71: What you fear will come true

"No, no! Let's go take a look!" Pan Han followed Ma Ji directly to a separate house.

"Lord Pan, this is the room you'll be staying in tonight. It used to be a small storage room. We mostly have communal living here, and only this storage room could be tidied up," Ma Ji rubbed her hands, a little embarrassed.

"It's fine, this is quite good."

Pan Han was polite for a moment, then was about to leave, but called Wei Monk over again.

"Tomorrow, I'll have Qin Zhong bring some delicious food, and you can help me distribute it to the children."

"Yes, Lord!" Heshang immediately agreed.

When the children heard there was delicious food, they happily gathered around Pan Han again.

Reich also showed a long-lost smile upon hearing this, not expecting Pan Han to be so fond of children.

It seemed he was different from others.

In this apocalypse, some powerful forces liked to use children as food.

"Uncle Reich, who is this Lord?" one of the little girls asked Reich.

"This Lord is our new leader, Lord Pan Han," Reich squatted down, holding the little girl's hand as he spoke.

Pan Han was also drawn to the little girl. She was about 10 years old, dressed in worn clothes, with her long hair scattered over her shoulders. Her skin was dark, but her large eyes were very bright, exuding a sense of Reiki (spiritual energy/liveliness).

The little girl looked at Pan Han and asked, "Lord, were you sent by heaven to save us?"

Pan Han smiled and replied, "Haha, little girl, I don't know if I'm here to save you, but feeding you is no problem."

The little girl heard Pan Han's words and laughed happily, "That's great! We haven't had anything delicious to eat in a long time."

Pan Han looked at the children's thin figures, feeling a deep sense of sympathy in his heart.

"From now on, you won't have to worry about not having enough to eat. I will ensure you all have plenty of food."

The little girl became even more excited when she heard this, saying, "That's wonderful! Lord Pan is a great person!"

Pan Han smiled and patted the little girl's head, saying, "Alright, little girl, you go play first, I still have things to deal with."

The little girl nodded, turned, and ran off with the other children.

Pan Han looked at these sensible children, feeling a little sad inside.

They should have been carefree at their age, but they were tormented by this apocalypse, becoming unrecognizable.

"Lord, let's go, get some rest in the room first," Reich knew that to make everyone's lives better, there was no need to rush at this moment.

Following Ma Ji and Reich, Pan Han arrived at the room.

It was indeed a small room, dark inside with poor lighting, and apart from a simple bed, there was nothing else.

"It's quite good, this is enough," Pan Han was afraid Ma Ji felt pressured, so he quickly spoke kindly to her.

Ma Ji looked at him with gratitude.

This new Lord was not at all arrogant and could understand everyone, so it seemed their future interactions would be more harmonious.

"Where are you staying, Heshang?"

"I'm staying in the big dormitory, there are still many old friends there, Lord, you don't need to worry about me."

"Mm, then go see your old friends. I'll rest for a bit first."

Everyone followed orders, exited the room, and went about their business.

Pan Han lay on the bed, pulled the quilt over himself, and touched it. It seemed to be cotton inside, still soft.

Just then, Qin Zhong's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Lord, I'm almost at the base. Are you doing alright there?"

"Don't worry, everything is fine. You go back and quickly prepare things."

"Understood."

After giving instructions to Qin Zhong, Pan Han felt a little tired, so he lay down to sleep for a while.

In the distance, Reich and Ma Ji looked at Pan Han's small room, their minds filled with thoughts.

...

After about half an hour of sleep, Wei Monk ran into his room.

"Lord," seeing Pan Han asleep, Heshang called him softly.

Hearing the call, Pan Han woke up instantly. As an evolver, this was basic operation.

"Dinner is ready. They made a big meal today to welcome you."

"Oh, alright, let's go take a look."

Mountaintop Stronghold didn't have a separate dining hall; everyone ate in the dormitories or at outdoor tables.

Today, Ma Ji specially prepared a slightly larger table for Pan Han, wiped clean.

Several plates of food were laid out on it. Pan Han approached and saw that it was indeed mainly based on the canned food he provided. There were also fruits native to Xiliang.

Pan Han naturally had no interest in the canned food. Instead, he examined the local fruits; they were similar to breadfruit.

"Lord, this is the usual staple food of Mountaintop Stronghold," Reich introduced.

"Mm, I heard Wei Monk mention it. Does this thing have a name?"

"This thing used to be called Xiliang Fruit, but it mutated after the apocalypse, and now we all call it big fruit," Reich said.

Why were people here so casual with names? Pan Han immediately thought of the Old Qin Family Squad from before.

However, upon further consideration, it was understandable.

Productivity determines the superstructure; in a situation where they barely had enough to eat daily, who would be in the mood for elegance!

"How do you eat this?"

"It has a peel that needs to be removed, and the white flesh inside can be eaten directly. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Today, we've prepared roasted big fruit and cold-dressed big fruit for you."

"Good, I'll try it first."

Just as Pan Han was about to eat, he suddenly saw that everyone was standing, no one was sitting, and no one was eating.

"Oh, why be so polite? Come, come, everyone, sit down and eat together!" Pan Han quickly urged everyone to sit down.

Reich gestured to Ma Ji, Heshang, and the other few core members of Mountaintop Stronghold to sit down.

Then he turned around and waved to the crowd watching behind him, signaling that everyone could eat.

"You all eat the canned food, I won't eat it. I'll focus on tasting this big fruit!" Pan Han told everyone in advance, just in case they had reservations and felt awkward.

This statement truly resonated with everyone. So, they no longer stood on ceremony and began to eat directly.

Heshang quickly picked up a piece of meat and swallowed it in two bites.

Pan Han, meanwhile, picked up a big fruit, peeled off its skin, and sniffed the flesh inside.

It actually had a faint jasmine scent.

"My goodness, this thing is amazing! In such a desolate place, there's actually food with this kind of fragrance," Pan Han secretly marveled.

He broke off a piece, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

The flesh was soft, sweet, and melted in his mouth, actually tasting better than Lipu taro!

Excellent, excellent, Pan Han praised repeatedly, then broke off another piece and ate it.

When everyone heard Pan Han praising the big fruit, they all smiled happily.

"Lord, please try the cold-dressed one, it has a unique flavor," Ma Ji pushed a plate over.

"Good, good!" Pan Han picked up another piece of cold-dressed big fruit.

"Mm! Crunchy! Fragrant! Delicious!"

The cold-dressed big fruit actually had the sensation of eating a water radish!

Unexpectedly, this big fruit was actually so versatile! Highly recommended!

So Pan Han no longer held back, holding a warm roasted big fruit in one hand and a large piece of cold-dressed big fruit in the other.

One bite hot, one bite cold; one bite soft and glutinous, one bite crisp; this mixed texture greatly satisfied Pan Han.

While he was enjoying the meal, a thought occurred to him: if he brought the big fruit back to his own world, could he make a fortune again? Hmm, he should note this idea down.

Just as Pan Han was enjoying the big fruit, a sudden commotion came from the distant mountain forest, accompanied by a piercing howl, like a pack of beasts charging wildly.

"What's going on?!" Pan Han suddenly stood up and asked the people around him.

The others also noticed the situation and stood up one after another.

"Oh no! Just what we feared! The beast tide is here!" Reich said anxiously.