Chapter 237

Chapter 237

The Crystal Core Power Plant was officially activated, extending daily power access for the entire base to 8 hours.

Round-the-clock power required credits.

As late November approached, temperatures still hovered around 30 degrees Celsius, though daylight noticeably dwindled.

People who had just survived the extreme heat now faced the uncertainty of the polar night. Many wondered: if they’d survived extreme cold and heat, could they handle this? In comparison, zombies seemed less terrifying...

Sunrise delayed, sunset hastened, with sunrise gradually delayed until it disappeared entirely.

Then, winds began to rise, carrying gray-black dust that blotted out the sky. The base sounded alarms, urging everyone to guard against the dust.

Days later, daytime light dimmed, as if the entire day was shrouded in twilight.

Then, twilight gave way to nightfall, until pitch darkness swallowed everything.

On December 10th, official broadcasts announced the arrival of the polar night.

Polar night’s darkness defied natural day-night rhythms—it felt unnervingly thick, like a black fog enveloping the earth. The visibility of ordinary light sources was drastically reduced.

Lab-tested air samples showed nothing unusual, and Jiang Nian and Gao Xuyang took turns testing with their Superpowers, but nothing strange was detected.

Apart from the darkness, everything seemed normal—yet everyone sensed something lurking in the dark.

Even Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian, who remembered the polar night from their past lives, grew uneasy.

Now that Superpowers had been publicly acknowledged, Jiang Nian stopped holding back, no longer hiding his abilities. Occasionally, he would use Purify across large sections of the farming district, calling it charity work.

Between daily trips to the lab and assisting Gao Xuyang with special *treatments*, his Purify range had expanded to a diameter of 800 meters.

According to the Dog Doctor’s predicted limit from their past life, he was only 200 meters short—he was close.

Once he reached the limit, his Purify energy would peak in purity and stabilize.

Darkness bred instinctive fear, so the Southern City Base raised its alert level to the highest, both to watch for external threats and to prevent internal unrest.

All public lighting remained on 24/7.

As for other daily electricity needs, even without additional purchases, survivors had the basics covered.

In short, while the Southern City Base couldn’t be described as brightly lit during the polar night, it at least allowed survivors to maintain a near-normal life—putting other bases to shame.

Now, the outside world knew that the Southern City Base collected zombie cores for power generation. Other major bases sent scouts to hunt for Medium Crystal Cores, but so far, no second one had been found.

This led some self-righteous ‘visionaries’ to propose:

The existing Medium Crystal Core in the Southern City Base should be rotated among bases so that all could benefit from its energy.

Fortunately, before Department Head Wang had to respond on behalf of the Southern City Base, leaders from other official bases condemned this harebrained sharing scheme. Instead, they suggested:

Each base should pitch in what they could to support the Southern City Base in mass-producing antidotes and, eventually, an antiviral vaccine.

In return, the Southern City Base could dole out antidotes based on contributions from other bases.

The reasonable proposal split opinions.

Regarding the buzz about Medium Crystal Cores outside, South City Base is also keeping tabs on them in hopes of finding more.

Indeed, some clues have been uncovered:

There were reports of a Superpowered individual elsewhere who could absorb others' Superpowers, but they died soon after their power got out—killed by their own teammates.

The Medium Crystal Core itself isn’t particularly powerful; it merely absorbs and releases energy. But this very trait makes others wary, even teammates, making you an easy target.

During a meeting of the 017 Squad, after reviewing the investigation report obtained from Chu Yi, Jiang Nian let out a sigh and said:

"Just like my Purification Superpower, if you don’t lay low, you’ll end up in a lab. Being dangerous but defenseless often leads to a bad end."

Everyone nodded in agreement—this was simply the reality. Even now, some still want to haul Jiang Nian into the lab.

Zhao Lei added:

"Unless you’re extremely cautious or knew from the start that you were special—like developing space manipulation powers and secretly storing things without letting others know—otherwise, I’d have told those close to me immediately."

Revealing one’s Superpower, whether for teaming up or surviving alone, is a crucial survival advantage in this wasteland.

Jiang Nian was both cautious and aware of his uniqueness, which not only saved himself but also helped those around him.

*Woo—*

The alarm siren blared just as the meeting concluded. Leaving the conference room, everyone got back to work.

Heavy weaponry was deployed at every entrance and exit of the base, as well as around the experimental shelters outside the protective walls.

South City Base, sitting on prime resources, naturally became green with envy. This only made troublemakers look even dumber.

Considering animals are more sensitive in the dark, all military dogs were released, patrolling with armed soldiers.

Outsiders sneaking in at night faced even stricter scrutiny.

Cheng Jing’s Superpowered corps, working with Li Cheng, cracked down on security.

Xiao Qi was now practically stuck with Li Shuhui, serving as both a reliable companion and bodyguard.

Whether inside or outside the base, anyone exhibiting abnormal or extreme disruptive behavior could be shot on sight, no questions asked—whether fatally or not depended on the situation.

As it turned out, South City Base’s cautious approach was justified:

Within days of when the long night fell, central satellite broadcasts continuously reported riots in lawless free-for-all bases.

Under the cover of darkness, people looted supplies, killed for loot, or outright seized control of bases. Gang wars among Superpowered teams became frequent.

This is the consequence of lacking order—people will exploit each other for personal gain.

South City Base had its share of would-be troublemakers, but they simply couldn’t get anywhere.

The military’s dominance was restrained—after all, these were their own people. Peaceful resolutions were prioritized, but if unavoidable, efforts were made to minimize fatalities, thus adding to the forced labor ranks.