Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”For every one hundred kilograms of grain you collect—rice, flour, grains, or oil, no restrictions—you can exchange it for two hundred Contribution Points.”

Xie Ning silently glanced at him, then turned and led her younger siblings to the mission window to accept Mission Seven.

The three of them walked out of the bustling Survivor Center. Song Kexin said, full of conviction, ”That guy... I could tell just by looking at him that he must be getting a commission. That’s why he’s pushing Mission Six on everyone.”

”If he’s pushing it, it can’t be good,” Song Shijun nodded. ”There’s probably some catch to that mission. We just got here, so we shouldn’t get involved in that mess.”

Xie Ning glanced at her two siblings. ’They’re probably overthinking this!’

It was likely because of the food shortage in the base that the staff were so aggressively promoting missions related to gathering grain.

The trio continued walking for a short while before arriving at the entrance of the base’s shopping mall.

Looking up, they saw a three-story building. The paint and the floors were very new.

”Hey, wasn’t this mall... the tourist center before?”

”Yeah, it looks like they built the mall on top of the old tourist center,” Song Shijun nodded.

”Hey, you guys just got to the base, right? The stuff in this mall is super, super expensive—not worth it at all. If you want to buy and sell items, it’s much more convenient and cheaper at the trading market.”

”I can take you there! For two small crackers or half a steamed bun!” A small child, about the same age as Yueyue, had suddenly darted in front of them.

A pair of dark, shining eyes stared up at them, full of expectation.

His face was gaunt and thin, with high, protruding cheekbones.

Xie Ning nodded, her expression unchanging. She gave a curt, two-word reply: ”Lead the way.”

In truth, she already knew where the small goods trading market was.

After all, the Golden City Base was just starting out. The area inside and outside the old town wasn’t that big; you could find it just by wandering around a bit.

The trading market was actually the pre-apocalypse East and West Alley, a commercial area that used to sell all sorts of snacks, crafts, and figurines.

A spark of light ignited in the boy’s eyes. He quickly turned and started running, leading them behind the mall.

Several other, slightly older children, and even some elderly people, crowded around them, shouting, ”Miss, I can take you too! Just for a small piece of a steamed bun!”

Xie Ning tugged Song Kexin and Song Shijun, and the three of them quickly moved away from the encircling crowd.

”These old people and children...” Song Kexin sighed.

”The base authorities probably can’t manage all of them.”

”Miss Xu is here to give us water!”

”Miss Xu, Miss Xu, are you handing out congee today too?”

”Miss Xu is such a good person.”

After running a little further, Xie Ning couldn’t help but glance back.

Sure enough, she spotted a familiar figure.

It was the Holy Mother, Xu Yu. No wonder she’d felt a brilliant light shining down on her as she passed by.

It was the holy light of universal salvation...

In truth, Xie Ning didn’t dislike Holy Mother types.

On the contrary, with her own monstrously selfish personality, she even rather admired those Holy Mothers who were willing to give away all their rations to provide for the masses.

The only prerequisite was that the Holy Mother wasn’t her teammate.

Otherwise, she would very likely beat them to death and bury the body in some deep, deserted pit...

Xie Ning was more than willing to observe their actions with a look of admiration, or even adoration.

After all, when others could do something she couldn’t—without a second thought—that was greatness, glory, brilliance!

The problem was, Xu Yu was... a complicated case.

’Hopefully, in this life, the grain she’s using to hand out congee is her own private stash and won’t be a burden on her teammates.’

”We’re here! See those two alleys up ahead? That’s the trading area on both sides, left and right.”

”But the left alley mostly has clothes, hats, shoes, socks, and daily necessities.”

”The right alley is mainly for weapons and armor. Occasionally, a Wood Element Superpower User will sell some vegetables and fruits they’ve grown. But that stuff costs a fortune.”

Xie Ning nodded slightly.

”Thank you, little guy.” Song Kexin pulled the boy under a nearby shelter, took out a large white steamed bun and a bag of water from her satchel, threw them into a small plastic bag, and quickly stuffed it into the boy’s arms.

Stunned for a moment, the boy quickly hid the items inside his dirty, torn sweatshirt, his eyes turning slightly red. ”Thank you, big sister.”

”Hurry back now.” Song Kexin patted his head and watched as the boy darted off down a small alley and disappeared.

Xie Ning and Song Shijun headed into the alley that sold weapons. They saw people unceremoniously setting up stalls on the ground, one packed right next to the other, selling all sorts of things.

In the background were two rows of dilapidated shops with broken glass and missing doors.

No one bothered with the hassle of selling from inside the shops.

Everyone chose to set up their stalls on the ground, leaving only a narrow path, less than a meter wide, for pedestrians to pass through.

Song Shijun felt a slight urge to laugh. ”This little trading market is actually quite impressive.”

People habitually entered through the East and West Alley, circling along the wall to reach the perpendicular bluestone path.

There were stalls set up over there too, but they sold all sorts of miscellaneous junk, not like the more specialized goods in the East and West Alley.

Besides, probably because business was booming in the East and West Alley, the base had hauled over several large searchlights to illuminate the area.

The miscellaneous stalls on the perpendicular path didn’t get such good treatment. Away from the East and West Alley, it was pitch-black, and you could easily step on some stall owner’s hand if you weren’t careful...

”I told you we should have come earlier. Look at all these people. How are we supposed to squeeze in?” someone grumbled under their breath.

”I heard a big shot Wood Element user came to sell some bok choy yesterday.”

”At the slow pace you move, by the time you finally got here, everything would’ve been long gone!”

”I accepted Mission Eight. I’d better be able to hunt down a decent weapon today.”

”Is the mission location dangerous?”

People squeezed past the three siblings, coming and going, talking loudly. The air was thick with all kinds of smells.

The brother and sister sandwiched Xie Ning between them. The three were practically squashed into a pancake, their faces scrunched up in discomfort.

Xie Ning cleared her throat. ”Why don’t we come back when it’s less crowded?”

Xie Ning couldn’t take it anymore!

Song Shijun and Song Kexin nodded eagerly. Huddled around their older sister, the three of them wriggled like little worms, struggling to pull themselves out of the crowd!

”Whew.” Song Kexin let out a sigh of relief at the entrance.

’Holy crap, good thing they didn’t go in very far, or they might never have gotten out...’

”I heard that in a little while, the base is going to open a trading hall up front. It’ll specialize in buying Crystal Cores, mutated creature pelts, teeth, and stuff like that from private hunters.”

”They’ll also have some handmade equipment for sale.”

”Tch, it’ll just be ridiculously expensive. Who’ll be able to afford it? Look at the mall—it’s been open for so long, but how many people actually go there? Everyone still comes to the trading market.”

”Let’s go. We’ll head back for now.” Xie Ning took a fan from her bag and had a sudden idea. ”If Mom’s in a good mood, we could have her sell ice blocks here. Business would probably be great.”

”Song Kexin?” a hesitant voice called out from behind the three siblings.