133: Chapter 133 Tang Qiqi at Twenty: Tiangong-1 is Your Home

Early morning, the main square of Tiangong No. 1.

Over three hundred survivors stood straight.

No one spoke; even the sound of breathing was kept very low.

Because in the very center of the square, three large crates of military canned beef were neatly stacked.

More than three hundred cans.

Lin Yuan stood on the steps, a cigarette held between his fingers, unlit.

"One for each person. Come up and take it."

Someone in the line swallowed hard.

There was also an old man, so thin he was unrecognizable, his eyes glued to the crates of canned goods, unwilling to even blink.

That was meat.

Real meat that people would trade their lives for in the apocalypse.

Lu Yan stood on the left clutching a rifle, while Fat Dragon stood on the right carrying a fire axe.

A survivor stepped forward, trembling, and took the can with both hands; his eyes turned red instantly.

"Thank you, Boss Lin..."

In less than ten minutes, they were all distributed.

Lin Yuan lit the cigarette and exhaled a puff of white smoke.

"After you finish this good meal, we discuss the rules."

His gaze swept across the crowd.

"A group of Japanese ninjas has arrived at the East Coast of Jiangcheng..."

The crowd below immediately began to murmur.

Seeing this, Fat Dragon knocked on the pillar next to him.

It became quiet.

"Cloud Top Palace does not welcome the Japanese."

"My rules are very simple: if you take my meat, you are my people."

"Eat the meat today, and tomorrow you must be ready to go to war with this pack of foreign wild dogs at any time."

Lin Yuan's voice was calm, yet it weighed heavily on everyone's head. "Anyone who has objections, take your can and get out of this door. I won't stop you."

Three hundred people, dead silence for two seconds.

A middle-aged man with two missing fingers slammed his empty can onto the ground and grabbed a steel pipe from the side.

"My grandfather died at the hands of the devils back then. Boss Lin, I'll go first."

Then, someone in the crowd shouted: "Fight those Japanese to the death!"

"Eat Boss Lin's food, kill the Japanese devils!"

No one left.

In the eyes of these former refugees, a beast-like ferocity ignited.

Following Lin Yuan meant being able to eat meat and live like a human being.

The family that secretly left Cloud Top Palace yesterday to run to the South Suburb Military District—now, only that man has returned.

Word is his wife and daughter were both captured and sent to the East Suburb Pier.

The man is still crying at the main gate, but not a single person sympathizes with him.

This is the harshest truth.

"Good." Lin Yuan flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Mo Tong, bring out the teaching materials."

Lin Motong hugged the violent bear, a red glint flashing in her eyes.

Below the mountain road, dozens of ordinary zombies swayed as they walked up.

They were firmly restrained at the edge of the square by invisible Mental Energy, emitting low, wheezing growls from their throats.

Lin Yuan turned and walked back.

"Form groups of three and start training."

"Those from the previous zombie hunting team will be responsible for guidance."

"Fat Dragon, you watch them."

"Yes! Boss!"

The training method was extremely brutal.

No tactics, just how to kill.

The survivors were divided into teams, wielding spears and iron pipes, smashing them into the zombies' heads.

For a time, black blood splattered, and dull thuds rang out continuously.

At the edge, Zhao Ya was carrying a plastic bucket full of drinking water, handing it out to those who rotated off.

She also wanted to follow her old classmate, Su Xiaonuan, but she didn't need her.

Washing clothes for Tiangong No. 1 was already a massive reward.

Now, whenever there was work, Zhao Ya would come over and work very hard; she was afraid of losing her value.

Suddenly, a faint green light lit up at her fingertips.

A shriveled morning glory seed that had fallen on the ground instantly cracked open.

Vines climbed up the explosion-proof wall, forming a half-meter-wide green net, and even bloomed with a few small flowers.

Only, the edges of the petals revealed a trace of eerie dark red.

Zhao Ya was stunned.

Fat Dragon's eyes widened like copper bells, he extinguished the fire in his hand, and pulled Zhao Ya into his arms.

"Holy crap! My Ya is an Awakened One too!"

Lin Yuan stood on the second-floor balcony watching, nodding slightly. "C-rank plant type; another piece of the puzzle for logistics."

...

First-floor dining room.

Breakfast was sumptuous.

Qin Yumo took a large meat bun and swallowed it in one bite.

"Master, I want to go to the East Suburbs. Those people have brittle frames. I can kill quite a few."

Lin Yuan took a sip of porridge.

"No. The combination of ninjutsu and Superpower, along with poison and hidden weapons—you'll easily flip over if you solo it. A dog will jump over a wall when desperate."

Qin Yumo pursed her lips and took a couple of gulps of soy milk.

At the other end of the dining table.

Tang Qiqi was uncharacteristically silent.

She held her bowl and mechanically shoveled porridge into her mouth.

The little troublemaker who usually could chatter enough to blow the roof off was like someone who had been unplugged today.

Wang Ya picked up a bun and put it in her bowl, asking softly: "Qiqi, are you not feeling well somewhere?"

Tang Qiqi shook her head. "No. I'm full. Thank you for your concern, Sister Ya, I'm not a child anymore."

She put down the bowl, jumped off the chair, and walked towards the second-floor room without looking back.

Her back view was filled with a deep sense of dejection.

As soon as the door closed, Qin Yumo slapped her forehead.

"Oh no! Today is Qiqi's twentieth birthday."

Lin Yuan put down his chopsticks.

"What is it?"

Qin Yumo sighed.

"Her parents divorced early, and neither cared about her. They tricked her when she was little, saying that when she turned twenty for her big birthday, they would come pick her up and take her home. She has always remembered that."

That promise had long since become a blank check that could never be cashed.

Lin Yuan leaned back in his chair.

His high Mental Energy could sense the girl hiding under the quilt, suppressed, extremely low sobs.

"Su Xiaonuan."

"Here, Boss Lin." Su Xiaonuan immediately put down her bowl and chopsticks.

Lin Yuan stood up.

"Clear out the activity room. All of you, go help."

He tapped open the system mall panel that only he could see.

"Her twentieth birthday shouldn't be spent crying in a pile of zombies."

Two hours later.

Lin Yuan knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, the door opened.

Tang Qiqi was wearing an oversized hoodie, her eyes red like a rabbit's.

She forced a smile. "Great Demon King, do you have a mission for me?"

Lin Yuan didn't waste words, grabbing her wrist and pulling her outside.

"Eh? Where are we going? I haven't put on my underwear yet!"

Lin Yuan pushed open the door to the east activity room.

Tang Qiqi's voice stopped abruptly.

She stood blankly at the doorway.

Overhead was a vast starry sky dome laid out by holographic projection.

Shooting stars streaked across, the light and shadow dazzling.

On both sides of the walls were huge glowing acrylic display cabinets.

Inside, neatly arranged, were figures that had been out of print before the apocalypse, magical girl COS outfits limited to three sets worldwide, and unreleased pink gaming peripherals.

In the very center was a half-meter-tall, three-tier fondant cake, with a lifelike Pikachu sculpted out of chocolate on top.

Pink balloons covered the ceiling, and holographic butterflies danced around the room.

This was not the apocalypse at all.

This was a girl's old dream, forcefully created using the system.

Su Xiaonuan, Qin Yumo, Wang Ya, Su Muxue, Captain Han Xue, and Liu Qing all stood beside the cake, holding ribbon cannons.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Colorful paper showered down from the sky.

"Qiqi, happy birthday." The women said in unison.

Tang Qiqi stood frozen in place.

She looked at the walls full of those extremely hard-to-get out-of-print collectibles, and only one thought remained in her mind.

These things were all impossible to find even before the apocalypse.

Tang Qiqi didn't know that Lin Yuan had a system mall.

She only thought that for today, the Great Demon King must have been scouring the whole world for a long time, hiding all these things in his storage space.

He had planned it all along.

Tang Qiqi's tears broke the dam without warning.

She turned her head abruptly, hugging Lin Yuan's waist tightly, burying her face in his chest.

"Wuu... Great Demon King... why are you so good to me!" Tang Qiqi sobbed, breathless.

[Ding! Target Tang Qiqi (Beauty 86), emotional fluctuation has reached the extreme!]

[Favorability crit +6%! Current Favorability: 12%!]

Lin Yuan didn't push her away. He reached out and rubbed her head twice.

"On your birthday, you are not allowed to shed tears." Lin Yuan's voice was steady. "If you want a home, Tiangong No. 1 is your home."

Tang Qiqi gripped Lin Yuan's shirt corner tightly, crying even harder.

It was a cry of complete release.

Tang Qiqi usually laughed the loudest, but her defenses were thicker than anyone's.

Until this moment, she truly believed she wasn't just a toy taken in temporarily.

In the evening, the entire Cloud Top Palace was sharing the cake.

The survivors crouched by the fire, holding desserts, cheering "Long live Miss Qiqi."

This corner of the world had an almost absurd sweetness.

...

South Suburbs of Jiangcheng.

Abandoned prison shelter.

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen opened her eyes on the pile of hay.

The sharp pain in her waist had subsided by more than half.

Under her tattered deep purple qipao, it was wrapped in clean bandages.

There was a C-rank healing-type Esper here.

She couldn't regenerate severed limbs, but she had miraculous effects on suturing organs.

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen propped herself up and sat up.

It was dark outside.

The room door was half-open, and she could hear faint wind.

Sister Long had taken the main force out to search for supplies in the afternoon; only a few old and weak female prisoners remained.

Suddenly, Grandmaster Ling Suzhen's eyes sharpened.

The five senses of an Ancient Martial Arts Grandmaster, even in a severely injured state, were sharper than any surveillance camera.

There was a faint trace of blood in the air.