"What else can we do? We can't go out to fight monsters for a month, and many families and small gangs are running out of food."
"Why are they looking for us to solve their food shortage!" Fatty Dun'er said, and immediately felt ashamed of himself. He couldn't help but mock himself, "Have I been talking without thinking lately?"
The companions looked up at the roof, none of them saying: When did you ever use your brain?
...
At night, the Dragon City trading hall was bustling with people. Almost all mercenary teams and gang members were gathered here.
They dared not leave the Dragon City gates, so they placed all their hopes on Fu Xinci, hoping to get some food on credit from her.
As the lights on the vending machine lit up, all eyes focused on a single point. The trading hall instantly fell silent as a mouse, and except for breathing, no other sound could be heard.
The captain remained the most composed. His tall, pine-like figure stood directly in front of the vending machine, not only blocking many prying eyes but also truly conveying the current state of Dragon City to Fu Xinci.
When Fu Xinci learned about the real situation in Dragon City from the captain, she was also quite surprised.
She had seen fragments of information from her companions a few days ago and guessed that things were not going well in Dragon City, but she hadn't expected them to be so dire.
Having stayed in Dragon City before, she could empathize with the difficulties a month without leaving the city would cause for a family or a group.
Without much thought, Fu Xinci revealed her reserves to the captain. "The grain I have should be enough for everyone in Dragon City to eat for ten days."
She didn't mention that after harvesting this batch of grain, she planned to plant a crop of potatoes, which would be even higher yielding.
She also entrusted the distribution rights of this grain to the captain. Her last words were that she hoped the initiative would be in the captain's hands, not the Dragon City officials'.
Upon hearing that Fu Xinci had so much grain, everyone present cheered. At least they wouldn't go hungry for the next ten days, and perhaps by then, the snow would have melted and the sky would be clear.
However, the base leader and the officials from headquarters looked displeased.
In their view, grain should be kept in the hands of the officials for proper planning and coordination. As for how to plan, some people's little schemes were already in full swing.
However, this time, the base leader was somewhat more sensible and did not express any opinion.
Of course, his wife was also by his side, constantly monitoring him for fear that he would act foolishly again.
The captain glanced at the base leader, as if seeking his consent. Whether he consented or not, the captain would keep a part of it in reserve.
Seeing that the base leader had no objections, the captain loudly announced his decision, "Those with no food left for the night, step forward. Those with leftover food, don't move yet."
Despite the captain repeating the same words three times, no one stepped forward, which brought a sliver of comfort to his heart.
"Next, those with food for less than three days, step forward." As soon as the captain said this, seven or eight people stepped out.
These were precisely the same people who had come to find them during the day.
Fortunately, fortunately, these were all within his expectations.
The captain offered to guarantee them with his reputation, but Fu Xinci's reply was that if they had crystal cores, they could settle the payment with them.
The captain asked, "Didn't you say you don't need crystal cores for your upgrades?"
"Don't you guys use them?"
"We do, and we can gather crystal cores by fighting monsters ourselves."
Fu Xinci haughtily rolled her eyes, unseen by her companions, and replied resolutely, "I don't do credit."
The captain was amused by her, yet also helpless.
The few people, however, were quite pleased, as they did have crystal cores.
The crowd behind them thought the same: they might not have much else, but everyone had crystal cores.
No one could have imagined that with just one sentence from Fu Xinci, Dragon City's food crisis was instantly resolved.
The companions' hands were filled with crystal cores, reaching new heights.
February 2nd passed in the blink of an eye, and Dragon City no longer had snow. The weather seemed to warm up overnight.
The long winter had finally passed, and many people were able to come out and move around.
On this day, as the captain and his companions were walking out of the main gate of the official headquarters, they were about to head out of the city to clear out monsters.
They saw Luo Xiaoshuai, holding a flowerpot, running over with his two little followers from a nearby corner.
"Captain Long Teng."
"What is this?" The captain's sharp gaze fixed on the flowerpot in Luo Xiaoshuai's arms. He seemed to see a small cluster of green.
"Did you guys grow this?"
"Yes. Captain Long Teng, look." Luo Xiaoshuai said, presenting the flowerpot in his arms as if offering a treasure.
Others might not recognize the leaves of this plant, but Yang Xinjie did. "These are potato sprouts."
"Potato sprouts?" The companions looked at Yang Xinjie in disbelief, afraid she had misidentified them.
"Don't worry, I won't mistake it." Yang Xinjie explained, fearing her companions wouldn't believe her.
"When I was studying with Xinci, we often went to her small courtyard and her father's experimental fields. If I mistake potato sprouts, then I'm not human."
Before the companions could speak, Luo Xiaoshuai nodded with a hint of pride, "Sister Yang is right, what I planted is indeed potatoes."
Hearing Luo Xiaoshuai's words, the companions' eyes lit up, and they asked in unison, "What did you use to grow them?"
It wasn't their fault for being so anxious. After the apocalypse, all the land was polluted. Even if plants grew from the soil, they were mutated.
Whether they were edible was another matter, and some plants could even directly attack people.
Seeing that the brothers and sisters of Long Teng were all asking, Luo Xiaoshuai boldly told the truth.
"It's the straw that Sister Xinci gave us. After we burned it for firewood, a lot of ash was left. Over time, we thought the ash was quite good and it would be a shame to throw it away."
"So, we collected all this ash. One day, we had a sudden inspiration and tried to dig out two potato pieces with sprouts and carefully planted them in flowerpots."
"Then yesterday, we used our wood-element abilities, and these potatoes sprouted and grew leaves!" The little girl was extremely happy, her sparkling eyes full of spirit.
She and Tan Mingming both had wood-element abilities, and she always felt her ability was useless.
They said that wood-element abilities could promote plant growth, but there were no plants in Dragon City for them to promote.
Furthermore, because they were too poor and couldn't afford crystal cores, they couldn't upgrade.
Yesterday was also their bold attempt, and they didn't expect to actually succeed.
After hearing the three little ones finish speaking, Xiao Ai was the first to ask the captain, "Does this count as growing something?"
"Of course, it counts. Even if they used the ash from straw, it doesn't negate the fact that they really grew something."