When Xiao Fan gave it the name "Xiao Ba", Xiao Ba was clearly very happy.
Gurgle gurgle!!!
After spitting out two strings of bubbles, Xiao Ba plunged into the Haoyuan River.
Its huge body stirred up waves several meters high, and its tentacles were still floating on the water as it spun around a few times in place.
For its massive body, this river was clearly a bit small, and it seemed like it couldn't stretch out fully.
Xiao Fan thought of a question and asked Annie: "Xiao Ba must be a marine creature, right? Can it survive in freshwater?"
"Don't worry, Commander. The creatures in the Red Alert system have extremely strong adaptability. It'll be fine."
Only then did Xiao Fan feel reassured. With a thought, Xiao Ba stopped frolicking and came before Xiao Fan.
Although this guy looked massive, to Xiao Fan, it currently seemed to be in its infancy.
Red Alert units could upgrade to three stars, and it was currently at zero stars.
In the game, the giant octopus needed to drag a battleship into the sea to upgrade, but here there was no sea or battleship for it to drag, so Xiao Fan didn't know how it would upgrade.
However, Xiao Fan believed that once Xiao Ba grew to three stars, it might truly have the ability to capsize ordinary battleships.
On a whim, Xiao Fan jumped directly onto Xiao Ba's head.
"You all drive back. I'll ride Xiao Ba upstream back to base."
At Xiao Fan's command, Xiao Ba sped forward in the river.
Its enormous body was like a speedboat, kicking up towering waves as it moved upstream.
The ten-kilometer journey was even faster than when they came on motorcycles, and soon the base's water gate came into view.
Spotting the commander's return, the soldiers in the watchtower above the water gate immediately noticed.
They immediately activated the water gate's winch, and with a clanking sound, the water gate rose.
Xiao Ba passed through the water gate into the outer city, continuing upstream, and the soldiers in the watchtower above the second water gate opened the second gate.
After passing through the second water gate, they had entered the inner city.
Xiao Ba swung its head and tail, coming all the way to the location Xiao Fan had designated for his official residence - a huge pond.
Entering the pond, Xiao Ba extended a massive tentacle and directly deposited Xiao Fan on shore.
Gurgle gurgle!!!
Blowing out a string of bubbles, it lay down in the pond, poking out half its head.
That was because its body was too large to fully submerge in the pond.
Xiao Fan took a look and immediately ordered: "Send a squad of engineers to expand this pond by a circle, and then dig five meters deeper, so Xiao Ba can rest here fully."
Soon, engineers arrived with excavators and began working.
Xiao Ba temporarily stayed in the river water while the soldiers prepared its new home.
During this process, Xiao Fan often saw a long tentacle shoot up into the sky. Each time it appeared, it would slap a large fish out, coil around it, and bring it to its mouth.
This scene looked quite magical. It was fortunate there were no other survivors around, or they would've been scared to death.
Xiao Fan was very satisfied with what came out of this supply crate.
He even instructed the kitchen staff to come over and try to give Xiao Ba extra meals every day to help it grow faster.
Since there were no ships for it to drag into the water, its upgrade method was likely through eating.
Strictly speaking, Xiao Ba was also a type of mutant beast, but one that was completely subservient to him.
From that day on, Xiao Fan found a lot of enjoyment.
Whenever he returned from the construction site, he would come to the pond to feed Xiao Ba.
The kitchen staff steamed many extra buns for Xiao Ba, and they would bring Xiao Fan two sacks each time for him to toss to Xiao Ba.
Xiao Ba wasn't picky - it ate whatever buns or pastries Xiao Fan threw, without discrimination.
But its size hardly seemed to grow at all, which made Xiao Fan a bit anxious.
Meanwhile, work at the construction site continued full steam ahead, and Xiao Fan patiently waited for the arrival of the base vehicles.
Five more days slipped by quietly.
********
Yanshan Town.
Jiangnan Spring Hotel.
First floor.
With a clang, Wang Dajiang slammed his rice bowl onto the table, scattering rice everywhere.
"What is this stuff! Just a bit of corn and eggplant, and regular pork, with canned sardines as the fish? Where are the fresh fish? The mutant beast meat? Why do I have to eat this garbage?"
A survivor sitting nearby tried to reason with him: "This is already pretty good given the current situation. We're lucky to have this to eat."
"Good my ass!"
Wang Dajiang was unsatisfied. "Look at how Xiao Zhenyuan and the others upstairs live."
"Well, he is Xiao Fan's father after all. It's normal for them to eat a bit better."
"What about the school? The students there eat better too."
"Xiao Tian is Xiao Fan's sister, so it's normal for her to eat well there."
"Okay, fine, all that's normal. Then what about the police station? Those soldiers eat well too, is that normal? I've put up with all that, but why does that new host get to live even better than me without doing any work at all? Every day she just dolls herself up and has to suck on those vocal cords. Why does she deserve better than me?"
The others fell silent, as they didn't understand why that host didn't have to work either.
But they didn't dare say anything, lest Xiao Fan's people find out and take it badly.
Wang Dajiang didn't care anymore. With a gloomy expression, he said, "Since that's how it is, we don't need to keep worrying about their opinion of us. I'm going to contact Leader Guo Mingjie right now. I'm sure he'll be willing to take on our group of able-bodied survivors."
The others looked to Wang Dajiang and followed his lead.
If they could leave Yanshan Town and go to the Hot Spring Resort, that would be ideal.
Filled with confidence, Wang Dajiang went to contact them over the radio.
He was very sure of himself - in the apocalypse, manpower was crucial, and he didn't believe Guo Mingjie's side would refuse to take on their able group of survivors.
Soon, the radio connected.
"Leader Guo, yes yes, I was introduced by Little Zhang. My name is Wang Dajiang. We're under Xiao Fan in Yanshan Town, but we've been treated unfairly here, so we want to..."
The voice on the other end of the radio asked, "You said you're from where? Under who?"
"Yanshan Town, under Xiao Fan."
"Ah, pass my regards to Leader Xiao. That's all."
The radio channel was cut off, and the conversation ended.
Wang Dajiang stood dazed, unsure what had just happened.
After a while, he refused to believe it. If the Hot Spring Resort didn't accept them, he didn't believe there wouldn't be other places that would.
Next, he contacted the Airport Base.
Accepting survivors was a big deal, so An Lan personally spoke with him.
After hearing him out, An Lan said a bit wistfully, "Tell Xiao Fan, I don't want any dead weight. If he insists on sending them to me, he can come see me himself."
The radio was cut off again.
Undeterred, Wang Dajiang finally managed to get through to someone in charge at the Prison Base through his connections.
The person's response to him was a single word:
"Scram!"