345: Daughter slave is right

A week later, Shen Yuan's body had almost fully recovered. Tian Ming also discovered Xiao Xiao's ability amplification effect.

For Tian Ming, who could control all elements, this amplification wasn't very noticeable, but for other Ability Users, as long as they were within Xiao Xiao's amplification range, the mental energy consumed by their abilities would quickly recover, and the strength of their abilities would also be amplified by one hundred percent.

Xiao Xiao's amplification range, like Tian Ming's when he first gained his ability, was about five meters in radius. Tian Ming discovered this by carrying Xiao Xiao around.

Newborn babies basically sleep all day and night, but Xiao Xiao was different; she stared with a pair of beautiful large eyes, looking around curiously, full of wonder about this world.

On the fifth day after her birth, she started recognizing people, especially when she saw her father, her little feet constantly kicking. As soon as Tian Ming held her, she would start shocking her father, laughing while doing so.

Only Tian Ming in the entire Base could withstand it; others simply didn't dare to hold Xiao Xiao. Meng Xian, as a Second-Class Ability User, along with Lin Yao, Bai Yan, and others, all knew that Xiao Xiao had an amplifying ability. But none of them dared to get too close.

This little girl could amplify Ability Users within a five-meter range and also shock people from a distance. Besides Tian Ming, other Ability Users couldn't handle it. The little girl was not someone to be trifled with. She couldn't speak yet, but she shocked the Ability Users who got close to her, making them scream. This made others both love and fear Xiao Xiao.

Now, in the Base, a new father with smoke rising from his forehead due to being shocked, carried his daughter around, showing her off. And Xiao Xiao also greatly enjoyed her father's pampering, shocking him from time to time.

She couldn't speak, but she could express herself through her ability. After a period of adaptation, Tian Ming also discovered the information conveyed by the frequency of Xiao Xiao's shocks. Two consecutive shocks meant she was very happy; intermittent shocks meant she was hungry and wanted to go back to her mother. One long and one short shock meant she had pooped and needed a diaper change.

In the Base's conference room, Tian Ming held Xiao Xiao and sat in a seat, listening in. The area around where he sat was empty, but Xiao Xiao was very quiet, constantly tugging at Tian Ming's collar with her small hands.

Meng Xian spoke, “There are 330 days left until the war with Jiang Chen. By then, Jiang Chen will release some personnel back, and within these three hundred days, we must at least expand the Underground City to a scale capable of accommodating around 5 million people. Now, I will announce the East Sea City Base's Underground City expansion areas and the specific personnel assignments.”

Tian Ming listened from the side. Many of the Shelter's policies were formulated with the participation of Number Three. Since Number Three was connected to quantum computing, its computing power also saw a significant increase.

The benefits brought by this computing power were tangible, such as in materials science, where various special alloys required constant exhaustive trials to adjust the content of various metal elements to exhibit certain important characteristics in the finished product.

There were infinitely many possibilities for such random combination ratios, and for each additional element, the possibilities for combination and arrangement increased exponentially. Number Three could simulate materials first, which directly eliminated many incorrect answers and narrowed down the scope of target research materials.

And in the fields of pharmaceuticals, automation, and system construction, Number Three became an excellent assistant for researchers. To obtain stronger computing power, the chipset developers and Number Three jointly designed more powerful computing chips. It only took a week to start mass production.

Now, the entire Base highly relied on Number Three; basically, all decisions involved Number Three's participation, and all research also required Number Three's involvement.

Tian Ming listened to the meeting proceedings, and Xiao Xiao in his arms also quieted down, listening attentively to everyone speaking. Seeing Xiao Xiao quiet down, Tian Ming looked down at her.

He saw her staring with a pair of dark, big eyes, curiously surveying the conference room, as if trying to understand the adults' words. Tian Ming smiled gently, lightly tickling her small palm with his finger. Xiao Xiao immediately grasped Tian Ming's finger, and a small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

The meeting lasted an hour before it ended. Although the middle and high-level personnel in East Sea City Base had a positive attitude towards Number Three, ordinary people within the Base felt a hint of panic.

Number Three was too powerful; it controlled robots that did all the work ordinary people used to do, leaving many people who originally had certain skills idle.

Although the Base would issue certain points as subsidies, many people were already somewhat dissatisfied because without work, they couldn't earn more money. Relying solely on subsidies barely covered basic needs.

Such a large-scale liberation of labor, if it had occurred before the zombie outbreak, would have been a good thing. But within the enclosed East Sea City Base, it was not a good thing.

Because the entire Base was strictly managed, with almost no entertainment or leisure activities, these idle people could only watch others work. As a large number of factories went into production, goods also became more abundant. The living standards of these idle people, who were replaced by robots, were slowly widening compared to those with strong technical skills.

Of course, what was widening was not only the gap in living standards but also the increasing anxiety of these people. After the meeting ended, Tian Ming called out to Ji Ruping.

Coincidentally, Ji Ruping also had something to report to Tian Ming, but at this moment, Tian Ming was holding Xiao Xiao, which made Ji Ruping hesitant to approach.

“It's fine, Xiao Xiao won't shock people without abilities. Although she's small, she can tell who can handle being messed with,” Tian Ming said with a smile.

Hearing Tian Ming's words, Ji Ruping dared to approach.

“Boss, these past few days, you've been in such a good mood, you haven't put Xiao Xiao down once,” Ji Ruping said with a smile.

“I can't help it. Ordinary babies just eat and sleep after being born, but Xiao Xiao doesn't sleep, and she doesn't want to stay in the room, so I have to take her everywhere,” Tian Ming said with a hint of complaint, but there wasn't a trace of dislike in his eyes; he was clearly a doting father.

Ji Ruping's expression turned serious, and she said, “Boss, there are some things I need to inform you about, mainly concerning matters within the Base. Since Number Three's quantum connection, the progress of projects within the Base has been optimized to the extreme. Currently, major projects are advancing rapidly. This is a good thing, but there have also been some issues with personnel.”

Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, “Yes, I've noticed that too. There are many idle people in the Underground City residential area.”

Ji Ruping said with some concern, “After the robot factories went into production, the Base's robot inventory is now increasing by a thousand units every day. For some jobs, Number Three forcibly replaced personnel. The Shelter's employment rate has dropped from 70% to 30%, and Number Three even wanted to optimize out a portion of the population, but Meng Xian and I stopped it.”

Tian Ming smiled, “I remember there's a living subsidy, right? They won't starve to death. Actually, whether they work or not, it shouldn't be that important, should it?”

Ji Ruping, however, shook her head and said, “Because we're going to war with Jiang Chen in a year, the Base is strictly controlling the development of entertainment and service industries. These idle people will become very bored. Currently, small conflicts and Public Security cases within the Base have increased.”