PSW - Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Once the sun had set, the temperature didn't drop by much, but it no longer felt as suffocatingly hot as it had at noon. Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan planned to go down and walk around the base, and while they were at it, see how those ability users were conducting their "promotion."
As they passed the office, they saw the door was open. The base leader wasn't sitting inside; perhaps she was out planning for the rain and the matter of faith points. Zheng Yi wasn't concerned with any of that and went straight downstairs with Yu Yinan.
It was still hot.
On the last step of the staircase, Zheng Yi stopped Yu Yinan and fed her a small ice ball. As Yu Yinan took it into her mouth, her lips inadvertently brushed against Zheng Yi's fingertips. She looked at Zheng Yi, but Zheng Yi casually created another ice ball and popped it into her own mouth, seemingly oblivious to Yu Yinan's small gesture.
"Do you want some more water?" It would be inconvenient to do this outside. With that thought, Zheng Yi created some water for herself to drink, then ate another ice cube. Seeing Yu Yinan nod, she directed a stream of water into her mouth as well. "From now on, let's just drink bottled water."
"Okay," Yu Yinan replied. Zheng Yi had Zero One take a bottle of mineral water from her backpack and tucked it into Yu Yinan's arms for her to hold. Only then did they step out of the building.
The number of people in this base… was unexpectedly large.
Its area was actually not that different from Humanity's Light Shelter. In fact, considering it had incorporated some of the surrounding streets and shops into its territory, with the earthen walls built beyond them, its total area was larger than Humanity's Light. But within this base, there were simply too many residential buildings. There were probably only five pre-apocalypse apartment blocks, but as Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan got closer, they noticed that many more residential buildings had been constructed next to them. They weren't as tall as the original ones, and there was no thought given to decoration. As for the materials, they were likely scavenged over time in the apocalypse. Besides these, there were also mud huts formed and solidified by some ability, though these were only single-story and not very secure.
Of course, if they were just made of dirt, a collapse probably wouldn't injure anyone, right?
The population must be over a thousand, right?
It sounded like a lot at first, but when she considered that out of a city as large as Zhongshan, only a thousand or so people were living in this base, the number seemed pitifully small. When they first arrived, the ability user on duty had said they weren't recruiting other ability users at the moment, which implied that the base had been accepting people before the heatwave.
Zheng Yi estimated the number of times she would need to make it rain as she and Yu Yinan wandered around the area for a bit. None of the ordinary people or ability users in the residential buildings came down for a stroll. It made sense; in this scorching, water-scarce weather, who would want to move around for no reason?
"It's you two?" Zheng Yi saw someone approaching from a distance. As he got closer, she realized it was Wang Fengxiang, the man who had contributed six Saint Points. He was holding a stack of flyers he hadn't finished distributing and had just come out of a residential building. "Touring the base? There's not much to see around here, haha."
"Oh, right, take a look at this. This is our printed promotional material. We just handed one out to every household, and gave a few extra to the more crowded ones," he explained. "This is the initial introduction. After you make it rain, everyone should become curious and start to yearn for the Saint God. That's when we'll distribute the second flyer. That one will have the passage you wrote. The base leader didn't edit it at all; she put the whole thing in."
"A little later tonight, the base leader will make her daily announcement, and she'll mention the matter of the rain." Wang Fengxiang paused. "The first wave of faith… might be a bit mixed. But that's okay, we have a lot of people in our base. The rain is tentatively scheduled for tomorrow. We'll prepare in advance."
"By the way, it's best if you don't stay outside after eleven at night. It's not that it's dangerous, but during the heatwave, we supply power for a short period, for one hour between eleven and midnight. You can use air conditioners or electric fans during that time. The office is equipped with a basic air conditioner, so you can use it then. Well, if there's nothing else, I'll get back to work."
He seemed to have simply come over to give them a status report. Without waiting for a reply from Zheng Yi, he waved and left with his remaining flyers.
They could actually run the air conditioning for an hour?
They were probably all pre-apocalypse air conditioners. Most of the pre-apocalypse residential buildings would have been equipped with basic appliances, so that was normal. As for the buildings constructed later… had they really been wired for electricity and water? Air conditioners… the large supermarkets in Zhongshan City might have had them in stock, and it should have been possible to salvage a good number of them after the apocalypse. Of course, it was unlikely that every single room had one installed, especially since Wang Fengxiang had also mentioned electric fans.
Eleven o'clock. It was still early.
Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan continued to explore the base. She noticed a small solar power station and a power storage station. The electricity was clearly insufficient, otherwise they wouldn't be limiting the supply to just one hour. Next to the solar power station, Zheng Yi also saw a power conversion device designed by Base Leader Feng. This was probably a first-generation prototype; its conversion efficiency might be low and it might not be very convenient, but it would allow a thunder-type ability user to unleash their power freely.
Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan walked a full circle around the base, gaining a decent understanding of the place.
The weather was scorching, and it wasn't suitable for walking around outside even at night. Once they had seen most of it, Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan headed back. When they reached the third floor, they saw that the office door was closed again. Base Leader Feng must have returned.
They passed by and went straight back to their room.
A quilt was placed on the iron bed frame, and then a sheet was spread over it. Yu Yinan carefully tucked in the corners, smoothing the sheet out. Zheng Yi glanced at the air conditioner plugged into the wall and raised a hand to draw the curtains. "I'll use my ability to give you a bath."
"Ah," Yu Yinan froze for a moment. "In here?"
"Mhm." Unsure how soundproof the room was, Zheng Yi thought for a moment before spending five Saint Points on a disposable soundproofing device and sticking it to the door. Then, she manipulated a current of water, controlling it to envelop Yu Yinan, soaking her from head to toe, clothes and all.
"Hold your breath," Zheng Yi reminded her as more water gathered, covering Yu Yinan's head and hair. The water vibrated, quickly washing her entire body under Zheng Yi's control. When the water receded, it took all the dirt with it, leaving even her clothes dry.
It was even faster than she had imagined. Yu Yinan couldn't help but touch her face. Was the sticky sweat really gone? This bath could even wash clothes at the same time? A water-type's control… could actually reach this level? This was way too convenient! She looked at Zheng Yi. The dirty water had been separated and was temporarily held in a suspended orb to the side. Zheng Yi quickly gathered more water to wash herself. When she was done, she opened the window and directed the wastewater to fall outside and soak into the soil. As for the moisture within it, Zheng Yi controlled it to dissipate.
Yu Yinan still felt a little shy and embarrassed, but Zheng Yi's reaction was so placid that she quickly adjusted. She lay down next to Zheng Yi on the iron bed.
Zheng Yi formed a layer of solid ice under the bed frame. Lying on the bed, even with the quilt in between, felt much more comfortable.
At eleven o'clock, the power came on. The air conditioner on the wall beeped and its light turned on. The remote for it had been left on the floor in the corner. Yu Yinan picked it up, turned it on, and set the temperature to the lowest setting before lying down with Zheng Yi again.
"The people in this base probably rely on this one hour to fall asleep." How did ordinary people endure the rest of the night?
"Maybe," Zheng Yi yawned. She passed an ice cube to Yu Yinan, then turned over, intending to sleep.
"…Are you going to sleep?" Yu Yinan held the ice cube in her mouth, biting down lightly to crush it, which made it melt faster. She turned onto her side and tentatively rested a hand on Zheng Yi's waist. When Zheng Yi didn't stop her, she slowly relaxed and wrapped her arm fully around her.
Yu Yinan couldn't actually sleep. It wasn't because of the heat, but because her mind was filled with too many thoughts. One moment she was thinking about what would happen tomorrow, about how people might react to the rain. The next, she was thinking about how this base still had so many people, so… just how many ordinary people had been killed? Did anyone really drink the blood they brought back? Well, it was a source of fluid. When you were on the verge of death, what wouldn't you drink?
She thought about the piles of design revisions on Base Leader Feng's desk, about the room next door filled with metal, and about the finished metal products and objects she had seen around the base… Base Leader Feng seemed very much like a crafter, yet she was the leader of this base? Here, ordinary people who suffered from heatstroke or dehydration and couldn't survive were probably all taken to that alley. Yu Yinan couldn't pass judgment on that decision. She could only sigh inwardly, unconsciously tightening her hold on Zheng Yi and lowering her head to nuzzle her shoulder.
"You're on my hair."
"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" Yu Yinan quickly lifted her head and shifted back to her original position. But Zheng Yi didn't say anything else, not even turning to look at her. Yu Yinan relaxed a little, but a sudden, sour feeling rose in her heart, an indescribable taste. She suppressed these emotions and looked at Zheng Yi's hair, then stared blankly at her shoulder.
Zheng Yi… had already made it rain today, and she had been privately feeding her ice cubes all along. Just now, she had even created water for a bath. Although Zheng Yi said she was fine and acted extremely relaxed, for an ability user to use their power like that… it had to be difficult, no matter how you looked at it. After all, Zheng Yi had emphasized that she could only support small-scale, short-duration rainfall; she had her limits.
Zheng Yi must be exhausted. At this thought, Yu Yinan felt a fresh wave of guilt for accidentally lying on her hair. What if Zheng Yi had already been asleep, and she had woken her up? Yu Yinan's hand on Zheng Yi's waist couldn't help but lift slightly, lightening its touch. Was Zheng Yi feeling awful right now, but just didn't want to show it?
Zheng Yi… had always been one to rarely show her true feelings. Yu Yinan was inexplicably reminded of the morning after that night. Zheng Yi had clearly been in great discomfort, yet she had merely acted coquettishly as if she hadn't slept well, even managing to chat normally with Chu Yi and the others. Only by looking closely could one see the terrifying number of broken blood vessels in her eyes.
But Zheng Yi never seemed to lose her composure the way she did. Yu Yinan thought of how she herself would bleed from her nose and mouth, her vision would go dark, and she would be on the verge of fainting whenever she overused her ability. She had never seen Zheng Yi like that. Even when in extreme discomfort, Zheng Yi could still maintain her facade. The only reason she had later torn down that pretense and revealed the truth was because… Zheng Yi had realized she already knew.
For a fleeting moment, Yu Yinan suddenly wondered: what would Zheng Yi look like when she was completely exhausted?
Would she look just as wretched, even bleeding from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth?
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