Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Bai Jiu walked briskly into Huo Liangzhou's office.

After the apocalypse, this was his first time stepping into Huo Liangzhou's security company.

The city was scorching hot these days.

Temps had hit over 50 degrees, with the downtown area even reaching 60.

Countless vulnerable people had died of heat or thirst.

This was despite the municipal government's efforts to help citizens by providing water and organizing daytime evacuations to basements and subway stations for shelter.

At Huo Liangzhou's place, though it was daytime, the first floor stayed cooler—kept at around 40 degrees.

Walking in, you'd immediately feel a wave of coolness.

Yes, 40 degrees felt like a relief—compared to 50, it really was.

In the basement, light came through glass, dim but enough to see once your eyes adjusted.

The first floor stayed cooler because they were making ice with saltpeter down there.

Once the ice was made, it was sealed in bags and sent up to different parts of the building.

The planting rooms on the top two floors were left empty because cooling them in this heat was too hard and expensive.

On the lower floors, by eight in the morning, Huo's security team was already at work tending to the plants, watering them.

Then came the ice production, to keep indoor temps from going above 50—otherwise, even hardy crops like potatoes in the planting rooms might die from the heat.

When the apocalypse began, Huo Liangzhou had Wu Di recruit several agricultural experts, especially those who specialized in cold and heat resistance.

Entering the office, Bai Jiu spoke as soon as he saw Huo: "Boss Huo—can you make good on that food promise?"

Huo replied, "My word is good."

"It's ready. Have your people come get it. Liang Chuan, take Third Master Bai to pick up the supplies."

Third Master Bai held on, holding up a hand. "No rush, no rush. I trust Boss Huo's reputation—you made your name by keeping your word. But I’ve got something else to talk about."

Huo nodded. "Go ahead."

Bai glanced around. "You've hidden Chubby Baby away."

"Quit scheming after my kid, or we can't stay friends," Huo said irritably.

Bai let out a loud laugh. "Your kid’s just too adorable!"

"Let’s get serious. You know about Qi Huai, right? He hung his father up to bleed him dry. As for that mother and son—he’s completely unhinged, making them feed each other pieces of their own flesh every day. Qi Huai has totally lost it, but his divine messenger makes him terrifyingly powerful and unpredictable. Still, water and food can drive people mad. You and yours have bad blood with Qi Huai—what’s your move?" Third Master Bai asked, suddenly serious.

Huo gave him a look. "You must’ve tried your luck already. How did it go?"

Third Master Bai sighed. "Like feeding meat to a dog—nothing came of it."

"I sent three people—one was a trusted aide, and the other two were peripheral members. Only the one who really looked up to me brought the water back. The other two were already brainwashed, including the trusted aide," White Eagle explained.

Huo Liangzhou nodded. "If they've eaten their supplies, those with weak willpower can easily be brainwashed."

"This must be the Divine Messenger's ability. If it were just about survival without self-respect, you could still go. But Qi Huai isn't a good man. Honestly, my young master treated the Qi family well, but as you saw, that whole family would do anything to kill him," Huo Liangzhou said.

Third Master Bai sighed. "It's too hard. Food is tough to gather. I'd like to take a look at your planting room. If possible, we should rely on ourselves. Being controlled by others, unable to control our own lives or deaths—what's the point of living? Might as well die and be done with it."

Huo Liangzhou replied, "Alright. Considering you helped me get rid of Chen Feng, we might even work together in the future."

Qi Mo walked around the basement and returned to the first floor, just in time to see Huo Liangzhou and Third Master Bai stepping out of the office.

Third Master Bai spotted the young master holding Chubby Baby and immediately brightened. "Hey, Chubby Baby, do you remember Uncle?"

As soon as White Eagle spoke, the chubby Baby Yan turned his head away, showing only the back of his head.

"Ah, this kid really doesn’t like me," Third Master Bai joked.

Qi Mo cut in, "It’s because you gave him a creepy smile."

Third Master Bai shot back, "When was my smile ever creepy? Folks in the trade call me the Maitreya Buddha!"

He then led White Eagle through several floors.

"We're growing drought-resistant, heat-tolerant, fast-maturing potatoes that are ready for harvest in about sixty to seventy days. Since the rooms are sealed, we use the drip system every two days. The soil is covered with mulch, leaving only air vents, and fertilizer is added through the drip system," Huo Liangzhou explained.

White Eagle examined the planting room closely. Behind the glass, the potato leaves were already about ten centimeters tall. Ready in two months—quick turnaround.

"Do you still have seeds?" White Eagle asked.

Huo Liangzhou nodded. "Some. If you want them, I'll save some for you. But if you plan to seal your planting room, make sure to check everything—it needs to be airtight. Otherwise, moisture evaporates quickly, and the crops die fast unless they mutate."

"By the way, you must’ve awakened by now. There should be all sorts of psychics around. If you can find one or two wood-element psychics, planting would be much easier," Huo Liangzhou added.

Third Master Bai looked at him in surprise. "What kind of psychic power do you have?"

Huo Liangzhou sighed. "Speed-type. Pretty useless in this heat."

"What about water-element psychics?" White Eagle asked.

Nodding, Huo Liangzhou replied, "Exactly. Find a water-element psychic, and you won’t have to worry about water again."

In his past life, psychics were still rare at this stage.

But things were different now. Huo Liangzhou was certain—not only had they returned, but the God of Dusk must have as well.

Qi Mo accompanied Huo Liangzhou to see Third Master Bai out.

Huo Liangchuan had already arranged for the food to be moved under the courtyard’s carport, waiting for White Eagle’s men to load it up.

It was 9:30 a.m., the sun baking down, the ground hot enough to fry eggs.

The second Chubby Baby stepped outside, he started whining, gesturing frantically toward the house—he wanted back inside. Way too hot.

Faced with the fussy baby, Qi Mo said, "It’s too hot out here. I’ll take the baby back first."

Returning to the building, Huo Liangzhou led Qi Mo back to his room.

The ice hadn’t been placed inside when we first arrived.

Now with two bags of ice brought in, the room feels much cooler.

Placing Chubby on the bed, Qi Mo took out a fan and waved it toward the ice basin, letting the cold air spread freely, neutralizing the excessive heat…

“Qiu Qiu, Snowball, come out quick! Babe, what do we do now? That Qi Huai seems to have gotten really strong,” Qi Mo asked with a serious expression.

Snowball and Qiu Qiu popped up right away, perching next to their brother while watching their dad and pops.

Huo Liangzhou frowned. “This is a pain. My current strength isn’t enough to find the God of Dusk. Offing Qi Huai alone won’t cut it—we need to take down the God of Dusk.”

“But for now, food’s scarce, and Qi Huai still has some use. At least his God’s Apostle can produce food,” Huo Liangzhou explained.

Qi Mo said anxiously, “I’m worried he’ll come after me. We should take him out ASAP.”

“Wait—can’t you drain Qi Huai’s powers? If so, we could reclaim huge tracts of land and take the edge off the apocalypse,” Qi Mo asked.

Hearing their dads’ conversation, Snowball felt kind of useless. Besides fighting, he didn’t have any other skills. As his second brother put it, his brain was busted—maybe he left it in the womb and kept the placenta instead. So he decided not to say anything.

With a couple of meows, Snowball signaled to his dads that they should call him for fights and leave him out of everything else.

Golden Snowball flicked his tail and let out a couple of meows.

The gist was that Qi Huai was still too weak—snatching his powers would be a waste of time. If they were going to act, they should wait until Qi Huai got stronger.

As for Qi Huai trying to make a move against them, just let the younger brother knock some sense into him.

The godhood of the God of Dusk was fragmented at this point—broken, incomplete.

They should wait. He already grabbed one piece—if he could get another, maybe a mid-tier godhood could evolve into a high-tier one. That would be a real prize.

Why break your back when you can just mooch off others? Much easier.

Besides, building a temple is such a hassle. Why not wait for someone else to build one, then just snatch it up? No sweat, no cost.

Snowball had no idea what her second brother was thinking. If she knew, she’d think—classic second bro move!

Qi Huai was in a great mood.

He watched as his father, hanging in the air, bled out in sheer terror. He watched the woman who killed his mother and stole her place writhing in horror, forced to swallow flesh from her own son.

This gave Qi Huai immense satisfaction.

Yet one thing still ate at him—Qi Mo, that idiot who’d always sneered at him before the apocalypse.

If not for Huo Liangzhou’s favor, Qi Mo’s dumb, trusting act would’ve gotten him killed long ago.

But because of Huo Liangzhou, Qi Mo became everyone’s golden boy—praised, envied, adored.

That night was supposed to be his—He’d drugged Huo Liangzhou himself, yet Qi Mo ended up getting lucky.

That made Qi Huai hate Qi Mo’s guts. He dreamed countless times about killing him.

But then Qi Mo got knocked up on the first go, so Qi Huai held off, waiting for the baby to be born.

After all, the child carried Qi family blood. He just missed his shot—his luck was slightly off. He planned to strike after Qi Mo gave birth.

Once Qi Mo was dead, he’d be the closest blood relative. Who better to raise the kid than him?

But Huo Liangzhou protected Qi Mo too well.

He never got a real shot.

Finally, when he had the chance—when the moment came—Qi Mo slipped through his fingers again.

Qi Huai was torn between love and hate toward Huo Liangzhou. He truly liked him—right from the first glance.

His looks, status, and wealth were everything he could want.

But time and again, Huo Liangzhou pushed Qi Huai into hating him.

Now, though, as Qi Huai looked at the hustling crowd bowing their heads, he knew—he had food, water, everything covered.

And he would build an empire of his own. Bet you're regretting things now, Huo Liangzhou?

Once the temple was built and believers multiplied, he could expand across tens of thousands of acres. A measly thousand acres? Pathetic. Resources were still far too scarce.

Lacking faith meant limited control over land and resources. He needed more—more belief—to fuel his rise. He would make Huo Liangzhou regret everything, then come crawling to him.

As for Qi Mo—the child would be taken care of.

As for Qi Mo himself? He’d toss him to the fanatics.

Fanatics grew stronger with time, but their emotions turned volatile—needing an outlet, someone to take it out on. Qi Mo would be perfect for that job.