Chapter 43: May We Meet Again
After receiving the reward item, Cheng Qisheng instantly perked up.
How much? A floating farm? Three thousand mu?!
The way she looked at Yu Zhitian immediately became as gentle as could be. If they had shared a believer’s link, Cheng Qisheng would have wanted nothing more than to pat her on the head in excitement.
It hadn’t been for nothing that she had instructed Blue Sea to give Dr. Yu their full cooperation. A reward had finally come through.
Cheng Qisheng immediately accepted the floating farmland. Watching it hover high in the air, complete with an “elevator” beneath it for access, she opened its information panel.
Special Item: Tier 1 Floating Farmland (3,000 mu)
Item Attributes: Can be upgraded; can be expanded
Service Life: Self-renewing, permanently usable (requires 300 crystals in annual maintenance)
When she saw that it could be upgraded and expanded, Cheng Qisheng merely smiled.
But when she reached the last line, she sat up straight.
Permanent.
Among all the facilities and items equipped in Blue Sea Safe City, this was the only one that had achieved permanent usability.
As for the maintenance fee, it was practically dirt cheap.
Three hundred crystals was nothing to Cheng Qisheng now, especially considering it only needed maintenance once a year.
She often browsed the system shop whenever she had free time, so she had a decent understanding of its merchandise.
The general rule of the Safe City Shop was:
Anything that could be upgraded was expensive.
Anything related to food production was expensive.
Anything that could be reused repeatedly and provide continuous output was expensive.
And this 3,000-mu floating farmland possessed all three of those premium traits at once.
Three thousand mu wasn’t a particularly large area for Blue Sea Safe City, but its size could be expanded by upgrading it with crystals.
More importantly, it floated in the air, was permanently usable, and made perfect use of otherwise unused space.
Feeling reassured, Cheng Qisheng called out to Aether:
“Check the shop for me. I need to know roughly how much it would cost to assemble a similar 3,000-mu floating farmland. About how many crystals would it take?”
She deliberately used the word “assemble.”
Because the moment she obtained the Floating Farmland, Cheng Qisheng had already searched the system shop using that keyword.
Just as she had expected, an item like this—something that seemed to exist only as a hidden reward—wasn’t sold in the shop at all.
The shop only offered ordinary farmland, or rooftop-equipped aerial planting zones. There was nothing like a Floating Farmland that could hover freely in midair while functioning exactly like farmland on the ground.
“Understood, City Lord. Aether will conduct the search for you.”
The jellyfish floated down from above her head and drifted to the space before her.
These days, it handled quite a few of the Safe City’s administrative affairs and frequently attended meetings with Blue Sea’s various experts. Whether its computational power had improved or not was hard to say, but its ability to understand context had gradually become much less rigid than before.
“According to the City Lord’s request, Aether has compiled the components and prices required to assemble a three-thousand-mu floating farmland.”
“A gravity-stabilized floating foundation capable of supporting the required area: 30,000 crystals.”
“An anti-gravity field generator capable of covering the required area: 20,000 crystals.”
“A propulsion control system capable of covering the required area: 20,000 crystals.”
“…A floating central control hub: 30,000 crystals.”
“…Shield energy perimeter…”
“…Soil regeneration and recycling layer…”
“…Climate regulation system…”
“…Soil sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors…”
Aether listed each required component one by one. Simply reciting the names took five full minutes before it finally reached a conclusion.
“It would require approximately 300,000 crystals to assemble a floating farmland of around three thousand mu.”
Aether then added on its own:
“However, Aether has observed that the City Lord is comparing these components with the item you have just obtained. If your intention is to assemble a similar item yourself, Aether’s calculations indicate that it is impossible.”
“That is because every comparable facility available in the shop has a limited service life. None can achieve the permanent lifespan of the Floating Farmland within the Safe City.”
Cheng Qisheng let out a slow breath.
In other words, this reward item was truly not something money could buy. It was in a class of its own.
Jackpot!
So helping a disaster world’s native civilization survive its catastrophe yielded rewards this incredible.
At that moment, Cheng Qisheng almost wanted to kiss Yu Zhitian.
So when Yu Zhitian submitted a request to leave the city, Cheng Qisheng approved it without hesitation. She even went the extra mile, instructing Blue Sea to send a military escort to deliver Yu Zhitian safely to her destination.
…
Yu Zhitian had no intention of returning to Ming Nation just yet. It was a decision she had reached after careful deliberation with the leadership of Yunyang Base.
During her stay in Blue Sea Safe City, she had also reviewed a great deal of intelligence Blue Sea had gathered on Ming Nation’s current situation.
Ming Nation was composed mostly of plains. When the zombie apocalypse broke out, only a small number of people had survived by taking shelter underground.
The surface had become almost entirely the zombies’ domain.
The conditions there simply weren’t suitable for establishing a large-scale base. The very first hurdle—finding enough survivors—would already be a major obstacle.
Countries like Yunbula, on the other hand, were different.
Although swimming zombies had begun to appear, their numbers were still relatively small. As long as people remained vigilant and took proper precautions, they wouldn’t have to worry about being surrounded by zombie hordes, at least for now.
Moreover, Yunbula already possessed large survivor bases and plenty of ships. If danger arose, evacuation was comparatively easy.
“But you know,” one of Blue Sea’s researchers said, “some zombies can now slash through steel plating with their claws. Even with the vaccine, the danger hasn’t really decreased.”
If anyone was saddest to see Yu Zhitian leave, it was Blue Sea’s virologists.
Only fellow experts truly understood just how exceptional Yu Zhitian was in the field of virology. They genuinely couldn’t bear to let her go.
“Please stay.”
Quite a few virologists suppressed Blue Sea citizens’ usual reluctance to pressure others and personally approached Yu Zhitian, trying to persuade her to remain.
“If you’re willing to stay, I’m sure the Blue Sea government would gladly accept more people from Velvet Star in exchange!”
The military officers assigned to assist Yu Zhitian had already received an order from the Great Creator God. They simply stood nearby, pretending not to hear a thing.
Although they weren’t virologists themselves, even they understood just how extraordinary an expert capable of developing a zombie vaccine from scratch truly was.
If the scientists could persuade her to stay, it would be a tremendous boon for Blue Sea.
The Great Creator God would surely be pleased!
But Yu Zhitian’s resolve was unwavering.
That was simply the kind of person she was. When she was uncertain, she would deliberate carefully. But once she had made up her mind, she never changed it.
“Thank you, everyone. But I’ve already made my decision.”
She embraced each of the researchers who had taken such good care of her.
It truly felt unbelievable.
After the apocalypse began, it had been aliens who helped her rebuild her laboratory, granted her extensive authority, and enabled the people of Velvet Star to develop a vaccine.
The people of Blue Sea admired strength. Once Yu Zhitian had demonstrated her abilities, she was treated almost like the institute’s director. Nearly everyone regarded her with warmth and respect.
Working alongside them had been a wonderful experience.
Yu Zhitian’s eyes reddened as well.
“Thank you, everyone. You’ve all been so kind to me. If I were twenty years younger, I’m honestly not sure I’d have had the determination to leave.”
After finishing his hug, one of the virologists heard those words and immediately wished he could call Blue Sea’s Anti-Aging Research Center and ask them to make Yu Zhitian twenty years younger.
Unfortunately, Blue Sea didn’t yet possess that technology.
So the researchers could only bid her farewell with deep reluctance.
The number of Velvet Star people who chose to leave with Yu Zhitian wasn’t particularly large, but it still exceeded a hundred.
Some had never fully adapted to life in Blue Sea.
Others simply couldn’t bear to leave the planet where they had grown up.
Blue Sea did nothing to stop them.
In fact, it could even be said that the people of Blue Sea were genuinely happy for Yu Zhitian.
She was someone worthy of respect. Even though they belonged to different civilizations, the people of Blue Sea sincerely hoped she would achieve what she had set out to do.
Once she boarded the military truck, Yu Zhitian discovered that it was packed to the brim with supplies. Some of the items even had handwritten notes attached to them.
Puzzled, she asked the soldier beside her, “What are all these?”
Was Blue Sea conducting some kind of aid or trade shipment with the large survivor base they were heading to?
The soldier shook his head.
“Everything in this truck was sent to you by the Virology Research Institute.”
Yu Zhitian froze.
She picked up one of the notes and realized they were written in Velvet Star’s language. They had obviously been translated carefully from Blue Sea’s language, so the wording was somewhat stiff, but the sentiments behind them were anything but.
Dr. Yu, I caught this sea fish myself. It’s already been salted. I hope you enjoy it.
Dr. Yu, I don’t have anything valuable to give you, so here’s some dried fruit.
Beef jerky. I hunted it myself—from those cattle living above your base. It’s delicious.
Holding the notes one after another, Yu Zhitian found herself at a loss for words.
She wanted to say thank you.
But compared to everything Blue Sea had done for her, the words felt far too insignificant.
In the end, she simply leaned out the window, letting the wind carry away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
Once her vision cleared, she noticed something odd.
There were far more vehicles following behind than she had expected.
“Why are there so many trucks?”
Before setting out, she had already been told that Blue Sea had dispatched people ahead to the large survivor base “to say hello.”
The route had already been secured by Blue Sea, and fighter aircraft were providing aerial escort, so there wasn’t any need for a particularly large military force.
So why were there so many vehicles?
The soldier answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“The trucks behind us are carrying supplies that Blue Sea is giving to you.”
Yu Zhitian was stunned again.
“Blue Sea… is giving them to me?”
“Yes. It is the will of our God. The divine oracle says that you are someone worthy of respect.”
The young soldier had spent most of his time fighting alongside the army and didn’t actually know much about Dr. Yu.
But since the Great Creator God had personally issued a divine decree, that could only mean one thing—
Dr. Yu was truly someone deserving of the highest respect.
So the young soldier looked at Yu Zhitian with heartfelt respect as he explained, “Although we’re about to leave and won’t be able to help you any further, at the very least, we can give you these supplies, so that life will be a little easier for you and your civilization.”
Looking at the long convoy of trucks, Yu Zhitian gripped the handwritten notes tightly.
“Thank you… Thank you.”
When they arrived at their destination and she stepped out of the vehicle, the leader of Yunbula’s large survivor base—who had already “communicated” with Blue Sea—was standing there obediently waiting.
Only after seeing truck after truck loaded with supplies did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
You could’ve just told us you were here to deliver supplies! The way you acted earlier, we thought you were about to capture our entire base and hand it over to Dr. Yu.
The base leader grumbled inwardly, but outwardly he maintained a calm, solemn expression. Only the slight twitch at the corners of his mouth betrayed how delighted he was.
Part of his excitement came from the supplies.
The other part came from gaining a zombie vaccine—and an outstanding expert.
No leader disliked having talented experts, especially one as remarkable as this.
An expert capable of attracting aliens to provide assistance.
Just how incredible did she have to be for an alien civilization to send military escorts, truckloads of supplies, and all this support on her behalf?
Countless thoughts ran through the leader’s mind, but his expression remained composed, tinged with genuine respect, as he watched Yu Zhitian shake hands with the escorting officer.
“Dr. Yu,” the officer said, “may we meet again someday.”
Yu Zhitian smiled.
It was the finest blessing she could have received.
She gently touched the handwritten notes tucked safely into her pocket and replied,
“May we meet again.”
