"Exactly! We're here to join the base, not to do business. Why should we pay a deposit?!"
Besides the chorus of complaints and objections, some people in the queue gave up resisting and directly asked about the price of the deposit.
The woman in pink said sternly, “Each person will receive 300 high-grade crystal cores, with the number of children halved. After you pay the deposit, you will be given a card with a deposit rebate of 30 crystal cores. You will need to use the card to access public facilities and supplies in the base in the future, so please remember to top it up.”
Zhang Xiaojuan was stunned when she heard the price. "Sister! Did you accidentally add an extra zero? 300 high-grade crystal cores?? You can't rob a bank faster than that!"
The remaining people in the queue were also in an uproar, expressing their disapproval of the price.
High-level crystal cores only drop from killing zombies of level 5 or higher, making them difficult to obtain and relatively scarce. While those who have survived to this day are exceptional individuals, even for an ordinary level 6 ability user, acquiring three hundred crystal cores is no easy feat.
While other bases also charge an entrance fee, most only charge a small amount of crystal cores as a handling fee; I've never seen any base dare to ask for an exorbitant amount.
The woman in pink slammed her hand on the table impatiently and snapped, "Developing a vaccine for the zombie virus is incredibly expensive, and each dose is extremely precious. What if you get vaccinated and run away without a proper deposit? The base needs to survive too. I won't force you to pay if you don't want to, but you'll have to figure it out yourselves!"
After saying that, she plopped down in the chair and crossed her legs.
"If we don't hand it over, they're treating us like suckers! 300 high-grade crystal cores aren't even worth 300 of them if you sold me!"
"That's right! The government used to provide vaccines for free, so why should we have to pay for them now!"
A few people in the group decided not to pay, but soon a traitor emerged from the group.
The allure of the vaccine was too great, and someone in the queue immediately pulled out all the crystal cores on their body, managing to gather 300 high-level crystal cores, which they immediately sent to the window.
Once you have the first one, you'll have the second; everyone's afraid that if they're even a second late, they'll miss their chance.
Soon the line lost its order, and a group of people, holding crystal cores in both hands, crowded around the window, scrambling to put them inside.
The group that had just been inciting others not to hand over crystal cores were now dumbfounded and pleaded helplessly, "What can we do if we don't have any crystal cores? Can you make an exception for us?"
The woman in pink crossed her legs, glanced at the group with the whites of her eyes, and slowly pulled out a stack of crudely made identity cards. "If you don't have enough money, work. The base provides jobs. Come back to register when you've earned enough money."
"Does paying the money guarantee I'll get the vaccine?" Amidst the chaos, Lu Sheng asked casually.
The previously noisy crowd immediately fell silent, all turning their attention to the woman in pink.
The woman's face stiffened, and she mumbled an evasive reply, "You can get in line after paying, but when you can actually get a turn depends on the base's shipping speed. Hey, are you going to do it or not? If not, hurry up and leave. There are plenty of people who are willing to pay!"
"Tch, isn't this just a big scam? They're asking for a huge sum of money before anything's even started," Sun Tiantian couldn't help but mutter under her breath.
Lu Sheng made a shushing gesture with his lips, then turned around and handed over a bag full of intermediate-level crystal cores without hesitation.
If they want to investigate the truth about the zombie virus vaccine, they'll have to willingly pay this money.
Even though they've taken the money, whether they can keep it depends on their abilities!
If she wanted, the deep space base would be like a bank where you could deposit small amounts and withdraw them all. No matter how many crystal cores she took, she would have to return them many times over when she left!
After handing over the crystal core and completing the naturalization procedures, Lu Sheng and his group quickly obtained a pass that allowed them to travel freely within the base.
Lu Sheng handed out the student cards to the remaining people. Suddenly, Sun Tiantian and Han Rui ran over mysteriously, "We found out! No wonder the Deep Space Base was able to develop a zombie virus vaccine. It turns out there's an incredibly powerful prophetic big brother in the base!"
"Prophecy?" Lu Sheng's expression shifted slightly.
"Yes! Isn't that amazing? They said that this prophetic ability user predicted the arrival of eternal night two months ago, which is why the deep space base strengthened the installation of power supply equipment, resulting in the current brightly lit environment!" Han Rui excitedly shared the juicy information she had gathered.
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