Chapter 80

Song Xiaozhu asked another question, "Will Fan Cang kill me?"

Bai Jing glanced at her. "Maybe you killed him."

Song Xiaozhu bit her lower lip, her fists clenching involuntarily, and said firmly, "I won't kill anyone."

Bai Jing glanced at her, then slowly exhaled a smoke ring. "... Hmm."

They didn't argue about the topic. Song Xiaozhu's words sounded naive, but Bai Jing didn't offer any reminders, questions, or sarcasm. She simply responded with a faint "yes," showing neither surprise, curiosity, nor trust.

Having roughly grasped the situation, Song Xiaozhu asked one last question, "Sir, are you a member of the Day After Tomorrow Society?"

Bai Jing suddenly narrowed his eyes, his lips tightened as he bit down on his pipe, and after a long pause, he replied, "It used to be."

Song Xiaozhu: "I understand."

She got up, poured him another cup of tea, and then said, "The shop is busy, I'll head back now."

A hint of surprise flashed in his Bai Jing eyes. He shook his pipe and said, "Aren't you going to ask me why I left the Day After Tomorrow Society? Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing in this Testing Ground?"

Song Xiaozhu smiled at him, saying, "Sir, you are truly kind. All you do is save lives and heal the wounded."

Bai Jing was clearly taken aback for a moment, then he snorted coldly and said curtly, "Go on, go on, you've got all that businessman stuff in you."

As he said this, his tone was noticeably more relaxed, and even the wrinkles around his eyes seemed to smooth out.

-

Song Xiaozhu returned to the second floor of the shop, drew the curtains, and summoned the snow-white Workbench amidst the gray haze.

The more I learn, the more alarmed I become.

Clearly, there are deeper secrets behind this "Synthesizer".

Song Xiaozhu opened the task panel and looked at the completed Growth Quest.

She chose task B for all of them.

What if we choose task A?

Will she receive a mission to "destroy the isolation zone"?

The first task of Mission A is murder, followed by looting, then revenge, conquest, and betrayal...

Beneath the chaos and carnage lies extreme self-interest.

Song Xiaozhu is not an innocent sixteen-year-old girl who gets caught up in right and wrong, nor does she simply believe that the world is black and white.

She disliked this short-sighted approach of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

High self-interest allows one to gain power in the shortest amount of time.

Then what?

It will result in a severe backlash.

Destroying the isolation zone liberated the Testing Ground...

The cost was nearly ten thousand lives.

Can't we just wait a little longer?

Must we resort to such a hasty approach?

Song Xiaozhu won't be trapped in the Testing Ground forever.

She will definitely break through the barrier, but definitely not in this way.

She will do what she did for Liu Family Village, giving Deer Town, the Scavenger Community, and even that ghost town... enough self-protection to face the world outside the quarantine zone together.

And she can do all of that.

Fan Cang could do it too, but he couldn't wait.

There could have been zero casualties.

But nearly 10,000 people died.

Just to be faster... even faster...

Song Xiaozhu's mind flashed to Fan Cang's young and sharp face.

They chose two completely different paths.

But she didn't approve of him!

Chapter 80

Tian Man and Luo Liuzi returned with a full load of loot, and they, along with their accompanying exploration team, were all radiant when they returned to the village.

The reason is simple: the Employee Backpack is too useful. Tian Man and Luo Liuzi didn't hide it from everyone, especially Luo Liuzi. His awakening as a "fisherman" completely buried his performing talent. The whole routine was like a magic show.

In particular, he was in charge of [Raw Wood Material]. A huge piece of timber would disappear into thin air with a whoosh in his hands.

The members of the exploration team had all witnessed Song Xiaozhu's abilities, so they shouldn't be stunned by this, but... they were still stunned, so stunned that they were eager to try it out.

"Brother Liu, how did you do that!"

"It's very simple."

Is it related to the 'profession' you awakened?

"Awakening? There's no need. With Miss here, why would we need to awaken that stuff? Like me, I want to jump into highly polluted water to swim every day. If Brother Man didn't tie me to the bed at night, I'd sleepwalk and go swimming. We all know that water; even Polluted Beast would get poisoned if they stepped in..."

Seeing that his topic had gone completely off-topic, the members of the exploration team quickly pulled him back on track. "Brother Liu, um, how did you manage to make such a huge piece of wood disappear in a flash!"

Luo Liuzi: "It's very simple!"

"So?"

"Miss, give me a recipe and a backpack. I'll just click around a bit, and I'll be all set!"

Talk is cheap; actions speak louder than words. And show is the best form of demonstration.

Luo Liuzi showed off his skills to the Hunter once again.

The Hunter gasped.

Luo Liuzi's eyes darted around, and he said to them, "Well, if you're interested, you can apply for jobs at the shop later. The young lady said she's expanding the shop and will definitely need more people, so you..."

Tian Man glared at him.

Luo Liuzi: "It's alright, Madam Xiao will definitely agree. It's just a simple personnel transfer, nothing more than changing positions, all for the sake of the village."

What he said actually makes a lot of sense.

Especially after experiencing the second beast tide, the villagers no longer treated them as outsiders. When they heard that they could be transferred to another job, and such a cool and glamorous one at that, they were immediately tempted.

After Luo Liuzi's amazing demonstration, Awakening Stone didn't seem so tempting anymore!

Luo Liuzi easily brought back 2,500 portions of [Raw Wood Material].

Tian Man's situation is more complicated; the Medicinal Raw Material come in various colors, and he has to categorize and store them carefully. In addition, the forest farm also...

The trees weren't greatly affected by the Polluted Beast's attack, but foxtail grass and other weeds were trampled to pieces, making them quite troublesome to collect.

Hearing their commotion, Song Xiaozhu went downstairs.