177: Is it... the smell of grilled skewers?

Ai Yue listened as Gu Xiheng listed a series of practical weapons like he was reciting a menu. She was both surprised and delighted; he was truly showing great sincerity.

Ai Yue didn't want to make an enemy of the entire base either. After discussing it as a family, they decided to agree with Gu Xiheng's suggestion.

Gu Xiheng also stated that they would never encroach upon the side of the mountainside where Ai Yue's family lived, allowing them to live freely in the mountains.

Ai Yue agreed as well.

The matter was considered successfully resolved at this point.

However, for Cheng Siyu and Gu Xitian, this was not good news. They were still waiting for the base to strike with thunderous force and drive Ai Yue's family out in disgrace.

They hadn't expected such a result in the end!

Didn't that mean they had suffered their injuries for nothing?

Most hateful of all, during that battle, both of their beautiful heads of hair had been reduced to nothing, and their bodies were covered in wounds from the lightning, with not a single patch of healthy skin left.

As for Ai Yue, nothing had happened to her, and in the end, the base even gave her so many weapons for free. The mere thought of it made them seethe with hatred.

They were all women, so why was there such a huge difference?

Gu Xitian was filled with a sense of powerlessness.

Cheng Siyu, however, was secretly hardening her heart. The fact before her was that she couldn't become a powerful woman like Ai Yue, but she had the chance to become the most powerful person in the Safety Tower. That would also be reaching the summit.

When that time came, she would have the chance to contend with Ai Yue and uncover her secrets.

At this moment, she craved power and strength more than ever.

The deal was made, but the gray smoke on Nameless Mountain had not yet dissipated. If the Safety Tower wanted to move into the mountain, they could only wait obediently outside.

This gray smoke was the pride and joy of the old men in the base's laboratory; it would take half a month to dissipate, and Gu Xiheng couldn't wait at the foot of the mountain for that long.

They also needed to go back to treat their wounds and recuperate, so he left the uninjured Ability Warriors to stand guard while he took the injured back to the base.

By the time their wounds were healed, the gray smoke would have completely dissipated, and they could begin preparations for the construction of the sub-district.

Gu Xiheng's luck might have run out for the time being, as they actually encountered a large swarm of Devil Frogs on the way back.

The two sides started fighting as soon as they met. Gu Xiheng's side was already injured, and they couldn't even exert half of their usual strength, so they were suppressed by the Devil Frogs for quite a while.

In the end, it was thanks to the coordinated efforts of Gu Xiheng, Yan Li, Mo Li, and Cheng Siyu that they managed to turn the tide and win.

This battle left the already disheveled group looking even more wretched.

Fortunately, everyone eventually returned to the base safely.

After returning to the base, no one really wanted to go out, much less let others see their miserable state.

Especially the two girls, Cheng Siyu and Gu Xitian; once they returned to the base, they refused to appear in public again.

Ai Yue didn't know how long it would take for the gray smoke to dissipate, so the few of them, having nowhere else to go, could only stay obediently on the mountaintop.

Ai Yue set up the tent they had used during the Extreme Cold, giving them a place to stay on the mountaintop.

"Sister Ai Yue, this breeze is a bit chilly. How about we have another hotpot to warm up?" Ye Rui swallowed her saliva and said with a pleasing, giggling smile.

"Let's forget it. We just finished the last meal, and it hasn't even digested yet," Ai Yue said.

Ye Rui slapped her forehead in disappointment and then rubbed her belly, saying helplessly, "Alright, but why do I feel like I haven't eaten it in a long time?"

Ye Rui was a bit dejected. Not being able to have hotpot made her so sad!

Ai Yue smiled and continued, "We can't have hotpot, but we can have a barbecue!"

Ye Rui's eyes instantly lit up, and she nodded repeatedly. "Mhm, mhm, mhm! That's delicious too!"

Ai Yue gave a silent smile and waved her hand. All the ingredients appeared on the mountaintop along with a large square table, as well as everything needed for the barbecue.

The few of them began to get busy, some grilling and some skewering. In a short while, they were eating.

Facing the cool breeze, drinking beer, and eating skewers—how pleasant!

The Ability Warriors left behind at the foot of the mountain were currently sitting in silence, gnawing on high-protein compressed biscuits made from maggots.

Suddenly, one warrior seemed to catch an extremely enticing aroma and couldn't help but sniff hard.

Seeing his actions, the warrior next to him asked in confusion, "Xu Qi, what are you sniffing?"

Xu Qi made a "shh" sound and said, "Do you smell an enticing aroma?"

Chen Yang stretched his neck out in confusion and sniffed carefully.

After a while, "Yeah! It seems so. Is it... the smell of BBQ skewers?"

Chen Yang opened his eyes, speaking with some disbelief.

He hadn't smelled barbecue in years. Since the Apocalypse began, he hadn't even tasted the home-cooked dishes he used to eat often, or the canteen food he used to dislike.

The memories of the meals he had eaten in those years felt like things that happened in a past life, both familiar and strange.

Now, smelling the barbecue, he also wondered if he had smelled it wrong. How could anyone be eating barbecue now? And it was the authentic smell of mutton.

But as more and more people said they smelled it too, Xu Qi and Chen Yang looked at each other, their eyes full of shock.

One person could smell it wrong, two people could smell it wrong, but it was impossible for a whole group to smell it wrong.

"It's coming from the mountain!"

"That's right, I also smell it coming from that direction."

The others discussed it animatedly.

"It's Ai Yue!" Xu Qi said.

"That's right! Only her family of four is on the mountain. It must be a smell they created," Chen Yang also said.

The two looked at each other again, understanding each other's thoughts. They wanted to see exactly what this BBQ smell was. If they could get it, it wasn't impossible for them to get it too.

They didn't really believe that Ai Yue and the others could actually have mutton to grill. After all, besides the few raised in the Safety Tower, sheep had almost gone extinct in various natural disasters in the outside world.

The two unbuckled their backpacks and took out a mini drone, only about the size of a palm.

One person held the drone while the other controlled it. Soon, the drone took off and flew toward the mountain with a "whoosh."

This drone made very little noise; one wouldn't even notice it if they weren't paying attention.

At this time, Ai Yue and the others were still eating and grilling amidst the smoke.

Suddenly, Ai Yue's expression flickered. With a flick of her fingers, a bolt of blue-and-gold lightning was suddenly thrown out by her.

With swiftness and precision, she smashed the drone to pieces before it could even get close.

"What's wrong, Sister? What's in the sky?" Ye Rui asked with a face full of questions, her mouth greasy from eating.

"The people down the mountain must have smelled it. They sent a recon drone to spy on us, so I smashed it!" Ai Yue picked up a mutton skewer and said unhurriedly.

"Oh, their noses are so sharp. They can smell it from so far away," Ye Rui pouted.

"Uh... as the saying goes, good wine's fragrance can travel ten miles. Our barbecue is also fragrant enough that it's not surprising for it to drift out and let them smell it," Ai Guosheng said after taking a large gulp of wine and letting out a burp.