Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Bloomfall Base

Lily Hart got it. The difficulty was indeed high. First, she had to earn a hundred thousand points in one base, and then leave behind an automatic scratch-off machine. Only then would one objective be considered complete.

But completing one objective rewarded fifty thousand points! That made Lily Hart feel much better about it.

She snapped her Light Brain shut. ’Out of sight, out of mind!’ Her main strategy was to just go with the flow.

Lily Hart woke the two little ones, then went to wash up and change. Once she was ready, she headed downstairs to open for business.

After opening up all four sides of the RV, just as she was about to order more scratch-off tickets from the system’s shop, a head of messy blond hair popped up.

Roman Rowe was slumped listlessly over the counter, whining, "Boss Hart, how could you leave without waiting for me..."

"Why would I wait for you?" Lily Hart was multitasking, ordering twenty books of the ’Big 7’ tickets and five books each of the other three types.

Roman Rowe sat up, his bright, dark eyes fixed on her. "To leave with me, of course!"

Lily Hart was almost captivated by that handsome face. She reached out and emotionlessly covered his eyes.

"Shut up," Lily Hart said coldly.

Roman Rowe obediently shut up and slumped weakly back onto the counter, deliberately showing off his perfect side profile.

He was trying to seduce Boss Hart, to stir up even a shred of pity in her, but he had clearly underestimated her.

Lily Hart took out the scratch-off tickets, arranging them neatly on the counters on all four sides. Seeing it was still early, she bought herself a bowl of noodle soup.

"That smells amazing!" Roman Rowe shot upright, his eyes sparkling as he stared at the bowl of soup.

The green leafy vegetables floating on top were so, so tempting. And there was a whole fried egg, its edges crisped to perfection, a beautiful blend of white and yellow. You could just tell it would taste eggy!

Roman Rowe folded his hands on the counter and slowly scooted closer, stopping less than half a meter away from Lily Hart. Now he had a clearer view, which only made him want it more.

He swallowed with an exaggerated GULP, hoping she would notice and spare him a small bite.

Lily Hart paid him no mind, slurping her noodles while scrolling through her Light Brain.

At ten o’clock the previous night, the "Lily Hart’s Lottery Shop" app had updated with the winning Super Lotto numbers right on schedule.

[3, 7, 10, 15, 22, 30]

Customers with winning tickets could take them to the automatic scratch-off machine to claim their prizes. It didn’t matter if the lottery shop was present or not.

She opened the group chat. Almost everyone was discussing the winning numbers and the fact that Lily Hart had gone viral online.

Until one message popped up: [Boss Hart skipped town—]

It was like dropping a bomb into already choppy waters, throwing everything into complete chaos.

In an instant, countless messages flew up the screen. Lily Hart could barely keep up, only catching a few scattered ones.

[Boss Hart, how can we live without you!]

[Boss Hart, please come back! I can’t handle this all by myself... ]

[What’s the point of living without scratch-off tickets?]

[We’re starting a petition, signed in blood, for Boss Hart to come back to Hope Base!]

This message was spammed over and over.

Lily Hart took a moment to type out a message: [I’ll be at Bloomfall Base for the next three days. New and old customers are all welcome~]

She also attached her precise location. It was only about three hundred kilometers from Hope Base; a fast traveler could make it in two hours.

Of course, that was for a superpower user. For an ordinary person, it was a different story. The obstacles on the road alone would be more than they could handle.

Lily Hart pinned both messages so they would be the first thing anyone saw upon entering the group.

She glanced at the member count and did a double-take. It was about to break the two-thousand mark, and a single group could hold a maximum of five thousand people.

’Five thousand people,’ Lily Hart mused. ’How many messages would that be in a single day?’

She quickly changed the settings to cap the group at two thousand members. Roman Rowe leaned over to watch, then immediately said, "Boss Hart, I want to add you as a friend!"

"Get lost," Lily Hart said without a trace of mercy.

Roman Rowe slumped back down listlessly. ’What in the world does it take to win Boss Hart’s favor?’

He stared at the bowl of noodles, getting hungrier by the second. Suddenly, he remembered the video he’d filmed the night before and instantly perked up.

He opened his Light Brain and showed her the video. "Boss Hart, here’s the video of me beating up Winnie Lowell yesterday."

Lily Hart glanced over. The video was dimly lit and shaking violently; all you could hear were Winnie Lowell’s pained, muffled groans.

She could vaguely make out Winnie’s pained expression, and a flicker of satisfaction went through her. Lily Hart nodded, pleased, and reached across the counter to pat his head.

"Nice work. You deserve a reward." Lily Hart bought a bowl of the same noodles she was having and pushed it in front of Roman Rowe.

"Boss Hart, you’re the best," Roman Rowe said, deeply moved. ’Whoever gives me good food is my boss.’

Just then, Frost Shaw arrived with Easton and the other two boys. He glanced over at Roman Rowe, and when he saw him happily eating, his gaze darkened imperceptibly.

"Good morning, Lily," the three little boys greeted her politely.

Lily Hart smiled back at them and said, "Go pick out whatever you want to eat from the store. Your Brother Frost gets an employee discount, so it’s really cheap."

The words were barely out of her mouth when three pairs of shining eyes swiveled in unison to look at Frost Shaw.

"Let’s go." Frost Shaw led the three boys toward the convenience store. Diana Sharp and the other little girl had come down as well.

Frost Shaw was like a mother duck with a flock of cute, obedient ducklings trailing behind him. Carrying his bowl of noodles, Roman Rowe followed them over.

After finishing her noodles, Lily Hart looked toward Bloomfall Base. The name didn’t seem to carry the same profound meaning as the previous two bases she’d visited.

She’d heard the Base Commander was a woman, and she knew that in the post-apocalyptic world, sexism was even more rampant.

Men generally had more strength and stamina, but there were still many exceptional women who held positions of power.

As nine o’clock approached, the base gates opened, and the guard team began their shift change.

She noticed that the ten-person squad was composed entirely of women. Their expressions were resolute as they stood tall in their well-fitted combat uniforms, looking valiant and heroic.

After a little while, residents began to emerge from the base. They too were all women, walking in groups of three or five.

They were physically close, and they all seemed to subconsciously position themselves to protect one another, keeping each other within a defensive perimeter.

Lily Hart stood up and waved excitedly at them. ’I haven’t seen this many women in so long,’ she thought, feeling a little thrill of happiness.

"Hey, ladies! Want to try a scratch-off? You can’t go wrong with just one!"

Immediately, three young women walked over curiously, arm in arm. Despite living in the apocalypse, they were clearly trying to live well; their clothes and hair were kept as neat as possible.

One of them looked up, sizing up Lily Hart. "Wow, your skin is amazing," she said admiringly. "It’s so fair and smooth."

Anyone would be happy to be complimented by a pretty girl. A wide smile spread across Lily Hart’s face. "You’re very pretty, too."

The girl touched her own somewhat rough, dry face and said dejectedly, "Sigh, mine is so dry."

Another one of the women glanced at the RV, then at the convenience store beside it. As if remembering something, she looked down at her Light Brain.

A moment later, she looked up in shock, pointing at a photo on her Light Brain. "Y-y-you’re... you’re her? The one in this... this photo?!" she stammered.

Lily Hart admitted it freely. "That’s me."

The three women exchanged a look, then huddled around the Light Brain to get a better look at the photo before comparing it to the RV and convenience store in front of them.

They were absolutely certain it was her. After all, you couldn’t find a second RV like this in the whole post-apocalyptic world.

They were thrilled for a moment, but quickly composed themselves.

The woman who had complimented Lily Hart, whose name was Natalie Thorne, zoomed in on the photo with her finger. "I see you have fruit and vegetables here," she said. "Where did you get them all?"

Lily Hart just smiled, saying nothing. She pointed to the scratch-off tickets on the counter, her lips parting slightly as she said one word: "Here."