Inside the shelter.

The Beetle Queen devoured the potatoes hungrily.

"Delicious, so much energy! Can I try some other foods?"

Lin Yi detected surprise in the queen's voice and nodded with a smile.

"What you just ate are potatoes, there's also corn. Feel free to eat, but in return, I need you to produce offspring that can help me plant and harvest food."

"Is that all? What about soldiers? You don't need them?"

"They're too weak, and I don't like my warriors being killed—even if they're bugs."

Lin Yi was telling the truth. He thought having her produce a batch of worker bugs would be a better idea.

Then he could send them to a city or town to dismantle buildings for materials.

He could also use them to collect loot and bodies from battlefields, what a great idea!

"Potatoes are full of energy. I won't let you down. I'll produce strong and skilled worker bugs, no... I'll let you configure them yourself. But I need time, two days... one day to recover my physical strength."

"Configure?! That's great, you like living underground, right?"

"Yes, I like cool, dark places."

"No problem."

Lin Yi teleported the queen and other bugs to the top floor of the bunker, which was originally used to park military vehicles.

It was empty here, but really dark.

"How about here?"

"Very good, thank you."

"Alright, then I'll give you some more food."

Lin Yi waved his hand, and several tons of potatoes and corn appeared: "I'll come back in a day."

"Wait!"

Just as Lin Yi was about to teleport away, the queen stopped him.

"We might need a contract to assure you that I can serve your ark."

[Alert!]

The Beetle Queen is proposing to sign a system contract with you, the shelter will ensure this contract is upheld.

If the contract is violated, the Beetle Queen and all her offspring will be annihilated.

[Contract Terms]:

1. The Beetle Queen will become the guardian of the shelter, helping you and your representatives manage and protect the shelter.

2. You will provide food for the Beetle Queen and her offspring, the quantity and type of food will be decided by you.

3. All of the Beetle Queen's offspring, including their descendants, will obey you.

4. You will do your utmost to help the Beetle Queen recover her memory and achieve her goals.

[Do you accept?]

Lin Yi stroked his chin: "This is a very disadvantageous contract for you, are you sure?"

"No, it's mutually beneficial, I'm sure!"

"Alright, but can I... give you a name? The title 'Beetle Queen' is a bit..."

"A name? That's great, something short... and it must sound nice, I'm a girl..."

The queen replied, with a hint of shyness in her voice.

Lin Yi felt a bit envious, thinking of his former teachers who had similarly large behinds.

"How about Siri?"

"Siri, good! I like it very much!"

"Okay, let's sign the contract..."

[Alert!]

You have confirmed the contract.

Siri is now the guardian of the shelter, you can allocate shelter functions to Siri.

[The following guardian skill has been activated]:

[Space-Time Perception].

"Siri, what is this Space-Time Perception?"

"It's a skill that can identify objects in the Sea of Space-Time, detect the presence of resources, determine the type of objects, and provide direction."

"Awesome!"

Lin Yi teleported to the beacon and entered the Sea of Space-Time.

Everything was as usual, with huge shards and arks flickering in the distance, smaller, darker-colored shards drifting by.

"So... how do I use this skill?"

"Just think about it."

"You can talk to me from a great distance? And read my thoughts?!"

"I am the guardian, helping the lord is the guardian's duty, so I can communicate with him anywhere, hear his thoughts."

"Alright, just whenever I call you, you read my thoughts. Not other times."

"Okay, continuously hearing others' thoughts outside the collective consciousness can be quite uncomfortable, thank you."

Lin Yi focused on "Space-Time Perception," and the scenery around him suddenly changed.

The black space turned white, and he could see blue energy streams and black spheres.

"Siri, if these spheres are shards, then what are these energy streams?"

"Space-Time Streams and Energy Streams, following them can increase your speed. The ark will gain more life force, wait... not the ark... the shelter and your home planet are linked, the Space-Time Filter... it can absorb energy from the Sea of Space-Time. The efficiency will increase."

"I don't quite understand, but never mind. Can you navigate the shelter into an energy stream and set a course to get us as far away from the Child of the Sun's ark as possible?"

"I need permission."

"Understood."

Lin Yi left the Sea of Space-Time and teleported beside his laptop.

He quickly wrote an email.

[You have modified the shelter guardian's functions, and its request has been approved.]

[New Function Added: Shelter Navigation!]

"Siri! Can you do it now?"

"Yes, I'm currently navigating the shelter to the nearest energy stream, which will take us as far from the current location as possible."

"Okay, I'll leave this to you."

Lin Yi finished speaking and started handling some items on his to-do list. Once everything was done, he returned to the center of the shelter, lay down on the hammock, and rested for a while.

After lunch, he had a meeting scheduled with the Hilania people, Faru people, and the Children of the Sun.

After that, he planned to catch some crabs and then get some coins from King of Lille.

He needed at least one million, maybe even two million, to make room for all the new members…

By the way, he also needed to consider where to go next—Berlin was already quite close, and if he didn't stop, he could reach it in a few days.

...

"Boss, boss! We've received an emergency message from Lille… why is it always me who has to wake him up?!"

Annie was almost in tears, shaking Lin Yi.

"Wake up! Uh… I know! Boss, the bugs are eating our potatoes!"

"I gave the potatoes to them…" Lin Yi muttered in his sleep…

Ten minutes later.

Little Natasha looked at Annie, who was being tightly held by the boss, helplessly covering her face.

Thankfully, she managed to wake the boss up.

"Boss! Look at what you've done to Annie!"

The little girl laughed with sympathy, pointing at Annie's tear-streaked face.

Lin Yi showed no sympathy for Annie either.

"If you all knew this would be the result, why do you always have her wake me up?"

"Everyone else is busy working, and she's practically useless."

"Ha, makes sense."

Lin Yi said, groggy-eyed.

"Why did you call me?"

"We received an urgent request from Lille, with specific details. You should contact Immanuel."

"Alright…"

After the girls left, Lin Yi focused on Immanuel and instantly teleported beside him.

"Boss! You scared the life out of me!"

"What's going on?"

"Wait a minute… let me catch my breath… King of Lille wants to hire us for a very important task. He's offering either three million coins or some military vehicles."

"Oh? Then I'll go talk to him."

Lin Yi returned home and put on his system equipment.

He teleported to Lille Camp City.

There was already a car waiting for him.

The journey wasn't far, as the king's castle was just across the river, and they reached it quickly.

Lin Yi headed straight for the king's office.

He hadn't even reached the door.

He heard a string of complaining…

The military police opened the door, and Lin Yi walked into the office.

The office contained the king, his aides Amon and Lucian, and two Americans.

One was a man in military uniform, and the other was a woman about 25 years old in a business suit.

Lin Yi glanced around the room and at the people in it.

The others also looked at him.

The American in military uniform stared blankly at Lin Yi's level four armor, not hiding his surprise.

The king sat comfortably in an armchair and began introducing.

"This is Lin Yi, he's a supplier I mentioned to you before, and his firepower is strong enough."

"Aren't you going to tell me what this is all about first?"

Lin Yi found a sofa and sat down.

The king waved his hand, laughing.

"As if you'd turn down benefits!

The thing is this: There is a zombie army coming from Luxembourg.

It's a massive army of about a million zombies, give or take a hundred thousand.

They're heading towards Antwerp, where the Americans have their base in Europe.

The Americans initially wanted to defend the base themselves, but then I started negotiations with them.

They want me to help defend Brussels and have built a fort there to fend off this zombie horde.

But I don't want to send my troops because red zombies are coming from the west.

So, I thought of you, after all, your soldiers are strong, and your equipment is beyond words."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi thought for a bit and turned his eyes to the Americans: "But should I worry about being stabbed in the back?"

"There's no need to worry, we're here in good faith, and we're very interested in your food, so we've decided to cooperate with you."

The meticulously dressed American woman continued speaking.

"We're willing to offer you a leadership position—like becoming a governor of one of the New American States.

This way, you'd also receive financial support and privileged status, what do you think?"

"Hmm… interesting offer, but please note, if I die, all vending machines will stop working, clear enough?"

"Perfectly clear… but if you don't mind me asking, why do you need so many coins?"

The woman twirled her hair around her fingers.

Lin Yi caught a whiff of her perfume,

"No comment."

"Okay, then before we formally settle the cooperation terms, I'd like to know more about your plans."

"It's no secret, I plan to travel around the world, first stop in Berlin, then go to Russia, where a woman owes me something, and catch up with some old friends.

But if things don't go well in Berlin, I'd have to return to Asia first, and then head to you Americans.

On the way, I plan to sell more food, plunder more abandoned towns, and possibly recruit more people into my team.

Besides, I don't mind hunting some zombies either, you know, they drop loot."

Lin Yi was straightforward, he always spoke his mind, with no interest in getting involved in any geopolitical struggles.

Of course, if in the process he could delay the apocalypse or even save the world, that would be great…

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