A New Base

It didn't take long for Su Ming and Hebana to complete the signing of the contract.

The latter retrieved a set of keys from his home and handed them to Su Ming, then brought over the scales.

Celestial Gold itself is a hard currency, and its price is even slightly higher on the black market.

The two completed the weighing and handover.

When the cold metallic luster of the Celestial Gold settled in his palm, Hebana's tense shoulders finally relaxed a little.

"I have some things to arrange first. Tomorrow I will begin visiting former employees and reorganizing the troupe!"

Su Ming nodded.

"Okay, once you find one, have them come directly to report for duty. There are some tasks that need to be arranged."

The preparations must begin as soon as possible.

At least to convince outsiders that this place is indeed getting back into operation.

Hebana agreed and carefully put the contract and Celestial Gold away from his body.

He glanced deeply at the dusty stage, a flicker of excitement appearing in his eyes. The reason Hebana was selling the theater to raise money was to rescue a human friend who had been captured by the orc city guards.

His plan was to bribe the relevant personnel to find out where she was being held, and then buy her as a slave.

There are too many variables involved, and many things may not go as planned.

Hebana could only do his best.

But if this friend's script can be staged at least once, even if she ultimately meets with misfortune, it can at least be considered a form of solace.

****

With mixed feelings of worry and confusion, Hebana left the place.

Yise immediately grabbed Su Ming by the collar.

"Am I really going to go on stage and play that half-werewolf Aivila?"

Su Ming rolled her eyes.

Have you ever practiced acting?

"... Of course... no," Yise said, his tone somewhat hesitant. "Then that settles it."

Completely unaware, Su Ming grabbed Yise's hand.

"Just play yourself, show off your aristocratic temperament, and drag out rehearsals indefinitely."

"Anyway, I'm the one paying their wages, so the actors I hired won't dare to complain."

Yise is angry.

"Who are you calling spoiled!"

Su Ming smiled.

"Didn't you perform perfectly on the night of the Radiant Holy City's Moon Fast Festival?"

"... Don't bring up that embarrassing past again!"

****

Next, everyone worked together to clean up the place, and things from the slums were moved over.

The kitchen hadn't been used in a long time; it had many earthenware pots and bowls, but lacked cooking utensils. Yise and Yuye went to the market to buy more, and they also brought back Corn and oil.

They are now "legitimate" residents, so they openly bought a lot of daily necessities from nearby shops.

During the process, naturally some people became curious about their background.

Yuye then revealed the whole story Su Ming had fabricated, which put the surrounding orc residents at ease.

The news spread quickly:

A sucker from Lingbei Port plans to reopen the Raccoon Dog Dream Theatre and stage a new play, "The Cangxiao Dynasty," for free!

This event was a rare and welcome change in the otherwise drab lives of the orcs.

Moreover, since it was a free performance, everyone began to look forward to it.

The theater was overgrown with weeds.

The Jinxiu fluttered back and forth, and the plants obediently pulled their roots from the cracks in the stones and the base of the walls, climbed up to the edge of the courtyard wall, and were replanted in a circle, just like a hedge trimmed by a gardener.

Water was poured onto the Yugan for irrigation.

"I can do a little bit of the work of a forest fairy," Jinxiu said proudly, hands on her hips. "Plant Guardian?" Yise recognized her.

"Hmm!" Jinxiu responded.

"These little cuties will now sound the alarm if someone tries to intrude!"

Su Ming hung up the camera.

They were disguised as animal bone decorations and placed facing the gate, back wall, and staircase leading to the second floor.

Su Ming pressed the button on his earpiece.

"Add Jisu rules to these cameras to link them with ' Plant Guardian '."

"... I suspect you're trying to make things difficult for me," Jisu sighed.

"Finish it before dinner, and hand over the new program to me," Su Ming added. "That's where I'm in a difficult position."

"You're getting more and more of a jerk!" Jisu immediately gathered the engineers to work, "Don't give me a chance to confront you offline."

"Welcome to Taya," Su Ming replied.

**** First published on "Deqi Novel Network" d e q i x s. o r g

After a busy afternoon, the new base was ready to be settled in.

The rooms on the second floor have also been cleaned up.

The setting sun slanted through the window frame, casting its light on the polished wooden furniture and the washed floor, highlighting their simple grain.

The addition of bedding to the bed added a touch of warmth and life.

Yugan were used to set up a pot and start a fire in the kitchen.

He stood on a low stool, patted the Corn dough into thin pancakes, and stuck them to the side of the pot, his little tail taut behind him.

This six-year-old half-cat person looks even smaller because of their thinness.

But they are quite skilled at their work.

Su Ming personally arranged the menu, and Yugan chopped some vegetables and cooked a pot of egg drop soup.

Although the final product tasted very ordinary, Su Ming and Yise were finally able to have a meal that wasn't too fishy.

The half-cat people, however, had a different experience. The crispy, golden- Corn cornbread, though somewhat coarse to Su Ming and Yise, was a delicious treat they hadn't tasted in a long time.

When they took their first bite of the Yuye, their eyes lit up; they ate the Yugan in small bites, seemingly slow but actually quite fast.

The hot soup, saturated with the aroma of oil, almost made my tongue numb.

Su Ming had no choice but to take the cake from Yugan's hand, forbidding him from eating too much.

Only at this moment does Yugan resemble a child lacking self-control, rather than a survivor forced to be sensible and constantly observing others' expressions.

Su Ming tossed a small bag of hawthorn berries to Yugan.

"Leave one for Jinxiu, you can eat the rest; they'll aid digestion."

The Yugan were washed at the well, then placed in earthenware bowls and set out on the dining table.

I only took one for myself.

In Yugan's eyes, this is a precious "dessert," and being able to taste it is already a great blessing.

****

Su Ming didn't interfere further, but instead thought of something else. He looked at the two half-cat siblings, his brows furrowing slightly.

"[What should we do with these half-cat siblings?]" Su Ming discussed with the others.

"They look rather pitiful. How about they stay and help out?" Yise suggested.

[Send them back first, erase their memories of the past few days, then bring them back.] Jinxiu hugged a piece of cucumber and sucked on its juice.

"That works too," Su Ming said.

Even after nightfall, everyone kept busy.

With the new base, there were immediately many more things we could do.

Su Ming and Yise dismantled some old props in the house and then built a larger satellite dish.

It looks like a decorative flowerbed, "casually" placed in a corner of the courtyard.

"Signal testing complete, satellite bandwidth is now sufficient for online gaming," said a support staff member at the dispatch center.

"Want to play a game of LoL?" Dodder joked.

Su Ming glanced at it. "How can you fight with a three-second delay?"

How about we play Dou Dizhu (a card game)?

"It seems pretty good."

Although Su Ming was genuinely tempted, getting things done came first.

"Next, we will establish a local communication system."

What materials are needed?

"There are several options; I'll send you the materials list," said the communications engineer providing support from the rear.

The only obstacle preventing Su Ming from passing is not equipment or technology, but materials.

"Are you looking to get a rotary-wing drone?" Fengshou asked.

Drones are small and compact, making them a powerful tool for reconnaissance and surveillance.

Su Ming shook his head.

"That thing is too noisy." The rotors of drones are very noisy, easily reaching around 80 decibels.

This volume would be a very noticeable sound source, not only for orcs with keen hearing, but also in the human world.

Once it flies out, it will likely attract a large number of orcs to watch.

If a swarm of drones were deployed, it wouldn't be impossible for it to cause such a spectacular scene that the streets would be deserted.

"The noise level can be improved," said Fengshou.

"By adopting a swept-back propeller tip and a serrated trailing edge, and through vector control technology, the noise can be raised to a frequency range inaudible to the human ear."

"It will result in a loss of some lift."

Su Ming sighed.

"You know it's a human ear."

Fengshou was taken aback by what he heard.

Cats and dogs have a hearing frequency range that is more than twice as wide as that of humans.

Noise reduction methods that work well from a human perspective are ineffective against orcs. Moreover, they have an advantage in terms of heightened awareness.

"Dry!"

Fengshou slammed his fist on the table and issued instructions to the arms control team.

"Reproduce and verify the noise level of the mechanical mouse!"

Su Ming added Ge'enda'er to the group chat.

This is Katharine's deputy, currently in charge of affairs in the First Sunrise Republic Northern Continent Province.

Are the orcs of the Sea Clearing Kingdom now living in "concentrated communities"?

Ge'enda'er nodded.

"Yes, all the orcs on the mainland are currently under control."

"Alright," Su Ming instructed. "Immediately cooperate with the technical department here to conduct quantitative tests on the hearing of orcs of different races."

"Clear!"

Next, he coordinated with the support team. Then, Su Ming remembered something else.

"You all know that the vast majority of orcs are red-green colorblind, right?"

Fengshou nodded.

They are sensitive to blue-violet and yellow-green light, but extremely insensitive to red.

Orcs are essentially human, but they have mixed genes from different animals, which enhances their abilities in various aspects.

They are primarily canines and felines, and these half-orcs also inherited the disadvantages of both families: they have only two types of cone cells in their retinas and cannot distinguish between red and green.

This is a dichromatic visual system, which has a relatively weak perception of color.

However, this drawback also corresponds to other advantages, such as extremely strong night vision and motion capture capabilities.

During the nighttime landing operations over the past few days, our marines suffered some minor losses as a result.

"We are also adjusting the paint schemes for our troops' uniforms and weaponry based on the new camouflage algorithm," Magelaili said.

"Digital dichromatic visual camouflage?"

"That's right," said Fengshou.

After finishing his work for a while, Su Ming took off his communication headset.

He rubbed his slightly swollen ears, which still seemed to have a faint lingering ringing.

Su Ming suddenly turned his head and saw Yu Ye standing next to him with Yuye and Yugan.

It's clear we've been waiting for a long time.

"Is there something you need?" Su Ming asked.

Suddenly, the Yuye, along with the Yugan, knelt down with a "plop."

Su Ming was somewhat surprised, while Jinxiu, standing beside him, spread her small hands.

"I was just about to take these two back to the slums to erase their memories."

That's all.

Su Ming looked back at the Yuye, his tone stern.

"Get up first, stand up and talk!" Yuye dared not disobey and quickly pulled Yugan to his feet.

"Can't you tell how dangerous it is for us here?" Su Ming asked.

"Erasing your memories is for your own good."

"Afterwards, we'll go to the slums and hire you to come and work alongside the other orcs during the day."

"You won't be shortchanged on your wages."

Yuye pursed her lips and spoke.

"Mr. Graves, I know you are good people, the best people I've ever met."

But we can't bear to part with these memories.

Su Ming was now confused.

"Have I been coercing you these past few days?"

What's there to be reluctant about?

Yuye looked up at Su Ming. "These past few days I haven't had to live in fear, knowing I'll have a full meal next time."

"And even more precious are the memories of being treated with gentleness."

Yuye spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

This was the first time Su Ming had seen her cry in the past few days.

Even the Yugan next to it seemed to be shedding tears.

Su Ming squatted down and pulled the thin arms of the two half-cat people over.

It must be said that orcs have a very fast recovery ability.

When I first saw it, it was covered in scars, but now almost half of them have disappeared.

Some injuries were sustained while working, while others were caused by being whipped.

Beside the faded old marks, there are hard scabs from deeper wounds, crisscrossing and binding the overly thin arm.

Yuye looked up at Su Ming.

"Please use me to do things for you." "We don't mind any danger."

"The slum is a place where you can die silently at any moment."

Su Ming hesitated for a moment.

Yuye can be very helpful.

Moreover, many subsequent plans do indeed require an "insider" who can move freely.

"Mr. Graves."

Yuye continued.

"For us, even if we're not dead..."

"Whether such a bleak life exists or not is irrelevant!"

Su Ming finally sighed.

He gently patted Yuye's head.

"You can stay here." The Yuye siblings' faces lit up with uncontrollable joy, their fear vanishing completely.

The two happily ran outside to continue fetching and boiling water.

****

With water now available at the Raccoon Dog Dream Theatre, the most important thing is naturally taking a bath.

Yise had been unable to bear it for a long time.

Even Su Ming himself felt sticky all over. He couldn't even smell the stench from his own sweat, a smell he had brought from the slums.

When the Jinxiu- like suppression spell was lifted, he wanted to throw himself away.

Su Ming placed another set of batteries in the attic and let the charging cables for the electronic devices hang down from the holes in the ceiling.

Yise came to him with her long, wet hair.

"Your turn!"

The girl had changed into a nightgown and was still conservatively wearing a thin coat, but she couldn't hide a faint fragrance mixed with a slight steam.

After washing away the dust and grime from her journey, Yise's skin looked as if it had been coated with a layer of color. She was clearly in a very good mood.

"The orc soap is pretty good; it's mixed with volcanic ash."

"It looks dirty, but after rubbing it, all sorts of grime are absorbed."

It's clean after a quick rinse.

Su Ming nodded.

He went to the bathhouse on the first floor, where the two half-cat people had already finished bathing.

Su Ming realized for the first time that their fur color was not tricolor, but orange.

Previously covered in dust, scabs, and mud, it was a mess.

Jinxiu was circling around them, using her hot air to help blow, making the siblings' ears and tails fluff up.