Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”Do you remember? There was a piece of Protective Clothing before that cost eight hundred points.”

”How many Zombie Crystal Cores would it take to get eight hundred points?”

The Little Spider crawled to her side and said honestly, ”Over a year ago, at the very beginning, a First-tier Zombie could be exchanged for one hundred points.”

”But over time, the Mall’s points system has also been gradually changing and improving.”

”Now, a Second-stage Zombie is only worth one point. A Third Rank is three points, a Fourth Rank is five points, a Fifth Rank is ten points, and a Sixth Rank is twenty points.”

”Whoa, they’ve gotten stingy,” Xie Ning teased with a smile. ”Things were better over a year ago. The sooner you unlocked this system mall of yours, the more you could enjoy it!”

”Mhm. Actually, we also have a hidden VIP system.”

Xie Ning’s dark eyes glanced over at it.

”Master Ningning, don’t worry. I’ve already secretly activated your Supreme VIP status for you.”

Xie Ning almost burst out laughing. She reached out and affectionately petted the Little Spider’s dog-like head. ”Future, you’re going to be my best partner, my best sidekick! You’re the best.”

”Your identity information has also been hidden. Master, please give your shop a name.”

”Let me browse this mall area first. Why do you think it’s changed so much?”

Xie Ning glanced at the price. The half-hour attack-buff potion she had just clicked on was priced at ten points.

”That’s not cheap.” Although the point cost didn’t seem high, this tiny little bottle of buff potion required one Fifth Rank Zombie Crystal Core.

’What a rip-off!’

Of course, for an ordinary person, it might be considered an extremely precious resource.

Xie Ning flipped to the second page, then the third. ”The product section seems a bit more extensive than before?”

The Little Spider replied proudly, ”Of course, Master Ningning. Ever since I secretly activated your Supreme VIP status, the interface you’re browsing is the most high-end product section.”

Xie Ning had a sudden realization. ”You mean the lower-level mall areas don’t show this many products?”

”Of course. Before, it took five hundred points to unlock the Second-level Mall. Now, it probably takes twenty points to unlock the second level.”

”Wait, let me ask a question. So now they don’t accept ordinary ones, like those Zero-rank zombies?”

”Mhm, of course. The energy in that kind of Zombie Crystal Core is almost zero, so the system won’t accept them.”

Xie Ning nodded thoughtfully. ”So the higher-level the Zombie Crystal Core, the more it helps your X Realm’s system.”

’So in the VIP section of the mall, there are some very good products that have to be exchanged directly for Fifth and Sixth Rank Zombie Crystal Cores; you can’t buy them with points.’

Xie Ning looked at the dazzling mall.

Flipping to the daily necessities and vegetables section, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

”There are almost no vegetables.”

”Mhm, that’s a given. The environment in the X Realm is thousands, even tens of thousands of times worse than Earth’s. People in the X Realm usually just absorb Nutrient Liquid. They basically have no vegetables or agricultural products.”

Daily necessities were also in short supply. Things like napkins were out of the question.

Wood was also extremely scarce in the X Realm. ’Just imagine, what kind of green plants could grow in a giant biochemical landfill?’

Xie Ning couldn’t help but laugh as she scrolled through the lackluster daily necessities and food sections.

Her finger tapped open the translucent blue light screen hanging in mid-air, pointing at the fine print description of a product. ”Feces Processor: Can separate and process the feces of mutated creatures, birds, humans, etc., into a refined Nutrient Liquid...”

The price: two Seventh Rank Zombie Crystal Cores. A search of the entire mall revealed it was the only such machine available.

Its function: consuming this type of Nutrient Liquid can sustain your body’s functions for a day, eliminating the feeling of hunger.

”That doesn’t mean what I think it means, does it?” Xie Ning’s eyes widened. ”The people of the X Realm... don’t tell me everything they eat is Nutrient Liquid processed from feces.”

Little Spider: ...

”No, that’s the lowest-end type of Nutrient Liquid, with basically no nutritional value to speak of. The Nutrient Liquid refined in the X Realm is something that can supplement the human body with nutrients. It doesn’t just eliminate hunger, it can also enhance bodily functions and things like that.”

”Then what kind of biochemical waste is it refined from??” Xie Ning asked in astonishment.

’Unimaginable!’

’Oh! It seems I overestimated the X Realm.’

’I originally thought that since the X Realm made all of humanity bind these bracelets, they would surely offer some particularly attractive food and daily necessities.’

’But now it seems that, aside from the buff potions, the other items—especially the food—hold no appeal whatsoever for the inhabitants of Earth!’

’Except for perverts...’

After browsing through the products for sale in the mall, Xie Ning had a good idea of the situation.

’I feel like my soon-to-open business is already a sure thing!’

”They’ll release some small tech products later on. Those should still be somewhat attractive to everyone.”

Xie Ning nodded slightly. ”I didn’t see any weapons or anything like that.”

”Mhm, the mall was just hastily launched after a redesign. They’ll definitely add more items slowly over time.”

The Little Spider was reminding its master not to let her guard down and assume the X Realm had nothing good to sell.

’They’ll be slowly stocking up later on!’

Xie Ning scrolled through the daily necessities section, staring at a temperature-controlled electronic toilet for a long time.

It could calculate your daily intake from your feces, determine if your nutrition was adequate, what substances your body still needed, etc. It would issue a daily analysis report, decompose the waste for you, automatically vacuum-clean your toilet, and let you pass every day with pleasure!

Xie Ning’s eyes curved into a smile. ”Your X Realm is really obsessed with feces!”

’Their research is so thorough!’

”This thing is pretty decent. Help me redeem it.”

Little Spider: ...

”And this, the self-heating, temperature-controlled, and self-cleaning lunchbox. Redeem a few of them.”

”Oh right, you just asked me what to name the shop, didn’t you? Let’s call it Crystal Core Duo Duo!”

”Let’s switch over and take a look. Can I list all the products at once? Or how does it work? You teach me, and I’ll handle it myself.”

”Oh, and the goods I upload to the Dimensional Warehouse—is there a chance your system will just swallow them up?”

”You’ll have to help me watch my stock day and night. I don’t want to end up not earning any Crystal Cores and instead get ripped off by your X Realm’s big system.”

The Little Spider felt lines forming on its head as, amidst Miss Xie Ning’s incessant chattering, it ”hacked” out some of the small, black-tech products she wanted.

It also switched the system mall page to the seller’s interface.

Master Ningning was still over there, asking questions like a curious baby. ”So what’s the principle behind this automatic cleaning? I’ve heard air washing doesn’t get things clean. Could it just be an ’idiot tax’?”

The Little Spider really wanted to snap at her: ’Did I ask you for money? Stop chattering on and on, just use it!’

However, reality forced the spider to bow its head.

A cheerful electronic voice chirped rapidly: ”Master Ningning, rest assured. If you’re not satisfied, we can just switch to another product. It’s all free, use whatever you like.”

”Would you like Future to help you upload the products with one click?”

Xie Ning shook her head, her expression impassive. ”I’ll do it myself.”