Returning to hometown to farm: The apocalypse system arrived ten years earlier?

Chapter 360 Kanna's Journey

Li Xiang returned to City 03 and handled a considerable amount of his own official business. Although Jiang Cai'er was in charge of the vast majority of affairs in City 03, as the number one person on Earth and Jiang Cai'er's husband, there were still many matters that required his decision.

For example, the connection of the earth's veins facilitates the team's formation.

The list that Shen Wenqian sent contained more than 500 people, more than 300 of whom were from China and more than 200 from abroad. These were the elite individuals that Shen Wenqian had screened, all of whom were at the fourth level or above and had clean backgrounds, with no criminals among them.

As for those below the fourth rank, they are naturally encouraged to cultivate diligently, as there will be opportunities in the future. As the work progresses and the workload increases, the team will inevitably expand, or fresh blood will be needed to replenish manpower after losses.

In addition to high salaries, there are very attractive benefits and a comprehensive disability insurance system. There is also a substantial death benefit in the event of work-related death, which will be left to the family or designated beneficiaries.

Some candidates may not have any living relatives, but they may have lovers or friends.

Li Xiang conducted video interviews, communicating with each candidate "face-to-face." Although it was online, with current internet technology, it was almost the same as "face-to-face."

During the interviews, almost everyone was excited; after all, they were honored to meet the "big boss" in person. To these people, Li Xiang was a god, a superstar idol.

Li Xiang's style has always been down-to-earth. Instead of a formal interview process, he chats with the other person like an old friend, subtly probing to learn about their family situation, background, cultivation journey, type of superpower and its approximate parameters (especially the speed, depth, and early warning capabilities of earth-遁), future aspirations and plans, personality, and attitude towards life.

It must be said that this work is very time-consuming, but also quite necessary.

Ultimately, 468 people passed the interview.

Those who passed were naturally very happy, but Li Xiang informed them that there was one last test: they needed to gather in City 03 individually. From now on, City 03 would be the headquarters.

If one cannot safely reach City 03 alone, then one is definitely not qualified for this job.

For some people who live nearby, it's naturally easier, which seems somewhat unfair. For example, candidates who live in City 03 are "exempt" from the test. But often, luck is also a form of ability.

Furthermore, although it's an assessment, it's also a showcase. Some, located quite far away in North America or Western Europe, are actually eager to try and are actively preparing for the trip. After all, the greater the difficulty of the task, the deeper the impression they'll leave on the boss, and they might be immediately entrusted with important responsibilities afterward.

Therefore, everything has two sides. Li Xiang, on the other hand, quite admires these optimistic people.

Li Xiang read through many of the fans' letters and would randomly select some to reply to. After all, there were too many letters, and he definitely couldn't reply to each one personally. He wasn't Jiang Cai'er.

Jiang Cai'er wouldn't look at his email address, because many of his fans were female and wrote letters purely to express their admiration. Jiang Cai'er would be unhappy if she saw them, so she simply chose to ignore them.

"Huh~, Kanna?" Li Xiang suddenly noticed a very unusual email. It was from an Indian girl, quite long, and written in broken Chinese, but it immediately caught his eye, making him read it word for word. Actually, translation software is very advanced these days, and Li Xiang even possessed the "Lotus of Creation," so he could understand it even if she wrote in Hindi. But the sender wrote it in Chinese, clearly indicating she actively studies the language.

Li Xiang hadn't forgotten the connection between Kanna and him. He thought to himself, "So that little girl has grown up so much and is now a fifth-tier earth-type superhuman."

"This girl has had a tough time. I wonder where she led her people? How many are left?" Li Xiang decided to go and search for her. He happened to be heading to Eileen in Europe, so he could detour through India.

Li Xiang guessed that the other party would most likely go through Assam, then enter northern Myanmar, pass through Yunnan Province, and finally arrive at City 03. However, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the other party would get lost and take a longer route. After all, when traveling outside nowadays, without satellite navigation, it's practically impossible to find anyone to ask for directions. One can only rely on a compass and observe some "remnants" from peacetime.

Due to the obstructed visibility caused by the black fog, the probability of taking a detour was extremely high. Even Li Xiang, who was extremely familiar with the roads and had traveled to every country on Earth, possessing an excellent understanding of the mountains and geography, as well as having the Nine Netherworld Eyes of Illusion and the ability to sense the earth's veins, would sometimes still take a detour.

Fortunately, he was very fast, and taking a detour wouldn't waste much time.

……

Kanna's planned route coincided with Li Xiang's guess. Although it would be closer to cross the Himalayas, the mountains were too high and there were many strange beasts lurking there.

Although she could use earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magical ability), her cultivation level was low, so she couldn't stay underground for long and needed to come up for fresh air from time to time. She also had more than twenty tribesmen, all ordinary people, including infants. Beyond the Himalayas lay the plateau, where it was colder, the oxygen was thinner, and food was harder to find.

At this moment, she had already entered Yunnan Province in China.

She dug a makeshift shelter in a secluded valley for her people to hide in, and then she went to find food.

As her earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique used in Chinese magic) penetrated the frozen ground, Kanna's fingertips suddenly touched several curled-up, hard objects. Pushing aside the ice, she found seven or eight frozen wild rabbits, their fur covered in frost, indicating they had been dormant there for months. She brought this unexpected joy back to her temporary shelter, and a glimmer of light finally appeared in the numb eyes of her tribespeople.

Kanna gathered some frozen, dried pine wood in the valley, chopped it into pieces with an axe made from the teeth of a strange beast, piled it up, and lit a roaring campfire in the shelter. The tribesmen sat around it to keep warm, the campfire licking the rabbit meat skewered on bones, the fat dripping and sparking.

"Eat up." She distributed the browned pieces of meat to everyone.

The fibers torn from her teeth were dry and fluffy, and her stomach, long deprived of meat, contracted, churning with a sour taste. The howling wind outside the cave suddenly froze, and Kanna's ears twitched—a sticky, icy sound of ice crystals rubbing together was seeping in from the cracks in the rock wall.

"Extinguish!" A yellowish-brown aura erupted from her palm, and the earth and rocks collapsed, burying the embers. Almost simultaneously, three eerie blue beastly shadows crashed through the ice on the cave ceiling! Jagged ice crystals and bone spikes protruded from their backs, and their claws scraped against the rock walls without making a sound; only the phosphorescent light flickering in their pupils reflected the pale faces of the group. Before the tribesman at the front could even cry out, a blast of icy mist spewed from his open throat—the breath of the Ice Claw Soul-Devouring Beasts froze flesh into translucent ice sculptures, and even their mournful cries were frozen in the air as they shattered.

(End of this chapter)