However, Liu Hua and Tang Er were not squatting. When they arrived, Lu Xi'an saw them sitting on two cloth bags behind them.

These were the foods they brought on the journey, all packed in bags, some could be eaten directly, while others could be roasted over a fire.

The two bags were clipped together with a bucket. The bucket had water, and half of it was used.

After stopping the car, Chai Xin quickly jumped down from the vehicle and yelled happily, "Brother, Sister!" She bounced right in front of Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei looked at Chai Xin again. This girl seemed to be in her growing phase, having shot up quite a bit in height, and her face indeed looked cleansed and brighter, giving a feeling of a long-lost reunion.

"Long time no see!"

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei both laughed.

The so-called four great joys in life include meeting an old friend in a foreign land. Now, at this place, waiting for friends from elsewhere truly brings joy to the heart.

Luo Ping jumped down from the car and said, "Brother, Sister, long time no see. This time I didn't bring food for you, just some eggs. I hope you don't mind."

After he finished talking, the back door of the car opened, and Tang Er took out a big basket of eggs, all held by that same frame Master Shu had woven before, so there's no need to worry about breaking them.

Lu Xi'an was slightly surprised, "So many?!"

Luo Ping chuckled, "Yes, Master Shu is pretty incredible. Previously, someone went out and picked up some earthworms by the river. He saw it and took the earthworms away.

"He came up with a method, taking us out to dig an open-air toilet, composting it and raising earthworms, feeding them to the chickens, and having Liu Hua use her ability on the chickens every day, saying it soothes their emotions and brings better growth.

"Believe it or not, Master Shu's method was indeed effective. The chickens there are growing well now, laying a lot of eggs.

"The key is that we still have earthworms, so there's no concern in feeding the chickens.

"Moreover, with more chickens, we have meat to eat!

"With more chickens, just kill the fake rooster in the coop. One is big enough for us to eat.

"As soon as the rooster is taken away, a new fake rooster comes out. This creature is great—more eggs, more meat, and easy to keep! We are preparing to divide a brood of chickens to raise elsewhere in Shanyang County.

"We made a trade with Tang over there, using the fake rooster, got several horses in return.

"For our travel between Shanyang County and the base, we don't even need to spend on cars or just rely on walking by foot anymore—we all ride horses for commuting."

So it seems that at the 923 Base, not only was egg independence achieved, but also meat independence, and additionally, they had established a commuting line too.

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but exclaim, "Amazing! Master Shu, just by himself, plays a role greater than all of us together!"

Chai Xin also jumped down from the car, nodding repeatedly at what Lu Xi'an said, "Yes, yes, Master Shu is awesome! Master Shu also gives us classes, teaching us to read!"

Lu Xi'an was slightly surprised, "He can do that too?"

Luo Ping said, "Someone has to teach, right? It's hard to get so many books, we must learn.

"In the beginning, it was all me teaching. Later, Master Shu listened, gradually remembered many characters he knew, then taught while learning, together with me.

"To put it bluntly, I was actually learning while teaching, using the artificial intelligence on the screen to teach us.

"Fortunately, we had that, otherwise I really wouldn't understand. Also, thankfully to you two, Brother and Sister, without you bringing those books, we wouldn't have grown so knowledgeable! It's truly good stuff!"

Lu Xi'an said, "As long as it's useful, you take your time digesting it. Everyone gaining some knowledge can benefit future life development.

"Now, let's take a look at this."

He said as he pointed to the Ant Mountain in the distance for Luo Ping and the others.

With the harsh cold past and ice and snow melting, the ants in that Mountain began to move again. In recent days, the ground had already more cracked hard shells, which peeled off from the Mountain after the ice and snow melted.

After the shell made of ant corpses from the Mountain peeled off, new ant corpses blocked the peeled section.

Yet the newly blocked areas would retain some activity, and the black balls composed of these ants would drill out from these places and roll down the Mountain, going to find food.

Everyone looked over and saw that there were ant balls rolling down, as well as loaded ant balls rolling back up.

——These flying ants seemed to have developed such a living habit, even when the weather was not so cold, they would gather into ant balls when going out to search, carry food.

When they scattered and flew, covering the sky and the earth, the appearance of this seemed to only happen when launching an attack.

Lu Xi'an introduced these ants' situation, characteristics, and their past achievements to Luo Ping and the others, who were listening and couldn't help but widen their eyes.

After Lu Xi'an finished speaking, Luo Ping couldn't help saying, "Wow! These ants are so fierce?! To be able to eat alive the Types controlled by Type C Neo-Humans! Terrifying!"

Tang Er said, "Then if we encounter these things and have a conflict, wouldn't we be dead for sure? I'm not even a Type A Neo-Human yet..."

Lu Xi'an laughed and said, "Tang Er, don't underestimate yourself. Now your breathing and movement are already much stronger than before."

Tang Er said, "Thanks to me following that training manual every day."

"Then keep training."

Lu Xi'an said, "That booklet is powerful, we've verified it. Even though we lack Type C, we can still equally match the Type A under Type C control. At the current look of you, with more practice, you might even catch up to Type A.

"Then with Liu Hua's support, surpassing a regular Type A won't be a problem."

This is all true, not a word of it is false. They indeed saw extraordinary improvements from Tang Er. Afterward, when they gave them the Fungus Stones for practice, the difference between Tang Er, a half-Type A Neo-Human, and a typical Type A Neo-Human wouldn't be as significant.

Tang Er quickly expressed his gratitude, saying he would work hard.

Then Lu Xi'an asked Liu Hua to try controlling the ants, but it wasn't something easily accomplished.

To control the ants, one must command the Ant Queen. But there were so many ants, and the Queen was deeply hidden among them. How could she be easily found?

Liu Hua tried several times, but all attempts ended in failure.

There was no other choice, so Lu Xi'an had to call on Gou, letting him scan. Through the RV's sound system, Gou gave a precise directive:

"The Ant Queen of this colony is located at the very center and bottommost layer, with a body size far larger than the worker ants, occupying half the structure at the lowest level."

Everyone was amazed: "That big?"

Luo Ping marveled without trying, "Wow, so big, no wonder it needs so many worker ants to serve it!"

Lu Xi'an said speechlessly, "Gou referred to 'worker' as in 'working,' not 'male or female.' Clarify that."

Luo Ping replied, "Almost the same, worker ants can be male ants too! Aren't humans like that? I get it, I get it!"

Lu Xi'an: "..."

You understand nothing!

But he didn't bother to explain further. Seeing Liu Hua focused on the Ant Mountain, he refrained from speaking to avoid disturbing her.

Soon after, the Ant Mountain suddenly started to move. Just like Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had seen before, the entire hill shifted towards the vehicle Luo Ping and the others arrived in.

Once at the vehicle's side, countless ants flew out from the Ant Mountain, turning it into a blackened empty shell.

Liu Hua went up and lifted the shell. Inside the shell, everyone saw a huge long worm, motionless and already lifeless.

"Is this the Ant Queen?"

Lu Xi'an said, "This Ant Queen is so large. Where was Xuan Xiaocao hiding it before?"

Liu Hua said, "After I controlled the Ant Queen, I came to understand something — this Ant Queen was already dead. It had grown too big to move during this time.

"So it produced a new Ant Queen beneath its body. The new Queen is also under my control."

Saying this, she removed the large deceased "long worm," revealing a small larva beneath, only about the length of an index finger, indeed much smaller and easier to carry.

Liu Hua picked up the Ant Queen larva and put it in her pocket.

"Is it done?"

Luo Ping asked.

"Yes, this is it."

Liu Hua said and added, "Shall we temporarily place the other ants on the car roof?"

Luo Ping said, "No problem, you handle the ant matters."

"Okay."

Liu Hua said, wanting to move the empty shell of the Ant Mountain to the rooftop. However, since she didn't have enough strength, she had to ask Tang Er for help.

After Tang Er moved the Ant Mountain shell, the ants flying around quickly settled inside.

When Lu Xi'an looked again, the bottom of the Ant Mountain had secreted something from the ants, anchoring it fast to the rooftop.

"This is truly impressive!"

Lu Xi'an couldn't help but commend, as he spoke, he retrieved a Fungus Stone he obtained from Xuan Xiaocao and handed it to Luo Ping, "Here's this, for you all. This is from Xuan Xiaocao.

"With this, you can enhance your abilities. Combined with the handbook, getting stronger is no issue."

After saying this, he took out the piece from Chai Xin and directly gave it to Chai Xin, saying, "And here's this, Chai Xin. This is most effective for D-type. You take it and train well."

Chai Xin asked, "What about you guys?"

Lu Xi'an laughed and said, "Don't worry about us, we still have a piece we got from the sea before. Oh yes, remember to soak some water with the Fungus Stone, after soaking for a day, it can be used for healing. But it's only usable for Neo-Humans, ordinary people can't use it."

"Got it, just like the Fungus Stone!"

Luo Ping said, unable to help but praise again, "Brothers and sisters, you guys are incredible, acquiring so much along your journey!

"I've traveled countless times, but I never gained as much as you all did in one trip.

"Compared to you guys, all those roads I traveled before seem like a waste!"

Lu Xi'an said, "How can it be a waste? Without small steps, you can't reach a thousand miles... Hmm, you probably don't understand this saying. Anyway, only by traveling can you refine your mindset, refine yourself.

"Also, without traveling so far, where would we have the chance to meet? Would we have today?"

Luo Ping was momentarily stunned, then broke into a smile: "That's right! Big Brother, you're right, you're the best!"

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