Chapter 15: Actively Recruiting New Members

On the gradually darkening exile planet, trash was everywhere, making the place filthy and chaotic.

Five dirty little children, faces full of fear, stumbled and ran through a wasteland of garbage.

Suddenly, the little girl at the back tripped over a stone and fell with a thud, rolling a bit on the ground from the momentum.

The four kids ahead were startled and hurried back, fumbling to help her up. “Zhu, are you okay?”

“Hurry, get up! We have to keep running, those bad guys are catching up!”

The little girl called Zhu was tugged and pulled, but she couldn’t get up. Instead, the other four, already exhausted, ended up tumbling into a heap with her.

At any other time, seeing her friends being so clumsy might have made her laugh.

But now, the little girl just sat there, clutching the bloody wound on her shin, and started sobbing, “Brother Al, are we never going home?”

“Who says that? Of course we’ll get back!” A slightly older boy with brown hair scrambled up from the ground. His dirty face was anxious, but he gritted his teeth and tried to comfort her bravely.

But the little girl just cried harder and retorted, “Brother Al, you’re lying! I heard those bad guys say it—this is the exile planet. We can never leave, never see Mom and Dad again.”

The other kids immediately panicked too. “Really? Is this really the exile planet?”

“Mom said the exile planet is the scariest place in the galaxy. There are lots of crazy infected people and berserk beasts. Are we going to die here?”

“I don’t want to! I want to go home, I want my mom and dad! I want to eat spirit-veggie stew—Dad saved up energy coins for so long and said he’d buy it for me next month. I don’t want to stay here anymore!”

Grief overwhelmed them, and their crying became a contagious chorus. Even the toughest, Al, couldn’t hold back his tears, which streamed down his face.

He wiped his face messily, his voice still nasal but unusually serious. “Don’t cry! We have to survive. We’ll find a way home, I promise. But right now, we have to get away from those bad guys. Do you want to be sold off as someone’s child bride or little slave?”

“No, never!” The four kids shook their heads so hard they looked like rattles.

“Then let’s keep running.”

“But... but I can’t run anymore. I’m hungry.” Zhu, the little girl, blushed through the dirt on her face, ashamed.

Right on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly.

That sound seemed contagious too, because soon all five children’s stomachs were growling, one after another.

Their faces turned bright red with embarrassment, and they forgot to cry.

“Let’s... let’s find something to eat first. I think I smell chicken soup.”

“Yeah, I smell it too. It’s so fragrant!”

Their stomachs growled even louder.

“But how could there be the smell of meat in a garbage dump?”

The five kids stared blankly at the garbage mound ahead, but soon their eyes lit up green with hunger as they rushed over.

They circled around the trash heap, following the scent, and found a small wooden cabin. In the yard sat three people—one adult and two children—gathered around a clay pot, eating. The ground was littered with bones.

The delicious smell they’d caught was wafting from that clay pot.

The five children lined up, staring wide-eyed, gulping hungrily.

Inside the yard—

Yun Qimu finished the last sip of soup and let out a satisfied burp.

[Ding—New mission! New mission! Host, please actively recruit new members and contribute to the beautiful Earth Village. Start by recruiting those five adorable kids outside the fence!]

The system’s voice rang out, full of enthusiasm.

Yun Qimu raised an eyebrow, glanced lazily at the five pitiful little ones outside the fence, and leaned back in her chair, not in a hurry to move. Instead, she bantered with the system as usual, “If I get those five kids to join Earth Village, what’s my reward? Don’t think you can trick me into working for free.”

The system gritted its teeth inwardly. As expected, this stingy host was not easy to fool.

Trying to trick her into working for free while she was full and relaxed? Mission failed!

[Ding—Host will receive 5 spirit coins upon completing the mission!]

“That reward’s... acceptable, I guess.” Yun Qimu put down her crossed leg, stood up, stretched lazily, and strolled toward the gate.

Yun Xiaoyu had already run over while Yun Qimu and the system were bickering.

He was especially curious about the dirty kids outside, and leaned on the bamboo fence, chatting away with them.

By the time Yun Qimu arrived, the five children were already looking at her eagerly.

“Big sister, do we have to become someone’s child bride if we join Earth Village?” Zhu, the little girl, looked up nervously.

Yun Qimu was taken aback. “No, you don’t.”

The other four kids breathed a sigh of relief, then excitedly continued, “Then do we have to be someone’s little slave?”

Yun Qimu couldn’t help but laugh and shook her head. “No, you don’t.”

“Then... what does it mean to make a deal with the devil? Is the devil going to eat us?”

A sly glint flashed in Yun Qimu’s eyes, and she teased them mischievously, “If the devil really wanted to eat you, would you be scared?”

The timid ones—Pidang, Gouwa, and Doudou—immediately hugged themselves, looking at her in terror.

Even Yun Qimu, who wasn’t exactly overflowing with sympathy, felt a little awkward and rubbed her nose. “Ahem, I was just kidding. Devils aren’t that scary. It’s just that, if you join Earth Village, you might run into some monsters. If you’re not careful, you could get eaten by one. But if you stay in the safe zone—like this little cabin—you’ll be fine. No monsters will get you.”

The five kids cheered, “Wow! Big sister, if we join Earth Village, do we get a cabin to live in?”

Yun Qimu pressed her lips together, not softening just because they were small, and shook her head. “No, if you want a cabin, you’ll need to build it yourself with energy coins.”

“Then... how many energy coins does a cabin cost?” Al pursed his lips, clutching his little cloth pouch, looking at her nervously.

“Hmm,” Yun Qimu thought for a moment, “One cabin costs 15,000 energy coins. But if you can gather 400 jin of wood yourselves, it’ll only cost 7,500 energy coins.”

“Se-seven thousand five hundred...”

Al, whose pouch only held the five energy coins his mother had given him, gaped in shock. “That’s so expensive!”"