Dispute

Meng Qilin felt as though he had not slept in such a comfortable bed in ages. Much of his accumulated exhaustion had eased, and he got up feeling refreshed to make his rounds.

When he reached the Dark Night Squad, he had intended to call everyone to a meeting, but seeing them eating breakfast, he did not interrupt.

Bai Yaoyao spotted him and called out, "Captain Meng, come have something to eat with us."

Meng Qilin quickly waved his hands. "No, no, you go ahead. I've already eaten."

Bai Yaoyao gave Monkey a look, and he hurried over to invite Meng Qilin and the two Little Soldiers behind him to join them.

Naturally, Meng Qilin refused. With supplies so scarce, how could he impose on them for a meal?

But the young man persuading him was far too good with words, leaving him unable to either leave or stay.

Fat Brother noticed Meng Qilin's awkwardness and said, "Captain Meng, don't stand on ceremony. Come on over. We can have a chat while we're at it. We aren't familiar with H City, so this is a good chance for you to tell us about it."

He put an arm around Captain Meng's shoulders and brought him over to sit down, while Monkey pulled the two Little Soldiers along.

Seeing that he really could not refuse, Meng Qilin went with them. He could find an opportunity to repay them with some supplies later.

But when he got a look at the food, he froze in shock. You've got to be kidding!

Fried dough sticks, soup dumplings, scallion pancakes, shumai, steamed dumplings, soy milk, spicy pepper soup, pork and century egg congee, tofu pudding...

This... I can't afford to repay them for this.

The two Little Soldiers behind him were even more stunned, rooted to the spot.

Meng Qilin soon recovered and asked in surprise, "Captain Bai, is all this... hot?"

Meng Qilin was astonished. According to official information, a Spatial Ability should only allow someone to store items. It should not be able to preserve their freshness.

Bai Yaoyao had known Meng Qilin would ask. She had deliberately wanted to show him this. If she wanted a long-term partnership with the authorities, she would never earn their regard without revealing a few of her trump cards.

An organization as large as the authorities had plenty of capable people. She knew of someone among them whose storage space could preserve freshness, though only after reaching level four.

"My ability mutated. About two square meters of the space can preserve freshness.

"At the Villa, we prepare the meals we'll be eating over the next few days in advance and put them inside," Bai Yaoyao explained.

Meng Qilin sighed. "In times like these, being able to eat a hot meal is such a blessing!"

Seeing that the two Little Soldiers were too embarrassed to help themselves, Monkey brought food right over to them, then asked Meng Qilin, "Captain Meng, don't just talk. Dig in. What would you like to drink?"

"I... I'll have some tofu pudding," Meng Qilin answered before he could stop himself.

"No problem. Sweet or savory?" Monkey held a bowl in each hand.

"Either is fine... uh, savory!" Meng Qilin had been too embarrassed to choose, but then he figured that since he was eating anyway, he might as well have what he liked.

"Coming right up!"

Meng Qilin and the two Little Soldiers ate the most delicious meal they had enjoyed since the Apocalypse began. They barely spoke, and before they knew it, they had polished off a mountain of food.

Only afterward did they realize how much they had eaten, their faces reddening with embarrassment. They had said they would not eat, yet had eaten more than their hosts.

Fortunately, Bai Yaoyao, Monkey, and Fat Brother kept the conversation lively and smoothly changed the subject.

After breakfast, everyone followed Captain Meng to the open ground by the Safe Zone's entrance. Many people had already arrived, standing in clearly defined groups. They spoke quietly among themselves while sizing up the Dark Night Squad accompanying Meng Qilin.

Bai Yaoyao scanned them with her mental power. Most gave off energy fluctuations, so they were probably other Special Ability Squads Meng Qilin had hired.

But they were so weak. Very few had even reached Level Two...

"Our idols! Our idols! You've come to the Safe Zone too!"

"This is great! We've all leveled up! Does that mean we can fight alongside you this time?"

Bai Yaoyao was observing the different squads when several people suddenly ran over, waving their arms and shouting.

"Uh... H University?" Bai Yaoyao paused before remembering them. They seemed to be some of the students from H University's Martial Arts Department.

"Yes, yes, that's us! My name's Li Pengliang.

"You still remember us! If it hadn't been for you, we'd probably have croaked before the official rescue arrived!" Li Pengliang said excitedly.

Meng Qilin gave an awkward little cough beside them. You brat. Couldn't you spare me a little dignity?

Only then did Li Pengliang notice Captain Meng. He sheepishly stuck out his tongue and scratched his head.

One of the boys behind Li Pengliang looked around for a while, then hurriedly asked, "Where's Dog Brother? Why isn't Dog Brother here? I even brought him something tasty!"

Bai Yaoyao glanced at the bag of "premium gourmet dog food" he had just taken out of his backpack, which had occupied almost the entire bag, and could not help marveling. Even Doggie has fans now?

"Doggie's asleep. He hasn't woken up yet," Bai Yaoyao replied.

"Oh, thank goodness. I knew Dog Brother was too strong for anything to happen to him. Could you give this to him for me?" With that, the boy handed the dog food to Bai Yaoyao.

Bai Yaoyao smiled, thanked him, and accepted it. Whatever else, it was a heartfelt gift from the kid.

After accepting it, she tossed it straight into the doghouse. It landed with a thunk, nearly startling Doggie awake. He let out a few yelps before starting to snore again and falling back into a deep sleep.

"No wonder you're our idol. You're a spatial Ability User!"

By now, everyone had seen enough to know that spatial Ability Users existed, though they were very rare and seldom encountered.

Captain Meng walked to the center and said, "Good morning, everyone. Next..."

"Captain Meng, please wait!" said a girl wearing a mustard-yellow short-sleeved shirt.

She instantly drew everyone's attention. Feeling their gazes on her, the girl raised her head with a hint of pride, revealing her graceful neck.

The girl was beautiful and carried herself elegantly. She had probably studied dance, and her figure was well proportioned.

Bai Yaoyao had a weakness for good looks and enjoyed looking at any beautiful person or object. She discreetly studied the girl who had spoken. Oh, she's a Level Two Ability User too. Not bad. She's quite pretty.

The arrogance in her expression was a little obvious, but that was understandable. So little time had passed, and she had already reached Level Two. She certainly had something to be proud of.

"Captain Meng, I'd like to ask whether our squad killed the most Zombies yesterday," the girl said, looking at Meng Qilin.

Meng Qilin's expression soured, but he still answered, "Yes."

"And our squad brought back the most supplies too, didn't we?" the girl pressed.

"Yes."

"Then I don't understand. Our squad performed the best on the mission, so why was our breakfast a packet of crumbling compressed biscuits and a squashed carton of drink?

"Meanwhile, they only just arrived, yet they got more than a dozen kinds of food for breakfast. That kid even threw away the filling in his buns instead of eating it!

"Why is the favoritism so blatant? What have they contributed to the group? Why do they get good food while we don't?"

The girl pointed angrily at A-Dai and loudly challenged Captain Meng.

The people behind her joined in. "That's right! Why?"