Me? I was transported into a book? And I became a vicious villain?

"Cough cough..." A weak cough interrupted Wang Qiang's words. He turned his head and looked towards the place where the sound came from. It was Chu Mengmeng.

An abnormal blush appeared on Chu Mengmeng's originally pale face. She struggled to sit up, but because her body was too weak, she could only lean weakly on the head of the bed.

"Mengmeng, don't move!" Wang Qiang hurried forward and supported Chu Mengmeng, his eyes full of worry.

"I'm fine..." Chu Mengmeng grabbed Wang Qiang's arm and said intermittently, "Captain...Captain...he will definitely find a way..."

Her voice was very soft, but like a stone, it stirred up thousands of waves in everyone's hearts. Yes, they still have a captain, and they still have hope!

"Mengmeng is right, we can't give up!" A team member clenched his fists, and the fire of hope rekindled in his eyes.

"Yes, we still have the captain!"

"We can't just give up like this!"

……

The team members spoke up one after another, encouraging each other. Chu Mengmeng looked at this scene, her lips curled up slightly, but her eyelids became heavier and heavier, and finally she slowly closed her eyes.

"Mengmeng!" Wang Qiang exclaimed and quickly reached out to check her breath. Fortunately, she was just asleep.

It was dark at night, and Xiao Yichen was walking alone in the woods. He didn't know how long he had been walking, nor where he was, he just moved his legs mechanically, letting the cold wind blow on him.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to his mind.

"Yes, why didn't I think of it!" Xiao Yichen stopped suddenly, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes.

He once accidentally learned an ancient magic technique during a battle, which allowed him to use his own magic power to sense substances with special energy in the surrounding environment. Although this technique was not very practical, it could be used to find some rare herbs.

Thinking of this, Xiao Yichen no longer hesitated. He immediately sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and slowly released his magic power.

As time passed, beads of sweat gradually appeared on Xiao Yichen's forehead. Just when he was about to give up, suddenly, a weak energy wave came into his perception.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked in the direction where the energy fluctuations came from. He saw a emerald green plant emitting a faint fluorescent light growing quietly not far away.

Xiao Yichen was overjoyed and quickly stood up and walked towards the plant.

The next morning, when the first ray of sunlight shone into the room, Ling'er woke up rubbing her sleepy eyes. She turned her head to look beside her, but found that her father, who was supposed to be lying next to her, was gone.

"Dad?" Ling'er called softly a few times, but no one responded.

She suddenly felt a little uneasy and quickly jumped out of bed, looking around for her father.

"Dad, where are you?" Ling'er's voice was filled with tears.

Just then, the door was pushed open and Xiao Yichen appeared at the door.

"Dad!" Ling'er shouted in surprise and rushed towards Xiao Yichen.

"Ling'er, why did you get up?" Xiao Yichen picked up Ling'er, his eyes full of love.

"Dad, where did you go? You were gone when I woke up." Ling'er asked.

"Dad went to find some herbs that can cure everyone's illness." Xiao Yichen said, taking out a handful of green herbs from his arms and shaking them in front of Ling'er.

Ling'er looked at the herbs and a gleam of light suddenly flashed in her eyes.

"Dad, can I..." Ling'er was interrupted by Xiao Yichen before she could finish her words.

"Ling'er, be good. These herbs require special methods to work. Daddy will handle it."

"But..." Ling'er wanted to say something, but was stopped by Xiao Yichen's eyes.

"Be obedient." Xiao Yichen's tone was gentle, but with unquestionable firmness.

Seeing this, Ling'er had no choice but to shut her mouth. However, her eyes never left those herbs, and a strange light flashed in her eyes...

Xiao Yichen didn't know that his words aroused Ling'er's greater determination. The little girl had already seen her father's words and the sad faces of the adults. She knew that the herbs her father found were the hope of curing everyone, and she also wanted to contribute to this hope.

While Xiao Yichen was boiling the herbs, Ling'er sneaked out. She closed her eyes and carefully felt the energy fluctuations around her. These days, she has been secretly practicing the magic her father taught her. Although she can't use it as skillfully as her father, it is no longer difficult for her to sense the weak energy fluctuations around her.

"Found it!" Ling'er trotted all the way to a thick tree, and pulled aside the dense grass. A plant emitting a light golden light appeared in front of her. This plant was thinner than the green herb that her father found, but it emitted a more powerful energy fluctuation. Ling'er dug it out carefully and held it in her hands, fearing that she would damage it.

In this way, Ling'er found plants containing special energy again and again. Some of them she knew, and some she had never seen before, but she treated them all as treasures and brought them back to her father carefully.

Xiao Yichen looked at the various herbs Ling'er brought back, his eyes full of relief and surprise. He didn't expect that Ling'er, at such a young age, had such a high talent in magic. And Ling'er, looking at the relieved smile on her father's face, was filled with joy. It seemed that her little body contained infinite power, making her forget her fatigue and fear, and she only wanted to do more for her father and everyone.

At the same time, in the Self-Defense Forces' base, Chu Mengmeng leaned weakly against the bed, watching the members who were not sick reinforcing the fortifications, with a determined light in her eyes. "Wang Qiang, you are right, we can't just sit there and wait for death, we have to protect our homeland!"

"Mengmeng, you are still sick, just leave these things to us." Wang Qiang looked at Chu Mengmeng's pale face and said with heartache.

"I'm fine. There's still a lot I can do." Chu Mengmeng shook her head and motioned for Wang Qiang to help her up. She looked at those young faces and said with all her strength, "We are the Self-Defense Force. It is our responsibility to protect our homeland. Even if there is only one person left, we must fight to the end!"

Chu Mengmeng's words, like a flame, ignited everyone's fighting spirit. They took up their weapons and reinforced their fortifications, their eyes full of determination and courage. They knew that in order to protect their beloved homeland and the weak companions behind them, they could not fall down, and they would never fall down!

As night fell, Xiao Yichen looked at the piles of herbs in front of him, with hope in his eyes. He took a deep breath and began to prepare the medicine. Ling'er sat obediently beside him, looking at her father quietly, her eyes full of expectation.

"These herbs should be enough..." Xiao Yichen muttered to himself, but his hands did not pause at all.

As the night deepened, Xiao Yichen's cabin was brightly lit. As the medicinal juice bubbled in the pottery jar, a fresh herbal fragrance spread, dispelling the dullness and anxiety in the air. Ling'er lay on the table, her little head nodding, her eyelids were already fighting, but she still tried to open her eyes wide and watched her father's busy figure.

"Ling'er, go to sleep if you're sleepy." Xiao Yichen handed a bowl of medicine to the young team member beside him, "Come, drink it, and you'll get better soon."

The young team member gratefully took the medicine bowl and drank it all. Since the last accident, members of their team have successively developed symptoms of high fever and vomiting. Only he and Wang Qiang, who have strong physiques, have not been knocked down by the disease for the time being. However, as time went by, he also felt that his body was getting weaker and weaker, and he even had no strength to hold a weapon.

"Brother Xiao, is this medicine really effective?" Looking at the green residue left at the bottom of the bowl, the young team member couldn't help but feel a little skeptical.

"Of course, this was found with the help of Ling'er." Xiao Yichen smiled and touched Ling'er's head, "Ling'er, am I right?"

"Yeah!" Ling'er nodded vigorously, her little face full of seriousness and pride.

After taking the medicine, the young team member felt a warm current flowing slowly from his stomach to his limbs, and the original soreness and weakness miraculously subsided a lot. He widened his eyes in surprise, "This... This really works! I feel much better!"

"Really? That's great!" Xiao Yichen and Ling'er looked at each other and smiled with relief on their faces.

As time went by, more and more members of the Self-Defense Forces recovered after taking the medicine prepared by Xiao Yichen. They picked up their weapons again and began simple physical training to prepare for the next action.

Chu Mengmeng and a member of the Self-Defense Force named Zhao Ming gathered together to study how to solve the communication problem. Zhao Ming is a veteran who is quite knowledgeable about electronic communications.

"Strange. Logically speaking, the communication equipment we use is of military grade and shouldn't be so easily interfered with." Zhao Ming repeatedly checked the instrument in his hand with a frown.

"Could it be that they used some special method?" Chu Mengmeng remembered reading a description of the era of reverse evolution in a book before. It was said that although the technological development in this era was lagging behind, it had extraordinary achievements in certain fields, such as mental control, energy interference, and so on.

"You mean... they have mastered some kind of energy field that can block signals?" Zhao Ming nodded thoughtfully. "If that's the case, then it may not be that easy for us to reestablish contact."

Chu Mengmeng and Zhao Ming were silent, both realizing that the difficulty of the problem was far beyond their imagination. At this moment, Wang Qiang hurried in with a serious look on his face, "Mengmeng, Zhao Ming, the captain asks you to come over, we... seem to be in trouble."

Chu Mengmeng, Xiao Yichen and Zhao Ming hurried to the captain's room, only to see the captain and several other team members sitting around the table with serious expressions. The atmosphere seemed particularly depressing.

"What's wrong, captain, what happened?" Xiao Yichen was the first to break the silence.

The captain took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "We just received news that the forces that control the town will come here to 'collect rent' tomorrow."

"Rent collection?" Chu Mengmeng was stunned. "What rent collection?"

A team member explained: "Since the advent of the era of reverse evolution, different forces have emerged in various places. Our town is controlled by a force called 'Black Wind Village'. They come to collect 'protection fees' every month, euphemistically calling it 'rent collection'."

"What if you don't pay it?" Zhao Ming asked.

"You won't hand it over?" The team member laughed bitterly. "Then you will just be kicked out and left to fend for yourself. You've seen how dangerous those mutant creatures are out there. People who don't have the ability to protect themselves won't survive for more than a few days."

The room fell silent again, and everyone understood what this meant. They had just recovered some of their strength and were not yet able to compete with the Black Wind Village.

"We can't just sit there and wait for death." The captain slammed the table, stood up, and swept his eyes across the crowd with a firm gaze. "Instead of waiting to be bullied by them, we might as well take the initiative! Mengmeng, I think the negotiation you mentioned before is feasible. Let's send someone to talk to them first, express our attitude, and strive for an opportunity for peaceful coexistence. If they don't agree..."

The captain paused, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, "Then don't blame us for being rude!"

"Yes, let's fight them!" The team members responded one after another, with fighting spirit burning in their eyes.

Chu Mengmeng and Xiao Yichen looked at each other, and both saw determination and resoluteness in each other's eyes. They were no longer the ignorant time travelers and shop owners. In order to protect themselves and their families, they had to face the challenge bravely.

In the following time, everyone began to discuss the negotiation strategy nervously. Chu Mengmeng suggested that they could use the psychological desire of Black Wind Village for stable income to persuade them to accept their existence as "tenants". The members of the Self-Defense Force were responsible for demonstrating their strength so that Black Wind Village would not dare to act rashly.

After the plan was made, everyone felt a little more relaxed. At this moment, there was a sudden noise outside the house, accompanied by several exclamations.

"What's going on?" The captain frowned, walked quickly to the window and pushed it open.

The next second, his expression suddenly changed, and he shouted, "Oh no, something's wrong!"