The scale and management system of the military base are many times better than those of local officials. Perhaps this is the gap between the local and the national standards. 

Since no one was available to show them around at night, and it was already late, everyone—three people and a dog—was exhausted from a day of intense focus. 

Jiang Ning asked, “Should we stay in a hotel or sleep in the car?” 

Huo Yishen said cautiously, “We will stay in the car for one night. There is no need to go to a hotel. We just arrived and don’t know if the base is really absolutely safe. Moving the belongings in the car will easily attract attention, but what if someone stole them when where not here?” 

Jiang Ning had no objections and was fine with spending the night in the car. 

They got in the car and closed the door. 

Huo Yishen took out the four pork trotter rice dishes from his backpack. They were all packed and placed in the space before. 

The rice is fragrant and green, and the pork trotter is soft and chewy. 

After dinner, they drank a glass of juice to relieve the greasiness, chatted about some random things, and then adjusted their seats to sleep. 

The off-road vehicle has a spacious seat, and it is not crowded to lie down and sleep. 

Even though they were in a base, the exhaustion from several days of hard work made them fall asleep quickly. The dog, however, was very vigilant and would occasionally open his eyes. If he didn’t notice anything unusual, he would continue to sleep. 

They slept until dawn and were awakened by the loud and heart-piercing horn. The army was marching. 

Jiang Ning opened her heavy eyelids and raised her wrist to check the watch. It was four o’clock in the morning. 

It was not dawn yet. 

She turned over and continued to sleep. 

Huo Yishen was already awake. He covered her and Doudou with a blanket, put on his coat, and got out of the car to move around. 

Jiang Ning woke up at six o’clock, and he had already returned from a round of exercise. 

Breakfast was soy milk and steamed buns. After eating, they got out of the car to relax. Considering that the staff in the central hall had not yet come to work, the three of them and the dog walked around nearby. 

The base is very large, stretching for dozens of kilometers, and there is no end in sight. 

Jiang Ning had even brought her binoculars. In the distance, the neat buildings in the distance are dormitories for survivors. Each building has 12 floors. Unlike the official new towns in various places, there is no chaos or random construction and clothes flying all over the place in the residential area. 

Everything was neat, uniform, and standard military-style living. 

If ordinary survivors lived this way, imagine how it must be for the actual soldiers. 

Countless survivors walked out of the dormitory one after another and rushed to their workplace quickly and orderly. 

Jiang Ning followed their direction and saw continuous plantations, food processing plants, power plants, smelters, hardware processing plants… 

Strictly speaking, it was like a small county town, small but complete in every aspect. 

The military area is farther away, not beyond the distance that binoculars can see, but their residential area is only a few kilometers away. 

After the morning training, the troops dispersed in an orderly manner, with tall figures and young and handsome faces. 

As time went by, some scavengers who had gone out came back one after another. Their rusted and worn-out vehicles had deflated tires, as if they might fall apart at any moment. 

Four or five people got out of the car, each with a worn-out face, but the materials they picked up were not much. They moved and lifted them to the trading hall to classify and weigh them in exchange for points. Those who choose to be scavengers, or even persist until now, are all free spirits who loved their independence. 

Three years before the end of the world, they relied on their extraordinary skills and courage to find a lot of supplies and lived a very carefree life. 

But now it has been nine years since the end of the world, and the nearby cities have been searched countless times. Don’t even think about finding a bargain. Not even a piece of scrap metal can be found. 

Sometimes, even if they travel hundreds of kilometers away, the effort and fuel are wasted, and they still get nothing. 

They don’t know what to do in the future. Anyway, it’s impossible for them to work, and they will never work in this life. 

They would rather die than work! 

When work hours began, Jiang Ning went to the housing rental and sale area in the central hall for inquiries. 

With the other two, it’s unlikely to rent an apartment building. The others can smell the soup next door when they drink it. Besides, most of the people living there are scavengers or the families of survivors, making it a high-risk area. 

So, she decisively chose an independent courtyard. It’s unknown when the plate collision will come, so enjoy it as long as you can, and just be low-key at ordinary times. 

However, the independent courtyard was not cheap. In addition to a monthly rent of 50 catties of grain, a minimum six-month rental was required. 

In other words, Jiang Ning has to pay for another 300 catties of food. 

She just paid 150 catties of food yesterday, and it’s really eye-catching to take out another 300 catties. 

She thought, “Can I use tea, cigarettes, and alcohol to balance it out?” 

“Yes, but it depends on the quality.” 

The quality is definitely not bad, but it can’t be too good. 

In fact, this is not a big deal. Jiang Ning has taken out some materials from her space in the past two years just to create some traces of time on them. 

Jiang Ning asked, “Can we see the house first?” 

The staff agreed and asked the assistant to take them to see the house. 

The assistant was probably a military family member, and she seemed to live a more comfortable life. Seeing that Jiang Ning and Huo Yishen were beautiful and handsome, she was willing to talk. “There are only three empty houses in the independent courtyard. You are lucky. If you come earlier or later, there will be no more.” 

She spoke with kindness. 

But Jiang Ning heard that even the military base could not withstand the successive natural disasters. Whether it was smog, acid rain, sandstorms, or mudslides, there were survivors who were killed. 

The assistant was using a bicycle, but since the independent courtyards were a few kilometers away, Jiang Ning decided to give her a ride for efficiency. 

Following the assistant’s directions, they saw signs of acid rain damage everywhere. 

However, the base has protected the house in advance, so even if there is corrosion on the outside, there is no problem with the structure inside. The independent courtyard is divided into two areas, A and B. Area A is inhabited by officers and their families from the base, and Area B is rented and sold to the outside. 

The entrances and exits of the two areas are close to each other, but there is a separation zone in the middle. 

After about 20 minutes, the car slowly drove into Area B. 

Through the car window, they saw several military vehicles from Area A, and there were soldiers standing guard at the door. 

Living next door, they probably feel very safe. 

However, this sense of security didn’t make Jiang Ning or Huo Yishen feel truly safe; it was better to keep a low profile. 

There are 200 independent courtyards in Area B, and the assistant took them to see the houses one by one. 

The courtyard has no walls, and you can see signs that someone has lived there, but it is very clean. 

The layout is the same, and after looking at all three sets, Jiang Ning chose the cleanest one. 

On the way back, she chatted with the assistant, “We plan to be scavengers, but we have no experience since we just arrived here. We don’t know what we should pay attention to in normal times.” 

The assistant was surprised. “Why don’t you choose to join the army? If you fail the assessment, the base can arrange a job for you.” 

Jiang Ning pretended to be confused. “Is it dangerous to be a scavenger?”