Chapter 47: Expansion of the Treasure-Hiding Space

Liu Xiyao watched the women running laps around the villa complex and reported to Ao Xin that she had provisionally taken them under her wing.

Ao Xin merely replied that it was not bad, that they were now under her command, and that there was no need to report such matters to him.

Just as he had handed the migrant worker group over to Meng Kui, Ao Xin could not be bothered to manage these trivial affairs.

If any of these people proved incompetent, they could be replaced at a moment's notice; as long as the core individuals were kept in check, everything would be fine.

Ao Xin brought Ao Chen and Yuan Fei back to his house, assigning the room directly opposite the ground floor to Yuan Fei.

"You will live here from now on. I will send you some food shortly."

Afterward, he took Ao Chen upstairs. At this time, his parents had yet to return.

He placed the awakening crystal into Ao Chen's hand.

"Hold it in the palm of your hand and feel it with your heart. The energy within will flow into your body and enhance your Devil Fruit ability."

Ao Chen curiously weighed the crystal, following Ao Xin's instructions to place it in her palm.

Soon, a warm current of energy flowed from the crystal into her palm, and from there circulated throughout her entire body.

Unconsciously shifting into her hybrid human-beast form, she felt at that moment as if she had truly transformed into a Treasure-Hoarding Mouse, temporarily forgetting everything about human existence.

Half an hour later, Ao Chen opened her eyes and said with pleasant surprise:

"Brother! My treasure-storing space has now reached twenty cubic meters!"

"And the range at which I can perceive treasures has also expanded by ten percent!"

She transformed back into the Treasure-Hoarding Mouse and burrowed underground, discovering that her tunneling speed had also increased significantly.

Bursting out from the ground and resuming her human form, she bounced around Ao Xin excitedly:

"Brother! This crystal is so magical! Now I can hold even more things!"

The enhancement of her fruit ability gave her the greatest benefit in doubling her treasure space, while the improvements to her perception range and tunneling speed were actually secondary.

"But Brother, why didn't you use it yourself? If you had eaten it, your Azure Dragon would be even stronger!"

Ao Chen suddenly thought of this question, feeling that it was a bit wasteful for her to use the awakening crystal. If her brother had used it, he would be even stronger!

Ao Xin smiled and said:

"I have already reached the Steel Bone Realm, and my strength is immense. The stronger one is, the faster a fruit can be developed."

"Besides, this crystal is too small to be of much use to me."

"But giving it to you is different. You are our family's money bag!"

He had anticipated that Ao Chen's treasure space would expand considerably, and now it seemed she had not disappointed him.

After chatting for a while, Ao Xin retrieved a significant amount of food and fresh water from a room used as a storage cache and delivered them to Yuan Fei.

"What kind of weapon do you want? A saber or a sword?"

Ao Xin inquired about Yuan Fei's preference.

This young man had great potential for cultivation; providing him with a fine weapon would allow him to grow faster.

However, after pondering for a moment, Yuan Fei replied:

"I used to use a kitchen knife, and I also tried a hatchet once. Both of them easily got notched blades, and they weren't as handy as a steel pipe."

"Besides, I noticed that Brother Ao also uses a blunt weapon, so I'll stick to a blunt weapon as well."

Ao Xin entered the Divine Bestowal Space to take a look.

Yuan Fei was still young; although he possessed grit, his physical strength was ultimately limited.

Lacking a Devil Fruit ability or awakened Haki, a heavy weapon like Alvida's iron mace would be far too cumbersome for Yuan Fei.

After searching for a moment, he spotted something suitable:

[Steel Water Pipe]: An ordinary water pipe, but utilized as a weapon by Sabo, the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command, even after he achieved fame—not to be underestimated!

Price: Ten points!

This item could hardly even be considered a weapon, especially considering that the cheapest pirate saber or naval saber required one hundred points!

Yet this steel pipe cost a mere ten points.

Exchanging it and comparing it with the one in Yuan Fei's hand, he saw that it was indeed different.

If nothing else, items from the pirate world seemed exceptionally durable.

"You can use this for now. Although it's still a steel pipe, it's somewhat better than the one you have."

Yuan Fei accepted it. As soon as it entered his hands, he could tell the steel pipe was significantly heavier. "Thank you, Brother Ao!"

"There are obstacles at the entrance of the building. As long as it's not a zombie, it's safe here. Once you've rested, go out and fight the zombies to awaken your Haki as soon as possible."

Then, turning to Ao Chen, he said: "You can practice leveling up here as well. I'm going to take a look by the Yellow River."

In this apocalyptic era, tap water had long since ceased running.

With no water sources left within the city, establishing a safe zone required settling near a river.

The river closest to their location was the Bian River to the north.

Furthermore, in his previous life, Feng Kun had led his migrant worker group to build a secure base along the banks of the Bian River, continually expanding and taking in refugees.

He was going there now to investigate and locate the body of water that produced Sea Prism Stone.

Using Sea Prism Stone as a building material would make the base even more impregnable.

"If you encounter danger, run and send me a message. I will return as quickly as possible."

After giving a few more admonitions to his younger sister, he transformed into an Azure Dragon, soared into the sky, and headed toward the northern part of Bian City.

Having advanced to the Steel Bone Realm, his stamina was much more abundant, and flying the distance from his home to the Bian River was entirely effortless.

High above the clouds, the Azure Dragon soared.

Just as he was about to leave the city, he spotted a magpie that had undergone zombie mutation.

In the apocalypse, bird zombies were not completely nonexistent, but they were exceedingly rare.

This was because their feathers and flesh would shed during the early stages of mutation.

Without feathers, flight was impossible, and once they lost the ability to fly, no matter how ferocious they were, they were easily slain.

They had to evolve to at least a one-star flesh zombie before they could take to the air again.

Of course, if bird zombies managed to evolve to their final stages, they remained terrifyingly strong; their flight capability and speed made them the most dangerous of assassins.

Yet the one before him was merely an ordinary flesh zombie.

Ao Xin channeled his roaring might into a bolt of lightning, shattering the skull of the zombie magpie. It plummeted from the sky and smashed onto the head of a young man who was cautiously hunting zombies below.

The youth looked up in bewilderment, catching only a glimpse of a massive Azure Dragon's silhouette winding through the clouds before it rapidly vanished into the distance.

"It's the Azure Dragon overlord! I wonder if the Azure Dragon overlord would take me in!"

The youth clenched his fists and continued to maneuver against the zombie in front of him.

Outside the North City, the Azure Dragon descended from the clouds, transformed back into human form, and walked to the riverbank.

This place had once been a favored spot for the residents of Bian City to enjoy barbecues.

A few fishing boats still drifted upon the river's surface.

Yet precisely because of such gatherings, the zombie outbreak had erupted on a massive scale, leaving the area almost entirely devoid of human life.

Only a scattering of stray zombies wandered about, slowly drifting back toward the city, drawn by the scent of human presence within.

Even so, some survivors had fled outside the city during the apocalypse to eke out a meager existence here.

Inside a small cabin, a sallow, emaciated man heard the commotion and spotted Ao Xin standing by the riverbank through the window.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

Having fled here in a rush, his food supplies had long since been exhausted.

He had survived by occasionally catching carp from the river.

Yet lacking proper fishing equipment, his yields were extremely limited.

Now, seeing a stranger arrive, there was a high probability that this person was carrying supplies.

And even if there were no supplies—

The man licked his lips. Humans themselves were supplies, too!