Cave Refuge-Chapter 280: Where to stay on the night of the 275th?

Although they had agreed with Madeline and Robinson William to evacuate from here, they weren’t going to leave blindly in a hurry. Instead, they first arranged vehicles to confirm the situation over at Saxon County.

Luckily, it was just a little over an hour’s drive from here to Saxon County, plus the time spent coordinating with the other side and searching for a suitable location to settle in; without any unforeseen issues, a day should be enough.

Looking at the sky, Madeline wouldn’t be able to take the advance troops over today. Staying here for the night and going over early tomorrow morning would be more appropriate.

Since they were all living in the same shed, and since Zachary had prepared lunch, Madeline volunteered to make dinner, cooking some rice and some pickled side dishes.

Although the meal was modestly prepared, it was already a luxury for ordinary survivors.

At that time, white rice had disappeared from the dining tables of the average survivors, and most of the grain they received for their work was grain bricks.

Perhaps the Officials had discovered the benefits of grain bricks during the flood disaster. So now, the food distributed to ordinary people was a mix of grain bricks without any pure grain. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The way to eat grain bricks wasn’t much different from the stir-fried noodles that Zachary provided at noon. Apart from those with strong teeth who could gnaw on them directly, most people dissolved them in boiling water to create a mushy consistency, drinking it down like thick porridge.

However, the stir-fried noodles that Zachary brought out were made from pure flour, with some condiments and crushed nuts added, whereas the grain bricks contained only a small amount of grain mixed with a lot of other stuff.

Some of those ingredients added a feeling of fullness, some provided energy for normal physical activities, and others simply bulked up the grain brick or made its surface look more appealing.

About grain bricks, well, they used to contain a high proportion of grain, generally more than fifty percent, but ever since the threat of Bug Nests was identified and the Officials stopped deliberately restricting the number of Martial Artists, the proportion of actual grain in the grain bricks continued to decrease.

An old grain brick rationed carefully could last for three meals, but the current grain bricks could at best only satisfy half a day’s energy needs.

Some might argue that the nutritional supplements from Bug Nests could reduce the Martial Artists’ need for food. However, the reality was that most of the supplements made from the Bugs Clan did not even make it to market; what little was released by the upper echelons was already divided up in the middle layers.

After all, as a specialty product of Pengcheng, the Officials needed to reserve a certain quantity for trade with other cities. So despite Bug Nests being as easily harvested as leeks, with the Insect Nest Hunters making some gains daily, once the supplements were produced, the lower-level Martial Artists, let alone using them, had never even seen them.

Of course, in the interest of stability, the Officials wouldn’t overdo it; hence, to avoid impacting their interests, they came up with solutions within the grain bricks. That is why the proportion of grain in grain bricks kept decreasing.

Even as Martial Artists, most of the food they consumed was nothing but high-quality grain bricks with a higher proportion of grains and unknown animal meat mixed into them.

Thus, the rice meal provided by Madeline in the evening was indeed a luxury for ordinary people.

Pickled vegetables, which before the disaster could only be considered a side dish, were quite rare now as well. Although Pengcheng had already solved the salt shortage, getting other condiments was still challenging.

From this perspective, the simple meal provided by Madeline in the evening wasn’t that simple after all.

However, for Dong Tianyu and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, the meal was rather plain. Considering that there might be another earthquake at night, Zachary returned to the vehicle, pretending to retrieve a box from the back of the car. The box contained a large carton of marinated brine duck eggs.

He distributed a few of these eggs, smaller than quail eggs, into everyone’s meal box to add a bit of nutrition.

The Taylor family accepted the gesture without much fuss, and their straightforward acceptance reflected the good relationship that had developed between the two families.

After dinner, when everyone was getting ready to rest, Zachary suddenly suggested, "Why don’t we sleep in the car tonight? It’s not much less comfortable than sleeping here."

Hearing Zachary’s words, Father Dong and Mother Dong agreed wholeheartedly. The compartment of the Black Car was very spacious, and for the three of them, sleeping in the vehicle was indeed no problem.

Madeline was somewhat tempted but didn’t speak up, as Master Ye was present, and it wasn’t her place to decide for the Taylor family. At this time, Robinson William wasn’t inside the shack as he hadn’t joined everyone for dinner.

At that moment, Robinson William was checking the surroundings of the camp again with others. Although the Bug Nest discovered in the afternoon had been completely dealt with by the Insect Nest Hunters, he wanted to be extra cautious as his father was staying there.

Considering Zachary’s suggestion, Master Ye began to weigh the pros and cons. With Madeline’s arrival, the caravan included two vehicles owned by the Taylor family.

Besides the armored vehicle that brought Master Ye, Madeline had also acquired a small truck.

The armored vehicle was for safety, while the small truck was for more convenient transport of goods.

There was no need to elaborate on the armored vehicle, as Master Ye had already spent the previous night in it and was very familiar with the interior.

Despite the armored vehicle’s large size, the interior was packed with various equipment. Plus, it was originally designed for troop transport, so there were many seats in the compartment. Although the seats had been removed to create space, it would still be a bit tight for six or seven people to sleep inside.

Thinking it over, if they chose to stay in the vehicle, it would be hard not to accommodate Madeline, who had brought it from Yutai. As his parents, he and his wife would certainly need to sleep inside as well.

Adding in Robinson William’s wife and two children, that already made six people, and that count had not yet included Robinson William himself.

Moreover, Master Ye was well aware of his son’s capabilities. As a Martial Artist who relied solely on resources rather than skill, Robinson William lacked not only combat ability but also vigilance, so relying on him for safety was not feasible.

If Madeline wasn’t up to the task, to ensure safety, at least two people would need to be arranged to stand guard outside the vehicle.

With Robinson William’s arrival, the two guards who had been by Master Ye’s side had already regrouped and joined the Patrol Team.

Now that there was a Patrol Team made up of Martial Artists, the camp was temporarily safe from the danger of the Bugs Clan.

However, because of this, the Martial Artists who were originally guarding Master Ye had left, so if Master Ye decided to move back into the vehicle, he would need to request two Martial Artists from Robinson William.