Chapter 193: Black Water

Chen Mu heard this and slightly furrowed his brow.

It seems these two are really a time bomb; even if they aren't spies, taking them in might bring trouble, and if Qingbei comes demanding them back, should we hand them over or not?

"It's not early anymore."

Tang Jing proposed: "No matter what, let's finish eating first."

"All right." Dong Junwei nodded.

There are still many questions to ask; the situation with Qingbei can't be finished in a short while. After interrogating for about an hour and a half, the two clearly showed fatigue.

After the meal.

The Five-person Decision Team gathered to discuss the matter.

Since it's not a small matter, Wei Dalei was also brought in.

"Chen Mu, what do you think?"

Regarding external affairs, Dong Junwei naturally needs Chen Mu's opinion, after all taking in these two might provoke Qingbei, possibly leading to battle.

"The usefulness of these two goes without saying; not keeping them would indeed be a pity." Chen Mu said.

"But I'm afraid Qingbei will come demanding them back." He Ying worried: "We've already gone to war with Yi Zhong; provoking another rival like this—is it wise?"

"What should be provoked has already been provoked; given Qingbei's ambition, even without any excuse, they'll eventually attack us. We can't pin our peace on the enemy's mercy." Chen Mu recalled that at first he kept saying Qingbei wasn't an enemy, but now his thinking has changed to the point he himself finds it hard to believe.

"Chen Mu makes a good point." Tang Jing said: "Actually, I wanted to say the opposite—even if Qingbei doesn't provoke us, we'll eventually have to provoke them."

"Huh?" He Ying blinked in surprise.

"We can't stay cooped up here forever; to develop, population is key. The school is only so big, with only so many people. Absorbing Qingbei would be the highest‑value solution—except we didn't expect them to fall into chaos first."

Tang Jing had actually said similar things long ago, but back then everyone either didn't pay attention or thought it was too far off, so they didn't take it to heart.

But now, Qingbei's people are actively coming to defect to Qiming, which inevitably gets people's minds racing.

Perhaps what Tang Jing said might actually be true.

"We still need to guard against these two; if they pull a double‑agent trick, it'd be a huge embarrassment." Chen Mu said.

"I'll handle that." Tang Jing gave a slight smile.

With her assurance, Chen Mu and the others felt much more at ease.

……

An Ruosuo and Yang Li finished touring all of Qiming with looks of shock on their faces.

Several rooms were completely unchanged from before;

the beds were made;

tables and chairs;

bathrooms and toilets

even paper and pens were available.

These familiar yet strange things made it feel as if they had returned to before the shrinking.

Nowadays, in the residential area, as long as you don't look up or around, you hardly notice that people have shrunk.

Within a small range, people's lives are roughly the same as before.

Dong Junwei didn't pay much attention to An Ruosuo's thoughts, but she still wanted to discern the difference between Qingbei and Qiming from her expression.

From the current situation.

Qiming is completely victorious.

An Ruosuo and Yang Li indeed hadn't expected the scene before them.

Their reason for coming to seek refuge was largely due to Xia Qing's order, while the remaining small part of their motivation was hoping for more harmonious relations here; in other words, they wanted to relive Qingbei's early days, and they actually held little hope for material conditions.

After all, with only twenty‑odd people, what could they develop into? Qingbei had even built high‑rise residences.

But upon looking now, they realized they had still underestimated these people.

Their conditions are far better than Qingbei's; they live in villas.

And what surprised them most was that massive water‑diversion project.

Though this thing looks odd, anyone can tell its purpose at a glance, and the Water Reservoir is full of clear water, giving an indescribable sense of relief.

Qingbei's water source isn't really a problem either.

Besides the few water‑cooler barrels originally on the field, they just collect dew from the grass each day; if it rains, it's a bit better, and they can catch some in a container.

But the biggest problem is actually water usage.

Besides drinking, only the boys can bathe in the newly built outdoor large pool, and even that only when it rains.

And the girls can only wipe themselves down with their clothes.

But here?

Hard to imagine.

Bathtubs and hot showers?

That's too extravagant, right?

……

Tang Jing had Zhao Xiao Yan take An Ruosuo and Yang Li to familiarize themselves with Qiming's environment.

Chen Mu knew that regardless of whether these two were spies, he wouldn't let them go out again—at least not until the outcome with Qingbei was decided.

So there was nothing to hide.

During lunch.

An Ruosuo and Yang Li looked at the tomatoes and potatoes before them, feeling surreal.

"What is Qingbei's food source?" Chen Mu took two bites, then suddenly thought of this question.

"Mm…"

Character: An Ruosuo struggled to swallow a whole mouthful of food, then replied: "There's plenty of rice, and basically everything else is meat, like grasshoppers caught from the playground; sometimes we pick some wild grasses..."

"How is it cooked?"

"There are specialized people who can cook the food."

"How do you do it?"

"Qingbei has a Special Ability user whose palms can generate high heat, and we rely on him to cook."

"This should count as a combat-type ability, right?" Chen Mu asked curiously.

"Um…… when he heats his palms, his hand must stay in a certain motion and cannot move."

"This……"

The more Special Abilities one knows, the more one discovers that all kinds of bizarre abilities keep emerging; some sound powerful at first, but with a few limitations they become utterly ridiculous.

For example, this person.

Obviously, he's basically a human stove.

"Just relying on him alone, can he cook for over 200 of you?"

"Actually, only a small portion of people can eat food cooked this way; the rest have other methods."

"What methods?"

"For example, there's a person whose ability is similar to sterilization; food he treats, although not cooked, won't cause illness even if eaten raw;"

"Also, there's another person whose ability is somewhat like matter conversion; he can turn any living thing into a black liquid, and drinking it is equivalent to eating that organism."

When Character: An Ruosuo said the last few sentences, her expression was somewhat torn.

"Is that liquid unpleasant to drink?" Chen Mu noticed her expression.

"It's hard to drink, like traditional Chinese medicine."

"But can it fill you up?"

"Yes." Character: An Ruosuo nodded: "For example, he turns a grasshopper leg into a large basin of black water; as long as everyone drinks the water in portions, it's equivalent to eating grasshopper meat."

Chen Mu, after hearing this, felt deeply moved.

Just as Tang Jing said at first, the manifestations of Special Abilities are indeed myriad, leaving one baffled.

Turning food into medicinal soup.

Although this ability is indeed practical, there's always a feeling of being unable to complain.

However.

If abilities truly never repeat, this situation can actually be understood.