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Chapter 232: Chapter 232: Trespassing the Garden
People’s impression of private bases can be summarized in three words: dirty, messy, poor.
The environment is dirty, the order is chaotic, the condition is poor.
Yet, the Space-Time Base turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Upon arriving at the Space-Time Base, the three words that come to mind are still three words: beautiful, beautiful, still beautiful!
What kind of place is suitable for establishing a base? Beicheng Base chose locations with water sources and industrial facilities, Lingchuan Base chose locations with water sources and farmland, Qingyang Base chose locations with resource mines...
Bright sunshine, clean water sources, fertile lands, abundant energy, vast development space, and basic industrial facilities... Not all are necessary, but at least several need to be met in order to build a base and develop it sustainably.
The ancient city seemingly didn’t have any significant advantages; its most prominent feature was, perhaps: stunning beauty.
Architecture intertwined with gardens, a few steps led to rocky high pavilions, a few more to winding paths and ponds, and a few more to weeping willow galleries.
Hong Yun followed Tian Xinyue and Liu Ling, stopping and going. Even though she was an exceedingly rational and indifferent person, she couldn’t help but sigh at the beauty of the place. It seemed Lu Changyuan had put a lot of effort into the cleanliness and hygiene of the environment.
After walking for a while, she spotted metal water pipes hidden among the flowers and trees and couldn’t help asking, "Have you already got running water here?"
Tian Xinyue nodded, "The pipes were already connected. These pipelines are linked to the river water, which was used for watering plants before the apocalyptic world, spraying the lawns at fixed intervals. Now we use it, but after all, it’s river water and it can’t be drunk directly; it needs to be filtered by Water Type Ability users first... Lu Brother plans to recruit more Water Ability users and build a small water plant. He says when it gets cold, the pipes will definitely freeze and won’t be usable."
Hong Yun realized, "That’s a solution... What about electricity? How did you solve that?"
The main reason no one considered building a base in the ancient city is that there were no water or power plants nearby.
Tian Xinyue pointed towards the city wall in the distance, where a long row of giant solar thermal panels was arranged.
"We use solar power for electricity. When there’s not enough power, Thunder Type Ability users help store electricity, but so far, we’ve never had a shortage... Hehe, after all, there are only a few thousand people in our base, and we don’t have any large-scale power-consuming equipment, so just lighting up the place at night is totally sufficient."
As she spoke, Tian Xinyue gazed eagerly at Hong Yun, "Hong Sister, you should stay too, look how nice it is here! Without all those messy troubles, we don’t need to worry about food or shelter, and if you come, you can live in the same courtyard as me! The palace where I currently live is the one where the noble ladies used to stay! It’s so beautiful!"
Hong Yun smiled and shook her head, "I’m planning to go to Lingchuan Base."
"Ah? Since when?" Tian Xinyue said in surprise.
Wang Mengyi proudly puffed up his chest and interjected, "The captain of the ability team of Lingchuan Base specially invited Hong Sister, and she’s taking me with her!"
Tian Xinyue pouted, "How could Lingchuan Base be better than our Space-Time Base... Why not stay here..."
Hong Yun forced a smile, thinking bitterly to herself, Why indeed... Because she was a coward... a scaredy-cat. She didn’t dare to confront her own feelings, let alone voice them. She couldn’t say...
If she stayed, seeing her every day, she feared one day she wouldn’t be able to restrain herself from spilling everything. By that time, would those beautiful eyes still show joy and trust when they looked at her?
Hong Yun dared not imagine.
All she could do was bury all her emotions deep within, like a locked-up private diary, not even daring to flip through it for fear of stirring up more sorrow and only adding to her sadness.
"No matter where I stay, it’s all the same. In the future, Lingchuan and Space-Time will surely collaborate from time to time, and it’ll be inevitable to meet again," Hong Yun consoled Tian Xinyue.
Tian Xinyue’s spirits lifted a bit, "Really? Will there be opportunities for us to collaborate in the future?"
"Yes, now that the urban area’s supplies are almost completely scavenged and industrial production is hard to scale up individually, the collaboration between bases will enter an intensive phase. Moreover..." Hong Yun paused and sighed softly, "Moreover, the scale of the Alien Species’ nests is getting larger and larger, with more and more nests hosting thousands, requiring larger military forces to deal with. The recent nest-eradication missions have all been accomplished through the combined efforts of several bases."
Speaking of this, Hong Yun turned to Tian Xinyue and asked, "I heard that the Space-Time Base has never been attacked by Alien Species and Mutant Beasts because of the dragon energy. Is that true?"
Tian Xinyue was startled. "Ah, well... I don’t know anything about dragon energy, but since we moved in here, we really haven’t seen any Alien Species or Mutant Beasts. If anyone wants to hunt for Crystal Cores, they have to go to places far away."
Hong Yun laughed and exclaimed, "Then it seems to be true. You’re really lucky. Other bases get attacked by Alien Species two or three times a month, and you guys don’t have a single issue. It’s unbelievable..."
Tian Xinyue, unaware of the situation outside, was surprised upon hearing Hong Yun’s words. "How could this be... The Alien Species has begun attacking bases?"
"The nests of Alien Species have grown larger, and so has their hunting range. With people frequently coming in and out near the base, it’s normal for them to be attracted."
As they were discussing this, Liu Ling suddenly tugged on Tian Xinyue, "Xinyue, look over there!"
A person was squatting atop the distant wall, too far away to make out their face.
Tian Xinyue’s face changed drastically as she shouted, "Hey! You can’t go in there!"
The person glanced over in their direction, as if he didn’t hear Tian Xinyue’s warning, lightly leaped, jumped down the wall, and disappeared on the other side.
Tian Xinyue was completely flustered and urgently said to Liu Ling, "Quick, go tell Jiaojiao! Someone has broken into the Imperial Garden!"
Liu Ling nodded and ran off.
Hong Yun and Wang Mengyi were confused and asked, "What’s wrong? Are we not allowed near that wall?"
Tian Xinyue hurried towards the Imperial Garden, walking briskly while calling back, "That’s the Imperial Garden. Except for the leader and his wife, uh, that is, Jiaojiao, no one else is allowed to enter. Everyone knows this, so normally no one would come this way. Today, because there are a lot of guests, we’re afraid someone might wander off into the garden by mistake. We’ve even specially assigned some people to guard the entrance, but we didn’t expect someone to climb over the wall..."
"Why can’t they go in?" Wang Mengyi asked.
"Because! ..." Tian Xinyue was at a loss for words, not sure where to begin, "...because our base’s mascot is in there..."
What?
Mascot?
Not just Wang Mengyi, even Hong Yun had an expression that said, "I just swallowed a whale."
Tian Xinyue pointed to the flag not far off, explaining, "It’s the creature on that design. It’s Jiaojiao’s cherished pet, and most people wouldn’t dare get close to it."
Without lingering to explain further, Tian Xinyue rushed with Hong Yun and Wang Mengyi to the entrance of the Imperial Garden. Seeing that the two guards at the gate were standing properly, she quickly approached and asked, "Has anyone been here?"
"Oh, a few people wanted to sightsee, but we stopped them. What’s happened?"
Tian Xinyue anxiously said, "I just saw a man climbing over the wall."
"Ah?!" The two guards looked at each other, momentarily stunned, "We need to inform the lady about this..."
Hong Yun couldn’t help saying, "Can’t you just go in and bring the person back?"
The two of them, along with Tian Xinyue, all had a look of shock on their faces, and in unison, they said, "We can’t go in!"
