207: Reach consensus, unite

Ouyang Jie looked at Tian Ming, pondered for a long time, and then said, "You don't want to be cannon fodder, so you came to me. Are you trying to pull the Alliance into the game, with the Alliance backing you up?"

Tian Ming smiled and nodded, saying, "There's a bit of that meaning. I won't be cannon fodder, but my current control range is only about twenty meters. If they launch a wave of missiles, my Shelter won't be safe. My purpose in coming here is to join you, to become one of the Alliance members."

"You want us to be your shield, don't you?" Ouyang Jie's expression darkened. As the leader of Dongshan Base, he was quite clear about the forces behind Life Origins, and he understood that what Tian Ming feared could indeed happen.

Tian Ming shook his head and said, "No. As a member of the Alliance, if they truly want to make a move, they will have some reservations. We cannot stop the evolution of zombies. If the survivors start fighting among themselves, then the future civilization of this planet might become a zombie civilization, and we humans will become food on the zombies' dining table."

Ouyang Jie pondered for a moment and said, "I can accept your joining, but I have conditions."

Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, "Go ahead, what are your conditions?"

Ouyang Jie pondered for a moment, then spoke, "The current consumption of our Underground City's population has exceeded its own production capacity; we can no longer support them. I hope you can take in 50,000 people. They can be taken in in batches, transitioning within one year."

"Are there no Ability Users in the base? First-Class Ability Users should be able to manipulate elements to produce the necessary food, so how could it exceed production capacity?" Tian Ming asked, somewhat puzzled.

Ouyang Jie smiled bitterly, "We have a total of 8950 Ability Users, including 805 First-Class Ability Users and 2 Superpower Users. Only about 50 people possess the ability to control carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen elements simultaneously. Other elemental controls cannot solve the food problem. Even if these fifty people do nothing else but synthesize the food needed for consumption every day, they can only support about 100,000 people. But the entire base has 950,000 people."

Tian Ming nodded slightly. Indeed, these Ability Users' elemental control was different from his own. Their efficiency and speed were like a snail's pace compared to his, and there was also the consumption of mental energy. If he were to produce food at full capacity, he could produce thousands of tons of food in a single day. Therefore, helping the Alliance support 50,000 people was not a difficult task for Tian Ming.

Tian Ming nodded and agreed, "Okay, 50,000 people is fine. Our Underground City is also expanding, but the current construction progress is not fast. If we can send an expert team to expand it, not to mention 50,000, even 100,000 people would be fine."

Tian Ming did not lack materials; as long as he wished, he could have as many materials as he wanted. What he lacked was population, and this kind of offer of people coming to him was exactly what he wanted.

Ouyang Jie had initially thought Tian Ming would refuse, but he didn't expect him to agree so readily. Immediately, he asked curiously, "Mr. Lu, how many elements can your ability control?"

"All elements!"

Hearing Tian Ming's answer, Ouyang Jie gasped, even wanting to capture Tian Ming for research. However, thinking about Tian Ming's abilities, he quickly dismissed the idea.

"Are you really not lying to me, not joking?" Ouyang Jie asked again.

Tian Ming smiled slightly and said, "I just said it was all elements. I have no need to lie to you."

Ouyang Jie was stunned for a moment before slowly saying, "You... you are truly terrifying!"

Tian Ming smiled faintly and said, "Yes, it's quite terrifying, but I am also a person, and I stand on the side of humanity. Mr. Ouyang, have you made your decision? I can accept the conditions you proposed. However, Dongshan Base must send enough talented individuals to expand our Underground City, and only after the expansion is complete can we take in the population you cannot support."

Ouyang Jie nodded and said, "Yes, I will send people to conduct an initial inspection, and also establish a communication agency first. Once we've discussed it thoroughly, we'll send people to help you build the Underground City."

Ouyang Jie and Tian Ming reached a consensus, and the subsequent matters became much simpler. Tian Ming and his Shelter became members of the Alliance, and they obtained a seat on the Anti-Zombie Alliance Federation.

This kind of seat was essentially a voting right. The bases in the Alliance were distributed across various parts of the continent, and their standards were all the same. The entire Alliance had 12 bases in total, with the largest having 3 million people and the smallest having 600,000 people, totaling approximately 12 million people.

Among them, Ability Users accounted for 10%, and Tian Ming had already learned that Superpower Users totaled less than 20 people, which was extremely scarce. However, the Alliance's scientific research institution was also improving the Super Serum, and there might be more Superpower Users in the future. Currently, there was another channel, which was utilizing the Corpse King's Red Crystal Core.

When Ouyang Jie adjourned the meeting, the entire base also began to move, starting to prepare aid plans for Tian Ming's Shelter. Based on the principle of equal mutual assistance, Tian Ming would provide Dongshan Base with raw materials for production, basic food, and so on.

As for the matter of Xia Qi's team, neither side brought it up again; there was no point in mentioning it at that time. Tian Ming stayed in Dongshan Base for half a day, and Ouyang Jie sent people to lead Tian Ming on a tour of the base's interior.

The base had a high degree of automation: weapon factories, food factories, automated planting, large computer rooms, and the utilization of geothermal energy. The main power source for the entire base was a small fusion power station.

Seeing this, Tian Ming was very excited, but it was unrealistic to ask the Alliance for such technology right from the start.

After all, compared to other Alliance Base members, his so-called base was just cobbled together. The personnel were uneven, and it was not enough to gain a strong position in the Alliance.

Technology is always the primary productive force. In the underground carbon factory, there were automated reaction tanks for synthesizing starch from carbon dioxide, as well as food factories for cultivating fungi and raising insects.

However, to feed over 900,000 people, everyone ate a nutritionally balanced food that was essentially a starch paste. Limited by space, energy, and production efficiency, the ordinary civilians in the entire base struggled at the subsistence level.

After touring for most of the day and seeing some high-tech weapons, Tian Ming could also tell that the entire base had abundant military power, but survival materials were extremely scarce, and overall life was very tight.

The personnel who liaised with Tian Ming were a man and a woman. The man was named Qin Feng, and the woman was Ouyang Jie's daughter, named Ouyang Ling. They were specialists responsible for communication and coordination between Dongshan Base and other Alliance Bases.

That night, the mountain top of Dongshan Base sank, and a huge platform slowly rose from the depression, with five medium-sized aircraft parked on it.

Tian Ming stood at the edge of the platform, looking at such advanced aircraft, lost in thought.