Chapter 136: Explosive Upgrade
They moved around the city hunting zombies, giving Lu Weiyi some time to visit the jade stores marked by Zhuang Mingxu. The items collected weren’t as good as the quality of the previous treasures stored by the wealthy families in the base, but there was quantity, so it was still better than nothing. With enough items, it could show some effect.
At the base, Zhuang Mingxu had several racks of different heights made, repeatedly having Lu Weiyi test storing items in his space. After several attempts, they figured out the height limit of his space.
“It’s over eight meters,” Zhuang Mingxu noted, looking at the measurements on the racks. “Your space seems to have random stacking, but I think most of the high-quality jade is privately kept, and the ones available for sale at the base have already been collected by us. It’s unlikely we can expand the space anytime soon.”
“All we can do is use the space’s height. By categorizing everything and stacking it layer by layer, you can save space and also make it easier to find things when needed.”
This was the first time Lu Weiyi learned that his space had a height limit. He hadn’t really been inside lately, but when he realized it had no ceiling, it felt like a small world. With a ceiling, it felt like a cage.
He focused his mental power on his space, nodding, “Does your space have height?”
“Yes, about two meters,” Zhuang Mingxu responded, testing his space first before having Lu Weiyi try it.
No wonder, in the past life, Zhuang Mingxu had asked Lu Weiyi to store items on neatly organized shelves. At the time, Lu Weiyi thought it was just his neatness, but now he realized that Zhuang Mingxu had already been using the height of the space back then.
Lu Weiyi felt embarrassed about his earlier lack of organization.
“Go measure the approximate width of your space, and I’ll calculate how to make the most of it,” Zhuang Mingxu handed him a ruler.
Since Lu Weiyi had been living with them for a while, he hadn’t entered his space much. The last time he went in was when he encountered Zhuang Mingxu, and before that, when they lacked water, he would go in often. Later, it was just for casually collecting things.
Now, entering the space, he glanced around and suddenly understood what “messy” meant.
In the past, the space wasn’t perfectly flat, but at least it wasn’t cluttered. Now, everything was scattered around, with some things leaning against a peach tree and piles of jade scrap near the well, looking somewhat like a junkyard.
Lu Weiyi felt embarrassed and knew he needed to tidy up.
After measuring the size, Zhuang Mingxu drew a standard circle on a piece of paper, marked a few points, and then asked, “Where is the well’s location? Is it here?”
Lu Weiyi nodded.
“Has the size of the well’s opening grown since the first time you saw it?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“Yes,” Lu Weiyi replied, it was quite obvious.
Zhuang Mingxu quickly did the math in his head, drew a diagram, and then asked about the position of the peach tree.
“Are you drawing the space again?” Lu Weiyi roughly pointed it out and asked.
“Yes, I’m scaling it down here. When you put things in, I’ll also tell you where to place them. This way, when you need something, I can help you find it, so you don’t end up saying you can’t find it,” Zhuang Mingxu said, tapping Lu Weiyi on the forehead.
Lu Weiyi smiled. In his previous life, his space was small and contained only a few things, so he could find anything he needed with a single glance. But now, the space was too large and disorganized, and some items even had no name. Often, others would ask him if he had something, and he would end up saying, “I don’t know.”
The next time Lu Weiyi left, he left behind a pile of supplies. When he returned in the evening, he found the items neatly organized on shelves. Not only were the shelves numbered, but each layer had a label indicating what was stored there.
It was clear at a glance.
The supplies they had gathered from collapsed areas, including clothes and daily necessities, were cleaned and neatly stored. As for the food—especially the damaged, dirt-mixed flour from the flour factory—Zhuang Mingxu had donated it all to the refugees at the base’s entrance.
With the money from hunting and the trade hall, aside from the daily “wages” to be distributed, they still had about eight or nine hundred left.
Lu Weiyi considered doubling their “wages,” but Zhuang Mingxu disagreed, saying, “You never know what might happen in the future, so it’s better to keep some extra. They can wait until the end of the month to get their bonus.”
“Won’t they have complaints?” Lu Weiyi asked, for once thinking about this.
“As long as they’re smart, they won’t say anything,” Zhuang Mingxu replied. “If you compare our food and wages to other teams, we’re doing well. The less capable ones would have a hard time finding better opportunities elsewhere, and the stronger ones have been with you from the start. They know your little secrets, so sticking with you is definitely the right choice.”
Zhuang Mingxu had already seen through Antonio and the others’ thoughts, but as long as there was no harm, he wouldn’t say anything.
The next day, something major happened at the base—someone failed their upgrade, and the energy exploded. Lu Weiyi’s earlier worries were proven necessary.
When he got the news, Lu Weiyi had just returned from outside. He had passed by a toy store and brought back some toys for Zhuang Ai Yi. It was just a small errand, but thinking about how Zhuang Ai Yi might gleam with joy and say, “Thank you, little daddy,” Lu Weiyi found himself returning early, unable to stay away.
It was barely 7 PM when he arrived at the base. He placed the pile of toys in the living room and said to Zhuang Ai Yi, “These are all for you. If you don’t like any of them, just throw them away.”
Zhuang Ai Yi froze for a moment, then exclaimed in a high-pitched, surprised voice, “Ah—are these all for me?”
“All for me?” Zhuang Ai Yi spun around, looking at the toys. He liked the little train and the airplane, then ran over to hug Lu Weiyi’s leg and jumped, saying, “Little daddy, Ai Yi loves you the most! You’re so good!”
Happiness was contagious, especially with such a lively little kid. Even Lu Weiyi, who usually wore a cold expression, couldn’t help but soften a bit. He gently patted Zhuang Ai Yi’s head, which was soft like a little animal’s, and said, “Go play.”
“Okay!” Zhuang Ai Yi nodded enthusiastically and immediately dove into the pile of toys.
Seeing their interaction, Zhuang Mingxu felt a bit relieved. In the past, when the world was at peace, and he had money and power, Lu Weiyi had ignored Zhuang Ai Yi, but Zhuang Mingxu could compensate elsewhere. Now, with them spending more time together, Lu Weiyi had subtly become the core figure in the team. If his attitude remained indifferent, it would easily affect how others treated Zhuang Ai Yi, especially as more families and children joined in the future. It would be more obvious, so it was better to improve the situation now.
After everyone finished washing up, Li Qing brought a stranger from the military and sat in the living room, talking to Zhuang Mingxu.
Usually, everyone was busy, but this was the first time after returning from the snowstorm that they all sat down to meet.
Lu Weiyi nodded at the stranger as a greeting.
The living room, once filled with items, was now tidied up, with only a two-meter-wide puzzle spread out. Zhuang Ai Yi was sitting nearby, seriously trying to place the pieces. Lu Weiyi took a quick look but didn’t find it particularly interesting.
After a while, Zhuang Mingxu called everyone over. “Li Qing brought some news. Everyone should know about it.”
Li Qing first greeted Lin Yimu, then turned to the man he had brought and introduced, “This is Wang Tang. He knows quite a bit, so let him speak.”
Wang Tang appeared to be in his thirties, with a dark complexion. He nodded and said, “Ever since we learned that crystal cores can enhance abilities, all the teams in the base have been hunting zombies with full force. Since last week, the leaders of various teams have started upgrading. The process was somewhat brutal, but the results were good.”
“Until the day before yesterday, when Meng Lang, the leader of the Fierce Wolf team, failed his upgrade, causing an explosion. Last night, the leader of the Golden City team also experienced an explosion during their upgrade, and today, both the leaders of the Dusk and Hope teams had similar incidents…”
It seemed like forced upgrades had caused the ability to go out of control, Lu Weiyi thought.
“Explosion?” Wu Yue frowned.
“Yes, it was like the power of a small bomb. The whole room was filled with shattered flesh,” Wang Tang recalled the room, still feeling queasy from the memory.
Hearing this, those who had already upgraded exchanged glances, immediately recalling Lu Weiyi’s words: “After I handle it, there will be benefits for you.” And now, those benefits were becoming clear.
Li Zhuang asked, “Have they figured out the cause?”
“Preliminary conclusions suggest that the ability went out of control due to excessive absorption of crystal cores. There are also theories from the research institute that some of the energy in the zombie crystal cores can’t be absorbed by the human body. When accumulated, it can easily cause an explosion at a certain point.”
“That’s basically the situation, so I came to see how your team is doing,” Li Qing asked. “Has anyone upgraded? Is it safe?”
“Not bad,” Zhuang Mingxu answered proactively. “Liu Rui and Antonio have upgraded their abilities. Since they awakened earlier, they might have known about the crystal cores’ effects a little later and absorbed fewer, so it’s still safe.”
“That’s good. Most of the team leaders who upgraded successfully were also early awakeners and used fewer crystal cores. From now on, the amount of crystal cores absorbed has to be controlled. The research institute suggests that no one should absorb more than five cores a day, as more can accumulate and cause danger during upgrades,” Li Qing said.
“Had you not mentioned it, we wouldn’t have thought about it. Thanks for coming,” Zhuang Mingxu said, turning on the small talk mode.
“Actually, there’s something else,” Li Qing said, a bit embarrassed. “As you know, the army is large, and compared to the other big groups, we don’t have enough basic supplies, so we rely on collecting everything.”
“With the hot weather, the consumption is high. Other things can be dealt with, but salt is already running out. So, a few days ago, I thought of taking people to Zhoujia County to see if there’s any leftover. The salt wells are gone, but there should still be some in the processing factory.”
Zhuang Mingxu nodded. If their group had more people, he would have sent someone there too.
“But on the way to Zhoujia County, we encountered a mutated plant…” Li Qing continued.
