After bidding farewell to Old Zhang, Lin Chu didn’t bother the busy Wang Rui and instead made her way to the dock on the small hill.

Although many survivors had moved to the residential zone, a good number of them still needed to work in the base to earn work points.

To accommodate this, the security team dispatched personnel and arranged regular speedboat trips between the residential zone and the small hill base to shuttle the survivors back and forth.

Lin Chu took one of these speedboats back to the residential zone.

Upon seeing her return, Xiao Er stepped out of the bedroom and stood respectfully by her side.

“Master, no one came while you were away.”

Lin Chu looked around. The house was just as she had left it.

She nodded in satisfaction and praised Xiao Er, “Good job.”

Xiao Er was a robot that was easily pleased.

When praised, it lifted its head. Even though it had no facial muscles, Lin Chu could tell it was smiling.

Lin Chu took Xiao Er back to the shelter.

As soon as they entered, Xiao Er grabbed the watering can by the door, ran into the bathroom, filled it with murky yellow water, and began watering the tomatoes and lettuce.

Under its care, the tomato vines had already climbed the trellis and were now half a person tall.

Lin Chu estimated that by the time this world ended, she would be able to eat her homegrown tomatoes.

The lettuce, which had already been harvested bare, was sprouting small new leaves. In another two days, she could harvest another batch.

Everything was thriving.

Lin Chu was very pleased.

She handed Xiao Er the copied planting notes she had gotten from Old Zhang.

“Xiao Er, take a look at these diagrams. Can you understand them?”

Xiao Er flipped through the pages for a moment.

“Master, I understand. This diagram says leafy greens should be watered once a day.

And this one says each seedling should be spaced 20 cm apart…”

Hearing Xiao Er correctly explain several diagrams, Lin Chu confirmed it could indeed understand.

She returned to her room, used her fully charged phone to photograph the entire notebook, and saved a digital copy. Then she handed the printed copy to Xiao Er.

“This is for you. If I ask you to plant something and you don’t know how, just follow the steps in this booklet.”

Xiao Er’s jaw visibly opened in what seemed to be a smile.

It hugged the booklet to its chest and spun around twice on the spot.

“Master gave Xiao Er another gift. Xiao Er is so happy. Thank you, Master.”

Hearing the word “gift,” Lin Chu felt a little guilty.

But seeing Xiao Er so happy, she didn’t want to spoil the moment. She nodded and watched it giggle foolishly in place.

Lin Chu silently reminded herself to bring back a real gift for Xiao Er next time.

Back in her room, Lin Chu changed her clothes and went into the bathroom to wash thoroughly.

Especially her hands, which had been contaminated with organic fertilizer from a compost barrel.

While outside, she couldn’t show too much fussiness.

But once alone, the lingering stench made her a bit disgusted.

Previously, she had no shampoo or body wash—just rinsed with water.

A few days ago, while searching the residential zone, she had found several bottles of shampoo and body wash that had been soaked in floodwater.

Now, she eagerly pulled out a bottle of body wash and used her “Turn Trash Into Treasure” ability on it.

[Item: Clean-All Body Wash
Rarity: C
Item Description: Apply and rinse off to say goodbye to all dirt~]

It was like someone handed her a pillow when she was dozing off—just what she needed.

Lin Chu delightedly pumped two doses of body wash, lathered herself up, and coated her whole body.

Then she poured clean water over herself from head to toe.

As the foam washed away, she felt every pore on her body breathe freely.

She had never felt so clean.

The ever-present stench had vanished, replaced by an unprecedented feeling of freshness.

And—importantly—there was no added fragrance.

What a great item!

In this apocalypse, where everyone was struggling just to survive, going out with a scented body would only invite unnecessary trouble.

A fragrance-free body wash was just what she needed.

She quickly picked up the bottle to check its size—200ml.

Not much. She’d have to use it sparingly.

After finishing her bath, Lin Chu watched the 20- and 40-minute cooldowns and used her ability on two more bottles of flood-soaked body wash.

Unfortunately, both only turned into ordinary scented body wash.

She didn’t dare use the scented ones on herself.

Instead, she let Xiao Er use them to clean things inside the shelter.

Lin Chu didn’t get to enjoy peace for long after returning before Wang Rui came knocking again.

This time, people from Base No. 1 had arrived.

Even before Wang Rui knocked, Lin Chu had heard the roar of helicopters overhead.

She had already changed clothes and prepared to go out.

Sure enough, Wang Rui came shortly after.

This time, he had brought four buckets of sludge for her in advance.

As usual, she paid him with a packet of bread.

Seeing Lin Chu still traveling light, Wang Rui pressed his lips together and reminded her,

“Doctor Lin, you should bring more supplies with you.”

Lin Chu raised her brow at the unexpected warning and looked at him.

Wang Rui hesitated, then directly told her:

“This time, there’s a good chance you’ll be asked to go to Base No. 1.”

After speaking, he nervously watched Lin Chu.

He knew she didn’t like getting involved in base affairs.

It was already difficult enough to convince her to demonstrate her treatment methods to the people from Base No. 1.

He didn’t expect them to go so far as to ask Mayor Li to send her back with them to Base No. 1.

It was a bold and presumptuous request.

Doctor Lin wasn’t a member of their base—just a collaborator.

They couldn’t make decisions for her.

Mayor Li told him to invite her back first, and then they’d see.

But Wang Rui thought it was best for her to know the situation in advance.

Whether she still wanted to meet with the people from Base No. 1 after that—he left the choice to her.

To his surprise, Lin Chu’s reaction was much calmer than he had anticipated.

She first thanked him for the heads-up, then asked him to wait a moment while she returned to the house and pulled her backpack from her storage space.

Going to Base No. 1 was exactly what she wanted.

Her hidden mission required samples of fish-scale people’s blood and scales.

Those items would definitely be found in Base No. 1, where the fish-scale people were most active.

As she mentally ran through several plans, Lin Chu decided to store Xiao Er, who was standing in the bedroom, into her spatial inventory as well.

Now that the two brothers had been detained by Mayor Li, Xiao Er wasn’t much use here.

But bringing it to Base No. 1 might prove valuable.