During the past few days in the safe zone, Ruan Ning lived comfortably and leisurely. There was food and drink readily available, and she only needed to notify someone if she wanted anything.
Currently, there weren’t many mutants in the safe zone, probably only a few dozen. However, their 5+1 team had two mutants, making them one of the most prominent configurations in the current safe zone. Moreover, with a higher up advocating for extra care for them, Ruan Ning had been enjoying these relaxed days.
Especially after realizing the importance of mutants in dealing with zombies, the management of the safe zone increased their treatment significantly to win their hearts.
As the apocalypse had only started half a month ago, food shortage wasn’t severe yet. Even the ordinary residents in the safe zone could receive three free meals per day.
Although each meal consisted only of a simple bowl of rice porridge, for many people, being able to stay in the safe zone without hunger, with safety and security guaranteed, was far better than the life outside where they had to worry about zombies appearing anytime.
But Ruan Ning knew that this kind of life wouldn’t last long.
In the past few days, more and more survivors had rushed to the safe zone from various places. However, it wasn’t as easy as before for the teams going out to collect supplies to bring back food from outside.
When the resources in the safe zone became insufficient, there wouldn’t be as much free food available for everyone. It would start with three meals a day becoming two, then two meals becoming one… It wouldn’t be long before, just like in novels, there wouldn’t be free food anymore, and survivors would have to submit a certain amount of food even to enter the safe base. They would have to bear all the costs of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation themselves.
The further it went, the harder it would be for ordinary people to endure.
Ruan Ning didn’t have any abilities, but she was a bit luckier than others because she had a space.
She hadn’t really touched most of the supplies she collected from the city, so she didn’t have to worry about food for at least the next half year.
Ruan Ning had also thought about disguising her space ability as a space mutant. In that case, at least she would be considered a mutant in the eyes of others.
The journey to the Imperial Capital was far, and even if everything went smoothly, it would take several months to get there. The other members of the team were currently taking good care of her, and they didn’t care whether she had abilities or not. But since everyone was strangers, she was still quite nervous about being a freeloader in the team. Without any value, who could guarantee that she wouldn’t be abandoned by the team?
Moreover, space mutants didn’t have any attack capabilities before reaching Tier 6. They would only become significantly stronger in terms of attack power and status after reaching Tier 6, transforming from a mobile storage room to one of the top three powerful mutants.
So even if she disguised herself as a space mutant, others wouldn’t be able to tell. As far as she knew, besides the male lead Gu Yicheng, who was that overpowered guy, no one else had successfully upgraded their space ability to Tier 6.
However, Ruan Ning hesitated and wasn’t confident about this plan. She leaned more towards being able to awaken another ability of her own.
In the apocalypse, the status of space mutants had always been awkward, better than the water mutants in the early stages of the apocalypse, but not as good as other mutants.
Unless you had a fixed and mutually trusting team, every space mutant would face a problem. When going out to collect supplies with the team, others would worry that you might secretly keep food for yourself, and you wouldn’t be able to explain it clearly because no one else could see inside your space.
This was also the reason why Ruan Ning had been reluctant to pretend to be a space mutant and had always preferred to remain an ordinary person.
The matter of the space must never be exposed to others. Making a fortune quietly has always been Ruan Ning’s consistent style.
She couldn’t afford to bring trouble upon herself.
*****
Where there are people, there will be trade.
There was a small market in the safe zone, where many people were doing business. As the function of the crystals in the zombies’ brains was still unknown to many, the most common form of trade in the safe zone was bartering, almost like returning to primitive times.
“Boss, may I ask how much this is?” Ruan Ning stopped by a stall and picked up something resembling a crystal.
— This is a crystal core.
Although Ruan Ning had never seen this thing in person, the description of the crystal core in novels was clear, so she easily recognized it from among a pile of items.
When she observed the thumbnail-sized diamond-shaped crystal under the sunlight, she could see a transparent thread jumping inside, which was quite beautiful.
It was hard to imagine that there would be such a beautiful object inside the ugly zombie’s brain.
The owner of this crystal core was a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard. Like the others around, he looked a bit dishevelled, indicating that business in the safe zone wasn’t going well.
The middle-aged man had been running this stall for three days now. Because of the remote location of the stall and the non-essential items he was selling, few people came to inquire, and he hadn’t made a single sale.
If he didn’t bring back some food soon, he wouldn’t even make back the cost of the cookies he spent on renting the stall.
So when he saw someone inquiring about the price, even if the person was a strange figure wearing a mask and a hat, he was very enthusiastic. “This thing was picked up by my son on the way here, and it’s not worth much.”
Even though he really wanted to make money, the man couldn’t lie blatantly and claim that something worthless was a miraculous elixir. This thing was indeed picked up by his son on the way to the safe zone because he thought it looked nice. He just brought it over to sell it and make a bit of money, never expecting someone would actually like it.
“Miss, how about I give this to you as a gift if you buy something randomly from the stall?” he thought for a moment and added. Times were tough nowadays, and every little bit counted.
Ruan Ning didn’t expect her luck to be so good today. “Alright, then thank you, boss.”
On their way here, Ruan Ning and the team killed quite a few zombies, including some first-level ones. However, she hadn’t told the team members about the fact that evolved zombies’ brains contained crystal cores, so the crystal cores in the heads of the zombies they killed were all abandoned on the road.
So far, she hadn’t seen a single crystal core. Today, she was fortunate enough to encounter one at this market, and it was even coloured. Ruan Ning saw no reason not to take advantage of this opportunity.
Knowing that she was going to the market today, she specifically carried a bag, but it didn’t contain much food, just a few packs of instant noodles and biscuits. The other items were stored in her space, ready to be retrieved if needed.
Ruan Ning finally set her eyes on a vintage suitcase. Such a style and material would have cost at least ten to twenty thousand before the apocalypse, but in the post-apocalyptic world, she got it for just two packs of instant noodles.
Of course, the deep blue crystal core was also included as a bonus.
The middle-aged man had a price in mind, which was a pack of instant noodles. He had originally intended to quote a higher price, let the person negotiate, and then agree accordingly. He didn’t expect this person to be so straightforward, giving him the food without any bargaining.
Feeling a bit embarrassed about this, the middle-aged man felt compelled to offer her something else.
Ruan Ning smiled and politely declined his offer. She knew the value of this crystal core, and salvaging it was already a profit for her. It would be unethical to take advantage of the shopkeeper any further.
Today, Ruan Ning was out alone, without anyone else accompanying her. The security in the safe zone was still decent, and with regular patrols, Xue Chen didn’t object when he heard that she wanted to go out for a stroll.
However, after wandering around the safe zone, it was time for her to return.
Just as Ruan Ning was about to leave the stall and head back to the villa, a neatly dressed curly-haired woman in her twenties walked up to her.
“Young lady, the item you bought at that stall just now, could you sell it to me?”
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