Meanwhile, on a stretch of highway, inside an SUV.
SystemAccept friend request from Clara Bennett?AcceptDecline
Luna, wearing a pink frilly dress, stared at the friend request and excitedly shook Mia, who was sleeping beside her.
“Mia! Mia! Guess who I found?”
Mia, in a cream-colored fitted dress, rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“What’s going on, Luna? You’re all riled up.”
“It’s... it’s Big Red. She’s our big sister. She added me!”
When Mia heard that, she jolted awake and leaned in to look at her sister’s wristband screen. When she saw that familiar name and that cold, stunning profile picture, tears filled her eyes.
“Clara...”
Mia’s voice trembled.
“It’s really her. She’s alive!”
Luna quickly clicked Accept. A second later, a video call came through. When it connected, that familiar face made both sisters break down in tears. They had thought that in this apocalypse, their big sister might already be gone.
They never expected that not only was she alive, she had become the Big Red everyone in this region feared.
“Clara, I... we thought we’d never see you again,” Luna said, her voice cracking.
Clara’s expression didn’t change much.
“Where are you?”
Mia shook her head.
“We don’t know. All we know is that not long ago we passed a huge forest, and now we’re resting near a stretch of badlands. What about you, Clara?”
Forest? Badlands? Could they be behind me?
She thought for a moment.
“Stay safe. Keep driving forward. If you hit a Y intersection, go right. I’ll slow down and wait for you to catch up.”
“Okay. You be careful too, Clara,” Mia said with a nod.
Clara hummed in acknowledgment, then her expression turned serious.
“You two, don’t trust anyone easily. Anyone who gets any ideas about you, deal with them fast and hard. Don’t hesitate. Leave none alive. Understand?”
The two sisters exchanged a look. The Clara on the screen felt a little unfamiliar to them. They had grown up together, so they knew very well that Clara was a gentle, refined woman. How could she say something so cold?
“Okay, we understand,” Mia answered.
Luna smiled.
“Yeah, we will. You be careful too, Clara. I still have some meat here. I’ll trade it to you.”
After saying that, Clara initiated a trade and sent over 5.5 pounds of D-rank mutton and 5.5 pounds of C-rank leopard meat. Luna waved her hands in refusal.
“Clara, that’s too much. We...”
Beep. She stared at the video window that had already ended. She looked at the extra meat in the Storage Space, then at her sister, and tears streamed down her face again.
“Clara... Clara, she...”
“Luna, what’s there to cry about? We don’t just have to survive. We have to get stronger. We can’t hold Clara back.”
“Yeah!” Luna nodded firmly.
“By the way, someone in the Chat Channel is going against Big Red. Should we fight back? If people get convinced, Big Red loses a share of her profit. We’ll go help and fight back. How about it?”
Mia thought for a moment.
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you. Don’t hold back. Go for the throat.”
“Don’t worry. My mouth is a machine gun.”
With her sister’s permission, Luna started a war with Todd in the Chat Channel.
Chat Channel💬Luna-Don’t listen to his nonsense, everyone. He’s just a jealous freak, envious of the seller.-💬Luna-She uses her own skills to gather and craft materials, posts clear prices, and trades freely. It’s a mutual agreement. How does that become taking advantage of a crisis?-💬Luna-The seller charges two materials for crafting: one for cost, one for labor. That’s perfectly fair.-💬Luna-Does the convenience store selling you a dollar bottle of water count as profiting off a disaster? Why don’t you go dig your own well?-💬Luna-The seller coming out at a time like this to help everyone produce anti-inflammatory medicine is already more than generous. If it were me, I’d charge 10 materials outright. Wouldn’t that earn even more?-💬Luna-I bet he just wants to trick you, then go buy from her himself and resell at a high price. Don’t get fooled so hard you still think you’re smart, then end up with nowhere to cry.-
Mia gave her sister a thumbs-up.
“Badass.”
“Hehe.” Luna stuck out her tongue.
The string of messages went out and silenced the regional channel. Then it exploded. Some people who had been fooled by Todd and were still hesitating finally understood. This mysterious seller was the only one who could exchange for healing medicine. If they offended her, where would they find medicine in the future? To keep her from getting angry, they immediately started attacking Todd verbally.
Chat Channel💬Anonymous Player-Jealous freak, that description is spot on! He doesn’t have what it takes to monopolize resources, so he incites others to take her down. Disgusting.-💬Anonymous Player-Everyone, don’t listen to Arms Dealer K. The one selling medicine is Big Red. The fact that she’s willing to come out and sell at a time like this means she never planned to profit off us.-💬Anonymous Player-Well said! The seller sells, we buy, fair trade. What the hell does it have to do with him?-💬Anonymous Player-Exactly! Without Big Red, we’d still be figuring out how to drink piss.-💬Anonymous Player-@Arms Dealer K, get the hell out! Don’t ruin my chance to suck up to her.-
Todd got so angry from being roasted that he started making personal attacks.
Chat Channel💬Arms Dealer K-@survivor-5197, you’re fucking Big Red’s simp, aren’t you? How much did she give you to speak up for her?-
Chat Channel💬Luna-Yeah, I’m her simp. So what? I simp for her and get water, meat, ointment, and I survive. Unlike some people, who don’t even have a way to simp, and can only hide behind and bark like a mangy dog who can’t reach the grapes and says they’re sour. Oh, wait, calling you a dog insults dogs. You’re at most a keyboard warrior.-
Chat Channel💬Anonymous Player-Pfft hahaha, this person’s firepower is brutal. Killing people with words!-💬Anonymous Player-Hahaha, Arms Dealer K, where are you? Why aren’t you yelling anymore? Did she hit a nerve and you went to hide and cry?-
Todd looked at the screen full of mockery, so angry he almost smashed his wristband.
“Just you wait. Don’t let me see you on the road. I’m going to kill you. One day I’ll make you pay.”