"Can you really come back to life many times?"
Although it was impolite to probe so deeply, Ning Yu, taking advantage of her young appearance, asked brazenly.
"Hehe, that's my secret, I'm not telling you."
Ji Mengyao playfully stuck out her tongue at Ning Yu, acting like she wouldn't reveal anything.
Ning Yu couldn't help but laugh. This person was like a female hooligan one moment and a child the next.
"Well... tell me about the base then?"
She decided to change the subject, wanting to learn more intelligence about the settlement.
Based on the system's mission prompts, this settlement seemed to have been named 'Ark' by them.
"No problem~"
Ji Mengyao agreed readily, also hoping in her heart to attract Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue to join them with this information.
"I'm not actually clear about how it started, as I joined partway through."
"The settlement is called 'Ark.' When the apocalypse first began, I heard about it through radio broadcasts and came here."
"The key figure in Ark is called Zhuang Wugou, we usually call him Old Zhuang, and he founded the entire settlement. Everything about Awakened Ones and serums, it was all taught to us by Old Zhuang."
Huh?
Ning Yu seemed to have heard something very important.
Her intelligence had all come from the system, so why did this Zhuang Wugou know so much?
"He's an Awakened One himself, apparently in the intelligence category."
Ji Mengyao pointed to her head to indicate this, then showed an envious expression:
"Ah... I want that kind of ability too. My useless power just makes me an unkillable cockroach... not cool at all..."
Sister, please, your ability is super powerful!
Ning Yu felt helpless hearing such luxurious complaints.
"Well, anyway, Old Zhuang is incredibly smart, and he manages Ark very systematically."
"He organized us Awakened Ones too, and Ark is divided into many groups, each with different functions."
Ji Mengyao suddenly raised one hand, counting off on her fingers the departments she could remember:
"Like us, we're usually in the exploration team, and some special Awakened Ones are in other groups."
"There's the logistics group, responsible for coordinating and managing the base's resources."
"Then there's the security group, responsible for maintaining order within Ark."
"And there's the research group he personally leads, always working on amazing things, like the serum they just gave you and the serum extractor you saw."
Ning Yu listened intently, shocked in her heart.
The apocalypse had only happened a few months ago, and human order had collapsed extremely quickly, obviously related to the mutant zombies.
Yet someone had managed to organize humans together from the very beginning under such adverse conditions.
Managing an entire base systematically, even developing various new things.
How was this possible?
Could this Zhuang Wugou be like those protagonists from web novels:
Someone who had been reborn before the apocalypse with future knowledge, then extensively developed resources, became a ruler, and gathered a harem?
Ning Yu suddenly became curious about this person.
Ji Mengyao saw Ning Yu fall into deep thought and assumed she was impressed by how amazing Ark was.
She couldn't help but raise her little head proudly and continued telling Ning Yu:
"Let me tell you, Old Zhuang is the most impressive of all. Besides managing Ark so well, he's also the busiest person in the entire base."
"He's like the brain of our operation, handling numerous matters every day, often working until very late."
"There's not a single person among us who doesn't admire him."
What exactly was he trying to accomplish by putting so much effort into establishing Ark?
As Ji Mengyao spoke more, Ning Yu's curiosity grew even stronger.
"Hehe, you'll understand when you meet him!"
Ji Mengyao finally said, turning her attention back to driving.
"Me? Do I have to meet him?"
Ning Yu pointed to herself, questioning.
"Ah, not necessarily, but if you decide to join, he'll definitely want to meet you personally~"
Ji Mengyao realized she had again assumed Ning Yu and her companion would join, and showed an embarrassed smile.
"What exactly was your Ark built for?"
Ning Yu asked a key question.
"What for? That's a strange question - to survive, of course!"
Ji Mengyao's face was full of question marks, feeling Ning Yu had asked something obvious, then continued:
"You should ask him that question yourself, since he's the one who built Ark."
"I just think it feels good, everyone sticking together, fighting and working hard to survive."
She reached into her pocket, planning to light another cigarette, giving Ning Yu a questioning look.
Ning Yu smiled and said:
"Go ahead, don't mind me."
"Hehe~"
She happily lit up another one, puffing away.
On the deserted highway, their pickup truck was its only visitor.
The outline of a city began to appear in the distance - they were approaching the so-called Yida Plaza.
This place was in a very remote part of City A but was also a massive commercial center.
It was said that City A's government had once planned to attract talent to settle here, bring in international capital, and build residential areas, office buildings, entertainment centers, and various other facilities.
They probably wanted to develop it into a new key urban district.
Of course, after the apocalypse began, none of that mattered anymore.
Choosing this location for a base was indeed an excellent choice.
The population density was sparse, the space was large, and while close to forested areas, it still had adequate modern facilities.
After entering the city, zombies became more numerous, and the pickup truck sped up.
There were constant thumping sounds as careless zombies blocking the road were sent flying by the pickup truck.
Wu Di protected the children, taking out weapons to guard against any zombies trying to jump aboard.
Shen Yiyue also temporarily stopped chatting with her sister to help Wu Di with defense.
Ning Yu wasn't too worried about her getting bitten now.
With [Future Reading], Ning Yu was more curious about whether she could dodge bullets.
Though that was just idle speculation.
Suddenly, a large truck pulled up beside the pickup, driving parallel to it.
The two vehicles maintained the same speed, relatively stationary on the highway.
"Hey~ if it isn't Mengyao, want to drink together tonight?"
From the truck's driver's seat, a young man wearing sunglasses and beach attire leisurely opened his window.
He rolled down the window, rested his arm on it, and leaned out to chat with Ji Mengyao.
"No time, drink by yourself."
"Did you go out for supplies today?"
Ji Mengyao coldly refused, not even turning her head, just asking him a question.
Ning Yu looked back and her pupils contracted sharply:
Behind that large truck were zombies locked in iron cages!
There must have been seventy or eighty of them, howling and struggling in the cages, but the sturdy iron cages held them securely.
The children in the pickup were frightened for a moment, though these zombies couldn't possibly break through the solid cages - they just looked scary.
"You bet, today was a great harvest! This'll last us quite a while!"