New Ability and Xin Hongtu

Ye Xiu calmed himself. Under the astonished gazes of Xu Xiao and the others, his body suddenly began to twist and distort.

A few seconds later, someone who looked ninety-nine percent identical to Xu Xiao appeared where he had stood.

"Th-this is me?"

Xu Xiao's eyes widened. Anyone who saw another version of themselves appear would be unable to keep from being stunned.

"It looks like this transformation technique is seamless?"

The transformed Xu Xiao smiled. Even his voice was completely identical.

Only then did Xu Xiao react. "Brother Ye, have you mastered that imitation technique?"

The false Xu Xiao—or rather, Ye Xiu—nodded.

He raised his hand and examined it carefully, equally surprised by how useful this transformation technique was.

Through the changes brought by his ability, he had practically become another person. Even standing before the original, there was no flaw to be seen.

"Not a bad ability. What about the imitation ability's power? When can you give it to me?"

Ye Xiu looked at the Qingqiu Fox King before him, smiling warmly.

Faced with Ye Xiu's smile, which looked like that of a demon to it, the Qingqiu Fox King let out a shrill cry and clutched its tail.

"This... no... I... don't have enough tails... wait... don't kill me..."

Seeing it behave like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, Ye Xiu shook his head regretfully.

It seemed that sharing abilities also required its own level to be high enough.

But it did not matter. This Qingqiu fox could not run away anyway. With Starfire backing him, no one could snatch it from him.

As for whether Kabbalah would set its sights on them, Ye Xiu believed Xu Xiao would provide the people above with the proper response measures and the appropriate level of secrecy.

"Brother Xu, you've seen it too. These Qingqiu foxes have the ability to share voluntarily. You should understand what that means. I'll have to trouble you to relay our previous conditions to those above."

Ye Xiu turned to Xu Xiao.

Understanding the significance of this, Xu Xiao nodded. "Rest assured, Brother Ye. Even if we have to bring out the old man of the family, we'll protect this batch of Qingqiu foxes."

Afterward, they rested and regrouped on the spot. Since the Qingqiu foxes had already been subdued by Ye Xiu, the sandstorm in the sky also dispersed.

Once communications were restored, Xu Xiao immediately sent a message to Starfire headquarters.

In less than five minutes, Ye Xiu saw dozens of spacecraft rushing over from all directions.

Beneath the heavy night sky, armed Guardians escorted every Qingqiu fox aboard.

Only the Qingqiu Fox King refused to leave Ye Xiu's side, following him stubbornly. In the end, it boarded a helicopter with Ye Xiu and the others.

The matters that followed had nothing to do with Ye Xiu.

According to Xu Xiao, those stationed there would rush over with another batch of mutant beasts, and specialists would forge records for this mission.

That way, even if Kabbalah suddenly decided to investigate, they would be able to smooth it over.

As for the reward for this mission, Xu Xiao said he would definitely make Ye Xiu satisfied.

"If possible, can I commission a custom weapon?"

After thinking for a long time, Ye Xiu decided to raise the matter.

Although it might expose some of his information, compared with the benefits of obtaining this world's most advanced technology, Ye Xiu felt the risk was worth taking.

Xu Xiao's response to Ye Xiu's request was simple.

Once Ye Xiu was ready, he only needed to come find him.

The helicopter took some time to bring them back to Azure Prefecture Shelter.

After a day of exertion, Ye Xiu took Little White home.

Right, since the Qingqiu Fox King was willing to follow him, it naturally needed a name.

Ye Xiu was terrible at naming things, so he gave it the name of a dog he had once kept at home.

As for its protests, Ye Xiu felt the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger would help Little White make the correct choice.

"Ah, what an adorable little fox! What is this?"

The moment they returned home, Xu Hualing was practically conquered by the Qingqiu Fox King at first sight.

Naturally, Ye Xiu did not refuse Xu Hualing. Smiling, he handed Little White to her, secretly giving it a threatening look before walking over to meet Xie Lan.

"The handover within the gang has basically been completed. The people below don't know their boss has changed. Following your previous instructions, we've also begun taking people in bit by bit."

Xie Lan looked at Ye Xiu, feeling as though something about him had changed.

But she could not say exactly what had changed.

In the end, she could only shake her head and drive the thoughts from her mind.

"But taking in people on such a large scale will only lead to growing consumption. We have to solve the pressure caused by accepting more people."

Counting on her fingers, Xie Lan began calculating the costs of taking in more people for Ye Xiu.

"Food, lodging, and even finding ways to awaken their abilities in order to maintain a healthy cycle."

"And the most fatal part is that, under the current circumstances, even if we're willing to spend crystal cores to buy supplies, shortages make it difficult to support them."

To be honest, Xie Lan still found it difficult to understand why Ye Xiu had issued an order to expand.

Even shelters only took people in according to quotas and specific purposes. Saving everyone blindly—this man clearly was not that saintly, was he?

Ye Xiu smiled. Of course, he would not tell her that the resource problem behind their predicament was nothing in a cultivation world.

At his current stage, relying on himself to slaughter zombies was simply far too exhausting.

Having others work for him while he acted as the boss had been Ye Xiu's original plan.

As for whether this path would work?

Ye Xiu believed that in an Apocalypse World where a single meal could buy a life, his demands—which had seemed extremely harsh in his previous life—were now comparable to heaven.

Still, they truly needed to control the balance. It would be bad if something went wrong.

Thinking of this, Ye Xiu decided to first ask about the specific situation.

"Has the factory started operating?"

Xie Lan nodded.

"Yes. Following your instructions, we've sent all the idle hands in the gang over there."

"But producing firearms requires materials. We're only bringing supplies in and not sending anything out. At most, we'll run out of raw materials in another two days."

"How many weapons have been produced so far, then?"

"The first batch of firearms totals around fifty."

Seeing Ye Xiu fall into thought, Xie Lan hurriedly asked with some concern.

"What is it? Is that too many?"

"No."

Unexpectedly, a smile suddenly appeared on Ye Xiu's face.

"It's too few."

"Hand the goods over to me first. Keep arranging for people to produce them at full capacity. Within three days at most, everything else will be in place."