ALL NOVEL Chapter 68 - Base Work
Early the next morning, soldiers came to conduct a headcount.
“There are a total of eighteen residents in three three-story villas.” The soldier in military uniform quickly registered the information on paper and handed each person a small card. “This card can be used to exchange for a base identity card at the task hall. The task hall is located in the southeast corner of the community, and signs have already been placed along the route, so just follow them.”
But that wasn’t the only information they had to convey.
“All housing in the base is subject to a tax. It’s best if you bring some supplies to pay it off; otherwise, if your house is forcibly requisitioned later, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Hu Haotian incredulously asked, “Do I still have to pay taxes for a house that’s in my name?”
“The military guarantees the safety of your housing, and since they are providing manpower and resources, it is only natural that you pay.” However, since Hu Haotian had a powerful backing, the soldier added, “You can bring proof of ownership to show that this property was yours before the apocalypse. This way, the fees you’ll need to pay will be much less.”
“Also, the task hall has opened a window for exchanging pre-apocalypse currency for supplies. If you have any cash or jewelry from before the apocalypse, you can exchange them now. On the first day, you might get more for your items, but in a few days, there probably won’t be much left.”
“You can go to the task hall this afternoon to pick up a sheet of paper outlining some specific regulations for the base.”
Adhering to the principle of “when in someone else’s territory, it’s better to bow your head for now,” Hu Haotian took out a can of tea leaves to thank the soldier delivering the message.
He then inquired about a few questions he needed answers to.
Since Hu Haotian had shares in this “court” and many of the villas were under his company’s name, he wanted to know if the houses could be rented out in the future if more people came to seek refuge at the base, allowing him to collect rent.
True to his business background, he was able to think of ways to utilize the pre-apocalypse strategies even after the world changed.
Tea leaves had always been a great gift before the apocalypse, and now, they had become a luxury gift in this new world. The soldier, realizing the value of the gift, said, “If you can prove that these properties belong to you and pay a certain amount of supplies to the base, you should be able to rent them out afterward.”
Naturally, Hu Haotian thanked him repeatedly and then personally escorted the soldier to the door.
As the soldier was leaving, he kindly reminded him, “The military will forcibly conscript earth-type ability users to build walls for the base, but there are currently no restrictions on ability users going out. As long as you obtain your base identity card, you can go out at any time.”
The meaning of this was quite clear.
If you don’t want to be conscripted, it’s better to take your identity card and leave the base right away.
In the afternoon, the people in the convoy went to the task hall together to exchange for their base identity cards.
The forms had already been prepared, and the military worked quickly to tally up the ability users. However, they needed to verify everything once again when issuing the identity cards.
The ability users had to go one by one into a room to show the soldier their awakened abilities for verification.
The base identity cards were divided into three types.
Ability users received blue wristbands, ordinary research personnel got yellow wristbands, and regular people without any special skills received white wristbands.
For example, Old Qin was classified as a retired agricultural scientist, and after passing the military assessment, he was given a yellow wristband.
When Tang Ruo was testing her ability, she used her mental power to conjure up water.
There were no specialized instruments for testing this; everything was judged with the naked eye.
As a result, Tang Ruo was identified as a water-type ability user.
After exchanging for their base identity cards and recalling the soldier’s reminder to check the new regulations, Hu Haotian went to get some papers.
These papers were no longer like the promotional flyers from before the apocalypse that could be casually given out or discarded. The soldier handing out the papers directly told Hu Haotian, “Please do not damage the paper you have. Remember to return it after you’re done reading.”
Paper was limited at the base, and these items could no longer be wasted as freely as before.
The content recorded on the paper was extensive but clear and straightforward.
As the soldier who recorded the information in the morning had said, the base required all residents living there to participate unconditionally in the construction of the base’s infrastructure.
Participants would be provided with three meals a day by the base.
What intrigued them was the new currency introduced by the base, which was points.
The usage of points was also clearly explained in the documents.
Points could be used to exchange for everything within the base and could also be directly circulated; in the future, they would be credited to the wristbands each person wore.
In simpler terms, it was just like the string of numbers in a bank account.
After reviewing the materials, everyone in the convoy confirmed the work they would take on.
After all, they didn’t plan to go out for the time being.
The construction of the base was also a form of home reconstruction.
Everyone had a responsibility in the rebuilding of their home, and it was not wrong to help the country if they were capable.
Hu Haotian and the other three earth-type ability users went to build the walls, while Old Qin and Pan Dawei joined the agricultural development efforts at the base.
Seeing that Bai Qi was still looking at the blank paper, Liu Bing leaned over and asked, “Brother Bai, what are you choosing?”
Ever since Liu Bing called him “Xiao Bai,” which led to several days of repairing household appliances, he had changed his address to “Brother Bai”!
Bai Qi lifted his head to glance at Liu Bing, then lowered it again, pointing to one of the items on the paper and said, “This one.”
Liu Bing looked and saw it was the job of providing water sources for the base.
Considering Bai Qi and Tang Ruo’s abilities, he felt that it made sense for them to choose this option.
Looking at Tian Hai, he asked, “A Hai, what do you plan to do?”
Tian Hai scratched his head and replied, “I don’t know either. I was just in high school before this and don’t have any specialties. I’m not sure what I can provide for the base.”
Bai Qi pointed to another item and said, “We can do this.”
Everyone looked and saw it was related to power facilities.
Tian Hai asked in confusion, “Brother Bai, how am I supposed to do this?”
Bai Qi replied, “You input your electricity into the battery, and then let the battery store the electricity for generating power.”
Everyone: “…”
Can lightning abilities actually be used like that?
Why didn’t you say so earlier!
We went all the way to search for solar panels!
Bai Qi seemed to pick up on the anger in everyone’s eyes and said, “I’m just guessing. If you don’t control it well, the battery might explode.”
This wasn’t just a guess; in the previous life, someone had indeed done this. However, it required a high level of control from lightning ability users, and if they were careless, the battery would explode.
After Bai Qi said this, everyone relaxed.
In fact, they were just expressing their dissatisfaction; it was clear that the power needs of the three villas couldn’t be supported by Tian Hai alone.
Liu Bing flipped through the paper in his hand and saw a new term in the last column.
It was labeled: Apocalypse Hunter.
“This sounds pretty cool,” he said, continuing to read down. He discovered that hunters were essentially base mercenaries who could go out to collect supplies. After obtaining supplies, they were required to turn in one-third to the base, while keeping the rest for themselves.
Hu Haotian said, “Once we have the base’s basic facilities set up, let’s go out and become hunters.”
Everyone nodded.
They already knew that abilities would level up, and of course, they wanted to go out and fight monsters to collect crystal cores.
Liu Bing thought for a moment and said, “I also want to go out with you, but I haven’t found my second uncle yet. I have to stay behind for now.”
“Let’s wait a bit longer; this batch of people hasn’t been sent off yet. Your second uncle might be among the next group.”
“We’re all lucky together; you won’t be left out alone.”
“Just have a little faith.”
The others came over to comfort him, and Liu Bing felt much better inside. If it weren’t for the people in the convoy, he might not have made it to today.
Next, everyone filled out the forms for the tasks they would take on.