Bai Shu said, "We should be grateful to have steamed buns. Let's make do with what we have."
As he spoke, he reluctantly took out a jar of chili sauce from his item storage card.
Chen Xiaofei immediately snatched it away, saying, "I knew Brother Bai was the nicest!"
His words were sweet, but his actions were ruthless. He scooped out a large spoonful, nearly driving Bai Shu crazy. "You bastard! That's the last jar. Couldn't you take a little less?!"
Wang Weihu, despite his usually composed appearance, also managed to sneak a large spoonful while Bai Shu was distracted trying to protect his food.
These three were as unreliable in private as they were dependable during rescue missions.
They nearly came to blows over a jar of chili sauce. In the end, Xu Duoduo silently took out four large boxes of food, which she had previously stockpiled.
The three of them froze, staring intently at the four boxes of food.
Xu Duoduo had packed them in disposable transparent containers, each with rice and three dishes.
All four boxes had the same menu: Yu Xiang Rou Si (shredded pork with garlic sauce), garlic-flavored green vegetables, and braised chicken with brown sauce.
She then brought out four cans of tomato and egg soup. Seeing that they still weren't moving, she opened the lids of the food containers. The aroma of the dishes wafted out, making the three of them swallow hard in unison.
"Good heavens, am I dreaming? Little Squad Leader, are you Doraemon?"
"Help, how long has it been since I've seen normal food? Is this really not a dream?"
"Thank you, Little Squad Leader. You're truly the best person in the world... no, the best zombie in the world!!"
What brought tears to their eyes was a proper meal with three dishes and a soup!
No exaggeration.
Chen Xiaofei was crying as he ate, mumbling between sobs, "I thought I'd be lucky to have a bowl of hot porridge. I never imagined I'd get to eat real dishes again!"
Wang Weihu and Bai Shu had already stuffed their mouths full of food and were still fighting over more.
The Yu Xiang Rou Si and braised chicken were incredibly appetizing! The garlic-flavored vegetables were refreshing, and with a sip of tomato and egg soup, it was a feast. These were the most common home-cooked dishes before the apocalypse, but now they were priceless treasures.
Xu Duoduo was also happy, holding three mutation cores. She had secretly added an extra roasted duck leg for Qin Luo. If nothing else, his efforts in finding mutation cores for her were enough to earn her gratitude. She was delighted to have obtained food supplies.
When Qin Luo returned, he found that his three team members had transformed into three pigs, burying their faces in the fragrant dishes, their cheeks puffed out with food.
Chen Xiaofei, while eating, pushed his box towards Qin Luo and mumbled, "It's so good, Boss Qin, hurry and eat!"
Qin Luo: ...
To be honest, Xu Duoduo's cooking skills were indeed impressive. The Yu Xiang Rou Si was flavorful and delicious, the chicken in the braised dish was incredibly tender, and just the sauce mixed with rice felt like it could make them devour a huge pot of rice.
In an instant, the living room fell silent. Xu Duoduo sat by herself on one side, while the four of them gathered around the coffee table on the opposite side, heads down, eating. Everyone was sitting directly on the carpet.
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Worried they might not have enough, she brought out four more boxes of white rice.
In the end, they still managed to finish everything.
Finally, Chen Xiaofei leaned back against the sofa, his stomach bulging, "Help, I'm so full!"
Bai Shu, also satisfied, sat in a daze.
Wang Weihu was still cleaning up, making sure to finish every last bit of food.
Qin Luo was looking down, replying to messages. Eventually, he waved his tablet, "It's done. Xu Duoduo's ID number is [redacted]. Much better than before."
Chen Xiaofei and the other two were too full to speak, so they all gave him a thumbs up in unison.
Qin Luo accepted it, then turned to look at Xu Duoduo. The little zombie hesitated for a second, then also gave him a thumbs up. This made Qin Luo burst into laughter.
Suddenly, Chen Xiaofei and the others started laughing too. The feeling of being full and content was indescribably blissful.
"Little Squad Leader, don't mind us. The world has changed so much since the apocalypse, and all sorts of regulations are changing too. When we first left, the base didn't treat mutants like this at all."
Who would have thought that mutants would be uniformly recruited? And who could have imagined that so many people whose bodies had mutated could still maintain clear consciousness?
The signal on their wristbands wasn't always stable, and sometimes the forum's database updates weren't timely either.
For various reasons, they had initially been somewhat wary and vigilant towards Xu Duoduo.
Xu Duoduo touched the collar around her neck, then shook her head, and finally typed on her tablet, [It's okay. It's normal for you to be cautious.]
After all, they represented the headquarters and were working for the future of all humanity.
They weren't children anymore.
They were all adults, and it was good to clear things up. This matter was now behind them.
The rest of the evening was pleasant.
Everyone helped clean up the coffee table. The remaining bottles of various flavored nutrient solutions and leftover steamed buns were all stored in Xu Duoduo's spatial storage.
After dinner, they chatted, discussing the current situation, reviewing the new rules of the base, and talking about taking on new missions.
Qin Luo explained to Xu Duoduo, "Currently, there are two types of missions we can take. One is specially assigned by headquarters, which usually can't be refused. The other is missions we choose ourselves from the forum board."
The missions assigned by headquarters had more stable rewards and occasionally special bonuses, while self-chosen missions tended to be riskier.
The clients for self-chosen missions were usually wealthy individuals or other ability users like themselves.
Chen Xiaofei, who was browsing the forum, joked, "Little Squad Leader, you know about food delivery guys, right? We're pretty much like that."
Bai Shu thought it was quite an apt comparison.
Since Xu Duoduo, as a zombie, was new to all this, the four of them explained a lot to her. Although things had changed a lot since the apocalypse, they still knew more than she did.
Later, they added each other as friends, and Wang Weihu gave Xu Duoduo an earpiece for communication. "The range is limited, only within ten kilometers. Being able to make phone calls freely like before is probably not possible in the short term."
He sighed as he said this.
Qin Luo was looking at the mission board, while Bai Shu was discussing with him.
"With Little Squad Leader's spatial ability, we can make multiple trips to places with abundant resources, but unexplored areas are bound to be more dangerous now."
Bai Shu analyzed methodically, circling several locations on his own tablet. "There are two choices for resource-rich areas. One, go to C City, where the country's largest granary is located, but there's a non-biological mutation core there, making it extremely dangerous. Two, go to I City, but it's coastal, so the danger level is unknown, though there's a weapons depot there."
He said that apart from these two locations with the most abundant resources, other places had been visited by many small teams, making it easy to encounter other people, and resources were more scattered.
The key was that the missions they could take were limited to rescue operations. Stockpiling resources had to be done privately because Xu Duoduo's spatial ability couldn't be exposed.
Otherwise, it would be very dangerous for her. If people found out, their entire small team would be in trouble.
It wasn't that they couldn't protect her, or that headquarters would harm Xu Duoduo, but she would definitely be under surveillance, and at the same time, she would completely lose her freedom.
It would be very troublesome.