99: Peaceful Survivor Base

"A small world fragment?"

"Sun and moon alternate, seasons revolve!"

Tang Ping's hand, gripping the fragment, suddenly tightened, his heart filled with pleasant surprise. As expected of the Seven-Colored Treasure Fruit, it could even yield such a good item.

He also knew about small world fragments.

In the Tianzang region, there was a young monk who possessed a Golden Buddha Shelter.

Although that monk was not among the first ten players to choose a Shelter, the Golden Buddha he chose to become a Shelter was itself a mysterious item from Blue Star, and an extremely formidable one at that, thus it also possessed an SSS-rank Trait.

Later, through various fortuitous encounters, the young monk gathered ten small world fragments and, in one fell swoop, forged a small world spanning a thousand li, named the Golden Lotus Realm.

This single act solidified his status as a Hegemon-level Power in the apocalypse.

Golden lotuses bloomed on the yellow sands and red cliffs, remaining safe and sound within the Forbidden Zone Devil City.

The Forbidden Zone Devil City was not a real city, but rather a vast desert Gobi with towering rock formations resembling skyscrapers.

Countless Gobi boulders stood within it, some as tall as skyscrapers, others as low as city streets and continuous residential areas. Millions of Infected, resembling malevolent ghosts, lived there, along with various desert Pollution Beasts and terrifying Devil Cacti, which is why it was called Devil City.

To be able to establish a super-large Safe Zone in a forbidden zone by one's own power was enough to demonstrate his strength.

In this, the Shelter's SSS-rank Trait — Golden Lotus Barrier — played a crucial role.

But the role of the small world also could not be ignored; in fact, it could be said that only with the small world did the Pure Land Safe Zone come into existence.

And in a true sense, the small world was also a shelter item, relying on the Shelter for connection.

Carefully putting away this precious small world fragment, Tang Ping saw the heavy rain gradually stop and wanted to go outside to continue searching for Tao Yumian.

Just as he was about to put away the Shelter, he heard a roar coming from below his feet.

Immediately after, a soaking wet boy, holding a baby that looked only a few months old, emerged from the stairwell.

"Help! Please, save my brother! Save him!"

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, kneeling at the Shelter's window, patted it a few times, then placed the baby at the entrance.

He then turned to look at the Infected that had caught up, and ran directly towards the top of the building.

Then, he leaped!

"Damn Infected, come on, chase me!" the boy roared.

He jumped down the building.

The Infected roared and followed him down.

The boy immediately felt relieved; at least the Infected hadn't gone after his brother: "Save him, he just came into this world."

"Raise your own brother."

The boy suddenly felt something supporting him from below his back. He turned his head, and his pupils instantly dilated.

"W-what is this!"

Oh my god, a giant bird? No, it's a moth, actually carrying him!

And on the moth, stood a handsome guy wearing a baseball cap, and in his arms was his brother.

Tang Ping was speechless. Just as he was about to leave, he encountered this troublesome situation, directly throwing a child at him. Was that even allowed?

He stated that he wouldn't even consider it; he would never raise a child for anyone.

The child in his arms had a high fever, very serious. Tang Ping took out the rose of light, shook it, and a soft glow sprinkled down. The infant instantly recovered, and the baby fat on his face regained its rosy color.

"Hehe, hehehe." The healthy infant immediately chuckled, his tiny hand grasping Tang Ping's finger.

That hand was so small, it could barely grip one of Tang Ping's fingers.

"Ah, ah ah." The infant grabbed Tang Ping's hand and poked his own mouth, indicating he was hungry.

"So you're just going to latch onto me, huh?" Tang Ping's heart softened, but he still had no intention of adopting the child; he simply didn't have the energy to care for one.

He took out pupa fluid, dabbed some on his finger, and offered it to the baby's mouth.

King Worm pupa fluid, compared to breast milk or formula, was simply far superior.

"Yi ya, yi ya, yi ya!" The baby excitedly sucked, his two small hands grasping Tang Ping's finger, his eyes fluttering as he stared at Tang Ping.

"Hehe, hehehe."

"Little brat." Tang Ping withdrew his finger. A single dab was enough; pupa fluid, though incredibly mild, was also extremely rich in energy. Just a touch and a feed was sufficient.

The boy next to him remained kneeling on the Great Emperor Moth throughout, without speaking.

As for that Infected, well, it had been poisoned into a puddle of rotten flesh by the newly refined Gu worm, the Red Heart Ant Gu.

The Red Heart Ant Gu had wings.

"Here's the child." Tang Ping stuffed the infant into the boy's arms, the rose of light in his hand swaying, its warm glow also sweeping away some of the boy's injuries and ailments.

The boy looked at his brother in his arms, feeling a bit helpless. He really wanted to hand his brother over to the person in front of him, but he knew that the other person didn't want him.

Being saved himself was already very good, very good indeed.

"Thank you, thank you."

"Do you have a Shelter?" Tang Ping asked.

The boy shook his head.

"Use this to awaken a Talent. After binding it, unbind it and return it to me." Tang Ping took out the black trench coat.

This black trench coat had an A-rank Shelter Trait. Later research showed that the higher the Shelter Trait, the higher the probability of awakening a Talent using it, and the higher the probability of awakening a high-level Talent.

"Oh, okay, okay, thank you." The boy didn't understand, but upon touching the black trench coat, he knew.

Soon, the trench coat was unbound by him, after being touched for less than a second.

Tang Ping put away the shelter item: "Later, I'll find a Survivor Base for you. You and your brother can live there; it's better than being outside."

"Thank you." The boy hugged his brother tightly.

"Hehe, hehe." The infant seemed to love to laugh, his hands clutching his brother's clothes, and every now and then he would turn his head to look at Tang Ping, chuckling... Ping'an Survivor Base.

"Leader, do we really have to do this? At that time, I'm afraid these people will be difficult to manage. Leader, human nature is complex; once they get too much, what they want will only be more. It will be inconvenient to manage then."

"You don't need to say more. What time is it now? Do humans still need to scheme against each other? Suppress their own people?

I believe the people in the base, they won't disregard the bigger picture like that. Now that the apocalypse is near, everyone can only huddle together to keep warm and jointly resist the apocalypse!"

"But, Leader..."

"Enough, you don't need to say more. I have already decided to take out this shelter item and let everyone in the base bind it in turns, jointly awakening Talents! What I want is for everyone in my base to be like dragons!"

"Leade... Alas." The old man looked at the long-haired youth in front of him, finally just letting out a long sigh.

Half a day later.

Inside a room in the base, five people sat together.

"Since everyone is here, I presume you have already made up your minds." A Middle-aged Man in a Suit spoke.

The other four had varied expressions, their faces hidden in the dim light, indistinct and obscure.

"Speak, what do you intend to do?" A woman sneered.

"Heh heh, of course, the leadership will rotate. Today it's my turn."

"Is that so? Then who is the Great Leader, and who is the Second Leader?" A corpulent man with a big belly next to him picked his teeth.

"Great Leader, Second Leader..." The Middle-aged Man in a Suit's face darkened. If he could, he naturally didn't want to share power with others.

"Let's not worry about these things for now. Everything can wait until that young brat is dealt with."

The woman's eyes flickered: "I don't care about the rest, but that shelter item in his hand must be mine."

The corpulent man next to her instantly narrowed his eyes, a dangerous aura flashing: "Heh heh, you, wanting to take that shelter item? What are you dreaming of?"

"Why can't I take it? If I can't, then can you?" The woman's gaze was icy.

"Alright, these matters, we'll divide them later. First, let's kill that group of people. Good Shelters aren't something only he possesses!"

"When do we act?" The man in the overcoat, who had been silent, spoke.

The Middle-aged Man in a Suit looked at him, a trace of apprehension in his eyes, and slowly said: "Tonight!"