Holding Their Own Space, the Family Returns to the Apocalypse

139: Trading CenterAi Yue was cornered by Devil Frogs and couldn’t escape. In a fit of exasperation, she hid in her space, planning to stay for a month to recover from the exhaustion the Devil Frogs had caused her recently.

Ai Yue completely relaxed in her space, spending her days in the villa snacking and watching shows. When she got bored, she would go out to the black fertile land to plant things.

Ever since the black fertile land appeared in her space, the space had been divided into two worlds. The area with the black fertile land had the flow of time, while the other areas remained as before, with no time flow and everything in a static state.

The time flow in the black fertile land was consistent with the outside world. Ai Yue divided the 230 square meters of land into two parts: one for planting traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, and the other for watermelons and strawberries.

She wanted to test if anything could grow in the black fertile land.

Ai Yue had no farming experience. She spent three days consulting books and material to plant, barely managing to complete her goal.

After planting, Ai Yue stood by the field with her hands on her hips, a sense of pride welling up inside her. This land was all planted by her, and although it looked crooked and uneven, it was still the fruit of her labor.

During her time in the space, Ai Yue often researched the Dragon Pendant that hung spinning in the air.

She tried every method, even applying her blood to it, but frustratingly, there was no reaction, nor did she get any useful information.

Ai Yue even thought about trying to grab it and eat it. She wondered if Little Green could use it because it had eaten it.

Ai Yue grew more and more bored in the space. She reorganized all her hoarded supplies again until, after a month, she couldn’t stand being in the space any longer and decided to return to the outside world.

Ai Yue emerged from the space and found her surroundings eerily quiet, with no Devil Frogs or people.

Fearing that the Devil Frogs might discover her again, she quietly made her escape.

At this point, she didn’t know where the Devil Frogs had chased her. She could only pick a direction and continue walking, hoping to find a city and determine her location.

She walked and walked, not knowing for how long, and during this time, she didn’t encounter any more Devil Frogs.

Ai Yue was puzzled. According to the previous pattern, she would be discovered by Devil Frogs shortly after appearing and then be chased.

Why had so much time passed this time, and no Devil Frogs had appeared to attack her?

Could it be that whatever attracted the Devil Frogs to her had disappeared?

Ai Yue didn’t dare to be careless, proceeding cautiously along the way. Later, she discovered a group of about ten Devil Frogs, and to her delight, they didn’t go crazy or have red eyes when they saw her; they just attacked normally.

Only then did she confirm that there was truly nothing on her that would drive them mad anymore.

Ai Yue was genuinely happy; she finally didn’t have to live a life of arduous escape.

However, she noticed that more and more people were appearing along the way, and everyone was heading in the same direction.

Ai Yue was a bit confused, so she stopped someone to ask.

”Don’t you know? Half a month ago, the Songzhou Safety Tower established a Trading Center. It has everything you could want. And people from all over the country can go to the trading venue opened by that Safety Tower to trade.”

The person stopped wasn’t annoyed and happily answered Ai Yue’s questions.

”Trading Center? You can exchange for anything?” Ai Yue asked, disbelievingly.

”Yes, even high-tech products from before the Apocalypse can be traded.” The man then lowered his voice and excitedly said, ”Even the energy stone that the Yingjin Safety Tower used to create Superpower users is there!”

”To be honest, that’s what I’m heading for. Look at those people.” He pointed to the people hurrying ahead and said, ”Those people, they’re all heading for the energy stone that can give people Superpowers.”

”Oh, and I heard that at the Trading Center, there will be several people from the Yingjin Safety Tower demonstrating their Superpowers. They can emit fire from their bodies...” The passerby grew more and more excited as he spoke, finally gesticulating wildly as he described it... Ai Yue repeatedly thanked him and kept her distance. The man still looked regretful, clearly not having talked enough.

Ai Yue secretly complained. Why would he go trade for energy stones? He could survive perfectly well just by talking; he was so verbose, it was like he was about to narrate an entire TV series.

However, the man’s words greatly piqued Ai Yue’s interest.

She decided to go to the Trading Center herself to see if it really had everything.

She followed the crowd, walking for about five hours, and finally reached the Songzhou Safety Tower. The Trading Center they were heading to was next to the Songzhou Safety Tower, in a separately opened area.

At this moment, that area had three entrances, and each entrance was guarded by a row of heavily armed people.

Long queues had already formed at the entrances.

Inside, many people were already eagerly discussing trades, just like a night market before the Apocalypse, full of life.

Just as Ai Yue was about to join the queue to experience it, she heard someone shout loudly at an adjacent entrance, ”What are you doing! Why can’t I go in? Get out of my way, you shameless bastards, why are you blocking me!”

With that, the person tried to force their way in without queuing. The response was the merciless shooting by the heavily armed soldiers.

The man’s face was filled with disbelief; he couldn’t believe he had died just like that. His eyes wide, he wanted to open his mouth to say something in indignation but ultimately said nothing, just lying stiffly on the ground, unable to rest in peace.

At this moment, two people wearing masks and clothes similar to waders ran out of the Trading Center, swiftly dragging the man away. Even the blood on the ground was wiped clean.

It was as if a hallucination had just occurred, and no incident of trouble or death had happened.

Soon, normal order was restored at the entrance, and everyone who witnessed the scene became obedient.

No one dared to ask another question, fearing that a wrong word would lead to their merciless execution.

Having survived so long in the Apocalypse, they didn’t want to die easily.

Ai Yue joined the back of the queue. The entire line moved quickly, and it was her turn in no time.

The two staff members at the entrance gestured for Ai Yue to raise her left hand, then took a flashlight-like object and shone it on the back of her hand, where a circle of blue roses appeared.

The staff member calmly instructed, ”When you see the flowers wither, you must come out immediately. If you linger for too long, you will be shot!”

”If you want to set up a stall, find the staff at the workbench inside to re-register!”

Ai Yue nodded, noted his words, and walked in.

The area inside was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. Shops lined both sides, and in the wide central road were people setting up stalls wherever they pleased. The roses on their hands were red, flamboyant and striking.

Ai Yue casually squatted down at a stall.