Red returned to the base.
With him came a mountain of food!
Almost instantly, the entire base exploded with excitement like boiling oil being poured into a pan.
Fresh, green vegetables, juicy, red fruits, even pre-cut pork, beef, lamb, and cleaned chicken, duck, and fish...
Everyone was stunned, as if frozen by a spell, standing still with wide eyes staring at the food, forgetting to even breathe.
Among the crowd, Deputy Captain Zhennan suddenly pushed past those in front of him and stumbled to Red.
His tall body trembled slightly, and his voice was hoarse with disbelief, "Captain... I, I'm not dreaming, right?!"
This was more unreal than fighting through a zombie horde!
Red looked at him with mixed feelings but showed a rare warm smile.
He raised his hand and punched Zhennan hard in the chest.
A dull "thud" sounded.
"Does it hurt?" Red raised an eyebrow. "Are you dreaming?"
"Aaah—!"
Zhennan staggered from the hit but instantly felt energized and shouted loudly.
That shout wasn't from pain, but from the shock, joy, and excitement buried deep inside finally breaking free.
It was real!
All of this was real!
The next moment, the tower-like man could no longer hold back. He spun around and hugged the closest teammates, excitedly babbling, "It's real! It's real! We have fresh food now!!"
His teammates were stunned at first, then realized it, and their joy quickly spread.
The open space erupted with deafening cheers. Many even cried tears of happiness, hugging and jumping, releasing the long-held pressure and despair since the apocalypse.
"Enough, enough!"
Red raised his voice to quiet the nearly roof-shaking cheers.
"Get it together!"
His voice was firm and commanding. The boiling crowd gradually calmed, their eyes burning with focus on him.
Red scanned the crowd, looking at their flushed, excited faces, then said seriously, "Listen carefully, this food will never run out again!"
This sentence was like a strong medicine, making the crowd stir again, but this time with hopeful buzzing.
"Don't just stand there!"
"It's too cold; first, sort the food and store it well, especially the vegetables, don't let them freeze!"
"Yes!"
Everyone answered loudly, full of energy.
"At night,"
Red paused, looking at all the eager faces.
"We'll have the kitchen make a good meal!"
"There's plenty of meat! Let's reward everyone properly!"
"Also… it'll be a welcome feast for the new brothers and sisters!"
Low cheers and applause rose again, especially from the new survivors, whose eyes were full of gratitude and hope for the future.
"Also."
Red pointed to the most obvious pile of fruit.
"Take these fruits out now, divide them up, let everyone wet their throats and taste something fresh!"
These last words made every face break into a pure, childlike smile.
The whole base was filled with a long-missed energy called "hope."
After arranging everything, Red turned toward the meeting room.
There was a city map hanging there. He needed to carefully study where the gold shops were, so tomorrow he could lead the team to search for some gold.
"Captain Red!"
Suddenly, a voice called from behind, stopping him.
Red looked back and saw Leader Rui quickly following behind.
Leader Rui was the leader of the group that brought over a hundred people to join the base this time. He had originally been part of Mr. Cheng's base, who was Red's father-in-law.
They had traveled hard, walking hundreds of kilometers in heavy snow with the old, weak, women, and children. Very few people had fallen behind. This made Red respect Leader Rui.
"You've worked hard all this way. Why didn't you rest more?" Red showed concern.
But Leader Rui didn't answer directly. Instead, he sighed, "I didn't expect you to still be alive. Mr. Cheng said you all were dead."
Hearing Mr. Cheng's name, Red's smile disappeared immediately.
He said nothing but motioned for Leader Rui to follow him into the meeting room and handed him a bottle of water.
Leader Rui took the bottle, opened the cap, and only took a small sip.
This was a habit formed in the apocalypse.
Water was extremely precious, and every drop had to be used carefully.
But the water only moistened his throat slightly and didn't ease the heavy expression on Leader Rui's face.
He put the bottle down, and the sound of it hitting the table was very clear in the quiet room.
He didn't look at Red but stared at one spot on the table, as if lost in unhappy memories.
"Mr. Cheng announced to the outside that you all… were wiped out."
Leader Rui's voice was dry, tired from the long journey, and mixed with complicated feelings hard to describe.
"That news spread quickly. Then his long-lost son, Clark, suddenly appeared."
Red's back tensed slightly. His fingers gripping the edge of the map tightened, his knuckles turning white.
Leader Rui seemed to notice Red's change but kept talking.
"Clark didn't come empty-handed. He brought a huge amount of supplies—food, medicine, weapons… Almost overnight, the base's desperate shortage was greatly relieved."
Only Leader Rui's low voice filled the meeting room.
"To be honest, Red, during your years at the base, no one didn't think well of you."
Leader Rui finally looked at Red with sincere eyes.
"You were fair, capable, and strong-handed. With you there, even if supplies were tight, morale was steady."
"When people heard you were gone, many truly felt sad, and quite a few secretly wiped their tears."
He paused, his tone turning a bit mocking and helpless.
"But in the apocalypse, what matters most? Survival."
"When mountains of supplies appeared, the huge joy and hope for survival quickly washed away everything else."
"How long can grief and regret last? Not many days, people started gathering around Clark."
"He's the son of the base leader and brought life-saving supplies, so naturally, he became the new center of power."
Leader Rui smiled bitterly.
"Mr. Cheng went with the flow and supported Clark taking over most base affairs. Your traces were like footprints in the snow, easily covered by a new snowfall."
Red showed no expression. Only a cold flash passed deep in his eyes.
He could imagine the scene clearly. In the apocalypse, human nature to avoid loss and seek benefit is amplified without limit. He was not surprised but the sting of betrayal was still sharp in his heart.
"Of course, some people, especially those who were close to you before, felt something was wrong or simply refused to accept Clark."
Leader Rui's voice grew deeper.
"But then, most were lost in the joy of plenty. Who would listen to those 'untimely' voices?"
"Either they were treated as outcasts or… suppressed by Mr. Cheng and his son by all means. The weak can't win against the strong. The opposing voices disappeared quickly."
At this point, Leader Rui's face became very serious, even showing a bit of fear.
"But they were all wrong. Those survivors… they thought good days had come, but they didn't know what kind of person was pushed up."
"Clark,"
Leader Rui spoke each word slowly, his voice cold to the bone.
"He is a complete 'only power matters' believer. In his eyes, only the strong with special abilities deserve to live and have resources."
"Ordinary people? Or low-level fighters like us?"
Leader Rui twisted his mouth in self-mockery, but his eyes showed no smile.
"To him, we are just useless burdens wasting food, garbage that can be thrown away anytime."