the sort.

Lin Ning hesitated for a moment before replying, “It’s official business, but don’t worry. Judging by my father’s expression, it’s more likely good news—he might even be here to reward you.”

---

Truthfully, Magistrate Lin had wanted to visit Shen Qing for a long time. He had only held off because Shen Qing was still in postpartum recovery.

It all started with Zhao Youwei’s group and their leg wounds.

“My father asked me what you used to shoot them. I told him I didn’t know—I wasn’t there when it happened.”

Shen Qing’s heart sank.

He was worried that Magistrate Lin had recognized his weapon as a crossbow. Private ownership of crossbows was strictly forbidden by the imperial court—a serious crime. He had acted on impulse that day, both angry and desperate. There had been midwives in the room when he fired it, so if Magistrate Lin asked around, there was no escaping this charge.

But from Lin Ning’s tone, it seemed like Magistrate Lin wasn’t planning to punish him—perhaps he was willing to overlook it?

That meant his visit today was for something else.

Whatever the reason, once Magistrate Lin entered the house, he first looked at the baby and praised her a few times. Then, finally, he brought up the matter at hand.

Shen Qing immediately admitted his wrongdoing and asked for forgiveness, which amused Magistrate Lin. “You’re quite sharp,” he chuckled.

After a pause, he continued, “I had already guessed. That crossbow—does Miao Yu have one too? When he joined the county’s archery training, he picked it up instantly, shooting with impressive accuracy. It was obvious he had handled one before.”

Even after shooting, Miao Yu had still looked down at the county’s standard crossbows with clear disdain. That alone made Magistrate Lin suspect that Shen Qing’s crossbow was far superior.

Seeing Zhao Youwei and his men’s wounds had only confirmed it.

When they had been captured, Magistrate Lin had shown a rare moment of mercy—he hadn’t wanted them to die in jail, but he also hadn’t wanted to waste money treating them. So he had the county’s forensic examiner bandage them up. But even the examiner had reported that something about the wounds wasn’t right.

Now, Magistrate Lin wanted to see the crossbow for himself.

Shen Qing had no choice but to fabricate a story. “I secretly learned some hunting skills from village hunters when I was young. I once saw a similar weapon and tried to replicate it. Later, while traveling, I saw people in other places using crossbows, so I made some improvements…”

Seeing Magistrate Lin’s interest shift from suspicion to appreciation, Shen Qing boldly added, “If you like it, I would be honored to present the blueprint to you.”

This crossbow design had been refined countless times in the apocalypse. It was easy to make, used simple materials, and had structural improvements over ancient models. Magistrate Lin was delighted.

Between the high-yield crops Shen Qing had introduced and now this weapon… It was clear to him—his future career was set. A few more years, and his political achievements would be unparalleled.

He looked at Shen Qing with increasing satisfaction.

Shen Qing wasn’t just some village merchant—he was his political lucky star.

Magistrate Lin pondered how he could properly reward Shen Qing. However, Shen Qing wasn’t lacking in wealth, and he had already been honored with a plaque for his contributions to the people. At the moment, he couldn’t think of anything else that would serve as a suitable reward.

Shen Qing, on the other hand, had his own plans.

Previously, when Zhao Youwei went on his rampage, he had destroyed Shen Qing’s household registry, so he would need to go to the county office soon to have it reissued. Meanwhile, Song Kaiji was still undocumented in this world—a complete hei hu (black household, unregistered person). Shen Qing wondered if he could quietly manipulate things a little and have Song Kaiji’s name added to his family’s household registry.

If Magistrate Lin was willing to be lenient and create a perfect identity for Song Kaiji, that would be even better. Without a registered household, Song Kaiji wouldn’t be able to officially marry him.

Even though they were already living like an old married couple, with a child born between them, Shen Qing still liked the idea of being able to obtain an official marriage certificate. The thought of it alone filled him with joy.

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