Chapter 120: Flying Mouse?

Qin Yu stared at the scene before her, her eyes wide with astonishment. "What is this?"

"I don't know either," Qing Li explained. "Logically, since the dimensional space merged with you, I shouldn't possess an independent one. Yet, last night while you were sleeping, I inadvertently found myself here."

The space occupied by Qing Li and Qin Yu contained several plots of land, neatly and uniformly divided. Compared to the vast, boundless expanse of Qin Yu's own space, this area seemed significantly smaller. Apart from the plots of land, the only other feature was a small pond nearby.

"Have you tasted the water in that pond?" Qin Yu asked. "What are its properties?"

Qing Li smiled. "I haven't. I have no idea what it does. Shall we go over and try it?"

Qin Yu thought for a moment, then took Qing Li’s hand and walked toward the water. Watching the gentle ripples, she asked, "Why is the water moving? Is there a breeze in here?"

Qing Li crouched down, cupped some water in his hands, and took a sip. It was exceptionally delicious, but otherwise unremarkable. He stood up, and upon hearing her question, he gave a helpless laugh. "I’m not sure. The very existence of this space is mystical, so perhaps a bit of movement in the water is perfectly normal."

Qin Yu nodded, letting the matter drop. She stepped onto the empty soil and found that its quality was unexpectedly excellent. She turned to Qing Li and said, "Don't you plan to plant anything? The soil here is wonderful!"

Qing Li shook his head with a wry smile. "I’d love to, but I have no seeds. The apocalypse happened so suddenly; I only managed to gather edible supplies. Who could have imagined such a space would appear?"

At these words, something flashed through Qin Yu's mind. She pondered for a moment, then clapped her hands. "I have some!"

"What?" Qing Li was startled by her sudden outburst.

"I said I have seeds! I collected quite a few back then," Qin Yu said gleefully.

Qing Li’s gaze darkened. Why would his Yu’er collect seeds for no reason? Judging by her tone, she had quite a significant amount. What exactly had happened?

Qin Yu, oblivious to his thoughts, happily pulled bag after bag of unidentified seeds from her own space, piling them into a small mound on the ground. Seeing this, Qing Li stepped forward, stopping her from retrieving more. "Yu’er, stop, that’s enough. These are enough to plant several cycles."

Qin Yu giggled, sticking out her tongue. "I was just too excited! This way, we won't have to worry about running out of supplies. I have so many varieties, and once they fruit, we can save some as seeds for the next round!"

Qing Li nodded. "I’ll go to the research institute later and get some automated machinery to handle the farming. I certainly don’t want to till the land myself! Haha."

"That sounds great! I knew you wouldn't want to do it yourself," Qin Yu teased.

"You," Qing Li said, his tone filled with infinite indulgence and resignation.

Seeing nothing else in the space, the two decided to leave to attend to their other affairs. The small mountain of seeds remained, the only evidence of their presence. Before long, a golden creature resembling a mouse—but with oddly mismatched wings—crawled out of the pond. Let us call it a "flying mouse."

The flying mouse scurried to the pile of seeds, sniffing them repeatedly while muttering, "Food! Finally, food!"

With that, it tore open the bags and began to fly, scattering the seeds across the soil in a specific, rhythmic pattern. Had Qin Yu been there, she would have realized that the flight path of the mouse matched the pattern of the green mist she had seen in Kaiyuan Town.

When the last seed was sown, the mouse hovered at the end of the pattern, chanting in an unknown language. Suddenly, a brilliant golden light erupted, covering the entire plot of land before vanishing a few seconds later. Everything seemed to return to normal, yet the tiny green shoots already breaking through the soil served as a reminder of what had just occurred.

The flying mouse seemed satisfied, smacking its lips with a trail of liquid dripping from its mouth. "They should be ready to eat soon! Roar!"

For the flying mouse, food was the only priority after such a long hunger. Whether the master of the space would discover this or what the consequences might be were not within its scope of concern.

Meanwhile, after exiting the space, Qin Yu and Qing Li began to analyze their situation. Specifically, Qing Li briefed her on the current state of the base's leadership.

According to Qing Li, the high command was divided into three factions: the progressive faction led by him, the stubborn faction comprised of former leaders, and an opposition group that had long been at odds with the ruling party. Qing Li considered the opposition a minor threat, consisting mostly of aging officials whose development philosophies were similar enough to his own that they could potentially be swayed.

After listening to his analysis, Qin Yu asked, "What is the current status of the stubborn faction?"

"They control most of the research institute and the military forces," Qing Li replied. "Furthermore, they have centered the base's super-powered individuals around themselves. That so-called 'Mission Release Center' is just a tool they use to control the independent super-powered people."

Qin Yu frowned. "What is your relationship with them?"

"We are like fire and water," Qing Li said with a sigh. "That’s why I didn’t report the danger immediately when I sensed it—those people wouldn't listen, and I had no desire to endure their mockery."

"In that case, it is indeed difficult," Qin Yu said with a sigh.

"It’s fine, I trust that those people will be able to manage. We have done enough. This apocalypse has only just begun, and we don't know what the future holds. While keeping others safe is important, the most crucial thing is to improve our own strength!" Qing Li comforted her, though a flicker of hidden concern crossed his eyes. He felt as if that certain entity was accelerating its pace.