Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: So What If I Did It?

Luna Corbin couldn’t bear to drink it. The water was pristine and clear, without a single impurity. Even the glass itself was immaculate. She first took out her own waterskin.

Then, she carefully picked up the glass and tilted it, pouring the water into the waterskin.

A few stray drops trickled onto the tabletop. One of the men eagerly licked them up and exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "This water is so sweet!"

Lily Hart was horrified. ’This table is ruined! I have to replace it! Immediately! I can’t wait another second!’

She waved her hand as if shooing flies. The three of them, bewildered, backed away a little, all looking at her quizzically.

Lily Hart first picked up the plate of dumplings, then expressionlessly snapped off that section of the tabletop. She then had the System replace it with a new one.

The three of them simply stared, wide-eyed, as the plank was tossed far away. When they looked back, a new section had appeared, forming the tabletop.

The man who had licked the water flushed bright red and stammered, "I... I couldn’t help myself!"

The other two indicated they understood. Faced with such pure water, nobody could have resisted.

But their awe for the shop owner involuntarily reached a new height. ’She seems to be a germaphobe, and a powerful one at that. This RV is just too strange!’

Lily Hart’s face once again bloomed with an enthusiastic smile, the upward curve of her lips exceptionally graceful.

She smiled and asked the three of them, "Want to scratch some more? By the way, you haven’t finished your dumplings. Go ahead and eat."

Luna Corbin subconsciously gulped, carried her dumplings to the side, and turned her back to them, looking a little shifty as she hunched over her food.

Lily Hart paid her no mind, simply smiling at the two men. After seeing Luna Corbin win a plate of dumplings, they were now brimming with confidence!

"Yes, we want more!" the two men said, eagerly pulling Crystal Cores from their pockets, a few at a time.

Lily Hart’s smile grew even wider as she tossed the Crystal Cores into the Lucky Cat’s mouth one by one.

The Lucky Cat’s eyes swiveled as it announced, "Kane Ward, 150 points. Chester Carter, 250 points."

"Excellent!" Kane Ward and Chester Carter exclaimed.

Both men were relatively cautious, each buying a single "Lucky Charm" ticket, but both dreamed of striking it rich in one go.

Lily Hart beamed, her dimples showing prominently on her cheeks, making her look friendly and approachable.

They were extremely eager, completely immersed in the world of the scratch-off tickets, tuning out all external noise.

They didn’t even notice when another group of people emerged from the base. Lily Hart smiled and waved to them. "Care for some scratch-off tickets? We have the food you’ve been looking for~"

She had figured it out by now. The people here were all sallow and emaciated from chronic malnutrition, and they possessed an almost pathological desire for food.

Sure enough, the group immediately rushed over, surrounding the already small window.

Lily Hart wasn’t flustered in the slightest. She still wore a smile, but her dimples were shallower and her gaze darkened.

She couldn’t help complaining to herself, ’System, isn’t this counter a little too small?!’

The System comforted her, "Once Host has enough points, you can customize it yourself~"

Lily Hart was annoyed, but she was powerless to do anything about it. She could only do her best to make her sales pitch and answer their barrage of questions.

"What’s a scratch-off ticket?"

"What can you win?"

"How do you scratch them?"

"How much do they cost? How many Crystal Cores?"

As the shop owner, Lily Hart naturally answered them patiently. Just then, Luna Corbin, having finished her dumplings, returned with the empty plate, her cheeks still bulging, serving as a powerful testament.

"I knew I smelled something amazing at the base entrance! Luna Corbin, you’re hoarding all the good food for yourself!"

Luna Corbin was unmoved. She shot him a glare and snapped, "What I eat is none of your damn business!"

She then smiled at Lily Hart. "Shopkeep, I’ll take another one of these."

She took out a Crystal Core, fed it to the Lucky Cat, and grabbed a "Lucky Charm" scratch-off ticket, rejoining Kane Ward and Chester Carter in their little world.

The second group of arrivals exchanged a look and decided to observe first. They fanned out, surrounding Luna Corbin and the other two.

All seven of them crowded around Lily Hart’s window so tightly that it became inconvenient for Luna Corbin and her friends to scratch their tickets.

But they were all potential customers, so Lily Hart endured it. ’Once I have points, I’m going for a complete remodel!’

"Ten rounds of standard ammunition!" Kane Ward exclaimed, holding up his scratch-off ticket with both hands.

"What the hell? An ear pick? What am I supposed to do with this?! This is insane! Shopkeep, I want a refund!" Chester Carter shouted, seeing that his companions had both won good prizes. He was the only one to get such a garbage prize, and he felt a surge of indignation, demanding his Crystal Cores back.

Seeing this, Luna Corbin, who was off to the side, stopped scratching her ticket slowly. She quickly scraped it clean, recognized the image on it, and gasped, "A hand grenade!"

It was the tenth year of the apocalypse, and not only was food scarce, but firearms were also exceedingly rare—they were military-grade resources.

For ordinary people to acquire them, they either had to spend a fortune in Crystal Cores or pull some strings. Otherwise, it was next to impossible.

But now, just by scratching a ticket that cost a single Crystal Core, they could obtain a weapon that was normally unobtainable!

The crowd instantly went into an uproar, everyone chattering at once, urging the winners to redeem their prizes. They wanted to see if it was real!

Lily Hart took back the three scratch-off tickets and stuffed them into the Lucky Cat’s mouth. A moment later, the cat’s mouth opened wide and spat out the three prizes.

Kane Ward and Luna Corbin beamed as they collected their rewards. Chester Carter, however, looked from side to side, deeply aggrieved. He slammed his hand on the counter and declared, "One more ticket!"

Seeing this, the other onlookers chimed in, "I want one too! Me too!"

The base entrance was always busy with people coming and going, and the commotion here drew even more attention. Who doesn’t love a good spectacle? Everyone started to gather around.

In no time, the window was surrounded several layers deep. The air filled with a clamor of voices. Lily Hart’s brow furrowed. The weather was already hot, and now she was starting to feel suffocated.

She turned, pulled out a bullhorn, and recorded a short message: "Please form an orderly line!"

But no one listened. In the apocalypse, people were long accustomed to respecting the strong. Who would pay any attention to a clean, fair-skinned young woman who looked completely harmless?

Some troublemakers even started stirring the pot, asking a question here, shouting a comment there, and giving a few shoves, making the scene even more chaotic.

People kept pushing forward. Luna Corbin’s original group of three was a little dumbfounded, and the group that came after them had been shoved who-knows-where. Newcomers in the crowd were all asking at once what was going on.

Lily Hart was exasperated. Her eyes swept over one of the troublemakers, who just so happened to be inside the lottery shop’s safe zone. She began to chant silently...

Suddenly, someone in the crowd was lifted into the air. Everyone turned to look in unison, and the scene fell quiet. The next second, the person was flung backward, slamming violently into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"OW... Which son of a bitch did that?!" the man wailed, cursing instinctively.

Lily Hart didn’t like the sound of that. Seeing him lying on his back right at the edge of the safe zone, she focused her thoughts. The man’s body was suddenly lifted high into the air and then slammed heavily back to the ground. She repeated this a few times before she felt satisfied.

’That’ll teach you to curse at me!’

The man’s wails gradually subsided until he couldn’t take it anymore and passed out.

The crowd’s gazes followed him up and down, a palpable sense of alarm spreading among them.

’Just what kind of powerhouse is hiding nearby?’ they wondered. ’To toy with someone so easily, without the slightest ripple of energy!’