The facts proved that Jin Chuyu and Song Chengjun’s judgment was correct.

Their team, along with some other individuals, followed the route guided by the Jianglin Hotel’s navigation, driving at a normal speed. They arrived at the entrance of the small base in exactly 10 minutes.

This time, the gatekeepers were not as tense as before, as Shen Zhigui had informed Jin Chuyu and Song Chengjun that they would have friends arriving, and had notified the gatekeepers.

Seeing the car Jin Chuyu and the others drove was the same model as Shen Zhigui’s team’s, it was easy to guess they were together.

After Jin Chuyu’s group got out of the vehicle, the gatekeeper even approached proactively: "Hello, you must be Mr. Shen’s friends. Mr. Shen asked me to pay special attention."

For non-superpower users, each person gets 2 pounds of rice. For superpower users, each gets 1 pound, which can be deducted using other items. Mr. Shen and his team used corn.

Before entering the base, everyone must undergo a full body inspection to ensure there are no wounds. This ensures they won’t turn into zombies."

Although zombies have mostly been frozen stiff now, there’s still the possibility of zombie virus infection.

"Understood, this is generally the rule at each base."

Jin Chuyu had spent some time at a base before.

In the previous base, whenever people went out and came back, they had to have their bodies checked.

If they accidentally had wounds, they’d be isolated and only allowed to leave the "dark room" after 24 hours if they didn’t turn into zombies.

Jin Chuyu and her group had just walked through the snow without encountering any danger, hence they didn’t find any wounds during the inspection.

Everyone successfully passed the medical check and avoided isolation.

After entering the base, they immediately spotted the distinctive silver-white off-road vehicles without asking anyone else.

Jin Chuyu and Song Chengjun led their team towards the silver-white vehicles.

"Sister Jin, Captain Song, you’re here!"

Lin Xuyuan turned his head and saw Jin Chuyu and Song Chengjun walking towards them.

"How’s it going? You didn’t encounter any danger, right?"

The first thing Jin Chuyu asked about was whether they encountered any danger.

"We’re fine, it was just a bunch of small fries. We dealt with them as soon as we appeared, and no one got hurt."

"That’s good. Where’s everyone else? Why are you the only one here?"

Jin Chuyu looked around, ensuring she only saw Lin Xuyuan.

"Brother Shen and the others went to the base’s trading market. I stayed to watch over the cars."

"In that case, you don’t mind watching over a few more, do you?"

Having gotten familiar with them, Song Chengjun had learned to joke around.

"Sure, sure, whether it’s one car or two, I’m watching them anyway."

Moreover, Lin Xuyuan believed people in the base wouldn’t be so bold as to provoke them.

Jin Chuyu’s group parked their cars next to Shen Zhigui’s vehicles and unceremoniously got out to head to Lin Xuyuan’s mentioned trading market.

Although they called it a trading market, it was essentially just a space designated for people to set up stalls.

When Jin Chuyu’s group arrived, Shen Zhigui’s team was just coming out.

"Miss Jin, Captain Song, you’re here too?"

Upon seeing Jin Chuyu and Song Chengjun, Shen Zhigui greeted them.

Entering the trading market, Jin Chuyu subconsciously began comparing it with the commercial street of Jianglin Hotel.

In the end, Jianglin Hotel’s commercial street turned out to be more favorable.

At least the street in Jianglin Hotel’s commercial area was clean, whereas here, the middle aisles of the trading market were filthy, as if they hadn’t been cleaned for ages.

After wandering around, nothing caught Jin Chuyu’s eye, until she was about to leave and felt someone tug at her pant leg.

She instinctively turned her head but saw nothing.

"Big sister, look down,"

Seeing that Jin Chuyu hadn’t noticed him, the little boy tugging at her pant leg finally spoke.

Jin Chuyu looked down and saw the little boy whose face was still dirty.

"You’re the one who tugged at me. What do you want?"

Jin Chuyu couldn’t imagine what the little boy wanted from her.

"Big sister, I wanted to ask if you have food? I have crystal cores; can I trade them with you?"

Upon hearing the boy’s words, Jin Chuyu was surprised: "I do have food, but how many crystal cores do you have?"

"I have them saved up; can you come with me?"

Jin Chuyu frowned slightly: "No, bring your crystal cores to where we parked."

Jin Chuyu wasn’t naive enough to visit his house upon first meeting.

"Alright, but I want to know what food you have and how many crystal cores it costs to exchange."

His crystal cores are hard-earned, and he doesn’t want to spend them all on just one meal.

"What are you looking for?"

Jin Chuyu hadn’t really exchanged food with anyone before.

"Just plain rice. I haven’t had a meal in a long time."

Before these times, he needed his family to persuade him to eat; now he wants to eat without prompt.

*

Upon hearing what the boy said, Jin Chuyu raised an eyebrow: "Sure, do you want vegetables? Just plain rice isn’t much fun." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

They had brought ample supplies, so she could agree to give him a bit.

"Really? Won’t it be expensive? I have saved some crystal cores but not many."

He’s still young, so opportunities to find crystal cores are scarce.

"Plain rice costs one Level 1 Crystal Core; vegetables range from 2 to 5 crystal cores."

"Bring as many crystal cores as you want for the food."

Jin Chuyu felt somewhat sympathetic seeing the boy so skinny, but she believed in charging fairly; she could only say she’d aim to give him a decent amount of food.

He was but a child, and she worried that carrying too much might tempt others.

After hearing Jin Chuyu’s words, the boy’s eyes glowed with excitement.

It’s actually so affordable, so he must bring more crystal cores to trade for more food.

He was adept at hiding things — once he hid something, nobody in the base could find it.

"Big sister, wait for me; I’ll go fetch the crystal cores now."

The boy was afraid Jin Chuyu might change her mind, and rushed home to fetch the crystal cores.

Watching the boy’s retreating figure, all five in Jin Chuyu’s group felt a pang of discomfort.

"Let’s go, we’ll wait for him."

The boy ran home, and the agreed trading spot was where they previously parked.

They ought to be ready when the boy returned with the crystal cores.

None in the group objected, and they all headed to the parking spot.

Back at the parking spot, Shen Zhigui’s team had returned and had already set up tents near the cars, the smell of food wafting faintly.

Jin Chuyu’s team also pulled out their travel-essential tents, setting them up in front of their vehicles.

As they finished setting up, the boy came running over, accompanied by a very skinny boy who looked similar.

The resemblance between the two led Jin Chuyu’s team to guess they were brothers.