Published: February 5, 2025
“Jiamin, did you hear that? Gunshots.”
The young man hiding behind an abandoned mobile cleaning vehicle listened intently and whispered to his companion beside him.
Jiamin nodded; he heard the gunshots too.
“Could it be that the people from the base are out hunting?”
The one who spoke initially asked again, glancing at the zombies that had been slowly approaching but were now drawn away by the gunfire, lamenting the loss.
A Grade 1 Magic Crystal could be exchanged for five pounds of rice in the new district base!
“Hard to say, but it probably isn’t.” Jiamin slowly shook his head. Seeing the zombies gradually moving away, he began to relax, sheathing the shovel he had been holding at his waist. After checking for danger, he plopped down onto the ground.
“You know the situation at the base. Bullets are a hard currency, controlled by the artillery camp and Director Wang. They wouldn’t waste them on killing zombies outside; do they want to die faster? Also, Daming, aren’t you a military enthusiast? Can’t you tell that the gunfire sounds a bit special?”
Daming, after being pointed out by Jiamin, indeed noticed the gunfire did sound peculiar, particularly crisp.
“If we had a gun, we could cleanly take out zombies and collect enough magic crystals to buy Evolution Potions in just a few days, becoming evolvers. Then, we could leap across rooftops and become heroes in the martial world…”
“Wake up!”
Jiamin interrupted Daming’s fantasy with annoyance. “The current price for an Evolution Potion is a hundred Grade 1 Magic Crystals, which means we need to kill a hundred zombies. After all our hard work these days, how many have we killed? Only ten, and we nearly lost our lives! Plus, guns are no longer suitable for small-scale fights; they would attract unknown dangers. Cold weapons like swords and bows are much better.”
Daming was somewhat downcast after being chastised. He sighed, “If only we could spin the wheel freely, maybe we’d land on an Evolution Potion in one go.”
Jiamin rolled his eyes at Daming. “You think you can just spin it freely? How would they control you then?”
Just as the two were about to continue their conversation, the gunfire that had ceased earlier suddenly resumed and intensified.
Exchanging glances, Jiamin asked uncertainly, “Isn’t that the territory of the eccentric with a herd of pigs?”
“Seems like it…”
“Should we go check it out?”
“Maybe we shouldn’t. I heard that guy feeds his pigs with people. The base has tried to negotiate, but he completely ignored them. What if we get eaten?”
“But what if there’s an unexpected harvest?”
The two friends felt tempted and decided to head that way.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Captain Meng, do we keep moving forward?”
A man around thirty pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and offered it to a young man with a dark complexion.
Under normal circumstances, the man referred to as Captain Meng wouldn’t accept such an offer. Not only was it a cheap brand, but it also looked so bent and crumbled that it was off-putting.
But now was different. Although the apocalypse had only started a little over a week ago, the world had changed too swiftly. Outside the base, everywhere was filled with man-eating monsters. A moment of carelessness could lead to death. Food and water were critically scarce, let alone luxuries like cigarettes and alcohol that could alleviate stress and fear. Calling them luxury goods wouldn’t be an exaggeration; their value had surpassed that of rice and flour.
If Ye Zhongming were here, he would surely tell them that consumables like cigarettes and alcohol were only going to become more expensive in the apocalypse, especially those produced before the end times, which were outrageously priced.
In the new district base now, food prices were soaring. Former money had turned into scrap paper; gold tossed onto the ground would be ignored. Hard currency had become weapons and magic crystals, and only these two things could be exchanged for food and water, even for Evolution Potions.