The military already knew Caroline had brought all this stuff. Even though she was close to them now, she still wouldn't let the military know everything she had in her supplies. She didn't want to end up like the story of the Farmer and the Viper. She kept that lesson in mind every day. "Caroline, you really don't have to be this polite!" Francis said that, but he looked very happy. Caroline also knew the military base had only gotten a little better recently. But they were managing a lot of people, so they would still need a ton of supplies later. And now that the base was rebuilt, even more people who had never entered a shelter before were rushing in. The military was struggling to keep order. She said, "The whole base collapsed before. Fixing it must be hard. I know what I brought isn't enough to cover all your losses, but this is all I have for now. For the next batch of canned food, you can set aside a little extra for yourselves." Caroline had barely finished speaking when Francis waved his hand. "This is already more than enough. It's just a few people who need to eat." Caroline froze for a moment, not understanding what he meant. Francis rubbed his nose and explained, "Our whole base was built with that old-style lock-joint structure, right? Now we also have a metallic-ability user. One of our ability users can change how metal behaves, and we also have two super-strong users. When they work together, they can repair the damaged joints, lift the base, and put it back together. It will take about two days. So I told you—there's no need to compensate us! I was just messing with you earlier. "But since you already gave us all this stuff, it would be rude not to accept it. The base does need a big check-up anyway..." Before he even finished, Caroline walked back to the pile she had taken out and, with a cold face, put half of it back into her storage space. The remaining half was still a lot. It filled an entire wall in Francis's room. Cans are stacked from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Francis didn't complain. He was still smiling. "Hahaha, this is more than enough!" Caroline had no words. Right then, she suddenly felt that all her earlier thoughts—being stunned by Francis pretending to guilt-trip her, feeling touched that the military seemed generous, and thinking about how to repay them—were a total waste of time."Francis, I don't know why, but I suddenly feel like punching you." Caroline rolled up her sleeves. Francis laughed. "No way. I still need your help with chasing Kay." Caroline had almost forgotten about that. She narrowed her eyes at him. Just wait and see how I'll handle this for you. Right then, soldiers came knocking on the door. Francis opened it, and a soldier beamed. "Colonel Sutton! Our panda gave birth! Eight babies in one litter!" Caroline's eyes lit up. My cyan energy! She told Francis she was going downstairs to see the baby pandas and stopped talking to him. Right before she left, Francis gave her a weird smile and tried to grab her hand. She dodged. Just from that look, she knew he was up to something. Sure enough, Francis rubbed his nose again and said, "Stay at the base for a few more days. Kay will get here by tomorrow at the latest. Help me talk to her, okay?" Caroline's eyes narrowed. She looked him up and down. Francis got embarrassed under her stare. He finally muttered, "When you were chasing Shane earlier, I sent a message to the front line. It wasn't a lie. And before sending it, I asked them—things have been calm lately. Kay just didn't want to take time off. Calling her back gives her a chance to rest for two days." Caroline smirked. A man in his thirties falling for a girl really did turn into a whole different creature. He was going all in. Hearing his explanation, Caroline gave a small nod. Last time Kay came, Caroline could see she was exhausted. So if she was coming back to rest for two days, that actually didn't sound too bad. Caroline didn't say anything more. Instead, she felt a bit excited ... and honestly, she kind of missed Kay too.