The people coming to reap the rewards arrived even faster than Gu Xi had expected.

Wei Heng had just finished collecting the leftover peaches—which everyone was too stuffed to eat—for Gu Xi to put into her dimensional space when Zhang Wen scurried over sneakily, cradling a bowl-sized peach and rubbing his belly to deliver the news.

—People from A City Base had arrived.

According to Zhang Wen, the official story was that the base had received a notice from a supply point. They learned that a convoy was on a mission out here and had run into supply issues, so the higher-ups had specially sent a logistics director with provisions to check on them.

As for their real purpose?

Gu Xi and Wei Heng exchanged a look.

Nearby, Qi Xiang was teasing Bai. The little mouse had been taken to the main camp yesterday, where the research team had drawn several vials of its blood. When Ye Junhan brought it back that night, it had been listless and dispirited.

But Qi Xiang was sharp. She saw right through the little mouse’s act. ’Isn’t it just playing pitiful to scam us out of some Crystal Cores?’

’When you’re dealing with thousand-year-old foxes, who can’t see through whose little schemes?’

Bai’s clever plan failed. It spent the entire night sulking in the mouse hole it had dug for itself and refused to come out.

...Who knows who it was trying to give the silent treatment to?

That is, until Gu Xi grew some succulent honey peaches this morning... Who would have thought a mutated mouse would like peaches?

In any case, Qi Xiang now had Bai right where she wanted it. The mouse was sprawled on the ground while Qi Xiang held it by the ears, petting it relentlessly. Meanwhile, its beady little eyes were glued to the large half of a peach Qi Xiang had placed beside her...

Qi Xiang casually picked up the peach and turned to Zhang Wen. "So, they’re already at the main camp?"

Zhang Wen nodded, stuffing the rest of his peach into his mouth. "Yeah," he said indistinctly. "They’re at the main camp. Yang Liu and Mr. Zhao are attending to them..."

Qi Xiang felt something was off, and her hand, which was petting the mouse, paused slightly.

"Where’s Ye Junhan?" she asked.

"The captain went on patrol. He’s not back yet." Zhang Wen squatted by a small puddle and casually washed his hands.

He had to admit, although the creatures in this swamp had all mutated in bizarre ways, the water quality was surprisingly good—beautifully clear and pristine.

Zhang Wen stood up, flicking the water from his hands. "But from the looks of it, they seem to have come specifically to see Miss Gu."

As it happened, it was his turn to patrol the outermost perimeter this morning, so Zhang Wen was the first team member to see the visitors from City A. He had even chatted with them for a bit on his way back.

Just then, Gu Xi suddenly asked, "Did they say how they found us?" After all, on paper, they had been out of contact with the outside world for a long time.

Zhang Wen nodded. "Mr. Zhao already asked. According to their leader, Mr. Zhou, they received word from the supply point, then used a satellite to track our convoy’s movements from a few days ago and pinpointed our location."

Hearing this, Qi Xiang scoffed. "Well, their pinpointing is certainly accurate."

Zhang Wen rubbed his head and chuckled sheepishly, not replying to her comment.

Instead, it was Shen Yue who sauntered over lazily and asked Gu Xi, "Want to go see them?"

Gu Xi looked up toward the depths of the swamp. "Let’s wait a little longer."

’They’re already here, so I’ll have to see them eventually. But not now.’

...

「Meanwhile, at the main camp outside the swamp.」

"Zhou, what do you think they’re playing at?" Chen Ming said, his face a mask of displeasure as he pushed aside the tent flap and walked in from outside.

They had been here for ages but hadn’t seen a single person in charge.

Forget about Gu Xi, the person they were actually here for—even Ye Junhan hadn’t shown his face.

From start to finish, they’d been fobbed off by two squad leaders from the Special Service Team.

What kind of treatment was this? At the very least, they were representing A City Base. For the other party to be so dismissive showed a complete lack of respect for A City Base.

Chen Ming was extremely displeased by this.

Logistics Director Zhou Yue was leaning against a crude lab bench, reading through the data submitted by the research team.

He had seen some of it before, but this was his first time seeing the more detailed research on the swamp creatures, especially the experimental data on that mutated mouse.

The higher-ups were very concerned about the mouse, so Zhou Yue’s attention was currently focused on the experimental data before him. He simply smiled at the complaints from the base commander’s right-hand man and offered a perfunctory word of advice—

"Secretary Chen, a little patience."

’No one here is a fool. Chen Ming isn’t actually this impetuous—a truly impetuous person would never become the base commander’s chief secretary.’

As for why Chen Ming was putting on such an impatient act and deliberately complaining nonstop in front of him... Zhou Yue knew perfectly well.

But he had no intention of being the one to stick his neck out.

Perhaps all the talking had made his mouth dry. Chen Ming picked up a bottle of water and walked over to Zhou Yue. "Haven’t we seen all this data before? What are you looking at now?"

He twisted open the cap and, while taking a drink, glanced at the Light Screen in front of Zhou Yue. When he saw a particular line of data, he instantly did a spit-take.

"Impossible!" Chen Ming was too stunned to wipe the water from his face. He stared at the line of data in disbelief. "But this mouse was clearly..."

Chen Ming suddenly remembered Zhou Yue was standing right there and quickly swallowed the rest of his sentence.

’His private relationship with Zhou Yue was actually quite good, and the factions backing them were currently close allies. But when it came to a critical moment, they each served their own master.’

Zhou Yue probably knew Chen Ming was being guarded, but he didn’t press the issue. He just glanced at his old friend with a smile and said meaningfully, "This Miss Gu seems to have a lot of potential. Even a little mouse she casually picked up has become this powerful..."

He paused, glanced in the direction of City A, and added profoundly, "From the way the higher-ups are acting, this Miss Gu might soon replace that Miss Ye and become..." ’The true light of the apocalypse.’

At this point, as if he realized he had said too much, he just smiled at Chen Ming and refused to continue.

But Chen Ming was unimpressed.

’The reason that Miss Ye is hailed by everyone as the light of the apocalypse isn’t just because her ability is so powerful. These days, it all comes down to connections and influence.’

’Miss Ye has a mother who’s the deputy director of the Abnormal Ability Research Institute. What does Gu Xi have?’

’She’s just a drifter girl, all alone, with no background or connections to speak of. So what if her ability is a little powerful? In the end, won’t she just become a pawn in the hands of the powerful?’

’Her current glory is just temporary.’

’In the end, the girl is just too naive. She held the key technology for the reverse evolution of plants. She could have hoarded it and waited for the highest bidder, but instead, she was easily coaxed into giving it away.’

’She didn’t even stop to think. As the old saying goes, ’teach your apprentice all your skills and you’ll starve the master.’ Now that this technology is shared, what does a little girl like her have left?’

’Sooner or later, she’ll be devoured without a single scrap left.’

’She really is too young.’

’She’s not prudent or thorough enough in her actions.’

Chen Ming sighed, shaking his head, and turned to leave.

At the lab bench, Zhou Yue watched the back of his ’clever’ old friend, who thought he had it all figured out, as he left, shaking his head smugly. Zhou Yue clicked his tongue softly.