Chapter 133: Sweet Potatoes

"Listeners, this is FM 1044.9, New City Radio. I am your host, Bai Mengmeng. It is a pleasure to meet you all again on this special day. As always, let us start with our routine briefing on New City..."

"Today, we will be explaining the 'Controllers.' As you all know, according to the zombie types and standards released by New City, the Controller’s unique nature makes it even more dangerous than a Destroyer, ranking just below an Evolver. Its temperament is more like that of an ambusher; the endless hordes of zombies serve as its hiding place. Next, our most experienced soldiers from New City will explain how to deal with a Controller..."

The broadcast from New City Radio caused everyone nearby to focus intently, holding their breath as they listened in silence. A month had passed since the first broadcast, and during this time, New City Radio had embedded itself into the hearts of everyone in the various survivor bases. Its fame had spread through word of mouth, ensuring that everyone remembered the frequency, the name of the station, and New City itself, which they regarded as a holy land.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, whether they were soldiers, farmers, or leaders, people would unfailingly wait by their radios—be they advanced or dilapidated—to listen to every word. The station repeated the virtues of New City daily; after a month, almost everyone who heard it could recite the broadcasts by heart. Yet, this did not dampen their enthusiasm. They would still turn on their radios early, waiting for the opening notes of "Doomsday Elegy."

There were at least a dozen survivor settlements around Wangtian City. Initially, only a few received the signal, but the station’s frequent broadcasts eventually made New City Radio known to everyone. For the leaders of these settlements, the radio station was a mix of love and hate.

They hated that New City preached equality between men and women, a labor division system, and a minimum welfare guarantee. They hated the talk of fish and meat, the beautiful living environment, and the iron-willed soldiers selflessly protecting the city’s safety. Wasn’t this clearly working against them? How could there be equality in the apocalypse? Without men, women—in their weakness—would have long since become food for zombies.

Beyond that, this "labor division system" was nothing more than the old communal kitchen model. The "minimum welfare guarantee" was a fuse that nearly caused riots in the settlements. Had the leaders not used cold-blooded, iron-fisted tactics and their armed forces to slaughter the troublemakers, things might have escalated even further.

As for the talk of fish and meat, that was a fatal temptation. So many survivors hadn't tasted meat in years. Even among the leaders, many hadn't eaten it in a year or two. New City’s daily talk of meat was nothing short of psychological torture. And those "iron-willed soldiers"—as if the soldiers in their own bases were just bandits! Did the leaders really deserve such resentment for taking a little bit of their people's food while acting as their protectors?

Privately, however, all the leaders wondered: Is this broken New City really that good? Could it be a lie? Compared to New City, their own bases were practically hell on earth.

Unable to quell their hatred, the leaders used petty tactics, confiscating radios and imposing strict censorship to prevent the people from hearing the first segments of the broadcast. But Xie Han and his team had anticipated this. They began weaving advertisements for New City into the very beginning or end of their segments, leaving the leaders grinding their teeth in frustration. Eventually, the backlash from confiscating radios was too great, and the leaders simply returned them, letting the people listen. After all, what could a radio broadcast really change?

Of course, beyond the hatred, every leader grew to love New City Radio for its content regarding zombies. Every broadcast featured experienced soldiers explaining techniques for handling various types of zombies, including special improvised tactics. This was exactly what everyone in the apocalypse needed most. It was essential for survival; if they ever encountered these monsters, these tips might just be the difference between life and death.

In particular, the experience shared regarding R3-level zombies left everyone terrified. The power of an R3 was legendary; even those who hadn't seen one had heard the stories. Every appearance brought catastrophe, and they were practically unkillable monsters. Every settlement had suffered at their hands. Yet, New City Radio described them as if they were made of mud—easy to kill. It sounded like complete nonsense.

However, as the station moved from explaining "Breakers" to "Controllers," the skeptics fell silent. How could they be so detailed if they hadn't actually fought them? If you claim it's a lie, then you try to explain it and see if anyone believes you. As they fell silent, a sense of fear toward New City took root. The power of New City hung over the leaders like a mountain.

Some capable leaders had tried to track the location of New City through radio waves, but they found nothing. After a month of failed attempts, they had to give up. Consequently, the mystery surrounding New City only made them more restless and filled with dread.

Xie Han, of course, was unaware that his plan had caused so many people to lose sleep. After having a soldier read the data on Controllers, he quietly left the broadcast room. He had plenty of work to arrange.

The machinery brought back from the manufacturing plant had been retrofitted, and they had successfully produced their first machine gun and their first bullet. Xie Han was unfamiliar with the manufacturing process; the precision machinery of the apocalypse was beyond his understanding. He wouldn't interfere, choosing instead to leave the management to those who were familiar with it.

***

The rice in the paddies was growing beautifully. This newly reclaimed land was extremely fertile, even without fertilizer. Wheat and corn had also been planted. All around New City, one could see nothing but lush green farmland.

The population of New City was not static. After resting for only three days, A-Mu and An Xiaowei returned to the task of "recruiting" people from Andu City. Being familiar with the ropes, they could bring back a new batch of survivors every three days. In just one month, thanks to their efforts, New City’s population had surged to nearly twenty thousand.

This rapid increase caused a massive crisis regarding housing and supplies. Grain consumption was draining their stores like water, and Xie Han had to transport vast amounts of modern-day food into the apocalypse every day. He was running out of excuses for the endless supply in the warehouse. Fortunately, New City was vibrant, and everyone was fully immersed in their work, so no one questioned it. While relieved, Xie Han began to consider how to expand grain production.

When it came to the highest yield per acre, sweet potatoes immediately came to mind. In 2009, calculating for both spring and summer seasons, the yield could reach 7,200 kilograms in the spring and about 6,000 kilograms in the summer. Such a massive yield was about ten times that of rice. In the modern world, sweet potatoes weren't as economically valuable as rice, but in the apocalypse, a time of food scarcity, people were grateful for anything they could eat.

Since sweet potatoes yielded ten times more than rice, Xie Han couldn't pass them up. More importantly, they were drought-resistant, making them ideal for the gravel-filled land on the periphery of the military restricted zone. Planting them would turn this otherwise useless ground into endless farmland.

However, unlike grain, sweet potatoes are vine-growing plants, and Xie Han couldn't easily bring them over from the modern world in bulk. The only way was to find them in the rural villages. He didn't believe that in so many villages, no one had been growing them.

Li Hualong had been diligent as the leader of the hunting team, never once slacking off. His performance was recognized by everyone. This time, Xie Han tasked him with finding sweet potato vines from the surrounding villages.

In fact, sweet potatoes were grown in almost every village, so it wasn't difficult for Li Hualong. He returned with two truckloads of vines, enough to plant hundreds of acres. Not only that, he also brought back two truckloads—dozens of tons—of harvested sweet potatoes. According to him, this was only from a few villages. Faced with such a gratifying harvest, Li Hualong’s task was expanded: he was to dig up as many sweet potatoes as possible.

Thanks to Li Hualong’s contribution, Xie Han gathered over twenty officials to the gravel fields. Xie Han had them bring over dozens of pounds of plump, large sweet potatoes. He picked up a shovel and started digging into the gravel, telling Xu Qiang and the others, "Everyone, get to work. We’re having a roasted sweet potato feast. I’ll state this now: whoever doesn't work will just have to watch the rest of us eat. This is an 'AA' (split-cost) feast."

Roasted sweet potatoes sounded rustic, but among the twenty or thirty people present, fewer than five actually knew the traditional method of roasting them in the ground. That didn't stop the others from imitating them. They grabbed shovels from the soldiers and started digging into the gravel just like everyone else.

It was Xie Han’s first time roasting sweet potatoes this way, but he had researched the process and seen pictures. He dug quickly, creating a pit about 20 centimeters wide. Setting the shovel aside, he gathered hard clods of earth and began building a wall around the pit. The process had to be slow, or the wall would collapse. Once the circular wall was built and capped, he had the soldiers gather dry firewood to ignite inside the makeshift earthen kiln.

The kilns were simple, and most people succeeded after two or three tries.

Qi Feiwu knew that Xie Han must have had a deeper reason for calling them all here, though she didn't quite understand what it was. She kept her head down, placing firewood into her small kiln, occasionally looking up at Xie Han.

The sight of nearly thirty people burning their kilns was quite spectacular. Xie Han tossed a few pieces of firewood into his kiln, feeling a bit detached. These were the elites of the apocalypse, yet here they were, roasting sweet potatoes in dirt kilns with him. In peaceful times, any one of them would have been a high-powered, arrogant figure.

Once the earthen walls were glowing red, Xie Han used a branch to push aside the top clods, placed seven or eight sweet potatoes inside, then collapsed the red-hot walls onto them. He crushed the clods with a wooden stick and covered everything with fine sand and dirt. The roasting process was complete.

It would take about ten minutes for the sweet potatoes to be ready. Taking advantage of the wait, Xie Han gathered everyone together. "You all probably know why I called you here, right?" He held up a sweet potato and said, "It’s for this—a high-yield food source."

The people present had already guessed that he wouldn't have pulled them away from their heavy workloads just to have a good time roasting potatoes. Chen Liu and Xu Qiang, who had already been briefed, sat calmly on large rocks, fiddling with the plump sweet potatoes in their hands, looking thoughtful.

"Perhaps many of you were high-level white-collar workers, business owners with your own careers, or technical authorities in your fields a few years ago. You wouldn't have looked twice at these rural things back then. But I want to tell you: this is not a few years ago. This is the apocalypse. A world where food is supreme. No matter how noble or powerful you were before, here, you are first a member of my team, and only then an official of New City."

Xie Han pointed at the endless gravel fields. "See this? If we plant this entire area with sweet potatoes, the annual yield alone would be enough to sustain New City for years. What can we do with an excess of sweet potatoes? You can probably guess. First and foremost, it becomes our primary food source. Has anyone here never eaten sweet potato rice? It doesn't taste great, but when there is no other food, it represents the hope for survival."

"Our population is constantly growing, but compared to the potential yield of sweet potatoes, we won't be able to consume it all. So, what do we do with the surplus? It's easy to solve. Just because everyone in New City is well-fed and warmly clothed doesn't mean the people in other bases are. They have even more people suffering from hunger and cold. What we need to do is use our endless food supply to break their fighting spirit and bring them under the service of New City."

"There are many snacks that can be made from sweet potatoes. I believe some of you have tasted them. The taste of processed sweet potatoes is worlds apart from the raw ones. I called you here today for two reasons: first, to let you experience the benefits of sweet potatoes; second, to help you realize the immense role this crop plays in the apocalypse."

With that, the ten minutes passed quietly. The rich, sweet aroma of roasted potatoes drifted from the kilns, making everyone salivate. Xie Han saw he had said his piece and waved his hand. "I won't stop you from having a feast. When you open the kilns, remember to be gentle, and the sweet potatoes are still very hot—don't burn yourselves."

Xie Han’s humorous remark made many of them laugh. Despite being the leader of the entire base, he didn't stand on ceremony. He went to his own kiln, carefully brushed away the sand and dirt, and revealed the sweet potatoes, which were giving off a mouth-watering aroma. He took one out, tested it, and found it was perfectly soft. Once it cooled slightly, he peeled it, revealing the golden flesh inside.

These sweet potatoes, also known as "Golden Yams," could be seen in any modern city, sold by vendors with pushcarts. The fragrant, roasted potatoes were a favorite among children, who would always clamor for their parents to buy them. Xie Han had eaten them a few times and they were indeed delicious. Unfortunately, they were absurdly expensive in the modern world.

The fragrance made everyone gobble them up greedily; after all, it was hard to find such delicious food in the apocalypse. However, in Xie Han’s view, their technique was lacking; many were still half-cooked. He maliciously wondered if everyone would be letting out loud, stinky farts tomorrow. That scene would certainly become a laughingstock for all of New City.

When everyone had eaten their fill and dispersed, Xie Han found Qi Feiwu. "Get the sweet potato project moving as soon as possible. This is not something to be taken lightly; it concerns many of our future plans. Li Hualong has already brought back the vines. Arrange for people to trim them and get them planted quickly. By the end of the year, we can solve our food problems." He handed her a sweet potato and smiled, "Eat this one instead. The ones in your kiln were all half-cooked."

Qi Feiwu’s face was already flushed, but Xie Han could feel it grow even warmer, as she was being given a potato in front of so many people. Still, she took it and nodded. "I’ll arrange it as soon as I get back."

She carefully placed the sweet potato in her pocket, glanced at Xie Han one last time, and hurried away amidst the raucous laughter of Xu Qiang and Chen Liu. He was certain they would have plenty to tease her about at tomorrow’s meeting.