CHAPTER 24

Speaking of Baobao, its space was only a 100 square meter room so it wasn't possible to safekeep big items. Shao Haoran had only stored basic necessities and most important items in Baobao's space.

Leaving the bank, Shao Haoran knew that he didn't have any other errand he needs to do at this time. Thus, he didn't hesitate to walk towards his house in the base. He had rented this house for a month and was planning to renew at the end of the week when he returns from the mission. But now that he plans to live in Shen Tian's safe zone, there was no need to renew the lease.

The house was located in one of the well-off areas in the base. Although it wasn't as good as Shen Tian's guest room in the safe zone, by the standards of the apocalypse, his house was worth envying for other people in the base.

Arriving at his home, Shao Haoran first washed up. He also dragged Baobao into the bathroom to wash off the dust and dirt on its body. Baobao wasn't all that against bathing, but just too lazy.

After Shao Haoran had taken a bath and disposed of the bloodied clothes he wore in the forest, he then took a look around his home.

"Well, I guess this will be the last time that I'll be staying here."

He then proceeded to take an inventory of the things he owned. For stuff that he considered useful, he asked Baobao to store them in its space. These include food items, clothes, toiletries, and utensils. For other items such as pillows, beddings, blankets, and pots/pans, he packed them all up and put them to the side. He will be selling them off for a few crystal cores at the trade hall tomorrow before he leaves.

There wasn't much to pack so Shen Tian finished fast. It was just in time for dinner. Since he had already stowed away the pots and pans, he decided to eat at the canteen.

"10 crystal cores for a simple meal?", Shao Haoran can't help but marvel at the pricing of the meals in the canteen. He had already started regarding crystal cores as most important after his life and Baobao's life, so 10 crystal cores for a simple meal is quite a hefty price to pay for him now.

However, thinking that this will be the last time, he still opted to eat at the canteen. He bought a portion for himself as well as for Baobao.

"Let's just splurge for this meal."

Tray in hand, he scanned the bustling room, his eyes seeking out familiar faces amidst the crowd.

"Ah, there they are.", Shao Haoran was relieved to his targets.

Yes, Shao Haoran had another purpose for eating at the canteen. He had planned to talk to some people about moving to Shen Tian's base, and he already had a couple of candidates in mind.

Two of the three people he was looking for was eating at a table a bit farther away with their party. These two were members of a different mercenary group when Shen Haoran met them. He was indebted to these two because they had once watched his back during a dangerous situation. However, they parted ways when the two wanted to form a party. Shen Haoran was a lone wolf and he prefers to go about his business alone, so he declined the two's invitation to join the group they were starting.

On the other hand, the last one was lining up at the takeout booth. Perhaps, the man had already planned to eat his meal at home. After all, he already had a wife and a son waiting for him. In fact, he may even be buying their portions as well.

Shao Haoran decided to go to the takeout booth first as it was the closest to him.

"Li Qingshan.", Shao Haoran called out to the man to get his attention.

"Shao Haoran!" Li Qingshan happily acknowledged his friend. "I haven't seen you around for several days now. Have you just got back from a mission?"

"Yes, I just returned today.", Shao Haoran replied.

"Good! It's good that you returned safe. You don't have any injuries, right?"

Li Qingshan scrutinized his friend from head to toe. Shao Haoran usually have the habit of not letting anyone know if he's hurt.

"No, I'm perfectly fine.", Shao Haoran chuckled. He can feel the genuine care from Li Qingshan. "By the way, do you have time to drop by my house later?"

"Huh? Is something wrong?", Li Qingshan became nervous at Shao Haoran's invitation. Truth be told, it's very rare for Shao Haoran to invite people into his home. He's a lone wolf so he doesn't like it when people stay a long time in his territory. Even if he is Shao Haoran's good friend, he will get kicked out of his house if he overstayed his welcome. With that in mind, Li Qingshan thought that something bad happened for Shao Haoran to proactively invite him to his house.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I just have something to discuss with you.", Shao Haoran helplessly assuaged Li Qingshan's fears. "Do you have time?"

"Yes, I can come by your house later after dinner. Is that okay?"

"That's perfectly fine.", Shao Haoran nodded. "Okay, I won't hold you up any longer. I still need to talk to Fang Cheng and Mo Jun."

"Okay, go ahead. Let's talk after dinner."

Shao Haoran then approached the two other friends he had planned to talk to.

"Hey, Fang Cheng, Mo Jun, mind if I take a seat?"

"Shao Haoran!", both men exclaimed upon seeing him. The other members in the party also nodded at Shao Haoran as they know that he was friends with their party leaders.

"Glad that you returned safe and sound from your mission!", Fang Cheng slapped Shao Haoran's back in happiness. "So how was it?"

Shao Haoran placed his meal on the table and took a scoop to eat first before answering the man.

"Well, it looks like the west forest side will soon develop a zombie horde if we leave it as it is."

The sudden news dampened the mood of everyone on the table. What they fear the most is when a scattered zombie group come together to form a horde. A horde has more firepower than scattered zombie groups, after all. There's also the high chance that a horde will have a controlling zombie, which makes it trickier to fight against.

"How many months do we have before it becomes a horde?"

"Probably around two to three months if the zombies that gathered there doesn't decrease."

"Shit!", one of the men at the table cursed. "We're going to be sent on a subjugation mission soon, then?"

The table bustled into chitchat as everyone guessed how the base higher ups will react to the news.

Shao Haoran, the one who delivered the news, stayed silent and allowed them to talk to each other. Only when Fang Cheng or Mo Jun cued him in that he responded with his thoughts.

After dinner, Fang Cheng and Mo Jun's party and Shao Haoran were about to part ways, but Shao Haoran stopped the two and talked to them.

"I'll be leaving the base tomorrow.", Shao Haoran revealed. "And it's for good."

"Huh?", the two men were shocked at his words.

"If you have the time later, you can come by my house and we can talk about it.", Shao Haoran preemptively spoke up to block their words. "I plan to talk to Li Qingshen as well so let's talk things over all at once."

Feng Cheng and Mo Jun looked at each other. They felt Shao Haoran's seriousness, so they nodded to each other.

"Okay, we'll come by your house after we leave our stuff at our house.", Feng Cheng replied.