Chapter 117: Arriving at the Safe Base
It was as if their once-gentle and polite neighbors had completely changed overnight.
"I was the one who found those stray cats and dogs, Shane provided the dog food, and Moira trained them. What does it have to do with these people?" Kai York said angrily.
As he spoke, Kai York got ready to type out a scathing reply.
"There are too many of them. Even if all four of us ganged up, we couldn’t out-argue them," Hugh Finch said slowly from the side.
"Then what should we do? Just let them curse us out like this?"
Hugh Finch’s slender fingers swiped across the screen a few times. A moment later, a notification showed that he had left the group chat.
"We can’t control what they say. Getting tangled up with them will only become more troublesome. So, out of sight, out of mind."
Immediately after, Moira Lynch also left the owners’ group chat, followed by Shane Rhodes.
Seeing this, Kai York could only exit the chat indignantly, ultimately not sending a single message.
Then, Moira Lynch opened another group chat. Everyone in it was a player from their residential complex.
Before the last round of the game began, not a single one of them had been eliminated.
’I wonder if anyone was eliminated after this round,’ Moira thought.
The atmosphere in this group was much better. Although there were still faint hints of dissatisfaction in their tone, no one said anything directly. Instead, they subtly inquired why the group was leaving and where they planned to go afterward.
Moira glanced at it. She had barely spoken in this group and didn’t know these people well, so she left it without a second thought.
She put down her phone, pulled the blanket tighter around herself, and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep again.
About an hour later, the helicopter slowly descended, and Moira was woken up by Kai York.
"Moira, wake up. We’re here."
Moira grunted in acknowledgment, slowly opened her eyes, and followed Kai York off the helicopter.
"This is the safe base?"
Moira looked at the base before her but didn’t rashly extend her spiritual power.
’Spiritual power is subtle, but some people with special talents or keen senses might still be able to detect it. Best to be careful,’ she thought.
Because it was nighttime, the entire base seemed very quiet.
Just then, a staff member came out. Upon seeing Moira and her group, he immediately rushed over, looking excited.
"You’re finally here! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Come on in."
Led by this person, the group entered a spacious room.
"We need to inspect the goods first," the man said respectfully.
Hearing this, Shane Rhodes nodded and took out a pot of Soldier Food Rattan and a piece of Repair Aloe Vera.
As soon as the items were out, a middle-aged man shot forward like an arrow, picking up the pot of Soldier Food Rattan to study it.
A moment later, he exclaimed excitedly, "It’s real!"
Then he looked at Shane Rhodes. "Can you tell me how you identified these plants?"
Things like Soldier Food Rattan and Repair Aloe Vera, which were clearly not from Caelus, had so far only been brought back by SoySauceDrunkard, who had also been able to clearly label their uses.
If he didn’t know that these people had no connection to SoySauceDrunkard, he would have thought that SoySauceDrunkard was hidden among them.
Faced with the question, Shane Rhodes replied without a change in expression, "We have our own methods, of course."
The middle-aged man was taken aback, his brow furrowed. He was about to say that this was no time to be keeping secrets.
Suddenly, a young man rushed over and covered the man’s mouth. "Alright, Professor Spencer, you’ve done your inspection. Leave the rest of the work to us."
After speaking, the young man gave a look to the people behind him. Two of them immediately came forward and practically dragged Professor Spencer away.
The young man looked at the group apologetically. "Sorry, Professor Spencer is just thinking about the good of all humanity. He means no harm."
Shane Rhodes nodded. "We understand."
"By the way, my name is Chase Shepard. I’m the person in charge of game-related matters for Cathaya. Your abilities are very strong. Are you interested in joining us?"
As always, Moira Lynch maintained her persona of a quiet, withdrawn girl who didn’t like to talk.
’I think I’ve heard of this Chase Shepard before, though,’ she thought. ’Something about him being Redlight’s direct superior.’
As the designated spokesperson, Shane Rhodes smiled and politely declined. "Sorry, we don’t have any plans for that at the moment."
Fortunately, Chase Shepard didn’t insist. "In that case, I won’t force you. If you ever change your minds, you can come find me anytime. Now, let’s begin the transaction."
Shane Rhodes nodded, then took out his Space Button and started pulling things out.
Moira Lynch, Hugh Finch, and Kai York did the same.
Luckily, Moira had processed all the fruits and similar items into energy blocks; otherwise, they really wouldn’t have had any extra space for other things.
Watching the items they were taking out, Chase Shepard’s eyes grew brighter and his gaze more intense.
’Especially seeing their Space Buttons,’ he thought. ’No wonder they were able to bring back so much.’
After about an hour and a half, they had finally taken everything out of their Space Buttons.
Soldier Food Rattan, Repair Aloe Vera, Sugar Grass, bread tree bark and its fruit, and more.
Shane Rhodes and Hugh Finch had been the ones to find the bread tree. It was very similar to the Soldier Food Rattan; its bark was edible, nutritious, and could grow back quickly in a short period.
But while the bark grew easily, the tree itself grew very slowly and had high environmental requirements.
Moira also took out a pile of Soldier Food Vines and various sea fish.
She had kept all the tasty sea fish for herself; these were the ones that were harder to eat and more difficult to prepare.
Seeing them stop, Chase Shepard immediately called people over to start moving the items.
Two staff members came over and attentively poured water for the group.
"Thank you, but we’ll pass on the water. We’d like to get the housing situation settled quickly."
"No problem," Chase Shepard agreed readily, then began to explain the base’s current situation to them.
The entire base was divided into The Inner City and The Outer City, with the facilities in The Inner City naturally being superior to those in The Outer City.
The Inner City was further divided into two areas: Sector A and Sector B.
The environment in Sector B was a bit worse than in Sector A—utilities like water and electricity were on a schedule—but it was still much better than The Outer City.
As for Sector A, it had standalone houses, with security guards on patrol every day, guaranteeing absolute safety. Plus, water and electricity were unlimited and supplied 24/7.
But not just anyone could live in Sector A. Only those who had made significant contributions to the base were eligible, such as Moira’s group.
Most of the issues had already been discussed during their previous contact, so now they just needed to confirm a few details.
「Fifteen minutes later」
A staff member led the group to a standalone villa in Sector A.
"Captain Shepard specially selected this house for you. It’s similar to the one you lived in before, and the facilities inside are fully equipped. I’ll go turn on the water, electricity, and gas for you now. If you don’t feel like cooking, there’s also a cafeteria here."