In a small wooden shed, six people sat around a table, each holding a travel cup filled with some milky white liquid. There was a pot on the table with steaming white smoke coming out of it.
Fan Ming took a sip of the white soup in the bowl, tears welling up in his eyes: "It's been a long time since I last had something hot!"
The conditions in the mall were limited, and they could only eat compressed biscuits every day. He was almost addicted to those sweet and hard little bricks.
Ling Ning also sighed: "Pots's cooking skills are still good."
There were five grown men, but none of them could cook. In the end, they had to wait for the last member of the mercenary group, Potts, to come home and cook this pot of potato and bacon soup for everyone.
Potts smiled and said, "Just made some soup, very simple."
He was a fat man with a kind face. When he smiled, he looked like a white flour bun with many folds, full of kindness.
It is said that Potts was a cook before the end of the world, but he failed to evolve his superpowers. Now he is employed to cook for the camp, which can be regarded as continuing his old job.
One of the advantages of being a cook is that you can pick up some ingredients that no one wants to take back - the potatoes for today's soup were all brought back by Potts. Potatoes have become the most popular staple food in the post-apocalyptic world due to their high yield, wide adaptability and short growth cycle, so the employer turned a blind eye and let him take some away.
Eve listened to everyone's discussion, lowered her eyes, and gently stirred with a spoon. Neatly cut golden cubes floated in the sticky white milk soup, accompanied by light pink bacon and a little celery, which made people's mouths water.
Eve was stirring the soup slowly. Hongfeng noticed and said, "Drink it quickly, or it will get cold."
Eve said, "Okay."
But she still didn't rush to drink it. Instead, she turned her head to look at Fan Ming, who had already finished his third bowl and was holding the soup and praising it loudly. Eve blinked, then scooped up a spoonful of soup and brought it to her mouth.
Hongfeng smiled and said, "Delicious, right? Potts used to be a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant. We're lucky to be able to taste his cooking!"
"But the bacon also played a role," Potts laughed. "Thanks to the bacon the little girl brought, I haven't touched meat in three months!"
Eve swallowed the soup in her mouth and said, "There seem to be two more bacon strips on the cart. If you like them, I'll give them to you."
"How can this be so embarrassing?!" Hongfeng was shocked. "That's meat!"
In the apocalypse, meat has long become a scarce commodity. Not to mention ordinary dried meat, even expired and rotten meat has been snapped up by people, not to mention these two pieces of fresh dried bacon.
Eve didn't seem to care: "If you want to eat, you can find it again. It's too troublesome to carry it with you."
Hongfeng: “…”
...Yes, considering the girl's strength, she will never have to worry about having no meat to eat.
"Then I will respectfully obey your command," he put down the bowl and looked at Eve solemnly. "In return, if there's anything you need from me, please feel free to ask. As long as I can help, I will do my best!"
Eve's eyes moved.
"I do have something to trouble you with," she beckoned Qi to take the bowl from her before saying, "Can you tell me more about the mercenary mission?"
"Mercenary mission?" Hongfeng was stunned for a moment, then realized, "Are you talking about a bounty?"
Eve nodded.
Hongfeng scratched his head and said, "About this...actually, every place does it differently. Our camp has a lot of psychics, so someone set up a bounty hall where everyone can post their needs or make money."
He pulled out the zombie bounty poster: "I got this from there."
Eve listened carefully. "But didn't you say the camp was full of vagrants or free mercenaries? Why would the Queen Bee be issuing quests here?"
"There are some powerful characters among the free mercenaries," Hongfeng laughed. "And Queen Bee sometimes comes here to recruit people with special abilities. It's nothing strange."
"Is the Bounty Hall open every day?"
"Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, and they also need to rest on the weekends."
Seeing Eve staring at the poster thoughtfully, Ling Ning interrupted: "Do you want to take the mission too?"
"...Let's go check it out." After a long silence, Eve raised her light green eyes and said softly, "There are some things I want to confirm."
***
The next day, Eve and Qi left the shed early and headed towards the green field of the football field.
She planned to visit the Bounty Hall today, but before that she had to buy some necessary items.
In order to meet people's needs, an area was set aside in the camp for use as a trading market. Eve and Qi walked down the stairs and soon saw the trading market: a green area surrounded by plastic fences.
There were several simple tents set up in the trading market, selling all kinds of things. Eve walked around and found that canned dry food was the most popular, followed by medicine bottles, and then some basic daily necessities.
The trading method here is barter. As long as you negotiate with the stall owner, there is no limit on the types of items traded. For example, ten cans of luncheon meat can be exchanged for a box of antibiotics.
Eve ignored the dry food supplies and walked all the way to the last stall.
All the other stalls were bustling with activity, but this one was the quietest. Perhaps it had something to do with what the stall owner was selling—some barber scissors were placed messily on a plastic sheet, surrounded by a few wigs, with a circle of care liquid scattered around them, looking as listless as their owners.
These days it’s hard to even make a living, so who would buy some flashy hairdressing supplies?
"One can of food can be exchanged for half of the stall's goods. If it's canned meat, you can take it all away."
Seeing Eve stop by, the short stall owner raised his eyelids with a lack of interest and pointed at the hairdressing tools: "Actually, the hairdressing scissors are very sharp and can be used as weapons."
He was just talking casually, not expecting Eve to buy it, but unexpectedly, the young red-haired girl said, "A can in exchange for a pair of scissors."
The stall owner was stunned for three seconds before reacting: "What did you say?!"
"You're not going to exchange it?" Eve tilted her head and said, "But besides me, no one else would buy your stuff, right?"
"Change, change, change!" The stall owner, who had been lazily leaning against the pillar, straightened up. As if afraid Eve would regret it, he pressed a pair of scissors into her hand. "Here!"
But just before he could touch Eve, a big hand grabbed the stall owner's wrist.
The stall owner was stunned. The man who had been standing silently behind the girl had inserted himself between the two of them. He exerted a little force with his big hands, and his wrist bones made a clicking sound.
The stall owner was sweating from the pain: "Let go! What...what are you doing?!"
Eve: “…”
"Seven." She called softly. Seven glanced at her sideways and loosened his fingers, but still did not let the stall owner touch Eve. He took the scissors from his hand and carefully handed them to Eve with the tip of the blade facing backwards.
Eve touched a can: "Deal."
The stall owner was overjoyed and was about to take it, but he saw the scallion's fingers retract and the can slip back from his hand. He couldn't help but get anxious: "We agreed on one can, you want to go back on your word?!"
"Of course not," Eve said with a smile. "I just want to ask - if there is a chance to earn another can, would you like to continue doing this business?"
The stall owner was stunned.
Eve stood opposite him, her eyes curved into crescents, and smiled sweetly at the stall owner.
Her fingers gently slid across the edge of the can, and the small round can spun around and fell into the palm of her hand.
***
"I...I found out!"
Eve was cutting Qi's hair. In half an hour, she had cut off all the extra hair ends and successfully saved the handsome guy who was on the verge of becoming a mop-head.
The vendor rushed to her side and said, "I found out what you asked me to find out!"
He was about to speak when Eve raised a finger, signaling the vendor to be quiet. She concentrated on cutting off the last strand of Qi's hair and clapped her hands in satisfaction, "Alright."
"This..." the vendor asked in surprise, "Is this your...companion?"
Qi stood in front of the two people, lowered his head slightly, and the gazes of the two people on his face made him shrink back somewhat uncomfortably.
Eve had cut his messy long hair to shoulder length, and it fell down along the side of his face as smooth as black silk. His porcelain-white skin made the black of his hair seem even darker, and his facial features were so finely sculpted that he looked like a beautifully carved porcelain doll.
The vendor's eyes were almost glued to Qi, but actually he wanted to ask - did he change his head?
But it was no wonder that he had this question. Eve and Qi had hardly washed themselves since they escaped from the experimental base. Their bodies were so dirty that you could almost rub off the dirt. In addition, Qi often fought zombies, and layers of blood and dirt accumulated on his body, so his original skin color could no longer be seen.
Eve gave him a rough wash with an old cloth dampened with water, and changed him into a few sets of suitable clothes at the market, finally making Qi look like a human being.
She smiled and asked the vendor, "Do you also think he's a different person?"
The vendor nodded like pounding garlic.
Eve smiled slightly, a strange light flashing in her eyes. She gathered up the things spread out on the ground and said to the vendor, "What did you find out?"
The vendor then remembered his business and said in a serious tone, "I went to the bounty hall and saw the reward you mentioned."
Eve had said before that if he helped to investigate a bounty mission, she would give him another can of food - luncheon meat.
How could such a good thing actually exist in the world? The vendor agreed without a second thought.
Eve listened silently, her eyes darting around for some reason as she murmured, "Hmm?"
The vendor said, "That bounty was indeed issued by Queen Bee. They set up a stall in the bounty hall a few days ago. It seems there are quite a lot of tasks this time. I saw a lot of people queuing there, all of them are psychics..."
Eve interrupted him: "All for this mission?"
"That's not the case," the vendor shook his head. "Is it like we're going to some zombie town?"
Eve lost interest and said, "Forget about that nonsense—have you found out who issued this mission?"
Hearing this, the vendor stammered, "No..."
Seeing Eve narrow her eyes, he hurriedly said, "Wait! But I've narrowed it down!"
"Even though the Queen Bee won't announce who issued the mission, we can infer the rank of the mission," the vendor quickly unfolded the bounty poster. "A mission like this, with its generous nuclear crystals, isn't something an ordinary member can issue. It should be the Queen Bee branch cadres—no, the core cadres at headquarters—who have the authority to do it."
Eve: "So if we want to find this person, we have to go to Queen Bee's headquarters?"
The vendor looked at her speechlessly. "How can commoners like us just enter the headquarters? We have to become members of the headquarters first to be eligible to enter."
"How do I get in?"
"If your abilities are outstanding enough, you should be eligible for promotion," the vendor said. "But the selection process is held every month, and the next one is in two weeks."
Eve thought for a moment and pointed at the sea report: "It mentioned a headquarters promotion quota. Are there such rewards for other tasks?"
"Oh, that's one way," the vendor nodded. "Yes, but these kinds of missions are quite difficult. If you don't do it right, someone might die."
Eve pondered for a moment and put away the poster: "I understand, thank you."
She threw two cans at the vendor. "That's all I need to know. I'll give you an extra can. Please don't mention this to anyone else."
The vendor happily took it and made an OK gesture: "I understand."
He got three cans without any effort, and his tone to Eve became more polite: "Little girl, do you live in this camp too? You can call me if you have any problems in the future. I will do my best to help you!" As long as the reward is generous.
Eve smiled and said, "It should be gone recently."
The vendor was a little disappointed when he heard this, but he still said, "It's okay, it's okay. I'm always here at this market. Just come to me if you need anything."
Eve nodded: "Then I'll go first."
She gestured to Qi, who followed silently. He thought Eve was going to go back directly, but he saw her turn a corner and hide in a corner.
"Come here," Eve lowered her voice as she saw Qi Sha standing there stupidly, "Don't let anyone see you."
Qi walked over with a confused look on his face, and Eve kicked him into the corner: "Hurry up and get in."
She squatted down again and leaned her head out slightly, just enough to see the vendor's position.
Qi didn't understand what Eve was up to, but his greatest strength was obedience. He squatted down beside Eve obediently, folded his long legs, and placed his hands neatly on his knees.
After about half an hour, the vendor packed up his tent and seemed to be planning to go back.
He said hello to several vendors around him and started walking out of the market.
Eve pulled at the hair that was hanging on the side of Qi's face and said, "Let's go."
Qi nodded slightly, picked up Eve gently, and followed silently like a shadow.
In order to avoid being discovered by the vendors, they kept a distance of about ten meters and hung far behind him. The vendors' route was very aimless: they first wandered around other places in the trading market, and then wandered around before planning to return to the residential area.
There was a patch of green space between the residential area and the market. If they followed him, they would be too conspicuous. Eve grabbed Qi's sleeve and said, "Wait for him to pass."
Qi obediently put away his arms and hid behind a nearby shed. But just as the two of them disappeared into the shadows, they heard a scream from the front: "What are you doing?!"
Eve's eyes narrowed: "Seven!"
The latter rushed out with her in his arms. As soon as he left the shed, he saw the vendor collapsed on the ground, his belongings scattered all over the floor. He was yelling in fear, "Who are you? What do you want?!"
A man in gray stood before him, half bent over, holding a knife to his throat. "I'm asking you a question. Answer me first."
When Eve saw the man, she frowned slightly uncomfortably.
This man gave people a very strange feeling - he seemed to have a deliberately low sense of presence. If he was placed in a crowd, he would instantly disappear like a drop of water sinking into the sea. No wonder Eve didn't notice him just now.
She whispered to Qi, "Do it."
Qi nodded and walked quietly into the green field.
At this time, the man said something to the vendor, who screamed in fear, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
"You're so scared?" the man asked in surprise. "I haven't asked anything yet."
He shook the vendor's collar, but the latter didn't react at all.
"What do you want to ask?"
Just when the man was about to stab the vendor to wake him up, a sweet voice suddenly sounded behind him.
The man's rich combat experience allowed him to instantly tense all his muscles. His brain made a judgment within a second. He left the vendor behind, turned around abruptly, and pointed his knife at the source of the sound: "Who..."
"Bang!"
He had just made a sound when a heavy punch hit him in the face. Before the shock on the man's face could spread, his body swayed and suddenly went limp.
Qi stood in front of him, putting away his fists expressionlessly.
Eve glanced at the unconscious man and covered her mouth in surprise: "Oh my, you broke his nose."
An unconscious man? "..."
***
Time goes back half an hour.
The man in gray was named Lu Renjia, a junior cadre in the Queen Bee West District Branch. He was currently on the phone with Chang Qingfeng, one of the core cadres at the headquarters, and his hands were shaking with excitement.
"Remember, you must search the entire West District and make sure to find this zombie with tattoos." Chang Qingfeng's voice sounded extremely cold on the phone, with a sense of electronic distortion.
"Okay," Lu Renjia said cautiously, "but...Mr. Chang, do we really have to capture him alive?"
When they faced zombies, they were lucky not to be bitten. They didn't even have time to kill them, so why did they demand to take them alive?
"You can kill it," Chang Qingfeng said coldly. Before Lu Renjia could breathe a sigh of relief, he added, "But it's your head that will fall off next."
Lu Renjia's breath was stuck in his throat, neither going up nor down. After a long while, he choked out, "...I understand."
"Oh right," he thought of something, "someone just came to the Bounty Hall, specifically to inquire about this matter."
Chang Qingfeng asked, "Did he catch the zombie?"
"Not really," Lu Renjia shook his head. "He wants to know who issued the mission."
After he finished speaking, the other side suddenly fell silent.
Did he say something wrong? Lu Renjia was a little uneasy: "Mr. Chang?"
"..." Chang Qingfeng was obviously thinking, and after a few seconds he said, "Do you know the information about that person?"
"I know," Lu Renjia said, "He's a vendor in our camp. He used to live near the city before the apocalypse, but he couldn't awaken his superpowers, so he could only set up a stall in the city's trading market."
"This person has always been opportunistic," he added, "maybe he just wants to try his luck." After all, this bounty mission looks quite simple, but the reward is extremely generous. Even Lu Renjia himself is a little eager to give it a try.
But Chang Qingfeng was silent for a moment, then said, "Go find that person and ask him why he asked such a question."
"...Ah?" Lu Renjia was stunned for a moment and hesitated, "Is it necessary?"
Chang Qingfeng's voice was as cold as ice: "Are you teaching me how to do things?"
Lu Renjia: “!”
"No, no, no, you misunderstood," he said frightenedly, "Then I'll go and bring him here now!"
He waited cautiously for a while, but there was no sound on the other end of the phone. Lu Renjia subconsciously glanced at the screen - the communication had been cut off long ago.
"Damn it," he cursed, putting away the communicator, "What a piece of crap! Do you really think you're the best?"
But he didn't dare say such words in front of Chang Qingfeng. He was one of the core cadres of the Queen Bee. His green sword was unstoppable and very famous among the supernatural beings. He couldn't even enter the headquarters, so he could only brag about him behind his back.
He called a small follower over and asked him to watch over the stalls in the bounty hall. He walked out of the hall, looked around, and found the vendors who had returned to set up their stalls.
It happened that the man was about to close his stall and was packing up his things. Lu Renjia looked around and felt that the market was full of mixed people, so he secretly followed the vendor and decided to go to a place where there was no one before taking action.
But he never expected that while the mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole is unaware of the situation behind it.
Eve didn't go to inquire about the news in person because she expected that the Queen Bee would send someone over, so she found a scapegoat. As she expected, the vendor was targeted by the Queen Bee's people as soon as he showed up in the bounty hall.
She squatted down and looked through Lu Renjia's pockets, and found a Queen Bee member ID card and some small nuclear crystals. Eve didn't even look at these nuclear crystals, so she stuffed them to the vendor who had also fainted on the ground, and kept the ID card.
She stood up, kicked Lu Renjia, and said to Qi: "Tie him up and wake him up."
So, when Lu Renjia was awakened by a basin of cold water, he found himself tied up to a pillar. There were two people standing in front of him, both with their faces covered. They could only be identified as a man and a woman by their body shapes.
Eve said, "Are you awake? We have something to ask you. Could you please cooperate?"
But then she got a scream.
"Who are you?! How dare you!" Lu Renjia screamed like a screaming chicken. "Do you know who I am? How dare you attack the Queen Bee cadres? Why don't you let me go!"
"A cadre of the Queen Bee?" Eve tilted her head in confusion. "Aren't you just a branch leader? When did you become a cadre?"
She held Lu Renjia's ID card in her hand and played with it. The latter looked at it and immediately wilted, but then puffed out his chest like a bullfrog, "So what? It's better than you homeless people!"
He threatened sinisterly, "Let me go now, or the Queen Bee won't let you go."
Eve shook her head: "No, you have to answer my question first."
Lu Renjia almost laughed: "Are you an idiot? How dare you bargain with the Queen Bee? Do you still have a chance? Let me go quickly..."
“Swish!”
Before he could finish his words, he saw Eve suddenly bend down, holding a sharp knife in her fingertips, and stabbed his thigh fiercely!
"Ahhhh!!!" Lu Renjia screamed in fright and closed his eyes in a hurry.
But the pain he imagined did not come. He trembled and opened his eyes a little, and the knife was standing between his legs, only a few centimeters away from a certain part.
The girl with a delicate face squatted in front of him, looking at Lu Renjia with a smile.
"Bargain?" Her voice was like the finest honey, rich and sweet. "Did you make a mistake?"
With a light squeeze of her white jade fingers, the knife was pulled out, with the sharp blade facing upwards, pressed against Lu Renjia's throat.
Lu Renjia looked at her with cold sweat. The knife light reflected on the girl's face, making her cat-like eyes a little cold.
"This isn't a bargain," she said, the tip of the knife moving forward with each word. Lu Renjia was so frightened that he broke out in a sweat, and strands of his hair stuck to his scalp. "I'm threatening."
"Answer my question," she whispered, "or I'll kill you now."
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