Chapter 16: Attempting to Generate Electricity

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Jiang Nanxing held up both index fingers to form the shape of a person, then held up two.

There were people inside—two men. He had seen them while Tang Miao and Zhang Xinrou were talking.

“I see. It’s perfectly normal for people to still be alive. Don’t worry about it. Just don’t go near the edge of the farm. If you attract their attention and expose our location, that would be troublesome.”

Jiang Nanxing said nothing, his gaze still fixed in the direction of the supermarket.

“If you expose the farm and cause Tang Miao unnecessary trouble, she’ll definitely be angry with you. Then she’ll only like Little Cub and won’t like you anymore.”

At those words, Jiang Nanxing stopped in his tracks.

Seeing that her words had worked, Zhang Xinrou continued, “Focus on completing the tasks Tang Miao gives you. Don’t meddle in anything outside the farm. Do you understand?”

Jiang Nanxing nodded. He understood.

Elsewhere, Tang Miao had indeed discovered several springs. Taken as a whole, they were distributed very evenly, ensuring that every inch of land could receive the nourishment of water.

But springs alone were not enough. They would only arouse others’ greed, not protect the farm.

Tang Miao still remembered that, among the auxiliary tools mentioned by that system, there was one called Tempered into Steel that she had yet to find.

It seemed likely that it had been placed somewhere outside the farm. Once the farm’s defenses were lifted, she would have to go out and search again. Perhaps that final auxiliary tool could solve the farm’s security problems in a short time.

Little Cub was somewhat restless in her arms, occasionally scratching at its wig.

“Baba, baba.” It was so itchy, so itchy.

Tang Miao removed Little Cub’s wig and discovered several tiny black spots sprouting from its smooth scalp. They were prickly to the touch.

Little Cub was beginning to grow hair. That was good news.

Tang Miao inevitably recalled the explanation in the illustrated compendium: what had appeared on Earth was not a zombie virus, but the genes of a new human species introduced by someone behind the scenes.

Tang Miao was curious to know exactly what kind of new humans they wanted to create.

After returning to the work area, Tang Miao inspected everyone’s progress once more, then used her mental power to force several batches of vegetable seedlings to sprout and planted them in the growing area.

Based on the crops’ growth rates, Zhang Xinrou had already placed signs in every plot, marking the types of plants and dividing them into Categories A and B.

Category A grew rapidly. These were seeds Tang Miao had purchased from the shop.

Category B grew slowly. These were ordinary seeds Tang Miao had planted.

Now there was also a Category C: seeds germinated by Tang Miao’s mental power and planted in the farm’s soil.

She wanted to see whether the farm’s soil could also produce crops that zombies could eat. If so, Tang Miao could conserve more of her mental power to deal with future crises.

That night, Tang Miao lay on the bed with Little Cub in her arms, gazing at the stars.

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Little Cub raised its fingers and counted the stars one by one, muttering without pause.

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3…”

Tang Miao pinched Little Cub’s cheek. “That’s wrong. It’s ten. After ten comes eleven, then twelve…”

“Baba, baba!” Ten! Eleven!

Tang Miao closed her eyes. In her mind, she saw two motionless green dots on the outskirts of the farm.

The map zoomed out. About twenty kilometers from the farm, a group of little green dots was slowly drawing nearer.

Tang Miao could not sleep. When she turned over, she saw Zhang Xinrou moving through the farm with a headlamp.

Zhang Xinrou seemed to rather enjoy being part of management. She made a decent foreman, too, standing guard over the excavation of even a single pond.

Still, the farm truly could not manage without electricity. Tang Miao simply got up and rummaged through her spatial storage.

In this world, most shops kept their own generators to cope with temporary power outages.

Tang Miao remembered finding one when she had raided a noodle shop.

It was called a portable generator. It produced power mainly through fuels such as diesel and gasoline, converting it into electricity for emergency use.

It did not require an electric starter, nor did it need maintenance for a battery, bellows, or water tank.

When she had emptied a gym, she had also acquired several treadmills. With a little modification, they would be perfect for this.

“Little Cub.”

“Baba!” Here!

“Go find the caretaker and ask her to bring three zombies that can run in an hour.”

Little Cub leaped to its feet and dashed away on its short legs.

“Baba, baba!” Mission guaranteed!

Tang Miao dismantled the treadmills and the generator, studying their construction. There was still some diesel left in the engine.

Jiang Nanxing, not far away, sensed the commotion and came over of his own accord to provide illumination.

Tang Miao modified and reconnected the generator and treadmills. Once she had finished, she handed Jiang Nanxing a bundle of string lights and told him to wrap them around the fence enclosing the work area.

When Little Cub brought over the three zombies, Zhang Xinrou arrived as well.

She could tell that Tang Miao intended to generate electricity, but…

“Do the zombies have to keep running? If we had a storage battery, it would be more convenient. Any unused electricity could be saved.”

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Leaning against the generator, Tang Miao patted it proudly. “Who says we don’t have a storage battery? I replaced the space where the fuel tank used to be with three rechargeable electric-scooter batteries.”

Tang Miao had completely forgotten that she had also stockpiled electric scooters in her spatial storage. Once she had the opportunity to gather enough materials, she could pave several roads around the farm.

Zhang Xinrou nodded in sudden understanding, her gaze intentionally—or perhaps unintentionally—sweeping over the jade Buddha pendant around Tang Miao’s neck.

She still remembered that Tang Miao had taken it from Jiang Nanxing. The first time she met him, Tang Miao had searched his body for something and eventually found the pendant.

Every time Tang Miao took something from her spatial storage, she touched the pendant first. Could that pendant be the vessel containing her spatial ability?

Tang Miao assembled a row of rails in front of the treadmills and hung three half-sliced tomatoes from them.

The three zombies began running instinctively. Tang Miao narrowed her eyes. She could see electricity surging through the wires, though only in a tiny current.

Several minutes later, the string lights on the rails gave off a faint glow.

Little Cub danced wildly on the ground.

“Lights! Lights!”

Zhang Xinrou switched off her headlamp. The glow from the string lights was weak; even with it, the ground remained hazy. They were no substitute for the headlamp.

Tang Miao nodded in satisfaction. She picked the three tomatoes and gave them to the zombies, then had Jiang Nanxing take the three of them back to the domestication area.

The experiment had succeeded. The method was viable, but the power-generating equipment was too poor and its efficiency too low.

Tang Miao yawned. “Xinrou, what time is it?”

“It’s almost ten. Time to sleep.”

Zhang Xinrou took out her phone, which had twelve percent battery remaining, and added, “Tang Miao, can we use your modified generator to charge our phones? Almost all the phones we stored in the truck have run out of power.”

Once the phones died completely, after enough time passed they would not even know what year or month it was, much less the hour.

Little Cub crawled into Tang Miao’s arms, its voice slightly aggrieved.

“Baba, baba.”

Mommy, my head itches.

Tang Miao carried Little Cub beneath the covers and looked at Zhang Xinrou. “It’s a small matter. I’ve connected an outlet for you. Whenever you need to charge your phone, have Jiang Nanxing choose an obedient zombie to run on the treadmill for a while, then go to the caretaker and get two tomatoes to give it as a reward.”

With that, Tang Miao used a scratching stick to scratch Little Cub’s head. Little Cub laughed with blissful contentment.

Zhang Xinrou stared at the smooth, hairless head, unable to understand what there was to scratch.

Just as she turned away, Tang Miao called after her again.

“Xinrou, why are they still working so late?”