Chapter 567: Chapter 352: Saint Tier Guardians, Beast Tide Garrison

If an Exotic Beast were to break through, the casualties would be immense.

Li Xiang noticed that many of the soldiers had northern accents, so he retrieved a large amount of flour, venison, and premium beef from his Otherworldly Warehouse. He then had the kitchen staff prepare a dumpling feast for everyone.

The soldiers were all overjoyed.

The staple food in the Underground City was a "super-rice." This hybrid strain was incredibly high-yield, but a comparable high-yield wheat seed had yet to be developed. As a result, everyone’s diet consisted mainly of rice, and the texture of this super-rice was mediocre at best. Now, with high-quality white flour, venison, and premium beef, getting to eat such dumplings felt like a true New Year’s celebration!

Even in times of peace, many families could hardly afford the high-quality venison and premium beef that Li Xiang provided.

The premium beef was especially prized. It was rich in fat and oil, making it an invaluable source of energy for humans in the Apocalypse. When made into dumplings, they would be bursting with savory, fragrant juices. The very thought was mouth-watering.

Li Xiang didn’t play favorites. He visited every satellite city and the main urban district, delivering high-quality flour, venison, and premium beef to the soldiers on duty and offering them his sincere well-wishes.

Li Xiang had intended to keep his actions low-key, but some well-informed reporters caught wind of it. They rushed over to film the scene, and it made the news that very evening.

Jiang Cai’Er also instructed the major cafeterias to prepare a lavish New Year’s Eve dinner for the public—a free perk for the holiday.

With a free New Year’s Eve dinner available to all, joyous laughter echoed everywhere, creating a festive atmosphere.

As for Li Xiang, after a hurried New Year’s Eve dinner with his family, he set out again that very night. He swept the entire two-hundred-kilometer radius around City No. 03 clean, subjugating a total of sixteen Saint Tier Exotic Beasts and binding them all with a Soul Contract.

Including the two he already had, he now controlled eighteen Saint Tier Space Exotic Beasts from twelve different clans.

These twelve clans were strategically dispersed to guard the surface areas above the twelve satellite cities, forming a protective ring that completely surrounded Main City No. 03.

By the time he finished everything, he checked the date. ’Damn, it’s already the fourteenth day of the new year. The Lantern Festival is tomorrow!’ He rushed home at once. Some of the Exotic Beast clans had been incredibly powerful and numerous. The largest one possessed five Saint Tier Exotic Beasts and over three hundred thousand members below Saint Tier, far surpassing the Black Fire Profound Crow clan he had dealt with before. Subduing them had taken Li Xiang considerable effort.

In the process, he had also killed numerous Exotic Beasts below Saint Tier, reaping a massive haul of Achievement Points, Spiritual Medicine, and Extraordinary Items. He even "accidentally" killed one at the Saint Tier. Fortunately, the rewards were so generous that they just about compensated for this loss.

Jiang Cai’Er said, "The great Yu the Great was so busy taming the floods he passed his own home three times without going in. And you? You don’t even come home for the New Year. Fess up. Were you off shacking up with a mistress?"

"What? Of course not!" Li Xiang protested. He truly hadn’t been; he’d been completely absorbed in subjugating Exotic Beasts and building a safe zone.

"Heh," Jiang Cai’Er chuckled, grabbing his ear and dragging him into the bedroom.

The bedroom was actually quite soundproof, but Li Xiang couldn’t bring himself to fully relax. So, he took Jiang Cai’Er to the surface, to the site of their old home.

Neither of them was bothered by the cold, and the room was fully furnished with a bed and fresh linens. Moreover, with an Exotic Beast Army numbering in the hundreds of thousands guarding the surface above the twelve satellite cities, they had no fear of being disturbed.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Jiang Cai’Er was very proactive, and after a thorough "inspection," Li Xiang fulfilled his husbandly duties completely.

Jiang Cai’Er’s eyes crinkled with a smile. Her fair skin was flushed with a rosy glow, as radiant as a peach blossom in full bloom.

She was twenty-seven now, no longer the green young girl of the past. Despite having given birth to three children, as a Saint Tier Transcendent, she had maintained a perfect figure. The mature allure she now possessed had a unique charm all its own, distinct from her girlish youth.

The Lantern Festival marked the end of the New Year celebrations. Even though the entire population had moved underground, the pace of life had actually slowed down.

Underground Dungeon 03 organized a lantern festival and other fairground activities.

Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er took their children to the festival, donning hats and masks to walk around and enjoy the sights.

There were no private cars in the Underground City, only public transportation. Most of the time, people weren’t even allowed to leave their designated communities at will. This was the situation domestically; abroad, things were more liberal but also more chaotic, with some underground cities already developing lawless "black zones."

But Underground Dungeon 03 had absolutely nothing of the sort.

The city was patrolled by countless robots, robotic dogs, Extraordinary cats, and Extraordinary Spirit Dogs, in addition to police and militia teams. Furthermore, the entire Underground City was blanketed with cameras, all under Jiang Cai’Er’s surveillance.

It was, in a word, incredibly safe.

The populace, far from being troubled by this, felt reassured. Life here came with a guarantee of security. As for privacy? In the Apocalypse, it was a trivial concern when weighed against safety.

The underground cities’ networks were interconnected, and news reports frequently told of robberies, rapes, and murders in foreign underground cities. Such incidents were rare domestically, where order was strictly maintained. This was especially true for Underground Dungeon 03. To date, its most serious case involved two Extraordinary Beings who got into a street brawl. Upon being arrested and questioned, it turned out their fight stemmed from a disagreement over their cultivation philosophies.

They both practiced the same Breathing Technique, but the Superpowers they awakened were completely different. Consequently, each believed his own method of cultivation was the one true path.

To address this, Li Xiang dedicated a session in his online mini-class to give a comprehensive explanation, hoping to prevent similar disputes in the future.

Underground Dungeon 03 was the safest place in the world. Period.

...

"Excuse me, sir, how much are these umbrellas?" Luo Feifei’s mother asked. She was walking through the market when she saw an elderly gentleman selling umbrellas. He seemed to have a lot of customers, so she approached him.

"Thirty Heat Coins apiece," the old man said with a smile.

"That expensive?" Luo Feifei’s mother said in surprise. A single Heat Coin had about five times the purchasing power of the old RMB.

"They’re completely handmade. The only shop of its kind in the entire Underground City!" the old man said with a small, proud smile.

Now that everyone had moved into the Underground City, there was no longer any sun or rain to worry about. Who would still make or sell umbrellas? It was only this old man. His family had been in the business of manufacturing umbrellas, but their factory went bankrupt. There had been no reason to transfer the business to the Underground City, as there was no need for such an industry there.

But the old man couldn’t bear to let it go. Making and selling umbrellas was his family’s ancestral trade, passed down for over a hundred years. Even though the modern, automated umbrella factory had gone bankrupt, he still possessed the ancient, artisanal skills—a piece of intangible cultural heritage. So he returned to his old trade, crafting traditional-style umbrellas by hand and setting up a small stall to support his family.

He had expected business to be dismal. But who could have known that once life stabilized, his traditional-style umbrellas would become popular once more? He had sold seventy or eighty of them today alone, with only about a dozen left. Once those were gone, he’d have to hurry and make a new batch.

"I’ll take this one, then." Luo Feifei’s mother picked out an oil-paper umbrella painted with plum blossoms and inscribed with a line of poetry. She paid with Heat Coins using her Communication Device and left with her purchase.

It wasn’t that she particularly liked it herself. Rather, her daughter, back when she was still around, had adored these traditional-style umbrellas. They were perfect for photos and could also be used as props for dancing.

Sadly, her daughter’s fate was now unknown.

She was living very well in Underground Dungeon 03. Li Xiang visited her often and had even assigned a squad of Spirit Dogs to protect her. She had no worries about food, drink, or her safety. But whenever she thought of her daughter, a wave of sorrow would wash over her.

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