Jing Shu covered her face with her palm, her fingers pressing against her forehead as she processed the name. "That is a one-stop base, right?"
"Yes, yes, a one-stop base," Su Mali said, her eyes bright with the reflected glow of the car's interior. "It has everything. Qian Duoduo wanted to surprise you, so he never told you the date. He finished all the arrangements already. Come on, hurry up, or we will be late."
Su Mali's raincoat was sleek and stylish, the fabric a special-material sheen of iridescent black that shifted colors like oil on water as she moved. It came complete with built-in light strips that hummed faintly, acting like the brightest lantern in the dark of the villa's hallway.
"Alright, let's go. I feel like I was just about to do something important, though." Jing Shu frowned, her mind momentarily grasping for a forgotten thought.
"Jing Shu, wear your raincoat properly and do not take it off. A lot of people in the community are infected. You must be careful," Grandma Jing urged before they left, her hand lingering on the doorframe.
"Got it, Grandma. I will be back for dinner. Make a little extra."
"Alright."
…
Months had passed since the Xishan explosion. It had been dangerous, but she had reaped quite a few benefits from the chaos. The government issued a commendation for her, praising her bravery in the face of the blast. Besides a reward of six thousand virtual coins, because she had saved many lives, she was also listed among the year's Top Ten Good Deeds. She did not care much for empty honors that only sat on a digital record.
What she did care about was that her file had been marked confidential. It was no longer open for anyone to peek at, which made life far more convenient when dealing with the city's bureaucracies.
On top of that, Su Xiangnan had overseen another round of upgrades for her RV, the metal exterior now thicker and more resilient. As for Qian Duoduo, he kept his favor outstanding. He said he would deliver a huge surprise when the one-stop base opened.
So she was genuinely excited, riding in Su Mali's luxury car toward Xishan as the tires hissed against the wet asphalt.
"My classmates want another reunion," Su Mali sighed, her shoulders slumping against the leather seat. "They even asked me to invest in a few money-making projects, but I really don't have time for their schemes."
"Then skip it. Maybe later. It is so cold I don't even want to go outside," Jing Shu said, sipping hot milk tea from a thermal cup, the steam curling against her cheeks. Damn this weather. The good days of the apocalypse were ending, replaced by a biting, permanent chill.
"They said it is to deepen our friendship. We have not met in half a year. They want to hold a swap meet too. I told them to organize it themselves, but they did not like that. How about you handle it for me? Check whether those projects are worth it."
"Please no. I don't see any project worth investing in right now, and I am slammed. They just want to eat and drink at your place. Don't forget the gourmet spread you laid out last time."
Most people thought Su Mali was rich and naive and wanted to fleece her again. With red nematodes nearly gone, everyone was sick of eating nothing but mushrooms every day.
"Eating and drinking is fine. I mainly want to find a classmate whose family grows ginseng, but… forget it, another time." Su Mali looked out at the dark rain.
She shrugged. The Su family's stores must be deep. Miss Su did not care about the expense at all.
The road to Xishan had been blocked by the earlier landslides, so Qian Duoduo had waved a hand and had a new one built, complete with steep switchbacks that carved into the rock. It was a lavish undertaking. In under half an hour they reached what he called the one-stop base.
The whole base was built from local stone using modern extraction methods. After hollowing the mountain, they cut giant blocks with locking tabs and fitted them together like a massive puzzle. They even copied ancient ring-drainage systems to keep the interior dry. The place felt comfortable, with a hint of classical architecture that reminded her of antiquity, the stone walls smooth and cold.
The foundation was a massive cylinder topped by a giant conical core, tapering sharper as it rose toward the dark sky. She had never seen a structure like it.
The great gate was hewn from monoliths, the surface polished to a dull shine. Entry required identity verification, and no one was allowed to bring weapons inside. Ten armed guards stood at the door, their expressions grim, along Stweward Cai, who had been waiting to receive them.
The steward hurried toward her, raising his wrist with a delicate flourish. "You finally made it. Mr. Qian asked me to wait here. You can call me Xiao Cai."
She took in the dusted-pale makeup on his face and the careful grooming of his eyebrows and nodded. "Hello, Xiao Cai. Please be our guide."
"Of course. This way, please."
He straightened his clothes and lifted that graceful hand again, pointing toward the interior. "Better keep your raincoats on. Infections are nasty lately. Bugs are rare in here, but you never know, right? We will head to the exhibition hall first. I will introduce what our one-stop base actually is as we go."
After the last scare, Su Xiangnan had developed a shadow in his heart that would not lift. Since then, wherever she went, Su Mali traveled with four bodyguards. They all followed now, their heavy boots thumping on the stone floor.
Their group drew plenty of curious looks as they swept inside, the iridescent raincoats catching the light.
"See these? Every three hundred meters there is an underground corridor. Mr. Qian's bodyguards all live in quarters down below. In fact, almost everyone who serves the Qian family lives underground. The underground space is larger. We built a thousand rooms, enough for two thousand residents." Xiao Cai gestured to a series of heavy metal doors.
"For their happiness, Mr. Qian made them all private rooms. They can even bring family."
"Isn't a basement damp?" Su Mali frowned, her nose wrinkling at the thought. "Can people really live down there?"
Xiao Cai laughed. "You would not know. The base is set halfway up the mountain, so it is not really underground. It is dozens of meters higher than the old elevation. The mountainside is the best spot. As for living 'below,' it is warmer because of the natural insulation of the rock. The staff are thrilled. It is better than what most people have."
Su Mali nodded, her eyes scanning the massive stone columns.
"If you are interested, we can tour that later," he said, leading them first to the hall he had mentioned.
Why an exhibition hall, she did not know.
A moment later, Jing Shu's jaw dropped.
Xiao Cai stopped in front of several very high-tech devices that hummed with a soft, blue light. "Look, Miss Jing. This is one of Mr. Qian's surprises for you. He knows your RV's functions are complete, but it lacks one thing, namely defense and counterattack. This unit is an anti-tracking close-defense system designed to mount on your RV. It can guarantee that no living creature will approach within ten meters."
"What is it called?"
"It is brand new and unnamed. But its function is clear. You could call it the Death Grid."
"Death Grid? That sounds awful. Is it just an electric fence? What is so special about it?" Su Mali shook her head.
"You would be surprised," Xiao Cai said, his smile widening. "Allow me to explain in detail. This handles the RV's close combat problems…"
===
"One-stop base" (一站式基地) means a self-contained, all-in-one facility where everything you need is in one place—housing, security, logistics, power, storage, labs, etc.