HBWnovel Chapter 22: Complete the prerequisite quests
Chapter 22: Complete the prerequisite quests
Soon, the group returned to the fifth floor.
Lu Chen pushed open the fire door, and the scene in the corridor was completely different from when he left in the morning.
The corridor, which was empty in the morning, is now piled with supplies looted from other floors.
Rice, flour, and cooking oil were bundled into large bundles using bed sheets and neatly stacked against the wall; various canned and bottled condiments were categorized and placed in several plastic storage boxes; clothes and bedding were folded and placed in black garbage bags, the bags were tied tightly, and labels with the contents written on them were attached.
There was a faint smell of disinfectant in the air. Someone had found a bottle of disinfectant in some room and had already wiped the floor of the corridor.
People were walking back and forth in the corridor. Some were unpacking and re-sorting packages, some were wiping the windowsills with rags, and some were squatting on the floor organizing a pile of loose instant noodles.
No one was idle; everyone was busy, whether with big or small tasks.
On the third day of the apocalypse, after the deathly silence of being trapped in the room for three days was broken, the group seemed to have rediscovered their rhythm of life.
After a full day of rescue efforts, besides him and Shen Qingci, who were both ability users, there were 18 ordinary survivors on the fifth floor. Adding the two they brought back now, the total number reached 20.
Of course, these 20 survivors are not all the survivors in the entire building.
In fact, there were a total of 22 survivors in the building. Two of them did not join the group.
One of them was a middle-aged man in his forties who lived on the eighth floor.
After Lu Chen cleared all the zombies off his floor, Shen Qingci took a radio and knocked on the door, playing the Dawn Project and explaining the conditions for joining the team.
After listening, the other party hesitated for a long time, and finally shook his head and said, "I'll think about it some more."
Perhaps they were worried about being sent on a dangerous mission, or perhaps they felt that since the zombies in the building had been cleared out, it would be safe to stay in their own homes for a while and there was no need to be controlled by others.
Lu Chen did not force the issue.
Having one more survivor or one less survivor won't have a significant impact on his overall plan.
What he needs are members who can follow orders and contribute to the team's operation, not a variable who might back down at any time.
Since the other party is unwilling, let's just wish each other well.
The other person was someone whose inner evil was perceived by Shen Qingci.
In the end times, everyone has both good and evil within them.
This is normal. Most people are mostly good, and even those with cold personalities are only half good and half evil.
People who are truly evil to the core are few and far between, but this person is one of them; evil occupies a large part of his heart.
Simply put, they are born bad.
Lu Chen didn't even knock on the other party's door.
Not only that, he also made some special arrangements for the other party.
He didn't completely clear out the zombies on that floor; instead, he deliberately left two in the corridor so they could continue to roam around.
Even before leaving, he tied the fire door on that floor tightly from the outside with nylon rope and locked it.
There were zombies lurking outside the door, and the fire door was locked from the inside. Even if the zombies had extraordinary abilities, they couldn't get out.
"Captain, you're back!"
Gao Yuan's voice pulled Lu Chen back to reality.
As soon as he stepped out of the fire door, Gao Yuan immediately put down what he was doing and came over to greet him, holding an open notebook filled with notes.
"I've brought all the supplies from the third floor up with my men, and we're sorting and organizing them now."
「米麵粮油方面，一共是12袋大米、8袋麵粉、5桶食用油，都放在502的厨房里。罐头和速食类放在503的客厅，按种类分了堆。药品和日用品单独放在506。」
"The list is ready, please take a look!" Gao Yuan said, handing over the notebook.
Lu Chen glanced down at the item. The handwriting wasn't exactly beautiful, but the entries were clear and concise, with the quantity and storage location marked for each item.
The third floor has six rooms. It's easy to see at a glance how much stuff you can find in each room, which items are edible, which are usable, and which should be consumed first.
"Such high efficiency." Lu Chen handed the notebook back to him, nodded, and said, "Very good!"
Gao Yuan has only been with the team for half a day, and from noon until now, he has not only collected and organized all the supplies on the third floor, but also made a list, divided the area, and even taken the initiative to coordinate the logistics operation of the entire fifth floor.
This kind of execution and initiative is unmatched by most people.
"Let's register these two survivors and then arrange accommodation for them," Lu Chen said, pointing to the two newcomers behind him.
"Also, everyone has been busy all day, so we can start preparing dinner. Let's have a big meal tonight."
"Okay!" Gao Yuan turned to look at the two survivors, his face naturally switching to a warm, but not excessive, smile.
"Please come with me, both of you. Let's register first, and then I'll show you the rooms."
The two survivors followed Gao Yuan over.
Lu Chen leaned against the wall in the corridor, watching Gao Yuan walk by while taking out a pen and notebook from his pocket, already asking for the other party's basic information.
Name, age, any special skills, and physical condition.
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, and his tone was neither humble nor arrogant, like a clerk greeting residents in a community service hall.
"With him around, he really took on a lot of the burden!" Lu Chen said sincerely.
Organizing supplies, registering information, arranging accommodation, and coordinating personnel—these tasks may sound simple, but once you actually start doing them, you'll find they're incredibly complex and can easily become a mess for someone without experience.
What's even more commendable is his strong initiative. He took the initiative to suggest going to the third floor to collect and organize supplies in the afternoon, and then led several young and strong survivors to carry them up.
"It's not just about sharing the burden." Shen Qingci stood next to him, also watching Gao Yuan's busy figure. "He does many things better than I do."
Shen Qingci was telling the truth. She knew which people were suitable for which positions, and Gao Yuan knew how to get these people to actually be willing to work.
"That's even better." Lu Chen nodded and said, "As the team grows, logistics management will become increasingly complex."
"You'll need to go out with me to hunt zombies later, so you can't stay here and manage logistics forever. When you're not around, someone needs to fill in."
Shen Qingci's detection ability is too useful; having her around is like having a human radar with you.
This means that Shen Qing will spend far more time on field missions than at base camp, so someone must be able to operate the logistics independently.
"That makes sense!" Shen Qingci nodded, then said, "I'll go register the information first. We've already rescued 20 survivors, which is just enough for both of us to complete the preliminary tasks of Project Dawn."
Around 2 PM, after they had rescued 10 survivors, Shen Qingci had already registered once, when she submitted Lu Chen's preliminary task.
The 10 people rescued later would naturally be considered Shen Qingci's share. In this way, both of them could complete their preliminary tasks.
Of course, Shen Qingci also made it clear that she only needed to complete the basic tasks.
All the military merits earned from rescuing any survivors later would be recorded in Lu Chen's account.
Because Lu Chen had already made it clear to her that he needed to accumulate as many military merits as possible in order to gain enough influence within the military system.
Lu Chen followed Shen Qingci to her room.
The signal is better in her room.
But when he walked into room 506, took out his phone, and saw the signal bar in the upper left corner of the screen, his brows furrowed.
The signal, which had been at two bars in the afternoon, has now dropped to one bar and is flickering weakly, as if it might go out completely at any moment.
"Can you still upload the pictures from your end?" Lu Chen asked.
To register as a rescued survivor, a photo is required as proof.
Moreover, it's not just about taking any photo; it requires a group photo of the superpowered individual and each of the rescued individuals together.
In other words, Shen Qingci needs to upload 10 photos.