Volume One, Chapter 19: Extreme Frost—Can You Help Me?
“How come you didn’t say anything earlier?”
Dongfang Wan’er looked at Shen Hui and Wang Ye.
“Captain Dongfang, we wanted to tell you sooner! But... but you’ve been so busy. Even if we said something, it wouldn’t have helped!” Wang Ye replied helplessly.
“I’m still puzzled. I feel the cold, yet you ordinary folks don’t seem to notice it at all. Wang Ye, you were all rescued by us, and I know your character. With this extreme weather, don’t worry; I’ll find resources for you.”
Dongfang Wan’er tried to put the matter aside. Not only was food scarce, but the temperature was dropping day by day, with some people even freezing into human statues.
“Shen Hui, we won’t be going out today.”
“Right. As for the remaining steamed buns, since Li Yi and his group have left, those buns belong to the ordinary folks here. Let’s give them some extra to eat their fill.”
“Yes!”
Dongfang Wan’er glanced around the base. The heating system had long since broken down completely, and with the cold, even inside the base it was freezing.
She frowned. Although there was some source of food now, with such extreme cold, she had just measured the temperature—it was nearly minus twenty degrees Celsius.
She wondered if Qin Fan could manage to get blankets and other warming supplies. Otherwise, the people inside the base would either starve or freeze to death. That would be truly tragic.
“Hmph! Luckily we left early, or we’d have frozen to death by now. Captain Yuan’s place is much better.”
“Yeah! There’s still heating here. It’s nothing like Dongfang Wan’er’s place—nothing there at all.”
Li Yi rubbed his hands together, comfortably enjoying the warmth inside.
“Captain Yuan! This time I’ve brought my group over to join you.”
“Boss Li, not bad, not bad. I heard you have important intelligence.”
The man wore a sly grin.
...
After a long while.
“That Dongfang Wan’er actually managed to get resources—she even has white flour steamed buns to eat.”
The man was filled with envy and anger.
“Captain Yuan, you don’t know how arrogant she is. She’s just a stinky woman, but she really thinks she’s some kind of goddess. Those white flour buns of hers only come if we hunt zombies first. It’s just tormenting us!”
“Oh! White flour buns?”
Yuan Hou’s eyes lit up, and those around him were incredulous. They were only eating tree roots and drinking acid rain water.
“Yeah! You don’t understand. Every energy kidney can only be exchanged for two buns a day. Who can eat enough on that? Killing zombies is a death trap if you’re careless.”
Li Yi complained about the conditions inside the base.
---
“Boss, it really is white flour buns.”
Yuan Hou’s men were now certain.
“Dongfang Wan’er is truly impressive! Even after being abandoned by the Psychic Bureau, she managed to find supplies in this situation. I really underestimated her—she even managed to get such high-grade supplies as white flour buns. And one energy kidney for two buns? Has she been hoarding them?”
Yuan Hou was puzzled. They had always been on missions with the first team; if Dongfang Wan’er had been storing that many, he would have known.
“Boss, could it be that the higher-ups are supporting them?”
One man speculated.
“Impossible! The higher-ups barely have any bread left themselves and are rationing even that. Where would they get white flour buns to support Dongfang Wan’er?”
Yuan Hou rejected the idea outright.
“If they have supplies, then we’ll take them.”
“Take them?”
Those around him were confused. Dongfang Wan’er’s faction was an enemy, practically a foe. How could they get white flour buns from her side?
“That’s right. Since they exchange one energy kidney for two buns, we’ll trade for everything they have.”
“Then we’ll take all their white flour buns and see how they survive.”
“Cold-faced Ghost, bring over the energy kidneys we recently acquired. Count them. At dawn, find someone to trade with Dongfang Wan’er for white flour buns.”
“Fight me, and you die. I’m the savior and still number one in the Psychic Bureau.”
---
Inside the base.
Everyone wore only thin clothes, mostly just long sleeves.
No one expected the weather to turn so extreme—it had started cool but kept getting colder.
“So cold!”
“Brr…”
People shivered, even the drool dripping from their noses froze into icicles.
“So cold!”
“Anyone have clothes?”
Inside the base, there was a chorus of wails.
Dongfang Wan’er stepped outside and surveyed the worsening scene. Not a single person, old or young, wasn’t freezing.
The beggars fared a bit better—they had no clothes before and scavenged for garments, so now they wore more. The psychics could temporarily resist the cold.
---
“Captain, what should we do?”
Shen Hui was deeply worried—not just for his son and wife, but because most people in the base were from their hometown before they awakened powers.
“Wang Bo! Take this coat first.”
Dongfang Wan’er draped an extra jacket over the elderly man.
“Wan’er, thank you! You still think of me at a time like this.”
Wang Bo said shakily.
“No, we must find quilted clothes. Otherwise, with this extreme cold, only the two of us psychics might survive.”
Dongfang Wan’er made a firm decision. Her mother had gone missing after trying to save someone.
She entered the room; Shen Hui said nothing.
“Shen, what’s going on with Captain Dongfang?”
Wang Ye asked.
“Shh, when the captain is silent, it means she’s troubled. Don’t provoke her now. With the base this cold, outside must be even worse. The captain is surely thinking about how to keep us alive.”
Shen Hui felt guilty. Besides being able to kill zombies, he felt useless and sorry toward Dongfang Wan’er.
She activated her psychic power and contacted Qin Fan.
“Qin Fan, is it cold where you are?”
“Huh?”
Qin Fan was a bit confused by the question. He looked outside; the crickets were still chirping.
“Not cold at all!”
“Qin Fan, can you stop preparing food supplies for now? We’re facing extreme cold weather that has lasted many days here.”
“Extreme cold?”
“Yes! Minus twenty degrees Celsius. We have no thick clothes and no fire. Some survivors outside the base have already frozen solid, and the base won’t last much longer. You have to help us.”
Dongfang Wan’er’s tone was full of despair and sorrow. Qin Fan didn’t understand why she was so upset, but since she had helped him and was, in a way, his benefactor, he couldn’t ignore her plea.
“Wan’er, don’t be afraid!”
“I have a way!”