Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Blind Box Fruit Tree

The crowd grew excited as they watched, staring eagerly as the winners ate. They could only curse their own bad luck!

Around eight o’clock, Lily Hart started cleaning up to close for the night. Everyone knew what that meant. Some, whose hearts were itching with unwillingness to give up, quickly bought one more ticket, praying to win the grand prize.

"Huh? What kind of prize is this?" a woman asked in surprise, pointing at her scratch-off ticket.

Lily Hart took a look. It was a picture of blowing wind, which she had never seen before. She asked if the woman wanted to redeem it, and the woman nodded emphatically.

She fed the scratch-off ticket to the Lucky Cat. Soon, a faint wisp of mist floated out of its mouth, drifted over to the woman’s head, and with a WHOOSH, shot right into her.

A few glowing golden words rose from the woman’s head, which everyone saw clearly: Good Luck +1.

The customers who had been about to head back to the base froze in their tracks. They stared in amazement as the words rose from her head and slowly faded away. "Good luck? Can it really give you good luck?!" one of them exclaimed excitedly.

The woman herself wasn’t quite convinced. "Should I... buy another one and test my luck?" she hesitated.

’And I just swore to myself that was my last one for today~’

Lily Hart also wanted to see what a good luck buff could do. "Go for it! Get the most expensive ones!" she urged. "What if you win an epic prize!"

The woman’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately picked three tickets. She still had some points left over from her last top-up, so she could just pay with her balance.

The onlookers all stared with burning intensity, eager to see what kind of prize "Good Luck +1" could yield.

The first two tickets were duds, completely blank. The woman was a little disappointed and couldn’t help but mutter, "What kind of good luck buff is this?" But she still started scratching the next one, her heart full of anticipation.

It was the last one. She couldn’t help but hold her breath. The people around her, including Lily Hart, unconsciously slowed their breathing as dozens of pairs of eyes focused on her.

"I got something!" the woman exclaimed.

"What is it? What?!" the crowd immediately clamored, all talking at once.

They had mixed feelings. They hoped she would win an epic prize so they could all be amazed, but at the same time, they didn’t. The envy, the jealousy, the resentment would be too much to bear!

Lily Hart took the ticket. It was a picture of a small sapling, somewhat similar to the one Stan Sterling had won, but also a little different. She casually fed it into the machine.

After a moment, the Lucky Cat spat out a small sapling. It looked similar to the one Stan Sterling had won, only this one appeared more vibrant and sturdy, with more emerald green leaves.

All the customers’ eyes lit up, and a wave of discussion broke out.

"Is it the one that can improve soil?"

"It doesn’t look like it, though."

"It’s possible! What if it’s a different type but has the same function!"

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up and look at the little card!"

The woman picked up the card and read it silently to herself. The more she read, the more shocked she became. Her jaw dropped, and she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, her face a mask of disbelief.

Seeing her reaction, the crowd knew the prize had to be incredible. A sour feeling of jealousy washed over them, but their curiosity won out. "What is it? We’re all from the same base, don’t be secretive!" they pressed.

Lily Hart leaned in to look too, reading the description in her head. ’Fruit tree. Bears a random fruit each day.’

It didn’t specify the type of tree or the type of fruit, which meant the possibilities were endless!

’It really is an epic prize. It’s like a blind box—so exciting and fun.’

Never mind everyone else; even Lily Hart wanted a blind box fruit tree now.

The woman hesitated, unsure if she should tell everyone. She was afraid their jealousy would drive them to rob her. She knew the prize itself was protected, but she wasn’t!

In her heart, she didn’t want anyone else to know, but with so many pairs of eyes staring at her...

Lily Hart whispered, "Don’t worry, the prize is protected. If the owner dies, the prize turns to dust."

The woman jolted. Her mind raced for a second before she announced cheerfully, "A fruit tree."

Those two short words sent a massive shock through the crowd.

A fruit tree. That meant a tree that could bear fruit, which meant fresh fruit to eat every day. She could even sell the fruit for a high price. She’d be set for life!

Instantly, everyone’s gaze grew feverish, glued to the sapling in the woman’s hands, which wasn’t even as long as her forearm.

The woman’s heart tightened. She gripped the sapling more firmly and pulled it closer to her chest. She had a feeling she couldn’t go back to the base anymore.

These people were a bunch of brutes who would rather destroy it than let her keep it. They didn’t care if the prize was protected or not; when they got jealous enough, they’d beat you up first and ask questions later!

Even worse, they might lock her up, guard the fruit tree, and take all the fruit it bore...

Just the thought made her skin crawl. Her heart began to race. Her gaze drifted to the nearby hotel, and a plan formed in her mind.

She didn’t leave, just stood outside the RV. The other customers nearby kept shooting glances at her, their greedy eyes fixed on the fruit tree in her arms.

Lily Hart called out, "Alright, alright, we’re closing up for today. Everyone scatter."

The base residents, who had planned on following the woman back, heard this and began walking toward the base. They didn’t forget to call out to her, "Come on, let’s head back together!"

Lily Hart glanced down at the woman, who was standing still as a mountain, then at the residents whose intentions were written all over their faces. ’Back together?’ she thought. ’Everyone knows what kind of scheme you’re cooking up.’

Once most of the residents had dispersed, the woman suddenly bolted toward the hotel. In a flash, she was at the front desk, pulling out several dozen Crystal Cores.

"Boss," she said urgently, "I need a single room! Book it for a month, to start!"

Leo Colby glanced up, gave a nod of acknowledgment, converted all the Crystal Cores into points, did some quick operations on his terminal, and handed her a room key, gesturing toward the stairs.

He didn’t say a single word the entire time. The woman was too flustered to notice such minor details. She hastily took the key card and hurried upstairs.

Lily Hart felt relieved once she saw the woman enter the hotel. Only then did the last few lingering customers head back to the base, extremely reluctantly. No one dared to pull anything right under Boss Hart’s nose.

’She has to go back to the base eventually,’ they thought. ’There’s no way we won’t be able to catch her!’

But how could they have known? The woman kept all her belongings in a spatial storage, precisely so she could run at a moment’s notice if trouble ever found her.

Inside the RV, Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe had closed up their convenience store and brought the little rascal over for dinner. Leo Colby came over too. The lights in the bathhouse gradually went out.

The Zombie King closed up shop and went out to forage. Lily Hart saw him, her gaze following him for a moment. She wondered if she should invite him over for dinner, since it had been a while.

But on second thought, ’The Zombie King probably can’t eat the same food as humans, can he?’ She dismissed the idea.

Someone called to her from outside the RV. Lily Hart turned and saw it was the woman who had left her scratch-off ticket with her that morning.

She handed the scratch-off ticket back to her. "No one’s around. You can redeem it."

The woman took it gleefully, carefully glancing around to make sure no base residents were nearby before starting to redeem her prize.

When she had first scratched the ticket and revealed the image of flowing water, she had been astonished, thinking it was some kind of water resource prize.