Chapter 357: Chapter 342: Trying to Steal a Chicken, Only to Lose the Rice

"Gu Xi!"

Just then, a man with a menacing scar on his face squeezed through a crowd of ability users and grinned at Gu Xi.

The scar-faced man already looked intimidating, and his grin only made him appear even more ferocious.

The people who had been gathered around Gu Xi immediately took a few steps back.

Gu Xi looked up and recognized him at once. It was Mr. Zhou, the man who had rescued her from the ruins with Wei Heng over a year ago.

’When she woke up in South City’s Safe Camp 9527, it was Mr. Zhou who had registered her.’

Mr. Zhou might have looked a bit intimidating, but he was truly a kind and warm-hearted man.

’But,’ Gu Xi recalled, ’Mr. Zhou should be part of the South City Scavenger Team. What is he doing in City A?’

"Mr. Zhou, how come I didn’t see you just now?"

Gu Xi sized up Mr. Zhou. His complexion was still a bit sallow, but he looked better than he had back in South City. At least he no longer had the appearance of being seriously poisoned. ’He must have received the items I had Wei Heng deliver to Camp 9527,’ she thought.

"Heh," Mr. Zhou slapped his forehead and pointed to an off-road pickup truck in the distance, grinning. "I was just parking the truck, wasn’t I?"

’So Mr. Zhou was the one driving just now. No wonder it was such a wild ride that Tang You couldn’t stop complaining. He’s still shooting resentful glances at him even now. Of course, it’s also possible Tang You noticed Mr. Zhou is different from Gu Xi and is just posturing to show he’s on friendly terms.’

Mr. Zhou paid no mind to the base leader surnamed Tang’s resentful glares. He just grinned and asked Gu Xi curiously, "Gu, I heard you’ve taken over City A?"

"City A, as it is now..." Seeing Gu Xi nod, Mr. Zhou scratched his head and lowered his voice. "Why didn’t Wei try to stop you? You’re capable, I know, but why would you want to take on such a hot potato?"

Perhaps because he and Wei Heng had rescued her and brought her back to the safe camp, Mr. Zhou saw Gu Xi as one of his own, like a niece, despite not having spent much time with her.

’This young lady hasn’t had it easy. She barely survived the ruins, gained abilities, and now so many people have their eyes on her... Sigh, it’s all because of these times we live in. Sixty years ago, a girl Gu Xi’s age would still just be a kid.’

Nearby, Qi Xiang heard this, tugged on Wei Heng’s sleeve, and quietly exchanged a glance with Yang Chi.

It looked like Mr. Zhou knew something.

With so many prying eyes and ears around, Gu Xi didn’t explain, simply smiling. "By the way, Mr. Zhou, what brings you to City A?"

"I came with my scavenger team," the tall and sturdy Mr. Zhou said, squatting down next to Gu Xi. He settled into a standard farmer’s squat, folding his arms, and said cheerfully, "Scavengers like us don’t have a fixed home. We just heard that..."

Mr. Zhou abruptly stopped talking.

Gu Xi didn’t press him. Instead, she looked at the people nearby and said, "Have a lot of scavenger teams been coming to City A recently? It seems like there are quite a few ability users here..."

Just a moment ago, Tang You had been muttering that as soon as he went back last night and announced he was recruiting, a huge crowd of ability users had shown up to register, nearly starting a brawl over it...

"Not that many, actually."

Mr. Zhou glanced to his left and saw Huo Changzhou pulling Tang You aside. The two were muttering about something. Mr. Zhou pursed his lips. "Well, uh, ever since you led your team out of the Central Base, someone here in City A started spreading the news that your destination was City A..."

Ever since the military publicly announced that plants could be successfully reverse-evolved and revealed Gu Xi’s existence, her influence among ability users had reached an astronomical level.

At that time, countless people wanted to join Gu Xi’s team.

But obviously, not just anyone could join Gu Xi’s mission team. Back then, the military had argued endlessly with other factions over the matter, and someone had even tampered with the planes at the military airport.

So, after someone released the information that Gu Xi’s destination was City A, didn’t all those ability users who had no connections to her but wanted to try their luck rush over to City A?

’What if they ran into the big boss and were lucky enough to be noticed by her?’

They knew it was a long shot, but a person could dream, couldn’t they?

This was especially true for scavengers who had no fixed homes to begin with. Coming to City A to try their luck was no big deal. They were a bunch of wanderers who made their home wherever they went.

And so, over the past month, quite a few scavenger teams had gathered in City A.

But these scavengers, who were just trying to survive the apocalypse, obviously weren’t there solely to try their luck—dreams were nice, but practical matters always came first.

After rushing to City A and waiting for a long time for Gu Xi to appear, many of the scavenger teams had already left the city to resume their old profession: exploring and scavenging in the ruins around City A.

So, strictly speaking, there weren’t actually that many scavenger teams left inside A City Base now.

Even Mr. Zhou’s team had just happened to return to the city yesterday to restock on supplies, which was how they’d coincidentally run into Tang You recruiting people.

Once Mr. Zhou explained this, Gu Xi understood what was going on.

Back when she was still at the Central Base, someone had already guessed her final destination was City A. Of course, it wasn’t a difficult thing to deduce.

After all, in many people’s eyes, she was playing out a revenge plot this time. And many of them were likely well aware that she had been in City A during the thirty years she was missing.

Therefore, someone had started scheming long ago...

As for why they would lure all those civilian ability users to City A?

’...It’s easier to fish in troubled waters, of course.’

Gu Xi lifted her gaze to the patch of land in the distance that had just been tilled by a few Earth Ability users. She casually fiddled with the small green sprout on her fingertip. ’It’s really so considerate of certain people to go to all this trouble for me.’

It was a pity... she had never been interested in a revenge plot.

"Gu," Mr. Zhou leaned in and asked in a low voice, "I heard that after the big earthquake, the Central Base didn’t send a single thing in supplies..."

Qi Xiang, who was just walking over, heard this, and her eyes flickered. ’The Central Base is in chaos right now,’ she thought. ’The various factions are too busy fighting for power to even look after themselves, so how could they possibly spare a thought for the survivors in City A?’

’As for the military... the Military Department knows our Gu Xiaoxi is in City A. That shrewd Mr. Shen has probably already made his own calculations. After all, our Gu Xiaoxi is the woman who fed an army of several hundred thousand on the front lines!’

’Her power is there for all to see!’

’What’s the big deal about supporting A City Base on the side?’

’He probably even thinks Gu Xi is the one getting a great deal out of this.’

’After all, this is control over a major, level-one survivor base. In ancient times, that would make her a feudal lord!’

’Too bad our Gu Xiaoxi is only interested in a farming plot and has no interest whatsoever in power or status.’

’This time, the ever-shrewd Mr. Shen is probably going to try to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. He’s going to lose his son and his soldiers, too.’

Thinking of Shen Yue, who was still busy somewhere in City A, Qi Xiang let out a soft laugh. She decided not to interrupt Gu Xi and Mr. Zhou’s reunion.

Meanwhile, Mr. Zhou finished speaking and glanced left and right. Knowing this wasn’t his turf, he lowered his voice again and whispered, "Are you really planning to support the several hundred thousand survivors in City A?"

Gu Xi nodded. "I have given it some thought."

"Then..." Hearing her say that, Mr. Zhou was suddenly at a loss for what to say. He couldn’t very well tell Gu Xi to just ignore the fate of those hundreds of thousands of people, could he?

He just couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

Mr. Zhou sighed. Just then, Gu Xi turned to look at him, her eyes deep and calm. "But *I* won’t be the one supporting them."