Chapter 257
Plane MR168845.
“They sent us a lot of supplies again this time!”
Inside a magic tent, Tang Sheng unpacked the materials from his spatial bag and loaded the books they received in exchange.
They had been through a lot lately.
At first, those two young men were part of the Self-Defense Force. After rescuing a couple, they also informed their fellow members that this place had a way to exchange for food.
The Self-Defense Force in this small town was quite large, with a population of over ten thousand.
A stable source of food was rare in the apocalypse, and when word got out, the survivors went into a frenzy.
This led to chaos at the start.
Sensing the danger, Tang Sheng hid himself and refused to trade. He was willing to help others, but not at the cost of endangering his own family.
From inside the tent, he monitored the situation outside using his AI light-brain.
Fortunately, there were still more good people than bad in this world, and the higher-ups of the Self-Defense Force were competent. In less than a day, they quelled the chaos and captured the criminals who tried to loot in the confusion.
After confirming that these two streets were temporarily safe—thanks to the elimination of high-level mutants—the Self-Defense Force took control of the area and even moved their base here.
They also respected Tang Sheng’s decision to halt trading, understanding his caution. Instead of pressuring him, they withdrew their members from the supply truck’s surroundings, creating a buffer zone. Only Lin Hui and Wang Xujun were assigned as representatives to negotiate.
Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun watched all of this through their AI systems.
They had to admit—the Self-Defense Force in this town was quite capable.
With such organization and discipline, Tang Sheng even thought they might be able to take back the town if things didn’t worsen.
Tang Xueyun, however, was more pessimistic.
With high-level mutants now reproducing, it was only a matter of time before their numbers surged—and when that happened, the Self-Defense Force would eventually collapse.
“But with the supplies and weapons sent by An’an and Xiao Qi, maybe things won’t be so bad?”
If they worked together, perhaps they could build a true refuge in this apocalypse.
With this thought, Tang Sheng resumed trading.
Every afternoon, Lin Hui and Wang Xujun brought bartered goods from the Self-Defense Force to exchange for supplies.
Of course, even with over ten thousand members, the force couldn’t completely feed everyone with these resources. But it was still a significant improvement compared to before.
The Self-Defense Force, once on the brink of collapse after a cannibalism incident, regained its unity thanks to Tang Sheng’s supplies.
They also had hydroponic vegetables, but now, with Tang Sheng’s seeds—such as wheat—they could grow fast-yield crops.
After just one week, the first group of survivors was already harvesting wheat sprouts to eat.
They could replant after harvesting, and although it required patience, the fact that they could grow food through their own labor was invaluable in the apocalypse.
These people were educated survivors of modern society. As long as hope remained, they would persevere—meaning fewer people would resort to desperate measures.
Aside from wheat and mung beans, Tang Sheng also gave them Star-chain fruit seeds.
These red, tomato-like fruits tasted delicious and, according to An’an, grew incredibly fast—perfect for an apocalypse suffering from food shortages.
And indeed, within just three to four days, even without wood-elemental abilities to accelerate growth, their progress was astonishing.
The Self-Defense Force planted Star-chain vines under wire fences, and every morning, they woke up to find the vines had grown significantly overnight.
Now, over a dozen Star-chain vines had already covered most of the fence.
Even just harvesting their leaves could help feed some of the survivors.
But this fragile peace depended on mutants not attacking.
To protect their hard-earned gains, the Self-Defense Force not only bartered for resources but also reinforced their defenses—using large obstacles to block entrances and setting up 24-hour patrols.
It made the streets more crowded, and some people had to sleep outdoors, but at least they had a stable foothold—unlike before, when everything was in total disarray.
Tang Sheng quickly stored the exchanged goods in his spatial bag.
Whether his son needed them or not, he had to send them over—there was no space to store them here anyway.
At that moment, Tang Xueyun opened an insulated box, took out its contents, and said:
“Is this the physique-enhancing egg that An’an mentioned?”
“It should be.” Tang Sheng nodded.
Tang Xueyun then called over their daughter and told her to eat one first.
Both Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun had awakened abilities, but Tang Yuxin hadn’t shown any changes yet.
Since this egg could improve physique, she should eat it first.
Tang Yuxin quickly finished the egg, but soon after, she clutched her stomach and ran to the toilet.
“Looks like it’s working.”
“Well, An’an did say it would cleanse impurities. Once the body expels them, she’ll be much stronger.”
They then recorded a video, detailing everything they had done and sending it to their two children.
*
Peace Grocery Store Attic
After Tang Yu’an’an filled the self-filling insulated water bottle, he sealed it in a drift bottle and tossed it into Dream Sea.
Even though the bottle was a Lv3 magical item, they couldn’t upgrade the store yet.
Upgrading to Lv4 required the merchant level to reach Level 30.
Currently, he was only at Lv24—it would take some time.
But with Lin Hai Town and Purple Sky Fortress developing, his leveling speed would soon increase.
Watching the drift bottle disappear into Dream Sea, Tang Yu’an’an activated the accelerator.
Soon, three more drift bottles returned!
He opened his parents’ bottle first.
To his surprise, the spatial bag inside wasn’t empty—it was filled with books and various daily necessities!
Where did Mom and Dad get all this stuff?
Curious, he opened his AI light-brain and watched the video from Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun, detailing their recent experiences.
He listened intently as they explained everything.
Tang Sheng even filmed their small stronghold using the AI system.
Originally, they wanted to show him their progress, but as Tang Yu’an’an saw the overcrowded survivors and his family crammed inside a truck, he frowned.
It’s way too crowded!
Short-term, it was manageable. Long-term, this would be a problem.
This stronghold needs expansion!
But since he couldn’t return home or build a branch store to activate a protective barrier, they would need defensive structures.
He immediately thought of the five construction robots he had just bought from the Seven-Day Special Sale.
I’ll send the robots back!
These robots could adjust designs based on real-world conditions and build much faster than humans.
But they needed construction materials…
The old world probably had some, but just in case, he would send extra materials through the Storage Cabinet.
With its 1,000 cubic meters of space, it could hold a massive amount of supplies.
Once the supplies were delivered, he could also bring back whatever his parents traded.
After all, the goods they sent were incredibly useful!
Even though some items were available in the system, they required points to exchange.
Now, with markets in Desolate City Haven, Lin Hai Town, Lan Hu Town, and Purple Sky Fortress, there was no shortage of buyers.
Even just listing them in the forum trading section would make huge profits!
However, for now, Tang Yu’an wasn’t planning to do that. After all, the points used by the employees for transactions came from the salaries he issued, meaning the total amount of points remained unchanged, merely transferring between employees. Plus, the system would also deduct a transaction fee.
Therefore, it was best to trade with customers, as that would generate more points.
Tang Yu’an separated the books from the supplies—these were non-sellable items.
Among them, he also found several books related to pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. While they couldn’t replace professional expertise, they were certainly better than having no experience at all.
He had heard that two pregnant women had already moved into the maternity ward to await childbirth, so these books could come in handy!
After setting aside a few novels he was personally interested in, he sent the books and some daily necessities to the warehouse at Wasteland Haven and then messaged Old Li.
Now that the private messaging feature was available for friends, communication was much more convenient than before!
Old Li quickly responded.
[Changqing]: These daily necessities don’t have a set price. Should they be sold to the residents?
Tang Yu’an quickly replied, saying he would provide a price list later. Seeing that Grandpa Li had no other questions, he closed the interface.
The price list could only be generated through the item appraisal function, but he didn’t have time for that now, so he would handle it later.
Tang Yu’an then looked at the other two drift bottles—one from Morsang of the Beastmen Realm and the other from Turs of the Magic Realm.
He opened Morsang’s bottle first.
Her tribe had successfully overcome the malaria crisis, and now she hoped to obtain other supplies, such as salt and plant seeds.
This time, she had stuffed the bottle full of feathers, which were materials for making Swift Feathers.
“Our tribe has some other good materials, but the bottle is too small to fit them, so I could only send you feathers.”
Tang Yu’an collected the feathers, then hesitated.
Should he buy a spatial pouch to make trading with Morsang easier? But purchasing one from the Dimensional Merchant Shop required 200,000 to 300,000 points, and he was reluctant to spend that much.
Next, he turned to Turs’s drift bottle.
It had been a while since he last received a bottle from him—maybe there was good news this time?
With that thought, Tang Yu’an opened Turs’s bottle. Inside, he saw what appeared to be a small embroidered pouch. Could it be that Turs had finally succeeded in creating a spatial pouch?
Aside from the pouch, there was also a Light Brain device and a mini stone cabinet.
Tang Yu’an activated the Light Brain, and an exhausted yet excited Turs appeared on the screen.
“Dear An, sorry to keep you waiting.”
Turs held up the embroidered pouch from the drift bottle and demonstrated, “I have successfully created half of the storage bag you described.”
He picked up a book, and as soon as one corner of the book entered the pouch’s opening, the entire book automatically shrank and fell inside.
“This way, even people without mental energy can use it. However, the only downside is that they can’t reach inside to retrieve items.”
As he spoke, he put his hand into the pouch, and through the camera—
Turs’s hand shrank! But the rest of his body, which remained outside the pouch, stayed its original size.
“Any part of the body that enters the pouch will shrink, but the whole person cannot enter, as they would get stuck in the middle. Fortunately, everything returns to normal once removed.”
“I haven’t fully figured out how to shrink living beings yet, so it will take more time.”
Turs withdrew his hand, which instantly returned to its normal size.
“To retrieve items, one has to dump them out. However, if someone has mental energy or mobility-type magic, they can retrieve items like with a standard spatial device.”
“I’m sorry, but my resources here are too limited. If I had more suitable beast hides, beast blood, and minerals, I could speed up my research.”
“For now, you can use this semi-finished bag. Also, the materials you sent last time have all been crafted into inscribed equipment, which you’ll find in the stone cabinet.”
“Since so much time has passed, our food supplies are running low again. I hope we can trade for more food this time.”
Wow! A storage bag that functioned almost like a spatial pouch!
Although it was a prototype with some limitations, compared to a 200,000 to 300,000-point spatial pouch, these minor flaws were completely negligible!
Tang Yu’an tested it out, and sure enough, it worked just as Turs demonstrated.
Then, he carried the mini stone cabinet to the alternate dimension, restored it to its original size, and retrieved all the weapons and equipment inside.
Because he had sent a large batch of materials last time, this time, the number of returned items was also high. Each piece was of excellent quality, and two of them were even embedded with crystals!
Judging by the color, they seemed to be earth-element crystals, capable of generating a protective shield when attacked.
What a pleasant surprise! Tang Yu’an stored the equipment away and happily began packing supplies into the stone cabinet.
This time, in addition to flour and other raw ingredients, he also included processed foods such as compressed biscuits, bulk dried noodles, sausages, and meat products.
Then, he took out a handful of crystals, packed them in a box, and placed them inside the cabinet, followed by a variety of miscellaneous materials.
Since Turs had mentioned minerals, he added some raw iron ore and magnetite as well.
Unfortunately, the cabinet was too small to fit much more.
They still needed more spatial pouches!
After shrinking the stone cabinet again, Tang Yu’an returned to the attic and used the Light Brain to ask Turs what specific materials were needed to craft more pouches and equipment.
Right now, his parents needed these supplies the most. Having weapons and gear would improve the survival and combat capabilities of the self-defense force.
Strength lay in numbers, and Tang Yu’an saw no issue with his parents trading supplies with the self-defense force.
Of course, the prerequisite was that they could protect themselves.
If only he could recruit his parents as employees…
That way, they could stay in direct contact and earn points through transactions, allowing them to exchange for even more resources.
Unfortunately, there were only two ways to recruit employees—face-to-face recruitment or through the glowing dots on the map.
Neither method worked in this case.
Tang Yu’an shook his head and placed the mini stone cabinet and Light Brain back into the drift bottle. He also added some seeds—
Although living beings couldn’t be placed inside the mini stone cabinet, the drift bottle had no such restriction!
However, since Turs and his people lived underground without sunlight, many plants wouldn’t grow well. So, Tang Yu’an mainly included soybeans and sweet potatoes.
After tossing Turs’s bottle into the Dream Sea, he filled the mini pouch with various items until it was bulging, then stopped.
Finally, he picked up Morsang’s bottle.
“Morsang, I would like more beast materials. If you can provide them, I can offer you additional supplies.”
He packed the mini pouch with samples of the goods he sold, so she could see what was available.
Then, he explained how to use the mini pouch. After checking everything, he placed the pouch inside the bottle and sent it back into the Dream Sea.
With everything done, Tang Yu’an was about to organize his inventory before sending supplies to his parents when he heard a noise from downstairs.
He paused, realizing something, and quickly ran downstairs.
There, in the bathtub, Zhou Qi had woken up. Not only had his black hair and dark eyes returned, but his beautiful fishtail had also disappeared.
Although it was a little disappointing, Tang Yu’an was more relieved than anything.
“Brother Qi, you’ve finally recovered!” he exclaimed joyfully, running over.
Still in a daze, Zhou Qi instinctively grabbed a blanket from the sofa and wrapped it around himself.
He moved so swiftly that Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but notice.
Thinking of something, Tang Yu’an’s face turned slightly red. Instead of continuing forward, he stopped in place and averted his gaze.
Zhou Qi breathed a sigh of relief, quickly drying off before retrieving clothes from his storage space and getting dressed.
“An An.”
Only then did Tang Yu’an turn back to look at him. Compared to before, Zhou Qi hadn’t changed much—except that his aura seemed even stronger.
“Brother Qi, are you completely better now?”
Zhou Qi nodded slightly and sat down on the sofa.
“What happened while I was unconscious?”
Wait—did Brother Qi not remember turning into a mermaid?!
Tang Yu’an sat down beside him and briefly recounted what had happened during this time. Of course, he instinctively skipped over the part about him turning into a mermaid.
“You opened a new branch in Purple Sky Fortress?”
“Mm!” Tang Yu’an replied with a smile. “I even hired a new employee. He’s the captain of the fishing team…”
As he listened to the boy’s lively storytelling, Zhou Qi’s lips curved slightly. But while he felt comforted, a tinge of sadness crept into his heart.
An’an could now handle things on his own and no longer needed him the way he used to.
Zhou Qi concealed his complicated emotions and continued listening as Tang Yu’an spoke about how he had handled the Dream Drift Bottles before playing the video recordings of Tang Sheng and the others.
Watching the footage and hearing Tang Yu’an’s thoughts, Zhou Qi pondered for a moment before suddenly saying, “Then let me go back and recruit Uncle Tang and Aunt Tang as employees.”
Tang Yu’an was stunned.
That’s right—Brother Qi, as the branch manager, had the authority to hire employees!
But he quickly thought of a major drawback. “But if you go back, you’ll have to stay in the Spirit Storage Bag for ten to twenty days, and you’ll also have to drift through the Dream Sea. No one knows what dangers might arise…”
However, Zhou Qi simply said, “After devouring the Water Spirit Bug this time, my abilities have strengthened.”
“I can petrify myself—or turn into water.”
