As the host announced the starting price, the thunderous applause instantly fell silent.
The entire auction hall was completely silent.
The starting price of 5,000 crystal cores is not cheap, and even if a small base pools all its resources, it may not be able to gather 5,000 crystal cores.
Even for several large bases, this number isn't something you can just take away casually.
As the external environment becomes increasingly harsh, obtaining crystal cores has become significantly more difficult than in the early stages of the apocalypse.
Back then, all you needed was a kitchen knife and a wooden stick to kill dozens or even hundreds of crystal cores; now, you have to rely on team battles to get them.
The scarcity of crystal cores further limits the improvement of ability levels, and the era of universal level-up is over. At present, the only way to improve ability levels is to spend a lot of money or have a well-established team.
However, scarcity drives up value, and Blue Ocean Base is only selling five to the public, with no one knowing when the next restock will be available...
The mutation rate of zombies is currently extremely fast, and the slightest carelessness could lead to tragedy.
The person died before all the money was spent.
Just as everyone was struggling with their decision, the host on stage added fuel to the fire, saying, "The raw materials and manufacturing process of the zombie virus inhibitor are extremely complex. Even with the entire resources of the Blue Ocean Base, we only have five of them. If we miss this auction, it will take at least several months to produce the next batch of finished products."
As soon as she finished speaking, an impatient base immediately made an offer.
"Ten thousand per tube, fifty thousand for all of them, we'll take them all!"
Those raising their hands are from the large raptor base in the western region.
Upon seeing the bid from the Raptor Base, Zhao Mujia couldn't sit still any longer and immediately raised his hand, "Fifteen thousand! Fifteen thousand! Our Lingfeng Base will bid fifteen thousand!"
When Zhang Xiaojuan heard him make his offer, she couldn't help but hook her elbow around his neck and say, "Little brother, are you stupid and rich?"
“My dad goes fishing every day without a care in the world, and we can’t stop him. This is all the money I have left. I’m buying it to keep him safe.” Zhao Mujia said with a pained expression as she took out all her belongings and weighed them in her hands.
If the price is any higher, he'll have to borrow nude loans from Sister Lu. He doesn't even know if Sister Lu likes a 185cm tall, dark-skinned, innocent-looking male college student.
Zhang Xiaojuan rolled her eyes. "Are you stupid??? If Sister Lu doesn't have it, do you think anyone else could?"
"If this were before the apocalypse, you'd be swindled out of every last bit of your tea seeds by telecom fraud gangs."
Zhao Mujia was stunned for a moment, then realized and said, "Brother, you're right, I was careless!"
While everyone in the venue was focused on the bidding for the zombie virus inhibitor, only Lu Sheng and the others noticed that the girl who had just been injected with the inhibitor had been dragged backstage by several staff members from the Blue Ocean Base.
Lu Sheng frowned slightly and quietly left the auction venue.
Patrol personnel from the Blue Ocean Base were stationed every few steps along the corridor, making the security level extremely strict.
To avoid any unforeseen complications, Lu Sheng found a blind spot and disappeared, quickly heading towards the backstage area of the auction.
I had only taken a few steps when I saw the staff member from before pinning a girl covered in blood, who looked like a blood gourd, to the ground.
The girl was incredibly strong; it took three or four adult men, their faces red and necks bulging, to barely restrain her. The moment one of them relaxed his grip slightly and wiped his sweat, the girl broke free and dashed away.
Seeing that the girl was about to break free, a slightly older male staff member immediately rushed over and hugged her.
"Awooo!"
The girl let out a wild howl and bit him on the face.
Thick, dark reddish-brown blood seeped from the girl's gums, quickly staining the man's cheeks and shoulders red.
"Holy crap, let go!"
The man let out a scream and hurriedly pushed the girl away.
Upon seeing this, the people around immediately rushed over and restrained the girl again, binding her tightly with two thick hemp ropes.
Lu Sheng quietly observed the girl who had fallen into madness from the shadows.
It's the little girl who just received an inhibitor.
Unlike her blank and dazed state on the auction stage just now, she now resembled a wild beast brimming with power and danger.
It takes four or five adult men to barely subdue such a small body.
It took those people a lot of effort to tie the girl up, stuff her back into the iron cage, and then they grabbed a rag and stuffed it into her mouth before hurriedly carrying the cage away.
Lu Sheng followed the group with suspicion.
If the zombie suppressant is effective, there's no reason to keep the girl locked in the cage.
Several people carried the cage to an empty room that resembled a laboratory. Just as they put the cage down, a heart-wrenching scream came from the room.
Lu Sheng quietly approached the door and saw the man who had just been bitten by the girl curled up on the ground in pain, his hands trembling like leaves, and large beads of sweat dripping from his forehead onto the floor.
"Damn it, is he going to turn into a zombie?"
A staff member next to him pointed a gun at the man's head and asked him a question while cursing.
The man curled up on the ground was ashen-faced, and the veins all over his body were bulging like earthworms. He was clearly undergoing the process of zombification!
Lu Sheng is now certain that the Blue Ocean Base has no zombie virus inhibitors at all!
But this medicine can indeed delay the time it takes for the corpse to turn into a zombie.
Normally, being bitten would quickly lead to infection and turning one into a zombie within minutes, but these two people did not immediately turn into zombies after being bitten.
Although they still retain a human appearance, the zombie virus has been integrated into their blood, and those bitten by them will still be infected.
"What should we do with these two? Should we kill them?"
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