Chapter 336: Fuel Trading
After hunting down a group of zombies, the rest of the journey was uneventful.
Occasionally, they would spot a few zombies, but they seemed to have just crawled out of their underground nests, only appearing in twos and threes.
Vikram didn’t even bother to clear them; he simply pressed the accelerator and left them behind.
As Vikram was about to reach his destination, he relaxed and was whistling contentedly when a sudden exclamation came from behind him.
"Look, what’s that?"
Vikram was startled by the words, thinking that more zombies had come to cause trouble. He turned his head and looked in the direction Anjali was pointing.
He found no zombie horde there, but instead, a solitary stone building stood on the snowy ground of the Wasteland.
"Such good luck, we just happened to stumble upon such a large resource point on the way?"
Vikram was a little surprised, narrowing his eyes, squinted to observe the building.
He quickly dismissed his initial thought.
Although the building was not small, a quick glance revealed traces of a Survivor building it with a cornerstone.
"What the heck?"
"What was the Survivor who built this Shelter thinking?"
"Why build a Shelter so exposed in an open space, without even a roof?"
This was no longer the beginning of Wasteland survival, when everyone lacked experience.
Generally, Survivors were extremely cautious when choosing a location for their Shelter.
While not necessarily building the Shelter entirely underground, they would at least choose a dense forest, or a location backed by a mountain or a cave.
This building was neither a resource point nor built in such a strange way, immediately catching Vikram’s attention.
"This doesn’t look like a Shelter; it’s quite lively inside."
Divya also noticed the building. Although her eyesight was not as good as Vikram’s, she could still make out the Survivors moving near the building.
"It really is!"
Looking closely, there was a continuous stream of Survivors in the building.
Seeing this scene, Vikram shook his head.
This place was quite close to the trading location, so there was no rush. He could go inside and take a look after the trade.
He had only casually mentioned to Lilith to keep an eye out for a Lucky Jewel for him, not really expecting her to actually get one.
To get a Lucky Jewel as soon as possible, he still needed to kill more monsters and seek out more commotion; perhaps he would have an unexpected harvest.
Thinking this, Vikram pressed harder on the accelerator, and the off-road vehicle disappeared into the faint black mist... A few minutes’ drive later, Vikram finally reached his destination.
He checked the time; there was still half an hour until the agreed-upon time.
Vikram didn’t idle. He took out the Epic-level Zombie corpses from earlier and began to dig on the spot.
He wasn’t disappointed. Although these two Epic-level Zombie corpses didn’t drop any orbs, they did yield a high-grade crystal.
He crushed it with a casual squeeze, and his four-dimensional physique increased by three points again.
Every time a physique broke a major ten-point barrier, the body would undergo significant changes.
With two stats breaking through this time, Vikram could clearly feel the changes in his body.
Strangely, despite being an improvement in physical fitness, this unusual sensation was not, as in the past, in his limbs.
Instead, the moment his physique broke through, Vikram’s mind suddenly became much clearer.
It was as if a warm current enveloped his brain; the groggy feeling from staying up late and barely sleeping the previous night instantly vanished.
"This..."
Vikram, who had never experienced this before, was now astonished after feeling the changes in his body.
Just as he was about to ask the system what exactly was happening, the sound of vehicle tires rolling over gravel echoed from not far away.
Vikram’s gaze sharpened. Standing still, he saw two motorcycles approaching, carrying two beautiful women.
"It’s Radhika and Geetanjali; they’re here."
Divya, Sophia and Anjali had clearly noticed them too, and were waving enthusiastically at the two motorcycles. While Luna didn’t care about them.
Vikram raised an eyebrow only after the vehicles stopped and only two familiar female Survivors dismounted.
He glanced at their empty rear.
He hadn’t expected them to be so bold, that only two girls would come for the trade.
He recalled that when he traded with someone with an official background like Snape, there were more than a dozen people.
"What’s wrong, Vikram? Is something following us?"
Noticing Vikram’s gaze, the two looked back warily. After confirming no one was tailing them, they asked.
"No, nothing."
"I was just curious why your Shelter only sent you two female Survivors all this way to trade."
He said with a faint smile.
Since they could see each other’s avatars in the group, the other party already knew what he looked like.
"Vikram, you don’t understand, do you? Don’t let our seemingly delicate appearance fool you; we’re actually the strongest in the Shelter!"
Vikram immediately analyzed them with the system.
[Name: Radhika, Strength: 72, Speed: 73, Stamina: 73, Reaction: 71]
[Name: Geetanjali, Strength: 71, Speed: 72, Stamina: 72, Reaction: 73]
After seeing the data feedback on the system, Vikram was slightly surprised. The two girls’ physiques were almost on par with Snape’s.
Wouldn’t that mean their Shelter’s power was not much different from the Green Wind Shelter?
However, after a brief thought, he quickly understood.
Snape’s physique was almost at the extreme limit, having used all available physique-enhancing items except for high-grade crystals.
And high-grade crystals themselves were extremely difficult to obtain; even he himself had only used two so far.
Comparing that to the two women in front of him, whose physiques clearly still had room for improvement, Vikram realized it wasn’t the same situation.
Nevertheless, even so, the strength of the two women was still very impressive.
Nodding in affirmation, Vikram stepped aside.
Compared to Vikram, who was only there to trade for gasoline and diesel, Divya, Sophia and Anjali, who were with him, were much more enthusiastic.
Because they were quite familiar with each other, Anjali immediately cupped Radhika’s face.
"Wow, Radhika, Geetanjali."
"You two are so beautiful, much prettier than your Survival Platform avatars."
"Yeah, with your looks, you two are always complaining about not being able to find a boyfriend in the Wasteland."
Divya also teased from the side.
Vikram then scanned the two with his gaze.
Radhika was a petite girl, while Geetanjali was of medium height.
Their figures couldn’t be seen due to the thick warm clothing, but their faces alone were definitely above average.
And they clearly weren’t the type to wear heavy makeup; each had their own unique charm.
And again’ unknowingly, Vikram lust started appearing. Even Vikram didn’t know why he became lustier than before.
He controlled his lust, and started hearing their chatting.
Women always have endless things to talk about when they meet, and Vikram wasn’t in a hurry. Truly good friends are rare in the Wasteland.
Vikram stood by patiently, waiting for them to catch up for a while, finding the five women’s playful chatter quite pleasing to the eye. While Luna was also standing like him and hearing their chattering.
"Where am I even at? It was fine when I had maintenance on Earth, but now, exposed to the wind and sun in the Wasteland, I’m almost a hag."
"Look at your skin, tsk tsk tsk, so tender you could pinch water out of it."
"It’s clear Vikram hasn’t mistreated you all."
"Hehe, does Vikram moisturize you guys very often?"
With that, Radhika and Geetanjali looked at Vikram, who was standing idly by, and gave him a knowing, mischievous smile.
Vikram, being thick-skinned, didn’t mind, but his women immediately blushed crimson.
After giving them a playful glare, they quickly changed the subject.
Although they still had a lot to say, they remembered the main purpose of their visit today.
"Oh right, Radhika, how much gasoline and diesel did you bring for trade this time?"
"We prepared a lot of food for trade this time. If you take it all, it’ll definitely be enough for you to eat for several months."
No sooner had Anjali finished speaking than Radhika and Geetanjali stopped their giggling, a serious expression appearing on their faces.
Then they began to move large cans out of their bags.
They were all huge industrial oil drums painted blue.
Vikram’s gaze swept over them; just one of these drums could hold 200 liters of gasoline.
After a brief wait, fifteen identical large oil drums landed on the ground.
From the loud thud they made when they hit the ground, he knew they must all be full of oil.
"Hmph hmph, Big Shot, we knew you wouldn’t be short on food, so we brought 3000 liters of fuel all at once."
"Of that, 2500 liters are gasoline, and a little less, 500 liters, are diesel."
"How about that? We didn’t disappoint Vikram, did we?"
Vikram finally straightened up at her words.
He had thought they might have some fuel in stock, but he hadn’t expected to be able to trade for so much.
He didn’t think the two women would be foolish enough to trade all the oil they had, which meant there was still plenty of fuel in their shelter.
"Why couldn’t I find a gas station?" Muttering to himself in annoyance, Vikram snapped back to attention.
"Stop calling me Big Shot. After working so long in the Wasteland, I haven’t even seen a single oil tanker."
"If I were really a Big Shot, I wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble looking for fuel everywhere."
Vikram rubbed his nose, saying with a self-deprecating laugh.
The two women, Radhika, gave an awkward smile. Vikram’s modesty didn’t mean they actually took it seriously.
The new resource points had only appeared a little over a month ago, and finding so many different types of resource points at once was no easy feat.
Any Survivor who could trade a large amount of food would have considerable strength.
The priority now was to set a good price and leave a reliable impression on the other party; that was the most important thing.
"Big Shot is just too modest. Our Shelter has gasoline, but nowhere to trade it for food with others."
"If Big Shot hadn’t been willing to trade with us, we might have starved in the Shelter in a few weeks."
Geetanjali chuckled softly, then exchanged a glance with Radhika before continuing, "Big Shot, I won’t waste any more of your time with idle talk."
"Without distinguishing between gasoline and diesel, we’ll sell all these fuels to you at a price of 1.5 kg of food per 10 liters. What do you think, Big Shot?"
The two women looked at Vikram with some trepidation, trying to read his expression.
To be honest, this price was already very fair, and there was practically no room for negotiation.
However, they didn’t know Vikram’s character and weren’t sure if he would try to cut the price further.
In that case, even if it meant a loss, this first transaction was crucial for the relationship between the two parties, and they would just have to swallow it.
"Alright, let’s do as you said."
To their surprise, Vikram barely hesitated, simply glancing at the oil drums and nodding slightly.
The two women breathed a sigh of relief, exchanging another look, both reading a hint of joy in the other’s eyes.
Not only had this transaction successfully secured a pile of food, but they had also connected with such a Big Shot.
While Vikram might not necessarily help them with major issues in the future, a small matter should still be no problem.
"Then... a pleasant cooperation?" A smile was irrepressible on Radhika’s face as she extended her hand towards Vikram.
Vikram also extended his hand in a loose grip, initially out of politeness, but during the handshake, a very brief tickle in his palm made him raise an eyebrow slightly.
His gaze shifted to Radhika, but by then she had already discreetly released his hand, with no unusual expression on her face.
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