Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Nutwood Base

"Cooperate?" Lily Hart glanced towards Bloomfall Base and shrugged. "Why would I choose a small gang of murderers and arsonists over a large base?"

"So... HISS... they want to find another way... HISS..." Roman Rowe chimed in.

"What way?" Lily Hart looked at him. His mouth was red from the spice, and he was hissing and panting, desperately looking for a drink. Seeing that Easton’s cup was still half-full, he grabbed it and chugged.

Easton’s eyes went wide. Roman held his head down with one hand, and the boy’s arms weren’t long enough to reach, leaving him flailing them uselessly in the air.

"Give it back!" Easton wailed.

He had been savoring it, taking tiny sips, which was why there was still half a cup left. He never expected this bad uncle to snatch it away!

Frost Shaw couldn’t watch any longer. He stood up, pulled Roman Rowe away, and returned the cup to Easton. Of course, not a single drop was left. Even if there had been, the boy wouldn’t have wanted to drink it out of disgust anyway!

Roman Rowe sidled up to Lily Hart again and answered her earlier question. "You’ll probably find out tomorrow."

Lily Hart shot him a look. ’He’s really mastered the art of saying nothing at all.’

After the meal, Lily Hart discussed it with Frost Shaw. "I’m planning to go to Nutwood Base tomorrow."

She had been at Bloomfall Base for three days and had earned her 100,000 points. It was definitely time to move on to a new location.

She said "discussed," but it was really more of an announcement. After all, they all lived in the convenience store, and the convenience store had to be bound to the lottery shop, never more than ten meters apart.

Frost Shaw had no reason to refuse and nodded immediately. "I’ll just follow you."

Lily Hart smiled and nodded, watching them return to the convenience store. She pressed a button, and the four walls of the vehicle closed up, plunging the first floor into darkness.

She went up to the second floor, flopped onto the sofa, and bought five "Auto-Scratcher" machines. She then dragged and dropped them outside the RV, arranging them neatly alongside the vehicle.

Why only five? Because there was a purchase limit of five per base. Once she reached Level 5, the limit would increase to ten. ’How is that reasonable?’

After buying the five, Lily Hart thought of the two lonely machines at Hope Base and immediately ordered three more, placing them outside Hope Base.

That was the great thing about it. Moving locations and refilling the scratch-off tickets could all be done on her Light Brain, just like playing a management sim. She didn’t have to be there in person.

The eight machines instantly emptied Lily Hart’s balance. But as long as she filled them up and sold all the tickets, she could earn over 700,000 points. A fortune!

Lily Hart got excited just thinking about it. She scooped the cat, Lily, into her arms for a vigorous snuggle and made a grand promise, "When the time comes, I’ll buy you two the best cat food!"

The two little cats meowed at her disdainfully.

Lily Hart paid them no mind, lost in her fantasy. When her point balance reached one million, she could upgrade, but the upgrade itself would cost 500,000 points.

’Another fortune. It feels like I’m just running in circles, and all the points I earn end up in the system’s pocket, don’t they?’

Lily Hart stared at her remaining balance of just over 20,000 points and fell into deep thought. ’What happened? I’m back to square one again?!’

’When will I finally be able to just sit back and collect rent?’

With this goal in mind, Lily Hart decided to first take a shower and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow morning, she’d head to Nutwood Base and make a huge killing!

She’d heard the people there were rich, loved to spend money, and were always on the hunt for food from the pre-apocalypse era, willing to drop a fortune in Crystal Cores for it!

Lily Hart drifted off into a pleasant sleep and woke up the next day full of energy. She checked the scratch-off tickets in the five machines. Good, they were fully stocked. She could leave without worry.

She sent a message to Frost Shaw, "You up? Get ready to move out!"

He replied quickly with just two words: "Always ready."

Lily Hart went to the driver’s seat, set the destination to Nutwood Base, and pressed the start button. The vehicle began to move instantly, but from the inside, you couldn’t feel any motion at all.

But if someone were watching from the outside, they would see the RV and the attached convenience store practically teleporting! WHOOSH, it’s ten meters away. WHOOSH, it’s another twenty.

In less than ten minutes, the RV arrived outside Nutwood Base, once again parking a hundred meters from the main gate.

It was still early and the main gate was tightly shut, but The Guardian Corps were still faithfully at their posts.

The RV and its attached convenience store were extremely conspicuous. A squad leader of The Guardian Corps, who was standing high up with a clear view, spotted them at once. He was startled and immediately pulled out his communicator.

He used the highest-level clearance to contact the Base Commander’s personal assistant. After a brief exchange, the call was transferred to the Base Commander’s Light Brain.

"Are you sure it’s that RV?" the Base Commander asked, confirming repeatedly.

The squad leader directly activated his Light Brain’s camera, aiming it at the RV and convenience store outside the base. It was only a fleeting image, but the Base Commander was already ninety percent convinced.

His expression darkened as he hung up, silently issuing a series of commands.

Outside the base, Lily Hart was just finishing setting up the scratch-off tickets, eagerly awaiting her first customers. She didn’t forget to post a message in the group chat.

"Have arrived at Nutwood Base. New and old customers are welcome~"

The members from Hope Base and Bloomfall Base in the chat immediately erupted. The ones from Bloomfall Base were the most heartbroken.

They spammed the chat with several messages, all of them the usual platitudes.

"Boss Hart, don’t go! I can’t live without you! How will I go on..."

Lily Hart didn’t even bother reading these pleas to stay. She simply closed the Light Brain interface and focused on waiting for new customers.

The lottery shop and the convenience store were both ready for business. All that was missing were the customers. But half an hour passed.

Not a single person came out of Nutwood Base. There were only the figures of The Guardian Corps standing guard on the walls and in front of the gate.

Lily Hart glanced at her Light Brain and muttered, "It’s already nine o’clock. Why hasn’t anyone come out? Don’t they have missions to do?"

Nutwood Base was the largest base in Rodington City, both in terms of area and population. Lily Hart chose to keep waiting.

’People in big bases are probably more laid-back,’ she thought. ’They have Crystal Cores in their pockets, so they’re probably not in a hurry to go on missions or kill zombies.’

The time reached ten o’clock. Lily Hart was getting a little bored. Beside her, the two little ones propped their chins in their hands, gazing in the direction of Nutwood Base.

They started to complain too. Diana Sharp said, "Huh, how come no one’s coming out? Back when we were staying outside Rebirth Base with Brother Frost, people would come out to kill zombies first thing in the morning."

Tina Jacobs added, "Yeah! They cleared out all the zombies nearby. If you wanted to kill any, you had to go really far out. Brother Frost said there are more zombies near the big bases—an endless supply. He said there are always this many every time they come."

Lily Hart looked around. Nutwood Base was huge, its walls stretching beyond sight. The area around it wasn’t some dense urban sprawl, either.

Instead, it was a boundless, desolate city edge. It was precisely because of this flat terrain that Nutwood Base was established here.

"Exactly! The people at Hope Base and Bloomfall Base are hardworking too. Anyway, they’re not like Nutwood Base, where not a single person has come out by ten o’clock!" Diana Sharp chimed in.

"Tell me, you think Crystal Cores just fall from the sky in there?" Lily Hart joked.

The two little ones looked at each other and laughed.

Lily Hart looked down at her Light Brain and sent another message to the group chat: "Anyone here from Nutwood Base?"

Someone responded immediately: "Not yet, but a whole bunch of us from Hope Base are about to make a run for Nutwood Base soon. Boss Hart! Wait for us!"

Lily Hart: "Okay, okay, okay..."