"What do you mean by that?" Ivy asked, raising an eyebrow, confusion clearly written all over her face.

Ding!

{You don’t need to exchange your cores for points when the factory is already filled with tons of goods. Tons of goods that can feed well over a thousand people for a very long time.}

"Really?" Ivy’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Ding!

{You didn’t realize it because you’ve been busy fighting monsters. However, despite the fact that you never told me to extract all the goods from the factory, I already did it for you.}

A smile immediately appeared on Ivy’s face.

"Oh, nice."

Ding!

{Three-quarters of your storage space has now been filled with enough food supplies to feed more than a thousand people.}

{Would the Host like to see for herself?}

"Sure."

The moment Ivy agreed, a transparent system interface appeared before her eyes, invisible to everyone else as usual.

Various categories of goods were neatly displayed across the interface. There were mountains of rice bags, cartons of canned food, bottled water, cooking oil, flour, sugar, spices, dried foods, snacks, beverages, and countless other supplies. Everything was arranged neatly inside her storage space.

The sheer quantity was enough to leave anyone speechless.

A look of satisfaction flashed across Ivy’s face.

"This is amazing," she said inwardly. "Thank you, System."

Ding!

{You’re welcome, Host.}

A thought suddenly crossed Ivy’s mind.

"Wait. How many crystal cores do I even have? I never asked earlier. I just told you to convert them."

Curiosity filled her eyes as she waited for the answer.

Ding!

{A total of 1,208 Level One monster cores and one Level Twenty monster core.}

"Oh, wow!"

Even Ivy couldn’t hide her shock.

"That’s crazy. That’s a lot of cores."

For a brief moment, she considered exchanging them immediately, but quickly changed her mind.

"I’ll decide what to do with them later. For now, just keep them safe."

Ding!

{Definitely, Host.}

Ivy nodded in satisfaction before shifting her attention toward Darren.

"We’re heading to the villa. We need to settle everyone there first."

"Sure."

Darren responded with a warm smile as he continued driving the armored vehicle at a slow pace while the survivors followed closely behind.

Above them, the bright moon illuminated the dark night sky, casting a silver glow across the earth. Although the light wasn’t particularly strong, it was enough to guide their path.

The group traveled for quite some time before finally reaching their destination.

At last, the Smith Villa appeared before them.

"Finally!" Darren exclaimed as he parked the armored vehicle in front of the villa and climbed out.

He stretched his aching body dramatically.

"I was beginning to think we’d arrive tomorrow instead. Honestly, I think those old-fashioned horse carriages from ancient times might have been faster than this armored vehicle."

Several survivors couldn’t help but laugh.

Even Ivy let out a light chuckle as she stepped out of the vehicle.

The noise soon attracted attention.

The front door of the villa opened, and Mr. Smith walked outside.

"Good evening, Mrs. Ivy," he greeted politely. "I hope there isn’t any problem?"

"No problem at all," Ivy replied with a smile. "These are the new residents who’ll be living in the villa area from now on."

Before Mr. Smith could respond, Mrs. Smith also emerged from the villa.

A bright smile immediately appeared on her face when she saw the newcomers.

"Oh, that’s wonderful!" she said happily. "It’s been only my husband, Pearl, and me living here all this time. It’ll be nice to finally have more people around to talk to."

The survivors exchanged hopeful looks.

Mrs. Smith continued warmly.

"I’ll start preparing dinner immediately. You all look exhausted. Go take a proper bath, get yourselves cleaned up, and then come back out. There’ll be hot food waiting for everyone."

The survivors’ eyes lit up instantly.

"Thank you, ma’am!" they replied in unison.

Their gratitude was genuine.

After everything they had endured, a warm meal and a safe place to sleep felt like a dream.

"Alright, everyone, follow me."

Darren’s expression became serious as he addressed them.

"I’ll assign rooms first. Once you’ve settled in, come back here."

The survivors nodded obediently.

"Yes."

As Darren prepared to lead them away, Ivy spoke again.

"After dinner, I’ll explain the rules governing this territory. Anyone who wishes to live here must follow them."

The survivors immediately bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Leader Ivy!"

Their sudden display of respect startled Ivy slightly.

Before she could respond, Darren had already begun leading them toward the residential area.

Soon, the villa courtyard became much quieter.

Not long afterward, a mouthwatering aroma drifted through the air.

Mrs. Smith had already begun cooking.

The scent of freshly prepared goat meat soup spread throughout the area while she carefully stirred the large pot beneath the moonlit sky.

The delicious fragrance was impossible to ignore.

One survivor who had just finished bathing emerged from his assigned villa wearing clean clothes.

The moment the aroma reached his nose, he froze.

"W-Wait..." he stammered. "Is that goat meat, or am I hallucinating?"

Another survivor who had just arrived immediately sniffed the air.

"Damn..." he muttered.

"I’ve been dreaming about meat almost every night since the apocalypse started. Don’t tell me I’m imagining things again."

His stomach growled loudly.

Several nearby survivors experienced the same reaction.

Their eyes remained fixed on the cooking pot.

Mrs. Smith couldn’t help but laugh.

"You aren’t hallucinating."

The survivors immediately turned toward her.

"This is very real."

She pointed toward the pot.

"Tonight you’ll all be having goat meat soup with rice."

Silence.

Complete silence.

The survivors stared at her as if they had just heard something impossible.

Then.... 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"What?!"

The group exploded into shock.

"Actual meat?"

"Goat meat?"

"With rice?"

"You mean real rice?"

Several survivors nearly rushed toward the cooking area before stopping themselves.

Many of them hadn’t eaten a proper meal in weeks.

Some had survived on expired snacks.

Others had eaten canned food for so long that they had forgotten what freshly cooked food tasted like.

A few even had tears forming in their eyes.

Seeing their reactions, Mrs. Smith felt both amused and sympathetic.

Just as excitement threatened to overwhelm everyone....

"Before any of you eat..."

Ivy’s calm voice rang out.

The survivors immediately froze.

"...come over here and sit down."

She stood with both hands resting on her waist.

Her expression clearly showed she meant business.

The survivors instantly felt as though their hearts had shattered.

Food was right there.

The smell was torture.

Yet they couldn’t ignore the leader’s orders.

Reluctantly, they dragged their feet toward the chairs that had already been arranged nearby.

Soon everyone was seated.

Only then did Ivy nod in satisfaction.

"Good."

Her gaze swept across every survivor present.

"Now then..."

Her tone became serious.

"Let’s talk about the rules governing this base."