"You've worked hard during this time," Chen Yu patted the giant panda's shoulder, his eyes filled with sympathy.
"All the hard work is worth it. Persistence yields rewards. See, I've found my kin!" The giant panda wailed loudly, hugging Chen Yu.
When fellow townsmen meet, their eyes well up with tears.
A giant panda weighing seventy kilograms with a bite force of 1300N cried like a baby who had lost its mother in Chen Yu's arms. Anyone who saw it would feel pity.
"You look so pitiful, you must have starved and gotten thin," Chen Yu murmured with a frown. "Meeting me, your good days are about to begin... your good days are finally here. From now on, you'll eat well and live comfortably with me."
"Mmm!!!" The giant panda nodded vigorously.
"I don't need to eat well and live comfortably. Just eating bamboo is fine for me. I'm used to eating vegetarian; eating meat suddenly makes me feel a bit nauseous."
"No problem!" Chen Yu thumped his chest. "As long as it's in the underground, I can definitely get it for you."
Chen Yu wasn't lying. With his current financial resources and his status among the survivors in the underground, if he said he wanted bamboo, it would be a rallying cry. Anyone who had bamboo would surely sell it to him. Besides, he wasn't buying bamboo for any other reason. He wanted to give it to the panda! Giant pandas were highly sought after. If Chen Yu announced this, perhaps those who gave him bamboo wouldn't even ask for money and would directly gift it to him.
"Sign it." After patting his chest and making a promise, Chen Yu took out a spirit pet contract scroll. He had possessed this scroll for a long time but hadn't encountered a spirit beast to contract with. Now that he had met the national treasure, the giant panda, it was perfect for use.
"What do I do?" The giant panda's eyes showed confusion. Chen Yu winked at Hei Dou, who then scurried over. "Just place your paw on it."
"Okay." Without the slightest hesitation, perhaps it was the fellow townsman buff, the giant panda harbored no suspicion towards Chen Yu. He directly placed his paw onto the scroll.
[Underground Reminder: Contract Complete]
Upon opening the camp details, the giant panda had officially joined his camp.
"Hey, am I your master now?" The giant panda's eyes were filled with bewilderment after signing the contract. "Master, what's going on?"
Back in the panda enclosure, he was the boss. The zookeepers had to cater to him. After thinking about it, the giant panda didn't care much. Who was the master and who was the servant wasn't important; he was already very content to have met a fellow townsman willing to provide for him. He didn't want to continue wandering in this desolate place.
"Master and servant aren't important; we're all brothers from now on," Chen Yu grinned. Hei Dou also trotted over happily. "I'm your second brother."
"Second Brother!" The giant panda didn't hesitate, calling out with wide eyes. Then he looked at Kuka and the others. "Everyone, please guide me from now on. I'm new here. If I do anything wrong, please bear with me. The name 'Giant Panda' is too monotonous to call. I've given myself a name since arriving here, Coriander. You can call me Coriander from now on."
"You're called Coriander?" Chen Yu exclaimed.
"Ah!" The giant panda responded blankly. "My former zookeeper didn't like coriander, but I actually think coriander tastes quite good, so I thought of calling myself Coriander. Is this name very strange?"
"As long as you like it," Chen Yu replied with a smile. Coriander! This panda was quite interesting. Chen Yu could tell that the giant panda had a great personality, was good-natured, and could get along with others. This made Chen Yu feel much more at ease. He was afraid of encountering someone troublesome who would disrupt the group atmosphere.
"Since you're good at repairs, can you fix this Golden Bell Shield?" Chen Yu took out the broken plate. Coriander the giant panda glanced at it, and his face immediately darkened. "This plate ended up with you?"
"What's wrong?" Chen Yu clearly noticed that the giant panda's expression turned unpleasant upon seeing the Golden Bell Shield.
"That tiger owed me my wages for repairing this plate," Coriander pouted. "I can repair this plate, as long as you give me the materials. However... I have a small request before I repair it."
"Speak!"
"You have to give me bamboo." Having worked for free for so long had made Coriander a bit wary. Although Chen Yu was a fellow townsman, he was afraid of leaving the tiger's den only to fall into the wolf's den. Would it be pathetic to work for free again?
"Hahaha, alright. I'll repair it for you once I get the bamboo," Chen Yu agreed with a loud laugh. He then glanced at the camp. "We've pretty much dismantled everything that needed dismantling. Let's head back to the city."
"What about the bandits in this camp?" Hei Dou gestured towards the subdued bandits.
"What do you think?" Chen Yu raised his eyebrows with a smile. Hei Dou immediately understood. "Got it. Someone, round up these bandits and take them back to the city. Be sharp, and don't let them escape."
...
...
...
The army returned to the city. The people of the city praised Hei Dou's leadership as they returned victoriously. The constant compliments made Hei Dou too ashamed to respond. Others didn't know, but he knew in his heart that this victory had nothing to do with him. Chen Yu didn't expose him either. Hei Dou would figure some things out himself, and he believed that the city folk's cheers for the victory would be remembered by Hei Dou, motivating him to strive even harder for his own true cheers.
Upon returning to the city, everything operated as usual. Er Gou and his men patrolled inside and outside the city. The bandits brought back to the city were undergoing 'moral' re-education, and it was believed that the city would soon have a batch of free laborers. Sitting in his rattan chair, Chen Yu immediately opened the chat page on his wristband. Although he hadn't paid attention to the chat channel for a while, everything was as usual once the page loaded, with a few survivors joking around now and then. Occasionally, some people would post resources not sold at the resource exchange center. Chen Yu's exchange center sold mainstream basic resources. Some less commonly used ones, such as herbs and fishing bait, were not listed. To avoid causing a stir in the chat channel, Chen Yu did not speak. He simply added a special note at his exchange center: "Buying bamboo, bamboo shoots. Private message if interested," and exited the chat page, opening the private message box. Most of the private messages were from people wanting to sell him strange items, and many wanted to join his city. He scanned through them briefly but didn't find anything particularly interesting.
"Big Brother," at that moment, Hei Dou, who had transformed, came before the rattan chair.
"Why are you here? I thought you'd be doing moral training for those bandits," Chen Yu said with a smile. "How was it? How do you feel after the people's welcome back?"
"Stop teasing me," Hei Dou's little face blushed. Seeing this, Chen Yu chuckled. "I didn't know you could blush." Chen Yu glanced at Hei Dou mischievously for a moment, then stopped teasing. "Tell me, what do you need me for? I felt like you had something to tell me back at the camp."
"It was too noisy and crowded at the camp then, so it wasn't convenient," Hei Dou said, narrowing his eyes and gesturing towards the outside of the camp. "This matter is what Irina asked me to remind you about. About that palace in our city."