Ji Lingbai leaned on San Wu’s shoulder to look into the pond.

When he saw the little fish, he looked at San Wu with surprise.

This woman definitely wasn’t just a simple plant ability holder.

She must have, like him, possessed new abilities that even the Stone Disk couldn’t detect.

The ability to restore polluted land and water, and even imbue them with strong fertility.

Such a person… he must bring back to the First Fortress.

San Wu put Ji Lingbai down and let San Yi go outside to dig up some mutant earthworms to feed the little fish.

“You all better grow quickly,” San Wu smiled as she reached out to scoop up the baby fish, “so we can make grilled fish and fish soup.”

Life had been getting better since she left Eighteenth Fortress. Her decision back then was indeed the right one.

She started by cutting the rabbit meat. Without many spices on hand, she could only make it simple.

Speaking of spices, San Wu glanced at the land where she had scattered the new seeds.

“Grow quickly, and it would be great if you could produce some chili peppers for me!”

With chili peppers, the aroma of the dishes would at least be enhanced. Then she would exchange for some fresh meat and cook a hotpot with these vegetables.

Hotpot… even before the apocalypse, she had only had it once.

As she talked about the hotpot, Ji Lingbai, who was planning to wait a couple of days to recover before bringing San Wu back to the First Fortress, turned his head to look at her.

He was by San Wu’s side, and his recovery speed was several times faster than before. It was estimated that he would be half recovered in a few days.

By then, it would be easy to bring her back.

But if they brought her back, she probably wouldn’t be in the mood to cook.

They could eat the hotpot first.

Ji Lingbai lazily sharpened his claws.

On the other side, the woman was dragged back by the big-bearded man and thrown to the ground.

“Big brother,” the second man stared at the woman, disappointment and fierceness in his eyes, saying, “Did you kill her?”

As for the third man, he didn’t even need to ask. Among the three brothers, the third was always the most ruthless. If it were him capturing the woman, she might have been killed long ago.

“Kill her? Why? Let her stay and serve us like a slave, after eating so much of our good stuff,” the big-bearded man tossed the backpack to the second man, saying. “You check first, see if anything’s missing.”

The second man immediately began to inspect the contents.

All the items stolen by this woman were precious resources, enough to provoke murderous intentions from anyone if found elsewhere.

“Where did this woman go?” The third man asked as he brought out the prepared dinner. “Where else could she go? To find that woman,” the big-bearded man reached out to take a bowl. “Damn woman, our food got cold because of her.”

The bowls contained two servings of dark and murky porridge, with a few slices of meat inside. This porridge was the main staple in the fortress, made from grinding the roots of the thorn bushes.

The thorn bushes were inedible and extremely tough, but grinding their roots into powder could fill the stomach. However, the taste was a nightmare, worse than the most bitter Chinese medicine.

Sticky and with a fishy smell, and most importantly, more bitter than any medicine before.

But they had no choice; resources were scarce. Even if there were livestock in the fortress, they would first be allocated to the leaders. As for others, surviving was already considered fortunate.

“Big brother, nothing is missing from inside,” the second man exclaimed. “I thought that woman would open the door and accept these items when she heard about them.”

Accepting items but not people, that woman seemed quite smart.

“It seems she has quite a lot of good stuff over there,” the third man said with sparkling eyes. “Otherwise, how could she resist our items?”

As soon as the words were out, the big-bearded man slapped him hard on the back of his head, saying, “She didn’t provoke us actively, so don’t let your mind wander. Have some sense of who can be provoked and who can’t.” The big-bearded man cast a sharp glance at the third man as he continued to warn, “Remember that.”

“What happened during the day was our fault for starting it, so we can’t say anything even if we were beaten.”

“Now she’s giving us face by not getting involved, remember that.”

If San Wu had lost to them from the beginning, naturally, there would have been nothing left, and dying in their eyes would have been deserved.

But she won, they feared her, so now the big-bearded man was actually feeling grateful.

“But that woman is also ruthless, raising two zombies directly, not afraid of losing too much blood. I don’t think her ability can progress any further,” the second man sighed.

“If it weren’t for the big-bearded guy saying that raising those things hinders our own development, we brothers would have found a high-level zombie to raise,” the third man grumbled.

“Ugh, this stuff is even worse when it’s cold,” the third man said in pain after taking a big gulp of the thorn porridge. “When will we be able to have meat every meal?”

…

In San Wu’s small courtyard, there was a large plate of rabbit meat stir-fried with vegetables, and a large pot of rabbit meat stewed with radishes.

“Having food is such a blessing,” San Wu smiled as she served everyone.

Back in the fortress, they had all been eating thorn porridge, and she never wanted to eat that stuff again.

She tasted a piece of rabbit meat—it was good. The seasoning was just right, but she was starting to crave some fresh meat.

But rabbits multiplied quickly anyway.

She had been thinking of using some mutated animals or corpse crystals to exchange for some poultry to raise; maybe she could raise rabbits too.

Among them, Ji Lingbai was the slowest eater.