After Cen An finished speaking, the members of the Ability Squad were all taken aback.

It was Xiao Ji who reacted first. “A villager activity center? What’s that?”

This world had been without order for far too long. Never mind the kind of social welfare Cen An had taken for granted in his previous life—people here couldn’t even guarantee basic food and shelter, so how would they know about this?

Cen An proceeded to explain it all in detail.

The idea had come to him suddenly, but he didn’t feel he was acting on impulse. The farm was currently yielding a bountiful harvest; even if the entire village redeemed all their points, they wouldn’t be able to spend them all. It would be better to set aside a portion to contribute to the community.

He spoke carefully, outlining those meticulous arrangements that were clearly the result of deep thought (though in reality, they were merely a distillation of what he had seen and heard in his previous life).

As soon as he finished speaking, Cen An picked up his teacup to clear his throat, but hearing no response, he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Is something amiss?” He then noticed that Xiao Ji’s eyes were red. The young man sniffed and said with a dazed look, “Brother Cen, did you fall from the sky or something?”

Cen An’s mouth twitched. Was this a way of saying he was out of touch with reality, or what?

Qu Yue also closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, her voice was slightly hoarse. “Xiao Cen, on behalf of the villagers of Yongning Village, I want to thank you.”

“Sister Qu, am I not a part of Yongning Village?” Cen An’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “What’s there to thank me for when I’m just doing my part for my own village?”

Zhao Pu patted his wife on the shoulder. “Xiao Cen is right. You’re still in charge of the Ability Squad, Sister Qu, so leave this to me. Where do you plan to set it up?”

“Right south of the little cabin. I’ve checked it out—there’s a large open area there…” The group began discussing the details. It was unclear how much time had passed, but Cen An had gone through several pots of tea before they finally settled on a rough plan.

“Oh, right—shouldn’t we let Team Leader Shi know about this?” Cen An suddenly remembered.

“Team Leader Shi will definitely agree,” Wang Lie said readily. “He’s busy with the caravan right now and can’t spare the time. Once we’re ready, we’ll just start the set-up.”

Cen An nodded. “So, does that mean the caravan is about to set off?”

“It’s just a matter of days,” Qu Yue knew best. “Two or three days at most.”

Cen An nodded again, stood up, and thought about going back to gather some good gear for the caravan’s self-defense.

“I’ll walk you out,” Qu Yue said, rising as well.

The two stepped outside the courtyard. Qu Yue lowered her voice. “Captain Shi has investigated everyone who’s had contact with Captain Liao. He found nothing suspicious—that person must be in hiding. Let’s put this matter on hold for now and wait for them to come to us. I’ve sent two people to your place, and you should be extra.”

Cen An nodded impassively and smiled. “Sister Qu, you can stop here. It’s too sunny.”

As a fellow member of the Ability Squad, Zhao Wu didn’t have as high a profile among the villagers as Qu Yue and Wang Lie.

He was usually like a shadow, spending his days tagging along behind his wife and doing odd jobs. In the past, some loose-lipped men had secretly mocked Zhao Wu for being a kept man.

Later, when that group all died outside the protective shield, no one said those things anymore.

Zhao Wu knew this himself, but he never cared. In fact, he was proud of it—his wife was formidable, and that was something others could only envy! Recently, however, the villagers discovered that Zhao Wu had his own skills as well.

He could actually remember every single one of the village’s 500 households down to the last detail—exactly how many people lived in each home and their specific circumstances.

Cen An had truly entrusted the right person with the task at the villager activity center.

Liao Wanwan knew better than anyone just how difficult the villagers of Yongning Village could be.

At the points redemption counter, villagers often stormed in to complain: “Why are you using the points given by your Ability Squad to buy vegetables from Xiao Cen? Isn’t Xiao Cen getting the short end of the stick?”

“Exchanging supplies for points? I know that, but I specifically wanted to give these supplies to Young Master Cen. You aren’t going to pocket them, are you?”

“Free cold jade melons? What’s going on with your Ability Squad? Does Boss Xiao Cen’s land and seeds cost nothing? Did he just say ‘take them for free’ and you agreed?”

Comments like these made Liao Wanwan sometimes want to cover her face. What kind of image did the villagers have of their Ability Squad?

So, when she heard that Brother Cen was planning to set up a villager activity center and would be providing all the supplies for free, Liao Wanwan immediately felt a pang of sympathy and realized that Brother Zhao had his work cut out for him.

With the intention of exchanging experiences, Liao Wanwan sought out Zhao Wu, only to be surprised to discover that Zhao Wu didn’t seem to be facing any difficulties at all. The target users of the villager activity center were the elderly, children, and people with limited mobility—in short, the most vulnerable among the vulnerable. So, the first places Zhao Wu visited were the homes of several elderly residents.

As luck would have it, one of the elderly residents was the very same old lady who had seen Cen An returning with a chicken earlier.

The old woman was quite happy to see them. “What a coincidence, young man. I’ve saved up three eggs here. Could you please slip them over to Mr. Cen’s house for me?”

The old lady was quite thoughtful. She whispered, “I saw Young Master Cen say he wanted to raise chickens the other day. It’s been a few days now—I’m afraid they’ve all died. Aren’t you part of the Ability Squad? Go comfort him. He’s just a kid; he must be heartbroken.”

Zhao Wu also whispered, “You’re absolutely right. Young Master Cen is heartbroken over his dead chickens. That’s why he built a villager activity center to take his mind off things. If you have time, you should stop by. There’s plenty to eat and drink, and lots of people there. Once things get lively, Young Master Cen won’t even remember his sorrow.”

He had a simple, honest face and an upright demeanor; whatever he said sounded genuine, so the old woman believed him immediately.

“Really?” The old woman jumped to her feet, completely forgetting about the eggs. “Then I’d better hurry over… Wait a minute.” She was actually quite cautious. “Food and drink? You don’t mean Mr. Cen is footing the bill for that, do you?”

“You’re a wise old lady.” Zhao Wu paid her a compliment, then said in a knowing tone, “It’s hot out, so the vegetables grow fast. Several plants at the points redemption counter have already gone bad. When Young Master Cen found out, he was so heartbroken he couldn’t eat for two days. That’s why he came up with this plan, and we agreed. Just think about it—how could material things be more important than a person’s health?”

“That’s the truth.” The old woman, who had spent her whole life going hungry and poorly clothed, living frugally, actually agreed. Just thinking about that handsome young man, unable to eat or sleep for days, made her heart ache. “The villager activity center, right? I’ll go right now. Oh my, how could we let Young Master Cen…”

Zhao Wu didn’t hear the rest of what she said. He stepped out of the courtyard, nodded to Liao Wanwan at the gate, and headed to the next household—the Sen, Wan, Zheng, and Li family. The next household had two children: the older one was a girl, just six years old, and the younger was a boy, only three.

Naturally, this sort of thing was discussed with the adults. Upon hearing this, the siblings’ parents waved their hands in protest: “That’s out of the question! How could we accept a free meal? No matter how poor we are, we can’t do something like that!”

“How is that taking for free?” Zhao Wu’s expression turned serious. “Although everyone still calls him ‘Xiao Cen,’ don’t forget—he’s our leader! Not just the adults, but even the children will have to work for him when they grow up. They’re all part of the leader’s future workforce! You’ve raised your children to be so skinny—how will they be able to work for the leader when they grow up?”

Being an ability user, he was quite intimidating when he got serious. The couple was immediately cowed, sensing something was wrong but unable to put their finger on it…

The mother gritted her teeth and pushed her eldest daughter forward. “How about we send the eldest? She’s six years old—she can help pick vegetable leaves and catch bugs in the fields.”

The little girl glanced at her younger brother behind her, took a firm step forward, and declared loudly, “I can work!”

Children of the poor grow up fast. Though the little boy didn’t understand what everyone was saying, he knew that the “boss’s” place was a good spot—it smelled nice, and the boss would share fruit with them. His greatest daily hope was for his sister to take him there to play.

Now, hearing his mother say he couldn’t go—only his sister could—the boy felt a little disappointed. But he didn’t cry or throw a tantrum; he just swallowed hard and watched his sister with envy.

Zhao Wu sighed softly, but his expression remained stern as he shook his head. “Don’t try to be so clever. Whether they’re three or six, they’ll all have to work for the Chief someday. If you don’t let them go now, what will happen when the Chief has no one to do the work? What if the village is overrun by a beast tide because of a labor shortage? Can you afford to pay for that?”

Faced with such a heavy accusation, the couple was stunned. They stammered, “We’ll definitely send the children. Both of them will go…” Zhao Wu nodded sternly and moved on to the next household.

He went from house to house like this. Liao Wanwan, trailing behind, was stunned. Was this Zhao’s true power? She had even planned to come and share her experience with them—was she even worthy of that…

A moment later, she pulled herself together, clenched her fist, and thought: If she couldn’t pass on advice, she could just learn by watching! Liao Wanwan, you’ve got this!

Three days later, the villager activity center was fully constructed, and the caravan was ready to set off.

Old Master Geng was leading the caravan this time.

When it comes to matters like this, the elderly tend to have more experience than the young.

Including Old Geng, the small caravan had a total of five ability users. As for the cargo, it consisted of a cartload of worthless animal hides, a few bundles of dried wild vegetables, and several bags of mushrooms.

To the outside world, the people of Yongning Village were seen as nothing more than dirt-poor hillbillies.

Wait, no—they used to be a bunch of dirt-poor hillbillies from a remote mountain village. It wasn’t until Brother Cen arrived that they started living a decent life.

“Did you all bring your Thorn Armor? Did you grab your Rock Crystal Axes? Make sure your potions and traps are stashed away—don’t hold back on using them. I’ll make more for you when we get back…”

Li Wei laughed. “Brother Cen, you’ve reminded us a thousand times already. We’ve got it memorized.” Cen An rubbed his forehead. “I forgot.” Then he thought of something else. “Food…”

“We’ve brought food, and we’ve got fire starters too, so we can hunt along the way.” The young ability users looked at him with gentle eyes. “Don’t worry, we’ll definitely come back safe and sound.”

Old Geng smiled kindly. “Let the Chief know that we take this route once a year, and nothing bad has ever happened. Besides, there’s usually no one on the road, so there aren’t many mutant beasts either. Our goods aren’t valuable, so we don’t have to worry about others setting their sights on them. And this year, we have all these fine things you’ve given us. If something were to go wrong with all this, I wouldn’t have the face to meet my old comrades down below.”

Qu Yue and Shi Long added, “Caravans rarely run into trouble. Rest assured, Chief.”

“That’s good enough.” Though he said he was reassured, the leader remained worried. He didn’t understand this world and always felt as if danger lurked everywhere. But no matter how much he worried, the time had come. The small caravan waved to the crowd and gradually moved away.

Their journey would take half a month. Their first stop was the nearby Tianhu Base, and they would also make a trip to Linghe Base. Linghe was the largest base in the region and had the best intelligence. Once they had gathered information from these two bases, the small caravan would be able to return.

On the way back to the village, Cen An still looked a bit worried.

“Come to think of it, isn’t Su Rui due back soon?” Tian Yuan said.

Yu Lin snorted coldly. Seeing Tian Yuan give him a meaningful look, he reluctantly replied, “Yeah, wasn’t it supposed to be a month? It’s been over twenty days now. He should be back soon, right?”

“It hasn’t been over twenty days yet; today is the nineteenth,” Cen An said instinctively, his mind genuinely distracted. “Those two aren’t exactly good at taking care of themselves. I wonder if they’re eating and sleeping well.”

Yu Lin was just glad Cen An was using Su Rui to take his mind off things; he certainly didn’t want him dwelling on it. He quickly said, “Brother Cen, I heard the villager activity center was finished today. Do you want to go take a look?”

“That fast?” Cen An was slightly surprised. “I’ll go take a look.”

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Deep in the mountains.

In that region of chaotic space, the mutant beasts had all been killed, and the ordinary animals driven away. Now, it was deathly quiet—not even the chirping of insects or the singing of birds could be heard.

Su Rui floated in midair. The Space-Shattering Ring emitted a silvery-white glow like a streak of light, firmly stabilizing the damaged space before shattering it. The action was performed with casual ease, yet there was an inexplicable sense of urgency to it.

Yin Xiang watched longingly. “Bro, can I borrow the ring to play with once you’re done?” Su Rui shoved him back. “Don’t waste my time.”

Yin Xiang was shoved a good distance away and muttered to himself, Isn’t he just in a hurry to get back and eat the food Brother Cen made…? Fine, I’m in a hurry too…

Suddenly, he looked up, soared away on the wind, and returned a moment later. “Bro, this year’s caravans from Yongning Village have set off. Several of them are people Brother Cen knows. I’m going to see them off!”

Behind him, Su Rui’s finger paused. Yongning Village—his people.

For a split second, his pupils turned silver. These damn spatial rifts—they never end.

The great white wolf clicked his tongue. His two front paws—no, his two hands—flicked so fast they left afterimages, his face a picture of frustration. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

The villager activity center was indeed built—that part was actually quite simple.

Zhao Wu used his metal-element ability to construct a few metal frames, laid planks on top, and voilà—tables and chairs.

With earth, metal, and wood ability users working together, they built a small canopy over it—not a difficult task.

Cen An created another blueprint and erected a railing around the perimeter. Inside, there was a patch of naturally growing grass where the children could play. By the time their group arrived, the activity center was already bustling with people.

Xiao Ji, the person in charge of maintaining order nearby, scratched his head. “Everyone’s so enthusiastic today. Aren’t they usually the ones making excuses to get out of it?”

Liao Wanwan looked up at the sky.

Zhao Wu came over with a cheerful smile. “Has the caravan left? Should I bring out today’s fruits and vegetables first?”

Cen An nodded, of course, and stepped closer to take a look. Only then did he realize that there were far more people with mobility issues in the village than he had imagined.

Most of these people were disabled, many of them injured by mutant beasts. On ordinary days, they could only huddle in their cramped rooms, like gloomy mushrooms, left to fend for themselves.

Now, they could come out and soak up the sun, which made them feel like people again.

It was hot, so the straw mats on all four sides of the small shelter had been rolled up, leaving the space wide open. Gray-haired elders and those with limited mobility gathered together, chatting cheerfully.

Some children are running back and forth on the grass, while others are clinging to the adults, and no one minds their presence. Cen An also noticed that Qu Huihui was here as well.

He turned to look at Qu Yue, who broke into a smile. “How could I miss out on a good deal? As soon as I heard this place was set up, I rushed over to drop Huihui off. That little girl was over the moon—she said she just loves playing with handsome older brothers.”

Cen An, of course, didn’t take her at her word. By bringing the child here, Qu Yue was simply telling the villagers that she was willing to leave her child here, so they could rest assured.

Although the villagers certainly wouldn’t worry about that, it was through looking out for one another that they would grow closer.

Inside the shed stood an elderly woman. Her eyes were closed—she appeared to be blind—and she was speaking with great conviction.

Cen An leaned in to listen. The old woman said, “This is our first time here. Young Master Cen was kind enough to build this place and provide us with free food and drink. We can’t just accept it with a straight face. If you ask me, we should set some rules to avoid any trouble—otherwise, if something goes wrong, the villagers might end up blaming Young Master Cen.”

Everyone in the shed nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Auntie Wu, you speak up. We all respect your opinion.”

Auntie Wu nodded. “Well, I’ll go ahead then. If anything I say isn’t quite right, we can discuss it further. First off, some of us haven’t left the village in years. Now that we finally have a place to gather, we can’t have any of that ganging up on people or picking on each other. Don’t even think about making Boss Cen lose face—if I find out, you know my temper. I’ll definitely have that person thrown out!”

Everyone agreed with this, and they all assured her, “Absolutely not.”

“That’s out of the question.” Someone, clearly in high spirits, even cracked a joke: “If we had the means to bully others, would we have ended up in this situation?”

Everyone laughed heartily, and the heavy burden that had been weighing on them seemed to lift in an instant. Even the elderly grinned, their toothless mouths stretching wide.

Aunt Wu, however, didn’t smile. She continued, “You’ve all heard about the perks at the villager activity center—besides this shed and the railing that Young Master Cen built himself, there are all those free fruits and vegetables… Those are all good things. Who wouldn’t want to try them?

But let me make one thing clear: the fruits and vegetables are rationed. What grows in the fields is unpredictable—sometimes there’s plenty, sometimes not; some are big, some are small. If anyone is so petty as to squabble over such trifles, I’d say they’d better stop embarrassing themselves right now and go up the mountain to feed the mutant beasts!”

These words drew strong agreement from everyone. Setting aside the elderly and children, the sick and disabled—who’d been cooped up at home for years, their mental health deteriorating from the confinement—would never dare to fight with others over such things. They were only too happy for someone to lay down some firm rules.

Though Aunt Wu couldn’t see, her mind was as sharp as a tack. Realizing there were no troublemakers, she breathed a sigh of relief—she was determined to do a good job with this task. So she continued, “Rule number three: we’re responsible for our own hygiene inside. We can’t eat their food, drink their water, and still expect them to wait on us…”

Cen An had been listening nearby for a while and couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up. “Auntie Wu is amazing—coming up with so many rules in such a short time. I say, why don’t we pay her a salary and have her help maintain order here?”

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Wang Lie said with a laugh, pointing to the woman beside him. “Who do you think Aunt Wu is?”

Cen An looked over, puzzled, and Wu Lihui stepped forward with a sheepish grin. “Aunt Wu is my mom. She used to be on our Ability Squad too—a Level 2 Wood-type ability-user.”

Cen An nodded in understanding. “Like mother, like son.”

Wu Lihui smiled, his eyes reddening again. He pulled a colorful piece of cloth from his chest. “Brother Cen, I… this is a gift from my whole family to you. Thank you!”

He placed the cloth in Cen An’s hands, then pushed through the crowd and walked away. From his retreating figure, it seemed he had wiped away a tear. Cen An took a couple of steps to follow him, but was stopped by someone. “I’ll give this cloth back to him…”

The villagers were as poor as could be, and the ability users weren’t much better off; this small piece of cloth could make a whole outfit for a child.

“You absolutely can’t give this back.” The other ability users, however, looked quite certain. “Cen, take a closer look—this isn’t ordinary cloth.”

Cen An paused, picked up the cloth, and noticed something odd: it wasn’t a single piece, but a patchwork of small scraps sewn together. No wonder it looked so colorful.

“This is called ‘Auspicious Cloth,’” Tian Yuan leaned in to take a look. “It’s a very old tradition. You take a piece of cloth from each family member, sew them together, and give it to your benefactor. It’s said to bring good fortune and luck.”

Cen An nodded; he understood that part, but why…

“Aunt Wu used to be a member of the Ability Squad,” Qu Yue explained to him. “Later, she was injured and lost her sight. She’s a tough one—after a period of adjustment, she managed to go about her daily life just like anyone else. But even so, she couldn’t go up the mountain or fight mutant beasts. In this world, if you can’t go up the mountain, you can’t gather supplies. What good is being able to move around freely if you can’t do that?”

“Auntie Wu is incredibly proud. Going from being the pillar of her family to a burden—she just couldn’t accept that. A perfectly healthy person, she fell apart overnight. She was barely forty, yet her hair had turned completely white.”

“Old Zhao and I discussed it earlier. He suggested she take charge of maintaining order at the community center—she handles the inside while we handle the outside. I thought it was a solid plan, so I told her to give it a try. What do you think?”

“That sounds great.” Cen An gave a thumbs-up; the villagers’ relentless self-reliance never ceased to impress him.

Over there, after Aunt Wu had finished explaining the rules, Zhao Wu arrived with his team, carrying today’s selection of fruits and melons. A colorful array filled the platter, and the sweet, fragrant aroma wafted through the air, making everyone’s mouth water.

On a sweltering summer day, being able to take a bite of ice-cold, sweet fruit was a sheer delight.

Sure enough, the villagers didn’t scramble for the fruit, nor did they hesitate to serve one another. Instead, they naturally formed a queue: first the children, then the elderly and disabled who had no one to rely on, and lastly those who, though in poor health, could still barely support themselves.

Seeing how orderly everything was, the few people watching from outside nodded in approval.

Many of them had never tasted Cen An’s vegetables or fruits before.

Although Brother Cen had done his best to set the points as low as possible, there were always those who simply couldn’t afford to exchange them. For instance, those who were alone and in poor health, or the elderly widows on the verge of death…

They had already exhausted every effort just to gather enough supplies to keep from starving to death; they simply had no surplus grain to trade for points. In the past, they could only listen enviously as their neighbors boasted about how delicious those vegetables and fruits were and what miraculous benefits they offered.

Now, however, they can hold these juicy fruits and vegetables in their hands, breathe in their fragrance, and pop them into their mouths with ease…