Natural Disasters Strikes: I stockpiled like crazy!

Chapter 299: A Resource Point?

It hadn’t even been a week since the heat wave ended, yet one could already see green grass sprouting from the cracks in the asphalt road.

Noticing this, Nanzhi frowned.

Out of everyone’s line of sight, a gentle breeze swept past. The blades of grass were pulled out by their roots, crushed into pulp, and instantly lost their vitality.

Nanzhi only withdrew her ability when Feng Ran suddenly spoke.

Behind the wheel, Feng Ran couldn’t help but ask, "Sister-in-law, I’ve been wondering. What happened to Brother Lin?"

Baoyin, Bingwen, and Hei Qian all turned to look at Weihao in the back seat. The dark circles beneath his eyes were so conspicuous that they couldn’t be missed.

Right, they wanted to ask the same thing.

What happened to Brother Lin?

Brother Lin had been quiet the entire trip. The moment he stepped into the car, he leaned against Nanzhi and immediately fell asleep.

"What kind of evil sorcery did you use last night? Brother Lin looks like he suffered so much!" Feng Ran was the kind of lad who never missed an opportunity to tease the two.

Nanzhi explained calmly, "It’s not any sort of evil sorcery. It’s our new training method."

"New training method?" Bingwen mumbled.

"But I’ve never seen you and Brother Lin leave your room to train, aside from your Jade Merchants work," Baoyin said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Hei Qian nodded in agreement with Baoyin’s statement.

They had noticed one thing, though.

Just like Nanzhi, Weihao would occasionally disappear for a short period of time without any explanation.

"So what exactly is this new training method?" Feng Ran asked curiously.

Nanzhi broke into a grin.

"I’ll introduce it to you soon enough..."

Once she saved enough crystal cores, and after getting their consent, she would have all four of them enter the weekly dungeon for training.

The earlier they started, the more stats they could earn.

Furthermore, she would have four more capable little helpers.

In the eyes of the four, Nanzhi’s smile looked particularly ominous.

Among them five, Weihao possessed the greatest stamina. Even during their usual training, he had never pushed himself to the point of complete exhaustion. If even he could be knocked out cold, then this new training method had to be far more brutal than anything they had imagined.

The four unconsciously shivered.

Apart from a few low-tier alien beasts that occasionally appeared along the roadside and the scattered roadblocks, the rest of the journey was smooth.

Soon, they arrived at the fork in the road leading toward the suburbs, the same route Zhao Lin had mentioned before, the one she and Cho Jin had taken when they first discovered the small survivor base.

Their vehicles gradually slowed as everyone caught sight of the towering debris wall in the distance.

From Longmen Base to that debris wall, there should have been well over a kilometer between them.

But...

"Oh my..."

"To think the fire spread all the way to this place..."

Zhao Lin and Dao Yin instinctively tightened their grip on each other’s hands.

The members of the Iron Gale Squad knitted their brows in silence.

Inside the bus, Wang Ziqing and Uncle Wang felt their scalps go numb. Wang Bo had already told them everything that had happened. Both of them were immensely grateful that Wang Bo and his friends had been rescued from the inferno.

"It’s a good thing Miss Lu and her friends were there to lend you a hand, Dear."

"Son, we should really start thinking about a proper way to repay them."

Wang Bo nodded in agreement with his mother’s and father’s words.

Looking at the towering wall of piled-up debris, Feng Ran, Baoyin, Bingwen, and Hei Qian all glanced at Nanzhi at the same time.

Sensing the questions in their eyes, Nanzhi didn’t deny it.

The fire had been far too fierce for her to extinguish back then. Instead, she and Weihao had built a massive wall of debris around the burning area to stop the flames from spreading farther.

After the floodwaters receded, countless piles of flammable rubbish had been left scattered across the streets and inside abandoned buildings. After weeks beneath the scorching heat, everything had dried out completely, becoming perfect fuel for a fire.

Not to mention the alien beasts.

She and Weihao had witnessed several of them getting caught in the flames. Driven mad by panic, they sprinted in every direction while carrying the fire with them, igniting everything in their paths.

The two of them had managed to stop some of the burning beasts.

But not all of them.

With all those factors combined, even without any wind, the fire had spread with terrifying speed.

The extent of the destruction became even clearer as they drove past the debris wall and entered the burned district.

Buildings that had managed to remain standing were blackened with scorch marks, their interiors completely gutted by the flames.

Ashes mixed with rainwater and dust had formed thick layers of dried sludge, piling into small mounds across the streets.

Scattered everywhere were the charred corpses of alien beasts, most of them giant rats that had either suffocated from the smoke or failed to escape the stampede and raging fire.

Some of their crystal cores had already been taken.

The ones that remained intact had naturally ended up in the pockets of the ever-profiteering Nanzhi.

Even now, thin streams of white smoke continued to drift from the ruins of several buildings.

The lingering scent of burnt wood and scorched flesh seeped into the vehicles through the air vents.

Silence filled every car.

Everyone fell into a somber mood.

As though the heavens themselves wished to match their emotions, dark clouds slowly gathered overhead.

Soon, light raindrops began to fall with a gentle pitter-patter.

Before long, the drizzle transformed into a heavy downpour, gradually washing away the white smoke and weakening the burnt smell lingering in the air.

Even with Nanzhi guiding everyone through the walkie-talkie, visibility quickly became poor.

The rain mixed with drifting mist, making the road ahead blurry and difficult to see.

At the same time, the dried sludge covering the road became slick and dangerously slippery.

"What bad luck! It just had to rain this heavily on the first day of our trip back!" Feng Ran clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Urgh... I hope it stops soon. I want to leave this place as quickly as possible," Baoyin mumbled while peering through the rain-streaked window.

Nanzhi carefully checked her virtual map and made sure there were no signs of alien beasts nearby.

Ultimately, the convoy stopped in front of what had once been a small roadside shop, now hollowed out by the fire.

Just across from them stood the remnants of Longmen Base.

The once-bustling survivor base had become nothing more than a silent graveyard.

Just as everyone finished parking their vehicles, a distant rumble echoed through the rain from the direction of Longmen Base.

The unexpected sound startled everyone.

"What was that?" Baoyin shifted uneasily in her seat.

At the very same moment, on Nanzhi’s virtual map, a white dot of light suddenly appeared inside Longmen Base, which had previously shown no signs of life whatsoever.

Nanzhi’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Her gaze sharpened as a possibility surfaced in her mind.

Could that be... a resource point?

"Sister Nan, where are you going in such a heavy rain?"

"Wait, Sister-in-law! Let us go with you!"

"Stay here. I just want to check something. It’ll be quick."

Before they could say another word, Nanzhi has already left after putting on a rain coat and boots.