Of course they had plans. Otherwise, wandering around the base these past few days really would've been for nothing.
Lao Gao said, "We want to rent a storefront and sell things ourselves."
Lan Jin followed right after, "And we want to rent some land to keep growing vegetables."
Huang Jinghe nodded over and over. "Yeah, we know farming, and running a shop's simple enough. We've got enough people, so handling both isn't a problem."
Ling Jiang added, "The main thing is, life's been too intense these past few months. We just want to live like normal people for a while, simple and steady. Of course, if you need us to do something, we won't turn it down."
The meaning was clear. Don't drag them into small tasks, and as for big ones, they might not solve them, but they wouldn't refuse either. The four of them weren't base members to begin with. If they didn't want to, the base couldn't force them to do things they didn't agree to.
Still, the base had its rules. Every ability user had to take on one task each month.
Captain Zhang thought it over. The mission they'd just completed was pretty tough, and it could easily cover them for quite a while. After some thought, he said, "Alright, fine. As long as you do it properly and not recklessly. It's just… since you're planning to open a shop, you'll definitely have goods. The base can buy them too, and the price won't be lower than what you'd sell them for, so…"
"No so. We want our own shop, selling our own things. That's our fun."
Both requests got approved. The next step was just filing applications.
Thanks to their relationship with Captain Zhang, it only took a few days to push everything through. He even came back with more news. "That mission brought in a huge haul. Considering how long it lasted and how dangerous it was, the base decided to reward each of the 50-plus people who returned with 50,000 contribution points. Go to the exchange desk later to collect yours. Honestly, for how dangerous it was, 50,000 is too little. So I also applied to waive your shop rent for three months."
And that wasn't all. Captain Zhang continued, "On top of that, each of you gets 20 ability crystals. Lan Jin, you're higher-tier, so yours are rarer, but you'll still get 10. That's already a lot."
Talking about crystals reminded them of something. Why didn't the mutated beasts in R City drop any?
"The beasts in the Maolin forest are too strange. Who'd dare go digging around in them? And yeah, the ones outside really don't have crystals. Otherwise, I'd have taken people out collecting long ago. Seems like in some areas, mutated beasts just don't have them. No one knows why," Captain Zhang explained.
"Well, in that case, what are we waiting for? Let's go collect now."
No one ever hated having too much money, and no one hated having too many contribution points either. Until the points were sitting on their cards, none of them felt at ease.
But what about the extreme heat and endless daylight? When would that end?
Since they were already chatting, they dragged Captain Zhang along toward the contribution exchange desk while asking.
He said, "I really haven't heard anything solid. Seems like it'll last a while longer. We're all safe inside the base, so it's nothing to worry about."
"Sure, staying in the base is safe. But all the other bases outside have been destroyed. How can you guarantee Capital city base won't be next? What if mutated beasts attack? Sure, the base has ability users who can hold them off for a while, but…"
Exactly, but. What if? Who could guarantee Capital city base was untouchable?
Captain Zhang was completely stumped. "You guys, do you want this place to be safe or not?"
"Safe's obviously best, but what if," they said.
Right, what if. That's why the higher-ups were already building a bigger, better base outside. If this place couldn't hold, they'd have to migrate again.
Nothing had happened yet, and Captain Zhang only knew scraps. He couldn't say too much. But he did know Huang Jinghe's parents had been sent out to work on that base. Once it was finished, they'd probably never come back. For Huang Jinghe, reuniting with them here was basically impossible.
So Captain Zhang kept his mouth shut.
…
At the exchange center.
The four of them loaded their rewards onto their cards. Ling Jiang also canceled Grandma Ling's ID and reclaimed her unused contribution points onto her own card.
When everything was done, Captain Zhang led them to the planting district to buy seeds.
Once the seeds were in hand, he said, "You can start planting tomorrow. As for the shop, what do you want to sell? You'll need to get the place ready first."
The unrented shops all looked the same, glass doors with bright white hanging lamps. Simple, but workable. Anyone not picky could open right away.
Perfect for them.
Renovation? Not happening. Not only would it cost contribution points, but Lao Gao could handle simple setups himself, and the rest of them could lend a hand. Why spend if they didn't need to?
As for what to sell…
"We'll talk it over tonight," Lan Jin said, then asked quietly, "All the stuff's in my space. If I just pull it out, is that fine? Or do we need to fake going out first?"
Captain Zhang was speechless. Go out for what? It's not like stepping outside meant they'd magically find supplies lying around. Totally pointless.
Hearing that, they understood. Still, they had to admit, the outside world really had been swept clean.
Lan Jin said, "Got it. We'll be careful. No one's catching us red-handed."
"Good. Tomorrow I'll bring you the shop keys from the planting district. You can open whenever you want. The rest's up to you."
With that, Captain Zhang left. The four of them, contribution points and crystals in hand, happily went off to pick up Lan Qiaoqiao from school.
And it had to be said, after yesterday's little lesson, things really were much better today. At least no one else was crying their eyes out anymore.