The male supporting character was actually myself.

After letting him get in the car and driving for more than ten minutes, Jiang Chen finally understood why he had been abandoned by everyone.

He talks too much!

He talked about everything from astronomy and geography to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, his mouth never stopped moving.

"Brother, you're such a good person," Hu Dali said, stroking his mustache with teary eyes.

Jiang Chen: ? ? ?

"I've been living in fear for almost a month, and I don't even have anyone to talk to. You not only saved me, but you also listened to my rambling for ages. You're so kind!"

"Do you know where there are survivors?" Jiang Chen quickly changed the subject.

Hu Dali looked out the car window and directed, "Turn right onto the road ahead and head straight for the outer ring road. I've seen their people before; they took away quite a few survivors, but they probably don't have enough food and water. I think they sold a few women the day before yesterday."

I'm not sure what's going on either, since I was far away upstairs and couldn't see very clearly.

He pointed to the mall plaza, "The transaction took place here the day before yesterday. I noticed that their cars always come from the south and then head over there at night, so they must be based on the outer ring road."

"Host, you really saved him?" The little white cat, laden with its spoils, jumped onto his shoulder, looking warily at Hu Dali, who had a shifty-looking face. "Why do I feel like he's not a good person?"

Following the city's outer ring road, Jiang Chen casually stored the excavators, bulldozers, trucks, and other machines parked in the courtyard for sale into his system space.

When Hu Dali saw the massive machine disappear with a touch of his fingertip, he was so shocked that he stared blankly for a long time without uttering a sound.

There's a pretty big building materials market in the south of the city, with everything from steel bars and cement to hardware and electrical appliances available in all areas.

The little white cat didn't need its host's command; it jumped out and headed straight for the warehouse.

At the very beginning of the apocalypse, the survivors were most concerned about food, water, and weapons; no one even touched other non-essential items.

In addition, there are many factories around the city, so they will soon have enough basic building materials to establish a secure base.

"Just building a high wall and a few buildings is enough!" Little White licked its paws, eager to show off its accomplishment. "Host, I've done a great job today! I'm going to have a feast all to myself when we get back!"

Jiang Chen, who was driving, reached out and gave it an OK sign.

"What are you doing? We've already occupied this area, get out of here!" He heard a warning as soon as his car stopped in front of a large factory.

Jiang Chen rolled down the car window and looked over; there were three people on the other side.

Like the other survivors, they were filthy and disheveled; one of them even had very long hair, making it impossible to tell if he was male or female, and was carrying a gun.

Judging from the format, it was probably found by searching through some bureaus.

"It's them!" Hu Dali whispered slyly, then quickly shrank into the back seat to minimize his presence.

Jiang Chen pushed up his sunglasses and asked, "I heard you take in survivors here?"

Chapter Twenty-One: It's the apocalypse, and they're still developing real estate?!

The leader was taken aback by his impeccably clean appearance.

With all departments in the city paralyzed, there is no electricity or water, so who would be willing to waste time washing up?

This guy can still keep it so spotless, he's definitely not an ordinary person!

"Are you looking for someone or what?" The one with long hair spoke in a neutral voice that was neither male nor female. "Judging from your appearance, you don't need to be taken in. Besides, we can't take in anyone here."

If you're looking for someone, just give us their name and we'll ask around for you.

Jiang Chen countered, "Do we need to pay a ransom?"

“We’re not human traffickers.” The other party was clearly unhappy, and his voice turned cold. “Although we don’t have many supplies, we’re not at the point of selling people.”

Most of the survivors here are migrant workers from other places. Even if relatives or friends come looking for them, their identities must be verified before they can be released.

If you find the person you're looking for, we'd be happy to give them some supplies as a token of our gratitude.

Xiao Bai peeked at the other person and praised, "These people are not bad."

"How many of you are there? I'm here to recruit workers. Food and lodging will be provided, and we'll be doing manual labor."

The other party was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting that there would still be people recruiting in this damn apocalypse!

This is the end of the world!

Even the apocalypse can't stop the capitalists?

The officers on duty called their leader, and after both sides held guns and engaged in friendly negotiations, Jiang Chen used weapons as a bargaining chip to recruit more than thirty young men from the survivors who were willing to work.

Their thinking was simple: staying here meant starving and dying, and they didn't know when zombies would break through the factory and kill them. The offer was tempting; why not take a gamble?

If you win the gamble, you'll have no worries about food and clothing; if you lose, at worst you'll lose your life.

Since things are already like this outside, what's there to be afraid of if we don't have a tomorrow?

Those willing to go with him were all strong young men who didn't care about anything, while the female workers all backed away, fearing that he had bad intentions and they would be sold into slavery.

"Is this a plywood factory?" After the transaction, Jiang Chen glanced at the equipment in the huge factory and asked curiously, "Do you have any stock?"

The other party's leader was a refined-looking middle-aged man with glasses that gave him an air of scholarly refinement.

Before the apocalypse, he was the manager of this factory. The disaster struck during his work hours. After waking up, he quickly organized the factory workers to deal with the zombies, lock the gates, and defend the site.

His home wasn't far from here. When he led a few people back to look for their families, he also took in migrant workers who had escaped from nearby factories.

Thus, this survivor shelter was gradually established.

Currently, the entire shelter relies entirely on the men to go out and search for food and water on the outskirts of the city. Although they are struggling to make ends meet, they can barely keep going.

With a lack of firearms and ammunition, when encountering zombies, they basically rely entirely on the person in charge who has awakened superpowers.

Therefore, apart from occasionally bringing back one or two survivors when they went out to search for resources, they basically didn't go out much.

"The warehouse is full of high-quality plywood." The person in charge was obviously a mild-mannered person. He looked at the group of female workers who were hiding in the factory and dared not come out with a worried expression. "If only this were a food factory, this used to be a valuable brand of plywood, but now it can only be used for burning."

The other party led him to the warehouse for a look, and Jiang Chen raised his chin, "Sell it to me, what do you want to exchange it for?"

"Buy building materials?" The person in charge was stunned for a few seconds, then stammered, "You're actually developing a real estate project? It's the apocalypse, little brother, what kind of houses are you building? I doubt even zombies would buy your properties."

Little White covered its forehead with its furry paws. "Host, he thinks you're not quite right in the head."

"It's such a waste to burn these boards, give them all to me. I'll exchange them for food and water, how about that?"

"That's wonderful!" The person in charge hurriedly took out paper and pen to draw a map for him. "Look, turn right at the intersection ahead, and keep going until you reach the village. There's a food processing plant and a bottled water station there. If you can get some of those canned goods and stuff, you can take all the timber here!"

Jiang Chen stepped forward and ran his fingertip across the pile of boards, instantly storing them into the system space.

This was followed by a large number of bagged foods and various canned goods, as well as bottled water.

"What kind of ability is this?" The person in charge was stunned.

Jiang Chen explained casually, "Spatial ability."

After an equivalent exchange, both parties retain what they need.

The person in charge saw him to the gate and hesitated before saying, "If you need any more workers, come back and recruit some. Now that your building is really finished... I might consider buying one."

“Next time I will have these young men come back to recruit people, so you don’t need to worry about safety.”

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Jiang Chen took out a large bus from his spatial storage and let those who wanted to come with him get on the bus. He then drove around the area for a long time before finally returning to Xiaogang Village as evening fell.

"Brother Guo, could you please cook two more pots of rice?" Jiang Chen called out as soon as he got out of the car. "We can start construction tomorrow. We've recruited thirty-six strong young men, so we need to arrange accommodations for them and help them wash up and change into clean clothes first."

The group of people probably hadn't showered since the apocalypse began; that guy couldn't stand the stench even with the windows open the whole way.

"Is there really a place with food, drink, and lodging?"

"It smells so good, are they eating pork stew?"

"This water...is it okay to drink it freely?"

……

The thirty-odd young men were shocked by the scene in Xiaogang Village as soon as they got off the bus.

Although the village was small and simple, the people there were no different from before the apocalypse; I was so hungry that I was skin and bones, dirty and smelly, just like a beggar!

"Come on, listen to my instructions." The village chief took charge, starting by assigning them lodgings and even thinking of finding some old clothes so they could take a bath and change.

Jiang Chen, however, gave each person two brand-new plastic basins, along with tagged towels, toiletries, two sets of new clothes, and two pairs of shoes.

One young man, filled with despair and guessing he was going to be fed to the zombies, burst into tears on the spot.

As a senior chef, Guo Quanyi quickly adapted to the pace of cooking large batches of food.

He took a new shovel and heated oil in a large iron pot to stir-fry vegetables. Soon he also stewed two large pots of fragrant pork, cabbage, and vermicelli.

After everyone had their hair shaved into buzz cuts with manual clippers and scissors with the help of Liang Suogui, they all washed themselves clean, changed into new clothes, and squatted by the pot, drooling, waiting for the meal to be served.

"You must be very tired today?" Tang Xueli brought Jiang Chen a cup of hot tea and gently massaged his shoulders.

The little white cat had no choice but to jump to the side and chase its own tail in circles.

Hu Dali had plenty to eat and drink, so he wasn't particularly craving the delicious food. As soon as he arrived in the village, he started muttering to himself, counting on his fingers.

Seeing this, some older people invited him to their homes to have their fortunes told, and he quickly gained popularity among the original residents of Xiaogang Village.

"Your fish tattoo isn't good." After the meal was cooked, Hu Dali, holding a bowl of pork stew with vermicelli, took a bite of steamed bun and a bite of vegetables, and didn't forget to point out to the tattooed big man under Brother Niu, "It should have been a mascot, but it has a scar on its mouth, so it's become a fishing spot."

"Fishing, fishing, if they're all hooked up, how can they possibly be okay?"

The burly man with tattooed arms frowned as he stared at the fish tattooed on his leg. "No wonder I keep having bad luck after getting this tattoo. Master, can you help me break the curse?"

Before Hu Dali could continue his charade, Jiang Chen patted him on the shoulder and reminded him, "I don't keep idle people here. Starting tomorrow, you'll be teaching the village children, teaching them knowledge and calligraphy. Don't tell the children your mystical nonsense, or Xiaogang Village won't keep you."

"Alright!" Hu Dali took a bite of his steamed bun and grinned. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

Gong Feibai patted Jiang Chen on the shoulder, called him aside and whispered, "I have a feeling that something is not quite right."

Chapter Twenty-Two: It sprayed water!

"Who's acting strangely?" Jiang Chen's expression immediately sharpened. "What's strange?"

Gong Feibai took out the map drawn by Tang Xueli and others, pointed to the area behind the mountain and explained: "There is clearly a small hill in this area, which is clearly marked on the map."

I've reviewed the video footage taken by the drone; it clearly and completely captured the front, sides, and even the back.

But when I went to check it out in the evening, I found the small mound was gone.

Jiang Chen: ? ? ?

"How exactly did it disappear?"