Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 141 Space!

Xu Xiaoyan did not immediately answer Mr. Shao's probing question. Instead, meeting his scrutinizing gaze, she posed a seemingly unrelated but crucial question: "Before revealing my information, or rather, showing you the 'thing' I brought, I would like to take the liberty of confirming, Mr. Shao, that you represent the military, the Linchuan base government, or... a private force or organization?"

This question clearly took Mr. Shao by surprise. He paused for a moment, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and looked at Xu Xiaoyan again with a serious, reassessing gaze.

His expression became more formal and solemn, abandoning his previous formulaic gentleness, and he said clearly, "The entire Linchuan base is currently and for the foreseeable future under the effective control and leadership of the military, and the main leaders of the base government departments are also appointed or recognized by the military." He paused slightly and emphasized, "So, madam, you can consider me to be representing the military."

Upon hearing this clear and forceful reply, Xu Xiaoyan's tense shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly. She no longer hesitated, knowing that she had to demonstrate sufficient sincerity and value at this moment.

She carefully picked up Niu Niu, who had been quietly sitting in her arms and curiously looking around, and gently placed her on the coffee table in front of her, making sure she was sitting steadily. This action caused a hint of confusion and doubt to flash in the eyes of Mr. Shao and his assistant Wang across from her.

Then, under the questioning and inquisitive gazes of the two men, Xu Xiaoyan bent down and took out a dry, ordinary flatbread from the seemingly inconspicuous burlap sack at her feet. She handed the flatbread to Niu Niu, who was sitting at the coffee table.

Her voice instantly softened, becoming almost coaxing. "Niu Niu, sweetie, let's play a game, okay? Look at this pancake, can you 'hide' it? Hide it in a secret place where nobody can find it, only Niu Niu knows, okay?"

Niu Niu blinked her big, dark eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering like little fans. She seemed to understand the word "game," which made her happy. Her little hands didn't even touch the pancake that was so close to her; she just tilted her head, her mind seemingly stirred slightly.

The next second, a scene that Mr. Shao and Assistant Wang would never forget unfolded! The dry biscuit that Xu Xiaoyan had been holding vanished into thin air without making a sound or producing any light or shadow effects, right before everyone's eyes! It was as if it had never existed! The coffee table was empty, with only Niu Niu's innocent big eyes and Xu Xiaoyan's empty hand hanging in mid-air.

"Hiss—" Despite their best efforts to maintain their professionalism, Mr. Shao and his assistant Wang sitting opposite each other couldn't help but gasp almost simultaneously! The camera in Assistant Wang's hand, which had been stable all along, even shook almost imperceptibly because of this sudden, illogical shock, and the lens shifted slightly.

Mr. Shao's body instantly and uncontrollably sat upright, his back leaving the chair back. His previous refined, calm, and confident demeanor was completely replaced by undisguised shock. His lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. He just stared intently at Niu Niu and the empty coffee table.

However, Xu Xiaoyan's next move surprised and puzzled them even more. She did not show any pride or relief after successfully demonstrating this "miracle," as if this was just the first step in the plan.

She continued in that gentle tone, speaking to Niu Niu who was still sitting at the coffee table, seemingly oblivious to the commotion she had caused, her voice full of encouragement, "Niu Niu is so great! You hid it so well, I couldn't find it at all! Now, I'm a little hungry and want to eat some pancakes. Niu Niu, could you 'give back' the pancakes you hid to me? Like magic, can you make them appear?"

Niu Niu sat on the smooth coffee table, still tilting her little head, looking at Xu Xiaoyan with blank eyes. Her little face showed no change in expression, and she made no physical movements. A few seconds passed, then more than ten seconds passed... The coffee table remained empty, as if the air had frozen. The vanished pancake did not reappear as expected.

Xu Xiaoyan seemed completely unsurprised by this, her face showing no sign of frustration or anxiety. Looking at Niu Niu's bewildered expression, she smiled softly, almost imperceptibly, a smile that carried a hint of knowing she had anticipated it.

Instead of trying to get Niu Niu to "take" the item, she calmly straightened up, reached into her backpack and took out a smartphone. She skillfully swiped the screen a few times, found a pre-prepared video file, and then played it. She then turned the phone screen towards Mr. Shao, who was still in shock.

"As you can see," Xu Xiaoyan's voice returned to its previous calm and rationality, with a sense of composure and calmness after laying all her cards on the table. "This child is called Niu Niu. She seems to possess an ability that we cannot explain with common sense for the time being. I tend to call it 'spatial ability.'" She used this term cautiously, which only appears in post-apocalyptic novels and rumors.

She pointed to the still clueless little girl on the screen and said, "Perhaps because she is too young and her mind is not mature enough, she cannot understand what is happening to her. She only regards this ability as a fun 'hiding things' game. I have tried to give her a lot of small items in private, and she can easily take them away, as if those things have entered some dimension that we cannot see."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Niu Niu with a complex emotion. "But, asking her to take these things out again, it seems she's not very cooperative, or rather, she doesn't understand the concept of 'taking out,' I personally speculate." She added her observations and conjectures, "This child may have experienced severe hunger before and has a deep-seated craving for food. Therefore, she shows an instinctive liking and enthusiasm for 'taking' things, especially food, because it satisfies her subconscious desire to 'possess.' But she may have some kind of instinctive psychological aversion to the act of 'taking out' or 'giving.'"

Finally, she tapped the image that was playing on a loop on her phone screen again—the brief moment she had managed to capture earlier when Niu Niu's empty hands suddenly "conjured" a bright yellow orange.

"Fortunately, I accidentally filmed a video of her successfully retrieving something. This at least proves that her space is not a one-way, in-and-out storage, but has a complete two-way access function. However, at present, the 'retrieval' function is still in a very unstable state, or rather, it is dominated by her emotions and cognition."

After completing her presentation, Xu Xiaoyan raised her head and looked directly and frankly at Mr. Shao, whose expression had become extremely serious. She clearly stated her ultimate goal and judgment: "I believe that she is still young and her abilities are not yet fully developed, let alone controlled. However, as long as the military is willing to take over and patiently guide and train her, when she grows up a bit and her mind matures, she will be able to understand and initially control her abilities..." She paused deliberately, "and the spatial abilities she possesses that transcend common sense can serve the military, playing an immeasurable strategic role in material transportation, warehousing, special operations, and even more areas that we have not yet thought of."

A suffocating silence fell over the room, with only the camera in Assistant Wang's hand diligently making a very faint sound as it recorded this historic moment. Mr. Shao's gaze was fixed on Niu Niu's innocent little face, as if he were examining a treasure. His brain was obviously working at high speed, assessing the enormous impact and potential value of this information.

Just as Mr. Shao's gaze was still firmly drawn to the miraculous image on the phone screen and Niu Niu herself, and his heart was churning with emotion, Xu Xiaoyan seemed to remember something and felt it necessary to complete the information.

She reached into the seemingly limited-capacity backpack again, and this time, she pulled out two slightly wrinkled pieces of paper with even worn edges. She carefully spread the two pieces of paper out in an empty space on the coffee table, and the paper made a slight rustling sound.

She tapped her fingertip on the slightly messy but still clearly legible handwriting and the glaring red fingerprint, her voice calm, yet carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible, mockery of the helplessness of humanity. "And this, I think it's necessary to include it as well. The child's biological mother, if she's still alive, is most likely in this Linchuan base. She actively didn't want the child, and before 'giving' the child to me, she 'specifically' wrote these two documents." She deliberately emphasized the word "specifically," her tone subtle, "as if afraid I wouldn't accept this 'burden' in her eyes."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the slightly disheveled words on the paper, perhaps due to haste and emotional turmoil, but whose meaning was quite clear: "One document is a unilateral statement terminating the custody relationship, claiming that I voluntarily relinquish all rights to the child; the other is an implicit acceptance that I have completely handed over the child's disposal rights, guaranteeing that I will never regret it or cause trouble in the future, even in this world of collapsing order." Her tone carried a realistic clarity: "The binding force of these documents is negligible, but... it's better than nothing, at least it can prove that this child was not forcibly abducted by me."

This sudden supplementary information startled Mr. Shao once again. He forcibly pulled his attention away from Niu Niu's incredible ability and focused it on the two thin sheets of paper that bore witness to a person's helpless choice.

He quickly glanced at the contents of the papers and immediately realized that although the two sheets of paper might have limited practical power, they could at least reduce some of the potential entanglements and troubles that might arise later in terms of procedure.

They provide the military with a barely plausible excuse to take over the children, avoiding unnecessary arguments and potential public relations problems. In this base striving to restore order, even formal "compliance" is sometimes important.

Mr. Shao took a deep breath, using this action to quickly compose his mind, which was somewhat turbulent from the series of information that came his way. When he spoke again, the previous formulaic calm had been replaced by a hint of urgency and importance that was hard to completely conceal. He knew that the matter he had encountered today was far more important than all the matters he handled in his daily life.

His body leaned forward unconsciously, his gaze fixed on Xu Xiaoyan, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. "Madam, the information you provided, and the child you brought... the special characteristics they exhibit are indeed extraordinary, and their potential value... is immeasurable." He carefully chose his words. "So, what kind of... reward or condition do you hope to obtain in exchange for this... 'information' and 'transfer'?" He threw the choice back to Xu Xiaoyan, a gesture that allowed her to name her price.

Xu Xiaoyan met his gaze without the slightest hesitation or timidity, clearly and directly giving her well-thought-out conditions: "A guaranteed long-term residence in the underground city," she continued, "and enough points to support my stable life for the foreseeable future." Her requirements were specific and clear, without any empty promises, directly related to her core survival needs.

"Underground city quota..." The man surnamed Shao repeated the keyword in a low voice, his eyes flashing quickly as he clearly assessed the weight and feasibility of the request in his mind. As the most core and safest area of ​​the base, the underground city has extremely strict approval for its residential quotas. It is usually only allocated to personnel who have made significant contributions to the base, senior technical personnel and their families, or important government and military personnel. The content of this request is indeed quite significant.

He did not immediately agree or refuse, because this was beyond his authority to decide on the spot. He quickly stood up and said, "Madam, the conditions you have proposed involve the allocation of the base's core resources. I need to report this matter to my superiors immediately and apply for the corresponding authority. This matter is of great importance. Please wait here for a moment. I will be back soon." His tone left no room for doubt.

After saying that, he gave a look to his assistant Wang, who was holding the camera, signaling him to keep an eye on the place. Then he turned around and quickly walked out of the room. The door closed gently behind him with a soft "click".

The waiting time seemed exceptionally long. Only the three of them remained in the room. She sat quietly, listening to her slightly quickened heartbeat and the occasional unconscious babbling of Niu Niu. After about twenty agonizing minutes, the tightly closed door was finally pushed open from the outside again.