Chapter 517: Chapter 517: Buying Crystal Cores
"It’s your first time here, right? Still unfamiliar faces!"
The stall owner’s greasy, large face wore a smiling expression as he pointed at the meat on display and continued, "Want to buy some meat? So I can pack up and leave soon."
This was a coded phrase.
If all the meat was bought, he could take the two out to trade crystal cores.
This operation would be difficult for ordinary people since buying meat requires crystal cores, and they hardly have any source of crystal cores, but it’s quite simple for a Superpower User.
Because just one First Rank Crystal Core can buy a large piece of meat.
Bai Xiqin didn’t hesitate, reaching into her pocket, actually retrieving a Second Rank Crystal Core from her space, and handed it directly to the stall owner.
"You two are certainly generous, you get what you give!"
The stall owner’s eyes lit up, quickly reaching out to catch the crystal core.
Even if he made a decent income from this trade, could he ever have too many crystal cores?
Like a miser, who still pinches pennies despite having a fortune.
The eyes of the surrounding people, initially focused on the meat on the stall, all turned greedily towards the crystal core the moment Bai Xiqin pulled it out.
In the apocalypse, crystal cores symbolize status and wealth; a First Rank Crystal Core is already rare for them, much less a Second Rank Crystal Core.
Yet they also knew, a Superpower User who could casually pull out a Second Rank Crystal Core was surely stronger than just a Second Rank Superpower User!
However tempted, they only dared to look from afar, not daring to seize.
Even just watching, they considered it a learning experience for those of them without superpowers.
"Let’s go, I’ll take you two to where you want to go now!"
The butcher stall owner’s greasy smile remained as he quickly packed all the meat from the table into one oily large cloth bundle.
Soon after, the butcher stall owner led the two out of the black market.
The moment they left, the crowd inside the black market significantly dwindled, and it wasn’t as lively anymore.
Most people came to feast their eyes on the meat, and with the butcher leaving, the meat was gone too, lingering there seemed pointless.
Only a few, with eyes gleaming green, watched those adults walking around with children.
Children have the most tender skin and flesh.
Just like how steamed lamb and roast suckling pig represent the pinnacle of lamb and pork cooking, the younger the age, the more tender the meat.
They, like wolves starving for a long time, walked straight towards those children.
The children, with innocent faces, looked bewildered at the strangers suddenly approaching them, completely oblivious to what was about to happen.
Their faces naturally bore soft smiles, having learned at such a young age to please others with smiles.
All they saw was that today their parents seemed particularly happy because this stranger just handed them a beautiful crystal core.
The smiles on the children’s faces grew wider.
Their parents had been continuously complaining about being too poor to have any crystal cores, and now with an unexpected harvest, their parents should be happy, right!
Even as they were led away by strangers, their smiles remained.
Joyful for their temporarily "rich" parents.
This sort of thing couldn’t be completely eradicated even with the fortress’ strict controls.
As long as the apocalypse persists and food remains insufficient, such incidents will continue to occur.
Just like in ancient times, where there were stories of exchanging children to eat.
Bai Xiqin could imagine it without looking, having witnessed too much of it, she’s already become numb.
What she wanted to know most now was who exactly Brother Monkey was!
The butcher stall owner, with a large bundle of meat on his back, walked up to a dilapidated black car, threw the meat into the trunk, and then sat in the driver’s seat.
Bai Xiqin and Leng Yebai sat in the back seat.
As soon as she got into the car, Bai Xiqin smelled a very strong metallic scent.
The car seats were black, occasionally showing patches of dark stains.
Those were left by coagulated blood.
No need to think to understand what had been loaded here before.
Bai Xiqin frowned, her stomach churning.
Swoosh—
Leng Yebai reached out to open the window, letting the wind blow in, diluting a lot of the bloody scent, though it was still noticeable.
"The car is used for carrying meat all the time, bear with it a bit!"
The butcher stall owner laughed and said, then stepped on the gas pedal.
The black car made a roaring sound, shaking in place like an old man on his last legs, and finally sped towards the direction of the safety base’s gate.
The butcher stall owner never offended those who came to buy crystal cores from him, as people like them were truly ruthless.
Of course, the butcher stall owner was also ruthless, which was how he became the butcher stall owner at Yunhua Safety Base, and those who absorbed human crystal cores were of the same category as him.
The butcher stall owner did not absorb human crystal cores, just like how he was a meat stall owner but never ate the meat he sold.
Superpower Users who absorbed human crystal cores to crazily boost their superpowers never met a good end; the butcher stall owner, being a coward afraid of death, would not take that shortcut even if it existed.
Bai Xiqin and Leng Yebai did not know that the butcher stall owner already considered them a pair of ruthless individuals.
In fact, that was indeed the case.
In a certain sense, anyone with the surname Bai, or whose name contained Bai, tended to be ruthless.
The black car soon exited Yunhua Safety Base, steadily driving towards less populated and zombie-infested areas without stopping.
Bai Xiqin enjoyed sleeping in the car, but with the bloody scent lingering under her nose, she couldn’t sleep and could only watch the scenery outside the window.
If one ignored the occasional black bloodstains on the ground, the vast green city was quite refreshing.
Ironically, before the apocalypse, people advocated for green environmental protection and building green cities, but it was never satisfactory.
After the apocalypse, Earth effortlessly became the green metropolis people once dreamed of.
Weeds grew wildly, with tender roots akin to sharp swords that easily sliced open concrete ground and walls, taking root and sprouting.
Under the sunlight, the lush foliage conducts photosynthesis madly on each leaf.
Every day, plants on Earth grow more luxuriant than the day before.
However, more plants do not equate to more food; many mutate and even become aggressive, compressing human living spaces as plants and zombies proliferate, barely surviving...
The black car continued to advance in one direction, as Bai Xiqin noticed more greenery as they went further.
Eventually, it was like entering a primitive forest.
But Bai Xiqin knew this wasn’t a primitive forest; it was the outskirts of Shanghai, evidenced by the concrete roads under the car and signs along the road indicating once bustling human activity here.
Trees blocked the sky, concealing the sun, and some tree roots directly pierced the concrete ground, emerging on the road, causing the car to shake violently when driving over.
The fragrance of green plants and earth filled the air, finally making the bloody smell in the car less torturous.
"Once we arrive, be cautious not to touch any plants entwining the walls or doors," the butcher stall owner turned to look at Bai Xiqin and Leng Yebai with a somewhat serious expression.
He was counting on these "big clients" to buy crystal cores often, letting him earn a bit more.
Better not to mess it up immediately upon arrival!
