Apocalypse Chapter 62: New Member

Chapter 62: New Member

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

On the first day of October, the people of Spark Base heard the soft voice of the radio announcer miss Xiao Mei, “Good morning, residents of Spark Base. October is the season for sowing in the golden autumn. Remember to take care of yourselves amidst your busy schedules.”

Upon hearing this broadcast, the residents of the base chuckled. Generally, autumn is the season of harvest, but Spark Base went against the norm, making October the season for sowing.

After the laughter subsided, a wave of melancholy swept over everyone. Everyone wanted to harvest, but without sowing, where would the harvest come from? In the scorching heat of the previous months, no matter what seeds were planted, they only met the fate of being scorched. If the weather continued to be this hot, even solar panels wouldn’t suffice.

Everyone looked up at the glaring sun, feeling a bit despondent: When would this high-temperature weather end? In previous Octobers, everyone would have already donned their autumn clothes. But now, the temperature still soared to forty degrees Celsius. When will it end?

In the meeting room of the activity center, Jiang Rong and his team of espers sat down for a rare moment of leisurely chat. In the past few months, their team had been busy with various tasks for the base. After entering October, although the burdens on their shoulders remained heavy, they had significantly lightened compared to the previous month.

The base’s rudimentary form had been established, and all they needed to do next was to slowly construct according to the blueprint.

Now their team had twelve fixed teammates. In addition to the previous seven, the team welcomed five new members: Chiang Jinhu, Weng Chenggang, Zheng Zhanqing, Wang Ting, and Meng Weixian. Among the five newcomers, Chiang Jinhu was a fire-type esper, Weng Chenggang was a speed-type esper, Zheng Zhanqing could control beasts, and Wang Ting could turn invisible.

Only Meng Weixian was the sole ordinary person, but by being able to sit here, he had already demonstrated his abilities comparable to an esper.

They were about to welcome their thirteenth teammate. With this person, Jiang Rong’s team would become a team with both offensive and defensive capabilities.

After some small talk, a knock came from outside the door. Jiang Rong sat up straight and smiled, “Ah, here he comes.”

The door of the meeting room slowly opened, revealing a scruffy-faced man behind it. Seeing this person’s face, Ruan Hanyu was somewhat surprised, “Oh, it’s you!”

She had seen this person before. She remembered the first time she went to the market to exchange things with cat litter, this person was pointed out by Master Guan from the crowd to help skin a wolf. Ruan Hanyu remembered he was a student, his home was very far away, and he was directionally challenged, attempting to ride a small bicycle back home.

What was this person’s name again? Ruan Hanyu had been quite busy lately and couldn’t remember his name anymore.

After the man pushed open the door, he hesitated for a moment and then became nervous as he surveyed the room. He didn’t expect to find Spark Base’s most formidable esper team inside. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Captain Jiang, do you have something to discuss with me?”

Jiang Rong waved at him with a smile, “Come in.”

After the newcomer entered, Jiang Rong stood up, “Let me introduce everyone. This is our thirteenth member of the esper team, Hu Hechu.”

Everyone stood up and applauded, “Welcome, Hu! Welcome!” 

“Hey, I knew you had some skills!”

Amidst everyone’s excitement, the newcomer Hu Hechu looked bewildered, “Huh?” Was he dreaming? How did he inexplicably become a core member of the esper team? Hu Hechu hesitated, “Jiang, Captain Jiang, are you mistaken? How could my ability be qualified for the esper team?”

He did awaken an ability indeed, but he felt that his ability was not practical enough to meet the standards of joining the core team of Spark Base.

Jiang Rong smiled faintly and tapped lightly on the computer in front of him. The chaotic scene of the rebellion capturing the activity center appeared on the projector screen.

When the leader of the rebels attempted to shoot the civilians, a warm orange light appeared on the bodies of the people in the activity center. At that time, the situation was chaotic, and not many people noticed the orange light. However, this scene was faithfully recorded by the monitors on the wall, which was why Hu Hechu ended up here.

Jiang Rong said slowly, “Being able to think of caring for ordinary people when you yourself are under attack, Hu, you’re an extraordinary man. Our team needs talents like you.”

Moreover, Hu Hechu’s ability to provide defense for hundreds of civilians at once was extremely powerful. No wonder Guan Shao had singled him out in the crowd. It was just a pity that Hu Hechu himself had no idea how powerful he was.

Hu Hechu opened his mouth, his eyes reddening bit by bit, “Can I really? I have many shortcomings. Can I really join the esper team?”

Hu Hechu had always considered himself slow-witted, even slower than others in discovering his ability. The base had treated him well, providing him with food, clothing, and job opportunities, and he had tried hard to integrate into this big family. But because of his personality, he always felt there was an invisible gap between him and the people around him.

During work hours, it was fine, but whenever he rested, Hu Hechu felt an unprecedented loneliness. Until today, he had been trying to find a team that would accept him. Unexpectedly, the first team to extend an olive branch to him was the most formidable esper team of Spark Base…

Jiang Rong reached out his hand to Hu Hechu, “Of course you can. Welcome aboard!”

Since the esper team wanted to expand, Jiang Rong had been keeping an eye on some powerful and unique espers in the base, and Hu Hechu had caught his attention at that time.

Hu Hechu’s ability was defensive; his ability could create beautiful defensive shields, blocking a lot of damage. After Hu Hechu demonstrated his ability in the activity center, Jiang Rong officially focused his attention on him. After several trials, he decided to officially include Hu Hechu in their team.

Hu Hechu turned his head, wiped his eyes awkwardly, and then tremblingly reached out his hand, “Captain Jiang. Sometimes I may be a bit slow. If I do something wrong, please let me know, and I will definitely improve.”

Jiang Rong patted Hu Hechu’s back of the hand, “You’re doing great. Don’t doubt yourself. Our team members are the best!”

Hu Hechu received a warm welcome from the other members of the esper team, smiling foolishly in disbelief at the overwhelmingly good news. Even when he sat on his exclusive chair, his expression remained dazed.

After the thirteenth member of the esper team returned, everyone sat together for the October meeting. There were two major events in Spark Base in October: sowing and making clothes. They had to sow seeds and fruit trees continuously for 75,000 hectares within a month. They also had to restart the clothing production line and prepare clothing and supplies for the entire base for winter by the end of December.

Chu Qiang chuckled, “Making clothes isn’t too troublesome. The equipment and personnel are readily available, and the materials are sufficient. Before December, we can produce over a hundred thousand sets of winter clothes and blankets. The main thing is your heavy task, Xiao Jiang. You and your wood-type esper sub-team need to work overtime.”

Since the completion of the base, the members have been doing the most work in clearing and preparing the fields. Now that the basic infrastructure such as fields and irrigation channels are in place, all that’s left is to sow the seeds after the temperature drops.

After the Great Crisis, many seeds couldn’t adapt to the changes and quietly died. Even if seeds were found and sown, only a few could germinate. Therefore, every seed planted needed to be checked for viability by wood-type espers.

This was a huge project, and Jiang Rong couldn’t possibly handle it alone. Fortunately, there were one or two hundred wood-type espers in the base. Since they entered the base, Jiang Rong had allocated a large number of seeds to them for viability testing.

Under the selection of wood-type espers, the viability of the seeds in the warehouse reached 90%. Before the temperature dropped, there were still several tons of seeds that needed to be selected, putting pressure on the wood-type espers.

Upon hearing Chu Qiang’s words, Jiang Rong was optimistic, “It’s okay, hasn’t it rained yet? Besides, the remaining seeds are mostly wheat seeds, and wheat can only be sown at the end of October or early November.”

According to experience from previous lives, it wouldn’t be long before heavy rain fell from the sky, and the temperature would return to normal. From October to mid-December, there were two and a half months suitable for crop growth, but during this time, only some vegetables with short growth periods could be sown. Crops like potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, which could serve as staple food, had longer growth cycles and could only be sown the following year.

But having close to three months for sowing was enough. The people in the base could at least have some green vegetables and prepare some vegetables for winter.

While speaking, Guan Shao suddenly stood up and looked out the window at the sky. Jiang Rong asked, “What’s wrong?”

When Guan Shao turned around, there was a smile in his eyes, “The weather is changing.”

Guan Shao was a lightning-type esper. Since awakening his ability, his sensitivity to weather was more accurate than satellites. If he said the weather was changing, then it would definitely change.

Sure enough, less than two hours after Guan Shao said this, dark clouds appeared in the sky. The scorching sun was blocked by the dark clouds, and the earth emitted a scent unique to the approach of a thunderstorm.

The people in the base put down their work one after another and excitedly looked up at the sky, “Clouds! Look, is it going to rain?” 

The elders gave a positive answer, “Yes, this rain won’t be small.”

The anticipation of the people gradually peaked. Even if there was another downpour, they would accept it. They had been in drought for too long. After the black rain, there had been no rain from the sky. The ponds and channels in the base had long dried up, and even some larger rivers were on the verge of drying up.

Come on, let it rain. Only when the heavy rain falls can everyone have a way out!

The voice of the radio announcer miss Xiao Mei sounded again from the speakers, “The heavy rain is falling. Residents, please stop your work and seek shelter in nearby houses. Residents at home, please disconnect the power supply to avoid lightning strikes…”

The heavy rain fell, accompanied by static from the speakers. Instead of seeking shelter in nearby houses as instructed, the people rushed out of their houses in groups, excitedly pointing at the densely clouded sky.

Seeing that the people in the base didn’t take the words of the speaker to heart, Jiang Rong sighed and took the microphone, “Residents, the rain that is falling this time may be acid rain. Acid rain is harmful to the human body, so please try to avoid getting wet. For residents who accidentally get wet, remember to bathe and change clothes promptly after returning home.”

Even though miss Xiao Mei had strained her throat trying to get the excited residents to come back, Jiang Rong’s words alone made them rush back home.

The rumbling of thunder grew louder and closer, and the world became increasingly dark.

“Crack—”

A bright lightning bolt suddenly exploded, illuminating the entire base. Transparent raindrops as big as beans fell from the sky, hitting the dry ground and creating small pits. The gray-black soil was quickly moistened by the rain, and the moisture filled people’s lungs with the smell of earth.

Under the eaves, people cheered, “It’s raining!” 

The cheers echoed in every village and field in Spark Base. They were finally saved!

 

 

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