The taxi stopped at the entrance of the neighborhood. Kaylee and Shenan got out together.
The night wrapped around them, and the streetlights cast long shadows on the ground.
"Thank you for seeing me home," Kaylee said softly, her head slightly lowered. "Goodbye."
Shenan nodded but didn't hurry to leave. "See you tomorrow."
Tomorrow?
Kaylee was stunned for a moment. She looked up and met his slightly deep gaze.
"Didn't Celine tell you? She's been busy lately. Tomorrow she has to go home to take care of some things, so for the next half month, you'll still have to help out."
"No trouble! No trouble!" Kaylee quickly said twice, then realized she was speaking too fast. Fortunately, the night hid the blush on her face.
Shenan breathed out in relief. He took out his phone and opened WeChat. "Add me on WeChat. It'll be easier to keep in touch."
"Just call me Kaylee." She quickly took out her phone. They scanned each other's codes and became friends.
"Okay, Kaylee." The two words spun on Shenan's tongue before he swallowed them back.
Not far away, inside a truck, Celine took this opportunity to slip into her space.
Time was tight. She had more important things to handle, and at this moment, she didn't notice anything strange between her brother and Kaylee.
After entering the space, Celine didn't immediately contact Hogan.
The reason was simple: explaining clearly how to ride a modern bicycle or use an iPad would take far more time and effort than a simple deal.
Right now, contacting Red was a better choice.
Soon, Red's figure appeared inside the space.
Unlike his usual calm and somewhat serious appearance, Red was now wearing an uncontrollable smile. His joyful mood almost spilled out from the corners of his eyes and brows.
"Is there some big celebration today?"
Celine had never seen him like this before and couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
Red smiled without saying much. He carefully took out a bulging small cloth bag from the inside pocket of his thick down jacket and placed it on the smooth counter with a soft "plop."
The bag was heavy, obviously filled with a lot of stuff.
Crystal cores?!
Celine's eyes narrowed as she reached out to pick up the bag and untied the strings.
In an instant, colorful glimmers flickered inside the bag. Countless crystal cores of different sizes nearly dazzled her eyes!
She looked up in surprise and stared at Red. "Why are there so many?"
Seeing Celine's shocked expression, Red's face showed even more pride. Clearing his throat, he explained with a bit of satisfaction:
"It's a coincidence. Yesterday evening, we ran into a small group of zombies attacking us."
It turned out that yesterday evening was a rare relaxing time in the base.
To celebrate Red and his team's safe return from gathering supplies, the base logistics had put in extra effort.
They made steaming hot big pots of dumplings, fragrant stewed meat, and even splurged on hot pot.
Though the conditions were simple and it was all shared meals, in this post-apocalyptic world, it was already a rare feast. Everyone's faces were full of satisfaction and joy.
"But the smell of that stewed meat was too strong,"
Red smacked his lips, as if still savoring it.
"It attracted all the nearby wandering zombies. But it was their bad luck. The blizzard made them slow, so they were easy targets."
"We cut through them like slicing vegetables, didn't even take much effort to clear them out."
Red pointed at the cloth bag on the counter, smiling even brighter.
"The base still has enough level two and three crystal cores. These level one cores don't have much use."
"I thought you might need them more, so I brought them all here for you!"