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“Two shifts, it is. I’ll have to trouble you all to work a little harder in the meantime. I’ll handle the exploration during the day. And as much as possible, I will bring back more survivors and soldiers.” I turned to Floater to see if she had anything else to add. Seeing that she was silent, I gave the table a light slap and said, “I’m planning to visit the alchemical factory tomorrow… I mean, the underground weapons factory. There’s something there which interests me.”

“Your Highness,” Lixiang immediately perked up upon hearing the words alchemical factory. “Are you perhaps referring to that organic magical construct?”

“Exactly, that organic magical contrast… I mean, that unusual exosuit…”

I swear she’s starting to infect me as well…

“Sigh…” Watching my little clown act from the side, Floater couldn’t help but give me a haughty look as she sighed. Even if she was still silent, I could feel the piercing scorn in her eyes. The kind you had when looking at a fool…

Just as our discussion was about to wrap up, Qiaoqiao came prancing in to inform us that dinner was ready.

Thanks to the wealth of supplies we scavenged, today’s meal was decent even by non-apocalypse standards. Bitong was especially insistent about preparing a wider spread to accommodate the newcomers.

The lavish meal helped to somewhat dampen their scarred souls, and for the most part, the dinner went smoothly, with a couple of smiles here and there.

The night patrols were handled jointly by Ouyang Huiren and Sima Junmo. Over thirty soldiers were further split into two groups, one handling the earlier half of the night, led by Ouyang Huiren.

The girls bought a stack of talisman and handed them to the two men, after which they went around sticking the remainder on the walls of the survivors’ rooms.

Now that our defenses were up and running, me and the girls finally retired for some well-earned rest. In the same room…

Upon entering the room, I contacted aunty Xinqing. After the usual teasing, and a round of mother and daughter quarreling, I finished giving her my routine report, along with the footage I captured today.

With that out of the way, it was now time for a little… shopping!

Thanks to all the farming I did in that theme park of an instance, plus the actual mission reward itself, I was now sitting on a small fortune of over 90000 points.

With fat stacks in my wallet, I began purchasing some of the bloodlines the girls had been eyeing.

Bitong chose the Elemental Angel, capable of controlling all four elements of Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. Qiaoqiao chose the unique bloodline of a Blazing Angel. As for Lixiang, she naturally chose the Primal Angel bloodline.

Other than the bloodlines, I also picked up some of the skills and tools the girls were interested in. Next, I bought some enhancement cards to increase their max SP. Overall, it was a fun-filled night of revelry for everyone.

Even though my reserves were now empty, I still felt happy. The girls were excitedly testing out their newfound powers, and no one had to fight or feel left out from this shopping spree.

However, even with their bloodlines purchases, the effect wouldn’t be visible till their individual bloodlines were activated.

As for why mine activated immediately, apparently, mine was a special case since I was the system host, or so the system claimed.

Nothing much to say there…

Our revelry lasted till midnight, at which point everyone was feeling a little sleepy.

For the most part, the night was a peaceful one. Sima Junmo did end up bumping into some ghosts, but they were all low-levelled trash mobs. With those talismans protecting their exosuits, there was no danger to be had.

It was now the third day of the zombie outbreak. The cooks did their best to prepare a simple breakfast, served in the main lobby. Seated together with the officers and my companions, we began another round of discussions.

“Good work on patrolling last night. Especially Sima, I heard some ghosts appeared, but you guys handled them before I even needed to step in.”

“Not at all, the talismans lady Mo Ke gave us had an immense effect against those monsters.” Sima Junmo laughed in embarrassment, though I could still see the wide grin on his face.

Ouyang Huiren was a lot more nonchalant, but he was just as appreciative of the compliment.

“I just hope you can address me as MISTER Mo Ke instead.”

“Hahaha… Lady Mo Ke loves her jokes…”

I stared glumly at his bright smile… I just knew it would end up like this…

“Continue with the guard duties as usual, for the rest of the day, just in case some monsters decide to target the inn. I plan to visit that factory I mentioned yesterday. Hopefully there will be results from that. And if time allows, I will also check out an abandoned munitions factory in the 12th District. If there are survivors, I will do my best to bring them back.” I summarised the plan in a business-like fashion. “Right, any questions?”

“Qiaoqiao wants to go along as well!”

“This one wants to visit the alchemical factory.”

“I… Maybe I’ll just stay behind…”

Qiaoqiao was dead set on following me, while Lixiang had her reasons for visiting the underground factory. Bitong knew one of us had to stay behind to look after our base, temporary as it was. Being the freest, she was the best choice.

After some deliberation, I made my own decision as well. “Qiaoqiao, I need you to stay behind with your sister Bitong. Lixiang, you can come with me?”

“Why? Qiaoqiao wants to go out with big brother! Why does Lixiang get to go out, but Qiaoqiao can’t?!”

“That’s because I will need your sister Lixiang’s knowledge later when I head to the weapons factory. She does have expertise in that area, after all.”

This was a decision I came to after considering both my destinations. They were all locations that held exosuits and exosuit-related weaponry. Given that I know absolutely nothing on that front, expert help was needed.

“Your Highness, those are alchemical factories.”

And my expert has an acute case of middle-schooler syndrome…

“You’re heading to the abandoned munitions factory? Then count me in as well.” Floater quickly finished the bread in her hand, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and said, “There might be some useful parts there, I can repair the damages my suit sustained in the past few days.”

“Alright, then Lixiang and Floater.”

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE