noffsinger Chapter 182 Base Overview
Chapter 182 Base Overview
Behind the door seemed to be another world. Ji Lang and Lin Yun couldn't believe that there was now a personal base that could rival the four major bases.
“I thought Liu Jia and the others’ place was already a very good survivor base,” Lin Yun said, leaning closer to Ji Lang.
"This is practically a complete town." Ji Lang looked around and couldn't see the end of the town.
"Surprised, aren't you?" Zhao Qi smiled as he looked at the expressions of the five of them. "I was quite shocked when I first arrived. Who would have thought that the underground of the Great Hall of the People could be so big?"
Afterwards, Zhao Qi gave Ji Lang and the other four a brief introduction to the Beijing base. There are three floors in total, and this is the first floor. There is a notice board at the entrance with an LCD screen on it, which is full of mission lists. However, most of them are missions to collect crystals. But Lu Yuan noticed that there were several elderly survivors standing in front of the notice board.
“Every evening at seven o’clock, the task list for the next day is posted here. The elderly, the weak, the sick and disabled are the first to arrive. There aren’t many jobs suitable for them, so they have to fight for them. With work, you get points, and with points, you get food.” Zhao Qi looked at Lu Yuan, who was standing there in a daze, and smiled again. “However, each high-level ability user in the upper level can be affiliated with an elderly person or a child. These few just want to accumulate more points.”
"Surprisingly reasonable." Lin Yun had to admit that, after all, such a private base could have easily refused to take in the elderly and children, as these people would have been a burden in the apocalypse. However, the advanced ability users in this base were able to each take care of one child.
"The zombie crystals can be exchanged for different points depending on the registration. You'll all have a handbook in your room later, it'll all be written down there." Zhao Qi didn't explain much, since the base had printed handbooks about how to obtain and use the points, and everyone could have one.
"This is the primary trading market." Then, Zhao Qi led them to a group of small tents. Of course, all the tents were closed at the moment, and no one was walking around here.
"A trading market?" Lu Yuan looked around but didn't find anything special.
“Yes, if you have extra supplies, you can bring them here to trade with others for things you don’t have but want.” Zhao Qi said, then pointed to a small sign on the ground with his foot. “People only come here after nine o’clock at night. These tents are for them to trade, since some people don’t want others to see what they are trading.”
"If there's a primary market, then there must be secondary and tertiary markets too?" Yang Xiao chimed in to ask.
"You're the smartest kid," Zhao Qi gave him a thumbs up. "The secondary market is on the second floor, and the tertiary market is on the third floor. There's a wider variety of things you can trade there."
"Over there, that's the Level 1 canteen. Ordinary survivors exchange points for food there." Zhao Qi pointed to the area opposite, where several large pots were set up, and there were several tables and chairs like those in a company canteen nearby.
"Shall we exchange our food over there?" Zhong Qiang looked at the environment and, to be honest, it didn't look like they could make anything delicious.
"Haha. Look over there, over there with that bunch of little tents." Zhao Qi didn't answer Zhong Qiang's question directly, but pointed to the other side of the cafeteria, where there were at least a thousand small single tents. Ji Lang and the others could clearly see a few of them swaying, but they were too far away to see clearly.
"Where are we going to stay?" Zhong Qiang immediately had a phobia of trypophobia and turned to look at Lu Yuan. "Staying in a tent, even without surveillance cameras, we'll still be able to be heard when we talk, right?"
“You’re overthinking it. That’s the area for ordinary survivors. Most people without superpowers live there.” After Zhao Qi finished speaking, he patted Yang Xiao on the shoulder. “People like you shouldn’t go there unless you have to.”
"I have a feeling he's hinting at something," Yang Xiao said in a low voice as he shrank back to Lu Yuan's side.
After Zhao Qi finished speaking, he turned around and led them away from the trading area. They walked to the left of the entrance and continued until they reached a corner where Ji Lang and the others saw a hidden door.
“Go up from here to the Level 2 living area.” With that, Zhao Qi waved his hand, and after the chip was detected, the door opened automatically. “Your wristbands can also be used to open it, but once you’re up there, you don’t have to go in or out from here.”
"Is there an entrance upstairs too?" Ji Lang asked as he followed Zhao Qi up to the second floor.
This floor is completely different from the tents scattered all over the ground floor. Here, brick houses have been built directly. Because the ceilings are very high, some of them are even two stories high, but they don't have roofs; they just reach the roof slab.
The streets on the second floor are much more orderly than those on the first floor. Looking around, there are at least three or four intersections. In contrast, most remote towns only have one or two intersections, which shows how spacious this area is.
“You’ll stay here. Just swipe your wristband and you’ll know where your room is.” Zhao Qi pointed to the scanner at the door, pulled Zhong Qiang’s wristband-wearing hand closer, and the scanner immediately displayed a blue number 69. A corresponding area in the building complex also lit up with a blue light. That area was about twenty square meters, and it was guessed that it was similar to a standard hotel room.
"I need to see where I live." Yang Xiao said, bringing his wristband closer. The identifier showed a yellow "68," and then a yellow light appeared next to the blue light. However, the yellow light was quite pale, and Yang Xiao almost didn't see it if he didn't have excellent eyesight. "Why is it so far away?"
"There are shared bikes over there, and you can use points." Zhao Qi pointed to his right, where several bicycles were indeed parked. Next to the bicycles was a notice board, just like the one downstairs, displaying a scrolling list of tasks.
Lu Yuan had observed carefully that such notice boards could be found not only on this side of the wall, but also on the other side, and at the nearest intersection. They were practically everywhere.
"That area in the middle, like a plaza, is where the welcome activities for new students tonight will be held," Zhao Qiyou pointed to the largest intersection in the middle of the area.
"There are cafeterias on all four sides of this floor. You can choose whichever you like." Zhao Qi pointed to the four directions again. Unlike downstairs, the cafeterias on this floor are actually buildings. What they initially thought were high-rise buildings on the roof of the dormitory were actually four cafeterias, which could indeed meet the needs of the survivors on the entire floor.
“I think this place is much better than the South China base, except for the lack of sky…” Zhong Qiang was simply amazed by the well-organized layout here.
“I think the leader of this base might have obsessive-compulsive disorder.” Yang Xiao nodded in agreement.
“It’s more than just obsessive-compulsive disorder; he’s a germaphobe.” Zhao Qi smiled. “The trading market on this floor is near where you live, and it’s open after nine o’clock. There’s no time tonight, but you can go check it out tomorrow.”