Chapter 203: The Mini Program Blocked?
’That must be something that unreliable Logan Holland said.’ The vegetable patch, after all, belonged to Stan Sterling, and he had even bought a Protective Shield to guard it.
Even if a superpower user showed up, they wouldn’t be able to steal anything—unless Stan Sterling was foolish enough to just hand it over.
So, Lily Hart brazenly took Yael Lowell with her, along with a whole troop of his Logistics Department subordinates. The group was quite a grand procession.
Along the way, Lily Hart even sent Stan Sterling a message. Since they were going to his vegetable patch, it was best to let the owner know.
They had just rounded the hotel and hadn’t even reached the patch yet when the crowd behind them erupted in a chorus of gasps, followed by a torrent of incoherent chatter.
"Is that a cucumber? It’s really a cucumber!"
"Am I seeing things? Heavens, are those peaches?"
They stood frozen in shock for a good while, then swarmed past Lily Hart and surged forward. They instinctively reached out to pick the fruits and vegetables, only to be stopped by an invisible barrier.
Lily Hart casually strolled forward. "What are you doing? I just brought you here to look."
Someone, unable to believe it, racked their brains and said, "This has to be a holographic projection you made, right!?"
"It can’t be real! Even those highly intelligent and educated people at the research institute can’t grow fruit this succulent. You’re lying!"
Lily Hart shrugged, looking nonchalant. "And?" As she spoke, she reached out and picked a small cucumber, casually wiped it on her clothes a couple of times, and popped it into her mouth without a hint of disgust.
The unique, fresh scent of cucumber instantly filled the air. The crowd found the smell refreshing and uplifting, their eyes glued to the flesh of the fruit visible in her hand, desperate for a bite.
They gulped. Yael Lowell asked, "Is... is that a real cucumber?"
"Yeah. What else would it be?" Lily Hart retorted.
Yael Lowell asked shamelessly, "Can I have a bite? Just one..." Even as the head of the Logistics Department, he couldn’t get his hands on fresh fruits and vegetables.
The prerequisite for eating them was that they had to exist in the first place!
There wasn’t a single fruit or vegetable to be found in the entire Central Command, so where was he supposed to get any? By a rough estimate, he hadn’t seen a cucumber in eight or nine years!
Yael Lowell was overcome with emotion. He couldn’t help but fantasize that humanity had already started living the good life, a life where everyone could eat fruit, with vegetables at every meal.
’Oh, heavens!’
Just the thought of it made Yael Lowell incredibly excited.
But in the next second, a bucket of cold water was poured over him. Lily Hart coldly refused, "No."
Yael Lowell immediately calmed down. "Then I’ll buy it with Crystal Cores. How many Crystal Cores for one cucumber? I’ll buy it!"
As a department head, his monthly salary wasn’t low, but it was all in Crystal Cores. If he wanted to spend them, he could only buy some of that black jelly, or the god-awful, dried-out fruit from the research institute.
He wanted it so badly!
Lily Hart refused again. "Of course, it’s not for sale either. I know Central Command wants my superpower and is coveting the resources in my hands. Go back and tell the person who actually calls the shots that cooperation is possible, but backstabbing isn’t."
Having his little scheme exposed so bluntly, Yael Lowell almost couldn’t maintain his composure. He nodded repeatedly, knowing that this woman was not someone he could handle.
Yael Lowell quickly said, "Okay, okay. I’ll go back and discuss it with them."
Lily Hart called out to the group, who were about to flee in disarray. "Isn’t there an online supermarket? Haven’t you used it?"
The crowd was baffled.
’I remember sharing it with Logan Holland,’ Lily Hart thought. ’Why hasn’t it been promoted?’
’I also remember Logan telling me that everyone loved using it and that the daily transaction volume was pretty high. How could a department head not even know about it?’
Yael Lowell asked, "What online supermarket?" The name alone sounded incredible.
Lily Hart opened her Light Brain, tapped the screen a few times, and turned it toward the crowd. "This is it. You can shop on it, and it even offers one-second home delivery."
Yael Lowell reached out, and when she didn’t react, he swiped on the screen a few times. A quick glance revealed mineral water, instant noodles, sausage, spicy snack strips, yogurt...
There was all sorts of food and other supplies.
Just no fruits or vegetables.
But for the apocalyptic survivors currently living in dire straits, this was already an abundance of resources.
A Logistics Department employee said suspiciously, "Huh? This page looks a little familiar. I think I’ve seen it somewhere before, but only once. I never saw it again after that."
Another employee added, "Now that you mention it, I remember! Wasn’t it that guy last month? I was going to ask for the link, but the next day he said it was blocked and he couldn’t get in!"
The two started discussing it, leaving Lily Hart a bit baffled as well. ’Blocked and can’t get in? What’s going on? Is the app working perfectly fine on my Light Brain haunted or something?’
"Wait, wait, wait. Come on, let’s exchange contact info." Lily Hart patted Yael Lowell.
Yael Lowell’s eyes lit up. ’One step closer to eating fresh fruit.’ The two successfully added each other.
Lily Hart shared the online supermarket’s app with Yael Lowell. "Try opening it."
"It won’t open." As soon as Yael Lowell tapped on the app, the screen went completely blank. There was nothing there, as if it had a virus.
He forwarded it to a few other employees present, but the result was the same—it opened to a blank screen. Lily Hart was truly confused now. ’What the hell is going on?’
"Is it because your Light Brains are no good?" Lily Hart asked.
"It’s the latest model. Super expensive," Yael Lowell said weakly.
"..." The group fell silent, looking at each other in confusion.
Stan Sterling arrived late. "What are you all doing?" ’What are they planning, surrounding my beloved little vegetable patch?’
"Perfect timing." Lily Hart beckoned to him. Stan Sterling obediently walked to her side, naturally taking her part and glaring at Yael Lowell’s group of outsiders.
"I’m sending you a link. Open it and take a look." Lily Hart gestured for him to look at his Light Brain.
Stan Sterling unlocked his Light Brain, and immediately the crowd surged forward, their eyes glued to the screen. He instinctively locked the screen, shot them a sideways glance, and said, "Back off."
He then set it to privacy mode so only he could see the screen, opened the link Lily Hart had sent, and then turned privacy mode off again.
He brazenly showed them the screen, where clear and distinct products were displayed—pictures with names, followed by prices, all perfectly clear at a glance.
"Could it really be that our Light Brains are the problem?" Yael Lowell muttered to himself.
"I think all the Light Brains from your Central Command are no good," Lily Hart guessed.
Yael Lowell immediately retorted, "How is that possible? Central Command has its own signal tower, so the signal is definitely not the problem. The Light Brains are serviced every year, too. They were just sent in for maintenance last week!"
"Alright, enough with the excuses. Just send this link to your people at Central Command and see if they can open it," Lily Hart said, waving her hand impatiently.
’She suspected someone was up to something. Why would a perfectly good link not work for people from Central Command?’
Yael Lowell instinctively did as he was told. Only after forwarding the link to several people did he realize what he was doing. ’Why am I being so obedient! I’m the dignified head of the Logistics Department! Why should I listen to her!’
But on second thought... ’What she said does seem to make sense, doesn’t it?’ He continued with the task, grumbling to himself.
After about five minutes, Yael Lowell’s expression turned grave. "None of them can open it."
If Lily Hart and this man hadn’t opened the link right in front of him, he would have suspected she was just messing with him. ’How could it be that no one can open it?’