Care Guide to Raising a Max Level Leaf in Apocalypse - 8
He skeptically grabbed Ji Jiu and poked his soft belly, saying, “Where did all those things you ate go?”
How could such a slender person fit so much inside?
Ji Jiu lowered his head and said, “Are you afraid that I eat too much and you can’t afford me.”
The statement sounded strange, and all the hunters present pricked up their ears to gossip.
The chief, who had always been efficient and decisive in his actions, had never had any scandalous rumors before, and this had piqued the curiosity of the group of men in private.
Si Yin Yuan stiffened for a moment and said, “No… don’t think too much.”
He thought that even before the apocalypse, there were many people known for their big appetites, and the differences between people were indeed significant.
Ji Jiu still kept his head low, revealing a cute spiral of hair without saying a word. He didn’t resist being poked in the belly and obediently allowed him to play around.
A sense of inexplicable guilt surged up in Si Yin Yuan’s heart. He cleared his throat and changed the subject, “Do you want to eat anything else? I’ll go buy it for you.”
Ji Jiu immediately brightened up and raised his eyes, his face showing no trace of sadness. He happily pointed at the pork trotters and said, “I want to eat that!”
Si Yin Yuan softened his gaze and said, “Okay.”
He took his hand and led him towards the stall.
At this moment, all the hunters present had only one thought in their minds: Uh-oh, their chief had been hooked.
After becoming a hunter, all you needed to do was earn a few points to have a place to live. Basic hunters didn’t have many points, so they usually chose to share a place or live in smaller dormitories.
As the chief, Si Yin Yuan had his own house, and when arranging accommodation for Ji Jiu, he inexplicably took him back to his own home.
Until he realized it, Ji Jiu was already taking a bath in his guest bedroom.
He sat on the soft and comfortable sofa in the living room, not understanding how things had developed to this point.
Everything had happened so naturally; he had taken the young man under his wing.
They couldn’t continue in this unclear manner. When he finished his bath and came out, he had to have a proper discussion with Ji Jiu about his future arrangements.
The plan was well thought out, but when he saw Ji Jiu running out happily with only a towel wrapped around him, his mind went blank instantly.
All thoughts of arrangements and discussions were abandoned.
The water droplets that hadn’t been completely dried added a touch of ambiguity to the young and vibrant body. Ji Jiu’s face was still flushed from the steam, and his watery eyes looked at him with a gleam.
Such a defenseless posture, if he were to share a house with someone with ulterior motives…
Si Yin Yuan was annoyed by his own imagination and frowned, quickly fetching a pair of milk-white slippers for him.
With a light tone, he reprimanded, “Why don’t you put them on properly before coming out? The floor is cold.”
Ji Jiu didn’t notice the hidden fire in the man’s eyes. He put on the slightly oversized slippers and kicked them a bit casually, saying, “I don’t have any clothes left.”
Si Yin Yuan paused for a moment and apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t consider that. Let me find you some clothes.” He went to his room and brought back a set of small-sized clothes for Ji Jiu, saying, “Wear these for now. I’ll take you to the market to buy clothes tonight.”
“Okay.” Ji Jiu took them and immediately wanted to take off the towel.
Si Yin Yuan quickly stopped him with a quick hand and rubbed his forehead. “Change in the room.”
Ji Jiu was a little puzzled. Previously, the master used to change clothes in front of him, even when he was a little sapling, he often saw the master naked.
Oh well, never mind. Who made him a considerate little grass?
Ji Jiu obediently went into the room to change clothes.
The guest bedroom didn’t have a large full-length mirror. After Ji Jiu finished changing, he ran out excitedly, asking, “Owner, Ownerr! Do I look good?”
This was the second time he called him by that title, but it was the first time Si Yin Yuan heard it clearly. His face showed an expression of disbelief and he asked, “What did you call me?”
Ji Jiu tilted his head, like a soft and innocent creature not knowing where he went wrong, and repeated, “Owner.”
A violent thought suddenly emerged, and Si Yin Yuan once again felt a huge anger towards the person who mistook him for someone else.
Although he didn’t know what kind of person that young man mistook him for, it was really despicable to deceive the silly child into using such a shameful title all the time.
Afraid of scaring Ji Jiu, Si Yin Yuan suppressed his anger. “You can’t call me that anymore.”
“Then… what should I call you in the future?” Ji Jiu hesitated for a moment. “Master?”
Si Yin Yuan:…
He rubbed his temples once again. It seemed that it was urgent to restore the memory of Ji Jiu.
Si Yin Yuan said, “No, you can call me like the others do…” Si chief.
Ji Jiu interjected, “Sir Si!”
This title carried a reasonable sense of distance.
Si Yin Yuan didn’t know why he felt something was missing in his heart, but he didn’t attempt to correct it. He just nodded lightly and said, “Okay.”
Too obedient.
He couldn’t help but reach out and rub Ji Jiu’s head, finding that the touch was even better than he had imagined. Unable to resist, he rubbed it a few more times.
Ji Jiu innocently raised his head and looked at him.
Si Yin Yuan casually withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened and said seriously, “I’m going to have a meeting later. Stay at home obediently.”
“I don’t want to.” Ji Jiu reached out and grabbed his clothes, looking at him with a complaining expression.
This was the first time he had directly expressed a signal of resistance.
Si Yin Yuan didn’t find it annoying; instead, he felt a bit distressed.
The young man had been abandoned by that person, so now with his memory all messed up, he had developed an overly dependent emotional state towards himself.
He didn’t have the heart to say what he had planned to say, so helplessly, Si Yin Yuan took out a communicator and spoke into it, “You can take the day off today, Li Chao. You don’t have to accompany me to the meeting.”
A somewhat blurred response came from the other end of the communicator.
Ji Jiu looked at the communicator curiously, and Si Yin Yuan handed it to him to play with.
“This is a communicator issued by the research institute. It can only be used within the base and will be interfered with by the magnetic field outside the base.”
This wasn’t the first time Ji Jiu had heard the term “research institute.” He played with the communicator and asked, “Which is more powerful, the research institute or the Hunter’s Guild?”
Si Yin Yuan smiled and said, “The seven major powers in the base currently have no ranking.”
Only currently.
Ji Jiu nodded as if he understood, but in fact, he didn’t quite grasp it.
…
The meeting they were about to attend was held in the central hall of the base, where all the major and minor laws of the base were determined.
Two squads guarded the entrance, one in gray uniforms and the other in white robes. They stood at the entrance of the hall, guarding all the people coming and going.
When Si Yin Yuan arrived, the representatives of the research institute, which held power in the base, had also arrived.
Upon seeing them, the dean smiled and said, “Welcome home.”
Si Yin Yuan also smiled. He respected this old man a lot. “Yes, Dean. How’s your health recently?”
The dean coughed twice. “It’s getting worse day by day.”
Si Yin Yuan said sincerely, “Please take care of your health. The base needs you.”
The dean patted the young man with narrow eyes next to him and said with a smile, “I still have this successor.”
Hu yan clicked his tongue at Ji Jiu and said, “I didn’t expect the rumors to be true. You really did pick up a little beauty.”
Faced with this old acquaintance, Si Yin Yuan behaved even more impolite. He lowered his head and said to Ji Jiu, “This person always lies. Don’t be deceived by him.”
Hu yan was momentarily speechless. “Don’t smear my name like that.”
As they spoke, they entered the hall, and it wasn’t until they were far from the entrance that Hu yan couldn’t help but comment, “Those two are really afraid of death. They always bring so many people with them whenever they go. Such a grand scene.”
According to the convention of the meeting, each faction could only send two representatives.
Therefore, there were always people from other factions guarding the entrance, fearing that something might happen to the people they were loyal to.
Ji Jiu curiously turned his head and glanced back. The guards in gray uniforms were from the Base Security Team, responsible for maintaining order within the base, while those in white robes were unfamiliar to him. He didn’t know which faction they belonged to.
Pushing open the door to the deepest part of the hall, they saw a huge round table with seven identical seats, each spaced equally apart.
The religious leader, dressed in a more luxurious white robe than the others, sat there, seemingly idle. “The hunter chief and the dean have arrived.”
Standing beside him was a man whose face was concealed by a large white hood.
The religious leader himself wore a white mask that covered his face, with a creepy smile curving upwards at the mouth.
The Chief Justice, representing the Judiciary, touched his beard and said, “Now that everyone is here, let’s start the meeting.”
Ji Jiu followed Si Yin Yuan and scanned the little signs on the table that indicated the factions they belonged to.
They were the seven major factions in the base: the Hunter’s Guild, the Research Institute, the Church, the Judiciary, the Base Security Team, the Non-Ability Special Department, and the Logistics Management Group.
Humans were really troublesome.
Ji Jiu was a bit dizzy from all these factions.
After discussing some trivial matters, someone finally got to the point.
The leader of the Logistics Management Group was a well-maintained woman in her forties. She tapped on the table and handed out a document to everyone present.
Time hadn’t left many traces on her. Chen Yanli spoke solemnly, “With the large influx of survivors into our base, we were not prepared to accommodate so many people at once. Therefore, we had to temporarily set up many tents on the outskirts of the base. We need to discuss a solution during this meeting.”
The leader of the Security Team, Fang Zhengzong, disapproved. “If it’s not possible, we can raise the threshold for survivors entering the base and screen out some people.”
“Nonsense! The outside of the base is full of mutants. Where do you want those survivors to go?” The dean slammed his cane on the floor.
Chen Yanli also showed a disapproving expression. She had never thought of turning away living human lives.
The voice of the religious leader, processed through a voice changer on the mask, couldn’t be discerned as male or female. He smiled and said, “They chose our base, perhaps it is the Lord’s guidance.”
It was clear that Fang Zhengzong and the Church had reached some kind of agreement in private, so when the religious leader spoke, he fell silent.
Chen Yanli’s face eased slightly. “Regarding the issue of supplies…”
The Chief Justice interrupted her. “Chen Team Leader, you are in charge of the entire base’s supplies. You know who to ask about supplies.”
All eyes in the room turned to Si Yin Yuan.
In a calm and unhurried manner, he said, “What? Does Chief Justice also want to experience the life-and-death struggle for the sake of the base?”
“Maybe the supplies Chief Justice brings back can sustain these people. Since you are so selfless, you shouldn’t refuse.” Si Yin Yuan didn’t hide the mockery in his eyes.
He didn’t want the lives of his hunters to be treated so lightly.
A seemingly casual remark aimed to pressure them into sending more people on expeditions while they sat back and enjoyed the benefits.
Most of the base’s supplies were brought back by the hunters, the scavengers. No one dared to venture outside the base except for the fearless hunters.
In terms of age, Si Yin Yuan, who was only 28 years old, despite his perpetually serious aura, was the youngest among the representatives of the seven factions. Yet no one dared to confront him when he got angry.
Not only because he was the strongest human.
It was also because he was currently the highest-ranked awakened in terms of ability tiers, with his strength almost impossible to surpass.
The Chief Justice was choked and remained silent.
The director of the Non-Ability Special Department snorted, “Let’s not digress. Let’s think about how to arrange those refugees.”
Chen Yanli corrected, “Survivors, not refugees.”
She cleared her throat. “Actually, there is an undeveloped area to the east of the base. My proposal is to have them go there and work on construction. If any of you have identified talents, you can directly bring them under your wing.”
All the representatives of the factions present wore thoughtful expressions, except for the Non-Ability Special Department, composed entirely of ordinary people, and the Research Institute, relying on intellect. Everyone else hoped for more awakened individuals to join their ranks.
The ratio of awakened individuals to ordinary people was about 1:300, and there were also some mediocre abilities that would be excluded, so the value of awakened individuals was clear to everyone.
Chen Yanli continued, “The eastern part of the base is the weakest point in the Defense Zone. We have always been short of manpower to develop that area, and the land there is also suitable for cultivation.”
“Those who support my proposal, please raise your hands.”
Si Yin Yuan raised his hand, and the dean sighed and followed suit.
The Chief Justice and the leader of the Security Team exchanged glances and then looked at the religious leader together.
The expression on the religious leader’s mask was inscrutable, but he slowly raised his hand.
The leader of the Security Team and the Chief Justice also raised their hands.
With a vote of 6 to 1, the decision was passed.