Turtwig looked at Lu Li in confusion. It didn’t feel much of anything about the world Lu Li had mentioned.
Lu Li helplessly patted the little guy’s shell and comforted it. “Alright, get some rest.”
Hearing this, Turtwig slapped the floor in dissatisfaction.
It didn’t like these towering buildings. It preferred the mountains and wilderness, with soil beneath its feet and the steady feeling of standing firmly on solid ground.
Realizing that the mall really wasn’t suitable to stay in anymore, Lu Li decided to speed up his exploration of Golden Residential Complex.
Although the villa district in Anke Residential Complex was comfortable to live in, it wasn’t safe. One careless move and they could be surrounded by Zubat, so moving toward Golden Residential Complex was still the better option.
“Indeedee, I’ll have to trouble you to look after things at home. I’m heading out for a bit.” After saying that, Lu Li left with Beedrill.
Lu Li left both Little Beauty and Turtwig in Indeedee’s care. He figured Indeedee probably enjoyed taking care of children, since that was one of the natural tendencies of the Indeedee species.
Lu Li found Jun Shutong and said directly, “I’m planning to explore the Golden Residential Complex right now.”
Jun Shutong’s eyes lit up. Of course she supported Lu Li exploring Golden Residential Complex. If it turned out to be relatively safe over there, she even wanted to relocate the camp to Golden Residential Complex.
“I’ll arrange some manpower for you right away,” Jun Shutong said hurriedly.
Lu Li suddenly asked, “By the way, who’s the captain of the Scavenging Team now?”
“Huang Jiafei,” Jun Shutong replied.
Hearing the name, Lu Li raised an eyebrow. Among the people who had lifted off the water lid together back then, nearly all of them had survived, and some had even risen into the camp’s upper ranks.
Only Old Xu had taken the wrong path and been knocked back down to the bottom.
Yao Xia added from the side, “Huang Jiafei was the one who secretly reported Old Xu’s embezzlement to me.”
“I remember those two were pretty close, weren’t they?” Lu Li asked in surprise.
Yao Xia reported, “Huang Jiafei seems to respect you quite a lot, sir. He’s also already signed up in advance and hopes to transfer to Juzi University with you.”
“Then he really is worth cultivating properly.” Lu Li approved of that.
As far as Lu Li was concerned, loyalty mattered more than ability.
Jun Shutong quickly arranged the search team. This time, Lu Li only brought two Scavenging Teams, a total of twenty people.
The group was led by Huang Jiafei, while the squad leader was Yang Rui, who had only recently left Atonement Camp.
“Stay beside me for a while,” Lu Li said to Huang Jiafei. He had always taken fairly good care of his own people, so he decided to reserve the safest position for Huang Jiafei.
Hearing this, gratitude welled up in Huang Jiafei’s expression. He nodded heavily, then obediently stayed on Lu Li’s left side.
As for why not the right?
Because Beedrill was there.
The twenty people filed out through Emergency Exit No. 2 and marched in force into Golden Residential Complex.
Golden Residential Complex had a total of twelve buildings, including three office buildings. Since it was an older residential complex, there were quite a few supermarkets and vegetable markets around.
As soon as they entered the Golden Residential Complex, Lu Li ordered everyone to spread out around him as the center and search for any Pokémon or survivors that might be hiding nearby.
The two most common kinds of Pokémon in the residential complex were Raticate and Pikachu. Pikachu were relatively safe, because they rarely attacked humans without provocation and instead liked lying on electrical boxes to absorb electricity.
However, it had already been a month since the apocalypse began, and the power grid had long since gone dead. For the Pichu family, generators were the real strategic resource.
As for the Raticate—
After Lu Li had Beedrill warn off a few ill-intentioned Raticate, the group was never attacked by Raticate again while inside the residential complex.
“The Raticate in this residential complex all belong to the same group. Fortunately, they bully the weak and fear the strong, and they haven’t joined forces to deal with Little Yellow,” Lu Li thought with some relief.
The Raticate colony had plenty of ways to obtain food. Although they also hunted humans, they mainly targeted those who had no ability to resist.
With Beedrill protecting Lu Li and his group, the Raticate naturally wouldn’t go out of their way to attack them.
After all, even if they managed to defeat Beedrill, the benefits they gained wouldn’t be enough to make up for the energy expended in such a fierce battle.
Huang Jiafei jogged over to Lu Li and reported, “Leader, we found a small group of survivors in Building F. There are approximately a hundred of them.”
Lu Li hadn’t expected them to make a discovery so quickly.
“Let’s go meet those survivors,” Lu Li said.
The two soon arrived at Building F.
Building F was a residential apartment building, and most of the survivors lived in their own homes. The leader of this survivor camp was an elderly man.
When Lu Li saw the old man, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.
In the apocalypse, elderly people generally found it difficult to become camp leaders because of their declining physical strength. In an environment without rules to protect people, individual combat strength was extremely important.
Upon seeing Lu Li, the old man hurriedly asked respectfully, “You must be the second leader of Dawn Camp, correct?”
“You’ve heard of me?” Lu Li asked in surprise.
The old man nodded and explained with a smile, “Of course. Some survivors from our building visited the mall before and exchanged information with the survivors there. That’s how we learned about your accomplishments, sir.”
“Actually, you’re quite famous throughout the Golden Residential Complex. Not only have the survivors in our building heard of you, but even the leader of Golden Hall knows about you.”
Huang Jiafei quickly leaned toward Lu Li’s ear and explained, “Sir, I’ve heard that Golden Hall is the largest survivor settlement in the Golden Residential Complex. Its population is roughly equal to that of Dawn Camp’s two bases combined.”
Huang Jiafei knew that Lu Li rarely involved himself in the camp’s daily affairs. Worried that Lu Li might lose face in front of outsiders, he had already prepared himself to step in with explanations whenever necessary.
Lu Li was initially surprised that Golden Hall was hiding so many survivors, but what concerned him more at the moment was the overall distribution of power within the Golden Residential Complex.
“I need information about the demon beasts in the Golden Residential Complex,” Lu Li said.
“We don’t have much information. I suggest you visit the leader of Golden Hall. He should be the person who knows the Golden Residential Complex best.”
“All I know are a few places that should be avoided. For example, there’s a residential building to the north where a fire broke out some time ago. People have gone into that building since then, but none of them ever returned.”
“Then there’s the small lake on the eastern side of the residential complex. That place is an absolute forbidden zone. Anyone who enters is almost certain to die. They all end up being eaten by the demon beasts in the lake, without exception.”
“Lastly… I’ve heard that Golden Hall is protected by demon beasts. That’s why the vast majority of survivors in the residential complex have joined Golden Hall.”
The old man didn’t conceal anything and told Lu Li practically everything he knew.
“Thank you, sir.” Lu Li then turned to Huang Jiafei and instructed, “Give them one-third of the supplies we just collected. Consider it payment for the information.”
Hearing this, the old man didn’t refuse. Instead, he happily accepted the food.
In the apocalypse, food was unquestionably a hard currency. No survivor would refuse such a gift, especially when the resources in their building were already extremely scarce.
Huang Jiafei thoughtfully reminded him, “Boss, I heard these survivors grow vegetables on their rooftop, and quite a lot of them too. Should we trade for some fresh vegetables to bring back?”
Dawn Camp originally had a place where vegetables were grown as well, but it was over at Anke Residential Complex. Because of the Zubat, that residential complex was no longer safe, so naturally, nobody went there to grow vegetables anymore.
Lu Li, who had been about to leave, stopped when he heard this.
He asked, “Sir, we’d like to trade some supplies for vegetables. Would that be possible?”
“Vegetables aren’t cheap,” the old man reminded him meaningfully.
In the apocalypse, fresh vegetables were worth almost as much as meat.
“We can negotiate the price,” Lu Li said hurriedly. He had intended to conduct a fair trade from the beginning and had no intention of using his superior strength to pressure anyone. As for the vegetables being expensive, while Dawn Camp suffered from a long-term food shortage, it had no shortage of supplies in the short term.
Hearing that Lu Li was willing to trade fairly, the old man nodded without hesitation.
“Then there’s no problem.”
Unlike Dawn Camp, their settlement was suffering from a short term food shortage.
The vegetables grown by the survivors of Building F were mainly cabbage and Chinese cabbage, along with some chives.
Lu Li decided to take all three, with particular emphasis on the chives. Chives were quite valuable in Dawn Camp, especially since most of the people controlling the resources were those rough men from the Scavenging Team.
Those guys absolutely loved chives.
Once the transaction was complete, Lu Li led the group toward Golden Hall, which the old man had mentioned.
Before the apocalypse, the so-called Golden Hall had actually been known as Golden Foot Spa, a somewhat shady foot massage parlor that offered suggestive services—what people commonly referred to as a “half-service” massage establishment.
Above Golden Foot Spa was an office building, which was precisely why Golden Hall could accommodate more than a thousand people.
With Beedrill leading the way and intimidating any potential threats, Lu Li and his group encountered no Pokémon attacks throughout their journey.
When the survivors of Golden Hall got a clear look at the Beedrill beside Lu Li, they wisely reported his arrival to their camp leader.
The leader of Golden Hall was named Jin Duoduo. Before the apocalypse, he had been the owner of the foot massage parlor.
“Are you sure there’s a hornet demon beast following him? And not that he’s following the hornet demon beast?” Jin Duoduo asked cautiously.
The subordinate reporting to him nodded and assured him, “The hornet demon beast is definitely following him. Those rumors are true. The leader of Dawn Camp really has tamed a demon beast.”
Jin Duoduo muttered in disbelief, “To think someone could actually tame a demon beast, and a dangerous one like a hornet demon beast at that.”
He knew all too well how terrifying those hornet demon beasts were. A swarm of them had settled in a nearby park, and he had personally witnessed their ferocity when they unleashed their Poison Sting move.
Those poisonous needles, raining down like a torrential downpour, were practically comparable to a Gatling gun spraying bullets. Worse still, they were venomous.
A single hornet demon beast could slaughter everyone in Golden Hall, and even the gun he possessed wouldn’t be enough to stop it.
Jin Duoduo quickly made up his mind and ordered in a low voice, “Tell the brothers to bring their weapons. We’re going to welcome that extraordinary man who can command a demon beast.”
Apart from the police-issued pistol he possessed, his subordinates also had two homemade firearms. These weapons might be useless against the hornet demon beast, but they would certainly be effective against a human like Lu Li.
Meanwhile, the group waiting outside Golden Hall was already growing impatient. The hot-tempered Huang Jiafei was particularly displeased.
After all, their boss had a hornet demon beast by his side. Why couldn’t Golden Hall show a little more respect to the hornet demon beast?
“Boss, should I go hurry them up? I’m starting to suspect they’re deliberately leaving us standing out here,” Huang Jiafei complained, his tone carrying a hint of resentment toward Golden Hall.
Lu Li raised his wrist and checked his watch. Seeing that only seven minutes had passed, he was speechless.
“Let’s wait a little longer. You should at least give them ten minutes to react,” Lu Li grumbled.
Chided by Lu Li, Huang Jiafei obediently nodded.
After all, if his boss could afford to wait, then naturally, he could wait too.
Lu Li found the situation amusing, but he didn’t blame Huang Jiafei. After all, Huang Jiafei was only upset because he felt his boss was being treated unfairly.
A short while later, Jin Duoduo, a slightly overweight man wearing a gold necklace, approached them surrounded by a group of followers.
The moment he saw Lu Li, Jin Duoduo’s face lit up with an enthusiastic smile.
“You must be Lu Li, right? The amazing fellow who managed to tame a demon beast?” Jin Duoduo asked flatteringly.
“Hello, Leader Jin Duoduo.” Lu Li extended his right hand in greeting.
Jin Duoduo hurriedly reached out with both hands and clasped Lu Li’s right hand.
“Just call me Jin Duoduo. Please, come inside. Sorry to have kept you waiting.”
As Jin Duoduo warmly welcomed Lu Li, he cautiously observed the Beedrill beside him.
Under Jin Duoduo’s guidance, the two went up to the third floor and entered an incredibly luxurious private room.
Before the apocalypse, the third floor had housed a business KTV, which was also owned by Jin Duoduo.
Once Lu Li had taken his seat, a group of professional KTV hostesses entered carrying trays filled with fruit, snacks, and other refreshments.
After everything had been served, Jin Duoduo asked attentively, “Brother Lu, does anyone catch your eye? Would you like to choose a few?”
“There’s no need.” Lu Li stopped Jin Duoduo from entertaining him according to the usual customs of a business KTV.
Seeing this, Jin Duoduo didn’t insist, because he could tell that Lu Li was the “respectable” type.
“Brother Lu, may I ask what brings you to our Golden Hall?” Jin Duoduo probed again.
Lu Li made no attempt to conceal his intentions and replied openly.
“I’m here to investigate the situation in the Golden Residential Complex. There’s a group of extremely dangerous demon beasts over at Anke Residential Complex, so I’m planning to relocate my camp here. That’s why I’d like to learn about the distribution of demon beasts throughout the Golden Residential Complex.”
Hearing this, a solemn look flashed across Jin Duoduo’s eyes. His first instinct was that Lu Li intended to compete with him for territory.
However, considering how straightforward Lu Li had been, Jin Duoduo could only bite the bullet and say, “I don’t know much about the other areas of Golden Residential Complex, but life has been quite difficult for those of us at Golden Hall.”
“Brother Lu, have you heard anything about our Golden Hall? For example, that the people here are actually being kept as livestock by demon beasts?” Jin Duoduo asked cautiously, testing his reaction.
Lu Li nodded. “I’ve heard similar rumors.”
“Actually, it’s nothing unusual. Brother Jin, you might not know this, but Dawn Camp was also once kept as livestock by demon beasts.”
Lu Li deliberately revealed this embarrassing detail about his own camp to ease Jin Duoduo’s concerns and let him know that neither he nor Dawn Camp was particularly averse to being kept under the control of demon beasts.
Hearing this, Jin Duoduo was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected that even Lu Li, someone capable of commanding a demon beast, had once been kept as livestock by other demon beasts.
Curious, Jin Duoduo asked, “Could you tell me what kind of demon beast it was?”
Lu Li replied, “A Ghost demon beast.”
The moment he heard those words, Jin Duoduo’s face turned deathly pale. Even the fingers wrapped around his wineglass unconsciously tightened.
As a member of Dihui City’s privileged class, Jin Duoduo understood the dangers and horrors of Ghost demon beasts far better than ordinary people.
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