Chapter 148 Do Not Make Any Rash Moves

After Zheng Meng and Qiao Xixin completed their identity registrations, Mili led them to the reception room specially designated by the Sihai Base.

Coming as representatives of the Ice God Cult, they demanded careful treatment, to say nothing of the formidable strength possessed by Zheng Meng.

In the Sihai Base, someone of her caliber would hold the rank of a director.

However, within the Ice God Cult, Zheng Meng was merely a priestess.

Regardless of whether it was back in the Fire God Base or after arriving at the Sihai Base, she had never heard of when this Ice God Cult had suddenly appeared in the vicinity.

As an intelligence officer, Mili considered this a grave oversight.

"Zheng Meng, please speak."

Mili prepared cups of hot water for the two of them.

Zheng Meng took a sip, feeling a trace of warmth spread through her body, making her feel much more comfortable.

Qiao Xixin was somewhat speechless—did she not even bother to check whether the water was poisoned?

Yet, seeing Zheng Meng drink it, he followed suit.

Along this freezing journey of wind and snow, being able to have a cup of hot water was truly immensely comforting.

Zheng Meng stated, "I wish to spread the faith of the Ice God within the Sihai Base. During the period of spreading the faith, we will provide the Sihai Base with a massive amount of supplies for reconstruction."

"Should the Sihai Base encounter a crisis, the Ice God Cult will also help you with your defense."

"What do you think?"

Mili’s heart skipped a beat.

The conditions offered by the Ice God Cult were exceptionally favorable, but would a religion existing in the apocalypse truly offer so much to the unfamiliar Sihai Base for no reason without any ulterior motives?

Free things were often the most expensive.

Handouts were invariably the most treacherous.

Mili said, "I need to consult the higher-ups about this. You may stay here temporarily for a few days."

Zheng Meng nodded. "No problem. I will await your good news."

Mili stood up. "Zheng Meng, I will arrange accommodations for you."

Zheng Meng replied, "There is no rush for that. I have another piece of intelligence to deliver to you: Lan Shaokong was killed by the Great Xi King, and the Great Xi King was killed by the Witch. This was witnessed firsthand by the Ice God Cult."

Mili’s heart sank.

The Sihai Base was already aware that Lan Shaokong had died in battle.

However, the intelligence that the Great Xi King had been killed by the Witch had merely been a speculation among intelligence personnel, yet the Ice God Cult had actually witnessed it with their own eyes.

Furthermore, the Sihai Base possessed very little intelligence regarding the Witch who had slain the Great Xi King.

This matter was of paramount importance to the Sihai Base.

Mili recalled the suicide note and intelligence retrieved by Li Wei, which mentioned the mysterious force that had annihilated the Fire God Base. Connecting this with the intelligence brought back by Yu Yuangui and Pei Fu, it had already been confirmed that this mysterious force was actually a single individual—the Witch.

A single person constituted an entire faction, and she had even slain the Great Xi King.

It was unimaginable, beyond comprehension.

Personally arranging living quarters for Zheng Meng and Qiao Xixin, Mili departed in a hurry.

Qiao Xixin asked, "Do you think the Sihai Base will agree?"

Zheng Meng replied, "When my stud of a father was still alive, he used to say that Yu Yuangui and Mili were an old fox and a young fox. If you entrusted them with certain tasks, they would execute them flawlessly, leaving anyone thoroughly satisfied."

"Now that they have become the higher-ups of the Sihai Base, they will naturally consider everything from the perspective of the Sihai Base."

"After all, in this apocalypse, having the Sihai Base versus not having the Sihai Base are completely two different ways of life."

Qiao Xixin said, "You mean they won't consider your past personal friendship and relations with them?"

Zheng Meng smiled lightly. "Correct. But they will consider my strength, and the strength of the Ice God Cult."

Qiao Xixin laughed cheerfully. "In that case, our mission can be completed with ease."

Zheng Meng looked squarely at Qiao Xixin. "Grand Priest Qiao, did you forget something else again? When they assigned you this mission, they never intended for you to survive."

Qiao Xixin’s expression shifted repeatedly. "Then what should we do?"

Zheng Meng looked toward the Sihai Base, which was sorrowfully yet busily engaged in reconstruction amidst the heavy snow. "Look at that, what do you think of this Sihai Base? If we possess plenty of supplies and population, wouldn't it quickly recover its former prosperity?"

Following Zheng Meng's gaze, Qiao Xixin spread his arms wide and said devoutly, "Praise the Ice God! May the Ice God be eternal!"

...

"Director, that is how things stand."

Mili arrived at the ward, cast a worried glance at Yu Yuangui, who was unconscious on the bed, and whispered to Pei Fu, "I cannot make a decision on this matter. It requires a decision from you directors."

Pei Fu felt a splitting headache.

With matters like this, had Lan Shaokong still been around, let alone an Ice God Cult, even if the Fire God Cult and Gold God Cult came knocking, it wouldn't have mattered.

No matter who tried to cause trouble, in the face of Lan Shao's absolute strength, everything was illusory.

Just like that day.

He did not dwell on it further, pondering for only a few seconds before saying, "Accept them, but make the conditions harsh. As for any subsequent issues, we'll wait until Yu Yuangui wakes up."

This was a temporary expedient.

The Sihai Base was currently beset by internal and external troubles and could not sustain a second war.

For this Ice God Cult to casually send two priests who were on par with the Sihai Base's directors—and not ordinary directors at that—meant that if they truly wanted to cause trouble, he alone would be utterly unable to resist them.

Whatever happened would have to wait until Yu Yuangui woke up.

If Yu Yuangui couldn't wake up, nothing else mattered.

After Mili left, Pei Fu walked back into the room to continue keeping watch over the unconscious Yu Yuangui.

Several times, crimson patterns had surfaced on Yu Yuangui's body, making him look as though he could turn into a monster at any moment.

Pei Fu gripped the knife in his hand once more. "Yu Yuangui, you old fox, you better hang in there."

"..."

...

"The Ice God Cult wants to preach in the Sihai Base, and the director has agreed."

Mili arrived at the residence of Zheng Meng and Qiao Xixin.

Zheng Meng smiled faintly. "Praise the Ice God! Mili, I believe you will be proud of this win-win choice today!"

...

Swinging her sword, researching magic, practicing magic, feeding the voles and rabbits, growing green vegetables, checking on the mutated trees she had planted, and listening to the mynah recount local sand sculpture jokes—Su Miao's life had returned to peace.

On February 6, 2124, Su Miao glanced at the calendar. Was the Lunar New Year approaching already?

The Lunar New Year!

Su Miao recalled the New Year celebrations before the apocalypse.

Back then, her grandparents would become busy days before the New Year, their faces beaming with smiles.

During the sparse visits and greetings from relatives, Su Miao would always grow extremely high-strung, worrying that some relative's bratty child would barge into her room and destroy her treasured figurines and anime merchandise.

Fortunately, most of her relatives' children were very well-behaved.

Most importantly, whenever relatives came over, she would lock her bedroom door tightly, insisting on accompanying the young children of her relatives, usually leading them to the city library to read books.

It was much quieter there, with plenty of remote corners where hardly anyone would pay attention to her.

Her relatives' children would also quiet down upon entering the library.

And afterwards, they would arrive politely and leave politely.

Looking at the boundless snow outside, Su Miao suddenly felt a slight nostalgia for her pre-apocalyptic life.

Well, when the Spring Festival arrived, she would celebrate simply.

For instance, setting off a few fireball explosions?

In the past, throwing fireballs was always meant for eliminating enemies; she had no experience using them as fireworks. During this period, aside from researching defensive magic, she would also study magic related to casting fireballs over ultra-long distances.

Additionally, in three months, the high-temperature natural disaster would arrive.

Taking advantage of the ample time now, she needed to make more preparations.

Su Miao was contemplating whether she should find some relatively fresh and clean corpses and cast Undead Resurrection on them, letting these undead work for her, and once their work was done, dispatching all of them to the Fire God Base.

"Why would I have such an evil necromancer's thought?"

"There isn't any necessary work for them to do right now anyway."

"..."

Regarding this abruptly popping thought, Su Miao felt it was extremely dangerous.

Because, up until now, she couldn't think of any job that required the assistance of a horde of undead, aside from gathering potion ingredients.

However, in the freezing, snowy weather, no matter how many undead she had, they wouldn't be able to help gather anything...

Wait, there was one thing she could make the undead do.

Logging!

Su Miao's eyes lit up.

Although her previous outings for logging yielded plenty, those logs were consumed very quickly, and she needed to stockpile more.

Yet where could she find fresh, clean corpses?

She couldn't just go out and murder people.

She was merely socially awkward, not a social terrorist, let alone some evil necromancer.

Never mind, she would think about it later; it was time to study defensive magic.

...

"Look, there's smoke over there! Someone lives on this mountain!"

A group of fifteen people were trudging laborously through the snow.

A sharp-eyed girl in the group quickly spotted the smoke rising from a chimney on the mountain.

"Be careful. Look, there are still many lush green trees growing on this mountain. These must be mutated trees. To be able to live right next to mutated trees, they must be an Esper."

Said the middle-aged man in the group.

He was the leader of the entire expedition, named Fan Qing, who worked as a surgeon.

The people in this group had been cobbled together from various places. Originally, they occupied a residential compound with a small amount of supplies and fuel, barely managing to hold on.

However, once their fuel was exhausted, they had no choice but to leave the compound and search for a new path to survival.

Who would have thought that the moment they left the compound, they would be intercepted by local gangsters within the city.

The two sides fought a battle, and having suffered heavy casualties, they had no choice but to flee.

Later on, they heard there was an official-set refuge nearby and wanted to join it collectively.

Yet when they finally arrived at the shelter, they discovered it had been washed away by floods before the blizzard and extreme cold set in.

Now, the ruins of the shelter were buried under countless layers of heavy snow.

With no other options, they could only continue migrating.

The reason they headed in this direction was also because they heard the military had once operated nearby, so there should still be a shelter in existence.

However, the heavy snow kept falling, and they lost their bearings in the whiteout.

Worse still, they had been ambushed several times.

Their food was plundered, and many people were killed.

When they set out, they numbered over 200 people, but now only 15 remained. The entire party had fallen into desperation.

The smoke rising from this small mountain right now was their beacon of hope.

"Your Highness, someone is coming up the mountain."

The mynah, out on patrol, flew back to report the situation.

Su Miao halted her research on defensive magic and looked down the mountain.

Fifteen figures, resembling tiny black dots, were moving toward the small mountain where she resided.

In such cold weather without snowmobiles, where on earth had these people come from? Had they walked all the way here on foot?

Had they not seen the towering mutated trees growing on this mountain?

Could they all be Espers?

Similar incidents seemed to have happened before.

Feeling a bit nervous, Su Miao turned back into the villa and closed the front door.

"Everyone, pay attention. Do not get close to these mutated trees."

Fan Qing led the group as they began climbing the mountain, instructing them on the rules: "Later, no matter what kind of person we see, be polite to avoid conflicts. Absolutely do not mention anything about being an Esper."

"In case any friction occurs, exposing your identity as an Esper might get you killed even faster."

In a certain ruined city, an Esper had slaughtered everything in his path and easily crushed the entire field. Just as he was about to collect his loot and leave, he was killed.

Because this fellow, after winning consecutive battles, had proudly and boastfully announced what his ability was in order to intimidate others.

Whoever dared to challenge him would die.

Then, in less than three minutes, the guy actually died, killed in a single strike.

Because he was too arrogant and proclaimed his ability too loudly, he had been targeted.

Hearing Dr. Fan Qing's instructions, the people in the group readily agreed.

It was just that the mutated trees planted along this mountain path were truly malicious; virtually every easy-to-walk area had been planted with one.

Consequently, they had to tread through more treacherous areas in the ice and snow, where a slight lack of attention could send them tumbling down the mountain.

"From now on, no one is allowed to utter any foul language."

Noticing the black mynah circling in the sky, Fan Qing felt a twinge of panic.

To be able to fly in such blizzard-like, freezing weather, just how powerful must this mynah be?

Fortunately, the creature showed no hostile intent; otherwise, it would have been disastrous.

Through sheer grit and hardship, Fan Qing and his companions reached the mountain.

However, the first people they encountered were Sun Rong, Chu Zekai, Yu Feng, and Guo Yihang.

"Stop right there!"

Sun Rong stepped forward holding a gun, watching the arriving Fan Qing and his group with vigilance.

Fan Qing spoke up, "Hello, we are traveling refugees trying to reach a nearby shelter, but our food supplies were stolen by bandits. We happened to see this chimney, so we wanted to try our luck and ask for a bit of food to point us toward a path of survival."

"I am a surgeon. In exchange, if you need anything, I can help."

Sun Rong exchanged glances with Chu Zekai, Yu Feng, and Guo Yihang beside him.

For some reason, seeing such an earnest Dr. Fan Qing reminded them of their former selves.

Compared to this Dr. Fan Qing, had they been this polite back then, they probably wouldn't have had to lose so many people.

Sun Rong thought for a moment and said, "There is an abandoned villa over there. You can take shelter from the wind and snow inside first. As for whether we will rescue you, I need to report this and ask for instructions."

Fan Qing’s expression lit up with joy. "Thank you very much!"

Sun Rong exchanged a few words with Chu Zekai and walked toward the villa where Su Miao lived.

He needed to consult Her Highness Su Miao about such matters; should they act arbitrarily and displease Her Highness Su Miao, causing her to cut off their food aid, they wouldn't even have a place to cry.

Moreover, these people in front of them didn't seem particularly frightened upon seeing them holding assault rifles.

Were they all Espers?

Chu Zekai said to Fan Qing and the others, "You all go over there and wait for news."

Fan Qing nodded repeatedly. "Understood."

He led his group to the vacant villa.

The people living here hadn't immediately shouted and tried to kill them upon seeing them—this was the best news they had heard along their entire journey.

"Dr. Fan, should I follow them and take a look?"

A girl in the group asked.

Dr. Fan's expression shifted. "Don't act rashly."