Chapter 201: Arrival
"Okay." Roman Rowe understood. He stuffed the half-eaten rib back into his mouth, stopped asking questions, and focused on his meal.
Frost Shaw was surprised, but he didn’t ask too many questions either. His job was to run the convenience store well and earn more points for Boss Hart!
As for where they were going? It didn’t matter. What he cared about was Boss Hart’s safety.
Two days later, Lily Hart stood in the lottery shop, watching as the last of the customers left. Outside the RV, several self-service lottery machines were neatly arranged.
Their mission at Auspice Base was complete. Now they could head to Central Command with peace of mind.
Lily Hart stretched. Seeing Roman Rowe ambling lazily toward the RV, she gave him a casual wave and asked, as she usually did, "What do you want to eat?"
"Let me see what’s in the fridge. I’ll figure something out," Roman Rowe said, heading straight for the kitchen.
The refrigerator was fully stocked with all the common ingredients. Roman Rowe remembered that Lily Hart liked shrimp, so he had her order a few pounds of fresh, live ones.
He also made a few of his specialty dishes: braised pork ribs, beef brisket stewed with radish...
Meanwhile, Seth had moved from the hotel into the convenience store, finally getting a room of his own. He had also started learning to cook, figuring that one could never have too many skills.
As night fell, the RV was filled with lively chatter. It often gave Seth the illusion that he was back in a civilized era, just eating and chatting with a group of friends.
Lily Hart raised the glass in her hand. It was filled with ice-cold cola, fizzing with tiny bubbles. She wasn’t drinking alcohol, but she felt a little buzzed anyway. "Come on! Cheers!"
Seth, Roman Rowe, and Frost Shaw quickly raised their glasses too, clinking them against hers with a crisp sound. Dinner concluded in a joyous atmosphere.
Everyone knew they were setting off for Central Command tomorrow.
The journey was not a short one—fifteen hundred kilometers. Though the RV was fast, Lily Hart didn’t want to rush. It was best to just let things happen naturally.
Early the next morning, everyone gathered in the RV. Even The Zombie King showed up. They all sat obediently as Lily Hart scanned the group to see that everyone was present.
She set the destination, and the RV started up!
After eating lunch and then dinner, they arrived at Central Command just as the time hit seven o’clock.
It was truly worthy of being the largest and most established base in Cathaya. The surrounding walls were magnificent, stretching further than the eye could see. The towering main gates were shut tight, with residents entering and exiting through smaller side gates.
It was bustling with people coming and going.
First-time entry into Central Command required registration, and exiting required scanning your Light Brain. If you skipped these procedures more than three times, you’d be blacklisted and permanently banned from entry.
Lily Hart searched for a long time outside Central Command before finding an empty plot of land barely large enough to accommodate her buildings.
Just as the RV came to a steady stop, the few people who had been napping at the table woke up.
Roman Rowe rubbed his eyes, looking dazed. "Are we here?"
Lily Hart rolled her eyes at him and gave the back of his head a light swat. "We’re here, we’re here. Get up, quickly," she said with a laugh.
A voice came from outside, an extremely surprised greeting. "What are you guys doing?"
Lily Hart looked over. It was a survivor from a neighboring spot, someone who seemed to be a permanent resident outside Central Command. All they had was a tattered straw mat and a small, shapeless blanket.
The man himself was skin and bones, his hair yellowed and grimy. A foul stench wafted over when he opened his mouth, revealing a set of yellow teeth. His clothes were riddled with holes and covered in stains.
Outside Central Command, there were many other survivors like him. They had been kicked out or denied entry, but they didn’t want to face the zombies directly.
Everyone understood the principle of relying on the great Oak for shade; staying close could help them avoid zombie attacks.
Lily Hart put on a professional smile and said politely, "We sell lottery tickets."
"Lottery tickets? What kind of lottery tickets?" the man asked, confused. He scratched his head, and flakes of dandruff drifted down like snow.
Lily Hart, feeling a bit repulsed, couldn’t help but take a step back. "It’s... you can search for it online..." Then she remembered he probably didn’t have a Light Brain.
So, she had to pull out the rules for the scratch-off games. She had organized them before and even made a crude poster, but she’d never had a chance to use it.
Now that they were at the populous Central Command, it was better to explain with pictures and text to save her breath.
Lily Hart launched into an explanation, using the poster’s images. During her talk, a dozen more survivors gathered around, staring at her with deeply sunken, lifeless eyes.
After she finished, a flicker of light appeared on their faces. They asked excitedly, "You... you’re saying there’s food?"
Lily Hart nodded with certainty. "That’s right. But it’s all based on luck. It’s also possible you’ll get nothing. So think it over before you try~"
The poster clearly listed the rules and the price for each type of scratch-off ticket.
They studied it carefully, cautiously avoiding discussion with those around them. They hesitated, conflicted. After all, they had no superpowers and were not in good health, which made acquiring Crystal Cores extremely difficult—the very reason they had been denied entry to the base.
Lily Hart saw their hesitation and just said, "There’s a factory back there that sells fast food. You can go take a look."
’Scratch-offs depend on luck, but buying fast food only depends on speed.’
As soon as she finished speaking, the first man who had approached quickly turned, rolled up his bedding, and sprinted in the direction Lily Hart had pointed.
The others reacted as well and hurried to follow. Their minds were still full of doubt. ’Fast food? There’s fast food here? It’s been years since I’ve even heard those two words.’
The man stood panting in front of the factory window, his bedding tucked under his arm. His sneakers were so worn and tattered that their original color was unrecognizable, and his big toe poked out of a hole.
But the window was shut tight, and the man didn’t dare act rashly, only looking around cautiously.
One by one, others ran up and crowded around the man, looking like they wanted to shove him out of the way. Not to be outdone, the man firmly held his spot in first place.
"You all...?" Seth was walking over from the convenience store when he saw the scene of them jostling for position. He was genuinely confused.
Everyone heard him clearly and immediately stopped pushing and shoving, turning in unison to look at Seth.
The first man mustered his courage and asked, "Is this where they sell fast food?"
Seth was taken aback. He had planned to take the day off, but... He glanced at the crowd. They were ragged and gaunt, a pitiful sight.
He stated the price upfront, "It’s three Crystal Cores per meal~"
As soon as he said this, the crowd began to hesitate. Even one Crystal Core was hard to come by, let alone three.
Someone boldly asked, "What... what does the fast food look like?" ’I have to see it before I decide whether to buy. I can’t afford to waste Crystal Cores.’
Seth walked around the crowd, used facial recognition to open a small door, slipped inside, and closed it behind him. Then he opened the service window. "Wait out there for a moment."
With that, he turned and switched on the machine.
The people outside vied to peek inside. They saw a large, empty building. Directly in front of the window was a green assembly line, which connected to a massive machine at the far end.
Just then, the assembly line started to move, and one by one, boxes of fast food came down the line.
Seth stood at the window, picking up each meal as it arrived and stacking them on the counter. After about fifty meals had been produced, he turned off the machine using his Light Brain.