Chapter 162: Farmland

Most of them were men.

To persuade them to support her protest, she even promised to consider marrying them if they helped her.

The promise immediately attracted several interested candidates.

Soon, a small group of dissatisfied residents began planning their demonstration.

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Meanwhile, Ni Mengxue waited until nine o’clock that evening before issuing another announcement.

[Base Announcement: All residents are advised to return to their homes before midnight. Residents are prohibited from leaving their residences between 12:00 a.m. and the end of the restricted period. Please cooperate with the base’s arrangements.]

After sending the notice, Ni Mengxue left her office and went for a walk.

She had recently unlocked farmland through the system, and she intended to establish a proper agricultural district.

However, simply creating farmland wasn’t enough.

She needed people who understood agriculture and could manage the fields.

More importantly, she wanted someone capable of promoting the farming program and encouraging other residents to participate.

With that thought, she opened the resident management interface.

She began examining the profiles of people with farming experience or abilities related to plants.

After searching for a while, one particular profile caught her attention.

The resident possessed an unusually high affinity with nature and a dormant plant-type supernatural ability.

Her name was Strawberry Lee.

Ni Mengxue raised an eyebrow. She examined the woman’s talent ratings again.

Despite her questionable behavior, Strawberry had considerable potential as an agricultural worker.

Ni Mengxue didn’t hesitate. She immediately sent her a recruitment invitation.

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Meanwhile, Strawberry was sitting inside her residence with several of her husbands and the men she had recruited.

A rough map of Fair Shallow Land lay across the table.

She pointed toward one of the open spaces.

"We won’t occupy the main roads. That would only give the base leader an excuse to punish us."

She tapped another location.

"Instead, we’ll gather here. It’s close enough to the residential buildings to attract attention, but we won’t block the streets."

The others nodded.

Strawberry continued confidently, "As long as enough people join us, the base leader will have no choice but to listen to our demands."

Just as she finished speaking, a familiar notification sounded.

Ding! A blue holographic screen suddenly appeared before her.

[Congratulations, Strawberry Lee! You have been selected as a candidate for the upcoming Farmland Development Program.

Position: Agricultural Supervisor.

Would you like to accept this employment opportunity?]

Strawberry froze but she didn’t immediately accept.

Instead, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

’Why am I receiving this invitation now? Could the base leader be watching us?’

The possibility made her increasingly suspicious.

’Maybe the base leader already knows I’m planning a protest and wants to stop me by offering a job.’

A smug smile appeared on her face.

’Hmph. Does the base leader think I can be bought so easily?’

She was about to reject the invitation when she noticed the salary. Her expression changed.

The amount offered was enough for her family to live extremely comfortably in Fair Shallow Land.

And that wasn’t all. The position also included several employee benefits.

She wouldn’t have to pay rent, and her residence would receive a solar panel and electricity supply free of charge.

’Wait a minute... Maybe I’ve been looking at this situation the wrong way.’

She slowly raised her head and looked at the men gathered around the table.

After a moment, she sighed. "You people are really a bunch of blockheads."

Her husbands exchanged confused glances.

Strawberry continued, "If I’m making a mistake, shouldn’t at least one of you correct me?"

The men were stunned.

Just a few moments ago, she had been enthusiastically explaining how they would organize the protest.

Now she was suddenly claiming that she had been wrong.

What had happened?

Before anyone could ask, Strawberry stood up and stretched her arms.

"I’ve thought about it carefully. Fair Shallow Land is actually a wonderful base."

The others stared at her.

She continued confidently, "The rent is cheap, food is affordable, and the base leader is clearly working hard to improve everyone’s living conditions. Besides, electricity is gradually being introduced. Isn’t that a good thing?"

She smiled. "Instead of going against the base, we should cooperate with its development."

The room fell silent, and then one of the men finally stood up. His name was Manny.

He had blond hair, deep black eyes, and a sharp gaze that made him appear considerably more serious than the others.

He stared directly at Strawberry.

"Strawberry, did you just receive some kind of employment notification from the system?"

Strawberry stiffened slightly.

Manny narrowed his eyes.

"I saw your expression change. At first, you looked surprised. Then you became smug, as though you’d figured out something clever."

He paused.

"But after reading whatever appeared in front of you, that smug expression disappeared. You looked genuinely amazed."

His voice became colder.

"Did the base leader already know about our protest and offer you something to keep your mouth shut?"

Strawberry snorted, crossed her arms, and looked at him arrogantly.

"Even if the base leader did offer me something, what are you going to do about it, Manny?"

Manny’s expression darkened.

He had never intended to settle down in Fair Shallow Land without making a name for himself.

The only reason he had agreed to Strawberry’s proposal was that he already wanted to protest against the base’s regulations.

Her promise of marriage had simply been an additional benefit.

However, now that she had apparently received a better offer, she was abandoning their plans without hesitation.

Manny stared at her for a long moment.

Then he spoke calmly.

"Fine. If you’re not going to protest, I will."

With that, Manny turned and headed toward the door.

Strawberry immediately panicked.

’What if the system withdraws my employment offer because I failed to stop the protest?’

The thought made her anxious. She hurried forward and grabbed Manny’s hand.

"Why are you getting so angry? Can’t you at least hear me out properly?"

Manny turned toward her. His expression remained calm, but there was a chilling coldness in his eyes.

Strawberry almost shivered.

However, she quickly suppressed her fear and continued, "The base is going to open a farmland district. If you apply for a position as a farmer, you might receive some excellent benefits."

She paused before adding, "Besides, I think Fair Shallow Land has a promising future."

"What if the farmland really can produce vegetables? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?"

She looked at him seriously. "If you organize a protest now and end up getting expelled from the base, won’t you regret it later?"

Manny paused and seemed to consider her words for a moment before suddenly laughing. "Farmland?"

He shook his head.

"Do you have any idea how many bases have established farmland since the apocalypse? They have plenty of land, but they still can’t grow vegetables."

His words made Strawberry fall silent. After a moment, she sighed.

"Can’t you trust me just this once?"

She continued, "You can always organize a protest a few months later. Nobody is stopping you from doing that. But what if the base leader introduces something beneficial for all the stall owners before then?"

Manny stared at her. After a long silence, he chuckled.

"Fine. Then I’ll wait and see what the base leader comes up with."

Strawberry finally relaxed. At least she had managed to prevent him from leaving immediately.

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Meanwhile, Ni Mengxue had no idea what the residents were planning.

She was busy making preparations of her own.

After finishing her work, she patted herself on the shoulder and murmured, "You did a great job."

She then waited patiently until 12 o’clock in the morning.

By that time, the residential district had fallen silent.

Most of the residents had already returned to their homes.

Ni Mengxue opened the system’s monitoring interface and examined the base.

Sure enough, a few figures were still wandering outside despite the curfew.

She had already issued another warning at eleven o’clock, reminding everyone that they needed to remain indoors after midnight.

Yet these people had deliberately ignored her instructions.

Without hesitation, she used her authority to expel the violators from the base.

’Since they refuse to follow the rules, they can find somewhere else to live.’

She had no intention of repeatedly tolerating people who openly defied the base’s regulations.

Once that was settled, Ni Mengxue opened the construction interface.

A miniature three-dimensional model of Fair Shallow Land appeared before her.

The residential buildings were now arranged neatly, with wide roads connecting the different districts.