Wen Yu pouted, having no interest in staying to listen to Lin Yitang’s grandstanding.
She returned to the car and sat down, idly browsing the trading group on her device.
The group was lively at the moment, though mostly just casual chat. Seeing Wen Yu online, Su Qianru quickly came over to cling to her.
Ancient Famine Escapee Su Qianru: @Apocalyptic Wen Yu, fairy, fairy, do you have any fruit? Any fruit will do.
After eating her fill, she naturally wanted to improve her quality of life. And since she had plundered her scumbag father’s fortune before fleeing, she had the means.
Apocalyptic Wen Yu: Sure—apples, oranges, bananas, peaches, grapes, and watermelons. How many of each?
Ancient Famine Escapee Su Qianru: All of them! You truly are my second set of parents! I want 50 watermelons, 30 jin of each other fruit, and if there are vegetables, 100 jin.
Apocalyptic Wen Yu: Okay.
Robot: @Apocalyptic Wen Yu, do you want to send 50 watermelons, 30 jin of apples, 30 jin of oranges, 30 jin of bananas, 30 jin of peaches, 30 jin of grapes, and 100 jin of vegetables (radish, cabbage, cucumber, tomato, etc.) to @Ancient Famine Escapee Su Qianru?
Apocalyptic Wen Yu: Yes.
Robot: Received — transmitting — transmission complete — settlement finished.
Robot: This exchange has been completed. Total settlement: 60 taels of gold, with a 6-tael transaction fee. Remaining 54 taels have been deposited into the system account.
Wen Yu glanced at her account—currently 78 taels of gold.
Since the furball weapon like the ion gun didn’t take commissions, she planned to trade with Su Qianru occasionally to get some gold for the furball.
But Wen Yu felt curious and asked with her consciousness:
[This settlement has fewer items than last time. Why is the gold amount twice as high?]
[The longer you’ve been in the apocalypse, the more valuable resources become. Our administrator approves the settlement, so no disputes arise.]
That made sense.
Wen Yu casually took an apricot, eating it while checking messages in the group.
Eight of the ten messages were Su Qianru jumping around excitedly.
Just as she finished eating, Pei Ye and the others returned.
They asked Wen Yu for water to clean the Crystal Cores.
Wen Yu had an apricot pit in her mouth and didn’t react immediately. Seeing Pei Ye reach out, she leaned over and spat the pit into his hand, mixing it with the bloodied Crystal Core.
Pei Ye looked up at her with a puzzled expression.
Wen Yu glanced at him, then at the Crystal Core and the obviously visible apricot pit, finally realizing her blunder.
She blushed and reached for the pit, but Pei Ye dodged.
The young Miss Wen had barely progressed from gagging at zombies to watching them being eaten. If she touched a Crystal Core smeared with zombie blood, she’d probably have to go vomit for days.
Wen Yu quickly retrieved water from her space and poured it over Pei Ye’s hand.
Their little interaction went unnoticed by the others. Lin Yitang, who had been watching closely, saw everything clearly.
She fumed, ready to march over and grab Wen Yu by the hair, demanding to know what cheap trick she was playing.
Why spit garbage into Pei Ye’s hand in front of everyone?
But seeing Pei Ye’s tolerant expression and the other men beside him completely unconcerned, she could only stomp her feet in frustration.
Now only Song Yu was on her side. Against Wen Yu, she had no chance.
The goodwill she’d just regained couldn’t be ruined over such a small matter.
She had to tread carefully, gradually replacing Wen Yu in everyone’s minds. By then, she could bully Wen Yu—or even plot her death—and no one would blame her.
Reality was cruel, and the apocalypse even more so.
Exposing the Crystal Core secret was the first step.
With foresight, she would surely stand out in the team and eventually replace Wen Yu!
Comforted by this thought, she angrily retreated to the car, ignoring Wen Yu’s antics.
Song Yu and Lin Yitang were in a Maybach.
Before the apocalypse, this car would have turned heads everywhere. But without Pei Ye, even the best luxury car felt unsatisfying.
Lin Yitang watched Song Yu a few steps ahead, cursing him silently.
Everyone else got to ride with Pei Ye—he was left out.
If he weren’t useless, she would have already sat beside Pei Ye to build rapport!
The Crystal Cores were cleaned, then divided.
This time they had killed 26 zombies, but only 11 had cores.
Pei Ye only needed one. The remaining ten were divided among the other five—two each.
Song Yu felt it unfair, as he alone had killed zombies.
Pei Ye’s team—even Wen Yu—had mostly stayed in the car, shooting a few rounds. Song Yu blushed, wanting to give his share to Pei Ye, but Pei Ye refused.
“One or two more won’t make much difference. We can settle it next time.”
He said this and got into the car first, giving his allotted core to Wen Yu, who was already in the passenger seat.
Wen Yu assumed he wanted her to store it safely and put it back in her space without hesitation.
The car started again.
Their destination, the construction materials market, was on the city outskirts—south of the villa while the villa was north—meaning they had to cross most of the city.
Along the way, they encountered more waves of zombies, finishing just around lunchtime.
Pei Ye surveyed the area, realizing they were in a business district surrounded by office buildings.
It was a weekday, so the offices were full of commuting workers. With a 50% infection rate, the zombies in the business district were staggering in number.
Pei Ye sensed danger and didn’t let anyone rest. He urged Song Yu to get in the car, hurrying them away from this trouble zone.
But things didn’t go as planned.
The previously clear sky suddenly darkened with clouds. A bolt of lightning tore through, revealing a terrifying black-hole-like sky behind.
Wen Yu’s expression changed—she remembered the acid rain in the novel.
But in the story, acid rain appeared later. Once it arrived, the land became completely infertile, devastating humans who had barely adapted to fight for survival against zombies.
Moreover, after the rain, animals and plants mutated to survive, gaining combat strength comparable to high-level zombies, further shrinking human habitats to near extinction.
If acid rain came early this time…
For humans who had just awakened powers and could barely control them, it would be a literal hellish start!
Wen Yu shivered at the thought.
At that moment, thunder rumbled in, late but present.
Rumble—rumble—rumble—
Like a death knell, adding terror to the already oppressive sky.
Pei Ye saw the tremor in Wen Yu’s eyes, placed a hand on her shoulder, and softly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Wen Yu shook her head, grabbed his clothes, and urged, “Pei Ye, I have a bad feeling about this rain. Let’s find shelter first.”
Pei Ye considered the nearby zombies, but in the apocalypse, any change could be beyond imagination.
Since Wen Yu felt something unusual, they should take cover. He trusted human intuition.
Pei Ye drove ahead, finding a tech-feel exhibition hall to stop at, and ordered everyone out.
Wen Yu stayed behind, storing the car in her space.
Just as she hurried into the hall, before catching her breath, heavy raindrops began to fall.
Lin Yitang cried out, pointing outside: “Look! What’s that?”