Inside the shelter.

Lin Yi walked up to the laptop.

Started checking notifications.

[Regarding received animals]:

The base has received a male and a female of the same species of animals. After authentication, they are found to be descendants of omnivorous milk worms.

Once they breed their offspring, the species will appear in the shop in an improved form.

[Base acquired 400 Experience Points]

[Regarding received survivors]:

597 survivors agreed to your contract and entered the base, granting your base 5970 Experience Points.

[Regarding new species]:

Congratulations, your omnivorous milk worms have successfully bred offspring. New items are added to the shop:

[Male Xidi, Female Xidi, Milking Parlor]

Due to breeding a new species, your base has received 1000 Experience Points, and you can change the name of the new species.

Current name is "Xidi."

[Regarding upgrade]:

Congratulations, your base has reached Level 13.

You've received a reward: A treasure chest!

[Shop items have been updated]

"Leveled up, and... a treasure chest?"

Lin Yi mumbled softly and quickly opened the inbox application.

There really was a treasure chest…

Although it looked just like a small jewelry box.

[Lin Yi's exclusive treasure chest]:

A special treasure chest.

Open it for a chance to obtain treasures.

[Only Lin Yi can open it]

Upon seeing the box, his eyes lit up!

Twenty seconds later…

"Is this an empty box? Seems I need to get closer to Annie, to catch some luck!"

Lin Yi muttered, then threw the box into the warehouse. He then opened the shop application and started browsing through the interesting items for sale.

[Space-Time Teleporter, Level 2]:

A facility that enhances the teleportation capability of the base. No power supply or maintenance required.

Price: 25000 Coins

"Can enhance… enhance how much? Why is its price ten times that of a Level 1 Teleporter?!"

Lin Yi complained, yet still ended up buying this Teleporter.

He upgraded the "planning" program to Level 4.

After that, he found the animal section.

Each Xidi sells for 2000 Coins.

Also, the Milking Parlor, a building for storing milk.

A Level 1 Milking Parlor sells for 2000 Coins and can hold up to 100,000 liters of milk. There are Level 2 and 3 versions too, but for now, they don't seem cost-effective.

[Fishing]

This program allows you to fish in the Sea of Space-Time. If you're lucky, you might catch something valuable.

If you're unlucky, you won't catch anything.

And if your luck is extremely poor, you might catch something terrible…

Note: When this program runs, beacon energy consumption will significantly increase.

Requirement: Space-Time Beacon

[Price: 2000 Coins]

Lin Yi continuously browsed through the catalog of goods, searching for new things, occasionally discovering a few items he found useful.

Based on the coins he just scavenged, he now had plenty to spare besides what was needed to maintain the city walls.

At this time, Melanie began reporting the situation around the Suvasong Camp through camera surveillance.

"Boss! The scout says a large convoy is heading towards this town."

"Hmm? What does Hubert say?" Lin Yi closed the shop interface and stood up from the desk.

"He hopes you'll take a look, and provide support if a battle breaks out. I've already informed Solomon."

"Okay."

Lin Yi nodded and then teleported to the town.

Earlier this morning, Hubert led some volunteers and a few soldiers to search the town.

Their goal is to collect as many resources as possible to offset the cost of building the city walls and town.

Lin Yi appeared inside the cathedral, which was now empty and thoroughly scavenged.

The civilian volunteers all knew why they were gathering resources, so anyone not occupied could sign up to join the "Recycler" group.

"Recycler" teams were divided into small groups, each led by a Professional with weaponry.

They worked only in the blocks that had been completely cleared of zombies by the clearance teams.

Clearance teams were composed of Beastmen of level 5 or higher. They moved swiftly and weren't fazed by unexpected situations, greatly accelerating the scavenging process.

Everyone took whatever they could, including cars, bus stops, manhole covers, fences…

"Boss, you're here! They'll be arriving soon."

Lin Yi turned around and saw Hubert, dressed in Level 4 armor and holding a laser rifle.

His helmet was tucked inside the armor, and a wide smile was spread across the old hand's face. Clearly, he was delighted by this gear upgrade.

"Hmm. I should switch gears too."

Five minutes later, the two men in futuristic gear walked out.

Go meet the convoy heading towards the cathedral!

There are about 150 of them, wielding a variety of weapons, with quite a few Professionals among them.

The vehicles stopped cautiously, and a small delegation walked toward the cathedral, while the others stayed by the cars.

Lin Yi was a bit surprised, not expecting the leader to be a woman in her fifties.

"Hello. Is Lin Yi among you?" The woman, seeing the two men dressed in identical high-tech gear, felt her palms sweating.

Lin Yi heard and tilted his head slightly.

"That's me, what do you want with me?"

"I am Valerie Nive."

The woman had short hair and wore level 2 armor, neither she nor her entourage carried weapons.

Just yesterday, some prisoners previously held by the Angel Gang returned to the camp.

As their leader, she had to inquire, only to learn that a formidable force had easily wiped out the Angel Gang.

This shocked her and the camp leadership, not just her.

According to what the captives said, this powerful faction not only had a safe place and sources of food, but was also recruiting people...

"I hope you can accept us! But I can't speak for everyone..." She spoke cautiously.

At this moment, a man in his early thirties next to her jumped out and interrupted.

"Valerie, their gear is quite cool, but don't you think those captives might be exaggerating a little?"

"We can verify afterward, don't make a fool of yourself or us during negotiations!"

Valerie said sternly, angrily turning to look at the man who spoke.

Hubert laughed loudly.

"Boss, some people seem to doubt our strength, should we give them a display?"

"Why not?" Lin Yi grinned.

Hubert stepped forward from behind the boss, waved his hand, and shouted.

"Guys! Let our guests see how serious we are!"

A few seconds later, a large number of armed personnel flooded out of nearby houses.

Soldiers also rushed out of the cathedral and other buildings, wearing uniforms and bulletproof vests, some even equipped with complete level 2 or 3 armors.

"This... this..."

Valerie and her entourage were taken aback, especially the man.

His heart pounded hard with the swinging laser rifles.

Lin Yi waved his hand, and all the armed men lowered their weapons, but still looked menacing.

"Do we discuss privately or here?"

"Whatever you find convenient," Valerie replied with an awkward smile.

Lin Yi waved his hand, and a table appeared, followed by several comfortable chairs.

"Please sit, would you like tea or coffee?"

"Tea is fine, thank you."

The lady tried not to show her shock and then sat at the table.

Lin Yi waved his hand again, and an expensive tea set he acquired early in his adventure appeared.

The tea was served with apple pie and meat pie.

"If you wish to join me, there are two conditions. First: you must answer some questions. We have skills to detect lies, and half-truths or deliberate omissions count as lying."

Lin Yi sipped the tea and went straight to the point.

He really didn't have much time, he still had to go to that military base... and get that infantry fighting vehicle!

Seeing the lady sit in a daze, still in shock, he smiled and gestured.

"Eat while it's hot."

"Oh, thank you... wow, this is delicious! It's been a long time since I had freshly baked pastries... and... is this... real milk!?"

"Uh... sort of..."

Lin Yi didn't plan to tell her that the milk she drank actually came from giant maggots...

"Your first condition... I'll tell my people, but specifically, what will you ask them?"

"Simple, we do not accept social scum, unethical robbers, violators, or others."

Lin Yi maintained a calm expression, but the man who interrupted earlier suddenly seemed uneasy.

Valerie nodded seriously and breathed a huge sigh of relief; she too had been worried initially about whether the camp was actually a den of wolves...

"So... what is the second condition?"

"You must sign a contractual agreement with me. Anyone who signs must acknowledge me as the boss and do as I say."

Seeing Valerie and the others' reactions, Lin Yi remained indifferent.

"This isn't a charity or refugee camp. I'm not saving the world, just hiring employees. Everyone must work hard."

"Thank you for the clarification. I now understand your position. May I go back and explain this clearly to them?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you!"

The delegation belonging to Valerie stood up and walked toward their vehicles.

Lin Yi then sent the table and what was on it back to the Shelter.

On the other end...

The youngest member of the delegation complained, "This isn't right for us, we'll become slaves like this!"

"Then what do you suggest?"

Valerie asked, her expression seemingly saying: Come, surprise me!

The young member remained silent.

But another person jumped out; it was the man who interrupted earlier, gesturing wildly.

"Business as usual! We have enough food, and the Angel Gang has been destroyed, so we can finally expand..."

"Are you an idiot? How long do you think that food will last us? After we've eaten it all, then what? Loot other camps? And when they've run out of food too? They'll come back to rob us! So, who will run out of food first, us or them? Do you know where to get more food?"

…

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