31 The Fantasists

Easily obtaining an A-level ability, Noah was in great spirits at the moment. Seeing Noah produce a large cake as if by magic, the couple was so astonished that they were speechless, the man pointing at Noah stammering without being able to utter a word. "Brother, you, you, you....."

Noah busied himself searching around the house and soon found a set of men's clothes. The clothes were both torn and dirty.

"This will do."

He immediately changed into the dirty clothes and pants.

"Quite a good fit."

Then, he took out three boxes of instant noodles from the spatial expanse and placed them on the ground.

"Your daughter is also an awakener, capable of controlling dreams. With a little practice, she can master it. If you don't want to die, it's best to find a safe place to hide for the next half month."

After saying this, Noah turned around, left the cabin, and quickly joined the throng of refugees, soon disappearing from view.

Only then did the family of three in the house come to their senses. The man hurriedly rushed out the door to look around but could no longer see Noah. He quickly folded back and closed the door of the house.

Faced with this sudden, enormous gift, the man's eyes instantly reddened. He didn't even know the other's name. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that even selling their entire family wouldn't equal the value of one box of instant noodles, let alone three whole boxes and an additional cake. The kindness was too great, too heavy.

The man, with a choked voice, said to his daughter, "Xian Xian, you must remember the appearance of the person just now. No matter what, in the future, you must repay his kindness, understand?" The girl nodded seriously, her expression resolute.

At this moment, Noah had already honorably become a refugee, following the vast crowd of refugees heading towards the Golden Dragon Reservoir. Their group numbered seventy to eighty people, and occasionally others would join, increasing the size of the team.

There was still some distance to the Golden Dragon Reservoir. Although it was a wilderness, there were still many zombies along the way. It was relatively safer to travel in a group than to move alone.

Young and middle-aged men spontaneously took the lead in resisting the zombies. With strength in numbers, they could easily handle the occasional zombie under their mass tactic. It wasn't until the evening that the crowd barely reached the Jinlong Reservoir.

By then, a large crowd of several hundred people had already gathered at the foot of the mountain surrounding the reservoir. Roadblocks and watchtowers were set up at the intersection of the ring mountain road, and a line of fully armed individuals equipped with firearms was guarding the checkpoint. The refugees were squeezing towards the inside.

"Don't push, one by one for inspection, one in after one is checked. Whoever doesn't follow the command, I will kill him, damn it," a burly man with a strong build cursed impatiently at the entrance.

"Line up, damn it!" he said, and then fired a few shots into the air.

Under the deterrence of the gunfire, the crowd gradually restored order, forming a long, orderly queue. After passing the inspection, they could enter the checkpoint. The inspection was actually just a cursory search of the body and confiscation of weapons, which didn't take much time.

Noah noticed that the burly man who fired the shots had two lines of small text above his head:

[Ability: Smell Tracking E]

[Wealth Value: 300]

The burly man was also an awakened, and although his ability level was somewhat low, he could remember the smell of zombies, thus tracking them by scent, easily identifying those in the crowd infected by the zombie virus. Placing him to guard the checkpoint was indeed fitting for his skills.

After some thought, Noah jogged up to the burly man, patted him on the shoulder, and handed over a pack of cigarettes from his spatial storage.

"Bro, it's a small gesture of goodwill."

Without thinking, the burly man grabbed the cigarettes and pocketed them. It was a valuable item, as a pack of cigarettes could be traded for three pounds of pork on the island.

"The kid knows his stuff, go on in, you don't need to line up for the inspection."

"Hey, thanks, bro."

Thus, Noah successfully skipped the queue for inspection and, most importantly, casually copied an ability. His proficiency in plundering abilities also reached 80%. After copying two more abilities, he would be able to upgrade.

Within half an hour, everyone had been checked. Those carrying the virus were executed on the spot, and the infected, regardless of age, were all gathered together and escorted to the dam. A cargo ship was docked by the reservoir, and the refugees were herded into the cargo hold.

As the ship set off, it headed towards a small island in the center of the reservoir. In the dim cargo hold, the refugees whispered among themselves.

"Do you think we're going to be taken as forced labor?"

"Even if we are, as long as there's food to eat, it's better than starving to death or being eaten by zombies. I'm willing to work as labor."

"Let's be realistic; it's not feasible to expect free support. It's inevitable that we'll have to work. Working eight hours a day with weekends off is acceptable to me. If it's schedule, then the conditions must not be poor. At least we should eat meat once every two days."

"We must negotiate our terms from the start, including living conditions. They don't have to be luxurious, but at least nutritionally balanced. Let's unify our stance and be firm in our negotiations. We can't afford to easily concede, or it'll be difficult to negotiate terms later."

In less than half an hour, everyone had been checked, and those carrying the virus were executed on the spot. Regardless of age, those infected were gathered together and escorted to the dam.

A cargo ship was docked at the reservoir's edge, and the refugees were herded into the cargo hold. As the ship set off, it headed towards a small island in the center of the reservoir.

In the dim cargo hold, the refugees whispered among themselves.

"Do you think we'll be taken to be used as labor?"

"Even if it's labor, as long as there's food, it's better than starving to death. And we don't have to worry about being eaten by zombies. I'm willing to work as labor."

"Realistically, they can't just keep us for free. We'll have to work to some extent. I can accept working five days with two days off, eight hours a day. If it's a 996 schedule, then the conditions can't be poor. At least we should get meat every two days."

"We need to negotiate our conditions from the start. The living conditions can't be too bad. The food doesn't have to be luxurious, but it should be nutritionally balanced. Let's unify our stance and be firm. We can't afford to give in easily, or it'll be hard to negotiate terms later."

"Right?" everyone agreed, finding the rationale sound. "We have the numbers; we have the leverage to negotiate."

Hearing the crowd's indignant rhetoric, Noah couldn't help but twitch his mouth in amusement.

How naive these people were.

Not to mention the awakened ones in charge.

Didn't they see that everyone had guns? A single volley could end any talk of conditions. To be treated as human at all would be a blessing.

These people, accustomed to peace and prosperity, were severely rigid in their thinking. Even now, they were indulging in fantasy.

Noah simply leaned against the cabin wall, closing his eyes to rest. Listening more was an insult to his intelligence. Not to mention the managers here, even he felt his blood pressure rise.

"This comrade, don't you want to share your thoughts? If you have anything to say, speak up. I'll summarize everyone's demands to facilitate the upcoming negotiations," a man with glasses pushed his frames and asked Noah.

Noah waved his hands dismissively: "No, no, you educated folks know best. I'm just a layman and won't meddle."

The man with glasses looked at Noah disdainfully, then stood up and loudly said, "Now, I'll summarize our collective demands. If there's anything missing, feel free to add."

"Firstly, regarding accommodation, we request separate dormitories for men and women, with married couples hoping for couple dorms."

"For food, two meals a day, with at least one meal being satisfying and including meat."

"For entertainment..."