Chapter 22.2: Water Well and Meat
“Alright, Aether has completed the operation.”
Cheng Qisheng opened the prompt beside the well.
[Facility Name: Water Well (Tier 1)]
[Function: Provides a source of clean water]
[Water Output: 150 billion liters/day (sufficient for 150 million people’s normal water use)]
[Service Life: 50 years (already used: 1 minute)]
Looking at the well’s description, Cheng Qisheng felt a mix of happiness and, at the same time, thought that money in any world really gets spent faster than it’s earned.
She had just been thinking she was extremely rich.
But after buying the air tower and the water well, the massive amount of crystals the residents had earned over these past few days instantly dropped to just three thousand.
These three thousand crystals were reserved as an emergency escape fund and couldn’t be touched.
If she wanted to spend more money next, she would have to wait for the residents to deliver newly earned crystals.
Cheng Qisheng felt as if money was like water flowing through her hands, leaving behind only a damp trace.
But after reporting the news to Blue Sea’s leadership and seeing their expressions of ecstatic relief, she became even more certain that the money had been well spent.
Skipping over the grateful expressions and the Blue Sea high-level officials who had once again begun their daily ritual of superstition—kowtowing to the sky and muttering all kinds of overly emotional prayers—Cheng Qisheng surveyed the entire Blue Sea.
Air and water, the most basic necessities for human survival, were now both available in the Blue Sea Safe City.
From this point on, Blue Sea could truly live without worries.
With sufficient air, residents would no longer face the risk of suffocation or death.
With a water source, those who returned from outside after fighting zombies could finally enjoy a satisfying hot shower using their accumulated points.
Food was not an immediate concern; existing reserves were still sufficient. Moreover, crystal hunters sent out had been returning with the coordinates of various grain warehouses—those nearby had already successfully transported food back, while those farther away would take more time.
Including Zilan University, the farmland in Miang’an City, and the cultivation zones within the safe city itself, Blue Sea would not be short on food for the time being.
However, if the goal was to provide a positive stimulus to the residents, all of this still wasn’t quite enough.
Cheng Qisheng’s gaze landed on a follower of Velvet Star.
At that moment, he was lying in ambush in the grass with a squad of crystal hunters, eyes gleaming as he stared ahead.
Through this follower’s perspective, Cheng Qisheng was able to obtain a bird’s-eye view of the scene.
Across the rolling grassland, herds of cattle and sheep were grazing leisurely. Suddenly, a pack of wolves burst out, causing the animals to scatter in panic.
The faster ones escaped disaster, while the slower ones became food for the wolves. After the pack dragged away their prey, the grassland fell quiet again.
In just half a year, this place already looked like a proper prairie.
A Velvet Star follower named Yun Yu stammered in Blue Sea’s language:
“See? I told you there were several large ranches here. Mianyan City has a vast territory and good environment—there are many livestock farms. There must be at least a hundred thousand cattle and sheep here combined.”
The team leader of the crystal hunters laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder.
“Good, good! You’ve done well! It wasn’t a waste for us to go to so much trouble and travel all this way!”
One of the teammates licked his dry lips.
“With so many cattle and sheep still alive here, there must be a usable large water source. We can also replenish our water here before heading back.”
Not easy at all.
This remote corner was extremely difficult to find. Along the way, they had taken countless detours. Because there were few people and many zombies, they didn’t dare use any vehicles that might make noise for fear of attracting them.
They first rode bicycles, then continued on foot, sleeping only three to four hours a day on average.
This team, named the “Rush Rush Rush Squad,” had relied entirely on Yun Yu’s vague memory of the pasture’s location to make their way here over five days and five nights. Their heels were practically covered in blisters from walking.
In Mianyan City, there were almost no tall buildings that could be used as shelter. The farther west they went, the fewer high-rises there were.
Fortunately, the trees here were tall and sturdy. At night, everyone would light a campfire beneath them and then climb up into the branches to sleep.
The campfires attracted zombies, and every morning they woke up to find a pile of zombies below, clawing at the tree trunks.
If you rolled over slightly at night, you could practically fall straight into the zombies’ embrace. It was extremely “thrilling”.
Because they had already left the military drone coverage zone, there was no standard usable route anymore, and they had no idea where they could find food or water supplies along the way.
So this team could only scrimp and save the entire journey, drinking as little water as possible to avoid dying of thirst before they even arrived.
At this point, everyone had lost at least four to five pounds, but each of them looked unusually excited.
“Let’s send this ranch coordinate back! At least 2,000 points per person as a reward!”
Yun Yu nodded eagerly and happily opened his tactical watch.
“I’ll upload it to the intel trading system right now!”
But the moment he sent it, he froze.
The teammates were shocked.
“What’s wrong? Did someone beat us to it?”
“No… it’s not that.”
Yun Yu looked confused.
“It says it was purchased less than a second after I uploaded it, and the points reward has already been credited.”
The others also froze.
“Seriously? We’ve walked so far out here—there shouldn’t even be any network, right??”
All crystal hunters knew that even without a network connection, intel could still be uploaded.
But reward points normally only appeared after returning to the city.
Yet when they checked their tactical watches, their points had indeed increased—and not by 2,000, but by 4,000.
The group erupted into joy again.
4,000 points!! Worth it, totally worth it!! Even if they had to walk another ten days and nights, it would still be worth it!!
Had the AI network range expanded?
But the map was still only available offline.
In the end, the team leader made the decision:
“Forget it!! As long as we’ve got the points, that’s all that matters! Let’s find the water source first, refill, and then head back!”
After transferring points to all members of that team, Cheng Qisheng had already sketched the map they uploaded by hand and had Aether send it back to the safe city.
She had been paying close attention to this group that had confidently declared they were going to find large ranches.
And they really did find one.
Good, good.
Wasn’t this exactly the kind of “stimulation source” she needed?
Cheng Qisheng hesitated for a few seconds between two options—sending the military to directly harvest the ranch, or letting the residents go there themselves and handle it freely.
In the end, she chose the latter.
No particular reason—just as the creator god of Blue Sea, she had a feeling the residents would prefer doing it themselves.
Besides, since the cattle and sheep were meant for the residents anyway, she might as well leave it entirely to them. It would also save the trouble of transportation.
Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes and sank into her mental energy, updating the map of that region on all residents’ watches and phones.
—
The exploration team had just climbed onto another high-rise building and was scanning the horizon when their watches vibrated twice.
“Huh? Is there signal now?”
Wang Moning subconsciously opened her watch, and instantly her attention was drawn to the image of plump cattle and sturdy sheep.
So much meat.
Gulp—
That was another teammate swallowing hard beside her.
“Captain, do we go?”
Song Xi wiped his mouth and stared straight at the cattle.
“Go!”
—
Residents of the Withered Star Safe City were cautiously hiding around a corner, secretly watching a group of Blue Sea residents killing zombies.
After clearing the zombies, those Blue Sea residents actually just grabbed a damaged door and ripped it off its hinges with their bare hands.
The Withered Star residents all sucked in a sharp breath.
“The people of Blue Sea are way too vicious. No wonder the city lord told us to stay far away.”
“How could they not be vicious? Just look at what they eat… then look at what we eat.”
Yesterday, when they encountered Blue Sea, it was on the second floor of a building. At the time, they saw firelight and assumed it was their own safe city’s residents. Only after going upstairs did they realize it was Blue Sea people cooking over a fire.
What they were eating were rough grass cakes—so sparse and unfulfilling that even biting into them didn’t satisfy hunger. They could only break them into hot water and drink them as soup.
But the Blue Sea people? They were eating solid flour pancakes, along with eggs and ham sausages. The aroma drifted up the stairs and rushed straight into their noses.
Although it was only a fleeting glimpse (they ran away immediately after realizing they had run into Blue Sea people), that smell of ham and eggs lingered in their minds even now.
Still, Blue Sea people were genuinely tall and strong. No wonder they didn’t need bandages on their arms—just one look at a whole group of them, all tall with healthy complexions, and it was obvious they were Blue Sea residents.
The group whispered among themselves:
“After they finish clearing this building, let’s go in and see if we can scavenge anything useful.”
“Blue Sea must be incredibly wealthy. Last time I searched a place they had cleared, I even found a usable battery they left behind. I got lucky.”
“Of course they’re rich—they eat so well.”
Someone muttered quietly:
“Do you think Blue Sea accepts outsiders? Maybe we should defect to Blue Sea?”
“No idea, but with how strong they are, what would they even need short people like us for?”
“Yeah, true.”
As they were whispering, something suddenly felt off.
“Wait… why are they all checking their phones?”
“Why are they all standing up?”
“Why are they leaving?!!”
More than a dozen Blue Sea residents hurried off with their weapons, leaving the Withered Star residents behind in confusion.
“Uh… should we still go up and scavenge?”
“Scavenge my foot. They didn’t even finish clearing the zombies, and there are still some chasing behind them. Forget it, let’s go too. Now that the Blue Sea people are gone, this place is getting dangerous. We should move.”
The deputy captain in the Blue Sea team glanced back briefly.
The captain asked, “What is it?”
The deputy captain smiled. “Nothing. Those Withered Star residents who were following us have left.”
“Let them be. Right now the most important thing is to rush to the coordinates on the map. Beef! I want beef! Hot, juicy, delicious beef!”
—
A Blue Sea team, carrying full loads of nucleus crystals still stained with zombie blood, was returning to the safe city.
After lining up and entering the inner city, they were planning to take a bath, eat a proper meal, and then sleep for several days of well-deserved rest.
But their watches automatically displayed a map prompt—and photos of cattle and sheep.
The entire team froze.
“!”
Slurp—
Gulp—
No one even needed to discuss it. Just from the synchronized swallowing sounds alone, they exchanged a look and immediately, in perfect understanding, turned toward the supplies area.
Buy travel supplies—and line up again to leave the city!
Delicious beef!
Nourishing mutton!
Here we come!
—
The “Rush Rush Rush Squad” successfully tracked a herd of cattle and found a water source.
They filtered the water through gauze, boiled it pot by pot in small cooking pots, and only after filling all their canteens with drinkable water did the day finally end.
Looking at the map they had recorded, their next step was to return the same way.
They were too few in number, and their supplies were too limited. The grasslands stretched endlessly, and there were wolf packs—it wasn’t suitable to hunt and replenish energy on the spot.
The Rush Rush Rush Squad was not greedy. Although they were drooling over the large cattle and sheep, conditions didn’t allow it. Compared to taking risks to hunt, it was better to head back.
With 4,000 points in hand, they would still be able to eat well after returning.
So the team set off on their return journey. If nothing unexpected happened, they would travel day and night and reach home in five days.
But something unexpected still happened.
The next day, at sunset, the “Rush Rush Rush Squad” saw a massive Blue Sea force approaching head-on.
Not a military unit—but ordinary civilians.
Yet there were an extremely, extremely, extremely large number of them.
The wild grass that had once caused the team so much trouble along the road had all been cleared away.
The Rush Rush Rush Squad: “……”
They were stunned.
“What are so many of you doing here?”
One of the Blue Sea residents replied, “Hunting cattle and sheep, of course. Didn’t you receive the notice? There’s a huge herd here!”
The Rush Rush Rush Squad: “……This pasture was discovered by our team.”
They looked at the endless crowd.
“But you guys came way too fast, didn’t you?”
They hadn’t even returned to the city yet—and the hunting parties were already on the road.
The resident laughed loudly.
“Too many people, too little meat—we’ve got to move fast. You know how many people Blue Sea has.”
“We’re actually on the slow side. Some people even rented vehicles—they’ll probably catch up soon.”
After speaking, the resident patted his chest.
“Anyway, thanks for discovering the pasture. I’ve got to hurry ahead.”
The Rush Rush Rush Squad hurriedly returned the gesture.
No problem—they had also received the reward points.
But looking at the well-prepared waves of incoming teams, they started to wonder if they should just head back too.
“But… our food is almost gone.”
At that moment, a passing resident turned back.
“Out of food? Come buy from us! We’re ‘Everywhere-Is-A-Trade Team.’ When buying supplies outside, our prices are only one-fifth higher than official safe-city prices. Renting weapons is only one-third higher. We also sell quick-recovery white sugar and fine salt—guaranteed to keep you in peak combat condition.”
He handed them a handwritten flyer:
“Honest, practical! [Everywhere-Is-A-Trade Team]—the best choice for you!”
“This is our price list. Please take a look, but be careful not to damage the flyer—we still need it.”
Local resident Yun Yu: “???”
Why is there a trading caravan selling goods in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness??
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