Salivating from hunger is entirely different from salivating upon seeing hawthorn berries.
Because while one might not always drool when feeling hungry, the mere sight or mention of hawthorn berries acts like a perfectly responsive saliva switch.
After feeding it hawthorn berries a few more times today, this conditioned reflex will be established.
In the future, whenever fertilizer is needed, I’ll just grab some hawthorn berries and lead Mo Ran to the fields.
With a continuous supply of Ice Condensing Flowers, this is the beginning of all harmony and beauty!
Zhang Chen stood by the window, watching the sunset’s afterglow cast upon the farmland, his mood instantly improving.
Without the worry of Xiao Bai, Zhang Chen truly had nothing else to concern himself with.
Next, all that remained was to enter the seventh walled city, and hopefully, uncover all the secrets there!
Just as Zhang Chen was about to envision a beautiful future, a message suddenly arrived on his interface:
*Ding dong!* Your friend Zhao Xiyue has sent you a message.
“Xiyue? I haven’t seen this girl since we last parted ways,” Zhang Chen muttered to himself as he opened the chat.
Zhao Xiyue: “Brother Chen, are you free now?”
Zhang Chen: “I’m resting, nothing much. Is there something going on?”
Zhang Chen knew Zhao Xiyue was busy managing the military base survivors with her brother, Zhao Longchuan. A large survivor camp would undoubtedly have many daily tasks.
Previously, Zhao Xiyue would chat with him in the evenings when she had free time, but lately, she clearly hadn’t even had time to chat.
Her sudden contact now must mean something had happened.
“Um… I didn’t want to bother you, Brother Chen… but we’ve encountered some difficulties here…”
“My brother also didn’t want me to ask for your help, saying you’re busy with important matters. But I know clearly that if we only rely on ourselves to overcome this immediate crisis, we won’t make it!”
“And I can’t possibly gamble with the lives of over thirty thousand survivors in the entire camp… So, I came to find you…” Zhao Xiyue said, hesitating.
“Just tell me what it is directly. I’ll help if I can.”
“We’re all friends, after all. Helping is what we should do,” Zhang Chen replied with a smile.
“It’s like this… Recently, we’ve been suddenly attacked by enemies of unknown origin.”
“We’ve already cleared the surrounding cities and even set up outposts, but these people appeared as if out of thin air!”
“In an instant, they destroyed all our outposts, and many scouts on the perimeter have also gone missing for no reason.”
“This situation isn’t just happening to us; many survivor camps in surrounding cities are also facing this. Some camps have even lost contact entirely, hundreds of people in total, and not a single one can be reached…”
“We’ve dispatched scouting parties one after another, but they all vanish after exceeding a certain range…”
“Now the entire base is on high alert, and we can’t go out. Collection teams that go out disappear immediately. Even survivors who come to visit have been vanishing recently.”
“It’s as if some terrifying entity near the city is silently eliminating everyone.” Zhao Xiyue replied seriously.
“Something like that? I’ll contact Zheng Hao and see if the True God Cult of the Revival Camp can send some people to support you!” Zhang Chen frowned.
Could it be that some new monsters have appeared? If so, the numbers of these monsters might be considerable.
Before Zhang Chen could contact Zheng Hao, Zhao Xiyue sent another message:
“The Revival Camp is probably not doing too well either. They are currently facing attacks from the Nile people who worship the God of the Sea from the north, and from Western fanatics who have newly deified emperors.”
“Although the True God Cult has gathered considerable influence, they have also become targets for other religions, attracting many new enemies!”
“They are currently overwhelmed and likely unable to spare any resources to help us!”
“Moreover… we still haven’t figured out what killed the scouts… Even if the Revival Camp sends people, it’s difficult to guarantee their safe passage through that death zone…” Zhao Xiyue said with a worried expression.
It seemed she had indeed considered requesting help from the Revival Camp. And she had thought of more solutions than Zhang Chen’s impromptu idea. If it weren’t for truly desperate circumstances, she wouldn’t have asked Zhang Chen for help.
“Currently, our main source of food relies on collecting edible mutated plants and the meat of mutated creatures.”
“But in this situation, our supply collection teams haven’t gone out for three days, and our stored food is dwindling rapidly.”
“Furthermore, this prevents our warriors from leveling up and becoming stronger. The situation is extremely critical… otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered you, Brother Chen…” Zhao Xiyue said somewhat apologetically.
“Mmm…” Zhang Chen checked the time. It was past 5 PM. If he went and returned quickly, it shouldn’t affect his plans for tomorrow. Besides, resting in his room every night was still resting, so it might be better to get some exercise.
“Brother Chen, if you’re busy… we’ll find another way!” Zhao Xiyue, mistaking Zhang Chen’s timing check as reluctance, quickly amended her statement.
“No, wait for me. I’ll be there soon!”
Closing the chat interface, Zhang Chen gathered everyone for a brief explanation. Then, he tucked Xiao Ruan into his embrace and took out the [Beginner Survivor Tracker] (Chapter 191) that Guan Xin had given him. He typed in the name: Zhao Xiyue.
Then, Zhang Chen vanished instantly.
The reason for bringing Xiao Ruan was its spatial teleportation ability. Xiao Ruan hadn’t been to the military base, so it couldn’t teleport Zhang Chen there directly. However, it could take Zhang Chen home. This way, Zhang Chen effectively had a round-trip ticket.
As the surrounding scenery gradually sharpened, Zhang Chen found himself back in Tianyang City. Everything here was so familiar, yet so strange. The second phase of the apocalypse had rendered the environment somewhat dilapidated, almost making it unrecognizable to Zhang Chen. He was currently at a car repair shop on the outskirts of Tianyang City. The signboard was too rotted to discern any name, and the lot was filled with rusted-out cars. The [Beginner Survivor Tracker] would teleport him within a kilometer of Zhao Xiyue’s location.
As Zhang Chen stepped out of the car repair shop, he saw the grand and imposing military base in the distance, standing like an ancient fortress.
“Let’s go, Xiao Ruan, I’ll introduce you to some new friends!” Zhang Chen said with a smile as he walked towards the military base.
Xiao Ruan seemed shy and, upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, burrowed deeper into his pocket, showing clear reluctance.