When can we eat?

Stealing the files was a piece of cake for Yu Xing. As he passed the cleaning team members guarding the gate, the other man blinked in confusion, only feeling a gust of wind pass by.

Yu Xing also tampered with the surveillance cameras inside the building. Perhaps it was the ghost's innate ability to control magnetic fields that made it as easy for the surveillance cameras to repeatedly play a clip of someone being alone as it was to eat or drink.

No one noticed anything amiss, Yu Xing strolled into the archives room and casually pulled out the document she wanted.

This place is different from the archives I visited when I was looking for Carlos. It only contains documents about personnel changes and assignments. It's much smaller in scale and easier to find things here.

Yu Xing plopped down in the empty office chair and spread out the documents.

The dates of personnel changes were written on the file folders, and then all the records for that day were bound together. On the day the researchers entered the base, some original survivors also came in the same vehicle.

Yu Xing filtered out this part and focused his attention on the deducer.

There were eight researchers involved in the analysis of the route to the base at that time.

Carlos, the Lingren, Luo Jue, Luo Qishan from the Luo family, three unfamiliar divination practitioners, and... Zeng Lai.

Hmm, so Zeng Lai here too. But it seems he chose to keep a low profile and minimize his presence, which is why Yu Xing only found out now.

Yu Xing had no idea what the background of those three unfamiliar strategists was. He planned to ask others to determine their allegiance first.

"So it seems that Zhao Ruru, Xu Shu, and those two from the Widow Investigation Team all chose the city route at the beginning, but after so much time has passed, they should have realized that the initial route cannot access the core plot..." Yu Xing muttered, turning a page.

The city route is definitely useful, but it's not showing its effect right now.

If they're really focused on making progress, then these people should all be considering transferring to the base; at least one person from each faction needs to come in.

Yu Xing didn't care how these people planned to come; with his current "status," he would always get the information.

A book-reading app recommended to me by a friend I've known for ten years, Wild Fruit Reading! It's damn good! I use it to read aloud and listen to books while driving or before bed to pass the time. You can download it here.

Now that Carlos, Zhao Yijiu, and others have switched places, there are nine strategists in the base at the same time.

The Lingren doesn't like to do everything himself, so among the remaining three deducers, there must be one with Single Prism.

Yu Xing noted down the titles of the three diviners.

Snowman, long tail, informant.

After staring at the three names for a long time, Yu Xing closed the file.

He had memorized the workstations of every performer in the base, including the fact that the Lingren had been transferred to the cleanup team...

Standing up, the deep blue in Yu Xing's eyes deepened slightly with the light. He erased all traces of his presence and quietly drifted away.

Monitoring is back in operation.

Everything is normal in the Human Resources Department.

Yu Xing appeared on the surveillance footage, emerging from the public restroom while tidying his clothes. He shook the water off his hands and strolled slowly along the route he had initially taken while "strolling."

He really does look like a leader who has come to inspect the area.

The female officer sat in her office with her legs crossed, sipping tea. A laptop sat in front of her, its screen flashing, lines of text clearly visible on a white background. She listened to her secretary's report, her brows relaxed.

"They immediately began the investigation within the base, but didn't use the base's intranet?" She reached up and brushed a stray hair behind her ear, her tone light and seemingly pleasant. "It seems they weren't entirely lying."

The room assigned to the two newly appointed officers had a computer with access to the intranet. She specifically instructed that the account permissions on that computer be set to a very high level, so that anyone who looked closely could find something interesting.

But the two of them didn't seem interested in it.

In the female officer's view, if Base 51 had aroused suspicion, the first thing these two people would do upon arrival would be to hack into the internal network and retrieve classified information. Given their high status, they could find a thousand excuses to use the internal network legitimately.

But it didn't happen.

Instead, they chose to pretend to wander around the base, but actually visited various places, which was precisely the attitude to assess the base's investment potential.

"If they truly are allies, that's not bad." The female officer smiled slightly, turned to look out the window, and said softly, "I'm somewhat interested in their bodies. Since we're here, there's no need to leave..."

"Sir," Secretary One, wearing glasses, wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead, "They're from Base One. They'll definitely have to go back after completing their mission. If they're missing, we'll be suspected."

"What if it was voluntary?" The female officer tilted her head. "Or perhaps they were seriously injured and needed to recuperate? Or maybe there was a surge of vengeful spirits outside, and they couldn't leave safely, so they had to stay here."

Secretary: "This..."

The secretary, who was about to speak, received a dismissive glance from her female superior. "Go do it. Let them get hurt. The infirmary should always have medicine ready for them."

Her tone was drawn out, lowered, revealing a languid and composed air. "Notify the Doctor that both of these people have awakened their abilities. Find a way to obtain full-body examination data to confirm the dosage."

Secretary: "Yes."

Having received the specific orders, the secretary left the room with some apprehension. Just as he closed the door, the female superior's soft voice came from under the door:

"If you can't even handle this small matter, then Number Two will take over for you."

The secretary was startled; her blood ran cold.

The base serves as both a planting area and a breeding area.

Due to the arrival of the apocalypse and food shortages, each base has large tracts of land used for growing crops and raising livestock to achieve self-sufficiency.

Unlike the cleanup squads, the survivors working in these two areas don't have shifts or holidays, nor do they have the relatively leisurely jobs Carlos previously held, where they could go wherever there was a shortage of people. The personnel in the planting and breeding areas are fixed, and once they come to work here, they can receive the best treatment among ordinary survivors, but their working hours have also increased.

Luo Qishan sat in the field, propping himself up on his lap and gazing at the chicks he had raised in the pen. His fingers tapped his knees absently, and he was drowsy.

"Brother Qishan!"

Just as he was about to close his eyes in sleep, a crisp female voice came from among the chicks. He opened his eyes wide with a start and saw Luo Jue, who had appeared at some point, mingling among the chicks. Her twin ponytails made her very recognizable.

The little girl, holding a chick in each hand, laughed and said, "Got it! These adorable little chicks were born to be eaten by their older sister!"

Luo Qishan's temples throbbed with veins, but he calmly stopped them, saying, "They're too small. They need to grow up before we can eat them. Also, if one dies, it will be deducted from my pay."

Upon hearing this, Luo Jue obediently put the chick down.

The chicks ran away as fast as they could as soon as they landed, determined to get away from this devilish dwarf.

"Get out of here quickly, or you'll be covered in chicken feathers and grass." Luo Qishan sighed.

"Hahaha, you siblings are so funny!" The other zookeepers laughed without any malice.

The planting and breeding areas are large and require a lot of people; basically, no matter where you go, there will be no fewer than five people in your line of sight.

"Tch." Luo Jue stepped out of the chicken coop, patted his clothes, and pouted, clearly looking mischievous.

She approached Luo Qishan and, seeing that no one was paying attention to them anymore, suddenly lowered her voice. "I felt it. The chick does indeed have the same reaction as the virus testing knife."

As she let her arm hang down, a yellow talisman appeared in her palm.

The yellow talisman was rotting in the middle, and wisps of ghostly energy were canceling out the power within it.

Seeing this, Luo Qishan nodded almost imperceptibly. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice behind him, tinged with laughter. "These chicks are so plump, they look very well-fed. When can we eat them?"

Both of them were startled; they hadn't even noticed someone getting so close!

Luo Jue immediately looked over, and her eyes widened even more when she saw the person's appearance clearly.

"You--!"