This place is simply paradise!

They were respectively a tiger, a leopard, an ox, a sheep, a deer, and a horse.

After transforming, Dong Pingguo took the form of a tiger, standing a solid five meters tall.

He towered far above the two men combined, cutting an impressive figure reminiscent of the king of beasts.

Even the herbivorous animals like the ox, sheep, and deer stood over three meters tall.

Judging by the sharp horns on their heads, anyone could tell they were not to be messed with.

Even the horse's hooves appeared exceptionally thick and terrifying.

Lin Heng was completely dumbfounded.

He never expected that all of the people accompanying Xue Feng were ability users.

Furthermore, judging by their abilities, they were countless times stronger than he was.

Had that massive tiger swatted down with a single paw,

even with his own ability to reflect attacks, Lin Heng estimated he would still sustain severe injuries.

"Didn't you just say that my base lacks ability users?" Xue Feng asked coldly.

"I... I was wrong, I was wrong!"

Lin Heng felt like crying without tears, collapsing to the ground once again.

He kowtowed frantically like pounding garlic, then began viciously slapping his own face.

He apologized profusely for his careless remarks.

Xue Feng had casually pulled out six people, and every single one of them was an ability user!

"Most of Jiangcheng is safe now. Go find somewhere to stay on your own, and bring crystal cores in exchange for supplies from now on," Xue Feng said, putting away his doomsday armored vehicle.

He then led Dong Pingguo and the others into the interior of the base.

"Hurry off, our base doesn't need people like you."

"What kind of stray cats and dogs think they can join our base? Don't even look at what you are."

"Our leader's strength is terrifyingly powerful. How dare you show off your pathetic third-rate ability?"

The base guards began to mock him one after another.

After all, just moments before, Lin Heng had tried every means to strike up a conversation with them.

His tone had been filled with a deep sense of pride.

As though possessing abilities automatically made him superior to others.

He had looked down upon these very guards.

And the result?

Wasn't he rejected and barred right outside Xue Feng's gates?

You looked down on us!

Even our leader has never once looked down upon us!

"Fine! Just you wait!"

Lin Heng growled in a low voice, his eyes filled with malice.

Then he turned and walked away.

The dozen or so people left behind had no choice but to follow closely behind him.

After all, since Lin Heng was an ability user, following him offered them a slightly higher chance of survival.

"Boss, what should we do next?" someone finally asked, unable to hold back.

"Find food... and go back to the Garden Residential Area to check if there are any crystal cores left inside the heads of those dead zombies! Search them one by one!" Lin Heng said through gritted teeth.

What!

Go search through the rotting corpses of zombies!

The expressions of those people instantly turned extremely ugly.

After so many days, those corpses had rotted beyond recognition.

And now they were expected to rummage through them!

Wouldn't that make them vomit up the meals they ate the day before?

Yet one look at Lin Heng's grim expression told them they had no choice at all.

Who told them to follow such a person?

They cast longing glances back at the Riverside Villa, wishing from the bottom of their hearts that they could live in a place like that.

It was practically paradise.

Lin Heng's group were not the only ones feeling this way.

Dong Pingguo and his companions felt the same emotions, just from the opposite perspective.

Stepping into the base, they finally felt like they had returned to modern society.

What kind of lives had they been living back in Hezheng Town!

It was practically the Stone Age.

Electricity, when available, came solely from a diesel generator that ran for a mere two hours a day.

Hot water?

They had to boil it themselves using firewood.

Food?

They ate whatever they could scavenge, and taste was never a consideration.

Yet upon arriving at the Riverside Villa base, the very first thing that happened was someone escorting them to take a bath.

When they emerged from their baths, piping-hot meals awaited them.

Nothing particularly extravagant—just a few bowls of noodles.

Yet these simple bowls of noodles brought tears welling up in their eyes.

The noodles contained minced meat and fresh vegetables, with a shimmering layer of oil floating on top.

Before the apocalypse, this might have been considered an ordinary bowl of noodles.

Now, it was a heavenly delicacy.

Even though they had eaten large steamed buns only a short while ago, Dong Pingguo and the others ate with unbridled hunger.

They finished every last drop of the noodles, even licking the residual grease clean.

After finishing their meal, they finally met Gu Xiaoqian.

"According to the leader's instructions, your current rank is B," Gu Xiaoqian said.

The base currently held quite a few rank-B members.

For instance, Liu Jun, Qin Fengshan, Tang Qiqiang, and others.

These individuals were considered veterans who had established their merits.

Rank-C members were fewer in number, consisting only of Li Wangmiao, Liu Qiqi, and Song Yan.

Xue Feng had assigned rank-B status to Dong Pingguo and his group for a clear reason.

Although they had not yet performed any remarkable deeds,

their abilities spoke for themselves, and they were all combat-ready personnel.

Ability users in the apocalypse simply held a higher value than ordinary people.

That was an undeniable fact.

"We will definitely repay the boss!"

Dong Pingguo nodded heavily.

He no longer dared to address Xue Feng as a brother.

Instead, he referred to him as the boss!

In truth, whether he was called boss or leader,

Xue Feng did not particularly care about titles.

Yet while Xue Feng did not mind, everyone else did.

It was necessary to show proper respect toward Xue Feng.

Dong Pingguo and the others were well aware that the treatment afforded to rank-B members within the base was already exceedingly high.

It surpassed their former life in Hezheng Town by countless multiples.

Back in Hezheng Town, they rarely tasted meat or any decent food.

"It's good that you understand. Next, I will assign your quarters. How does it sound for the six of you to live together?" Gu Xiaoqian asked.

While space within the base's villas was not tight,

given that plenty of vacant houses remained available,

arranging for them to live together was undoubtedly the best option.

"No problem at all," Dong Pingguo immediately agreed.

The six of them had shared life-and-death experiences, forging a bond cemented in blood.

Living together presented no issues whatsoever.

Furthermore, many people suffered from psychological trauma in the apocalypse.

Allowing them to live entirely alone would likely prevent them from sleeping at all.

Gu Xiaoqian proceeded to outline several rules of the base, to which Dong Pingguo and the others listened with utmost seriousness.

Finally, noticing that Gu Xiaoqian was about to leave, Dong Pingguo could not help but ask,

"Wait, what will our jobs be?"

Dong Pingguo knew that everyone in the base had assigned tasks.

They wanted to know what their own duties would entail.

"The leader hasn't specified yet. Just stay put and rest easy; you'll be given tasks when you're needed," Gu Xiaoqian concluded before leaving.

Dong Pingguo and his companions had no choice but to settle in patiently.

Meanwhile, Xue Feng was not resting either.

He made his way into Nie Xiaoyue's laboratory.

Upon stepping inside, he was immediately greeted by a pungent odor.

It smelled like a mixture of fishy stench and a sewer, enough to turn anyone's stomach.

Looking around, he discovered that Nie Xiaoyue was not alone—Nie Xiaoxing and Wang Xinyu were there as well.