Chapter 551: Chapter 346: My Cousin, That Scumbag, What a Sin

With Li Xiang’s help, Chiba Yuki and Erin had made rapid progress, both stepping into the Saint Tier at Tier Nineteen.

The Twin Gouyu were too young and, unlike their mother, didn’t have the assistance of Li Xiang’s Dual Cultivation. As a result, their cultivation lagged slightly, with each of them currently at Tier Fifteen.

Thanks to Li Xiang’s diligent "efforts," Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui were also on the verge of entering the Saint Tier. However, their aptitude was slightly inferior to Chiba Yuki’s and Erin’s, so they remained at Tier Eighteen. Their Spirit Bodies were already well-developed, lacking only a final catalyst—a catalyst that would most likely appear during the Apocalypse.

The further one progressed, the more difficult cultivation became, and the more time it took to advance a tier.

Although Erin had given Li Xiang ten Holy Blood Alchemy Hearts that could help someone step into the Saint Tier, Li Xiang felt it was better for Yao Yao and the others to break through naturally. If they used an Alchemy Heart, their future potential would be limited.

With his help, their aptitude wasn’t bad at all—they were among the first-rate talents. Entering the Saint Tier was only a matter of time.

Individuals like Luo Feifei, Jiang Cai’Er, Erin, and Chiba Yuki were in a class of their own—the absolute cream of the crop on Earth.

Therefore, Li Xiang gave two of the Alchemy Hearts to Er Huang and the Little Fox.

With the hearts, Er Huang and the Little Fox broke through their limits, bypassed their bottlenecks, and charged into the Saint Tier. Although they could no longer make significant progress in their cultivation, having Saint Tier guardians for the household was still quite impressive. Their designated area of responsibility was the Inner City. The other beasts, such as the elephant, tiger, and panda, guarded the outer perimeter.

The beasts were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of nine beasts at Tier Twelve or higher, such as the White Elephant, the Golden Tiger, and Tuantuan. These were the "Mountain Guardian Beasts" and lived in lairs on the surface.

The other group, below Tier Twelve, lived together with the ordinary members of their species in a special wildlife park that Li Xiang had built for them within the Underground City.

As for the kittens, geese, roosters, hedgehogs, and the like, they were the "Household Guardian Beasts" and lived directly on the farms in the Underground City, guarding the various fields.

The kittens had since multiplied to a population of over five hundred. Among them, more than sixty were of Extraordinary breeds. They were divided into six squads that regularly patrolled the various districts of the Underground City.

Additionally, with the concentrated population, many rural families had kept dogs. After years of breeding, Li Xiang had scouted for many dogs with Extraordinary potential last year. By feeding them large quantities of Spiritual Medicine, he had cultivated three hundred Extraordinary Spirit Dogs. They were divided into twenty squads and placed under the command of Er Huang and the Little Fox.

They were also dispersed throughout the city districts, patrolling alongside the cat squads.

They all had an official organizational structure, wore uniform Spirit Armor custom-made for them by Li Xiang, and each had its own designation number.

The Li Family Village Underground City, designated Number 03, was naturally a major city given its low number, housing nearly 15 million people.

The main city alone held nearly 5 million people, and the 12 satellite cities averaged over 800,000 each. There was no helping it; there were simply too many people in China. Although the elderly population had decreased significantly due to the severe cold and the birth rate had also fallen, the entire country still had a population of around 1.1 billion.

A large population was advantageous for the propagation and continuation of civilization, but during the Apocalypse, resources would be scarce. Too many people would be impossible to support—it was a contradiction.

Li Xiang had once planned to shelter a hundred thousand people. Unexpectedly, he now had 15 million under his charge. Moreover, the other Underground Cities were all counting on him for timely rescue. The closer the Apocalypse loomed, the greater the pressure on Li Xiang became.

As for the energy problem, thanks to the Helium-3 Li Xiang had collected from the Moon, Jiang Cai’Er had solved the challenge of achieving controlled nuclear fusion after years of research. She had successfully developed new nuclear reactors and Nuclear Fuel Cells, completely resolving the energy issue for the Li Family Village Underground City.

The two aircraft carriers Li Xiang had previously seized now only provided enough power for the core area centered around the original Li Family Village.

Li Xiang’s earlier plan to solve the electricity problem with two aircraft carriers had been too small-minded.

Of the 72 Underground Cities, one-third had now established this new type of nuclear power plant. The rest still relied on traditional nuclear fission plants and thermal power plants.

Besides being converted into electricity, a portion of the thermal energy from the power plants was used directly for heating the cities and underground farms.

A subterranean railway network had been built connecting the main cities to their satellite cities, as well as to each other. It had undergone several test runs during peacetime, but with the Apocalypse about to arrive, operations were naturally suspended.

In the future, they would not operate unless absolutely necessary. If they were to run, it would be primarily for transporting goods and rescue forces. The movement of ordinary personnel was strictly forbidden.

Originally, when selecting the sites for the 72 underground "hive city" clusters, someone had suggested relocating everyone to the western regions. The reasoning was that the northwest has a high altitude and wouldn’t rely on overseas trade during the Apocalypse, making it a better place to live inland. However, this was later reconsidered. The northwest was arid, and despite the "Star Sea" project overseen by Li Xiang, it still couldn’t meet the water needs of over a billion people. Furthermore, a nationwide relocation was immensely difficult, and the common people might not have been willing. Putting everything else aside, the sheer hassle of moving house was immense.

With scarce resources and a declining economy, people were reluctant to throw away even old jars and cans. The thought of having to transport all their furniture and appliances thousands of miles to the west was a headache in itself.

And that was just for individual families. Then there were all the public facilities.

For instance, factory buildings and equipment; various instruments, desks, and chairs from schools; and all the equipment and personnel from hospitals...

Many patients were hospitalized long-term, and ICUs were perennially full. The manpower and resources required to transfer them would be exorbitant, and there was no need for such waste. Some patients couldn’t even be moved. What if they kicked the bucket during transit? Would their families cause a scene? The doctor-patient relationship was already so strained these days.

Many elderly people were also too old to endure the arduous journey.

Another issue was that some cities relied on nuclear power plants for energy. To keep the reactor temperatures controllable and protect major equipment like turbines and generators from overheating and burning out, vast amounts of cooling water were required—and the northwest was already short on water.

Moreover, the Apocalypse was imminent, and time was short.

Taking all factors into consideration, the final decision was to build the Underground Cities on-site, in the originally densely populated provinces.

...

「In France」

At Erin’s ancient castle, a dense formation of one hundred thousand Alchemy Puppets was stationed on the surface, with the castle as their center. At this moment, the puppets were motionless, lying on the ground behind cover like statues, conserving energy.

Meanwhile, in the underground Shelter, the outer city housed over ten thousand people. Around six thousand of them were employees from industries under the Aileen Clan’s umbrella, and over a third of them were black.

There was no helping it. France had numerous colonies in Africa, the Aileen Clan also had significant business interests there, and black people made up a considerable proportion of the population in mainland France. In recent years, the proportion of black newborns in France had already surpassed fifty percent.

Within the family’s industries, many families had worked there for generations, and employees with over ten years of service were commonplace. These people were well-known and relatively loyal, and there was no shortage of high-quality management personnel among them. Naturally, Erin wouldn’t abandon them and had basically transferred all of them over.

As for the rest of the population, they were refugees Erin had taken in. Their quality varied, so they were dispersed and assigned to various departments.

The entire base operated on the existing corporate structure of a headquarters and its subsidiaries, though its business operations now needed to be adjusted and transformed.

Erin and her children, along with a dozen or so maids, lived in the Inner City. The guard force consisted of about one hundred Alchemy Puppets.

Those maids were all managed by Shen Wenqian.

Ever since Li Xiang had sent her over to study abroad and act as the "Dehua," Shen Wenqian had hardly ever returned home. This was because Li Xiang later had three more children with Erin.

Their names were Clemence Li Merovingian, Sonia Li Merovingian, and Leocardie Li Merovingian.

Including their eldest daughter, Aurelie, that made four children in total: two boys and two girls.

The genes of these four children were naturally excellent. Not only were they beautiful, but their Cultivation Talent was also extraordinary.

Aurelie was already Tier Two, while the other three were Tier One, mainly because they were still too young.

Right now, the "Dehua" was playing with the four children and giving them a Chinese lesson.

Their father was Chinese, so how could they not learn the language? And could there be a better Chinese teacher than Shen Wenqian?

Shen Wenqian now possessed the strength of a Tier Five and had also earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Paris Sciences and Letters. ’Hmph, even with the Apocalypse here, a degree from a prestigious university is still a credential—a status symbol,’ she thought. ’It’ll look good on my resume in the future.’

She just hadn’t really dated much, because almost all her free time was spent babysitting for her cousin.

And they were illegitimate children, at that.

The thought that she would have to continue babysitting in the future (Erin had once unintentionally let it slip that she wanted to have ten children with Li Xiang, a blissful smile on her face as she said it) made Shen Wenqian feel immense pressure.

But her cousin had entrusted her with this important task, and it wouldn’t be right to refuse.

Fortunately, she was an Extraordinary Being and could reach the Saint Tier in the future. Her looks wouldn’t fade, so she would have plenty of time to find a boyfriend later.

Besides, there weren’t many Extraordinary Beings right now, and she looked down on ordinary people, so she couldn’t find anyone even if she wanted to.

The reason she was confident she could reach the Saint Tier was that her "foreign sister-in-law" had promised her something. In exchange for helping raise the kids, she wouldn’t be treated unfairly and would receive a specially crafted, high-quality Holy Blood Alchemy Heart.

This type of Alchemy Heart was extremely precious and difficult to craft. Not only was it hugely expensive, but it also required the infusion of Erin’s Holy Blood essence. It allowed a person to ignore bottlenecks and advance directly to the Saint Tier.

Furthermore, her cousin was going to put her in charge of reviewing the qualifications for Extraordinary Beings’ advancements. This was a brand-new, powerful department already in the process of being formed. The alchemical item developed by her cousin’s wife, Erin, the "Heart Image Judgment," had already entered initial mass production and was being shipped to major Underground Cities around the world.

Not only was this position influential and powerful, but the salary was also very generous. Her cousin’s wife, Erin, also frequently gave her spending money—tens of thousands of Euros a month.

At this thought, Shen Wenqian couldn’t help but feel confident about the future and resumed teaching the children.

"Today, I’m going to tell you all about ’The Peanuts.’"

This was a classic text from a Chinese elementary school language textbook. When teaching the children Chinese, besides telling them Chinese myths, legends, and idiom stories, Shen Wenqian just used the elementary school textbooks directly. They were proper, systematic teaching materials from her home country, far better than anything she could compile herself. Plus, she had studied the ready-made textbooks before, which made lesson planning much easier.

With her Ph.D. from a prestigious university, Shen Wenqian’s skill was comparable to a top-tier private tutor. Teaching a simple elementary school text like this was a piece of cake for her.

The little ones were enjoying the lesson at first, but as they listened, they grew curious. The eldest daughter, Aurelie, tilted her little head, lost in thought. Her younger brother, Clemence, however, couldn’t help but ask, "Aunt Qianqian, how come the main character in the story is just like us? His father is never home. Are all Chinese fathers never at home?"

Shen Wenqian: "..."

She was momentarily stunned. Her mind was filled with a torrent of complaints she couldn’t possibly voice to a child. ’That scumbag cousin of mine, what a mess he’s made!’

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