Chapter 320
“Let’s go to the new settlement,” Tang Sheng said.
“Brother Jin Mang, what’s the deal with this teleportation array?” Chen Jianjiang asked, sounding noticeably more respectful. “Does magic really exist in this world?”
Of course, what he was even more curious about was the origin of the Peace Trade Association.
With such astonishing powers at its disposal, there was no way an organization like this could have been completely unknown. And yet, before the apocalypse, he had never even heard of it.
Could it be some secret government agency?
Naturally, Tang Sheng didn’t answer—after all, he didn’t know either.
He led Chen Jianjiang and the two guards onto the teleportation array, and when the blinding light faded, they found themselves in the trailer of a camper on this new plane.
The camper was still inside a flyer’s hangar, so when they looked out the window, all they could see was a dimly lit, enclosed space.
Faint sounds from the outside filtered in.
To Chen Jianjiang, the sound was like a tiger’s roar—but far more terrifying.
“What is that?” he asked.
Tang Sheng didn’t know either. This was his first time in the Wasteland World. His son hadn’t told him much—only instructed him to bring the visitors to Store No. 1 and that he could leave afterward.
After a moment’s hesitation, he opened the door and stepped out of the camper to approach the window.
Since he wore a mask, his facial expression was completely hidden, so Chen Jianjiang and the others couldn’t read his reaction. But seeing him step out, they followed as well.
They crowded around the window and looked out.
The flyer was hovering above the refugee camp, giving them a clear view—and they clearly saw a giant tiger the size of a small mountain.
That wasn’t an exaggeration—it really was mountain-sized!
“Brother Jin Mang, is… is that a mutation?”
Tang Sheng’s face was grim. He had heard his son mention mutated creatures before, but this was his first time seeing one—and it was far more terrifying than he had imagined.
So this was the environment An’an and Zhou Qi had grown up in?
While he felt pride and comfort, he also couldn’t help but feel guilt and heartache for not being there during his son’s formative years.
“That’s a mutated creature,” he said, then turned and headed back toward the camper.
Mutated creature?
Chen Jianjiang and the two soldiers watched Tang Sheng’s retreating figure, then glanced again out the window at the bloodthirsty, berserk giant tiger—momentarily stunned and overwhelmed.
So… was this new sanctuary really safer than their little city?
Perhaps the only reassuring part was that the giant tiger couldn’t even step close to the mountains below—likely due to the protective barrier.
At Tang Sheng’s urging, the three finally tore their eyes away and returned to the camper. Together, they teleported to Store No. 1.
Teleportation Room, Store No. 1
Old Li was already waiting inside, having received word in advance.
Seeing the three disheveled, dirty “refugees,” he wasn’t surprised—
After all, with the power and water systems still down, the residents of the small city didn’t have the means to bathe. Chen Jianjiang and his men looked absolutely grimy.
Old Li’s eyes fell on Tang Sheng.
Tang Sheng wasn’t dressed as the “Pillow Man” superhero. Instead, he wore a black-and-gold mask and a black cloak—clearly the garb of a Divine Emissary. But this specific mask had never been seen before—not by Old Li, nor on any forum.
“I am the mysterious merchant, Jin Mang.”
Tang Sheng had heard his son mention Old Li before. He truly respected the old man, whom his son affectionately called “Grandpa” and who had helped them greatly.
But since he was now playing the role of a Divine Emissary, he had to maintain the proper demeanor.
“They’ll stay in the Desolate City Haven for a day or two. Just arrange accommodations for them like any other residents.”
He turned to Chen Jianjiang and said, “When you’re ready to leave, send me a message on the board. I’ll come pick you up.”
Old Li sized up this new emissary. Though he hadn’t interacted much with the other three Divine Emissaries, he felt that Jin Mang seemed… a bit more down-to-earth in his speech and behavior.
After finishing his instructions, Tang Sheng used the teleportation array and left again.
Chen Jianjiang hadn’t expected him to leave so abruptly, but decided to go with the flow and quickly composed himself.
He introduced himself to Old Li, then explained, “We have a group of people who need to come here—many of them pregnant and due soon. So we’re here to assess the environment first.”
Old Li scrutinized him more carefully. Although these three had been personally brought by a Divine Emissary, he hadn’t paid much attention to them at first.
But now, hearing Chen Jianjiang’s polite tone and his words, Old Li’s internal radar went off.
Could they be from the same place as those naive goody-two-shoes?
A smile spread across Old Li’s face. He nodded and said, “Of course, of course. Let’s get you cleaned up first. Once you’ve completed the check-in process, you’re free to move about…”
Old Li had full confidence in the settlement.
Since becoming the manager of Store No. 1, he’d gained access to renovation permissions and opened the furniture store.
Now, every dorm in the sanctuary had power lines installed—of course, since electricity wasn’t free, only some residents actually used electric lighting.
Others still used mutated lantern fruits for illumination—but those were also purchased from the settlement, so Old Li didn’t mind.
In addition to power, many public areas and some private dorms were now equipped with flushing toilets.
The newly built dorm buildings had been constructed following the blueprints provided by construction robots, which naturally included toilet facilities. These hadn’t been used before due to water shortages.
But now that water was no longer an issue, convenience took priority.
This allowed for timely waste disposal, eliminating bad odors and improving hygiene—a great benefit for the infirmary and maternity ward.
Old Li had also bought sample furniture from the furniture store and formed a workshop group to replicate the designs—laying the groundwork for future factory production.
Due to the construction of the grassland ranch, although cattle and sheep breeding hadn’t yet reached large scale, the children could already drink fresh cow and goat milk every day.
The poultry farms for chickens, ducks, and geese had also been developed, so there was no shortage of meat or eggs.
Beyond food, other supporting facilities in the sanctuary were gradually being improved. For instance, a local area network had already been established, allowing employees and key personnel to use light-brain devices for communication, study, and recordkeeping.
Compared to the world Old Li remembered, there was still a lot lacking—but for now, he was very satisfied.
He dared to say that, on this wasteland, there was no place more suitable for living than the Desolate City Haven.
That’s why Old Li wasn’t the least bit worried that Chen Jianjiang and his group might give the sanctuary a poor evaluation. On the contrary, he already saw these soon-to-arrive “talents” as people firmly within his grasp, and was quietly planning their placements in his mind.
He looked at Chen Jianjiang and the other two with a smile and said, “Of course, the prerequisite is that you must follow the rules of the settlement.”
Since the northern Grocery Store where Chen Jianjiang was based had not been strictly managed by Tang Sheng, they hadn’t yet experienced the true force of the overnight stay regulations.
Listening to Old Li explain the rules, they all nodded in understanding.
To them, the rules seemed perfectly reasonable—no public urination or defecation, no loud noises after 9 p.m., and so on. These were just normal, basic rules of any civilized community.
Seeing their reactions, Old Li couldn’t help but feel a bit odd.
From their condition upon arrival, it was clear that the place they came from wasn’t safe either.
Yet each of them had received good education, and they were well-behaved.
Since they’d arrived, aside from a few minor violations of the 9 p.m. noise rule, they had strictly followed all the other rules—exemplary citizens, really.
Maybe they really were from another planet, just like they said.
*
When Tang Sheng returned to the trailer, he found the lights on—Tang Xueyun was waiting for him.
“Where are An’an and Zhou Qi?”
“They went out,” she replied.
Tang Sheng frowned and walked over to the window, clearly concerned.
“Don’t worry, they promised to stay within the protective barrier. They won’t take any risks,” Tang Xueyun reassured him.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi had been gone for over ten hours, which meant nearly two days had passed on this plane.
Chi Hao had already completed construction of the Qingmu Grocery Store Branch No. 2 and activated the protective barrier. He had also accumulated enough popularity to upgrade Qingmu Branch No. 2.
So, Tang Yu’an upgraded both stores to Lv4. In addition to existing features, they now had 24/7 protection from attacks.
In other words, even during daytime business hours, outsiders could no longer use long-range attacks on the buildings or personnel inside the Grocery Stores.
This powerful function required 100,000 store popularity points and 1,000,000 credits.
Fortunately, Chi Hao had been grinding levels intensely, and most customers were new, which helped generate enough store popularity to support the upgrade.
Thanks to the merged protective barrier feature, only one store needed to activate the barrier—otherwise, the popularity points wouldn’t have been enough.
Tang Yu’an also upgraded Store No. 1 to Level 4 and enabled the same protection.
With this, the final weakness of the settlement had been addressed—truly turning it into a fortress stronger than any bunker.
After successfully expanding the overnight accommodation capacity, Tang Yu’an issued a new task to build a third store.
This new store would be located inside Qingmu Fortress.
Thanks to the fenced corridor he’d previously built, the protective barrier of the new store could also be linked to the others.
With the intelligence of Hongli and Xie Zhaori, Tang Yu’an believed the Qingmu Grocery Store would flourish.
Maybe, someday, they could even build a Qingmu Settlement here.
Because the combined overnight capacity of the two branch stores was only around 220,000 people, the main store still had to remain here to anchor the system—so Tang Yu’an didn’t move the camper just yet.
However, he had already decided to take a trip to another dimension.
“You’re going to another plane again? Isn’t that dangerous?” Tang Xueyun and Tang Sheng both looked worried.
“No, it’s fine. We’ve already built a branch store there,” Tang Yu’an said. “And the dragon race is intelligent—they’re friendly toward us.”
Yes, Tang Yu’an had decided to return to the Fire Dragon Clan.
Besides checking in on the little red bird that stayed behind to train and treat the dragon hatchlings, he also wanted to make more trades.
Lately, his points had been draining like water. His balance had dropped from over twenty million to just a few million—and was now about to fall below five million.
Finally sensing the urgency, Tang Yu’an planned to farm more credits from the dragons. If that wasn’t enough, he’d do business with the giants too.
They’d been gone for two or three months by now—surely the giants were running out of supplies.
No matter what, he needed to rack up more credits quickly!
