Chapter 36

Life Outside the Base

Juan was very satisfied with his new life. 

Every morning, the first thing he saw was his “magic book”—Peter. Every night, he slept beside his “magic book.” Whenever he wanted, he could read and study it. This gave him a sense of peace and security, even in a world ravaged by the apocalypse.

Peter was content, too.

He wasn’t a picky person—he loved good food, but if there wasn’t any, he was fine with just filling his belly. Previously, the orphanage rations weren’t enough to satisfy him, but now, with Juan’s share, he could eat his fill and still have leftovers. 

With hunger no longer a concern, Peter devoted himself wholeheartedly to his gardening project.

Thanks to Juan, he now had more than one type of seed to plant, and he eagerly got to work.

Before arriving here, Peter had thought growing plants inside Eden’s “cage” was challenging. But after coming to this place, he realized that was just beginner’s mode.

After all, the conditions in Eden had been excellent: year-round stable temperatures made every room feel like a natural greenhouse, water was readily available from an artificial lake nearby, and the soil—though brought in from outside—was rich and fertile.

This place, however, was entirely different.

The weather was freezing, and although the seeds had been genetically modified to survive in harsh conditions, they sprouted far more slowly than Peter was used to.

While the others had long since adapted to this slower pace, Peter found it frustrating. Determined to find a solution, he eventually came up with one: digging trenches and lighting fires. 

He dug a deep ditch around the garden plot and began using magic. 

With his magic, he summoned Julian grass—a dry, brittle plant that looked much like hay and was perfect for kindling. In fact, according to the other Peter—the one who wrote the book—this grass was a lifesaver when traveling without firewood. 

Yes, the book Juan kept was indeed a magic book, but more precisely, it was called Peter’s Magic Book—the lifelong research and journal of a great wizard named Peter.

This was something Peter learned incidentally while studying literacy with Juan.

Their reading lessons had been progressing smoothly. Not to boast, but Peter was picking things up much faster than the others. After a while, he even began to feel like he already knew some of the characters by heart. At first, he thought it was just an illusion, but as they moved forward, he found that he could recognize more and more characters. Sometimes, he even knew the meaning of words that Juan hadn’t taught him yet.

To test this, Peter tried translating a sentence on his own. When Juan later read that part with him, Peter discovered that he had translated about 70% of it correctly.

He was thrilled!

He thought it was because he was smart. However, when he proudly told Juan about his success—

“It’s not about intelligence. It’s about magical talent,” Juan said.

To further prove his point, Juan shared a story:

“There was once a child who was born a fool—he couldn’t recognize any letters. Yet somehow, he was able to write.”

“At first, people thought he was just scribbling nonsense. But later, a wizard saw his writing and immediately recognized it as magical script.”

“Magic already exists in this world, but most people can’t sense it. Only a few with natural talent can learn to master it. And the truly exceptional ones don’t even need to study; they inherently understand magic. For them, magic isn’t something to learn—it’s something they naturally express through written symbols.”

“That’s what’s happening to you. You have a vague understanding of these symbols because of your exceptional magical talent.”

“Just like that so-called fool,” Juan added with a grin.

Peter: …Thanks, I don’t really feel complimented.

Little did Peter know, Juan’s praise was genuine.

An unparalleled magical talent! 

That was a gift anyone would envy—

At that moment, Ah Hai and the others were watching Peter use his magic with admiration.

Peter used magic to make Julian grass grow throughout the trench he had dug. Then, he ignited it. The grass burned easily, turning the ditch into a blazing line of fire in no time.

And sure enough, the heat raised the soil temperature just a little. Motivated by his success, Peter dug two more trenches around the garden, making the temperature rise even more evenly.

Along the way, he also gained a useful byproduct—wood ash!

Peter had no prior experience with fertilizers, but Juan suddenly remembered that wood ash could be used as one. With great excitement, they mixed the ash into the garden soil, eagerly anticipating the results. Soon, tender green sprouts began to poke through the earth.

The seeds sprouted faster than anyone else’s in the same planting season!

What a brilliant idea!

But—

Only Peter could make it work.

Ah Hai and the others, warming themselves by the garden fire, couldn’t help but think the same thing.

Once leafy greens start growing, they grow quickly. Within just a few days, Peter was ready for his first harvest in this new place.

With adequate water, fertilizer, and decent temperatures, the harvest turned out well! The greens piled up high, and though the other vegetables were fewer due to limited seeds, they were vibrant and fresh, almost comparable to the produce grown by large-scale farms in the base.

It’s worth noting that those farms had the best soil and fertilizers, which were essential for quality crops. Farming in the apocalypse wasn’t just about hard work—it required good soil and fertilizer, both of which had to be purchased with points. Ordinary people struggled just to grow enough for themselves and rarely earned enough to invest in better resources.

“Wow! These greens are good enough to sell!” Chen Shan exclaimed as he tied up the last bundle, looking at the mountain of leafy vegetables.

He had taken the day off from missions, only to be roped in by his brother to help haul produce.

Despite his sharp tongue and stinginess on the road, Chen Shan was generous when it came to his brother. As soon as his brother asked for help, he showed up. Knowing they were harvesting, he even borrowed a vehicle—a tricycle, not a car.

Cars were common in the base, but fuel was expensive, so Chen Shan never borrowed one unless it was for a mission.

Still, the tricycle had plenty of room. It held all the vegetables Peter had harvested, neatly stacked and brimming with freshness. Chen Shan expertly tied everything down with a rope and set off, accompanied by a few boys for protection along the way.

Before they left, Chen Shan had already asked where to sell the vegetables. He led the group directly to the market, where they began unloading and weighing the produce.

Peter’s first harvest sold for 207 points.

As Peter held the card loaded with his earnings, he looked at it differently—it was no longer just a card but his entire fortune. And every point had been earned by him!

Unfortunately—

His entire fortune wasn’t very much.

For a moment, he felt excited, but then he remembered that rent for the land was due at the end of the month. The points he had just earned would barely cover the rent, with only a small amount left over—too little to do anything significant.

If it weren’t for the orphanage providing free breakfast and dinner, he wouldn’t even be able to feed himself.

“Don’t worry. This is just your first harvest,” Chen Shan reassured him. “Selling this much on your first try is already impressive. Before I came here, I asked around—most people can’t even sell anything their first time. Many end up taking on missions just to pay rent, and once they start, they never go back to farming.”

The story referred to the only female member of their team. Although she was now their main attacker, she initially came to the base intending to make a living through farming. Unfortunately—

Her first attempt at farming yielded nothing, and she had no choice but to find a way to survive… cough, by going on missions.

After they finished selling the vegetables, they didn’t leave right away. Several more groups arrived to sell their crops. Just as Chen Shan had mentioned, two of them couldn’t sell their produce—what they brought was too small and yellowed, so it was rejected on the spot. The vegetables from the next three groups were accepted; their quality was decent, though still not quite as good as Peter’s. However, since they had more quantity, they earned more overall than Peter.

Watching the growing pile of vegetables behind the buyer, Chen Shan thought for a moment and then turned to Peter. 

“Before I came here, I only asked where to sell vegetables. Our base has two ways of selling: one is selling here, for vegetables that look good; the other is trading within the base at lower prices, usually for crops that get rejected here. Your vegetables looked great, so I brought you directly to this market. But now that I think about it, there’s a third option for selling vegetables.”

Peter’s ears perked up. He had resolved to make a living from farming, so knowing all the places where he could sell was essential.

Chen Shan gestured for the boys to gather closer. He bent down and, in a conspiratorial whisper, said, “I just realized—seeing how much produce they’re buying—we can sell vegetables to other bases too!”

“You see, they buy so much because it’s not just for consumption here. Our base has plenty of farmers, so we’re not short on vegetables. They’re buying to sell to other bases.”

“If they can do it, so can we! I don’t know much about the situation at other bases yet, and it might not be worth the trip just for a test run. But next time I take a mission to another base, I’ll bring your vegetables with me—who knows? They might sell for more there.”

Chen Shan smacked his head regretfully. “Ah, I’ve known for ages that our base is famous for farming in this area. Why didn’t I think of doing this earlier?”

While Chen Shan was brooding over his missed opportunity, the younger boys were listening eagerly.

Since they weren’t old enough to take on missions outside the base, their experience was limited to nearby errands in the base’s safe zones. Even Ah Hai, whose older brother went on missions outside the base, didn’t know much about the world beyond.

After all, he rarely saw his brother.

“That night, Ah Hai shared his brother’s plan with his friends. ‘My brother said there are lots of other bases out there. Ours is tiny compared to them. He’s working hard every day to save enough points to move to one of the bigger bases.'”

“Why move? Isn’t our base good enough?” asked Tony, who had no surviving family and couldn’t understand the need to leave.

“I think it’s good too, and it’s safe here,” Ah Hai replied. “But my brother says it’s too remote, and the population is shrinking. It’ll be hard to find a partner, and there are no teachers. Eventually, we won’t be able to learn new things, and moving to a bigger city won’t even be an option.”

“But we have a teacher now,” Tony pointed out, gesturing toward Juan.

“True,” Ah Hai admitted. Then, remembering more of his brother’s words, he continued, “But my brother also said the big bases outside are amazing. They have motorcycles that can fly in the sky, incredibly tall buildings, and even floating bases.”

“They don’t have energy shortages, either. They never need to conserve power and keep their lights on all night. Their bases are as bright as day, even at night!”

“They can even watch movies! And they still have movie stars. Tony, you look good—you could become a star!”

“Wow! Isn’t that just like how things were before the apocalypse?” The kids exclaimed in awe.

“Exactly! Even in the apocalypse, they’ve managed to maintain pre-apocalypse living standards.”

“But my brother said the people with powers out there are really strong—there’s even a list of the ten most powerful ability users in the world.”

To these children, who had never heard such things before, Ah Hai’s words sounded like fairy tales—marvelous and fantastical.

It felt just like the stories Juan used to tell!

Even Juan and Peter, who had been to other bases, listened intently. They had only visited one other base, so their understanding of larger ones was limited. Some of what Ah Hai described they could picture, but much of it was beyond their imagination.

That night, in the dark dormitory of the orphanage, the boys whispered excitedly about the outside world.

In everyone’s mind, a hazy image of another world began to take shape.