Besides the wind making wooshes, there were no other sounds.
After the bad guys were mummified, I picked out their nucleus all together.
I'd take a look at them later and give them to researchers to study or maybe hand them over to capable people wanting to increase their powers.
I faced the kids, now all gathered together and standing up.
"I-I-I-"
...Why was I so bad at speaking when I was young?!
But the children didn't say anything and stared at me.
"I-I'm here to save you guys..." my voice became a whisper towards the end.
This mentality wasn't good, I wished that my body would turn back into an adult. But that took a day at the very least.
For five minutes, it was quiet. The wind blew and some kids started to shudder.
It was starting to get cold even for me. Truly, the apocalypse didn't have great weather or climate.
Finally, one small child got up and ran towards the large bonfire.
Dirty-faced, skinny, small, this child couldn't be more than 7 years old.
But despite his condition, he looked very happy.
He spread his hands and scooted as close as he could. He held his hands out to the fire. This kid had a genuine smile on his face.
Quickly, others got up and sat around the fire.
I silently put up an air barrier to block the cold air.
As it got warmer, the children started to fall asleep.
I kept watch all night, adding oxygen when the fire was fizzling out.
Some stayed awake. They were vigilant. Even 3 year olds...
The next day started with a bright blue sky with clouds drifting slowly.
I stretched and took out some fruits for breakfast.
Noticing the hungry gazes, I set out 10 large sheets on the ground and set up a huge picnic.
"L-let's eat."
Everyone dived in so quick and in an instant everything was devoured.
And they still looked hungry.
This saddened me. I knew what it was like to starve, but for children to know it at such a young age, it was sad.
"I-I'm not a bad guy. I-I come from a place where everything is, is still like how it was b-before the apocalypse..."
=.=
Their silent stares made me feel extremely nervous.
"I-I can take you there... A-are you guys willing to come with me?"
Of course, it was the best choice, but I couldn't just take them forcibly.
Now, I heard them talk.
Not to me, but to themselves.
"He gave us food. He should have more."
"We can't take care of ourselves. We should go."
"This kid seems foolish, he should be telling the truth."
"Yeah, would such a powerful person not have the strength to do anything he wants?"
"It's a bit shady. Maybe he wants to use us for experiments?"
...These were just a few of the conversations going on.
God, these kids were mature.
One older girl, designated the leader as that group came forward.
"Will you provide food and shelter?"
"Y-yes."
"Will your place have adults who do the same things as they have done?" she pointed to the sack of skins.
"U-uh, no. We have rules and laws."
"Ok, we're going to follow you."
"Ok! I-I'm Shui Yu!"
"I'm Yu Yunxin, nice to meet you."
I continued, telling them my plan.
"I-I have a space. And it's big enough. There's a large house in it and it's like a real world. Um, so when you guys go in, please don't bully the animals. There's a lot of bathrooms and you guys can wash up and change clothes. There's lots of food too, so you guys can eat that. If anything goes wrong, you can yell for me."
I rambled a bit, but I got the point across.
I would travel back while they stayed in my space.
I'd have to cut my vacation short, but this was very important.
If needed, I could take another vacation later on.
One by one, each kid got in and they silently marveled at the small world.
Whew, now that that was done, I needed to find my way back.
Of course, I wasn't going back by myself.
I didn't know the way anyway.
My core device, this wonderful & ingenious tool came in handy at times like this.
There was a navigator, but I was still bad with those.
So the best function for me was the call function!
Diriring. Diriring.
The call connected.
"Hello? Chief?"
"Hey, Secretary Jing, I'm bringing some people back home. Can you prepare a building for them? And can you send some people to bring me back?"
"Alright, I'll send a team of 4 over. I'll prepare the building. Please come back safely, although it would be impossible for you not to," Secretary Jing chuckled at his own joke.
"Oh, and Chief? You sound different, are you in your child form?"
"Sigh, yes I am. I stuttered in front of the kids I'm bringing back. I was so embarrassed..." my face turned hot even thinking about it
"Haha, well, that would be a sight to see. I've contacted the team and since your location isn't too far, they'll get there in 5 hours. Please wait until then."
"En, thanks."
So I waited for 5 hours. It was awkward to talk with the kids, so I stayed out and caught up on webnovels.
While I was excited that the main character in one of my favorite novels had finally shown his talent, 4 hours had passed and the team already arrived.
They didn't look too surprised at my child form. People knew about it, and Secretary Jing had probably told them.
The four of them were panting heavily, wheezing even.
"*chokes* C-chief, hello! We came as fast as we could!"
I could see that, but there was no need for that...
"Thank you," I flashed them a smile.
These four team members were all speed ability users.
"We can take it easy now. You just tell me the directions, I'll get there in 20 minutes tops. Just tell me when to stop or change directions."
And truly, in less than 20 minutes, by using "Stop" and "That way", we were able to make it.
"Haizz, Chief, we're speed ability users but we can't compare with you at all!"
"If you guys can raise your levels by digesting nuclei, that'd be great. But just training also helps a lot. If you need any help, contact my sister, she's training people, and it's been successful apparently.
One of the four raised their hands like they were in school.
"Yes?"
"She's my teacher! Miss Shui is very good at teaching! I've improved so much over the past few months!"
We chatted about things going on and we reached the topic of jobs.
"These days, some people are complaining, more like whining since the jobs they worked for aren't necessary in the base. The scientists, entertainers, and office workers are fine. But some already in their 40s or older don't know what to do."
This was an issue. It's not like people could laze around all day. They wouldn't get income, they wouldn't be able to live to their fullest.
"I'll make an announcement by the end of this week. Zombie reagents actually make our lives longer, about 200 years. So they have lots of time to find something to do."
The barrier was reached, so I went through the identification process.
Diriring. Diriring.
It was Ge.
"Ge, do you need anything?"
"No, I just received word from Secretary Jing. You're back? We're going to celebrate Shui Bao's 100th day in 11 days. I was hoping you'd be back from your vacation soon, and you're already here, so I thought I'd let you know."
"She's already that old?"
I heard Ge laughing and smiled.
"Anyways, Xiao Lai is preparing almost everything along with my mother-in-law. They get along so well together, sometimes I wonder who's the son here. Well, they get along like bosom friends."
"It's nice to hear that, I'll definitely be there. Thank you for inviting me."
"Mhm, alright, bye then!"
What a great day!
I let the kids come out when we were nearing my office.
I said goodbye to the escort team and we squeezed into the building.
Now they all looked clean and sharp.
Later when I checked the space, I would find that the food pantry held nothing. Nothing was spared.
Secretary Jing was busy with something, so an assistant was sent to us.
The assistant led us to one of the buildings and calculated.
"There are 61 kids, this apartment has 5 floors left, so that's 10 rooms. Do they require a caregiver? We can call up some volunteers."
"That's good. And for volunteers, they should be teenagers. Not loud or outgoing, but gentle. Maybe boys who have younger siblings."
The kids most likely had trauma. Towards adults and towards women.
"And we can just pay them. I have enough points and nuclei."
-----------------
Soon after the children were situated, I went back to the office to catch up on anything I needed to know about.
Secretary Jing said that there wasn't anything major and that after some big issues were dealt with we wouldn't have to work as hard anymore.
"...There might be one more big issue I want to add."
"Oh? Do tell. Guessing you, Chief, you want to make another base?"
"Yes, for the refugees and those who I bring in from now on."
"Are e going to accept all of them?"
"No, it's selfish, but I only want to invite children or those that have potential. For those with powers already, depending on their character, we will invite them to live with us."
"Then will we turn everyone else away?"
"Yes, we'll give them enough supplies ad erase their memories. There might be special circumstances, but that's my plan."
"Then it's set, I'll call up some workers. This is a good opportunity for the job issue. The construction workers were complaining."
"We also have to build a prison right? Let's talk about that with the representatives in charge of that..."
----------------
The day was over, I was at home cooking.
Xiao Lai was happy to see me and gushed about Ah Bao's 100th day.
He had so much planned, I didn't know if there would be enough time in a day to go through all of them.
"By the way, Di Li Feng asked for a favor from you."
"Oh? Is his show doing well?"
"Yeah, and the rest of his idol group members are dong well too. Uh, and this favor has to do something with the show..."
"Don't tell me-"
"He wants you to be the target single. You've heard about it from Jing Ge right? For his show, Di Li Feng needs a famous person! But so far, it's been minor celebrities. The show doesn't necessarily need a happy ending, but he needs a big hit!"
"Um.."
Then a familiar voice cut in.
"Can I participate too?"
Xia Jiayi...
"Yeah! Dating is still ok for adults and minors! Only sex is illegal!"
Xiao Lai was enthusiastic.
"It's going to be fun! Xia Jiayi, you don't have anything to do right? And Yu Ge, you don't have much work left, I heard from Secretary Jing. The big deals are almost done with, get them done in 2 weeks, then we can celebrate Ah Bao's 100th day and then go filming!"
Di Li Feng had done a lot for Ge.
He found a job for him, was a good senior, and even brought Ge to the hospital after realizing that he was about to give birth.
The request was a bit strange, but it was doable.
Xiao Lai and Xia Jiayi looked expectantly at me.
Puppy eyes tactic...
"Ok, I'll do it. I owe him a lot after all."