002 The Little Shop on the Wasteland.
Ten years into the Wasteland—
A lead-gray sky pressed heavily overhead, the daylight shrouded in a murky grayish-yellow.
The hardened, cracked earth beneath her feet, stirred by the wind, sent sand mixed with a pungent stench of rot and blood straight into people’s nostrils.
In the distance lay ruined, desolate cities; before her rose the thick, towering steel walls of Radiance Base, their surface pocked with bullet holes and stained with mottled blackish-red bloodstains.
More than a dozen cold, hard machine guns and artillery turrets were mounted atop the walls, their dark muzzles aimed at the line of scavengers queuing below to be tested and questioned.
Shen Wuqiao stood in the line, watching the long queue wind from the base of the wall all the way to somewhere beyond sight.
These people were all wrapped in tattered rags, and their dusty faces couldn’t hide the gaunt, sallow skin brought on by malnutrition.
She herself was no better off. It was the sixth day since she had woken up in a coffin.
Who could believe it?
She had sealed herself inside a coffin to hide from the toxic fog—she’d merely taken a nap, and when she woke, ten whole years had passed.
Worse still, the world she once knew had vanished, replaced by a post-apocalyptic era where nothing grew and zombies and monsters roamed everywhere.
She had chosen archaeology precisely to avoid dealing with living people—and now, the moment she opened her eyes, the whole world was full of the walking dead.
Her old dream had come true in the strangest way, but she couldn’t laugh about it.
She had no Supernatural Ability, no grandpa-in-a-ring, no fiancé, no toxic best friend.
Over these six days, surviving on a pack of expired crackers and a bottle of mineral water from her shoulder bag, she had followed a small squad from the Wilderness Zone to the gates of the nearest base.
Now she was no different from a beggar. If she didn’t get anything to eat soon, she would starve to death.
“Identity Bracelet. Ability type and level?” The man in charge of registration and verification looked utterly cold, his eyes glinting with viciousness.
Only then did Shen Wuqiao realize she was different from everyone else. Even the refugees each had an Identity Bracelet, recording their personal information and Contribution Points.
And she had nothing. In the two seconds she stood there, dazed and helpless, the vicious shout came again from above:
“No bracelet, woman! Go get your ability and Pollution Level tested!” The moment the man finished speaking, an electronic scanning gun was aimed at her temple.
A beam of blue light swept across. The man stared at the screen on the back of the scanner—it was completely blank.
The next second, her ‘death sentence’ was pronounced.
“No identity, no ability! No need to test her Pollution Level—she doesn’t qualify to enter the base. Next!”
Another staff member assisting with the testing lowered his voice: “Isn’t this against protocol? The higher-ups said every scavenger must be tested for Pollution Level.”
“Hmph. Even if a Pure Body really could be found, it wouldn’t be this filthy beggar. Unless a newborn arrives, where would you ever find a Zero-Pollution Constitution?”
A shoulder slammed hard into her: “Move it, trash!”
Weakened as she was, she flew out like a scrap of paper, crashing heavily to the ground and coughing up a mouthful of blood.
The people behind all crowded forward as if they couldn’t see her, and someone stepped right on her arm.
Extreme hunger had dulled her senses; she could barely feel the pain.
But when she opened her eyes, she saw a capybara in a pink dress floating above her head:
【One pitiful little host captured alive, system bound! To activate the Waste-to-Treasure System, please confirm!】
System? Shen Wuqiao’s sluggish brain suddenly snapped back to clarity.
What kind of system was “Waste-to-Treasure”? Whatever—she was about to starve to death anyway. How much worse could things get?
“Confirm.”
【Congratulations, Host, on binding with this system. Detection shows the Host is severely malnourished with unstable vital signs. Life Potion ×1 has been issued.】
A vial of green potion appeared in Shen Wuqiao’s palm. The few scavengers nearby who had likewise been cast out immediately fixed their eyes on her.
Her heart clenched, and she decisively poured the potion into her mouth. The fastest to react—a man thin as a scarecrow—was still a step too slow.
She had already swallowed it.
“What did you just drink? Got any more?”
【Detection shows the Host’s surroundings are extremely unsafe. It is recommended to begin system tasks immediately. Upon completing task rewards, you will enjoy system protection!】
After drinking the Life Potion, Shen Wuqiao’s hunger and exhaustion vanished. Even as she marveled at its effects, she was even more curious—what were these system tasks?
【The Waste-to-Treasure System is a business system developed by the Space-Time Environmental Protection Bureau. The Host must collect waste items to meet the conditions for opening a business.】
“So after all that, you just want me to pick up trash?”
Was this her karma for eighteen years of living in luxury—lazy, gluttonous, and carefree?
That couldn’t be right! She had only been a rich young lady for eighteen years. She’d never done anything evil, never been a heartless rich girl—she’d even fed sixteen stray cats!
【No trash-picking means no food. In the Post-apocalyptic Era, only the strong deserve to survive. Pisces baby, please stop fantasizing and accept reality!】
Shen Wuqiao gritted her teeth and stamped her foot. Fine, she’d pick up trash. She was a beggar now—trash-picking suited her perfectly.
She got right to it, head down, searching the garbage along the road. The moment she moved, several scavengers with ill intentions trailed behind her.
She didn’t care, because the trash she wanted was worthless in everyone else’s eyes—no fear of them snatching it.
Before she’d walked a hundred meters, she spotted a black plastic box on the ground. Though flattened, it was clearly a self-heating rice meal package.
【Host has picked up Braised Pork Self-Heating Rice box ×1. Reward: Braised Pork Self-Heating Rice ×10.】
As the system’s notification sounded, blood rushed straight to Shen Wuqiao’s head.
No way! A tenfold reward?
【L1 Grade gives tenfold returns. At L2 Grade, it’s twentyfold. The higher the level, the higher the returns! Keep up the good work, Host!】
With rewards like that, wasn’t this basically free stuff?
What was most abundant in the Post-apocalyptic Era? Trash—definitely more trash than Zombies!
Shen Wuqiao was instantly energized as if injected with adrenaline, her eyes bright as magnifying glasses, not even passing over candy wrappers.
【Host has picked up gummy candy wrapper ×1. Reward: gummy candy ×10 packs.】
【Picked up Spicy Beef Noodles, Mushroom Stewed Chicken Noodles, and Pickled Cabbage Beef Noodles instant noodle buckets ×1 each. Reward: instant noodles ×30.】
【Picked up mineral water bottles ×20. Reward: 550ML mineral water ×200 bottles.】
【Picked up empty cigarette boxes ×3. Reward: cigarettes ×30 packs.】
【Picked up empty body wash bottles ×2. Reward: rose-scented body wash ×20 bottles.】
【Picked up shampoo bottle ×1. Reward: scalp-care shampoo ×10.】
【Picked up a rusted iron pot, a shovel, a lighter casing, a facial tissue wrapper…】
“Is that woman sick in the head? The whole way here she’s been digging through garbage in the mud, and she’s even enjoying it?”
Skinny Monkey complained to his two companions nearby.
The pockmarked man curled his lips in a cold sneer. “Doesn’t matter if she’s crazy. She’s young and still breathing—at least we’ll get a full meal tonight…”
Evening fell—it was Shen Wuqiao’s seventh night in the post-apocalyptic era.
She looked at the high wall on one side that kept her out, and the darkening Wilderness Zone on the other, and began to panic.
She suddenly missed her family so much, missed her brothers. Were they still alive?
[Congratulations, Host. You have collected over 30 types of scrap. You may now unlock the L1 Grade Window Kiosk. Please choose a suitable area to unlock it.]
“Isn’t right here fine?” As a college student who had been dropped into this era from peacetime, her instinct was still to stay close to other people as much as possible.
[Host, the area below the base wall only looks safe. In reality, it’s a gathering spot for scavengers, and it can easily attract a Zombie Tide. Once fighting breaks out, this place becomes a target zone. I suggest moving two kilometers away, to the route that scavengers and the base’s mission squads must take.]
“Good idea! Too many people here really is inconvenient.” While the sky wasn’t completely dark yet, Shen Wuqiao bolted toward the area the system had designated.
With the Life Potion’s boost, she ran two kilometers in one go without even getting winded.
The reason she hadn’t run into any Zombies was that the area within three kilometers of the base was regularly cleared.
“This is the spot. Unlock it!”
The instant a flash of white light passed, a square wooden hut of about five square meters appeared out of thin air on the empty wasteland.
An incandescent lamp hung from the roof. Inside was the window kiosk, with the system’s reward goods each displayed on the shelves; the excess that wouldn’t fit was stored in the system warehouse for now.
[Shopkeeper Protection triggered. Kiosk invisibility Protective Shield activated. Additional reward: reclining chair ×1.]
Shen Wuqiao sat down in the reclining chair and looked around the simple little wooden hut. For the first time since the apocalypse began, she felt safe.
“Look! That’s… a kiosk?” In the darkness, the few scavengers who had followed her suddenly had greedy glints flare up in their eyes.
“Haha, brothers, before anyone else spots it—the woman and the shop are all ours…”