Chapter 230: Internal Allocation
Liu Rui and Xu Sa quickly switched places and cautiously approached the ship. Lu Weiyi extended his spiritual sense as they got closer.
The hull still bore the company’s English logo. After so long in the water, it was rusted in places and coated in green algae below the surface.
As Xu Sa carefully circled the ship, the interior gradually came into view.
“Everyone onboard is dead,” Lu Weiyi said after a scan, then immediately stored the container that looked about to fall into the water. A flicker of joy flashed in his eyes—Xu Sa instantly knew it must be something good.
Next to the massive cargo ship, their speedboat looked like a toy. The silent ocean and the sheer scale of the ship gave off an oppressive feeling, especially with just the three of them in the middle of the sea.
Xu Sa unconsciously held his breath. Liu Rui also seemed uneasy, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.
Only Lu Weiyi was fully focused on the cargo ship, unaffected by the atmosphere.
After confirming there were no survivors, Lu Weiyi stored all the containers on the deck, then stored the entire cargo ship into his spatial space.
Another loud crack echoed. Lu Weiyi’s lips pressed into a line—before he could think, the floor of his spatial space trembled slightly, and the previously jagged ground leveled out again.
This kind of reaction only happened when he stored spatial jades. Lu Weiyi looked suspiciously at the remaining containers from the cruise ship.
“Heading back?” Xu Sa asked, steering the boat toward the nearest shoreline.
“Let’s look around a bit more,” Lu Weiyi estimated the remaining capacity of his spatial space.
Most of Pingjin Port had already vanished. The coastline now looked torn and jagged, with cliffs rising over ten meters above the sea. Lu Weiyi circled the area, familiarized himself with the surroundings, and managed to collect a few more small boats before returning to Moon Bay just before nightfall.
As soon as the cargo ship was released, it caught everyone’s attention. People called out for the captain and ran over in excitement.
“Little Papa—!” Zhuang Ai Yi shouted from afar, charging over like a cannonball. He tripped on the beach and fell, then got back up and continued rushing forward.
Lu Weiyi scooped him up, grabbed a handful of newly acquired foreign snacks, and stuffed them into his arms. Then he waved toward Zhuang Mingxu in the distance.
“There are… containers and other things inside. Send someone to clean it up and inventory the supplies,” Lu Weiyi said to Ning Yuan as he walked back.
“Got it,” Ning Yuan replied, listening to Xu Sa bragging to the others.
“What level is your space ability now? This capacity is a bit terrifying,” Li Qing asked, walking behind Lu Weiyi.
“…Probably S-rank,” Lu Weiyi replied casually. Thinking that Li Qing must be thinking about the spatial ability user in their team, he added, “Mine upgraded together with another ability, so I don’t even know how to level it separately.”
“Sigh, that kid hasn’t even leveled up once. Slower than a mental-type,” Li Qing said, then asked Lu Weiyi about Lu Xi’s level, recalling he was also a mental-type.
“…B-rank,” Lu Weiyi said. “mental types seem to be especially slow.”
“And you?” Li Qing already knew Lu Weiyi was also a mental-type.
“I’ve seen a few high-level mental zombies. Barely survived,” Lu Weiyi shrugged.
That kind of experience wasn’t something you could just learn, so Li Qing had nothing to say and went off to look at the cargo ship with the others.
“Ai Yi, you’re getting oil on Dad’s clothes.”
Zhuang Ai Yi had found the only recognizable item—a sausage. His little hand could just wrap around it. He tore it open and took a bite. His cheeks puffed up as he chewed. Hearing Zhuang Mingxu’s words, he quickly looked down—only to see the rest of his snacks had fallen all over the ground.
“Wow, I love these—brand name!” Dean, who was walking over from afar, saw the half wrapper in Ai Yi’s hand and excitedly ran over, picking up the fallen snacks and jumping around, showing them to Antonio beside him. “They’re from Korea—so tasty!”
“Ai Yi, I…” Dean looked down at Zhuang Ai Yi with eyes full of longing. He looked embarrassed, but couldn’t resist.
Zhuang Ai Yi understood immediately and generously handed over the half-eaten sausage. “Uncle, let’s share.”
“Thank you, Ai Yi!” Dean gave Zhuang Ai Yi a kiss and took a bite. He began bouncing in place and shouted at Antonio, “So good!”
“Lu.” Antonio looked over at Lu Weiyi.
Lu Weiyi maintained his composed demeanor. As soon as his lips curved into a deliberate smile, Antonio immediately raised his hand. “I guarantee the route will be cleared within a week.”
Lu Weiyi, satisfied, patted Dean’s golden hair and took out a bunch of snacks from his space to hand to him. “Take your time. There’s more when you finish.”
Dean and Zhuang Ai Yi held hands, each munching on snacks—best friends. Antonio stood beside them holding a pile, occasionally handing over a new one.
Zhuang Mingxu couldn’t stop smiling, walking at the back with Lu Weiyi, even unwrapping a snack for him. “My kid loves these too.”
“I’m already twenty-four,” Lu Weiyi replied, taking it without hesitation, a bright smile blooming on his face.
“No matter the age, you’re still a kid,” Zhuang Mingxu said cheerfully.
*
After dinner, Xu Sa began bragging again about how they got their haul that day.
Lu Weiyi and Zhuang Mingxu went into the study to talk about the space issue.
“It’s probably because the container was holding jade or something like that. I’ll have someone check it tomorrow,” Zhuang Mingxu said after thinking for a moment. “Usually sea freight carries bulk raw materials. Today was a mixed batch. If we ever run into a ship full of crude oil or natural gas, that’s when we really strike gold.”
“I’ll keep an eye out next time,” Lu Weiyi said seriously.
“No need—don’t go looking on purpose. I heard from Xu Sa that most of Pingjin Port is already gone. Lots of ships have disappeared too. No need to actively search. Even small boats like today’s are useful. We have nothing—we need everything,” Zhuang Mingxu explained, worried Lu Weiyi might take unnecessary risks. “Later I’ll have people clean up the South Island and build some warehouses specifically for storing backup supplies.”
Lu Weiyi had no objections.
After saying that, Zhuang Mingxu handed over a completed form from today and sighed. “I originally planned to develop the largest island—the North Island. But after seeing the ability users today, I think we should focus on the smallest—the West Island.”
“That bad?” Lu Weiyi asked, confused.
“Only half as strong as Li Zhuang,” Zhuang Mingxu covered his face. “Barely stronger than normal people.”
“Judging by their speed, I think we should give up on the North Island entirely. If more people come later, let them develop it themselves. We’ll let these folks live on the West Island—it’s about four or five square kilometers. Apart from housing, we’ll first develop 1,000 acres of farmland for crops. The rest goes toward defense structures.”
“Given the current pace, we’ll probably stay here for a month,” Zhuang Mingxu said. Seeing Lu Weiyi frown, he explained, “We need to find a way to build a bridge connecting to the mainland. Otherwise, once we leave, they’ll be stuck on the island. They need to hunt zombies to level up. Living in a paradise will only make them complacent. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
Lu Weiyi was starting to feel the burden of too many people. He pressed his lips together for a moment, then reluctantly said, “You handle it.”
Zhuang Mingxu dove into another round of planning. Lu Weiyi came out of the study and, before he could head for a shower, saw Gu Qingji wrapping an arm around Gu Qingyue’s waist, heading to their room.
His internal alarm bells went off. Lu Weiyi quickly said, “Short meeting.”
Gu Qingji froze and looked over.
Everyone in the living room turned to look curiously.
Lately, Lu Weiyi had been as lazy as possible—him actively calling a meeting was rare.
Ignoring everyone’s stares, he scanned the room and named names. “Except for Xiong Jie, Xi Shi, Antonio, Dean, and Zhuang Ai Yi, the rest of you—meeting room in 15 minutes. Someone go tell Li Qing.”
Antonio, hearing he was excluded, didn’t react at all. He grabbed an ice cream from the freezer, pulled Dean with him, and started heading back to the room. But then he caught Lu Weiyi’s glance and immediately said, “Guaranteed to finish in a week!”
Lu Weiyi ignored him and looked at Dean. “Have you learned your course content?”
Dean was stunned, then immediately stood up straight like a student being checked on by the teacher. “Working on it… trying!”
Lu Weiyi smiled good-naturedly. “You can either level up or master your ability. Otherwise… you’ll stay behind at the base.”
They had no idea how long they’d be gone on the trip to the Capital—once separated, who knew how long it would be.
Dean was dumbfounded. Even Antonio was stunned.
Lu Weiyi took a few steps forward and stuffed a handful of crystal cores into Dean’s arms. He patted the stunned little golden retriever and said warmly, “For a happy life, keep it up.”
“Lu—” Dean huffed angrily, “You, this, devil.”
With the two of them making a fuss, Xiong Jie lost interest in asking about being excluded and dragged Xi Shi into the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Weiyi arrived at the meeting room. The whole team was already there.
Lu Weiyi glanced around, then fixed his eyes on Xu Sa and bluntly asked, “Are you two together now?”
“…” Xu Sa was caught off guard by the direct question. He didn’t know how to respond and just opened his mouth as laughter broke out around him. He gave up and muttered, “No.”
“Mm,” Lu Weiyi turned to Gu Qingyue, who still had a smile on his face, but before he could speak, Gu Qingji, sensing something was off, quickly answered first, “No!”
Gu Qingyue froze for a moment, then his face flushed red.
Finally, Lu Weiyi looked at Lin Yimu, who was practically like a half father to him. Feeling embarrassed to ask, he skipped it and went straight to the point.
“I don’t advocate personal relationships being handled inside the team.”
When he said this, the meeting room went quiet. Everyone looked at each other, no one spoke.
Lu Weiyi rarely made demands of his teammates. Among this group, he was relatively young but powerful. If at first he had come along hoping to ride on others’ coattails, he had since earned everyone’s respect through strength and responsibility.
Even Antonio, who was worlds apart in personality, had no complaints about him—let alone the others.
Since he said it out loud, this was really how he felt.
“Explain why,” Xu Sa stepped forward.
“Zhuang Mingxu’s company once had two people who liked each other. They got together but after a while had a falling out and broke up. Then they started opposing each other at work and forming factions in life, until one gained the upper hand and the other resigned.”
This was an example Zhuang Mingxu had given his old squad members before, now being referenced by Lu Weiyi.
“You all face life-and-death situations. I don’t want personal relationships mishandled to cause danger, or even worse, drag teammates down,” Lu Weiyi said calmly as he looked around.
