Natural Disasters Strikes: I stockpiled like crazy! - Chapter 204

Chapter 204: Jade City
For the rest of the night, Nanzhi and the others focused on absorbing the spars.

Lin Weihao handed her the spar of the Ant Queen while collecting the winged reaper ants’ spars for himself.

Meanwhile, after two days on the road, Lao Gong and his group encountered a military convoy that escorted them to the Military Base.

As soon as they arrived, Lao Gong carefully counted the people on the bus before stepping forward to ask the guards on the gate, “How much is the entrance fee per person?”

“There is no entrance fee,” one of the guards replied.

Lao Gong blinked in surprise. “No entrance fee? Really?”

The guard nodded. “You may enter, but first, you need to register at the Mission Hall and undergo a mental energy assessment. Awakeners will receive a monthly allowance.”

Hearing this, Lao Gong and the others were overjoyed. Without hesitation, they strode inside.

The moment they stepped in, the sound of laughter filled their ears.

Children played in the open spaces, their cheeks plump and rosy with health. A group of boys kicked around a makeshift ball, their joyful shouts echoing through the air.

He Cuifen instinctively tightened her grip on Si Hao’s hand, while Wang Jian’s gaze was fixed on the children too.

Si Hao and Jiu Jiu watched with wide eyes, their little fingers twitching with the urge to join in.

A little girl tugged at her mother’s sleeve, swinging it back and forth as she took a bite of a steaming pancake.

Not far away, hawkers pushed small carts through the bustling streets. One of them, spotting Lao Gong’s group, immediately steered his cart toward them.

“Newcomers! Welcome! Are you hungry from your journey? I have pumpkin cakes! Five cakes for just one spar!”

The scent of freshly baked pumpkin cakes wafted through the air, warm and enticing. The golden pastries were still steaming, their fragrance drilling into their nostrils.

The group swallowed hard.

They turned to each other, their exhaustion momentarily forgotten.

With sunken eyes, He Cuifen whispered, “Is this real?”

Wang Jian, who had been gripping their daughter’s hand tightly, looked around in stunned silence.

Before arriving at the base, they had encountered alien beasts. Following Zhang Xin’s advice, they collected spars—but, to their disappointment, they hadn’t found any jades!

Still, they were glad they had listened to Zhang Xin.

Lao Gong stepped forward and bought some pumpkin cakes. He handed large pieces to Jiu Jiu and Si Hao while the rest shared the remainder.

The children took eager bites, their eyes lighting up.

“It’s soft, sweet, and moist!”

Zhang Xin chuckled. “That’s not even the half of it. You should see the market!”

At first, everyone thought Zhang Xin was exaggerating.

They soon realized they were wrong.

“Wolf skewers! Spicy Wolf skewers!”

“Scallion pancakes, anyone? One spar for six pieces!”

“Mister, do you like peanut brittle? My grandma made it! One spar per pack!”

“Roasted sweet potatoes!”

“Young man, for one spar, you can have two bowls of egg drop soup!”

The group licked their lips.

Time passed.

In an abandoned street littered with the corpses of alien beasts, a group of people battled against more of the creatures.

“Earth Hammer Smash!”

Yu Baoyin swung a massive earth hammer, bringing it down with a deafening crash on a Tier 2 Insectisoid alien beast. Its head exploded into mincemeat.

A fiery spear streaked through the air, slicing another Tier 2 alien beast in half before flames engulfed its body.

“Flame Spear!”

Bingwen’s entire arm turned to metal. He leaped at the blind spots of two Tier 2 alien beasts, grabbing their heads and smashing them together. The sickening sound of cracking skulls rang out as brain matter splattered across his hands.

Hei Qian dealt with the smaller creatures using his newly developed lightning gun.

Shimmering silver threads, glistening with water droplets, shot through the air, weaving an intricate web. The beasts charging forward were suddenly ensnared, their movements halting mid-motion.

A crackling boom followed.

Purple lightning surged through the threads.

“Shkkk—!” The alien beasts convulsed violently.

With a flick of Nanzhi’s fingers, the threads tightened. In the blink of an eye, the creatures were diced into countless pieces.

In the midst of it all, a small white spider scuttled forward, its delicate legs moving with eerie precision.

It flicked its legs, shooting out glistening silk threads that glowed faintly.

A sharp water blade emerged from its mouth, slicing through the alien beasts’ glabellas, exposing the spars hidden within. Its silk threads skillfully dug them out.

Droplets of crystal-clear water materialized, flowing through the threads. They swirled around the spars, washing away the alien blood and grime.

The little spider scuttled toward Nanzhi, proudly presenting the cleaned spars before climbing onto her shoulder.

Nanzhi stored the spars in her inventory, rubbed the spider’s tiny head, and praised it, “Good job, Snowball.”

“Chi—!” Snowball vibrated happily.

Nanzhi and the others lifted their gazes.

Above the suspension bridge, a large sign read— Welcome to Jade City!

After nine long days, they had finally reached the city’s border.

Unfortunately, the suspension bridge was destroyed in the middle. Scorch marks covered the support cables and asphalt, evidence of an explosion. Overturned, burned-out cars lay strewn across the wreckage.

“Are we taking the water route?” someone asked, peering down at the river below.

The water was black, thick with debris floating atop it. It did not look safe.

“No need,” Nanzhi replied.

Now that she had advanced to Tier 3, weight was no longer an issue. As long as she had enough mental energy, she could lift anything.

One by one, they stepped onto the floating platforms she created. With careful control, Nanzhi guided each of them across.

The moment they reached the other side, a system notification echoed in Nanzhi’s ears.

[The Third Dungeon is now open.]

Somewhere in Jade City, inside an abandoned food processing factory…

A dark figure loomed over an injured man sprawled on the cold floor.

Black mist coiled around its fingers, seeping into the man’s chest like writhing tendrils.

The injured man’s eyes widened in sheer terror. He instinctively scrambled back, his voice hoarse with fear.

“N-No… no, please! I have a family—Ahh!”

His screams barely left his lips before his body withered. Skin clung tightly to his bones as his eyes turned hollow, lifeless.

The dark figure let out a slow, satisfied exhale. The mist retreated into its palm.

With one last glance at the dried corpses littering the factory floor, the figure turned and left.