Chapter 78: Opening the Mystery Box, This Time I Hit the Jackpot!

After Xue Feng spoke, the way everyone looked at Hao Yifei changed as well. None of them had expected that this famous actress would actually be a gifted individual! Could it be that there really are women favored by fate in this world? A superstar before the apocalypse, and now, after the end of days, she even possesses supernatural powers! Since she’s an ability user and has helped Xue Feng acquire a great deal of supplies, naturally no one had anything negative to say. On the contrary, everyone welcomed Hao Yifei’s addition; this meant a new force in their ranks.

Hao Yifei glanced at Xue Feng with gratitude, never expecting him to speak up for her like this. The truth was, even if she hadn’t helped with the supplies, Xue Feng could have found them himself with a bit more time. She had been the one saved by Xue Feng; if not for him, she would have likely lost her head to that third-tier mutant. Hao Yifei now understood just how important one’s rank was within the base—it dictated future treatment and influence.

“I’ll do my utmost to contribute to the base!” Hao Yifei stood up and declared earnestly. She looked at Xue Feng, her heart surging with emotion. Perhaps in this apocalyptic world, this man might truly be worthy of entrusting her life to.

“All right, once you’ve finished eating, everyone gather in the community square. There’s work to be done today,” Xue Feng waved for Hao Yifei to sit down.

Work to be done? Everyone was curious about what Xue Feng had planned.

When they reached the square, they discovered—no one knew when—over fifty wooden crates had appeared. No one knew what was inside, but by now, they were used to such things and knew it was Xue Feng’s ability at work.

“Pry open all these crates and make a list of the supplies inside,” Xue Feng instructed Gu Xiaoqian. Then he turned to Shen Ruyan, asking her to devise a plan for improving the base’s security based on the contents.

“No problem,” Shen Ruyan replied. She had already drawn up plans to reinforce the villas, and those were underway. With this fresh batch of resources, it was necessary to make some adjustments.

“If there’s any weaponry, you’ll be in charge of managing it,” Xue Feng assigned the task to An Xiaowei.

“Leave it to me, Brother Xue!” An Xiaowei replied playfully, bouncing a little and shaking her proud figure. Just a few weeks ago, she had been an ordinary girl. Now she was to manage the armory—An Xiaowei herself hadn’t expected to adapt to her new role so quickly. What thrilled her most was that there were others better suited to the job, like Zhao Weisu!

Zhao Weisu’s temperament was far more fitting for managing weapons, especially since she was a combatant and had run a small base before. She had management experience. The only reason Xue Feng had entrusted this task to her was to increase her importance in the base! It meant she was the one Xue Feng trusted most! Thinking of this, An Xiaowei silently vowed to do her best and not let Xue Feng down—or be outshone by the other women.

Next came the unboxing. Although the supplies were numbered, there was no indication of what was inside. It was pure luck—a mystery box experience that gave Xue Feng a secret thrill.

Click! When the first crate was pried open, Xue Feng was momentarily stunned: it was full of disaster relief tents!

“This arsenal really does have everything,” he said, half amused, half exasperated. Perhaps such tents could be useful in ordinary times, but now, in the apocalypse, they were almost useless. Who would dare sleep in a tent out in the wild, never knowing if a zombie might crawl in? The safest place was at least a walled house—only then could one rest easy.

“We’ve opened over twenty crates, and at least a third are weapons. There’s plenty of other stuff we can use, too,” Hao Yifei said quickly, seeing Xue Feng’s disappointment.

“Let’s hope you’re right,” Xue Feng replied with a smile, opening another crate. This time, it was rifles—twenty brand new ones. The sight of the guns brought cheers from the group. Although most of them were women who, under normal circumstances, might not care for firearms, in the apocalypse, nothing provided a greater sense of security.

Seeing this, Xue Feng couldn’t help but get excited. He knew all too well how crucial firearms were now. With just the pistol from his system, he had already held a decisive advantage over other survivors with ill intentions. Now, with all these weapons, they could stake out a much larger territory.

One crate after another was opened.

Aside from the weapons, Xue Feng found exactly what he most needed: barbed wire and solar generators. Though there weren’t many, it was enough to secure the entire Riverside Villa District, turning it into a true fortress. If there hadn’t been barbed wire among the supplies, Xue Feng was prepared to return to the armory himself to strip all the wire from there, regardless of the enormous effort involved—the benefits were obvious.

In terms of weapons, there were a total of 120 rifles and 8,000 rounds of ammunition. There were also five boxes of all-plastic, handleless grenades—commonly known as hand grenades. Aside from that, there were shoes and clothes of excellent quality, though these would only marginally boost combat effectiveness.

Everyone worked together to move the entire haul into an unused villa. With such a windfall, joy was written plainly on everyone’s faces, and their admiration for Xue Feng was boundless. Where on earth had he gotten all these treasures? Their opinion of Hao Yifei had also changed—after all, Xue Feng had said she’d had a hand in this.

After a long day, it was evening before all the supplies were stowed away. Though tired, everyone was genuinely happy. Xue Feng originally had another idea: to return to the armory, where hundreds of corpses still lay, many of them still carrying firearms. Those guns were now unclaimed. But with their current arsenal, he decided against it—the risk outweighed the gain. On the surface, the base had been destroyed by zombies; if everything was looted, others might suspect it was a human’s doing.

That night, dinner was steamed buns and canned luncheon meat—a feast by apocalyptic standards. The buns, however, were as hard and salty as rocks. Even Xue Feng had to chew each mouthful several times to force it down. If food weren’t so precious, he’d have fed the buns to Black Panther.

“Liu Qiqi, don’t you know how to steam buns? Why did you even bother?” Xue Feng asked, holding the rock-hard bun, looking at Liu Qiqi in disbelief.

“I just did it the way my brother used to. Next time I’ll make noodles!” Liu Qiqi began to wipe her tears again, crying so pitifully it tugged at everyone’s heartstrings.