Cave Refuge

Because of this, in Jason Jefferson's view, Zachary was definitely a diamond-class "Old Five." Jason thought that if those experts in his wife's circle of friends took a liking to Zachary, they could quickly secure him and firmly hold him in their grasp.

If his wife's friends got a hold on Zachary, then he believed in his wife's capabilities, and when anything happened in the Thompson Family, or even some decisions were made, they would not escape their control.

At Jason's enthusiastic greeting, Zachary showed a shy expression on his face and whispered to Jason, "I'm actually not picky; as long as she's pretty and has a nice personality, that's enough for me."

Seeing Zachary showing such a shy and bashful expression, Jason responded warmly on the surface, but inside, he was very pleased, thinking: See, isn't it easy to take him down just like that?

The reason Zachary expressed such an emotion was that, for some unknown reason, although Jason was being very enthusiastic, Zachary could still sense a hint of malice from him.

Although Zachary could sense this malice from Jason, it wasn't severe, and it appeared intermittently, which made Zachary feel somewhat helpless.

After all, if the malice had been constant, then Zachary could have deduced from the malice emanating from the other party that he was absolutely despised, but this intermittent malice made it hard for Zachary to judge what Jason's attitude really was towards him.

However, Zachary didn't want to worry about it too much at this moment since it was just a first meeting. No matter what the other person thought inside, as long as he didn't act out unusually on the surface, Zachary would treat him with the same attitude.

That said, as long as Jason continued to be polite or very enthusiastic, Zachary would reciprocate in the same manner.

Jason Jefferson's companion spiritual treasure had chosen evolution through bearing and after evolution, Jason fed it quite a few mysterious cores, so now its size was comparable to a thousand-ton cruise ship.

Although the rusty winds of the natural disaster appeared at dawn, yet when the sun was fully shining above and hit the earth completely, these rusting winds that were floating along with the breeze gradually dissipated under the sun's rays.

It's a pity that even though the rusting winds dissipated quite messily, before dissipating, they fulfilled their purpose as a natural disaster by completely destroying all the metal ships that were floating on the water's surface; this was like those top-tier players in games whose krypton gold items were all confiscated.

Such an action was undoubtedly a lethal strike, just like those top-tier players who got their krypton gold items confiscated; many survivors felt like the sky had fallen when they lost their water base and metallic ships built before the disaster.

The natural disaster just dissipated without a trace because of the sun's rays, but some people who were fortunate enough to escape from danger zones did so in a hurry, thus forgetting to pack and take the most valuable things from their homes.

After escaping, many people ended up completely alone in a bitterly poor state.

At this time, unlike before the disaster, where one could achieve a decent life through hard labor, now at least one could no longer live completely worry-free.

Having lost the water base and many aircraft carriers and large ships, the people of China, referred to as "rabbits," once again returned to the early post-disaster period of lacking food and clothing.

It's important to note that most water bases not only stocked a large amount of food but also crucially, many had gradually reached a level of self-sufficiency.

This meant that while other survivors showed panic at the disaster, some bases were already able to prevent the tragedy of people literally starving to death.

But just as these self-sufficient water bases promised a full belly for everyone inside, the sudden appearance of the natural disaster rendered years of hard work in vain.

This was like those early game stages where you scrimped and saved, overcoming a myriad of difficulties, finally getting past the initial phase of the game ready to enjoy the mid-game activities when, suddenly, a major rollback occurred, washing away years of hard work.

After realizing this, Zachary understood why some people, even though alive and well, would fall apart or even seek death when encountering certain situations. Only a few with very resilient mindsets would muster the courage to start all over again.

For someone like Jason Jefferson, who had already stored ample resources in his Companion Spiritual Treasure, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

It was like the great chaos at Heavenly Palace, a devastating blow that unknowingly helped many people and settled many bad debts.

The resources on Jason's boat, of course, weren't procured through official channels, but rather through intermediaries in exchange for favors, thus he ended up with quite a few excellent items.

In any case, as long as these things weren't brought to light, everyone would subconsciously ignore them, so Jason had a lot of good stuff. However, when he was at the base, he made sure to keep a low profile so as not to stick out—hence, even after acquiring some great items, he didn't dare enjoy them at home.

This was why, when he saw his father going out fishing every day and taking a box lunch to eat outside, Jason immediately realized something.

It wasn't convenient for him to feast lavishly at the base, but as long as he went out to fish like his father, once he left the city, the sky would be the limit and the ocean vast for the fish to leap as they pleased.

Outside the city, no one cared, and even if someone reported him, without solid evidence, such attempts to provoke him had no effect.

Perhaps the corrosive winds, aside from rusting metals, were also a sort of blessing to the surrounding environment. The drifting base hurled endless garbage as it traveled.

Now, with the flooding submerging the land, the old methods of burying garbage were impossible. Thus, whether it was the water bases or the various boats, most resorted to sinking their trash by weighting it down and tossing it into the water.

This, in many places, led to varying degrees of water pollution. However, unlike before the natural disaster, many people were no longer alive; there was no longer anyone to plead for environmental sustainability to deter others.

Thus, although much of the garbage settled deep beneath the water, it inevitably still polluted the water bodies to some extent.

For some reason, though the rusting winds lasted only about ten hours from start to finish, they not only destroyed most human-made objects floating on the water but also corroded part of the garbage on the seabed upon contact.

So, when the rusting winds completely vanished under the sunlight, some people began to notice that the water had become much clearer.

Jason Jefferson, along with his parents and the three members of the Thompson family, moved to the other side of the deck, where it was bustling with preparations and washing ingredients for the meal.

From the ingredients and tools they were preparing, it was clear that the main dish of this gathering would be various skewers.

Although the boat was Jason's Companion Spiritual Treasure, it was loaded with many supplies, and he could no longer submerge it into his Sea of Consciousness like Zachary could when leaving. This meant that people had to stay on the boat when he was away—it wasn't just the Jefferson family on board but also Jason's very trusted subordinate, stationed permanently on his Companion Spiritual Treasure, helping to watch over the various stored resources.