Chapter 603: Chapter 603: Pistil

"By the way, what have Ronan Kendrick and the others been busy with lately?"

"Mr. Kendrick helps us collect supplies at night. Mr. Vance and Mr. Lowell occasionally go to the hydroponics room to help grow vegetables. Mr. Graham is developing recipes. The others are often in the table tennis and badminton rooms. As for Evelyn, I’ve seen her crocheting clothes with balls of yarn."

Rhys Chase nodded. "Did they say what they want in exchange for the Cannibal Flower rhizomes?"

"No. Both Mr. Kendrick and Evelyn said they’re giving the several hundred pounds of Cannibal Flower rhizomes to the lab for free."

Rhys Chase fell silent at his words. "I remember The Undercity has several collection rooms. Take them there to pick out some good things."

"Mr. Chase, eighty percent of the items in the collection rooms are treasures transferred from various museums. After the cataclysm is over, they have to be returned to the Central Base."

"Let them take from the other twenty percent. Those things are meaningless in our hands. How about this... ask them to help take care of the museum items as well. I’d feel more at ease with the items in their hands. After all, those things were entrusted to me by my teacher. I must treat them with care." Rhys Chase sighed softly.

Liam Sterling nodded. "Don’t worry, Mr. Chase. I’ll get it done right away."

After Liam Sterling left, Rhys Chase looked at the mountain of documents on his desk and couldn’t help but rub his temples.

—

Many of the medicinal herbs in her space were reaching maturity. Evelyn rode her electric scooter, patrolling the small path next to the herb fields. As far as the eye could see, there was an endless expanse of green: Panax notoginseng, Angelica dahurica, Bletilla striata, Gastrodia elata, Dendrobium... The Bletilla striata had already bloomed. Several acres of it resembled a lavender field, its purple flowers swaying gently in the breeze. The air was filled with the fresh scent of herbs.

Evelyn parked her scooter on the path. She put on a mask and gloves, walked into a patch of Cannibal Flowers, and took out a sickle. Carefully, she cut out the innermost pistil of a flower.

By cutting off the pistil, the Cannibal Flower could continuously grow new petals. In about a week, it would grow a new pistil. The pistil contains a potent poison. When mixed with the sap of the Poison Arrow Wood, its toxicity is even deadlier than red-crowned crane arsenic.

After harvesting a hundred pounds of pistils, Evelyn left the thicket of Cannibal Flowers and rode her electric scooter back to the main plaza.

The others were busy lighting fires to process salt ore. Evelyn called Zoe and Annie over, gave them some instructions, and then took Wendy into the laboratory.

"Joy Ford, what medicine are we making today?"

"Some hallucinogens and lethal poisons. Put on your protective suit. We’ll process these pistils first."

Evelyn put all the pistils into a glass container nearby. The powder on the pistils had to be scraped off with a small spoon before these toxic pistils could be processed.

"Joy Ford, have a lot more people died outside?"

Wendy’s tone was a little somber. Lately, the radio station had been announcing the death toll every day. Hearing these numbers made everyone’s fear of the sun poison even greater. Some people, afraid of being burned by the sun poison, had gone on strike. Others had formed various cults in the shelter. They operated like pyramid schemes, brainwashing other residents and tricking them into going outside to bask in the sun. These cults had already caused the deaths of hundreds of residents. The base had zero tolerance for such people and organizations; they were to be executed on the spot upon discovery.

"Yes. Combined, the residents inside and outside the base number over a million. These numbers are just too large. Humans are the most difficult species in the world to manage. They seem easy to tame and regulate, but that’s not really the case. Every day, the broadcasts remind residents to wear protective suits and goggles, to not expose any skin, and to not stay in open-air environments for too long. But every day, someone forgets their goggles. Every day, someone gambles, thinking that if they wear enough layers of clothing, they can resist the sun poison without a protective suit. It’s just like when we were in school. The teacher would always remind students to bring their pens and exam admission tickets, yet someone would always forget."

Wendy nodded. "I get it. My dad told me that this world is full of all kinds of people. Since we don’t have a Mind Reading Technique, it’s hard to tell if they’re good or bad just by their appearance. There are a lot of people at the base, and the proportion of bad people is high. They don’t follow the rules, ignore the broadcast warnings, and even spread harmful rhetoric. Joy Ford, if only people had a mark on their heads to distinguish good from bad, the base could probably free up half its space. Bad people shouldn’t get to enjoy the base’s protection."

A child’s worldview is simple—black and white.

Evelyn couldn’t help but smile. "Wendy, do you think I’m a good person?"

"Of course."

Evelyn smiled. "What do you think is the difference between a good person and a bad person?"

"Someone who makes trouble for others, persecutes them, and harms their interests—that’s a bad person. As long as you don’t actively harm others, you’re a good person."

There was a certain logic to what she said.

The two chatted as they worked. Evelyn taught Wendy everything she had learned in her life, especially how to concoct poisons and their antidotes.

’To survive in the apocalypse, you have to have the means to protect yourself.’

Back in the laboratory, after the first jar of ointment was successfully created, the pharmaceutical factory opened two production lines for the burn ointment. The next day, the first batch of one thousand jars of ointment was sent to the various hospitals.

Inside the hospital of the residential shelter, patients sat on the floor. Hundreds of people were crammed into a small room, and even the air felt desperate.

Just then, a nurse pushed the door open. She counted the patients, then selected twenty of them and told them to go with her.

"Are we going to die? Is the shelter kicking us out? Can I see my son? I want to see him one last time."

The patients begged the nurse to be lenient and let them see their families one last time. The patients who weren’t chosen lowered their heads, feeling a mix of relief and schadenfreude.

The nurse gestured for them to be quiet. "Who said you were being kicked out? Don’t worry, as long as you’re still alive, the shelter won’t give up on you."

"Then where are you taking us?"

The nurse smiled. "The ten of you whose sores are more severe... well, you can consider yourselves lucky. The base laboratory has developed a special ointment for treating burns and sores. I’m taking you to get treatment now. As long as you cooperate, none of you will die."

The ward suddenly fell silent. Everyone stared at the nurse in disbelief, as if trying to determine if she was telling the truth.

The patients who hadn’t been chosen staggered to their feet, their earlier feelings of relief and schadenfreude gone.

"Nurse, my body is covered in rotting flesh! Let me have the ointment first! I can’t hold on much longer."

The nurse glanced at the man, who sounded surprisingly full of energy. "Falsifying your condition will get you expelled from the shelter. Please think before you speak."

The man shivered in fright and stumbled back into the corner.

The nurse looked at the ten she had chosen. "You ten, grab your identification cards and come with me."

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