Chapter 234 - 201: Dinner Gathering Notice

Chapter 234: Chapter 201: Dinner Gathering Notice

Perhaps only those who had never experienced true despair could speak words so full of hope.

Zhou Qian looked at Huai Yu. For the first time, he felt that her amnesia was a good thing. She was forever striving upward, forever enthusiastic, forever clinging to hope. But... lest her mind—still as naive as a blank sheet of paper—be unable to accept certain possibilities, some things had to be said.

"Little Yu, you probably don’t realize just how dangerous the Wilderness is," he said.

"It’s been six years since the Cataclysm. The first year ended in chaotic resistance. In the second year, we began consolidating all our resources, and in the third year, the Guard Army began its expedition into the Wilderness... It has been over three years since then.

"But what lies in the central zone of the Wilderness? To this day, we still don’t know."

The fact that Zhou Qian had been able to retire meant that he had successfully completed a minimum of nine auxiliary reconnaissance missions within those three years. The losses and sacrifices he witnessed each time had left an indelible mark on his heart. Therefore, he wasn’t trying to scare Huai Yu with these words; he was simply stating the facts.

"Even if General Lin can surpass his limits and survive a critical Mutant Value breakdown, out there in the Wilderness... it is certain death. Zero chance of survival." His voice was soft. "Or perhaps a one-in-a-million chance sounds more hopeful to you."

Huai Yu had long heard about the various dangers of the Wilderness from different people. But at this moment, Zhou Qian’s exceptionally solemn demeanor and quiet words truly made her feel the terror of that place.

She thought for a moment, ultimately still clinging to a sliver of hope. "But that’s Lin Xuefeng. He’s so strong. Wouldn’t he have a better chance of surviving?"

Zhou Qian offered a bitter smile, shattering her fantasy. "Our country has always had a massive population. Even after the Cataclysm, we remain the most populous nation in the world.

"No matter what kind of genius it is, with our massive population base, they are bound to emerge.

"In peacetime, some geniuses with special talents might not have been able to show their abilities. But after the Cataclysm, everyone got different opportunities.

"Geniuses like General Lin have existed all along since the Cataclysm—take General Wu, whom you look down upon, for example. Before he stimulated the growth of the Rose Corridor, he was also universally praised as a Wood Element genius.

"If he hadn’t fallen into a deep coma after growing the Rose Corridor, his strength would have absolutely gone far beyond that.

"No matter how much you dislike him, I have to make the objective facts clear."

As Zhou Qian said this, he watched Huai Yu’s face scrunch up. He couldn’t help but feel a sudden wave of paternal exasperation.

It really felt like he was lecturing a clueless, rebellious teenage daughter! The problem was, where would he even get a daughter? But no matter how much he felt like an old dad, he still had to say what needed to be said.

"There are countless other heroes who fought for humanity, only to ultimately fail to escape the critical threshold of their Mutant Value. Then, they either died in a frenzy of slaughter, or, like him, chose to venture into the Wilderness alone, never to be heard from again...

"Only the Guard Army troops who venture the deepest might accidentally recover some of their relics during a mission."

Or their remains.

Huai Yu listened silently, gradually falling quiet.

Zhou Qian looked at her dazed expression and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. He wondered if he had been too direct, too cruel. She might never even have the chance to go to the Wilderness in her entire life. It might have been better to let her hold on to her beautiful fantasies.

He sighed silently. He raised his hands, hesitated for a moment, and then briskly began to clear the table. He dumped the leftover soup and scraps, tossed all the remaining bowls, pots, chopsticks, and spoons straight into the large cooking pot, and scooped in two ladles of water to let them soak...

"Carrying water isn’t easy, you know! Stop soaking the dishes like this all the time!"

Huai Yu snapped back to reality, instantly forgetting her little emotional slump as she began bossing Zhou Qian around again. "You need to conserve water, understand?

"I bought a steel wool sponge. You just need to dab a little plant ash on it, scrub them once, and then pour two basins of water to rinse them clean. Isn’t that enough?"

Zhou Qian thought that he would rather go dig the fields. Besides, carrying water was hard work, but he was the one who had carried it!

However, he had eaten way too much. Having tasted the food at Huai Yu’s house, he had grown accustomed to the luxury. Now, living under her roof, he had no choice but to obediently fetch a basin of plant ash and scrub the bowls using the water already in the pot.

Meanwhile, Huai Yu paced back and forth nearby like a wealthy landlord. After a while, she suddenly said, "Whether Lin Xuefeng can survive or not, I said I’d go to the Wilderness to find him, and I definitely will!"

She looked at Zhou Qian and couldn’t help but smile again. "Brother Zhou Qian, if you hadn’t come back back then, I would have gone looking for you too.

"But thank goodness, you came back!"

Zhou Qian’s hand, which had been slowly scrubbing a bowl, paused. He looked up at her and said, "You! If you had this personality before your amnesia, was that scumbag blind to break up with you?"

Who could resist such sweet talk!

Huai Yu clenched her fists. "It’s fine. Once I have a few more dreams and figure out whose fault it was, the next time I see him, I’m going to pound him into the wall so hard he’ll have to be peeled off!"

Zhou Qian held back a smile as he imagined the scene. He nodded seriously. "Mhm, I support you."

But getting back to business...

"I can only dig the fields for a little bit this afternoon," Zhou Qian continued. "Last night, the friends from the neighboring camp shouted over, saying they’re coming for a dinner gathering tonight. They told me to get two baskets of vegetables from the field—remember, ordinary ones, just the ordinary ones are fine!"

When the vegetables in the field were still hanging on their vines, apart from the few specifically accelerated and purified ones, the Mutant Values of all the others were normal. Therefore, if the wrong vegetables were picked, Huai Yu would have to spend extra effort purifying them before cooking. Zhou Qian gave this instruction out of fear that she might accidentally pick mutant vegetables.

Huai Yu, however, wasn’t worried. "It’s fine! Even if it’s the perfectly purified stuff, if you add a little well water to it, won’t the Mutant Value just come right back?"

She got plenty of practice by purifying water every day anyway.

Zhou Qian nodded. "Alright then. Get me two large baskets; they all have big appetites."

Huai Yu thought for a moment. "You should stick to digging the field. The potatoes haven’t been fully accelerated yet, so I’ll go pick the vegetables for you first. I’ll pick a bit of everything, alright? Do you guys eat sweet potato vines? The temperature has gone up, so those vines need to be turned anyway.

"You can eat the trimmings with Big Pup, Second Pup, and the chicks."

Zhou Qian was speechless.

He was just about to say something when he heard Huai Yu ask again, "By the way, you need meat to entertain guests, right? If you have time, do you want to go check the Golden Yuan District?"

Zhou Qian considered it. "No need. There are plenty of big and small missions going on right now. Since they agreed to come over for dinner this afternoon, they probably have their own prey.

"If you don’t mind the texture of the meat, make sure to come over. I’ll introduce you to everyone. That way, if I’m not at home and something happens, you can go to the camp for help."

Huai Yu laughed. "I think I’ll just eat a little at home first.

"Also, that sounds so familiar—is that how you instructed the camp guards back then?"

Zhou Qian thought of how pitiful Huai Yu had looked when she first went over to barter for things, and couldn’t help but smile too.

Time really did fly!