What is New Energy

"How boring, you never come when I invite you!"

The young man pouted disappointedly, preparing to roll up the car window.

"Next time for sure!"

Ji Mengyao waved to the young man through the window, though her expression suggested otherwise.

"Well, I'll be going then!"

The young man didn't persist, adjusted his sunglasses that had gone askew while talking, and accelerated his truck forward.

The truck's engine roared as it moved ahead of the pickup.

"What's going on here?"

Ning Yu was completely puzzled - what was a survivor base doing with so many zombies?

"Hehe, this is something you wouldn't understand, these are all treasures~"

Ji Mengyao said with a cigarette between her lips, showing a smug smile that seemed to say: Finally, it's my turn to show off.

"Little sister, have you studied steam engines?"

She had a show-off attitude, clearly repeating second-hand knowledge she'd heard from others.

Ning Yu found her behavior somewhat amusing and simply nodded slightly.

"All you need is water, temperature, and some equipment, and we can harvest energy, albeit with some losses."

The unfamiliarity in Ji Mengyao's voice made Ning Yu even more certain that she was just repeating what she'd heard from others.

She cleared her throat and continued:

"Don't underestimate these zombies. Just give them some flesh and blood to eat, and they'll keep moving energetically for a long time."

"Aren't they just like walking steam engines in this apocalyptic era? One burns water, the other burns flesh and blood."

"They don't know fatigue, have no emotions, just keep jumping around doing work, and their energy conversion efficiency is extremely high!"

"You know what this is? This is unlimited surplus value! And surplus value without having to consider humanitarian concerns!"

"Old Zhuang set up some machines to use them for generating electricity! These zombies are so energetic, let them work all they want!"

Ning Yu's eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape. Even though Ji Mengyao was showing off with second-hand knowledge, it still shocked her.

What kind of crazy person would think about exploiting these monsters for their unlimited surplus value instead of figuring out how to kill them?

When she heard the word "humanitarian," Ning Yu couldn't help but imagine a comical scene:

People marching on the streets, holding up humanitarian signs reading "ZombieLivesMatter," passionately advocating for zombie rights.

She couldn't help but find this mental image hilarious.

Using zombies to generate electricity - now that's something. Let me translate what the hell this new energy source is all about.

It's truly a pollution-free, green new energy source. She definitely needed to check this out when she had the chance.

Ji Mengyao was clearly pleased with Ning Yu's surprised expression, looking very satisfied as she swayed to the music playing in the car.

They drove for a while longer, chatting about various things, with Ning Yu mainly gathering information.

Through the glass, Shen Yiyue glimpsed Ning Yu and Ji Mengyao chatting happily, feeling a bit sour and jealous, pursing her lips.

If only she had taken the front passenger seat!

"Sister, don't stop! What happened next between you and Sister Ning Yu?"

Seeing her sister suddenly staring at Ning Yu in the car and forgetting to continue the story, Shen Qianqian waved her small hand in front of Shen Yiyue's eyes.

"Oh, right, well..."

Shen Yiyue had to return to her storytelling, though her eyes kept secretly glancing at the driver's cabin.

Wu Di in his suit had returned to stand by the large box containing the chainsaw, scanning the surroundings.

They were getting closer to the Ark base, and the number of zombies had decreased again.

"It's just ahead!"

Ji Mengyao extinguished her last blueberry cigarette, finally not lighting another one.

With her excellent eyesight, Ning Yu could already see the Ark base ahead, which used to be Yida Plaza. After listening to Ji Mengyao's long-winded explanation, she was finally seeing it in person.

The base was surrounded by wire mesh barriers with spike obstacles on top, and trenches outside the wire mesh effectively prevented zombies from climbing.

In the center was a large connected shopping mall, linking several flat mall buildings through passages.

On the connected platform above, there seemed to be many plants growing, forming a buffer layer, above which were hotel-style apartments.

It was a very classic mixed commercial-residential structure, with residential areas above and shopping mall below.

The intelligence Lin Hao had provided earlier was basically accurate.

None of the surrounding buildings were connected to this place, so there was no worry about zombies jumping in from adjacent buildings.

This place was a perfect choice whether for accommodating many residents or converting the mall below into various facilities.

Ji Mengyao gradually slowed down, driving toward the base's main gate, which was one of the mall's entrances.

The mall originally had several ground-level entrances between the buildings, but they had all been blocked except for this largest opening.

A gate had been constructed with wire mesh, with uniformed personnel standing guard beside it.

Though their uniforms were just ordinary matching T-shirts, presumably used to distinguish different functions.

It made sense - who would have the luxury of printing proper uniforms during the apocalypse?

The guards at the gate showed familiar expressions upon seeing Ji Mengyao's pickup truck and came over for routine inspection.

"Uncle Li, I'm back~"

Among the inspectors, one older man was addressed as Uncle Li by Ji Mengyao - they seemed to know each other.

She stretched her hand out the window to greet him.

"Oh, it's Mengyao, good to see you back safely."

Uncle Li, wearing a baseball cap, showed a kindly smile. His temples were starting to gray - he must have been at least 50 years old.

"Are these all people you rescued from today's mission?"

He glanced at Ning Yu in the passenger seat, and Shen Yiyue and the children in the back.

"Yes, they are."

Ji Mengyao nodded slightly, while another young man who had come to check with Uncle Li was already running to open the gate.

"Remember to take them for inspection and then quarantine."

Uncle Li reminded Ji Mengyao before leaving, though he cast a few extra glances at Ning Yu in the passenger seat.

This beautiful silver-haired girl - why were her clothes so clean? She didn't look like someone who had been wandering in the apocalypse at all.

"I know!"

Ji Mengyao waved casually, clearly familiar with carrying out missions here.

The pickup truck slowly entered the Ark base, and Ning Yu finally saw what it looked like inside.

Behind them, Shen Yiyue and the children also stood up to look around.

The plaza surrounded by several shopping malls had a fountain in the center, though it was no longer running.

Various people were moving about around the plaza.

Some wore uniforms of the same color and style, shuttling between different buildings, apparently busy with tasks.

These must be the staff from different groups Ji Mengyao had mentioned.

Others were dressed casually, seemingly ordinary survivors.

Some were chatting in the plaza, while others hurried about carrying things, quickly disappearing into the buildings.

If one didn't look outside, they might think no disaster had ever happened here.

[Ding! Mission: Travel to the 'Ark' gathering point has been completed!]

[Rewards issued: Physical Ability *1, Charm *1, Points *3000]

As they entered the Ark, the system's reward notification arrived as expected.

Adding the 4000 points from killing the Greedy One and the points from zombies killed along the way,

Plus the remaining 2000+ points after buying the awakening potion, it suddenly became a total of 10750 points.

Seeing her five-digit point balance, Ning Yu no longer cared about the slight deviation in charm from earlier.