Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Lily

Lily Hart lay on her stomach on the bed, teasing the little kitten in the cat bed right next to her headboard. She looked into its eyes, which were as dewy and clear as a fawn’s.

An idea flashed in her mind. "How about I call you Lily?"

"Mew~"

"Does that mean yes or no?" Lily Hart felt sure the kitten had agreed this time.

"Mew~" Lily nodded her head with great solemnity.

Lily Hart scooped her up with both hands, holding her up to meet her gaze, and whispered tentatively, "Lily?"

"Mew, mew, mew!" Lily sounded a little impatient but still responded, and did she just yawn?

She placed Lily back in her cat bed, gave her soft fur another stroke, and then contentedly turned off the light to sleep.

The next day, Lily Hart had just woken up when she heard a knocking sound on her window.

The bed was too comfortable, and she had no desire to get up. She rolled over, planning to go back to sleep, but the knocking on the window grew more intense, accompanied by the chattering of voices.

Fragments of the sounds slipped through the cracks and reached Lily Hart’s ears. Lily the kitten also started meowing restlessly, as if sensing the presence of strangers.

Lily Hart rolled over in bed again, reaching out a hand to stroke Lily’s head to soothe her. Finally, she shot up out of bed and went to open the window, radiating intense resentment.

She slid open the shutter and saw about ten people crowded tightly around the window, blocking everything out. Their faces were all painted with expressions of someone hoping to strike it rich.

Lily Hart, in contrast, was a thundercloud of morning crankiness. Under her glare, Chester Carter took the initiative. "Bo-boss, we’re here for the scratch-off tickets."

Lily Hart glanced at the time. Six in the morning! It was only six!

She didn’t know whether to lament the lack of entertainment for people in the apocalypse or just how much they loved scratch-off tickets.

But with customers at her door, Lily Hart had no reason to turn down business.

She went back, splashed her face with water, and returned without even changing out of her pajamas. She set out the Lucky Cat, took out the four types of scratch-off tickets she had ordered yesterday, and opened one book of each to display.

Lily also climbed out of her cat bed, helped herself to some water and food, and then used the RV’s interior decor to nimbly leap up in a few bounds, landing in front of Lily Hart. She then obediently sat down next to the Lucky Cat.

One real cat and one fake cat, both sitting nicely on the tabletop. At a glance, they even looked a little similar.

However, when Chester Carter and the others saw Lily, they were all a bit scared and collectively took a few steps back. "Bo-boss, is your cat going to mutate?"

"Huh?" Lily Hart vaguely recalled that in this world, it wasn’t just humans who had superpowers; animals and plants could mutate too.

Sometimes, a seemingly ordinary little dog could transform into a five-meter-tall giant in the next second, capable of swallowing you whole.

Lily Hart stroked Lily’s head and said haughtily, "She would never. My kitten is the best-behaved!"

Lily cooperatively meowed a couple of times, lifting her head high with a similarly haughty air. The two of them had identical expressions.

Chester Carter and the others relaxed and said urgently, "Boss, hurry, hurry, we want scratch-off tickets." The others around him nodded in agreement, pulling out handfuls of Crystal Cores from their pockets.

Lily Hart looked at the dark circles under their eyes and couldn’t help but suspect this group had stayed up all night killing zombies, just so they could have a good time with scratch-off tickets during the day.

Even though they were just customers, Lily Hart still advised, "You young people should take care of yourselves. The scratch-off tickets will always be here, but you only get one life."

Chester Carter and his group were taken aback, then felt touched. In the apocalypse, what friendship, romance, or family ties were there? Only staying alive yourself was what mattered most!

But now, someone was actually concerned about their well-being. Even if it was just so they could keep buying scratch-off tickets, they were still moved.

The consequence of being moved was that Chester Carter decisively slapped his Crystal Cores onto the table and declared heroically, "I’m going to scratch all of these!"

Then he looked around, leaned closer to Lily Hart, and whispered, "Boss, you should be careful lately. I heard you offended the Base Commander."

Lily Hart nodded and said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "He’s the one who should be careful."

Chester Carter was left speechless. He knew the boss was powerful, but there’s always a bigger fish!

Lily the kitten seemed very happy. She actively used her front paws to paw at the Crystal Cores, pushing them in front of the Lucky Cat before feeding them into its mouth one by one, as if she found it incredibly fun.

That was one less thing for Lily Hart to do. She could only prop up her chin and watch the group scratch their tickets.

The system’s voice appeared in her mind. [Host, a friendly reminder: The scratch-off tickets are now categorized. For example, ’Great 7s’ will only yield food, but the drop rate is variable... You’ll have to figure out the rest on your own...]

She listened thoughtfully. On the principle that everyone loves food, she ordered another five books of "Great 7s" from the store.

She didn’t forget to give Chester Carter’s group a hint. "You guys could try scratching more of these ’Great 7s’."

That was as much of a hint as she could give. What happened next was all up to their own luck.

Chester Carter thought about it. ’Listening to the boss is never wrong,’ he reasoned, so he exchanged seven Crystal Cores for three hundred and fifty points and spent them all on "Great 7s."

The other three had their own ideas, choosing two of the new tickets available today: "Dragon’s New Year Luck" and "Get Rich Now."

The four of them started scratching almost simultaneously. Holding their little golden scrapers, their gazes were focused and their expressions solemn, as if they were performing some kind of mystical ritual.

Not only that, but they all deliberately shielded their tickets with their arms, afraid of attracting malicious gazes from others. ’I get it,’ Lily Hart thought, ’but didn’t you just reveal everything when you exchanged your points?!’

Lily Hart propped her chin on her hand, waiting to see what new tricks these tickets had in store.

Soon, Chester Carter’s head shot up, his eyes filled with excitement. He looked at Lily Hart wordlessly, so thrilled he didn’t know what to do.

Lily Hart: ’Let’s see what’s up.’

She was just about to take the scratch-off ticket to redeem it for him, but instead, Chester Carter put the ticket away, quickly tucking it into his waistband, and started scratching the next one as if nothing had happened.

Lily Hart: ’Mister, you have successfully caught my attention.’

But he didn’t attract anyone else’s attention. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

Before long, another man looked up excitedly. "I... I actually scratched off a hand grenade! Boss, do you know how many Crystal Cores this thing costs?!"

A person next to him retorted, "Buy one? You go ahead and try! Even if you have the Crystal Cores, they’re never in stock! The military controls them all!"

The man ignored the sour-grapes comment. "Boss, hurry and redeem it for me."

Lily Hart took it, fed it to the Lucky Cat, and watched it spit out a hand grenade.

"Here." Lily Hart handed it to him nonchalantly, as if a hand grenade was nothing worth mentioning in her eyes.

The man accepted it respectfully, placed it in his palm, and with a SHWOOP, it vanished.

Lily Hart was curious and asked, "Is that a superpower too?"

The man gave her a bewildered look, clearly not wanting to answer such a dumb question. But seeing as she was the boss, he reluctantly spoke. "Yes. It’s a Space Ability."

He added, "My space is small, only a few square meters. As it levels up, the area will get bigger, and the preservation time will get longer."

Lily Hart understood. ’There really are all sorts of strange superpowers,’ she mused. ’Isn’t that just like having a giant pocket you can put anything in?’