Chapter 1146: Building Foundations Amid Calamity

During the years of catastrophe, society fell into chaos and resources ran painfully thin. Educational resources, of course, became just as scarce.

Basic education is a right for every citizen of Huaguo, forming the bedrock for personal growth throughout life.

To guarantee fairness and accessibility, the National Education Bureau led a team of top-tier teachers to draft new textbooks, syllabi, and lesson plans for foundational education—and even recorded a full set of teaching videos. This let children in bases with weak teacher resources, along with young people whose studies were interrupted by disaster, catch up on their education by studying online.

All teaching videos, textbooks, and materials were posted online for anyone to view or download free of charge.

Zhu Li, Shi Du, and Huo Zhun in Section One of the North all completed the decade’s worth of disrupted basic education by studying online. Zhu Li even passed the in-person exam and earned her graduation certificate.

But ‘free’ here just means the website doesn’t charge. You still have to pay for your own internet data when streaming or downloading videos.

To save on data, Xia Qing decided to inspect Ninth Center and make a stop at the school. After all, the school computers held all the teaching materials—she just needed to copy them with a USB drive.

Leaving the Territory in Er Yong’s hands, Xia Qing drove to Ninth Center, starting with a check on the progress of the wall’s construction.

After dragging their feet for more than two months, the Construction Bureau finally began sending building materials for the wall to Ninth Center after the third Devastation Rain—and this time, they sent even more than before.

That’s because Ninth Center has doubled in size. The folks at the Construction Bureau who once used ‘shortages’ to pressure Xia Qing must be swallowing their regret now.

After a round of inspection and checking the potatoes sprouting in Greenhouses 3 through 6, Xia Qing examined the growth of spinach, corn, rice and other crops. Then she went to her office and called in Yue Haiying. “Who’s in charge of the wall construction now?” she asked.

The wall is a vital security barrier for Ninth Center—the quality has to be solid. Xia Qing had noticed a fair bit of chaos at the worksite. Judging by the number of staff, her years working with the Construction Team made it clear they were behind schedule; whoever was leading construction just wasn’t up to the task and needed to be replaced.

“That would be the maintenance chief, Zhang Xiandong. But now we have a more qualified candidate.” Yue Haiying handed Xia Qing a printed job application.

“Wu Yunlin?” Xia Qing was surprised to see the name and photo. “Discharged because of injuries?”

Wu Yunlin, female, 28, Grade Four Strength Evolver and former squad leader of Hui Three’s engineering corps—she was mainly responsible for constructing and maintaining the Inner City wall in the Safe Zone. When Xia Qing led a construction crew in the Safe Zone, she’d crossed paths with Wu Yunlin a few times. Wu Yunlin even asked Xia Qing once if she wanted to enlist.

As an Evolved fighter, Xia Qing could have joined the engineering corps and earned twice the stipend of an ordinary soldier. But with too many secrets to hide, she wasn’t about to join the military. She politely turned Wu Yunlin down, claiming she preferred her freedom.

Yue Haiying explained in detail, “During this year’s second Devastation Rain, Wu Yunlin was hit by a high-pressure stream of Devastation Element particles while on duty. Her protective suit was damaged, leaving her with injuries to her leg bones and muscles, so she was discharged and reassigned to the Construction Bureau. She quit less than two months after joining. Our background check confirms her reasons: first, her mother needed care due to illness, and second, she just couldn’t fit in with the Construction Bureau’s work culture.”

Xia Qing nodded. The Bureau’s work environment really was a mess. No wonder Wu Yunlin didn’t fit in.

“When Ninth Center started expanding, I reached out to invite her personally, but she declined, saying her mother was critically ill.” Yue Haiying paused before going on, “Yesterday, her mother passed away at the hospital. This morning, Wu Yunlin called asking if we were still hiring. I had her fill out the form, but haven’t had a chance to report this till now.”

Xia Qing nodded. “Brother Yue, how’s her health holding up?”

Yue Haiying replied, “She can walk around but can’t handle heavy labor anymore. Still, overseeing wall construction shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Then let her handle it.” Xia Qing signed her name on the form, stamped it with the Idol’s seal, and passed it to Yue Haiying so he could get Wu Yunlin onboard as soon as possible.

Injuries from Devastation Explosion attacks are tough to treat right now, but by next year, things should look up. That’s when the antidote to the Devastation Element—currently in the process of being mass-produced—will become widely available.

Though there haven’t been public announcements, word from the Idol says that the artificial cultivation of the three special enzymes extracted from Tang Huai—now officially called ‘β Group Active Evolution Protease’—has made breakthrough progress.

A dozen top domestic research teams have worked closely together for half a year, and with targeted evolution and artificial enzyme design, they’ve now managed to produce similar enzymes in pigs. The challenge now is extracting and screening these active Evolution Proteases. Once that’s cracked, production of the antidote will increase dozens of times over.

But how much is produced depends on how much Pure Spring Water and High-Evolution Spinach X-2 seeds each base is willing to invest for cultivating the other main ingredient—Cordyceps Fungus—used in making the antidote.

Since both the antidote and its production process are in the hands of Hui Three Pharmaceutical’s chief researcher, Fu Tianfeng, the company is now purchasing new equipment and building a hydroponic room for the Cordyceps Fungus. The hydroponic facility will be twice the size of the lab that Xia Qing and Yang Jin co-founded.

The hydroponic room will be completed and operational by the end of the month. All the spinach seeds and Pure Spring Water needed for production are purchased from the Base’s official channels. The first three batches of antidote made will be sold at a set price to the Hui Three officials, who will handle official distribution.

After so many years in the military, Wu Yunlin has no shortage of contribution points. Next year, she’ll be in line to receive the antidote and finally recover from her injuries.

By then, the number of healthy evolved individuals in Ninth Center will increase by at least three. There are at least three more like Wu Yunlin in Ninth Center whose physical condition will see major improvement after taking the antidote.

Xia Qing kept a straight face, but inside she was thrilled as she left the office. After getting past security at the school gates, she headed to the administration office, looking for Teacher Wang—Zhao Ze’s mother—to copy the files.

Fate had other plans; Teacher Wang was in the middle of class, so Xia Qing was ushered into the principal’s office by Yang Runian instead.

Yang Runian, now thirty-eight, used to be a political instructor for a company in Hui Three’s military district. After retiring and joining Ninth Center, Xia Qing soon promoted him to headmaster of Ninth Center’s elementary school.

Or as Yue Haiying put it, Yang Runian took to the job like a fish to water. Xia Qing looked at the school’s army-style office and campus, and figured he really knew his business.

As the files copied, Yang Runian handed Xia Qing a document. “Director Xia, please take a look at this.”