When Lu Feng saw that something was off with the young woman, Cheng Yaoyao, he immediately went to his rented warehouse, locked the door from the inside, and entered the game with a thought.

He headed directly for a zone in the western part of the base.

The air-raid shelter base had many partitioned-off rooms. Besides providing living quarters for the people in the base, many were used as office spaces.

One such office area had been given to Gao Yaoyao for her work on repairing the electromagnetic rice cooker technology.

By the time Lu Feng arrived, Cheng Yaoyao had recovered and was busy working on an old laptop.

Next to her, besides Cheng Sisi, were two other survivors helping to review the printed design schematics. These two were the base’s resident electronics expert and head of electronics manufacturing.

In the real world, people like them could certainly find excellent, high-paying jobs.

But here in the game world, their demands were simple: they just wanted to eat their fill.

Even with electronic collars that decided their life or death clasped around their necks, their new boss at least seemed very decent.

So, upon seeing Lu Feng enter, the two of them immediately greeted him with respect. "Boss!"

Cheng Yaoyao also quickly looked up at Lu Feng and greeted him. "Boss, I have good news for you. The biggest problem with repairing the electromagnetic rice cooker technology has been solved. I can definitely get you a finished product within the month."

Lu Feng nodded upon hearing the news. He then went outside the base and summoned Lin Jiao, Chen Tao, Chen Hao, and Xu Bin.

The four of them were the ones he had brought out of the Department Store. He now had something of a faction in this game world.

Lin Jiao, Chen Tao, Chen Hao, and Xu Bin were his trusted confidants.

After some thought, he also called over Wang Cheng and Guo Zhen.

That guy Wang Cheng was a key character in the game’s plot, and Lu Feng could rely on him to recruit members of the Salvation Army.

As for Guo Zhen, he was very familiar with the Gray Wolf Mercenary Corps and had been performing well recently. It was time to give him a chance.

Guo Zhen was naturally very excited to be summoned.

’This is clearly a meeting. It means I’m being accepted into the core group.’

Moreover, he believed that sooner or later, he would become part of the absolute core. Compared to these old-timers, he knew his advantage: the pulse-fissure chip in his head.

While the device could decide his life or death, it also meant that this new boss could trust him completely, as he was incapable of betrayal.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Lu Feng got straight to the point. "I’ve called you here for one reason: the development and construction of the base. I plan to develop the Zhuangyuan District on the surface, which will also allow us to gather survivors later. Once we have more people, we can make use of the buildings up there."

"Naturally, our defenses need to be solid. Even if we can’t match the City East Alliance, we need to have at least basic defensive facilities. I’m leaving all of this to you."

"Don’t worry, Boss. We understand," Lin Jiao replied at once.

The others nodded in agreement.

Guo Zhen then spoke up. "Boss, we’ve been giving everyone three full meals a day. Our original food reserves, which would have lasted two months under Gray Wolf’s rationing, will now be nearly depleted in about ten more days. What’s our plan after that?"

After all, the Gray Wolf Mercenary Corps had previously survived by plundering other Mercenary Corps. If they didn’t continue raiding, they’d have no source of supplies and would have to buy food from the City East Alliance.

Hearing this, Lu Feng turned to Guo Zhen. "Where are the main food reserves usually kept? Take me to see them."

He had already placed an order for one hundred 50-jin bags of rice in the outside world. They would be delivered to his warehouse soon, and he could just bring them in.

Guo Zhen nodded and immediately led Lu Feng to the food storage area. It was a very large, arched chamber secured by a massive iron gate.

Guo Zhen called someone over to open the gate, and Lu Feng went inside to inspect the situation.

There were many types of food inside, mostly coarse rice along with some other miscellaneous items. But when he saw a giant cockroach and piles of a black, unidentified substance stacked together with the food, a wave of nausea washed over him.

He was immediately reminded of nutrient paste. ’No wonder the food the base makes tastes so strange. They probably added cockroach protein. That’s likely what those piles of black stuff are.’

At that thought, Lu Feng had no desire to stay any longer. He walked out and asked Guo Zhen, "Are there any other storerooms like this? Find me an empty one."

"Yes, there are. Follow me, Boss." Guo Zhen quickly led Lu Feng to another iron gate.

When this gate was opened, the room inside was empty.

Lu Feng asked for the key, then went inside, habitually closing the door behind him. With a thought, he exited the game.

Guo Zhen and the member of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Corps waited outside. For a long time, there was no sound from within, and no one came out.

Guo Zhen grew puzzled. He knocked on the door a few times and called out. When there was no response, he opened the iron gate, only to find the room completely empty. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The guard’s eyes went wide with shock.

Guo Zhen, however, knew his boss was an ability user, so he found it less strange. ’The boss has more than one ability.’

Lu Feng returned to the warehouse in the real world. The rice shop owner was fast, and the one hundred bags of rice were delivered shortly.

These 5,000 jin of rice, combined with the base’s existing food, should last them for some time.

He’d probably be heading to Tianzhou City later. He considered setting up a grain trading company there, renting a few warehouses, and paying for shipments himself to create the illusion of legitimate trade.

After all, he would need a continuous and steady supply of grain for the game world.

After the rice shop owner had unloaded all 100 bags into the warehouse, Lu Feng locked the door from the inside and moved the bags one by one into the game’s storeroom.

After that, with another thought, he logged out of the game and returned to Youcheng.

Guo Zhen and the guard were still waiting outside. When Lu Feng didn’t emerge after a long time, Guo Zhen knocked a second time. Getting no response, he opened the door again, and his face filled with astonishment.

The storeroom was no longer empty. It was now filled with sack after sack of something.

He hurried inside and opened one of the bags. It was filled with glistening grains of rice.

It had been so long since he’d seen rice this pristine.

’The boss brought this?’

The guard was completely stunned, his face a mask of disbelief.

It was too incredible.

「Half a month went by in the blink of an eye.」

「Qingfeng Tea House.」

When Lu Feng entered, he saw several tables of people brewing tea in the main hall. A few of the girls were also seated at the tea-brewing stations.

Some of these girls were new; Da Fei had taken Xiaoyao and two others to Tianzhou City.

"Young Master Feng, you’re here!" Xiaoling greeted him respectfully as she came forward.

Da Fei had given the position of Youcheng tea house manager to her. Truth be told, a woman had an advantage over a man in running a tea shop.

Furthermore, Xiaoling had an open personality, much like Xiaoyao, and was one of the two girls with the most regular customers.

Now that Xiaoyao had gone to Tianzhou City with two other girls, her customers had been passed on to Xiaoling. Xiaoling alone now had more clients than all the other girls combined.

Naturally, she was no longer wearing the tea-brewing cheongsam but a professional, form-fitting business suit, befitting her role as manager.

The patrons who came to the tea house wouldn’t dare look down on her just because she was a woman, not even the ones covered in tattoos.

After all, everyone knew who owned this tea house and who she represented.

Moreover, the clientele was no longer limited to the group of friends that Yang Ming and Chen Bo ran with. Even people who didn’t know them would frequent the place.

They had no ulterior motive other than to become a familiar face.

The story of what happened at the bar had spread. He Jin had respectfully poured a drink for this Young Master Feng, seemingly terrified of offending him.

For a man like that, frequenting his tea house was a good move. Even if you couldn’t get to know him personally, getting acquainted with his staff and exchanging contact information was beneficial.

In the future, if a minor conflict arose, one could simply say, "Hey, we’ve both had tea at Young Master Feng’s place, we’ve met before." A small issue could be smoothed over with a drink, and even a major one would be handled with more restraint.

Since they were both patrons of Young Master Feng’s tea house, who knew if the other person had a connection to the man himself?

In any case, it was always a good thing.

Seeing Lu Feng enter, all the patrons, whether he recognized them or not, greeted him respectfully.

Lu Feng only recognized three of them, whom he had likely seen before; the rest were strangers. Nevertheless, he nodded to them all.

He wasn’t one to slight a friendly face.

Just as he was about to head upstairs, Yang Ming arrived. Seeing him, he said, "Xiaofeng, the stuff is in my trunk."

Lu Feng nodded and went outside with Yang Ming. He had come today because he had asked his cousin to get him some things.

Yang Ming opened the car’s trunk, revealing boxes packed inside. He opened one, showing several machines and a number of walkie-talkies nestled quietly within.

These were for use in the game.

The Gray Wolf Mercenary Corps base had communication equipment, but it was all mounted on the hover trucks. They didn’t have the corresponding transmission equipment for portable units, making them useless.

Walkie-talkies didn’t rely on satellite signals; they needed analog equipment to transmit and receive. The frequency bands had range limitations, which naturally depended on the quality of the equipment.

A cheap set might only work within a single hotel, losing signal a short distance outside.

An expensive one could cover a very wide area.

The set he had his cousin buy was the most expensive kind, capable of covering a massive range. If he placed some repeaters in strategic locations, that range could be extended even further.

For example, if he’d had these walkie-talkies before, he could have simply radioed Lin Jiao and the others at the bank from the Gray Wolf Mercenary Corps base instead of having to rush over.

He just hadn’t thought of it at the time. And by the time he did, it was too late.

Lu Feng moved the equipment and walkie-talkies one by one into the trunk of his own car. He then drove to the rented warehouse and moved the devices into the game.

As Lu Feng emerged from the core building of the air-raid shelter base, the surrounding guards immediately stood at attention, respectfully and in unison, shouting, "Boss!"

"Two of you, come with me and help move some things," Lu Feng ordered, and two men immediately and respectfully followed him.

Over this period, Lu Feng had completely won over the entire base.

Thanks to his strategy of providing full meals every day, the respect everyone felt for Lu Feng was no longer just due to the pulse-fissure chips and electronic collars. It now came from the bottom of their hearts.