Chapter 323: Solara Base

Chapter 323: Chapter 323: Solara Base

"..." Lily Hart cracked a smile. "I’m heading upstairs for a shower. You guys have fun, okay?"

Frost Shaw and the others made several trips to carry down the grill and other tools.

Roman Rowe tossed the skewers into the large trash can outside. When he returned, he instinctively glanced around for Lily Hart. "Hey, where’s Boss Hart?"

"She’s upstairs showering. She said she smells like grilled meat," Cynthia Whittaker replied.

"’Grilled meat?’" Roman Rowe sniffed himself. "’I think it’s fine. Doesn’t it smell delicious?’"

"’See? I told you it smells delicious!’" Cynthia Whittaker agreed.

After her shower, Lily Hart changed into her pajamas. She saw the first floor was still brightly lit, with everyone gathered on the sofa, chatting about anything and everything. The atmosphere was harmonious.

The group included the elderly, children, zombies, and young adults, yet they all managed to get along so harmoniously, chatting, drinking, and eating barbecue together.

It was a truly rare sight.

She stood on the stairs, watching the scene for a long moment, her heart swelling with a bittersweet feeling of deep contentment.

Before the apocalypse, she had always been on her own, working and living as a loner. She never imagined that what awaited her in the end times wouldn’t be a bitter struggle for survival.

Instead, it was a smooth path to the pinnacle of her life. She had good friends by her side and countless loyal customers supporting her. A life like this was truly complete.

Roman Rowe was in the middle of an animated story when he caught sight of Boss Hart from the corner of his eye. He immediately stopped his chattering, waved to her with a huge smile, his shock of blonde hair standing out in the crowd.

As if on cue, everyone else looked over. Upon seeing Boss Hart, their expressions involuntarily softened.

Lily Hart skipped down the stairs two steps at a time. "It’s so late," she asked, puzzled. "Aren’t you all going back to sleep?"

Her pajamas were covered in cute little animals, making her look quite colorful. She carried the faint scent of shower gel, seeming to float over like a flower fairy.

Frost Shaw was the closest and caught a whiff of her fragrance as a blur of colorful little animals passed before his eyes.

"Well, since we’re heading to another base tomorrow, we figured we might as well just stay up and wait," said Roman Rowe.

Only then did Leo Colby realize it. He glanced down at the time; it was almost one in the morning.

Time seemed to fly by like a river when he was with this group, rushing past before he even knew it.

He yawned. "Which base are we going to? Are we leaving Coronet?"

Lily Hart opened the map in her system. It was a very detailed map of Cathaya, showing the precise location of every base, including Rodington City and Gilden City.

Six five-pointed stars stood out against the various blue and green territories on the map. Roman Rowe leaned in for a closer look and realized they were the bases they had previously visited. "Whoa—"

Upon closer inspection, Central Command also had a five-pointed star on it.

Lily Hart zoomed in on the Coronet region, which had five bases in total: Central Command, Steadfast Base, Prudence Base, Phanfly Base, and Solara Base.

’Then I’ll go to... Solara Base first!’

’It’s the closest one to Steadfast Base.’

She shared her idea, and everyone nodded in agreement. Since they were just opening the shop wherever they went, the specific location didn’t really matter.

Only Old Man Keaton, who was slow on the uptake, was just now processing the news. "What? We’re moving to another base tomorrow? We’re leaving Steadfast Base?"

"Today, actually," Lily Hart corrected him.

It was already one in the morning.

Old Man Keaton looked as if the sky were falling. "Do I have to go? I just want to stay at Steadfast Base."

"Nope~" Lily Hart flashed him a gentle smile, but it vanished a second later. It was clearly forced.

Old Man Keaton’s face was taut as he remained silent. He dredged up a memory from the depths of his mind; back at the breakfast shop, Boss Hart had said something about not being able to go too far from the lottery shop.

’What would the consequences be if he insisted on staying far away?’

He glanced at the men lounging on the sofa in various poses—a Tenth-tier Zombie, an Eighth-rank Superpower User, and Sixth and Seventh Rank Superpower Users. They were all at the top of the human and zombie pyramid.

’So why were they still obediently sticking by Lily Hart’s side?’

’It wasn’t just that life here was comfortable, with food, drink, shelter, and no danger. But didn’t they yearn for freedom? How could they stand to stay here all the time?!’

’All for a bite to eat? Pathetic!’

’But it really was delicious... The barbecue skewers, the little buns, the rice noodle rolls, the shumai... he found every single item irresistible.’

’Okay, I get it now...’

Seeing that Old Man Keaton had fallen silent, Lily Hart huffed softly. "Alright, everyone head back to bed. We’ll be there when you wake up." With that, she yawned.

At this, the others got up and began to file out of the RV.

Old Man Keaton dawdled, falling behind. Once everyone else was gone, he met Lily Hart’s urging gaze and threw out one last sentence, "I am absolutely not showing my face!"

With that, he scurried away, his steps so nimble you’d never guess he was a man in his sixties or seventies.

Lily Hart stifled a laugh. ’This old man sure has a lot on his mind.’

She turned off the lights one by one, retracted the RV’s walls, and went upstairs to bed.

Before bed, Lily Hart searched for Solara Base and programmed the RV to start driving there automatically at five a.m. With that done, she could finally sleep in peace.

...

The RV slowly came to a stop outside Solara Base. It was just past seven in the morning, and Lily Hart was still fast asleep, a slight smile playing on her lips as if she were having a sweet dream.

The survivors at Steadfast Base had a premonition yesterday, but they still held out a sliver of hope. As a result, when they exited the base and didn’t see the magnificent, awe-inspiring three-story RV, their world came crashing down.

For the survivors at Central Command, this was the second time their world had come crashing down.

Every day, they would go outside the base full of anticipation, hoping to see the familiar RV, and they would also eagerly follow Boss Hart’s news on their Light Brains.

They had assumed she was just out for a short trip and would be back soon.

But it turned out that going to Steadfast Base wasn’t enough; now she was going to Solara Base. Thankfully, the scratch-off lottery machine was still there, otherwise their world would have truly and utterly collapsed.

...

「Solara Base.」

Lily Hart pulled open the curtains, welcoming the first rays of sunlight.

Her first impression of this place was better than Steadfast Base. There was no sky full of yellow sand; in the distance were mostly mutated plants, still lush and green despite it being early winter.

But there wasn’t a hint of danger, which gave it an eerie sense of tranquility.

For someone like Lily Hart, who didn’t know anything about mutated plants, the scenery just looked pleasantly green. But in the eyes of Frost Shaw and the others, it was a danger sign.

Too many plants meant an attack could come at any moment.

It would be impossible to guard against.

But thankfully, they had Boss Hart, so there was no need to live in constant fear.

Whenever she arrived at a new base, Lily Hart would post a notice as usual, telling her vast customer base, ’I’m here, come on over and play!’

This time was no exception. The post went out right at eight o’clock. After sending it, Lily Hart closed her Light Brain and went to the breakfast shop for an order of rice noodle rolls with double egg and extra meat.

She had just finished her rice noodle rolls when a customer came rushing over.

She was sweating and panting, and after circling the RV and finding no one inside, she turned around and saw Lily Hart in the breakfast shop, casually drinking water with her legs crossed.

Her eyes lit up, and she hurried around a table to get to her. "You’re Boss Hart!"