Chapter 37: Chapter 37: He... Has Been Staying at Chi Wan’s House All This Time?

In response to the bald man’s final accusation, Li Xingye said only one thing.

"How do you know I wouldn’t share the food publicly?"

The rest of the bald man’s words caught in his throat.

His eyes, fixed on Li Xingye, were filled with confusion, regret, and disbelief. ’If what Li Xingye said is true,’ he thought, ’then why did I just throw my life away?’

But whatever Li Xingye did next would have nothing to do with him.

The bald man closed his eyes, and his massive body crashed to the ground.

From the moment the fight with Li Xingye’s group broke out, many low-level superpower users in Frenzy Base had been hiding behind their doors, secretly watching.

When they saw that Frenzy’s elite, whom they considered too powerful to even look at directly, were no match for Li Xingye, they were all horrified. For a moment, they didn’t know whether to fight or flee.

But they couldn’t win a fight. As for fleeing... They looked at the leaves carpeting the entire base entrance and were at a complete loss.

But Li Xingye didn’t immediately occupy Frenzy Base as they’d expected.

Instead, he turned to the frail, skeletal woman and extended an invitation. "Would you like to join my base?"

The woman cracked a smile. "Why do you think Lin Wei told you I was at Frenzy Base? I’ve had more than enough of these beasts."

As she spoke, she gestured for Li Xingye to follow her. "There are still a lot of people locked up inside. You’ve already taken care of Frenzy’s core forces, so what’s your plan now? By the way, got any food? Spare some."

Li Xingye pulled out a bottle of water and a can of eight-treasure porridge and gave them to her.

The woman walked briskly inside, eagerly tearing open the can and eating with no regard for her appearance, as if she hadn’t eaten in centuries.

And when the people watching from the shadows saw Li Xingye casually produce a can of eight-treasure porridge—a food that had all but vanished in the apocalypse—they could no longer contain themselves and couldn’t help but gulp.

A middle-aged man of about forty was the first to step out, positioning himself on the path they were taking to the detention cells. He knelt before Li Xingye. "I am the head of logistics for Frenzy Base. My name is Tian Zhixuan. I have a Fourth Rank Space Ability, and the food in my space can be preserved long-term."

"We all tried to persuade the leader back then. We still had some food stored, it hadn’t gotten to the point where we had to... But in the end, they called the shots at Frenzy. The leader said it was a necessary precaution."

As he spoke, he slammed his forehead to the ground. "But my family and I never ate... that! Leader Li, you killed them, so from now on, you are the leader of Frenzy. I am willing to offer up all the food in my space. I only beg for your protection!"

With Tian Zhixuan taking the lead, more people soon trickled out, all claiming they had never engaged in cannibalism and begging for Li Xingye’s protection.

Others remained hidden in the shadows, simultaneously despising Tian Zhixuan’s group for their swift betrayal while also wanting to wait and see how Li Xingye would react and what would become of them.

Li Xingye looked at the woman.

The woman nodded slightly, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Not just anyone was qualified here at Frenzy. Only those who made significant contributions to the base were given an ’extra meal’ as a reward from the leader."

"Leader, I can take you to where they keep the meat... I mean, the captives."

One man immediately jogged out, offering his services eagerly.

But the woman shot him a look and sneered, "What’s this? Weren’t you enjoying yourself when you were eating before? You were practically moved to tears. Why are you playing innocent now?"

The man froze, then stubbornly retorted, "I was forced into it! If I were as powerful as Leader Li, I wouldn’t have been coerced into doing things I didn’t want to do!"

Li Xingye seemed to have run out of patience. He cut straight to the point. "I won’t kill you, but my base doesn’t welcome people like you either."

After he spoke, a serpentine movement started beneath the ground of the entire base. Countless vines shot up from below, ensnaring everyone within.

The faces of those still hiding in the shadows changed. Before they even had time to struggle, they were all dragged into the central plaza of Frenzy Base.

Frenzy Base was indeed quite large. Even now, there were still nearly two hundred superpower users within it. It was a shame that with the bald man’s group dead, the rest were scared out of their wits and posed no threat whatsoever. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

After rescuing the ordinary people from the dungeons, he destroyed the superpowers of those who had supported the bald man’s policies and expelled them from the base. The leader of Frenzy Base was now officially Li Xingye.

This was Li Xingye’s first step toward consolidating all the bases in the apocalypse.

It was also the first step toward the rapid development of Crystal Core technology in the apocalyptic world.

In time, even Hua Country in Chi Wan’s modern world would leverage this new energy source, Crystal Cores, to leave all other nations far behind.

But of course, that was all in the future.

For now, by the time Li Xingye had settled everything, the sky had grown completely dark.

Impatient with such trivialities, Li Xingye handed over both the woman named Duan Qianyu and the task of merging the bases to Cheng Peng, Shanshan, and the others, who had arrived late.

As for himself, he was preoccupied with the fact that Chi Wan’s kitchen still hadn’t been installed.

Worried that Chi Wan would be inconvenienced without a kitchen, he didn’t even stop to eat. He opened a connection to his space and asked tentatively, "...Wanwan, are you there?"

But before he could finish, the sound of Chi Wan joking with a young man, accompanied by an intensely savory aroma, captured his full attention, making him nearly forget what he had been about to say.

*

Chi Wan, for her part, wasn’t worried about her kitchen at all. She was having a barbecue in the small yard of her new house.

Her guests were, of course, Zhou Huaijin and Zhuo Yu.

Zhou Huaijin had rushed over, bringing the increasingly wilted Pure Crown Orchid to Chi Wan’s home.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt the orchid seemed to perk up the moment it arrived at Chi Wan’s house. Zhou Huaijin was instantly filled with confidence.

Chi Wan was too busy admiring the legendary Pure Crown Orchid to tease him for his wishful thinking.

Zhou Huaijin had arrived just as Zhuo Yu was finishing up his work. Since her kitchen wasn’t installed anyway, Chi Wan figured she might as well set up a grill in the yard for an outdoor BBQ.

Hearing Li Xingye’s voice, Chi Wan stopped teasing Zhou Huaijin and said cheerfully, "All done with your work? You’ve got a sharp nose. I just finished grilling this, and you’re already here for it. Here, have a taste!"

With that, she secretly passed the meat and seafood skewers in her hand into the space.

Li Xingye subconsciously took the skewers. He finally remembered hearing that same voice earlier in the day. ’But it’s been almost a full day since then,’ he thought. ’Has this guy... been at Chi Wan’s house this whole time?’

’What’s his relationship with Chi Wan?’

’Judging by how she was just laughing and joking with him, they must have a good relationship.’

’Then again, with Chi Wan’s lively and adorable personality, it’s only natural for her to have a lot of friends.’

But for some reason, a heavy feeling suddenly settled in Li Xingye’s chest.

The delicious-looking skewers in his hand suddenly lost all their appeal.