Chapter 134: Food Scarcity, Rising Prices

Asked by Ye Xuan, Ru Jianxiao lowered his eyes and thought, ’I’m too weak to survive on my own right now, let alone kill Liu Ruyan. Since they have already invited me to join their team, I might as well take this opportunity to grow stronger before looking for Liu Ruyan again.’

After being beaten up by Ye Jin’s bodyguards, Ru Jianxiao had realized that he couldn’t get his revenge alone.

Raising his eyes, he looked at Ye Xuan and the others. "I will join your team. Please take care of me from now on."

Hearing his response, Liu Yun’s eyes flickered. ’Perfect. System, help me monitor him and gather information about him.’

[Leave it to me.]

While Liu Yun was communicating with her System, Ye Xuan reached out to Ru Jianxiao. "Welcome to the team."

Shaking his hand, Ru Jianxiao replied, "Thank you."

For the first time since his rebirth, Ru Jianxiao felt that he might be able to change his future. He looked at Liu Yun and thought, ’She’s the one who saved me. Maybe she can help me kill Liu Ruyan.’

Unaware that Ru Jianxiao had his eyes on her, Liu Yun calmly finished her breakfast.

When she was done, she looked toward the soldiers. Noticing that their complexions looked better than they had the previous day, Liu Yun thought for a moment before standing up.

Turning to look at her, Ye Xuan asked, "Where are you going?"

Liu Yun pointed toward the soldiers and said, "I have something to ask them."

With that, she walked toward the soldiers without waiting for Ye Xuan’s response.

Ye Xuan watched her walk away for a moment before turning to the others. "Let’s discuss our next plan."

While they discussed what to do next, Liu Yun took several bottles of mineral water out of her Dimensional Space.

Noticing her approach, one of the soldiers smiled at her and asked, "Young Lady, do you need something?"

Liu Yun handed him a bottle of mineral water and replied, "Comrade, I have a few questions. Can we talk?"

The soldier stared at her for a few seconds before accepting the bottle and gesturing for her to sit down.

After Liu Yun sat down across from him, she distributed the remaining bottles of mineral water to the other soldiers.

"Young Lady, what would you like to know?" the soldier asked after taking a sip of water.

Liu Yun looked at him and asked, "Comrade, can you tell me where we are going to hunt zombies today?"

At her question, the soldier’s expression relaxed slightly. "Young Lady, we won’t be stopping to hunt zombies today."

"Yesterday, Captain Lian received a direct order from our Great Commander to return to Lie Huo Military Base as soon as possible. Because of that, we continued our journey throughout the night without stopping."

Nodding in understanding, Liu Yun said, "I see. No wonder Captain Lian ordered us to continue our journey last night instead of camping outside the Central Delivery Hub."

The soldier sighed and looked at the foggy sky outside. "I hope the journey goes smoothly today. If nothing happens, we should reach Lie Huo Military Base by this afternoon."

Sitting beside him, a younger soldier looked at Liu Yun and sincerely said, "Young Lady, thank you for sharing your carrot soup with us last night. It’s been months since we last ate fresh vegetables."

Recalling the taste of the carrot soup, he swallowed and added, "It’s really delicious."

Hearing this, a burly soldier added, "That’s right. I’ve almost forgotten what carrots taste like after eating compressed biscuits for months."

Hearing his words, the first soldier reminded him, "You should be grateful that you still have food to eat. Out there, countless survivors would fight over a piece of moldy bread."

"I know. I’m just saying," the burly soldier replied, a hint of guilt in his rough voice.

Liu Yun listened thoughtfully to their conversation before asking, "Are there no wood-element ability users who can grow vegetables and fruits?"

A tall soldier looked at her and replied, "Of course there are."

"However, the highest level recorded for a wood-element ability user is only Level 2 right now. At most, they can only grow two cabbages a day. With such low productivity, there is no way they would be able to support the public needs."

"Besides, most wood-element ability users usually join the private bases or strong teams and sell vegetables at high prices. Ordinary survivors and lower-ranked soldiers like us have no way of getting vegetables, let alone fruits."

The young soldier nodded in agreement and added, "I heard that vegetable and fruit prices have gone up again. The last time I checked, they had stopped selling whole cabbages and were selling them by the leaf instead."

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers groaned in unison.

"If prices keep rising, I won’t be able to afford even a single cabbage leaf, no matter how many missions I complete!" the burly soldier complained with a pained expression.

While they were discussing the soaring prices of vegetables, the first soldier said, "Young Lady, I saw you store away the military tent before and noticed that your space seems larger than those of the other spatial-element ability users on our team."

He paused for a second, then tentatively asked, "Do you perhaps have a lot of vegetables stored away in your space?"

Liu Yun shook her head and lied without blinking, "I was lucky enough to awaken my spatial-element ability on the first day of the apocalypse, so I managed to store some fresh vegetables and meat from a nearby local market."

The soldiers sighed in disappointment upon hearing this.

Seeing their disappointed expressions, Liu Yun calmly added, "However, I can spare some carrots for you if you’d like. Consider it a gesture of friendship."

At her offer, the soldiers’ eyes lit up. However, none of them dared to accept her gift.

Seeing them exchange hesitant glances, Liu Yun smiled slightly. "If you feel uncomfortable accepting them for free, you can exchange crystal cores for the carrots."

Gesturing toward Ye Xuan and the others, she added, "My team and I plan to stay at Lie Huo Military Base for now. If you want to buy some lemon tea or vegetables, you can come find me."

Hearing her offer, the soldiers’ expressions changed. They quickly nodded in agreement.

"Alright. We will come visit you after you’ve settled into the base," the first soldier said before reaching into his pocket and taking something out.