newbobooks Chapter 167 Yunlan's Upgrade
Chapter 167 Yunlan's Upgrade
Time flies, and it's already the end of January in the Gregorian calendar, which is also the Lunar New Year. Li Chenglong has been extremely busy these past few days. He personally led a team to visit the families of martyrs and their compounds to offer their condolences. In addition to these places, he also delivered rice, flour, and cooking oil to some elderly people living alone, so that they could have a good New Year. He spent a whole week on this task alone.
On the other hand, Chu Kexin, Liu Qingqing, Jiang Hui, and others have also prepared wonderful Spring Festival Gala performances, which will be presented to everyone at Shuguang on New Year's Eve. In addition to these, the Logistics Department will also distribute Spring Festival couplets, window decorations, and other essential items to every household. Li Chenglong also requested that from the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month to the fifth day of the first lunar month, everyone's supplies be doubled, ensuring that even in a frugal year, the festival is not neglected, and that everyone can eat well.
On the afternoon of January 28th, Li Chenglong exchanged New Year's greetings with Generals Sun Tianlong and Feng Ke of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Military Region. General Sun Tianlong suggested that Li Chenglong and his team visit the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Military Region after the Spring Festival to discuss joint operations. Li Chenglong readily agreed. Besides the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Military Region, Li Chenglong also had friendly exchanges with the leaders of Black Gold City and Feiyun Base. All parties expressed their desire to strengthen cooperation in the fight against zombies and the apocalyptic crisis.
Li Chenglong finished his afternoon work and returned home early. There were quite a few people there today, more than twenty. Li Xue, Zhao Liying, Qin Fangyu, and Shen Menghua were busy in the kitchen kneading dough to make dumplings. The dumpling fillings included three types: cabbage and pork, cabbage and beef, and chives and eggs. Besides dumplings, Li Chenglong had also prepared a lot of other dishes in advance, which were already stored in the psionic space's storage area and could be taken out soon.
At 7 p.m., plates of dumplings and various stir-fried dishes were brought out. More than thirty people sat at three tables in the living room, watching the Spring Festival Gala on the TV on the wall, listening to the sounds of firecrackers outside. The New Year's Eve dinner was filled with joy and comfort. The next morning, Han Xiaoling and Li Xue arrived early at Li Chenglong's house to wish him and Yunlan a Happy New Year. The two said in unison, "Happy New Year to our elder brother and sister-in-law! May everything go well for you, may you have a baby soon, and may all your wishes come true."
As they spoke, the two women extended their hands, and Li Chenglong laughed heartily, rewarding each of them with a cyan crystal. These crystals were what he had recently obtained from hunting exotic beasts and zombie beasts; consider them his New Year's money. Besides them, Li Chenglong also gave Yunlan a gift: a scarf he had personally woven from exotic beast silkworm silk. He hadn't known how to weave at first, but after hearing that Wang Xiao did, he asked her for lessons for several days before finally learning. He had spent three nights weaving just this scarf.
Yunlan was very happy to receive Li Chenglong's gift. She asked Li Chenglong to put a scarf around her neck, and then the two of them went to visit Yunlan's parents to wish them a Happy New Year. After the visit, Li Chenglong went to the Shuguang City Broadcasting Bureau and greeted all the people of Shuguang City with New Year's greetings and blessings in front of the television.
After delivering his speech, Li Chenglong drove Yunlan to the special forces unit, Military Region 1, and Military Region 2 to offer their blessings. Yunlan's due date was in mid-to-late March, which was only two months away. The soldiers were deeply moved that Yunlan had sent them New Year's greetings so early in the morning. The two checked the food in the soldiers' mess hall and instructed that the soldiers be made sure to eat well and be well-fed in the coming days.
They didn't get home until 4 PM, having eaten at the Military Zone 2 and letting Yunlan rest. As soon as they entered, they found Alice and Erica already sitting on the sofa. Li Chenglong curiously checked the door lock, finding it intact. He asked, somewhat surprised, "How did you get in? The lock doesn't look broken." Erica smiled and said, "Dawn City is mine; the main control computer won't issue any warnings for me. By the way, I came today because it's Chinese New Year, to wish you a Happy New Year."
After saying that, a blue light flashed in her eyes, and she continued, "Yunlan, your child is developing very well. I estimate that it will be born in 45 days at most. To be honest, I'm a little envious of you Earthlings. Do you know how long it takes for people on our planet Merar to conceive? It takes 700 days, just like on Earth." Yunlan said in surprise, "That's equivalent to two years! Goodness, that's too long! We only go through 38 to 40 weeks at most."
The three chatted for a while, then Yunlan sighed, "Li Chenglong is about to reach level 9, while I'm only level 7." Erica asked curiously, "Yunlan, why don't you level up?" Yunlan replied, "I'm pregnant, aren't I? I dare not level up, afraid it will affect the baby." Alice then spoke up, "Actually, it won't have any effect at all. I forgot to tell you before, and after you level up, the negative effects of pregnancy on you will be even smaller." Erica nodded, "Yes, my mother leveled up from level 6 to level 7 when she was pregnant with my sister, and my sister's aptitude is actually better than mine."
Yunlan stood up excitedly and said, "Okay, I want to level up now." Erica suggested, "Why don't we go to the central computer room? It's the core of Dawn City, and it's been specially enhanced to stabilize your psionic energy to the greatest extent." Li Chenglong asked at this moment, "Yunlan, have you decided? Actually, you're due in less than two months, there's no need to rush to level up." Yunlan immediately said, "I want to level up. Wu Gang is almost level 8 now, and I'm still hovering around level 7. Erica's words just now reassured me. The real battle is about to begin, and I hope to be an asset to you rather than a burden."
Erica spoke up at this moment, "Li Chenglong, don't worry. I've already reached level 10. With me as your level 10 support, Yunlan will be fine." They then went to the central computer room. It was Chinese New Year, and no one was there. Erica told Li Chenglong not to come in, and then she and Yunlan went inside. Ten minutes later, Li Chenglong felt a huge burst of fiery red energy erupt from the central computer room. His own body also emitted a slight amount of energy, and his attributes increased slightly.
A dozen seconds later, the door to the central computer room slowly opened, and Li Chenglong strode in. He saw that although Yun Lan had some sweat on her forehead, she looked fine, and his True Dragon Eye revealed nothing unusual. Yun Lan jumped into Li Chenglong's arms and happily said, "Haha, I leveled up, and I even have a new ability!" Erica took out a silk handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead and deactivated her psionic form: "Congratulations, both of you are now level 8. Dawn City is safe for the time being."
After saying that, Erica left, leaving the two of them there. They spent some time being affectionate, and then Yunlan couldn't wait to show off her abilities. She placed the Phoenix Ring on her right hand against the Dragon Ring on Li Chenglong's left. Li Chenglong was surprised to find that their spiritual energy spaces could now communicate. Not only that, Yunlan's storage space also now had a natural area, though it was half natural and half storage, making it four-fifths the size of Li Chenglong's spiritual energy space.
Yunlan smiled and said, "Now I have a natural area too, where I can grow a lot of things. Moreover, our psionic spaces can be interconnected in the future. According to Erica, this distance will increase as our level increases. Currently, as long as we are within a few dozen kilometers, we can exchange things in our psionic spaces."
Li Chenglong nodded. This ability might not seem like much now, but it would definitely be very useful once they continued to upgrade and the distance increased. Furthermore, with Yunlan also acquiring a spiritual energy space, the production of Dawn Rice would increase significantly. Then, the two of them carefully organized the items in their respective spiritual energy spaces, grouping together the less useful items, which Li Chenglong would put in the logistics department when he had time.
Yunlan nestled on Li Chenglong's shoulder, breathing warm air into his ear as she whispered, "Do you want to experience what it's like to be a first time?" Li Chenglong's pupils contracted. "That's not a good idea." Yunlan grinned mischievously. "Wait two more months, and once my body has recovered, I'll use my super self-healing ability to fix it. I guarantee it'll be exactly the same as before." Li Chenglong scratched his head. "Can it really be fixed?" Yunlan snorted. "Of course! My super self-healing ability can restore me to my original state, both physically and mentally. I've even tested it."
Li Chenglong felt dizzy and wondered if this skill was supposed to be used like that, but he wisely kept quiet. After the two came out, Yunlan said, "After this upgrade, all my attributes have improved significantly, but the old Meteor Shower skill is gone." Li Chenglong said that more isn't necessarily better; the key is mastery. Some people can defeat everyone with a single move. He hadn't gained any new skills after reaching level 8, but he had unlocked his Spiritual Energy Form earlier than expected.
Erica was chatting with Li Xue when she saw Yun Lan and Li Chenglong arrive. Li Xue exclaimed in surprise, "Sister-in-law, you've leveled up?" Yun Lan nodded, "Yes, I've leveled up, and I'm perfectly fine." Li Chenglong glanced at his watch; it was almost 6 PM. He then offered to treat Erica to dinner. Erica smiled and said, "I've hunted quite a few exotic beasts recently, some of which are quite delicious. Could you cook some for Yun Lan later?" The four of them then left the eighth floor together.