Chapter 28: Volunteering

For now, the team's normal operation almost entirely relies on Chen Mu, Dong Junwei and Wei Dalei, as well as the equally unawakened Tang Jing.

Take yesterday's house-building as an example.

Tang Jing was in charge of design and planning, Chen Mu handled material processing, Dong Junwei was responsible for heating the iron rods and then punching holes in the wall to ensure ventilation, while Wei Dalei was the official construction worker.

Of course, this doesn't mean the others are completely useless.

Du Jia Jia handled logistics and cooking;

Zhu Hao and Chang Junyan assisted Wei Dalei as laborers, helping hold materials so Chen Mu could do the gluing and such;

And the only one with nothing to do, Zhao Xiao Yan, became the best freehand, going wherever needed—sometimes helping Du Jia Jia grind rice flour, sometimes cleaning up the construction debris Chen Mu left behind, and at other times responsible for the living quarters' sanitation.

In short, none of the nine people in Class 4, Senior Year 3, are currently idle.

Even compared to their previous school life, it's more fulfilling.

"I plan to go to the cafeteria in two days, walk around, and find something else to eat."

After the others dispersed, Chen Mu discussed the next steps with Dong Junwei and Tang Jing.

"The cafeteria—won't it be too dangerous?" Dong Junwei frowned.

"There's no way around it—eating rice cakes every day, if we keep this up we'll barely be able to hold out, and the rice will eventually run out, so sooner or later we'll have to go out looking for food."

"It's better to do this sooner rather than later, after all we might not find food on the first try, and with no buffer time it's easy to run into trouble," Tang Jing agreed.

"Actually, there's also a backup plan," Chen Mu said after a moment's hesitation.

"What?"

"We can catch ants to eat."

As soon as that was said, Dong Junwei and Tang Jing both showed a bit of discomfort, but quickly recovered.

"I've actually thought about it too—ants are edible in principle, but after seeing those fierce-looking ones last time, it's hard to associate them with food," Dong Junwei said.

Tang Jing said: "People used to dry them or grind them into powder; we can do the same—at least it's better than eating rice cakes every day, and supplementing protein is necessary."

"But ants usually appear in swarms, so finding a lone one isn't easy. Speaking of which, we did encounter a few solitary ants in the classroom before—why, now that we're here, have we not seen any ants at all?" Dong Junwei asked, a little puzzled.

Tang Jing laughed and said: "Speaking of that, it was also a freak accident—the few ants in the classroom were relatively rare Japanese sticky-backed ants, which our biology teacher, Mr. Chu, kept as pets; but a couple of days ago he accidentally shattered the glass container, causing those ants to scatter nearby. Actually, indoor ants at the school aren't many, and if there are any, they're mainly tiny house ants."

"Little Yellow house ants?" Chen Mu's biology class obviously wasn't wasted.

"Yeah, about two millimeters long—by our current standards, that's basically just a slightly bigger mouse."

"Then catching them to eat would be just right," Chen Mu said, his voice even tinged with a bit of excitement.

Dong Junwei and Tang Jing felt uncomfortable again.

"But as the class monitor just said, solitary ants are hard to come by, and given our current state, recklessly entering a grassy environment would be too dangerous—really unnecessary."

"How about making some bait?"

"But then we'd risk making things worse—if a whole swarm showed up at once, it would be hard to control."

"In that case," Chen Mu said, "I'll still go to the cafeteria, see if I can find something else to eat, and if that really doesn't work out, I'll consider the ant option."

"Isn't that too risky? Actually, rice cakes may taste bland, but they can still sustain us for a while." Dong Junwei hesitated a bit, then said: "Why not wait until my ability is a bit more proficient, and then go together with you?"

"No need, I had an idea yesterday—I can't guarantee I'll come back loaded, but I do have some confidence I can return safely. Then I'll just have Da Lei go with me. However, the class monitor can help us with some fire support these two days."

Dong Junwei's ability to turn stones into bombs can indeed be a great help, but for now her mental strength is still far lacking.

In previous experiments, making plastic glow was easiest, followed by heating metal, but turning a fist-sized stone into a somewhat powerful bomb—she can manage only two or three times a day, each taking nearly one or two minutes.

Using this ability in on-the-spot combat is clearly impractical.

But the advantage is that the bombs Dong Junwei makes can be handed over to others to use.

Even for someone like Wei Dalei, a power maniac, holding a bomb is still quite helpful.

Everything was settled.

Chen Mu plans to set out the morning after tomorrow.

After telling Wei Dalei, Old Wei showed no fear at all—on the contrary, he was enthusiastic, thumping his chest and saying he'd definitely guarantee the boss's safety, and even if it were just a mouse, he'd meet it head-on.

Chen Mu smiled and gave a thumbs-up to show his approval.

However, at this moment Zhao Xiao Yan suddenly came in and stuck her foot in.

"I want to go too."

Wei Dalei was first taken aback, then immediately objected: "No way."

"Why?" Zhao Xiao Yan pouted.

"You'd just be useless and hold us back!" Wei Dalei declared firmly.

Chen Mu covered his forehead, thinking, "Old Wei, even if you think that, you should at least dress it up before saying it out loud—with your demeanor, Zhao Xiao Yan would have had to be blind and deaf to ever fall for you."

However, Zhao Xiao Yan seemed long accustomed to that bear-like straight-man trait, and while she didn't mind it, she still retorted: "Who says I can't help? Who pointed out the cake last time?"

"Well..." Wei Dalei was momentarily at a loss for words.

"You used to say my ability could help find food—how come you're not acknowledging it now? With me, I could save you a lot of time."

Zhao Xiao Yan's ability does indeed help a lot in finding food, and Chen Mu had once considered letting her join the team, but first, as Wei Dalei said, if there were danger she'd become a burden instead; second, as Wei Dalei's close brother, it would be awkward for him to bring it up.

When it comes to worldly affairs, Chen Mu understands better than anyone.

Brothers are brothers—Wei Dalei could even take a blade for Chen Mu without blinking—but if Chen Mu voluntarily asked Zhao Xiao Yan to take a risk, Old Wei might not say anything, but he'd surely hold a grudge inside.

Therefore, Chen Mu would rather spend a little extra time looking for food than bring up that subject.

As a result, Zhao Xiao Yan voluntarily offered to go.

This point, her idea is actually somewhat similar to Du Jia Jia's.

Although Zhao Xiao Yan is also a Special Ability user, aside from the first time she helped point out the cake's direction, she's never contributed anything to the team, so she's always wanting to do something.

"But it's too dangerous," Wei Dalei still refused to agree.

"Where isn't dangerous?" Zhao Xiao Yan spread her hands: "I even think that following you two would actually be safer—if another bunch of those three lunatics showed up like last time, do you think the people left here could hold them off?"

Wei Dalei shivered, seeming somewhat persuaded, thought for a while, then asked Chen Mu: "Boss, what do you think?"

Chen Mu pretended to ponder for a moment, then said: "Both sides have a point; staying would be safer, but if we go together, we will of course do our best to protect her. In the end, it's up to the two of you to decide, but if we really do go together, we should first discuss it with the class monitor and the others."