Chapter 138: Rainbow·Liu·Songzan

The wind and rain did not cease; black clouds pressed down upon the land.

The black sea pushed waves against the rocks, exploding into a Great Wall of snow-white foam, displaying the breathtaking beauty and power of this planet.

The oppressive force of the crashing waves permeated people's hearts as the jeep finally turned from the coastal highway toward the interior.

Cold sweat gradually broke out on Xu Xiaoxia's hands as she gripped the steering wheel, but the woman in the rearview mirror wore a face of such indifference that it left her truly unable to fathom her.

"Sister Liu Mu, are we really not taking that pretty boy with us?"

She did not know Zhou Chunwang, nor did she know what history the two had, but to just leave a frail man covered in wounds at the foot of the mountain like that—she feared he would be eaten by the Mutated Beasts in the mountains before nightfall.

"How about we go back and kill him?" Liu Mu rested her head on her hand, water from her Raincoat constantly sliding off and soaking the back seat, while she looked out at the heavy rain as if oblivious.

Xu Xiaoxia had never seen Liu Mu kill anyone and simply assumed she was joking. "No need, right? It's a human life, after all; he should be able to go back on his own."

Seeing that Liu Mu did not reply, Xu Xiaoxia drove on for a distance until the outline of the Scrap Station gradually appeared in the rain curtain, and she spoke again, "Was the talk unpleasant? Sister Liu Mu, if you ask me, you should still give Department Head Jiang some face; after all, he is a high-ranking official in the Barrier, and we can't afford to provoke him."

"First of all, there is no 'we'," Liu Mu extended two fingers one after another from the hand supporting her head, "Secondly, it is you who cannot afford to provoke him, not me."

Finally, Xu Xiaoxia forced a smile that looked worse than crying, knowing she had ruined the relationship. "Look at what you're saying, haha..."

Outside the Scrap Station, Liu Mu shook hands with Zhuo Qing and watched her leave.

Turning back, she saw Xu Xiaofeng standing behind the door holding an umbrella.

"The person from the other side of the mountain," Xu Xiaofeng still had that same appearance of peace and prosperity, only her expression was much more mature than before, and a hint of coldness faintly permeated it, "are you not going to kill him?"

Liu Mu squeezed under the umbrella and casually pulled off her Raincoat, storing it away, sighing slightly in her heart. "Big Sister, I will deal with them; don't learn from me. Leave the killing to me in the future."

"You, you always say it's not dangerous outside," Xu Xiaofeng was somewhat moved, raising her hand to touch Liu Mu's face; her palm was slightly cool. "Big Sister will guard the home from now on; when you come back, just rest at ease. Don't wrap yourself up so tightly; relax a little."

"Alright," Liu Mu only put on a docile and obedient look. "Then are we only going to eat meat from now on?"

After all, Big Sister could now be considered a plant... perhaps.

"Hmph, keep dreaming; you still need to eat vegetables and fruit often," Xu Xiaofeng hooked her arm through Liu Mu's and pulled her inside. "Nutritional balance is most important for you all. Look at you, aren't you still growing?"

Liu Mu was amused by the words 'growing'; without needing to explain the changes in her own body in detail, Big Sister could now probably understand her.

At dinner that night, the main members of the Scrap Station rarely gathered together for a meal and also drank a lot of wine.

It was also during these few days that the supplies from the ship were moved into the Food Street, where simple houses capable of accommodating hundreds of people had already been built, while the rest of the people still lived on the large ship.

Next was the major project of expanding the Scrap Station; only when that was completed could everyone be settled.

Xu Xiaofeng, holding the already sleeping Zhang Xiaoyong, spoke softly to the group who were discussing plans, "Hong Liu Songzan has already explained the architectural blueprints to me. I can help with the underground portion. If everyone is ready, let's start construction as soon as possible."

The others nodded in agreement and did not press Xu Xiaofeng on exactly what kind of help she could provide.

Although Mutation, or rather Evolution, was something the few of them were already accustomed to, they all tacitly refrained from inquiring about each other's abilities.

In the apocalypse, everyone had their own means of survival; it was better not to ask too clearly.

This name, however, made Liu Mu frown slightly, feeling somewhat dissatisfied. "It's one thing for a child to give himself a name, but why did you take it seriously? It's so awkward."

"Hong said that where they come from, adding a benefactor's surname to one's own is a sign of respect," Xu Xiaofeng had practiced several times before she could pronounce Hong's full name correctly; after all, that child was now one of the main talents they had brought in. "You should be nice to him too; he has suffered so much at such a young age, it's not easy for him to trust you. Let's care for him more; this will be his home from now on too."

Recalling the helplessness on Hong's young face when he told her about his childhood experiences in the kitchen, Xu Xiaofeng felt quite a bit of sympathy. Zhang Xiaoyong was only three years younger than him, and he still had two sisters to care for him; she didn't know how that child had survived until now.

Liu Mu scoffed at Hong's method of soliciting Xu Xiaofeng's sympathy; how could he still be considered a child? He was the third-in-command of the Sky Viper. She didn't know if telling Xu Xiaofeng this would frighten this soft-hearted Big Sister.

But Hong's identity had to be kept secret for the time being; of course, it wasn't because she didn't trust those present, but because she feared his identity would cause them to have misgivings.

"I'll stay behind," Li Gang, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. Even now, he still felt guilty that he hadn't been able to step forward to help when Xu Xiaofeng encountered the Mutated Plant, and instead felt unable to accept her Mutation.

He didn't dare look at Xu Xiaofeng while speaking, only saying, "Uncle Fugui and A Zheng have to be busy with the mine and transport matters; I have some engineering experience, so staying behind is most appropriate."

Liu Mu didn't care about what plans Li Gang had regarding his feelings and agreed to his request. "That's fine; you can arrange the defense while you're at it. Does anyone have anything else? If not, I'm going to the Barrier tomorrow morning."

They were not clear about the specific process of this operation, but looking at the results, Li Fugui was very worried. "Let me accompany the Boss on this trip; those old guys won't easily compromise unless they bite a piece of flesh off us."

From steel to coal, having dealt with them for these past few months, Li Fugui already had some understanding of the high-level officials in the Barrier and had figured out the main factions. When it came time to negotiate the distribution of supplies, he was confident he could help Liu Mu maneuver around those people.

"Then I'll go back to the mine first; we'll decide whether or not to send the next batch of coal after you've finished negotiating," He Qizheng immediately echoed. "If they don't loosen their stance, we'll just build our own Base!"

"You kid are finally smart for once," a kind smile squeezed onto Li Fugui's somewhat portly face, feeling quite gratified by the growth of this straightforward young man.

With their respective positions arranged, Liu Mu called Li Gang out alone.

The construction of the Scrap Station was not a matter of a day or two, nor was it just for these few days.

"In the next few decades, or even hundreds of years, this place will be one of the gathering places for humanity; the quality of the construction cannot be sloppy in the slightest."

Liu Mu had Heitao A in hand and didn't worry at all about design flaws; the most critical thing now was actual operation.

However, Li Gang was not a mediocre person either; he wasn't proficient in construction, but he knew how to utilize others. "The people on the ship have been personally selected by me and Hong; besides construction, there are many talents in other areas. When you return, I will give you a specific list and arrangement."

"I have to say, the Sky Viper really knows how to recruit talent, and they all have some real skills. Don't look at how sickly they were; once they were told they would be fed and could settle down, they all became enthusiastic."

Regarding this point, Liu Mu did not doubt it.

The fact that the Sky Viper spent huge amounts of manpower and resources before and after the apocalypse to protect these people and transport them to a designated location showed that these people had sufficient value.

Whether they were in scientific research, engineering, or farming, they were all people needed for the construction of that New World of theirs.

Perhaps these thousand-plus people were but a drop in the bucket for the New World, but for the Scrap Station, which was in dire need of talent in the early stages of the apocalypse, it was undoubtedly 'sending charcoal in the snow'.

That night, Liu Mu started the large computer mainframe dismantled from the ship and used a Brain-Machine Link to import Heitao A, preparing to use it as the control core for the entire Victory Resource Recycling Group in the future.