Chapter 2921: Small Town Infrastructure Construction Proceeds Happily 46

Many more years passed.

The walls of Peace Base expanded outward by several hundred li; they were no longer the makeshift iron sheets and wooden fences of the past, but were cast from melted crystal stone, magnificent and grand.

The roads inside the base also changed.

The main road that used to turn into a muddy mess whenever it rained became wide, with roadside trees improved by Yan Tenggu planted on both sides; their leaves were a rare jade green, and in autumn they bore small purplish‑black berries that children passing home from school would always pick a few to taste, so sour they made their mouths pucker yet they'd still pick more.

The old school buildings were no longer enough; several new schools had been built on the east side of the base, their walls whitewashed and adorned with children's drawings—some of the base, some of the Patrol Team, and some of the big white tiger that occasionally came to the school to mooch food and drink.

Some children also drew Huo Zhaoye, their sketches crooked, yet the fierce aura they captured was somewhat like him; after Huo Zhaoye once looked at the drawing, he pressed it beneath his desk the next day.

Jin Chen was still teaching.

But now he no longer had to teach every grade alone; the base had a dedicated teaching team.

After class, the children poured out of the classroom; Jin Chen didn't rush to leave, standing under the eaves watching them run wild.

Ling Gun Gun lay at his feet, yawning lazily.

Not far away, Huo Zhaoye came over from the council building.

He had just extricated himself from negotiations, his jacket slung over his forearm, walking quickly, his gaze sweeping across half the playground to land on this veranda.

Jin Chen turned his face slightly, looking at him through the children running across the courtyard and the dust they kicked up.

Huo Zhaoye's steps slowed.

Over these years, Huo Zhaoye has changed greatly.

It wasn't his appearance—his face remained sharp and wild, with deep browbones, and when his gaze sank it still held an oppressive intensity that made people dare not meet his eyes; it was the ever‑alert aura around him that had gradually loosened at some point, for being loved gave him a backing, and with Jin Chen by his side he no longer needed to worry about so many things.

Jin Chen let him come, took his hand, then his lips, saying, "The sun's big—why aren't you using an umbrella?"

"Just a few steps," Huo Zhaoye said indifferently, interlocking their fingers all on his own.

Ling Gun Gun rolled over at their feet, exposing his fluffy belly.

Huo Zhaoye glanced at it, crouched, and gave it a couple of scratches.

"Tomorrow I still have to make a trip to the wild forest," Huo Zhaoye said without looking up, as if speaking to Ling Gun Gun and also to Jin Chen, "They've opened a new observation point out there; Yan Tenggu says we need to regularly check the soil recovery data, and on the way I'll visit my mother."

Jin Chen: "All right."

Huo Zhaoye grunted and rose to his feet.

They stood side by side for a while, watching the children on the playground.

A boy was chasing a ball, ran too fast and tumbled, scraping his knees; he didn't cry, just grinned as he pushed himself up, while a few little pals crowded around, chattering anxiously.

Huo Zhaoye looked at the boy and suddenly said, "When I was little I also fell in this kind of mud. Getting up, my mother stood nearby watching, didn't help, just said, 'Brush off the dirt and keep going.'"

Since three years ago, when they jointly paid respects at the tree beneath which the Former Lord lay at rest, Huo Zhaoye hadn't mentioned his mother for a long time.

Jin Chen tilted his head and listened quietly.

"Back then I thought," Huo Zhaoye said slowly, "when I grow up I want to become someone really formidable."

"So that people like me wouldn't have to scrape by on sheer desperation to survive."

A breeze swept through the veranda, carrying away the evening's lingering heat.

Ah, the scent of food from the canteen drifted over.

Ling Gun Gun sat up, pricked his ears, and glanced toward the canteen.

Jin Chen reached out and took Huo Zhaoye's hand hanging at his side, threading their fingers together until they were fully interlaced.

"You've done it, Huo Zhaoye."

——

After that, many more years passed.

In the end, on the wasteland, a legend began to spread.

At the edge of the wasteland, beyond the Silence Great Bridge, where the Old World River winds, there stands a base called Peace.

There are towering walls and watchtowers, orderly fields and vibrant greenery, and a flame of hope that burns day and night.

More importantly, it holds the hope that barren land can be made fertile again, relatively fair rules, and the openness to accept every survivor who follows the rules.

Huo Zhaoye and Lu Jun, once rivals, now partners, with their respective loved ones by their side, have built Peace Base up better and better.

Institutions continually improved, defenses grew stronger, agriculture made breakthrough progress under Tenggu's guidance, and trade routes extended farther afield.

Peace Base has never been stingy in sharing hope.

For those forces sincerely seeking cooperation and willing to obey the rules—whether large bases or small settlements—Peace Base is willing, on the basis of fair trade, to provide improved seeds, soil‑treatment technology, and even help them set up small water‑purification or power facilities.

Of course, the core technology—especially the formula Tenggu finally succeeded in developing, which can purify pollution and slowly heal the earth's veins—remains firmly in Peace Base's hands.

This is the foundation of their survival and also a vital lever they use to exchange resources, forge alliances, and exert influence.

Yet behind such great benefit and hope, covetousness inevitably follows.

During the period when the restorative‑agent technology first matured and began to show its power, many forces—especially the Five Elements Base, which had past grievances with Peace Base, or large bases that relied on their own strength—had entertained ulterior motives.

Threats, lures, espionage, even small‑scale armed clashes.

They tried to seize Tenggu's technology, and also, eyeing the inscrutable Jin Chen who seemed to hide even more secrets, they drooled over him as well.

But without exception, all these attempts ended in crushing defeat.

Peace Base's defenses were impregnable; up and down the base stood united, making it hard for outsiders to invade.

Moreover, there's Jin Chen's unfathomable methods, and Ling Gun Gun, who occasionally wanders carelessly to the base's outskirts, reverts to his colossal beast form, stretches, and incidentally scares away a horde of spies.

Those bases that repeatedly provoked, acting with no scruples, eventually either fell apart or were swallowed by other forces.

The order of the wasteland has quietly shifted as Peace Base rose.

And Huo Zhaoye, too, in this world of his, has truly become the kind of hero he once dreamed of as a youth—only to have nearly forgotten it under the weight of reality.

Not a lone hero from old tales who saves the world single‑handedly, but a leader who guides a people through desperation to carve out a livelihood, establish order, and safeguard hope.

More importantly, beside him always stands one person.

The one who walked in from wind and rain, cool and mysterious, seeming carefree yet always able to give him the firmest support when he needed it most, and who unreservedly devoted himself to him.

He was his Teacher Jin, his companion, all his soft ribs and reverse scales, and also the witness of all his glory.

Behind the hero, there will always be someone who stays.

【Congratulations Host, mission completed, earned points, total points.】

【Transmitting back to Quick Transmigration Bureau…… transmission initiated…… transmission successful~】