Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

While the four injured were sent to the medical bay for isolation and observation, the rest of the Taurus Mercantile Company began the careful unpacking of their heavily armored transport truck near the designated merchant plaza of New Genesis Shelter.

There were already a lot of people curious about the things they’ve brought here...

There were already a lot of sellers here, from Wandering Merchants, representatives of Neutral Shelters, and various Survivors or Scavengers themselves.

If the Taurus Mercantile Company were selling weapons, the people around would probably feel disappointed since the weapons sold in this shelter were already top quality.

If it were food, the quality must be better than the creations of the bakers and chefs that Shane had recruited. Potions or alchemy products were also acceptable as long as they were different variants from the ones being sold here at the moment.

If they’re selling Zombie Parts, it must be items looted from distant Zombies that weren’t present in Sector 20 since they already had plenty of those.

Survivors, engineers, and even a few sentries paused in their duties to get a glimpse of the new product that was about to enter the market.

***

At this time, Shane stood nearby as he was observing the group silently. A few moments ago, before the trucks were allowed to open, Rork had actually gifted Shane an item to get a smoother process for their entry.

Of course, Arial accepted it on behalf of Shane without any hesitation... It was also the payment for the injured people in his company, after all.

Rork, now in a lighter travel coat, oversaw the unloading.

The Taurus insignia, a stylized bull’s head over a rising sun, could be seen on each container they unsealed.

Rork approached Shane once again after giving instructions to his crew.

”Commander Shane, thank you again for granting us entry. We’ll do our best not to disappoint.”

Shane gave a slight nod. ”I saw what you gifted. It’s a portable barrier generator... high-quality work. I’m sure that you’ve already heard, but I’m giving you two vendor slots, not just one.”

Rork nodded as Arial had also notified him about this. ”We’re honored. Most shelters give us the boot once they hear what we’re selling.”

”Why’s that?”

”We don’t deal in food or meds. No guns. No armor. Most settlements see that and think we’re useless,” Rork said, motioning for one of his assistants to lift a long metal crate.

”But I’m sure you’re different. You recognized what really powers a growing shelter... energy.”

As the containers were opened, Shane saw rows of Compressed Methane Capsules...

They were all carefully contained by some kind of foam, and other than that, they had safety seals as well.... Rork then explained what kind of item it was since the curious people had begun inspecting them.

”These technologies are scavenged from an abandoned laboratory. We tap the methane directly from rotting biomass pits and compress it into capsules. Each one can power a portable generator for over twelve hours straight.”

This had immediately captured their interest, since they would have to attack shelters soon.

It didn’t end there. They could see that beside the methane containers were actually crates of Power Cores!

Everyone was familiar with it. Unlike the Methane Capsules, which were new to them, the Power Cores were common, and they had numerous things that needed them...

”They’re refurbished, stabilized, and insulated properly... Some cores sold by others can’t be trusted, but we do integrity tests ourselves... You can guarantee their quality.” Rork added as his second-in-command, a broad-shouldered woman named Tanith, explained to everyone.

”No one wants a core that explodes during a power surge. We can guarantee that the power cores that we have will function perfectly. We’re probably the only ones capable of repairing Power Cores with the special machine that we’ve obtained.”

This shocked everyone. After all, Power Cores were supposedly items that could only be looted or found. No one was able to create them or even repair them.

However, they were actually claiming that they were capable of repairing it...

”From what you said, you can only repair Power Cores and not create them?” One of the customers nearby asked.

”That’s still incredible even if it was.” Another added.

At this time, Tanith smiled. ”You’re right... We can’t make Power Cores yet. We only have one working machine capable of repairing and charging Power Cores. But who knows, maybe we can produce them someday if we can acquire the items that we need.” She said mysteriously...

Aside from these things, the others also noticed several pristine Barrier Generators from the other truck.

”They’re light...” Tanith said. ”Each has an eight-meter radius barrier. Powered by Methane Capsules or a Core. Set-up time is only two minutes. Great for squads venturing outside the shelter, or even to fortify a collapsing flank during a siege or a Zombie Wave defense... Just imagine how useful it is during such crucial moments.”

Many of them were interested.

”That... could save lives.”

”Interesting... This is the first mass-produced Barrier Generator.”

”That’s true...”

”Eclipse Domain is also selling, but only 5 of them are sold once a month or so.”

”Yes... They probably do not have enough for all their soldiers. That’s normal.”

”Do not worry about our supplies. We brought 50 Barrier Generators today!” Rork announced.

”Our philosophy is simple... If we can’t fight zombies head-on, we’ll power those who can.” After saying this, Tanith followed up.

”We may not be the best fighters, but we hope that we can help you all fight against the Zombies with these generators.”

Still, Shane was curious why they didn’t use the Barriers to protect themselves from being chased by the Zombies.

Thankfully, another person asked about this concern as well, so he didn’t have to ask.

”Ahem... We were able to use it just a bit too late. It takes a couple or so minutes to set up the barrier, but we were ambushed.” Rork explained with a helpless smile on his face.

Anyway, as they finished setting up their store, Rork slipped through the crowd and approached Shane with a sealed black case.

”One more thing, Commander... You might be interested in these...” He said while lifting the lid to reveal dozens of Recruitment Stones in front of him!

”We’re planning to sell these stones as well, but we can allow you to purchase them first.”