Chapter 111: Plate

The five of them chatted along the way about various interesting tidbits concerning Special Abilities, mainly He Ying and Lu Shanshan speaking while Chen Mu listened.

Passing by the storage room where they had initially fetched water and rice, Chen Mu deliberately took a glance; looking from afar, he saw that nothing seemed to have changed.

Initially he thought this place would soon be overrun by rats or the like, so he hadn't expected to come back again.

But now it looks quite peaceful.

Just as Chen Mu was wondering whether to take some rice here, he suddenly saw several shadows flickering in the gap beneath the door over there.

"Stop, hide."

They were still quite far from there; if they hadn't been paying attention from the start, it would be hard for them to notice each other.

The rough, cheap cement road often left many large granules uneven at the edges; normally walking could even trip one, but at this moment it served as their best cover.

The five people crouched down and looked far toward the spot Chen Mu pointed to.

"Qingbei people?"

"It's possible; the cafeteria is still some distance away, and there's no reason for Yi Zhong's people to come here. Besides, we can indeed see a few wearing our school uniform inside."

"What are they doing?"

"I don't know; let's watch first."

This storage room is the same specification as the one where Qiming is located—both are 1.8 by 1.8 meter storage units rented to different contractors in the cafeteria for storing supplies.

Because they were added later, there was no suitable open space to arrange them uniformly, so they are scattered sporadically in the greenery around the cafeteria and then connected by a few cement paths.

Most of these storage units contain items like pots, pans, bowls and ladles, with little food; this one should be considered an exception.

But now that others have discovered it, Chen Mu feels as if his treasure is being snatched away.

However, if the other party is Qingbei, then he really has no recourse.

Although at present it appears the two sides are not hostile.

The last time they met, Song Yu seemed fairly friendly, but the problem is that not every Qingbei member is necessarily friendly; in this lawless era, a little extra vigilance never hurts.

The two sides were about a meter apart—close enough to see people, but not clear enough to make out their movements.

About four or five people stood in front of the door gap.

They were pacing back and forth, looking around.

It looked like they were standing guard.

"Are they also moving the food inside?"

Lu Shanshan and He Ying had heard Chen Mu describe this storage unit's situation; they knew it held a large amount of rice and flour, but the flour was stacked high on the shelves, making it hard to reach.

"That's the only possibility."

"But how could they transport it? Surely they don't also have a flatbed cart like ours."

"Their number of Special Ability users is surely greater than ours; they might have something more advanced."

In fact, there turned out to be nothing more advanced, yet it still came as a slight surprise to Chen Mu and the others.

It took only a few minutes.

Several people emerged one after another from the room, appearing to pull something with ropes.

Then a scene that astonished everyone appeared.

These people pulled from beneath the door gap a flat, rectangular-box-like object.

The object appeared to be made of metal, somewhat like the stainless steel trays used for meals in the cafeteria.

Rectangular.

Flat.

Wide.

After the thing was completely pulled out, Chen Mu couldn't help but gasp.

Only then could he see it clearly.

That thing was clearly an enlarged version of a flatbed cart.

Except it had no wheels; it sat directly on the ground, scraping forward, and its capacity was probably tens or even hundreds of times larger than their flatbed cart.

It was filled to the brim with rice.

"Twenty centimeters long, ten centimeters wide, less than one centimeter high—this thing must be specially used by them for transporting cargo."

Chen Mu compared it with surrounding objects and roughly estimated its size with his eyes.

He Ying frowned and said, "But this thing is so big, and it's full of rice—its weight must be considerable; how could it possibly be pushed?"

From their angle, they could clearly see that about ten people in front of the metal box were hauling ropes with all their strength, while about twenty people behind were pushing it, and another seven or eight walked around the perimeter, ready to direct the flow and keep watch.

"Perhaps they also have an ability similar to Lu Shanshan's, making objects lighter?" Xue Xu interjected.

Chen Mu shook his head: "It doesn't look like that; if it were, that person's ability would have to be hundreds of times stronger than Lu Shanshan's, which is unlikely at this stage."

"But with roughly thirty people total, being able to move such a huge thing looks strange at first glance."

"Perhaps it's friction," Chen Mu ventured as a guess.

"Friction?"

"Dragging the metal box directly on the ground, the biggest obstacle is friction; if someone's Special Ability reduces friction between objects, perhaps that could explain all of this."

"That sounds plausible."

"It looks like they currently have no way to reach the flour stored high up; if these people are indeed from Qingbei, we can at least gauge the extent of their abilities."

Chen Mu still had an unspoken question: just how was this enormous metal box before them made?

Obviously, this thing doesn't look like a ready-made item.

It is very likely the creation of someone's ability.

If that's the case, then that person's ability is somewhat similar to his and not weak; Chen Mu asks himself that making such a box wouldn't be difficult, only the time required would be longer.

However, upon closer inspection, it doesn't seem quite like that either.

The surface of the metal box clearly shows hammer-forging marks; it looks as if it was forcibly made.

Qingbei, after all, has many people and great strength; if they really focus their efforts, they might not be unable to make it.

In short.

This thing is simply a metal sheet with its four edges bent up, resembling a simple rectangular fruit tray.

"If we could also move this much rice, it would be enough to eat for several years."

Xue Xu's face was full of envy.

Chen Mu said: "Qingbei has many people, so consumption is naturally greater; moreover, whether rice or flour, over time they will inevitably mold and spoil."

Shangshi is located on the eastern coast, humid and rainy.

If not properly stored, once it gets damp, even this year's new rice might not last more than a few months.

Especially considering that near the field where Qingbei is located, there isn't even a decent house; wanting to keep out rain and moisture is probably not that easy.

Just from Song Yu's previous performance, it seems Qingbei doesn't have much difficulty in survival, and we also don't know where their headquarters actually is.

About half an hour.

Chen Mu watched that group of people who seemed to be from Qingbei gradually go farther away.

Judging by the direction, it is indeed the road leading to the field.

"It looks safe here; should we also go move some?"

"Rice?"

"Mm."

"That could be considered, but I'm worried Qingbei might have people stationed inside to guard it."