Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

“In the central area of B City, there’s a military supply transfer center,” Song Changlong said immediately. “When we went to rescue survivors earlier, we took out all the military rations, but there’s still a large stockpile of cotton clothes and blankets in the warehouse. These things won’t spoil. I’ll lead a team to bring them back.”

“Actually, while the food and drinks in the malls are likely gone, there should still be plenty of clothing and other supplies. We could sweep through them along the way,” Ruo Manni suggested.

“I’ve been preparing along the way too,” Ruo Manni added. “I’ve collected a lot of clothing, bedding, and similar items. Brother, find a warehouse for me to unload everything.”

“Unload? Little sister, do you also have spatial abilities like Kexin?” Lin Ruihai and Song Changlong looked at both Ruo Manni and Lin Kexin in surprise.

Like Ruo Manni, Lin Kexin had discovered after her rebirth that the jade pendant housing her soul turned out to contain a life space.

Lin Kexin, being cautious, had claimed early on during the apocalypse that she had spatial abilities, which helped Lin Ruihai store a significant amount of supplies.

Shortly after the apocalypse began, Lin Ruihai had Kexin use her space to load up military rations from the B City military supply center, which had since become their key resource.

Now, Lin Kexin’s space was packed to capacity, leaving only a small area for her to move around.

Since Kexin had already explained her space’s origin, Ruo Manni naturally followed the same narrative.

Lin Ruihai beamed with joy. “How big is it? How much can it hold?”

“About the same size as Kexin’s,” Ruo Manni replied.

Hebrew Adam partially understood their conversation. He could gather they were discussing going to B City to collect supplies and debating how many trucks would be needed to transport everything. Now hearing them mention “space,” he got an idea.

He glanced at Ruo Manni, then pulled out two rings, handing one to Lin Ruihai and the other to Song Changlong.

Lin Ruihai’s ring was embedded with a black spatial stone, while Song Changlong’s had a dark gray one.

Lin Ruihai and Song Changlong were baffled. Why was this imperial second prince suddenly giving them rings? What was his intention? On the other hand, Ruo Manni and Lin Kexin were visibly excited.

Lin Kexin was the first to speak, exclaiming, “These are spatial storage devices. You can use them by linking them to your mental energy!”

Upon hearing the words “spatial storage device,” Lin Ruihai and Song Changlong both gasped, their breaths quickening. They were knowledgeable enough to understand the value of such an item.

Right now, these devices were exactly what they needed. With them, they could save manpower and fuel while collecting far more supplies than they’d otherwise be able to.

However, both men turned their eyes toward Ruo Manni. They understood that such treasures came with obligations, and whether they could accept them depended on her. After all, the favor would ultimately be tied to Ruo Manni.

Neither Lin Ruihai nor Song Changlong were greedy, which pleased Ruo Manni. Truthfully, even if Hebrew Adam hadn’t given them spatial storage devices, she had planned to give them her own. However, hers wouldn’t have been as advanced as his.

Ruo Manni nodded and instructed them, “Hold the ring against your forehead, close your eyes, and try to sense it. When you feel something, focus and grasp it.”

She then turned to Lin Kexin. “You guide Brother Song, and I’ll guide our brother.”

Both men clearly had far stronger mental strength than Wang Miaomiao. With just a little guidance, they quickly succeeded in unlocking their spatial rings.

Ruo Manni “saw” that Lin Ruihai’s spatial ring had an astonishing area of 1,000 square meters!

Such a large spatial ring was priceless. Even Ruo Manni’s largest ring was only 100 square meters in size.

Hebrew Adam gave the rings without hesitation, clearly for her sake.

Ruo Manni couldn’t help but gently squeeze his hand in gratitude, only for him to hold her hand firmly in return, refusing to let go.

With the sudden acquisition of spatial rings, Lin Ruihai and Song Changlong—usually calm and composed—couldn’t help but reveal their excitement. The rings greatly boosted their confidence in securing enough supplies to survive the harsh winter ahead.

“We’ll need a lot of charcoal for heating,” Lin Ruihai said. “If what this post says is true, the temperatures could drop to minus fifty or sixty degrees. Without proper heating, people living in wooden or tin houses won’t survive.”

“But charcoal is scarce now,” Song Changlong added, unsure where they could source enough.

Ruo Manni offered a suggestion: “There are plenty of trees growing densely all around us now, even on Mount Li. We could cut some trees and burn them into charcoal ourselves.”

Lin Ruihai nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea. But we should avoid cutting trees on Mount Li for now. While we still have time, we can go further afield for timber. There are dense forests around the base we can thin out. We could even organize the people in the base to help with the work and let them trade wood for food.”

Song Changlong, however, raised a concern: “But our food supplies are running low. At most, we have enough to last three months. We need to find a way to secure more.”

This brought the conversation to the most pressing issue: the base only had enough food for three months. The heavy snow season would last over half a year, and there would be no way to replenish supplies during that time. Post-apocalyptic production had come to a halt, and with the impending winter, farming or any other form of food production would be impossible until the snow melted.

Lin Ruihai made a firm decision: “I’ll take a team to the strategic grain reserves in Pingyang City. That’s probably the only place with enough food left.”

Hearing this, Song Changlong hesitated and glanced at Ruo Manni. She immediately understood and asked, “Is it dangerous there?”

“Before the apocalypse, Pingyang City had a large wildlife reserve,” Lin Ruihai explained candidly. “After the apocalypse, very few people managed to escape from there. It’s said that the city is now dominated by mutated animals. Over the past few months, many teams have attempted to access the grain reserves there, but none have ever returned. Even we wouldn’t dare consider it—this will all depend on your abilities, little sister.”

Bearing the responsibility of tens of thousands of people in the base, Lin Ruihai often felt overwhelmed. But he knew that if he didn’t take charge, countless lives would be lost. After the devastating toll the apocalypse had taken on humanity, every single life had become immeasurably precious.

“If you don’t feel confident, don’t go,” Lin Ruihai said seriously to Ruo Manni. “We’ll think of another way. I’ll do everything in my power to protect these people’s lives, but I won’t sacrifice my own family members to do it.”

Ruo Manni didn’t hesitate. “You already know that we actually enjoy hunting mutated animals,” she said with a confident smile.

She glanced at Hebrew Adam, who immediately understood her meaning. “We’re even more eager if higher-level ones are involved,” he added.

Having tasted the meat of a Level 4 mutated snake, they had discovered that its energy content far exceeded that of Level 3 creatures. Hearing about a place teeming with mutated animals, with the possibility of encountering even higher-level ones, Hebrew Adam’s interest was piqued.

Furthermore, their goal was to help humanity in this world survive the extinction crisis. Now that the base’s leader was one of their own, Hebrew Adam would have stepped in to assist even without Ruo Manni’s encouragement.

After learning Hebrew Adam’s identity, Lin Ruihai and Song Changlong recognized him as the leader of their group. His agreement to help was a huge relief for both men, especially Song Changlong, who had complete confidence in their abilities.

This meant they wouldn’t need to sacrifice their own soldiers or use human lives to claim the resources. With their help, they could secure the supplies and resolve the food crisis threatening the base during the harsh winter.