Chapter 908

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Quite a few people live in this building, and the several floors above are all occupied by the families of the Shelter's leaders; Shen Yao is very satisfied with her current residence.

The things hidden in her space can finally be taken out; the kitchen is spacious and bright, the living room even has a small area for movement, used daily for training; not far away is the balcony, where a single Mutant Apple Sapling occupies the space, and there is even an invisible benefit — no need to be registered and inspected by staff every few days.

"Big Sister"

Shen Chengyu sat on the sofa, giving Shen Chengyi a thumbs-up with a face full of admiration; hmm, not to mention anything else, just being able to exchange for this place was entirely thanks to Shen Chengyi's efforts.

Although the Official side is currently intentionally or unintentionally reducing Shen Chengyi's influence over the Shelter, this isn't something that can be suppressed in a short time; it relies more on slow, grinding work, until the Official side produces a new genius who can replace Shen Chengyi in solving the dangers outside.

Shen Chengning took some fruit from the refrigerator and washed them clean with tap water; these fruits were all Energy Fruits picked from the wild, and regardless of taste, eating them benefits the recovery of physical abilities.

A plate piled full of various fruits was brought out by Shen Chengning, distributed one by one to the family; "Have a taste, these fruits are quite rare."

In the current weather, there isn't much food to forage in the forest outside; relying on the Planting Fields' harvest to supply the entire Shelter is definitely insufficient; most will still rely on price restrictions — those not lacking special points can live well, those truly short on points will scrape by, struggling to survive this winter and await next spring's arrival.

"The weather is becoming increasingly unpredictable; ordinary people's survival will only grow more difficult," Shen Chengyi bit into the red fruit in her hand, a crisp crunch and rich juice bursting in her mouth.

This fruit is not any modern variety, but something evolved through the apocalypse; it tastes somewhat like banana, yet crisp like an apple; Shen Chengyi quickly finished the fruit in her hand, then added that she wouldn't be leaving the house during this period and could properly recuperate for a while.

For her to say such a thing shows how busy Shen Chengyi has been recently — basically never home; Shen Yao had to contact her in advance just to see her, otherwise forget speaking, not a single message would come through on communication devices.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning rested much earlier than Shen Chengyi, especially since they accepted Official missions far less frequently; the two belong to the type more resistant to Official missions, perhaps scared off by being burned on previous missions; without Shen Chengyi's ability to override everything, they simply don't dare act recklessly.

Shen Yao went back to the kitchen to find some snacks, and incidentally took out a cream cake from her space that had been stored for who knows how long (because time stops there); the sweet, rich aroma instantly enveloped all four; high-sugar, high-fat items might not have been so attractive before the apocalypse, but right now they are existences more eye-catching than Crystal Cores.

"Eat up; there aren't many such items in the space," besides, the three aren't really that old, especially Shen Chengyi, who puts on a stern face daily making the Official side forget her situation — she'd still be in university before the apocalypse.

Shen Chengyu cut the cream-scented cake into four portions and they each ate theirs, her expression satisfied like a kitten that had eaten its fill.

The four's daily life at home is just eating, eating, eating; never mind how many supplies they prepared in advance, enough for them to consume, just the things in their space — casually taking some out makes them the focus of all eyes.

Fortunately, their family is used to being low-key when they should be, high-key when they should be; although their presence seems excessive in others' eyes, the internal situation is still concealed very well — at least nothing that shouldn't appear has been exposed.

Shen Yao's daily life became regular: every morning she gets up and goes to the kitchen to cook, occasionally the other three girls help out, but because the three have zero talent for cooking, the vast majority is still Shen Yao in charge of the kitchen.

After breakfast, because the living room space became larger and the room walls were all added with high-tech products, there's no worry about them being smashed; thus the training that originally had to go to the Ability User Center is now placed at home; the four line up in turn to practice their own content, occasionally combining to cross-check results, seeing if there's been substantive progress.

Lunch is still Shen Yao cooking; this meal is also the most sumptuous in the house.

Everyone's training consumed a lot of ability; to facilitate ability recovery, all lunch ingredients are energy-containing foods, among which many are wild mutant organisms provided by Shen Chengyi and the other two; every piece of meat cut and every fruit picked back is a top-grade Recovery Potion, more brilliant than those developed in laboratories.

In the afternoon, each busy with their own tasks. Although Shen Chengyi and the other two don't need to go out, some matters still rely on communication devices and such to resolve; Shen Yao uses this time to chat with neighbors on the floor and gather information, including what the System reveals, striving to not be a shut-in who's blind to reality.

Dinner is eaten simply and refreshingly, but the table still doesn't lack various energy dishes; it's just not as sumptuous as the noon meal.

Then in the evening each returns to their room to sleep; after waking up, it's a new day.

"Ah, Host, this year's weather is unpredictable; I heard several Shelters have already had problems, many people displaced."

The System's situation is completely different from Shen Yao's regular life; artificial intelligence doesn't need food or drink, and there's no such thing as rest.

Since winter arrived, with every household choosing not to go out much, the System's golden age cannot be stopped by anyone.

More people means conflicts; conflicts mean trouble; and the residential areas here are like pigeon coops — only the building Shen Yao lives in is somewhat different, allowing the people inside to obtain quality of life; other floors hate that they can't even utilize the corridors, let alone what the situation inside might be.

"Where did you hear this news?" Shen Yao was currently holding a book, lying on the balcony on a rocking chair that could sway back and forth, a scent of wood in the air.

The Mutant Apple Sapling was waving its little body to fan Shen Yao; although its bit of force had no effect on Shen Yao, its sycophantic nature was exposed without reserve.

Perhaps living together with humans, even mutant organisms would raise their IQ; the Mutant Apple Sapling was previously just a big simpleton who only knew eating and drinking, but now it can understand the level suppression in the room, knows to curry favor with Shen Yao to seek benefits for itself.

"Host, this is news from the Official high-level; absolutely true."

The System is cheeky; even with a mechanical voice, it can't hide its schadenfreude attitude.

Mm.

After all, the System isn't human; expecting it to empathize with humanity's plight is asking too much.

"Currently the Official side and other Shelters are in contact; taking the overall environment as the reference point, I believe it won't be long before our Shelter also encounters something."

In a season like this, what can be encountered is nothing but blizzards and cold.

At this time last year, the entire Shelter was buried under heavy snow for a full half-month before human activity resumed; the snow had already reached the height of eight whole floors; Shen Yao's family stayed on the fiftieth floor, still relatively safe, but the corridors outside were already filled with quite a few homeless neighbors.

That half-month was hell; Shen Yao still remembers the System showing her several images, the scenes on them extremely disturbing.

"Host, we are currently on the eightieth floor, even more stable than last year's fiftieth floor."

The System indicates the Host needn't worry about her situation; even if this year's blizzard intensifies, it won't affect Shen Yao's family's quality of life.

It's just that one can imagine this year's population will inevitably plummet again; those buildings behind can't compare to this building's sturdiness and freeze-resistance.

Moreover, the closer the residential area is to the periphery, the more chaotic, even lawless.

The System hears a lot of gossip in the floors near the periphery; unlike the leaders' families upstairs, discussing the Shelter's hardships, some genuinely wanting to help tide over the crisis — sadly, individual power is ultimately limited, so many people can't be saved.

"Personal stability looks bad in others' eyes," but Shen Yao isn't willing to suffer needlessly either; after all, who wants to run to the corridor and freeze in deep winter? No privacy to speak of, and would be targeted by certain people, robbed every few days.

"Sigh, resources are limited, outside is dangerous," impossible for everyone to get good treatment.

Like the people living in this building, most are still Official Ability Users; they risk life and death for the Shelter, and bear the consequence of everything resetting to zero upon death; the Shelter definitely can't use them up and discard them.

Ordinary people have no contribution; just staying alive is exhausting enough; the Official side gets no return from them, yet must choose to invest unlimitedly in saving their lives.

In modern society there might still be surplus capacity; in the apocalypse it's a burden; no matter what the Official upper echelons think, cruel reality will always force them to automatically abandon them, because seeking profit and avoiding harm is human instinct.

At this moment, Shen Chengyi suddenly stood up from the soft sofa, "I'm going out for a trip, be back soon."

Shen Yao watched Shen Chengyi leave, turned her head to look at Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning who were checking communication devices.

These two didn't disappoint Shen Yao's expectations, quickly explaining Shen Chengyi's purpose for going out: "Riot at the rear of the residential area; Official Ability Users arranged to go suppress it."

How to suppress? Naturally by violent means; reasoning is useless at this time; resource inequality inevitably creates all kinds of contradictions; an unsolvable proposition becomes a flashpoint at this moment.

Despite several buildings in between, Shen Yao still heard clear explosion sounds; sound waves rushed from all directions, shaking her ears painfully.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning have internal channels; this time personnel arrangement didn't reach them, but similar riots won't happen only once; remember last year there were no fewer than several; Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning followed Official personnel running back and forth, even personally killing a group of people.

Shen Chengyi returned to the Residence within two hours after the explosion, clean all over, just that when he walked he carried the explosion's unique smell, somewhat similar to sulfur?

"Huh? This was blown up by themselves?" Official Personnel taking action wouldn't involve gunpowder, but Ability Users using abilities, especially Shen Chengyi's Lightning Ability, striking down leaving not even ashes to be found.

Shen Chengyi gave an "mm" and nodded, "The whole Building was destroyed seven-seven-eight-eight, the people inside were transferred to the neighboring Building, the Official side is currently making Arrangements."

Shen Yao brought a cup of water and handed it to Shen Chengyi, turned her head to greet Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning to wait a bit before asking.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning took advantage to nod, they had already learned some of the situation from the Communication equipment, simply put it was they themselves didn't want to live, but also didn't want to just die alone, so they thought to pull a few more people if they could, decisively detonating the gunpowder they had sneakily bought back, the incident Building was blown in half at the waist, becoming a dangerous Building that temporarily could not be lived in.

The water cup pinched in hand was drunk clean, Shen Chengyi opened his eyes, Expression no longer as cold and clear as when he just entered.

Carrying a bit of warmth, Shen Chengyi moved his Mouth corner, began narrating the Scene he saw today.

Not much different from each previous time, Official Personnel positioned in advance to Seal Off, Shen Chengyi directly came to the front of the man who didn't want to live, originally could be peacefully resolved, but no one expected one to run out at the end, Shen Chengyi belatedly released his ability, yet also failed to protect everyone in the whole Building.

Among them not a few died under the explosion's aftershocks, and not a few were hit by falling Stones, even more still were in Despair at this world, under continuous stimulation of Sadness Emotion, chose to jump off the Building to end their own lives.

Shen Chengyi: ……

"Can save for a moment, cannot save for a lifetime," the further back the more Trouble, their capability to resist risks is too poor, unless a Powerful Ability User appears in the Home, otherwise a whole Generation cannot change their situation.

Shen Chengyu and Shen Chengning: ……

Shen Yao was silent for a moment, stood up to go to the Kitchen to prepare Dessert to relieve Emotion, by the time she carried out several Bowls of Dessert, the Living Room Atmosphere had already returned to normal.

Shen Chengning leaned in front of Shen Chengyi, Two People checking information on the Communication equipment while saying something, Shen Chengyu at the side wasn't idle either, at hand were Mutant Apple Saplings pulled over from the Balcony, also don't know how those two played together.

The made Dessert wasn't just for them to eat, including the Mutant Apple Saplings could also taste the flavor, although a Mutant Plant eating things is a bit Strange, but the Mutant Apple Saplings can already express their own preferences, encountering what they don't want to eat they'll even Wave Hand to Refuse.

Shen Chengyu Pinched Chin, "This little thing is quite smart."

Mutant Apple Sapling: ……

Rustling shaking its own Branches, the Mutant Apple Sapling felt Shen Chengyu speaking was mocking itself.

Shen Chengning laughed out loud, "Mutant Plants grow fast, believe it won't be long before it can help out."

Mutant Apple Sapling continued rustling shaking its own Branches, that's right that's right, it is a useful Sapling.