Early the next morning, Cen An got up and headed straight to the Ability Squad.

He felt things couldn’t go on like this. What exactly were the villagers trying to achieve by throwing supplies at his house? Looking at Yongning Village as a whole, his family was now the richest, right? Why not find someone with even more supplies than him and see what happens?

If he were to voice this question, the villagers would surely tell him: “We don’t have any demands! Even before the Cataclysm, everyone liked to pray to the gods and Buddhas! The clay statues of the gods sat high above, minding their own business, yet everyone was willing to offer them large sums of money for incense and offerings! So what if they toss a little wheat and rice to Little Boss Cen? He’s the one who gave them those seeds in the first place.”

Mr. Cen’s mistake was that he didn’t ask directly; instead, he went to the Superpower Base. For some reason, everyone seemed to have plenty of free time today—he ran into quite a few villagers along the way.

Everyone greeted him with cheerful smiles. “Little Boss Cen, you’re up! Oh my, I slept so soundly last night—I didn’t even hear the wind blowing in the middle of the night.” 

“Yeah, me too. I slept really well last night. Nothing happened, did it?”

“No, no. I asked the patrol team this morning, and they said last night was very peaceful.” Cen An looked at them suspiciously, not sure what they meant.

The villagers continued to look at him cheerfully.

Cen An slowly lowered his head; perhaps he was just overthinking it.

He’d been coming to the Ability Squad’s base so often lately that he knew his way around like the back of his hand. Pushing open the door, he said, “Team Leader Shi, last night I delivered supplies to the villagers, but they sent them right back to me. Could you help me figure out a solution? I really don’t have any more room at home…”

He heard a commotion inside. Looking up, he saw Wang Lie hiding something. He grew even more suspicious. “…What are you hiding?” Wang Lie snapped to attention. “N-nothing… nothing at all…”

Cen An thought to himself, “He must think I’m an idiot.” He took two or three quick steps forward and snatched the thing away—it was a large white cloth with the following message written in charcoal pencil: “Attention, everyone: Little Boss Cen is secretly delivering grain to you all!”

Cen An was furious. He thought to himself, “Great. No wonder the villagers were able to track my movements so quickly—there’s a mole in the Ability Squad! Who did this? Whose idea was it?”

Wang Lie lifted his chin defiantly. “I don’t know what the leader is saying—I don’t understand.” Qu Yue met Cen An’s gaze, cleared her throat, and turned away.

Cen An’s eyes widened in surprise. He turned to look at Zhao Wu, who was glancing up at the sky and down at the ground, too afraid to meet his gaze.

Even Team Leader Shi, standing nearby, cleared his throat and set down the water cup in his hand. Cen An couldn’t believe it. “Team Leader Shi, even you…” 

In the end, only Tian Yuan spoke up quietly in his own defense: “I didn’t find out until after the ‘Ability Squad’ update…” Cen An silently put the white cloth back in its place.

Outnumbered as he was, he decided to call it off for now.

After thinking it over, he felt something was off and snapped, “Everyone who’s free this afternoon, come help me set up a tent—I really have no more space at home!” 

The squad members exchanged glances and grinned in unison, “Yes, Leader!”

Deep in the mountains south of Yongning Village.

Team Leader Liao, Su Rui, Yin Xiang, and a dozen or so ability users were huddled in a mountain ravine, looking practically indistinguishable from wild people. The group seemed to be waiting for something.

A moment later, a gentle breeze swept through, and two wind-elemental ability users descended with chuckles, each holding a large sack. “Sorry to keep you waiting—here’s today’s supply drop.”

Xiao Ji sniffed the air. “I think I smell wheat flour. Has the wheat and rice in the village ripened?” 

One of the wind-elemental ability users laughed heartily. “You kid, your nose is sharper than a dog’s!”

The other laughed as well. “We harvested the grain yesterday and finished cooking it today. Brother Cen asked us to bring some for you to try.”

“That’s great,” Wang Jin said excitedly, nudging the silent Qi Yangze beside him. “Brother Cen really has our best interests at heart.” Qi Yangze nodded silently, glancing at the two large sacks with a hint of anticipation.

These large bags had a unique design. They looked just like ordinary animal-skin pouches, but two straps were sewn onto the back, allowing them to be carried on the back—which saved a lot of effort. Moreover, the bag openings were secured with a cord, so there was no risk of the contents falling out even while flying through the air.

These bags were improved by Cen An—essentially the backpacks from his previous life. They’d earned unanimous praise from the entire Ability Squad and had now become the standard resource bags for every Wind-type ability user.

The two wind-type ability users took items out one by one, and the aroma of food wafted out. “These are steamed buns—two per person. Rice cakes—also two per person. This is the braised pork that Brother Cen made himself; there’s not much of it, so one piece per person. But there are also steamed meat patties—as many as you want. Braised white radish—there’s plenty of that, too. It’s all in this jar; help yourselves…”

The ability users lined up to receive their food; the aroma made everyone’s mouths water.

A few older ability users sighed, “We never dared to dream of days like this back then. We’re eating better here in the mountains than we ever did at home.”

“Brother Cen already said so,” a few younger ability users chimed in cheerfully. “It’s not easy for us out here in the mountains. We shouldn’t have to suffer both bloodshed and tears. If we can afford to eat well, let’s eat well.”

The older ability users looked at them with a touch of exasperation at their naivety. “What do you know? It sounds simple enough, but do you have any idea how hard it is to actually pull this off? Just think about it—if it weren’t for Brother Cen’s improved animal-hide pouches, would the Wind-type ability users be able to carry so much stuff? Without the food Brother Cen provides, would we have this much to eat? Without the vegetables Brother Cen grows, would the Wind-type ability users be willing to waste so much and make trip after trip to deliver supplies to us?”

The younger ability users sheepishly lowered their heads. It wasn’t that they weren’t grateful; it was just that, having joined the Ability Squad relatively late, they only knew how well they were living now and weren’t aware of how poor the conditions had been before.

Finally, two Wind-type ability users each pulled out a large, thin-skinned cold jade melon. Droplets of water still clung to the blue-green rind—it was clear they’d just been picked from the ground.

One of them said with a smile, “Brother Cen said it’s been so hot lately. Even though we’ve all awakened our abilities and eating Cold Jade Melons won’t do us any good, it’s still nice to help beat the heat.”

Actually, Cen An’s exact words were: “Don’t worry about wasting them—we’ve got plenty of Cold Jade Melons. Once you finish them, I can just plant more.”

The wind-elemental ability user thought for a moment and realized that saying it that way would probably make everyone even more reluctant to eat them—since no one knew where Brother Cen’s seeds came from or what price he’d paid for them, and they were afraid of causing him trouble—so he took the liberty of tweaking his words a bit.

Everyone was indeed delighted to see the Cold Jade Melons. When the freshly picked melons were cut open, wisps of white vapor rose from the flesh, and a cool breeze washed over them as they drew near. Deep in these sweltering mountain forests, getting to take a bite of such a melon brought them more joy than receiving a thousand crystal cores.

After the two Wind-elemental ability users finished taking out the food and putting the empty bags away, they walked back to Su Rui and Yin Xiang and said respectfully, “Mr. Su Rui, Brother Cen has brought you something as well.”

As they spoke, they pulled two paper wrappings from their robes.

Yin Xiang immediately caught the sweet scent, and his puppy-dog eyes lit up. “Wow, Brother Cen’s homemade candied fruit!”

Since these were Cen An’s personal items, he was naturally free to give them to whomever he pleased. The others didn’t think anything of it; they simply looked on with envy.

Some of them had known Su Rui before, while others hadn’t, but regardless of whether they knew him or not, after this journey, they were all thoroughly convinced of the two brothers’ abilities.

No one knew how these two had been born—so young, yet with abilities so high it was terrifying. Let’s not even talk about the younger one for now; just take Mr. Su Rui—a Level 4 mutant beast couldn’t even make a single run against him. Yesterday afternoon, they’d encountered a Level 5 mutant beast, and at the time, everyone thought that someone was bound to get hurt… But unexpectedly, Su Rui darted forward in a single bound and tore that Level 5 mutant beast to shreds. At that moment, everyone had just one thought: “No wonder he’s Brother Cen’s friend—they’re both equally badass.”

Su Rui wasn’t particularly impressed by their admiration, but when Cen An mentioned bringing him something personally, the Great White Wolf was overjoyed. His eyes immediately lit up, and his face beamed with confidence. “Go back and tell him that I’ll return once I’ve cleared these three mountains—tell him not to worry.”

“Um…” The wind-elemental ability user thought for a moment, thinking to himself that Brother Cen didn’t seem the least bit anxious… But at a time like this, it was best to just politely agree. Seeing that he didn’t object, Su Rui was even happier. “If anything comes up, have him blow the wooden whistle, and I’ll be there right away.”

The wind-elemental ability user gave a polite smile.

Yin Xiang, standing nearby, couldn’t help but speak up, “Bro, I’m getting one of those two packs of dried fruit.” Su Rui pretended not to hear him and tucked both packs into his coat.

Yin Xiang:……

Team Leader Liao, standing nearby, said enviously, “Didn’t A-Long bring me anything?”

The wind-elemental ability user continued to smile politely. Team Leader Shi had sent a message: “Tell that Liao guy to come back after clearing out those three mountains. If he dares to stay away from home again, I’ll twist his head off.”

But there was no need to say something like that…

Yin Xiang said wistfully, “Captain Liao, if I had a bag of dried fruit, I’d be happy to share two pieces with you.”

The wind-elemental ability user cleared his throat. “We’ve delivered everything, so we’ll be heading back now. Tomorrow’s supplies will be delivered at the usual time. Oh, right—we’ve tested the effects of wheat and rice, but Brother Cen said it’ll be more of a surprise if you experience them for yourselves.”

With that, the two of them, just as they had when they arrived, whipped up a gust of wind and sped away. Effects? Surprises?

The remaining ability users exchanged glances. They’d originally planned to eat the vegetables first, but now they all raised their steamed buns and took big bites—

Yongning Village hadn’t been wealthy for long and still retained its old habits of frugality. The wheat flour hadn’t been sifted to remove the bran, so the steamed buns were golden yellow—the kind of whole-wheat buns that were all the rage in my previous life.

Compared to real white-flour steamed buns, they were a bit tougher, but they smelled absolutely amazing!

Filled with the rich aroma of wheat, the scent lingers in your mind long after you’ve taken a bite, making you want to take another. And if you take a bite of the braised dried meat that Brother Cen made himself at that moment… you’ll truly understand what it means to get more flavorful the more you chew!

When everyone takes that first bite, they remember to savor the difference that star-diamond-grade wheat and rice make—but by the second bite, they’ve already forgotten. It’s just that delicious, isn’t it?

Just as everyone was eating, someone in the crowd suddenly let out a “Huh?” Everyone turned to look, and it was Wu Lihui. “Xiao Wu, what’s wrong?”

Wu Lihui was still clutching a steamed bun, looking bewildered. “I think I’m going to, uh…”

Before he could finish his stammering sentence, a leaf suddenly sprouted from his body. A vine twisted and wound its way out from the top of his head, and immediately afterward, tiny flowers began to bloom one after another.

The crowd exchanged glances and, with practiced ease, moved their bowls to the side. “Xiao Wu, his ability must have leveled up, right? What level is he now?”

“Level 3, Wood element.”

“Wow! A Wood-type ability upgrade is such a sight!” 

“Look at those little flowers blooming…”

“By the way, how did he level up while eating? Does wheat flour actually make people level up?” 

“Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions—did you forget about Wang Lie’s mix-up?”

Everyone chuckled, taking advantage of Wang Lie’s absence.

It’s hard to believe, but some people out there go their whole lives without ever witnessing a superpower upgrade. And for those lucky enough to experience it, every single one has faced life-and-death situations, narrowly escaping disaster.

In Yongning Village, not only was there no danger, but everyone could even hold a contest to decide which element’s ability upgrade looked the best.

Currently, the general consensus is that Wood and Fire element upgrades are the most spectacular to watch, while no one wants to witness an Earth element upgrade—it kicks up a cloud of dust that gets everyone’s clothes dirty. 

Metal element upgrades are also popular because metal chunks crackle and fall everywhere. Those undergoing the upgrade share the good fortune by giving the pieces to whoever picks them up, which counts as a little windfall.

Water-element upgrades are the most annoying—they spurt water with a hissing sound. That’s only a problem in summer; if it were winter, the person doing the upgrade would get beaten up afterward.

As expected, Wu Lihui leveled up without a hitch, then happily reported his discovery: “Wheat flour replenishes the ability energy you’ve expended! And unlike crystal cores, the energy in wheat flour is very pure—not a single impurity—it feels great!”

He was able to level up now because he was at the peak of Level 2—just a little nudge was all it took to reach Level 3, much like Wang Lie’s condition back then.

Before wheat flour existed, everyone derived the energy for leveling up from absorbing crystal cores. But absorbing them wasn’t enough—they also had to rely on baby bok choy and daikon radish to flush out the energy impurities before the remaining energy could be used for leveling up. Under these circumstances, it would take Wu Lihui at least a little over a week to level up.

But with wheat flour, it’s a whole different story. It’s like the difference between treating an illness with pills in the past and receiving an IV drip now—the efficiency alone has increased by who knows how many times… So, Wu Lihui couldn’t hold back any longer and leveled up right then and there.

As soon as he said that, everyone else sensed it too—

“It feels like…”

“That’s for sure! My superpower was almost depleted this morning, but now I’ve recovered more than half of it. I was actually planning to absorb a crystal core after lunch!” “This is fantastic—it’s way more comfortable than using a crystal core.”                              

“Tsk, I envy those kids who just awakened their abilities—they won’t have to absorb crystal cores from now on.”            

“That’s great news. Without having to absorb crystal cores, there’s no risk of ability backlashes, and it’ll save a lot of lives.”

Suddenly, Xiao Ji let out a chuckle. Seeing everyone look his way, he said cheerfully, “Just think about this year’s Joint Qing Mountain operation—while everyone else is grimly absorbing crystal cores after exhausting their abilities, we’ll just sit right here and start munching on steamed buns. Heh heh heh…”

Everyone thought about it—that scene would indeed be hilarious.

Back in the village, Cen An and the others were also discussing the uses of Star Diamond wheat and rice.

Qu Yue, who was naturally impatient, had already spun around the room twice in excitement. “Great! That’s fantastic! Who knows what happens when you absorb crystal cores—they’re definitely not meant for humans!”

A few ability users nearby exchanged glances. It seemed that… back when there were no alternatives, and they had to rely on crystal cores to replenish their abilities, no one had much to say about it. But now that they thought about it, compared to the delicious, energy-stable Star Diamond grains, crystal cores really were fit only for the dogs.

Cen An didn’t like that “leader on a pedestal” kind of formality, so when everyone discussed matters, they all sat around a large round table. Team Leader Shi sat next to him, poured him a cup of tea, and laughed, “Leader, you’ve saved countless lives—count this as another great achievement.”

Everyone laughed and began clapping enthusiastically.

Cen An was used to their teasing by now. He spread his hands and said, “Thanks. I hope you’ll reward me with a night where no supplies get thrown at me.” Everyone immediately burst into laughter.

After the laughter died down, Shi Long said, “The chief’s wheat and rice arrived just in time. We can now finalize our business deals with the other settlements.”

Cen An nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. With the wheat and rice, we’ll need less Chinese cabbage and white radishes, so we can sell those to others.”

Qu Yue also nodded. “That’s right. As it happens, the people who went out to gather intelligence have been returning one after another recently, so we can move on to the next phase of our plan.”

The area surrounding Yongning Village belongs to Donglu Jiangzhou. If one were to give it a name, it could be called the Silver Moon Mountains. Legend has it that Silver Moon Wolves once roamed here. However, such legendary creatures—somewhat akin to the nine-tailed foxes of ancient China—are rarely believed to exist in reality.

The Silver Moon Mountains, including Yongning Village, originally comprised nine settlements. However, since the Linghe Base and Shiquan Village vanished under mysterious circumstances, only seven remain today.

Among them, the largest base at present is Tianhu Base, with a permanent population of between six thousand and eight thousand and ninety-eight ability users. Yongning Village sends representatives to Tianhu Base every year to gather information, so they are quite familiar with this base.

Ranked second in strength is Xiang’an Town, with a permanent population of 4,000 and 57 ability users.

Ranked third is Anjun River Bay, located on the banks of the Anjun River, with a permanent population of over 1,000 and 40 ability users. 

Cen An listened intently. “I had no idea there was even a town this close to us.”

Shi Long nodded. “Apart from these three settlements, the remaining four are villages. Among them, Dongying Village and Linqiu Village are slightly larger than Yongning Village, with permanent populations ranging from six hundred to seven hundred and between thirty and forty ability users. The last village is called De’antan; it has fewer than one hundred residents, and the number of ability users is probably no more than ten.”

Cen An nodded, then suddenly asked, “Why does Tianhu Base have a population of six or seven thousand, yet only ninety-eight ability users? That ratio doesn’t add up, does it?”

Shi Long chuckled. “The statistics here only include officially recognized ability users—that is, those who’ve been recruited into Tianhu Base’s Ability Squads. As for how many ability users there are among the general population, there’s no way to track that.”

Tian Yuan also nodded and said, “Large settlements don’t recruit every ability user into their squads; they only select the very best. As for the rest—those with average abilities—they’re nothing more than cannon fodder. Since they’re cannon fodder, they’re no different from ordinary people, so there’s no need to include them in the count.”

Cen An frowned, feeling somewhat uneasy. He felt grateful once again that he had been reincarnated in Yongning Village; if he’d ended up in one of those places that divided people into different classes, he might well have fled to the mountains to farm long ago.

After they finished speaking, Shi Long added, “Among these places, you should pay special attention to De’antan.”

Seeing that Cen An’s attention had returned, he continued, “This village is small and sparsely populated, but it’s very mysterious. It rarely interacts with the outside world, yet it has never experienced a beast tide.”

Cen An thought for a moment. “Then let’s start with the other settlements first.” He extended his fair fingers and pointed to a spot on the map.

It was now mid-summer, and temperatures had risen once more. The mercury had already hit forty-five degrees. At this temperature, it was barely bearable if one stayed lying still indoors. But for the people of this strange world, a day’s work meant a day’s food—so even if the heat killed them, they had to go out and forage.

Anjun River Bay, situated along the river, was slightly cooler than other areas, yet two people had still died from the heat just a few days ago.

“This hellish weather this year—it’s really leaving us no way to survive!” a bald middle-aged man at a roadside stall lamented repeatedly. His face was etched with worry, and a sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead. Though clearly only in his forties, he looked as old as someone in their fifties or sixties.

A fellow vendor next to him waved his hand. “Don’t even mention it—there’s been no way to survive for three hundred years now.” This drew a chorus of lamentations from the crowd.

The sun scorched the earth relentlessly; the air near the ground was already warped, and a single step down would likely burn a layer of skin off the sole of one’s foot.

Right in front of the group of vendors, three people—one woman and two men—walked by. They wore light, spider-silk garments, sun hats on their heads, and oddly shaped straw sandals on their feet. It was unclear what purpose the hats and sandals served, but even in such sweltering heat, after walking for half a day, the three showed not a single drop of sweat and looked remarkably refreshed.

It wasn’t until the trio had passed by that the bald middle-aged man remarked enviously, “Those people must be from the Main Base. Who knows, what they’re wearing might actually be gear!”

The others laughed at him: “You’re obsessed with gear! It’s not that easy to come across. There are only three pieces of gear in all of Anjun River Bay, and they’re all in the Bay Master’s possession!”

The bald middle-aged man gave an awkward chuckle. “I was just saying…”

But inside, he couldn’t help but wonder: Was it really not gear? When those three walked past him, he distinctly felt a cool breeze… Could it have been blowing in from the river?

But the others were right, too—equipment isn’t something you just come across! And those three were wearing identical gear—wouldn’t that make six pieces of equipment? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

The bald middle-aged man convinced himself of this, unaware that his guess was actually the truth. 

Who were these three people? None other than Yu Wenchao, Xie Xiuping, and Sun Qiuhua.

The three had been sent out to conduct business with other bases.

There was, of course, a reason they were chosen: all three had recently joined the Ability Squad, and Sun Qiuhua and Yu Wenchao had only just awakened their superpowers. To the other settlements, they were all unfamiliar faces, so there was no fear of being recognized.

Moreover, their personalities were a good fit: Yu Wenchao and Xie Xiuping were both level-headed, while Sun Qiuhua was thoughtful and sharp-witted; working together, they were unlikely to run into any trouble. As for the sun hat and straw sandals the bald man had noticed earlier… those were indeed part of their gear.

When Cen An learned the three were heading out on a business trip, he was already deeply concerned. Aside from worrying about the combat abilities of these three newly awakened ability users, he was also worried about the eerily hot weather. According to the village elders, even after the Cataclysm, temperatures this high were rare. Moreover, summer was only halfway over—who knew if the remaining half would be even hotter?

So, Cen An kitted the three of them out from head to toe.

The hats were sun hats that could lower the perceived temperature by 5%, and the shoes were cool straw sandals that could also lower the perceived temperature by 5%. These two items were the ultimate summer essentials in the game. However, the materials were hard to come by, so Cen An had been collecting them since the start of summer, and had only managed to make five sets so far. Three of those sets were worn by the trio, while the other two—one was given to Senior Lin, and the other was for Cen An to wear when he went out himself.

In addition, Cen An had brought them three rock crystal daggers and three sets of thorn armor. As the three walked along the road, they felt cool on the outside but warm at heart.

Recalling the worried look on Xiao Cen’s face before they left, the three shared the same resolve: no matter how difficult this mission might be, they would do their utmost to complete it.

“That thatched cottage up ahead is Qi Shaoyuan’s home. According to our intel, he’s the deputy captain of the Anjun River Bay Ability Squad—the only ability user who doesn’t bully ordinary villagers and who keeps the others in check. I think we should start with him,” Xie Xiuping said quietly.

The other two nodded in agreement.