Published: February 9, 2025
“Boss has been inside for almost a week now.”
Outside Linhai City, Ayang and Tong Hu were on duty on the west side today. After patrolling their designated area for a while, they squatted on a ruined rooftop to smoke.
Due to the immense pressure everyone faced during the apocalypse, smoking, drinking, and women became essential means of stress relief. Many people who never smoked or drank during peacetime began to indulge in these habits to ease their constantly tense emotions. Some even sought out drugs to numb themselves at certain moments.
The physique of evolvers gave people the capital to indulge in these vices without restraint.
Of course, for female evolvers, the word ‘women’ could easily be replaced with ‘men,’ or if they preferred, women were fine too.
Because of his living environment, Ayang had always been uninhibited about smoking and drinking, and after the apocalypse, this habit only intensified. With a good boss, being a core member of Cloud Summit meant he was quite wealthy. He often exchanged some magic crystals for high-quality tobacco and alcohol to satisfy his preferences.
Conversely, Tong Hu was strictly managed by his wife before, only sneaking a couple of puffs occasionally. Since the apocalypse began, especially after following Ye Zhongming, Xiaoli had become much more lenient in this regard, feeling that smoking wouldn’t harm the body anyway. Naturally, he couldn't buy magic crystals for it.
Today, Tong Hu was bumming Ayang's cigarettes, which were premium products from the roulette.
“Hmm.” Tong Hu responded, seeing Ayang finish one cigarette and light up a second. He quickly snatched it away.
“Take it easy, you’re still young but already have a strong craving for smoke. If your sister sees, she’ll scold you again.”
Ayang, being the youngest among the core members, often faced reprimands, which left him feeling helpless.
“I’m already a five-star evolver! Even if I smoke ten thousand a day, I won’t get lung cancer!”
“Who knows? Did the boss tell you that?”
“Uh…” Hearing Tong Hu say this, Ayang immediately clicked his tongue and fell silent.
“Sister Ye sent someone back. I heard she wants Sister Lei's people to come directly here. It looks like she’s worried about the boss's safety.”
Not wanting to be lectured further by Tong Hu, Ayang quickly changed the subject. However, what he mentioned was indeed a matter of concern for everyone at Cloud Summit Villa.
“The boss should be fine.” Tong Hu patted his chest medal. After the merit box reached level 2, he gained several medals, and now many core members had one.
“The medal is normal. Just yesterday, the boss exchanged something via the merit system.”
Ayang glanced enviously at the merit medal, feeling a strong yearning.
The distribution of equipment among the core members of Cloud Summit mostly followed the principle of maximizing utility, or according to contribution, ensuring fairness without favoritism.
Everyone knew how loyal Tong Hu was, having contributed significantly to Cloud Summit when the boss wasn’t back from the secret realm. So he deserved that medal. Ayang admired it but felt no jealousy.
“What did he exchange?” Ayang became interested. After all, the merit medal had a completely different independent exchange system compared to the roulette, which made everyone curious.
Tong Hu wore a strange expression, hesitating for a while without saying anything, making Ayang anxious. He couldn’t help but recall Sister Hatsune’s gloomy face yesterday. It seemed that the boss’s exchange might not be very reliable, otherwise, not many would remain silent.
“What about your little brothers?”
Tong Hu shook his head, not continuing on the previous topic, but instead asking Ayang about the boys who had come with him from Peace Town.
“Didn’t they get a team battle silk book at Cloud Port? They went to practice against those Death Vines.”
Death Vines was the nickname given to the people from the Ying City Alliance.