Published: February 5, 2025
A woman was squatting there, her head lowered, dirty long hair covering her face.
In front of her lay a white cloth with her photo on it, and beside it were words that read, "One bag of bread for one body."
Everyone wasn't foolish, of course, and they understood its meaning.
Selling oneself to survive!
This was a common behavior in his past life, as normal as eating and drinking, yet at the beginning of the apocalypse, it appeared so shocking.
Ye Zhongming only glanced at her and then shifted his focus away. In his previous life, he had only lingered in the stalls of the base after experiencing a life-and-death slaughter, spending a tiny amount to find a woman he found pleasing to vent the fears and desires stored deep inside his heart.
But for the few women who were also women and had not yet adapted to the happenings of the apocalypse, they were filled with confusion, sadness, pity, a touch of anger towards this world, and a slight irritation at this woman's helplessness.
It would have been better if they had not seen this, but once they discovered it, everyone noticed a lot of similar situations in this market. Here, exchanging flesh for food had become a common phenomenon.
“They are all doing this to survive. At least, I think it’s much cleaner than those who are fighting for food in the sewers.”
Ye Zhongming arrived at a stall and found several brand new bedding sets displayed. He selected and inquired about the price while speaking to several companions who were still watching that woman unable to move.
The prices for these bedding sets were very cheap. Since it wasn’t cold yet, warm clothing wasn't a necessity; only food was the most sought-after item. When Ye Zhongming mentioned exchanging meat, specifically mutated animal meat, the stall owner was overjoyed. With just one kilogram of meat, he could take all of this away.
Ye Zhongming didn’t haggle and directly tossed a piece of over a kilogram of cut meat to the stall owner, then told everyone to come and take the items. The stall owner caught the meat, swallowing his saliva, and carefully hid it under his clothes. He wouldn't eat this; he would take the piece of meat to the base’s official purchase point to trade for supplies. If the meat really was from a mutated animal, it would be enough to provide food and water for his family of three for a week.
Carrying the bedding, Park Soo-young gritted her teeth and quietly said to Ye Zhongming, “Let’s help her, okay? Give her some food.”
Ye Zhongming's cold gaze turned toward Teacher Park, making her lower her head.
“As your companion, I will explain this to you one last time.”
Ye Zhongming pointed to that woman and then at the other women using their bodies to exchange for food, saying, “If you give her food, you must give food to all the other women like her. If you give these women food, you would have to feed everyone in the market. If you don’t give, they will rob!”
“They may not be able to defeat you, but you need to prove that you can overpower them. Defeating them is not enough; you must kill them so that they won't cling to you. Teacher Park, are you ready to kill? It’s not just one person you need to kill; you will have to kill many. You’re giving away food but will still have to kill for your own safety. Are you sure you want to give her food?”
Regardless of the unequal distribution, people in the market were fighting in various ways to survive. Everyone was hungry, so they could coexist peacefully. But if someone suddenly became wealthy and had plenty of food, their only outcome would be robbery; a slight resistance could result in death.
Park Soo-young would naturally not be killed; she was an evolver. As long as she was careful and not surrounded by ordinary people, she would be fine. But once she resisted, she would definitely have to kill, or she wouldn’t be able to keep her belongings or her life.
Ye Zhongming's words might have been harsh, but that was reality!
The few women were not foolish; they understood clearly, their faces turning pale as they fell silent for a long time.