The Invasion Day – Chapter 88

Table of Contents | Character Guide

Chapter 88

The large wave of people arriving from Ping Nan town felt like a huge boulder being thrown into water, and meanwhile, the wonder that Fu Shiwu’s team triggered also quietly spread without them realising at all.

When that malignant tumour Shi Zheng first appeared in the vicinity, many teams wanted to wipe him off, but regretfully, they weren’t strong enough. And now the news came that he was blown apart by a no-name team, so obviously, people’s attention was piqued.

A long line of well-informed people stretched outside the Civil Hall to inquire about this piece of news.

Only after the Dragonbone Corps was registered successfully and their mission’s reward was settled did people realise this team wasn’t a random corps or guild from Pei City that unknowingly took down Shi Zheng. They were a group of special ability users all the way from Yun City.

At the very start, the staff member handling the reward settlement found it incredulous, and he urgently reached out to the official surnamed Zhu.

After the official verified the matter with Zhou Weihua, the staff member finally dared to hand the reward for the wanted order, which had been left hanging for a long while, to a completely unknown corps who had just been registered and carried zero points in their account.

Because other members didn’t have their ID cards and couldn’t log in their personal data to set up a profile, Wen Zhaoming, the sole ID card holder, became the single target exposed to other people.

Wen Zhaoming’s identity was a fire-type ability user, but his position shows as ‘Deputy Commander’. The other roles in the Corps were left blank, and even the position of the ‘Commander’ was vacant. The staff member specifically asked Wen Zhaoming to get the other personnel in the Corps to register new ID cards as soon as possible to complete the Corps’ information, while the rest of the team didn’t have to spend any effort to fill up these missing pieces.

This sort of coincidental delay actually gave the Dragonbone Corps more time to grasp the current situation in Pei City.

After a peaceful night, everyone woke up early.

The amount of greenery surrounding Xishan Garden was excellent, with red florets growing in abundance and green willows swaying healthily in the wind, while the birds sang in glee and flowers bloomed in delight.

In the morning, Fu Shiwu woke up to the crisp and melodious chirping of birds on the trees.

Being stuck in a concrete jungle since the moment he was born was all he could remember, and there had never really been any chance for him to listen to such a grand song of nature.

Earlier, Tang Xuhai distributed the daily necessities obtained from Shi Zheng’s lair to each of them. There were enough toothpaste, toothbrush and towels to last half a year without any issue.

After washing up, Fu Shiwu left his room and went downstairs, planning to exercise in the yard.

“Good morning.” Just as Fu Shiwu walked down the stairs, he saw Hollande sitting in the living room watching TV.

“You got up really early.” Fu Shiwu said in surprise.

“It’s normal for me.” Hollande smiled brightly, then took a look at the TV: “I just want to see if there’s any news about my country.”

Fu Shiwu’s mood sank a little. Indeed, Hollande had been far away from home, so now that the conditions finally allowed it, naturally he would want to learn of any news about his motherland.

Xishan Garden, where they lived, was a complex of buildings reserved for personnel from large corps and guilds. Beside luxury and comfort, they also had TV signals and satellite signals. In addition to hot water supply that was available 24 hours a day, they could also access the Internet.

Above the living room at the main building lay a meeting room and a study room, completely furnished with computers that could connect to the satellite network. 

When Fu Shiwu’s team arrived here, they finally knew why the Focus Forum was always so lively. It turned out to be thanks to the Internet access provided by the East Development Zone.

Fu Shiwu sat on the sofa and watched TV with Hollande.

At present, not many channels were available on the TV, rather, it continuously broadcasted news from various places, recording the battles and current situation in one country to another. The TV also featured a Science & Education programme that analysed various aliens, as well as mutated fauna and flora.

There were also focused programmes targeted at special ability users, but these types were still rare at the moment.

Fu Shiwu watched TV with an expressionless face. In the news, war reporters risked their lives to follow the army and fight the aliens.

“When did this happen?” Halfway through the news, Fu Shiwu couldn’t help asking Hollande.

“Yesterday.” Hollande responded, his eyes not shifting away: “A big city was ambushed by a group of aliens. The battle isn’t over yet. This footage just came from that place.”

With his gaze still fixed at the screen, Fu Shiwu creased his eyebrows, watching the bloody sight of a battlefield. His heart that finally felt a tad of relief after arriving at Pei City was flustered once again.

He squeezed his fists and told himself that it wasn’t time to relax.

Fu Shiwu stood up and walked out of the living room with Hollande casting a baffled look at his back, then he started to run in circles around the small yard.

By the time Fu Shiwu finished a dozen laps and began to gasp hard for air, Tang Xuhai came over and asked him to eat.

“You made breakfast?” Fu Shiwu asked with amazement, wiping his sweat.

“Of course it’s me, otherwise who else?” Tang Xuhai gave him a blank glare.

The truth was, the ‘craftsmanship’ of the only two women in their team was rather bad.

The ones who might barely make basic meals were Fu Shiwu and Liu Peiqi, while Wen Zhaoming and Miao Jia could simply be left out of the picture. So, Tang Xuhai had the best skill among them all.

Hollande’s cooking wasn’t bad, but he was only capable of making Western cuisine and couldn’t take care of his Chinese companions’ taste buds. Steak, barbecue and fried chicken wings were still fine, but porridge and stir-fried vegetables? Never mind.

The team members sat around the large table to eat together, in the kitchen cum dining room that stood just behind the living room. While eating, they talked about the upcoming plans.

“This morning, Miao Jia and I will reapply for your ID cards. With Miao Jia, you don’t need to run around by yourself. So for today’s morning, everyone is free to go. If you have some business to attend to, go ahead.” Wen Zhaoming said. When they relooked at the team’s belongings earlier, except for Wen Zhaoming’s and Wang Dan’s, everyone else had lost their ID cards.

“Don’t you need us to tag along?” Fu Shiwu glanced at Wen Zhaoming with a bit of worry. Miao Jia wasn’t exactly the most reliable kid, while Wen Zhaoming was somewhat a personnel with a special condition.

“No, we can handle it.” Miao Jia said confidently.

“By the way, we’ll use that minivan. If you’re heading out, you can also drive. We won’t need to worry about any gasoline shortage for the time being.” Wen Zhaoming frowned and said: “I’ll thinking about getting us a battery-powered vehicle “

A battery-powered vehicle?

“Like the elderly’s scooter?” Fu Shiwu said reluctantly.

“Puff ​— cough cough cough!!!” Zhen Zi choked on a mouthful of porridge.

“Why? Is there an issue?” Wen Zhaoming picked up the food in front of him with an unflinching expression, saying: “We need to be happy with what we can get. Although electricity is expensive now, there’s still enough supply. At least it’s better than burning oil. In the future, except for when we go out of town, we should either walk or drive an electric car.”

Miao Jia uttered submissively: “Electric car it is. Still better than nothing.” 

Previously, their electricity was supplied by hydropower or coal-fired plants, but now, the outside was filled with aliens. The coal supply had been cut off long ago, while the electric power transmission networks had all been destroyed. At present, they had to rely on solar power or electric power generated by electricity-type ability users.

The current value of one kilowatt of electricity was more than ten times its original price. Commoners only dared to turn on the light at night, while most TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, et cetera, had been downgraded to mere decorations.

Facing the predicament of shortage of water and electricity, it was all thanks to ability users that they didn’t have to completely break away from the modern age and regress back to pre-electricity civilisation.

“If we have electricity-type ability users with us, shouldn’t we not have to pay the electricity bill?” Miao Jia mumbled under his breath.

“Uhm, every house’s courtyard had its own power storage equipment. If conditions permit, you can supply power by yourself and save quite some expenses.” Tang Xuhai said.

“Aiya~ Huo Enting has left, no one will provide us with water in the future.” Miao Jia said regretfully: “In that way, even the water bill can be saved.”

A black cloud hovered above Tang Xuhai’s head. The ideas that this Miao Jia could come up with are always so off-the-wall.

“At least Pei City is fine, for they use groundwater.” Wen Zhaoming raised his head: “So the water bill is still acceptable. On the other hand, last night, I asked Miao Jia to check the latest research findings. Because humans have gone through many changes, once the heterogeneous molecules in our body are stabilised, we won’t need to care much about the problem of drinking water.”

“In other words, we don’t have to specially drink filtered water?” Zhen Zi asked.

“Correct, but this requires a test. The heterogeneous molecules in our body need to first reach a certain level, otherwise, there’s still a possibility of causing disease. It can be tested at the Institute of Science in the New Town. We don’t have time in the morning, but you can go and check yourselves first “

Fu Shiwu glanced at Tang Xuhai, and Tang Xuhai nodded back at him.

At this point, Hollande said: “I think we still have some cigarettes and alcohol in our supplies. Can we sell it if we don’t need it? I believe we all need some clean clothes now.”

Hollande’s statement was quite a euphemism, for when he said clean clothes….

What they were all wearing were other people’s clothes that they picked up along the journey. Hollande and Tang Xuhai’s clothes didn’t even fit properly, while the others’ weren’t too bad, but looked pretty dated.

Wen Zhaoming hesitated for a moment before simply nodding in agreement: “Let’s find a collection point that buys these things. Cigarettes and alcohol are considered luxury goods, enough for us to buy new clothes.”

At present, clothes were the least valuable. Contrastingly, special ability users now had the means to spend on smoking and drinking, which resulted in a relatively high value for tobacco and alcohol. With the team’s current funds, well-fitting clothes should be nothing out of their league.

Hollande smiled, then turned to invite Fu Shiwu: “Fu, why don’t we go shopping together?”

Fu Shiwu shook his head straightforwardly: “I’ve already promised to come with Xuhai to the Institute of Science. You can buy them for me. I wear size 175.”

He was 179 centimeters in height, but his body carried no excessive muscles, so size 175 should fit him just fine.

Tang Xuhai raised his hand at Hollande, his lips twitching a little: “Mine is 190.”

Although Tang Xuhai was 188-centimeter tall, he had solid muscles and needed a looser fit.

Hollande had no choice but to nod his head, then he turned to ask the rest: “What size do you want?”, to which the others responded with their own sizes.

Wang Dan wiped her mouth as she said: “I’ll come with you, so you can have some reference. Besides, the Contribution Points we’ll get from the sale can be temporarily put on my ID card.”

Zhen Zi raised her hand: “I’ll come too!”

Aiyo! I haven’t done any shopping for a long time, how can I miss this opportunity?

Since Hollande also got some companions, he spoke no further.

Liu Peiqi cast him a sympathetic glance, wondering if this guy knew Chinese ladies’ ‘combat’ power when it came to shopping, not to mention he had to buy everyone’s clothes at once…