Chapter 44: A Pillow Delivered Right as I Dozed Off

These supplies would be considered a luxury by any other survivor in the Territory. Meat jerky, dry rations, medicine, and a chance to change out of his stinking prison uniform. Chen Chong felt satisfied enough in his heart.

But what stirred his anticipation the most were the Spiritual Fruits that could enhance an Awakener’s Life Field.

“This kind of fruit should be similar to heavenly treasures or century-old ginseng, though its potency definitely can’t compare. Ultimate Infinite Qigong focuses on Refining Essence into Qi, so these fruits should let me train faster.”

Chen Chong quickly pondered in his mind.

“According to the Territory’s rules, captain-level Awakeners can collect supply rations once every half month. There are fifteen Spiritual Fruits in the package, so that’s one per day?”

Chen Chong now knew that a small portion of Spiritual Fruits could be artificially cultivated, although their potency was somewhat weaker than wild ones. The Blood General’s luxurious estate was precisely the place where Spiritual Plants were artificially cultivated. The output of Spiritual Fruits there was likely not low; otherwise, this dictator would never be generous enough to supply one per day.

Suppressing his urge to immediately eat a Spiritual Fruit and test its effects for the moment, Chen Chong slung the package onto his back and walked towards Wei De and Lu Kai, who were waiting and watching from a distance. He asked them.

“Where is the Power Station? Take me there to have a look.”

Seeing the bulging package on Chen Chong’s back, the two underlings, Wei De and Lu Kai, were simply filled with envy and jealousy at that moment.

They certainly knew how rich the supply rations for captain-level personnel were. Even if Chen Chong had received the lowest tier of captain-level supplies, it was still enough for him to live comfortably in the Territory. Never mind the rest, just the clothes and shoes alone—underlings like them could only collect and change those once every half year!

However, despite their jealousy, a rare lack of greed arose in their hearts.

This was because the image of Chen Chong standing in the darkness last night, holding a severed head, was deeply etched in their minds. That kind of silent ferocity and cruelty made them unable to even entertain any thoughts of trickery or robbery. Not to mention, Chen Chong seemed to have some connection with the Blood General. Unless they were tired of living, any greedy thoughts were ruthlessly snuffed out by themselves the moment they surfaced.

“What bad luck!”

Wei De and Lu Kai secretly cursed a few times. Thinking of Yin Hu’s instructions, they still led Chen Chong towards the Power Station’s direction.

The Power Station was located on the westernmost side of the Territory. The three of them passed through patches of shantytowns and factory buildings along the way, arriving outside the Power Station after ten minutes.

What appeared before Chen Chong was a dilapidated factory building, roughly four to five hundred square meters, separated by a fence. A thick chimney on top of the factory’s roof was belching thick black smoke into the sky. The air was acrid, with black dust and particles floating everywhere.

Chen Chong took a quick look around. Before he could even walk through the main entrance, the roar of a car engine came from behind him. He turned his head and saw a beat-up small truck, spewing exhaust fumes, driving over with a load of coal from the path he came from.

Chen Chong immediately stepped aside. This truck stopped at the main gate of the Power Station. Then, the figure of Supervisor Squad captain Yin Hu jumped down from the passenger seat. He frowned and looked at Chen Chong. “Why are you here?”

He hadn’t expected to run into Yin Hu here, but Chen Chong was not flustered at all. He patted the package on his back, heh-heh laughed, and said.

“It’s Captain Yin Hu, what a coincidence. The General treats me so generously, how could I be shameless enough to be an idle man with nothing to do? I came over to see if there’s any work here that suits me.”

Waving his hand to direct the truck to drive into the Power Station, Yin Hu smiled with a hint of mockery and made a snide remark. “You sure know how to pick.”

Within the entire Territory, the easiest and the most exhausting jobs were both at the Power Station. The easiest was the furnace-watching laborers inside the station; they had no heavy physical labor and basically only needed to add coal into the boilers from time to time. The most exhausting was undoubtedly the part of the laborers digging for coal in the mines where daylight never reached.

In his view, Chen Chong undoubtedly wanted to pick the easiest furnace-watching job and was just dressing up his own laziness.

But even ‘easy’ was just relative. Compared to work in other factories, working long hours amidst the coal dust, over time, lung disease was inevitable. In this era lacking medical resources, getting this disease was practically a death sentence with little time left to live.

“The power station is small to begin with, doesn’t need many people, and the work is relatively easy, so it’s all done by brothers who have rendered meritorious service. Whether there’s a vacancy now or not, we still have to ask the station foreman.”

Having no intention of reminding Chen Chong whatsoever, Yin Hu put his hands behind his back and said flatly.

“Follow me.”

Chen Chong had no knowledge of the Power Station’s internal situation and paid no mind to Yin Hu’s veiled sarcasm. He followed behind him and entered the factory building.

The moment he entered the factory building, a wave of scorching heat surged towards him. Chen Chong saw that the spacious area was divided by walls into sections. Within it, five boilers radiated an intense aura of heat, and coal-feeding ports that occasionally opened spat out blazing firelight. Behind the walls, five generators were lined up in a row, emitting a humming roar.

In front of the five boilers, five men of different appearances were chatting, laughing, and relaxing. They leisurely shoveled the coal in front of them into the boilers. But upon seeing Yin Hu suddenly walk in, they hurriedly pretended to be working hard.

Ignoring these people, Yin Hu led Chen Chong along, weaving around complex pipes and wires. Following a narrow passage, they reached a room at the very back of the factory building and directly pushed the door open to enter.

The inside of the room was a chaotic mess and smelled foul. Wires, parts, and a heap of random junk were everywhere. Inside the pile of junk was a folding bed, on which a skinny, shriveled old man was curled up. His beard and hair were matted together, filthy beyond belief, and he was in a deep sleep, snoring loudly.

Yin Hu’s brow furrowed. His short whip immediately lashed against the air with a crisp crack, and his words were blunt and rude. “Old Xu! Sleeping in broad daylight, what do you think you’re doing?”

Chen Chong immediately noticed that although Yin Hu’s words were rude, given his status as the Supervisor Squad captain, he hadn’t actually brought the whip down on him. It seemed this old man’s status was somewhat different.

The crisp whip crack was like a thunderclap. The old man on the bed shuddered and opened his eyes in an instant. After seeing Yin Hu at the door, he paused for a moment, as if his mind was a bit slow. Then he hurriedly stood up, starting to cough.

“It’s Captain Yin Hu… I’m sorry, this old man here, I… I’m feeling a bit unwell today…”

“Flaunting your seniority! If you aren’t dying, then honestly do your work for the General! You’re just watching the generators operate, it won’t kill you from exhaustion!”

Yin Hu’s expression was icy cold as he yelled and scolded.

“I’m asking you, is there any vacancy here or not? Find a job for this kid behind me!”

“There is, there is, you’ve come just at the right time…”

Old Xu secretly glanced at Chen Chong, who was behind Yin Hu, and quickly rubbed his hands together with an apologetic smile.

“The night before last, that kid Heizi had a lung disease flare-up and coughed himself to death. Now we’re short a person for the night watch, and I haven’t had time to report this to the captain. But keeping the night watch at the power station isn’t as easy as the daytime shift, there’s no slacking off whatsoever. This kid and you…”

Night watch?

Behind Yin Hu, Chen Chong’s eyelids drooped low. He just felt like a pillow had been delivered right as he was dozing off, his heart leaping with pleasant surprise!