Chen Ye and Chu Che walked arm-in-arm toward the Silent Council's shop.
Both had just come into some unexpected money, and they couldn't have been in better spirits.
It was as if they didn't have to repay the loan at all.
The sea breeze brushed against their faces, making them look like a pair of cocky fools full of swagger.
They didn't resemble the downtrodden beasts of burden carrying loans at all.
This shop at the base stood in stark contrast to all the other stalls.
Elsewhere, most people just set up simple makeshift stalls.
Some couldn't even be bothered to set up a stall—they simply laid their goods on the ground and had one or two survivors watching over them.
The survivors guarding those stalls often wore wooden expressions, their eyes empty.
Items at such stalls were generally worthless.
Mostly just common supplies.
Chen Ye and Chu Che passed by a woman's stall.
It was covered with all kinds of luxury brand handbags.
Many were styles that could only be seen on TV or in magazines.
Some were limited editions worth hundreds of thousands, even millions.
Chen Ye couldn't tell real from fake, but Chu Che could spot the details.
These bags, once beyond the reach of ordinary people before the apocalypse, were now casually strewn on the ground.
The woman running the stall looked somewhat familiar.
Chen Ye glanced at her and remembered.
She had been a minor celebrity before the apocalypse.
Had a brief burst of fame, but then, for some reason, she disappeared from the screen.
Rumors at the time said she married into wealth.
He never expected to see her here.
Many passersby just gave her a casual glance and looked away.
Chen Ye and Chu Che naturally had no interest in those bags either.
They swept a glance over them and continued walking with their heads held high.
The Silent Council's shop had become a landmark of the entire camp.
The two arrived not long after walking.
There weren't many items inside the shop.
But there were plenty of staff.
When Chen Ye and Chu Che walked in, they received exceptional treatment.
Two gentle-looking young ladies immediately served them glasses of ice water.
Back when Hou Junji had brought them here, Chen Ye had been captivated by the mechanical heart.
And Chu Che had been drawn to the Magic Potion Capsules.
Plus, Hou Junji had been worried Chen Ye might actually try to snatch something, so he hadn't let them linger too long.
So they hadn't had a chance to browse the shop properly.
Now, it seemed there was quite a lot of stuff here.
For instance, the Concealment Talisman that almost everyone carried back in Oasis was also available in abundance.
There was even a kind of Pseudo-God Talisman. According to the shop assistant's introduction,
This talisman paper could be used by Superhumans or Black Clothes.
After using it, Black Clothes could temporarily gain supernatural power.
But there was a cost—using the Pseudo-God Talisman would drastically shorten the Black Clothes' lifespan.
Superhumans could also use the Pseudo-God Talisman to temporarily unleash their supernatural potential.
They couldn't use it too many times either,
Otherwise, it would cause severe damage to their bodies.
Chu Che and Chen Ye split up to browse.
Chu Che looked at the Pseudo-God Talisman in his hand and finally handed it back to the staff member.
Though it was a decent item, Chu Che didn't plan to buy it.
He only had two hundred Silent Gold Coins.
This money had to be spent on the essentials.
Chu Che even spotted Five Thunder Talismans, Thunder Summoning Talismans, and protective talismans made by the Celestial Master Sequence.
And not just talisman papers.
Heart engines were also displayed nearby.
He had swapped the Pink-haired Girl's heart engine for Bus Number Five and Bus Number Six.
Those two modified migration vehicles were too heavy for their original engines.
Chu Che touched the heart engine, feeling the surging power within.
He wanted this heart engine.
"How much is this?"
In this shop, none of the items had price tags.
No one knew why the Silent Council did things this way.
To get a quote, you had to ask the staff on site.
The staff member flashed a sweet smile and replied, "In answer to your esteemed self, sir, the Silent Council's shop is currently running a promotion during the Return to the City Plan."
"The original price of the Heart Engine is one thousand Silent Gold Coins. The promotional price is eight hundred!"
The term "esteemed self" made both Chen Ye and Chu Che a little uncomfortable.
But since she insisted on addressing them that way, they had no choice but to let it slide.
They just hadn't expected a single heart engine to be so expensive.
Back in Oasis, it had been—
Well, they'd traded other things for it then, and it hadn't been cheap either.
Chu Che heard the quote of eight hundred gold coins and didn't know what to say.
He'd thought two hundred gold coins was a lot.
Now it seemed, it was nothing much.
Chu Che pointed at the Pseudo-God Talisman he'd been examining earlier. "And how much is this?"
"In answer to your esteemed self, sir, the original price of the Pseudo-God Talisman is three hundred. The promotional price is two hundred and sixty."
Chu Che was stunned.
Was this stuff seriously this expensive?
He suddenly felt that his gold coins weren't worth as much as he'd thought.
"What about the Five Thunder Talisman?"
"Original price one hundred, current price eighty."
This was insane. Absolutely insane.
So expensive!!!
He only had two hundred gold coins, so naturally he couldn't spend half or more on these items.
Chu Che was feeling pretty deflated by the answers.
Finally, he stopped in front of the Revitalization Talisman counter.
Thankfully, the Revitalization Talisman wasn't too expensive.
One Revitalization Talisman cost one Silent Gold Coin.
Of course.
By that calculation, it wasn't expensive at all.
But you had to know that one Silent Gold Coin was worth ten pounds of food.
Chu Che thought of the convoy's piles of expired food.
He could safely say that almost none of it wasn't expired.
Chu Che gritted his teeth and finally pulled out fifty gold coins to exchange for fifty Revitalization Talismans.
The Revitalization Talisman was quite useful.
Not only could it make expired food safe, but it also had healing effects on common injuries and illnesses.
Stocking up on more was always a good idea.
As for why he didn't exchange all his coins—
Chu Che was keeping some in reserve for emergencies.
After all, they still had some time before leaving this place.
Chu Che was a bit down, but Chen Ye was practically fuming.
The Wonder's Heart he'd had his eye on was gone.
Not that it had been traded away.
The shop had put it away to be safe.
Of course, they'd also stashed other valuable items, like the Magic Potion Capsules and Sequence Serums.
Maybe Chen Ye's gaze earlier had been too obvious, making the staff more wary.
The young lady attending to Chen Ye had a beauty mole under her eye, and her eyes curved into crescents when she smiled.
The mole-dot young lady grumbled inwardly.
If it weren't for you and that woman, would we have had to hide all this stuff?
What a piece of work. And we've run into two of you in one day.
Hmph!~~~
But despite her mental complaints, the mole-dot young lady's face showed no impatience.
After all, she was professionally trained.
Of course, if someone could pay the Silent Gold Coins, the staff would still bring out the Wonder's Heart.
The catch was actually paying up.
After asking the price, Chen Ye seriously considered a black-hearted grab.
This Wonder's Heart actually cost eight thousand Silent Gold Coins.
Eight thousand! And that was the promotional price!
The original was ten thousand.
That price...
"Sir, would you like to make a purchase? You can come over here to pay!"
The mole-dot young lady asked with a patient, smiling expression.
Chen Ye shot her a cold glance, lifted his chin slightly, and snorted, "This cheap stuff!"
"Huh?"
This was cheap?
The mole-dot young lady felt a flicker of excitement.
Had she encountered a big spender?
If she could close this deal, her commission would be substantial.
Then she'd be one step closer to buying a Sequence Serum at the internal price.
Could this one-eyed guy be a major client?
Little stars began to sparkle in her eyes, and her smile grew more genuine.
Her whole demeanor began to glow.
Even her beauty mole started to look more alluring.
Her eyes curved even more like crescent moons.
Her colleagues looked on with envy, wishing they could take her place.
Chen Ye's expression didn't change as he declared arrogantly, "This cheap stuff? I can't afford it!"
The mole-dot young lady: "..."
Her colleagues: "..."
Chen Ye ignored their expressions, turned around, and strode away, leaving a room full of stunned young ladies.
The two had walked into the shop with their heads held high.
And now they slunk out, heads hanging low.
When they went in, it was like the sun was shining brilliantly over their heads.
When they came out, dark clouds hung over them.
"Welcome back anytime..."
The sweet voices of the young ladies came from behind.
The mole-dot young lady, on the verge of tears, still wore a very earnest expression.
But when she looked at Chen Ye, her eyes were filled with resentment.
Both of them felt like they'd been sneaking away in disgrace.
Of course, they hadn't come away empty-handed.
Squad Leader Chu had swapped for fifty Revitalization Talismans.
Chen Ye had also gotten twenty Revitalization Talismans.
Other than that, they hadn't spent a single coin.
Because they couldn't afford most of the items.
As they say, you can't outsmart a merchant.
"Dammit, that Hou Junji was so generous giving us loans just so he could screw us over here!"
Chen Ye gritted his teeth and cursed.
"A credit loan—what did you expect? We don't have a steady job, we're not civil servants, we don't own a house, we don't have a car..."
"Getting two hundred is already pretty generous!"
Chen Ye looked up at the sunset over the sea.
A red sun hung above the horizon,
Turning the entire sea surface orange-red, creating a vast orange sea.
The tents and stalls at the coastal base were all dyed red.
It was an orange world.
They said the sunset over Xi City was beautiful.
Though they hadn't reached Xi City yet, such a gorgeous sunset was already a rare sight.
Some people lay in chairs, a bottle of beer in hand, leisurely watching the orange sea as they drank.
Others stood at the water's edge, letting the waves wash over their feet in the sea breeze.
A few were strumming a guitar, singing off-key songs to the sea.
Chen Ye looked back, took one last glance at the shop, and gritted his teeth. "I'm going to get that Wonder's Heart, dammit. I didn't know what it was for before, so whatever. But now that I do, I can't let it go!"
"If I can't trade for it, I'll steal it. If I can't steal it, I'll rob it. I don't believe..."
Honestly, in that respect, Chen Ye and Jiang Rou were a perfect match.
Both of them had that relentless drive—they'd never give up until they got what they wanted.
Comments