"Simple!"
...
Survival Base.
Over twenty thousand people lived here, two-thirds of whom were ability users.
The scale of this place was vast, almost equivalent to a small town.
Inside were numerous small buildings and apartments, as well as villas.
Of course, there were also dormitory-style accommodations and tents.
People bustled about on the roads, some selling vegetables they had grown, others preparing food, though the taste was generally poor and incomparable to pre-apocalyptic cuisine.
However, the residents seemed to have grown accustomed to it, as being able to eat one's fill was the most important thing.
Occasionally, someone would sell daily necessities at high prices, such as shampoo or shower gel.
But items that were once commonplace before the apocalypse were now exorbitantly priced here, causing even high-level ability users to balk.
Even the sellers only had a few bottles in their possession.
After the apocalypse, their city had been hit particularly hard by extreme weather and major earthquakes, making these everyday items impossible to find.
Although their base appeared orderly, they still had to regularly contend with zombie hordes, various natural disasters, and earthquakes, leaving no time to research and develop new products. Many resources and raw materials were also impossible to locate.
The entire base was surrounded by extremely sturdy walls, with high-level ability users patrolling daily to prevent sudden zombie invasions.
Occasionally, a few high-level ability users would venture out in groups.
At this moment, a vehicle approached the base's entrance.
"Sister Ling is back, open the gate quickly!"
The base's main gate slowly opened, and the vehicle drove in.
Along the way, almost everyone turned to look inside the car.
Seated inside was a woman with neat short hair. Her face was ordinary, but she had a great figure and exuded an aura of someone not to be trifled with.
This was Ling Quan, the leader of the Survival Base.
After the apocalypse, she was among the first batch of people to awaken abilities. Now she possessed level nine wind abilities and level seven lightning abilities, making her incredibly powerful.
When she first established the base, many people didn't respect her, thinking, "What can a woman accomplish?" Some even tried to secretly undermine her.
But in the end, she used her own strength to make them all submit.
It took her over a year to develop the base into its current state.
But she felt it still wasn't enough.
There were still many people in the base who couldn't eat their fill and had no way to cope with natural disasters.
She could have refused to let ordinary people and low-level ability users enter.
But... perhaps she remembered her family members who died in the earthquake.
Never mind, she would take it slow. At worst, it would take another ten or several decades to develop. She believed in her own abilities.
Ling Quan parked her car in front of her villa and went inside.
As soon as she entered the living room, a man hurriedly approached her.
"Sister Ling, something's happened!"
Ling Quan frowned, "What is it?"
"Come and see!"
The man led her to her study. Ling Quan looked up and saw that a display screen had suddenly appeared on the wall of her study!
On the screen were the words "Request for Communication," with "Peace Hotel" written below.
"Peace Hotel? What's that?" Ling Quan's expression was full of wariness. "And who allowed you to hang such a thing on the wall of my study?"
Because they were too far from City A, the reputation of Peace Hotel hadn't reached them yet, so Ling Quan naturally didn't know about it.
"I don't know! And we didn't hang this screen!" the man said pitifully. "I just came in to clean your study, and suddenly this screen appeared. It's so strange!"
"Is there an ability like this?" Ling Quan was very confused.
"Sister Ling, should I take down this screen and throw it away?" The man was eager to try.
"Not yet," Ling Quan said. "Such a strange thing, you dare to touch it casually?"
The man thought about it and realized she had a point.
"Then... should we accept the call? How do we accept it?"
Ling Quan thought for a moment and slowly walked to the wall.
The words "Request for Communication" changed to "Accept Call?" with two options below: "Yes" and "No."
Ling Quan frowned, deep in thought.
Meanwhile, in Peace Hotel, Gu Wanyin held a tablet and yawned.
"Still no answer," she said worriedly. "System, what if she doesn't accept?"
"Then I'll just make the host's face appear in the sky above the base!" the system said. "Then you can talk directly to the people in the base."
Gu Wanyin: "..."
She imagined her entire face suddenly appearing in the sky above the base...
And then the people in the base, who hadn't been killed by zombies or natural disasters, would die of fright from her giant face.
"Come to think of it, this base leader called Ling Quan is really impressive," Gu Wanyin sighed. "I don't know what the author of this book I read was thinking. Someone like Ling Quan should be the female protagonist! That An Cairou... Did the author choose the female lead based on looks?"
"The world is full of wonders."
"Also, when I was reading the book, I don't remember the author mentioning anything about national bases or the military... Maybe they don't exist? But thinking about it, it's normal. After all, it's a world in a book. If it were in my previous world, the country would definitely establish survivor bases and maintain order."
As Gu Wanyin was chatting idly with the system, the tablet suddenly displayed "Call Connected."
Gu Wanyin immediately sat up straight and composed herself.
On the other side of the screen, Ling Quan saw a young girl's face appear and immediately took two steps back, asking warily, "Who are you?"
"Hello! My name is Gu Wanyin, and I'm the owner of Peace Hotel," Gu Wanyin said with a smile.
"Peace Hotel?" Ling Quan's eyes narrowed. "What's that?"
"It's a hotel I run in City A, very far from where you are, so it's normal that you haven't heard of it."
"This screen that suddenly appeared here, is it your doing? How did you do it?" Ling Quan asked sternly.
"I have no ill intentions. I just want to discuss a potential cooperation with you," Gu Wanyin said. "I know your base has a large population. I have a large amount of supplies that I can sell to you."
As Gu Wanyin finished speaking, a short video appeared on the screen on Ling Quan's side.
It was a brief introduction to Peace Hotel.
Accompanied by photos of various shops inside the hotel, a mechanical voice said: "Do you want to eat your fill? Do you want to stay warm? Peace Hotel, an apocalyptic paradise, good quality at low prices, buy while supplies last!"
Ling Quan: "..."
Gu Wanyin: "..."
"System! What kind of hasty advertisement is this!" Gu Wanyin said in her heart.
