50. narrowly escaped assassination

Three days later, the "Conscience Supermarket" reopened, attracting more than twice as many people as last time.

Upon inquiring, I learned that many people had taken advantage of the time when others were surrounding the RVs to secretly go and dig for crystal cores from the zombies.

Indeed, opportunity always favors the prepared.

This time, no one came to cause trouble, after all, even the "Explosive Witch" who struck fear into the hearts of those in the no-man's-land had fallen into their hands.

Of course, there were still a few eyes watching from the shadows, and Shi Dong silently memorized those faces.

They could certainly unleash a massive attack and kill everyone, but then who would trade with them? People are an important resource.

When it was time to close up shop, no matter how many people were still queuing outside, Fu Yunong and the others started packing up on time.

A man who was fairly well-groomed became unhappy and stepped forward, yelling, "What do you mean? I waited in the cold for ages to get here, and you just close down like that? Are you deliberately targeting me?!"

Fu Yunong pointed to the sign next to her, too lazy to explain to him.

The man, his neck stiff, shouted, "I don't care, you have to change it today, or you'll see!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shi Dong conjured a ball of lightning in his palm and slammed it down. Everyone only saw a flash of white light before their eyes, followed by a loud "boom," and the man was instantly blasted into pieces.

Shi Dong clapped his hands. "Alright, we don't need to wait anymore."

Establishing authority appropriately is still necessary.

The survivors looked at each other in bewilderment. They reacted quickly and began sifting through the debris to find the crystal cores. The others followed suit, scattering dust everywhere.

By the time they looked up, the RV door was already tightly closed.

"Hey, come earlier tomorrow!"

Since then, many survivors have set up tents near the RVs in order to get to the front row, which can be considered as keeping watch for them in a roundabout way.

That evening, Fu Yunong took stock of the day's gains. Although it couldn't compare to the trade with the base, it wasn't a small amount either.

After deducting the system's costs, she allocated the points to the other four people's sub-accounts according to the agreed-upon profit-sharing ratio.

The group looked at their balances and even discussed it quietly before going to bed, saying it was a good start!

The next day, when the doors opened, several neat rows of cars were already lined up in front of the RVs.

The survivors also got smarter; some would pool their resources to buy supplies, which allowed them to exchange for more goods and improve efficiency.

Fu Yunong was happy to see this happen. He waved aside those who hesitated and changed their minds repeatedly; and when he encountered those with bad attitudes, he beat them up and chased them away, taking their crystal cores with him.

Two or three days passed like this, and the quality of the people coming to trade improved significantly.

Of course, there are also truly tragic cases.

For the past few days, there has been a woman holding a child lingering outside the queue, neither speaking nor moving forward.

Before closing the door, Xiao Linfang couldn't bear it any longer and went over to ask her what was going on.

The woman, her eyes red, said that her husband died at the beginning of the disaster. She had been living with her family, but they lacked food and clothing, and her relatives died one by one. Now her child has a fever, and she herself is weak, so she can only sell her body to earn a little food every day.

“I used to be a teacher, I never thought I would end up like this…” Her voice choked with emotion, unable to hide her shame.

In the apocalypse, it's already incredibly difficult to keep a child alive. Xiao Linfang's heart softened, and she comforted her for a few moments before taking a small bag of rice and a few cold pills from the car and handing them over.

The woman thanked them profusely and limped back home, carrying her child. But she hadn't gone far when she was surrounded by several roaming men. With a scream, the rice and medicine were snatched away, and she and her child collapsed in a pool of blood.

Xiao Linfang froze on the spot, and Huangfu Jinrang quickly pulled her back into the car.

During the meal, Xiao Linfang was still in a daze. Fu Yunong and Shi Dong exchanged a glance and said softly, "Sister Lin, that's how the world is. Our abilities are limited, so don't worry too much. You've already done very well."

Xiao Linfang asked in a low voice, "Did I do something wrong?"

Fu Yunong sighed softly and remained silent.

The next day when the door opened, there was not only a queue in front of the RV, but also more than a dozen begging women, crying and telling their miserable stories, making a mess of the order.

Looking at them, Xiao Linfang felt even worse, thinking it was all her fault.

Seeing this, Fu Yunong lost all interest and was about to close the door when her gaze suddenly fell on one of Lu Zhan's subordinates in the group. She immediately waved to him.

The man thought they were going to settle scores with him, and he turned pale with fright. He turned and ran, but he was pinned to the ground by a large hand after only a few steps.

Hua Hua bit his trouser leg and dragged the desperate man to the front of the RV.

"Grandma, spare me! I'll never do it again!" Without saying a word, the man knelt down and kept kowtowing.

"Who said I wanted to kill you?" Fu Yunong said, both amused and exasperated. "I'm asking you, how did you survive before?"

The man answered honestly, "We follow the boss to collect protection money and maintain order here... We may not be good people, but we are all men of our word."

He paused, then quickly added, "We will definitely mend our ways!"

"No need to change it." Fu Yunong waved her hand.

"Huh?" The man was stunned.

"What are you here to exchange?" Fu Yunong asked again.

"Our leader hasn't recovered since he was injured, so the brothers have pooled together some crystal cores to exchange for some medicine."

Fu Yunong understood, "Bring him here, we'll treat him."

"Really? Really?" The man couldn't believe it. After receiving an affirmative answer, he took off running towards the house.

Before long, Lu Zhan was carried over on a stretcher by his men. The whip marks on his back were swollen, and he had a high fever; his injuries were more serious than they had imagined.

"Sister Lin, it's up to you." Fu Yunong winked at Xiao Linfang.

Xiao Linfang immediately stepped forward, her palm glowing green, and transferred her healing power to Lu Zhan.

A short while later, Lu Zhan opened his eyes. His back pain was gone, and his fever had subsided.

He rolled out of bed, jumped a couple of times, and bowed to Fu Yunong and the others, "Thank you so much for saving my life, ladies! If you ever need anything in the future, just let me know, and I, Lu Zhan, will never hesitate!"

Huangfu Jinrang couldn't help but laugh out loud. This person's brain isn't working properly. Has he forgotten who gave him his injury?

Fu Yunong suppressed a laugh, "No need, just maintain order here as before, that's also helping us out."

Lu Zhan scratched his head. They were short-handed. They had to maintain order and go out to mine crystal cores, so they couldn't manage it all.

“You can recruit soldiers,” Fu Yunong reminded him. “I see your team is all men?”

Lu Zhan chuckled, about to say "men are stronger," but glancing at the women in front of him, he quickly swallowed his words.

“We can hire anyone who is suitable, regardless of gender,” Fu Yunong added. “As long as you maintain order, I will pay you a salary every month.”

Lu Zhan's eyes widened in surprise. "There's such a good thing?" Without saying much more, he cupped his hands in greeting and turned to get busy.

The next morning, when the group opened the car door, they found that there were more than a dozen people maintaining order around the RV. It was Lu Zhan who had sent them. Anyone who dared to loot supplies would be immediately driven back by them.

As for him, Fu Yunong casually asked, and he said that he had taken people out to find crystal cores.

A few days later, Lu Zhan returned with his newly formed "hunting team," exchanging the crystal cores he had found for a considerable amount of supplies.

Seeing the lawless zone regain its order, Fu Yunong and the others felt that land warfare wasn't as reckless as they had imagined.

Just as the transaction was proceeding smoothly, Hua Hua, who was sleeping on the side, suddenly pricked up her ears, jumped up, and pounced in one direction!

"ah!!!"

After a series of shrill screams, a young man appeared out of nowhere without warning. He was being rubbed to the ground by Hua Hua, and he was holding a sharp knife in his hand. Just as he was about to stab Hua Hua, Lin Songsong reacted quickly, raised her hand and sucked the knife into her hand with a "whoosh".

Hua Hua bared her fangs and bit down hard on the man's leg, dragging him toward the RV. Survivors along the way were terrified and gave way.

"What kind of superpower is this?" Fu Yunong asked Shi Dong.

Shi Dong stared at the man, her tone certain, “Invisibility ability, level one. He doesn’t seem very skilled yet; he couldn’t conceal his aura.”

Xiao Linfang took the knife from Lin Songsong, sniffed it carefully, and her expression changed. "This knife is highly poisonous. It will be troublesome if you get it on your skin."

Fu Yunong's face also darkened, and she instructed, "Huahua, keep an eye on him, and deal with him after we close up shop."

After closing up shop, the group immediately began interrogating the suspects.

The man gasped in pain and confessed everything after only a few questions. He said he was sent by the Cheetah Base and that their boss had promised to marry his daughter to him if he could kill a few of them.

"Cheetah Base?" Fu Yunong and the others exchanged glances and shook their heads; they had never heard of it.

Suddenly, Xiao Linfang and Huangfu Jinrang's expressions changed simultaneously, and they said in unison, "I know!"

They never hesitated to retaliate against anyone who dared threaten their lives. Lin Songsong returned the dagger to the man, but accidentally lost her grip, and the dagger pierced his head with a soft thud.

Shi Dong looked at his corpse with some regret, "This is the first time I've ever seen someone with invisibility abilities."

After the matter was settled, Xiao Linfang continued, "Sun Hui said that Tang Lan was secretly harmed by this Cheetah Base."

Huangfu Jinrang chimed in, "That's right! And the Cheetah Base isn't far from here."

Fu Yunong nodded and made the "Cheetah Base" a memory.

Their "conscientious marketplace" was originally a place where they sold things as they went. They had planned to stay here for a few more days before moving on to the next location, but now it seemed that they could stop by that so-called place when they passed by.

However, for now, we still need to be careful and take precautions.

Fu Yunong patted Hua Hua's head and specially bought a huge sea fish from the system as a reward for it. Hua Hua, holding the fish in its mouth, happily ran to the side and started munching on it.

The next few days passed peacefully, and the ground forces maintained order very well.

But early that morning, as soon as the group opened the RV door, a fleet of SUVs, at least a dozen in total, drove up from a distance.

What's going on? Here we go again?