Chapter 22: Back to the Farm!

"Forget about him. The boss will have his head anyway once we drag him back. You two, bring them both down to the underground parking garage, Section B. We’ve found something good down here; don't report it to the higher-ups yet. Let’s enjoy it ourselves first."

"...Fine, we’re coming down now."

Hanging up the phone, the team leader gave Tang Miao a sheepish smile, handed over his phone voluntarily, and returned to his spot to crouch down. This woman was no simple character; playing nice and cozying up to her was the best strategy now. Perhaps, if he got on her good side, he could leverage her power to seize control of the safe zone and make himself the second-in-command!

Hearing the contents of the call, Zhang Xinrou felt a wave of anxiety. As expected, the two captives were Lin Chaofeng and Song Mingchen. While relocating, they had passed through Baihui Plaza, been besieged by zombies, and were forced to abandon their vehicle to hide. Once the zombies began to disperse, they had tried to flee, only to be intercepted. Lin Chaofeng had been knocked unconscious, and Song Mingchen was currently suffering from a high fever due to an infected wound; both were beaten and bruised.

Tang Miao left the two captives under Zhang Xinrou's watch while she leisurely adjusted the time gradient to continue her experiments. As the sun set, the parking garage grew darker, and Tang Miao lit a lamp. Jiang Nanxing and the dormitory warden, fearing Tang Miao might be hungry, asked for her tools to boil chicken soup in the garage. The aroma of the soup masked the rot of the parking lot, making everyone’s mouths water uncontrollably.

There were only two survivors left now; the team leader had turned into a zombie and had been dealt with by Tang Miao.

"You two, clean yourselves up and get ready to head back to the safe zone."

The two men crouching on the ground looked at Tang Miao in astonishment. "You’re not going to kill us?"

Tang Miao took a bowl of chicken soup from Jiang Nanxing and gulped it down. "I don’t kill people, only animals. Go back and tell the person in charge of your safe zone that Miaomiao Farm intends to establish a long-term strategic partnership with the Red Fire Safe Zone. Add this WeChat account; whenever the farm has goods to sell, I’ll post it on my Moments. If the power or internet goes out, come to the original site of Linzhong Agricultural University to trade with me. Right now, our farm has fish and various fresh vegetables for sale. Chickens will be ready in about a week. This is our farm’s business card."

Two handwritten cards were thrust into their hands. They read: [Miaomiao Farm, Online Contact: XXXXXXXX, Current Offline Trading Location: Former Site of Linzhong Agricultural University].

"I’m the farm’s handyman, and these are our accountants and staff. Rest assured, our farm believes in harmony for trade. We don't believe in forced buying or selling."

At this introduction, everyone stood up and greeted the two men politely.

"Roar!" (Hello!)

The two men stared in stunned silence, hesitating for a long moment before speaking.

"My name is Yang Sen. In the safe zone, they call me Li Sanjiu."

"My name is Yang Lin. In the safe zone, they call me Li Sanba."

Tang Miao nodded to show she had memorized their names and invited them to have a bowl of chicken soup before leaving. She wasn't about to part with the meat, though. Before they left, she gave them two guns for protection. Tang Miao had lured all the zombies in the Baihui Plaza commercial district and locked them in the second basement level, but outside that perimeter, there were still scattered zombies blocking the road.

Tang Miao specifically warned them that for offline trades, she would only recognize the two brothers. If the Red Fire Safe Zone sent anyone else, she would refuse to trade.

As they reached the garage exit, Yang Lin stopped and looked back at Tang Miao. "Can you control people who have already turned into zombies?"

"It’s not control; it’s helping them regain their consciousness. The chicken soup you just drank was cooked by the dormitory warden, who regained her consciousness with my help after she turned."

"What if she had been a zombie for a long, long time and her body was damaged?"

"Regaining consciousness is just a matter of time."

Yang Lin’s eyes flickered, and he started to say something, but Yang Sen covered his mouth. "Let’s get back to the safe zone first."

After sending them off, the group ate their fill in the garage and prepared to continue scavenging for supplies. Zhang Xinrou was re-dressing Song Mingchen’s wounds. Because he hadn't received treatment in time, the flesh had started to rot. Zhang Xinrou gritted her teeth and poured alcohol directly onto the wound; he was unconscious anyway and wouldn't feel a thing.

Zai Zai hung on Tang Miao’s neck, poking her cheek with a finger and pointing toward the unconscious Song Mingchen. She remembered that Mommy could heal people. Was Mommy going to save him?

Tang Miao glanced at him and patted Zai Zai’s head. "We’ll talk about that when we get back to the farm."

Night fell. The group scoured all the nearby shops, but they couldn't find any cement. That was fine; cement was already unlocked in the mall, and Tang Miao could just purchase it once they returned. On the triumphant drive back, Jiang Nanxing held Zai Zai and squeezed into the driver’s seat. Zhang Xinrou remained sullen throughout the trip, looking for reasons to pick a fight.

"Jiang Nanxing, why are you squeezing to the front? There’s barely enough room as it is."

Jiang Nanxing pursed her lips, staring straight ahead as if indifferent, though her peripheral vision was fixed on Tang Miao. They seemed to know those two unconscious men. Zai Zai looked up, sensing the tension; the auntie was in a bad mood, and Mommy seemed indifferent too. She decided it was best to stay quiet.

Back at the farm, Tang Miao didn't start by rebuilding facilities. Instead, she bought several tree saplings from the mall, eventually choosing red cedar. She used her spiritual power to control the saplings' growth, forcing them to bloom and bear fruit once they reached a height of one meter. Red cedar flowers are divided into male and female types; the male cones are egg-shaped with yellow pollen, while the female cones are pale purple, hanging in clusters from the canopy.

After obtaining a pile of fresh cedar cones, Tang Miao felt a momentary wave of dizziness. She took a deep breath to steady herself and handed the cones to everyone. She instructed them to place the cones along the edge of the farm at ten-meter intervals, telling them to return to her for more if they ran out.

Once they were placed, Tang Miao knelt on the ground and exerted her power. One by one, the cedar cones sprouted, grew, branched, and shot upward. The towering trees extended and pressed against one another, quickly enveloping the farm until only a patch of starry sky remained visible above. The total height from the ground to the canopy was 150 meters, and within the first 100 meters from the ground, Tang Miao prevented any branches from growing to ensure no one could climb up.

The red cedars stood shoulder to shoulder, sealed tightly. Now, the outside world could not see into the farm, and those inside could no longer see the outside. Tang Miao’s forehead beaded with sweat. She knelt on the ground, her chest heaving, a buzzing sound filling her mind.

Zai Zai rushed to her, resting her chin on Tang Miao’s head and supporting herself with her small hands on Tang Miao’s shoulders. Tang Miao’s mouth twitched—thanks, Zai Zai, but that was actually quite prickly and painful.

Jiang Nanxing caught Tang Miao just in time. "Miaomiao, are you okay?"

Tang Miao’s hands were still trembling, and she shook her head. She was not okay.

Ordinary red cedars are fire-resistant; their bark is about 30 centimeters thick and secretes tannins to form a flame-retardant layer. Even after a major fire, their seeds have a germination rate of up to 50%. Giant red cedars can grow up to 110 meters tall with a diameter of up to 8 meters. The advanced red cedar saplings provided by the mall had significantly enhanced resistance across the board.

Fire from the outside wouldn't be able to breach this defense, but there was still one more thing to test. Tang Miao struggled to keep her eyelids open, glancing at the gun on the ground and then at the tree trunk in front of her.

"Fire... give it a try."