Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 169: Chapter 169: The Base Commander Returns

He stood on the balcony, looking down. A bustling crowd surrounded the RV. Now and then, the sound of arguments or cheerful laughter would rise from the throng. It was so lively...

Inside the RV, Lily Hart was also asking the system, "Can it really improve the soil?"

[If I dared to write it, then it’s possible. System-produced, and never fake.]

An idea sparked in Lily Hart’s mind. She remembered Logan Holland telling her that mutated plants had contaminated all the soil on the planet, making it impossible to grow crops.

The black jelly that everyone ate every day was made from a mixture of non-toxic, harmless, edible mutated plants and minced meat from mutated animals.

This was why the fruits and vegetables from Lily Hart’s scratch-off tickets were so exceptionally precious. Some people had even won fruit only to sell it for a high price.

Central Command had once bought some at a high price, hoping to save the seeds for cultivation, but every attempt had failed.

’If the soil really could be improved, it would be an act of immeasurable merit for the post-apocalyptic world.’

Because Stan Sterling had won a sapling, a new frenzy was ignited. Everyone surged forward, immediately buying the most expensive tickets. They even asked for the ticket number that had yielded the sapling, wanting to get the same kind.

Lily Hart watched with a smile, making no move to stop them. ’In fact, I hope even more people win great prizes. Word will spread from one person to the next, and my reputation will be set.’

Thanks to this frenzy, the scratch-off tickets sold out fast. The RV was completely mobbed, and a steady stream of residents kept emerging from the base.

By now, there were two prize-redemption machines on each of the RV’s four sides, which should have been enough, but the overall space was still too small.

Some people were hunched over the tables, engrossed in scratching their tickets and unwilling to leave. Meanwhile, the people behind them couldn’t squeeze in. Before long, this created a "traffic jam."

’I’d love to open a branch right here on the side...’

But that wasn’t a real solution. After a moment’s thought, she whipped out a megaphone, stood up, and announced, "Customers who have purchased your tickets, please move outward and make room! Don’t block the people behind you."

There were tables and benches set up in front of the RV. While there weren’t many, they could still accommodate up to a hundred people.

Scratching a ticket was actually quick—it took less than a minute—but they were deliberately taking their time. ’Are they savoring the slow reveal of the prize?’

Lily Hart didn’t get it. All Lily Hart wanted was for the customers in the back to be able to come in and buy tickets.

Her announcement did the trick. The previously stalled crowd started to move again. People in the back pushed forward with renewed vigor, while those at the front who had finished their purchases obediently moved on.

Suddenly, the customers on the outskirts fell silent. In unison, they all looked in the same direction. Since Lily Hart was already standing, she had a clear view and followed their gaze.

It was an old, battered jeep that looked like it had been through hell and back. Scrapes and caked-on mud were the least of its worries; the trunk had a massive dent in it.

Lily Hart asked a customer in front of her, "Who’s that?"

The customer spared a moment from his scratching to glance back. "Oh, the Base Commander’s back." He said it casually, his mind clearly still on his scratch-off ticket.

It took a moment for the gravity of the situation to sink in, and then he gasped, "The Base Commander is back!" He shot a pitying look at Boss Hart.

"You’d better be careful," the customer reminded her in a low voice, as if afraid of being overheard. With that said, he took his scratch-off ticket and moved to a different spot.

’Okay, that’s the second person to warn me to be careful.’

Lily Hart was one to heed advice; she would most certainly be careful.

The jeep slowly pulled to a stop not far from the RV. A middle-aged man in the back seat peered out through a window that was missing its glass.

His gaze fell upon the high-tech RV, which was surrounded by three brand-new buildings. Residents of Spring-Watch Base moved in and out, their faces alight with joy.

"What are they doing?" the Base Commander asked.

The driver also looked out. ’I just got back too, how would I know?’ he thought, but he just obediently shook his head.

He ventured a guess, "Could it be that super popular lottery shop from the internet has set up shop at our base?" Fearing the Base Commander might not have heard of it, he took the initiative to search for information about Lily Hart on his Light Brain.

The Base Commander looked at the Light Brain for a few minutes, then opened the door and got out, planning to go see for himself what was going on.

He passed a pile of corpses, but he was used to such sights and didn’t stop. In fact, he quickened his pace; the hot weather had already caused them to start rotting and stinking.

The driver hurried to keep up, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar face among the corpses.

On closer inspection, he saw that one of the man’s eyeballs had fallen out. His skin was deathly pale, and his face was covered in red splotches of livor mortis. The sight was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

He couldn’t help but exclaim, "B-Base Commander, th-this, isn’t this your nephew?"

The Base Commander had an older sister, and the two had relied on each other to survive the apocalypse. After his sister was killed by zombies, she left behind her only son, this nephew, whom the Base Commander doted on.

The Base Commander, who had been walking briskly ahead, stopped dead in his tracks and spun around without a moment’s hesitation.

His gaze locked onto his nephew’s single, unblinking eye. It was wide open, tinged a faint blue-gray, the pupil filled with resentment and fury.

His heart clenched. He strode forward and scanned the small mountain of corpses. They were all familiar faces—the lackeys who always followed his nephew around, calling him "Big Bro."

’How could... they all be dead?’

The Base Commander roared, "Who did this?! Who did this!"

He observed carefully. For the bodies to have rotted and stunk to this degree, they must have been dead for about three or four days. That was exactly the day he left the base.

’Could my enemies have come for revenge?’

’But I wasn’t at the base, so they went after my nephew instead.’ The logic seemed plausible to the Base Commander, and he seethed with fury.

The driver stood to the side, not daring to make a peep. ’How would I know?!’

Just then, a resident who had finished scratching his ticket started heading back toward the base. The driver grabbed him and demanded, "Who did this? Who killed the Base Commander’s nephew?"

The resident, grabbed out of nowhere, was flustered. He didn’t dare rat out Boss Hart, but he also didn’t dare offend the Base Commander. He just stammered, unable to get a single word out.

"I... I... I..."

The driver grew impatient, and the Base Commander beside him was now threatening the resident with his glare. "What ’I’?" the driver snapped. "If you know, spit it out!"

The resident hurriedly said, "I don’t know! I don’t know, I don’t know anything!"

Such a bad lie.

Anyone could tell at a glance.

The Base Commander glared, and a wave of energy surged from him, slamming directly into the resident.

The resident couldn’t take the pressure and collapsed to his knees with a THUD. Large beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, and his hands, braced against the ground, trembled uncontrollably.

He repeatedly begged for mercy, "I’ll talk, I’ll talk! It was Boss Hart!"

He silently apologized to Boss Hart but still felt incredibly wronged. ’How could I be so unlucky? To be the one cornered by the Base Commander.’

"Boss Hart?" The Base Commander repeated the two words, then let out a cold laugh. "Heh. Quite the big shot."

With a flick of his hand, he withdrew the pressure. The resident instantly went limp, collapsing onto the ground. After a moment, he scrambled to his feet and fled.

The Base Commander strode toward the RV with a powerful gait, his expression grim. Ripples of energy pulsed outward with his every step.

Lily Hart witnessed the entire exchange but wasn’t the least bit flustered. She watched as the customers automatically cleared a path for the Base Commander, who walked straight toward her.