Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System

"150 kgs of vegetables!" Snape shouted, his face dark, without turning his head.

Vikram was already on Snape’s kill list, and now that he had disrupted things several times, he was losing his patience.

His main purpose in coming to this auction was to hear that there was a special item that could enhance physical fitness.

He didn’t directly pull out a gun and clashed with Vikram because he was afraid the auction wouldn’t proceed, causing the item he wanted to end before it even reached the stage.

As soon as he finished shouting the price, Snape glared fiercely at Vikram, who was sitting in the back row on the right.

If looks could kill, Vikram had no doubt that he had already been killed several times by this old geezer.

"Brother Snape, why are you staring at me?"

"Could I be more attractive than Director Lilith on the stage, making you so distracted?"

Vikram’s tone was sarcastic, but he had no intention of backing down.

"180 kgs of vegetables."

The auction hall was incredibly quiet due to their rivalry, so much so that Vikram could hear the grinding sound of Snape’s teeth from a distance.

"Good, you’re very good!"

"200 kgs of vegetables!"

Vikram was not in a hurry and continued to match the bids, with the two of them going back and forth.

During this time, because Vikram was bidding, other Survivors who wanted the generator didn’t have to worry about offending Snape and also joined in the bidding.

When the generator, which had a starting price of 60 kgs of vegetables, was pushed to a value of 260 kgs of food, Snape finally couldn’t hold back.

"320 kgs of food. Let’s see who dares to bid again. When we leave later, don’t blame me for being impolite."

"The Crimson Desire Shelter can protect you nearby, but I don’t believe you don’t have to go home!"

Looking at the other party’s head, which was almost fuming with anger, Vikram chuckled to himself, thinking that this old geezer had such poor self-control; this was just the beginning.

However, he figured it was enough, and Vikram also gave up bidding.

He was only trying to deliberately annoy Snape; he didn’t actually intend to spend food specifically to buy a generator.

Seeing that the price had already been raised considerably, bidding again and getting stuck with it would be more trouble than it was worth.

Anyway, there were plenty of items to come, so there was no need to get fixated on this generator.

’Go ahead and bid for it. It would be best if all the items today are bought by you, old man. Then, I’ll kill you on the spot, and everything will go into my pocket without spending a single penny.’

Crossing his arms, Vikram closed his eyes and rested for a while, and the generator finally fell into Snape’s hands as he wished.

Snape snorted coldly, revealing a victorious smile, "Hmph!"

"Little brat, where’s that energy from before? Didn’t you like to compete with me? What? Are you out of money or something? Do you need me to give you some?"

Vikram was not annoyed and replied indifferently, "Brother Snape, is there something wrong with you here?"

As he spoke, he pointed to his own head.

"320 kgs of vegetables. If I tinker with something myself, it’s more than enough to exchange for two generators."

"You only got one, and you’re quite happy."

"What’s the difference between that and being sold and still counting money for the seller?"

Director Lilith on the stage looked a bit awkward.

What Vikram said might have been a bit exaggerated, but for that price, one generator was indeed a loss.

Snape, realizing this, immediately lost the smile on his face, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

To avoid showing weakness, he still spoke stubbornly, "It doesn’t matter, I have plenty of supplies, I don’t lack your small amount."

"Oh? Is that so? That’s great, I was worried you didn’t bring enough supplies today, Brother Snape."

"Then I’ll have to bid against you more later, you don’t mind, do you?"

Vikram, sitting in the auction seat and looking down at Snape, couldn’t help but laugh.

In the subsequent items, just as Vikram said, he generously jumped into every item Snape participated in.

For each item, Vikram generously ’discounted’ it by at least 20% for Snape.

Throughout the entire event, not only did Snape’s face grow darker and darker, but Director Lilith’s gaze towards Vikram on the stand became increasingly bright.

Every time Vikram bid, he would receive a glance from her in his peripheral vision.

Besides gratitude, there was more than a hint of suggestion.

Indeed, if it weren’t for Vikram bothering Snape, this auction would most likely have become a laughingstock.

The price didn’t matter; the Crimson Desire Shelter wouldn’t care if the auction lost money.

But if Snape were allowed to threaten everyone into not bidding, it would be difficult to hold similar events in the future.

After all, if you, Snape, monopolize everything, what’s the point of this auction?

—

After some time, several rounds of auction items had passed.

Overall, the items in this auction were still very tempting.

Not to mention mutated crystals, which are difficult for ordinary Survivors to obtain and enhance physical fitness.

Hot weapons like explosives and pistols were surprisingly also for sale in the auction.

However, for Vikram, these were things he was already tired of, so he had little interest.

He only came out occasionally to disgust Snape; otherwise, he didn’t bid on anything.

Except for a vehicle that Director Lilith noticed Vikram’s uninteresting gaze on, which he showed a slight interest in.

However, soon, with Snape’s aggressive bidding, Vikram also lost the idea of matching the price.

This made Director Lilith, who had a strong interest in Vikram, somewhat anxious.

After multiple auctions, Director Lilith was convinced that the other party’s indifference to Snape was not an act, proving Vikram’s confidence.

This was already enough for her to consider befriending him, not to mention that Vikram playing tricks on Snape was also indirectly helping her.

If she truly couldn’t offer such a Survivor anything and let him leave empty-handed, it would definitely be her loss.

Thinking of this, Director Lilith gave a meaningful look to her subordinate behind the side curtain.

Soon, another item was brought out.

The only difference was that this item had not yet been unveiled, but Director Lilith’s face was already full of confidence.

"Distinguished guests, this is the seventh item of this auction, and it is also the item I believe to be the most useful."

"Regardless of whether the previous items satisfied you, distinguished guests, I believe this next item will not disappoint you."

Director Lilith said with a smile, though her expression remained serious.

As she unveiled the red curtain covering the seventh item, her gaze drifted toward Vikram.

Seeing her gaze, Vikram understood that she was grateful to him, and he even had a slight feeling that she wanted to throw herself into his arms.

Seeing this, Vikram gave a mischievous smile and thought that something might happen tonight.

Unknowingly, he didn’t realize that his lust had grown compared to the time when he first arrived in the wasteland.

And not only that, but after the visit to the Vampire Ruin, his sleeping needs had also increased.

Seeing Vikram looking at her, something stirred inside Lilith as well.

Their eyes met briefly.

Vikram’s smile deepened slightly.

Lilith quickly looked away, but a faint blush appeared on her face.

Perhaps it was because she had spent too much time alone.

Or perhaps it was because someone had finally appeared who could stand beside her.

While maintaining her professional expression, she couldn’t help but murmur inwardly that maybe she should also experience what it felt like to be loved.

Vikram’s focus soon returned to the seventh auction item on the stage, whose red cloth had just been removed.

Seeing the spherical item, Vikram immediately recognized what it was.

"Isn’t this..."

At this moment, Lilith was also explaining the function of the auction item.

"I’m sure everyone has seen this item. I can responsibly tell you that this item is also an Epic-level tool."

"Furthermore, compared to those external objects that provide convenience, this tool can directly affect the survivors themselves."

Lilith paused, picked up the white orb from the display case, and continued:

"The Clairvoyance Orb. What can be confirmed is that its specific function is to give the Survivor a chance to gain the Night Vision ability."

"Starting bid... seventy kilograms of fruits and vegetables, or thirty-five kilograms of meat. Each bid increment must not be less than five kilograms of fruits and vegetables."

"Now, the bidding begins!"

Lilith originally thought that after she finished speaking, the Survivors present would immediately start bidding frantically.

However, what she didn’t expect was that the people present didn’t seem very interested.

Only a few scattered Survivors were whispering among themselves, and the response was lukewarm.

Vikram scoffed; she was simply taking things too much for granted.

Except for some sufficiently powerful Shelters that chose to go out at night, most normal Survivors preferred to stay cooped up at home after dark.

Not to mention that finding Night Vision Goggles in resource points would produce the same effect. Even without Night Vision Goggles, Survivors could make do with flashlights or even the lowest-grade torches.

Therefore, the Night Vision effect provided by the orb was considered fairly useless.

Furthermore, it was being sold at such a high price, and it only offered a chance to obtain a special ability. If someone was unlucky and failed to gain the ability, wouldn’t they essentially be spending valuable food on nothing?

Although everyone had food reserves, those resources certainly didn’t fall from the sky.

At this stage, no one was willing to exchange precious food for such an uncertain item.

Even Snape, whose Shelter was practically overflowing with wealth, wasn’t particularly interested. He casually called out the minimum bid.

"Seventy-five kilograms of vegetables."

Just as everyone thought that this highly anticipated orb would be taken away by Snape at such a low price, "I bid one hundred kilograms of vegetables!"

Lilith looked up. The bidder was Vikram, his arm raised high.

Snape, however, sneered, his face full of disdain.

Although he didn’t show it openly, he couldn’t help thinking to himself, ’Little beast, still trying to make me spend more food on this useless item. If you like it so much, then take it.’

Without saying another word, Snape folded his arms across his chest, gazed at Vikram with a mocking expression, and quietly waited.

As the auction hammer fell, the item indeed went to Vikram.

"Brother Vikram, how does it feel to reap what you sow?"

"One hundred kilograms of vegetables. Brother Vikram is really rich, exchanging so many vegetables for a fully automatic flashlight."

Snape, feeling that he had won a round, couldn’t stop the smile on his face.

He even gave a thumbs-up while teasing him.

The other Survivors also started chattering when they saw Vikram spending so many vegetables to buy this item.

"Yeah, if this thing works, it really is just a fully automatic flashlight."

"Not to mention, if this orb is a dud and doesn’t even grant the ability, then it’s an even bigger loss."

"That guy who keeps going against Snape has really shot himself in the foot this time."

Inside the venue, everyone was discussing the matter, and the vast majority of Survivors unanimously believed that Vikram had suffered a huge loss.

This even caused Lilith, who originally wanted to use good items to attract Vikram’s attention, to start doubting the value of the item herself.

Feeling somewhat guilty, she didn’t dare look directly into Vikram’s eyes.

However, Vikram, sitting in the back row of the auction seats, couldn’t be bothered with those idle rumors.

This item was exactly what he wanted in the first place.

They could only learn the incomplete function of the orb from Lilith’s fragmented words, but Vikram saw its true information through the System.