Chapter 92: Refusing Cooperation
If anyone asked, the answer was simple: they had Crystal Cores. They could afford to be wasteful. They had a decade’s worth of savings, after all!
Logan Holland took a look. It listed prices, room types, included amenities, and so on...
It was incredibly detailed. ’Could it really be this good?’
’No point overthinking it. I’ll just stay for one night and see if it’s as good as it claims to be.’
"Alright, I’ll take..." He glanced back at his three bodyguards. "One double room."
Saving money was the top priority.
"Put your Light Brains on it. Every single one of you," Leo Colby said, propping his head up with one hand while lazily pointing to the scanner with the other.
Logan Holland and his three men did as they were told. Soon, all four of their profiles were successfully registered.
Leo Colby handed a keycard to Logan Holland. "Room 213. Stairs are over there. Find it yourself."
He clearly didn’t want to say another word. Logan Holland was quite used to his style and simply took the keycard and headed up the stairs.
The men walked down the hallway, looking around in amazement. When they found Room 213, they discovered they could open it with either the keycard or their Light Brains.
Once inside, their jaws dropped. It was so spacious, so bright.
The double room was much larger than a single. Two 1.5-meter-wide beds were placed in the center.
There were three nightstands by the beds, and the wardrobe was also quite large. To the left were a bathroom, a kitchen, an air conditioner—all the basic amenities were there.
The more they looked around, the wider their eyes grew, especially when they saw the endless supply of running water from the faucet.
They were stunned by the working air conditioner, lights, water heater, and other appliances.
One of them asked meekly, "When we check out, are they going to hit us with an astronomical bill?"
Logan Holland carefully recalled the information on the brochure from earlier. It had clearly stated that water and electricity were unlimited and there would be no extra charges.
He said, "They won’t."
The bodyguards finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Minister Holland, there’s an electric kettle here. Should we make some instant noodles?"
Logan Holland was still reeling from the shock of the hotel’s unlimited water and electricity, and his bodyguard’s words snapped him back to reality.
"Go for it. Everyone’s starving. Add an extra sausage," Logan Holland said.
He was always generous with his subordinates. After all, they were the ones protecting his life. If he didn’t treat them well, what if they abandoned him and ran for it in a life-or-death situation?
"Thank you, Minister Holland." The bodyguards sprang into action.
They divided the labor efficiently: one person boiled the water while another unwrapped the instant noodles—the extra-large, double-noodle cups they had bought, complete with two sausage links.
Once the noodles were ready, the four of them huddled around the small dining table and began to eat with great excitement.
The sound of slurping filled the room, one after another. It was the kind of sound that whetted one’s appetite. Indeed, food always seems more delicious when you watch someone else eat it.
No one spoke the entire time; they were all completely focused on eating their noodles. This was the highest form of respect one could show to food.
After they finished, they all had dazed expressions, stunned into a food coma. Someone mumbled, "That was so fragrant, so delicious..."
Logan Holland added, "I used to think instant noodles were junk food. Now, they’re practically a divine delicacy..."
He was nearly forty, but the ten years since the apocalypse had felt especially long, aging a man by twenty years...
Eating these noodles now felt like something from another lifetime.
Logan Holland shot to his feet. Before leaving, he instructed them, "Don’t follow me. I’m just stepping out."
He strode quickly, his urgency clear, and headed straight for the RV after leaving the hotel.
"Boss Hart, I need to talk to you about something." Logan Holland couldn’t wait, slamming both hands down on the table with a loud SMACK.
The considerable noise successfully caught Lily Hart’s attention, and she looked over.
’Here we go,’ she thought. ’He’s here, he’s finally here. He just couldn’t hold it in any longer.’
It was the same storage room, with the same table and chairs, only this time there was no cut fruit or water on the table.
The two of them sat facing each other, their eyes meeting, but neither spoke first.
It was Logan Holland who broke first. "Boss Hart, have you considered setting up operations at Central Command?"
"No," Lily Hart replied without a moment’s hesitation.
"..." Logan Holland was speechless. He felt the same sense of powerlessness he experienced when dealing with Leo Colby.
Logan Holland, who could normally talk his way out of anything, suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
But he was known for his persistence. He pressed on, "Why not, Boss Hart? The population there is huge, and their spending power is strong. You’d be sure to earn a lot of Crystal Cores."
Lily Hart rejected him again without hesitation. "Not going."
She added, "I will go eventually, just not tomorrow. It’s bound to happen sooner or later. I know you’re in a hurry, but don’t be."
Logan Holland was indeed in a great hurry. His main goal was to have the research institute’s people... properly study Lily Hart.
"How soon is ’sooner or later’?" Logan Holland pressed again.
"..." Lily Hart didn’t even want to answer. The main reason was that she didn’t know herself. She didn’t even know how far away they were from Central Command.
Logan Holland stopped asking, seeing that Boss Hart was growing impatient. But an instinct practically encoded in his DNA made him add,
"Well then, Boss Hart, I’ll be waiting for you at Central Command. Should we add each other on our Light Brains?" he asked sincerely.
"Alright. By the way, what was the verdict for Jason Lynch?" Lily Hart asked as she opened her Light Brain.
Logan Holland paused. That was classified information, but he had come here intending to tell her the outcome. He’d just gotten so shocked by everything else that he’d forgotten...
He said, "The investigation revealed that Jason Lynch was keeping over a hundred women at the base and had murdered over a hundred residents."
"His crimes are unforgivable. As a Base Commander, he showed no regard for human life. He’s been sentenced to ten years in prison as a lesson. Don’t worry, Boss Hart, we’ll make sure his life there is anything but easy."
Hearing this, Lily Hart felt very relieved. The thought of what Jason Lynch was about to endure made her incredibly happy.
After they successfully added each other as friends, Logan Holland settled for the next best thing. "In that case, Boss Hart, would it be possible to cooperate with Central Command on supplying materials?"
"You mean the stuff from the convenience store?" Lily Hart asked.
’Scratch-off tickets are probably out of the question. Central Command hasn’t been unlocked yet, so I can’t place an "automatic scratch-off" machine there.’
’And it’s not like I can buy a few hundred booklets at once and resell them to Central Command. How would they redeem the prizes? It’d be a huge hassle.’
The only feasible cooperation was with the convenience store supplies. And for that, she would have to call in Frost Shaw.
「One minute later.」
Frost Shaw was sitting next to Lily Hart. Both of them were staring at Logan Holland, faces blank, arms crossed over their chests.
’Back to square one...’
Logan Holland knew that if he didn’t speak, they never would. So he said, "Boss Shaw, are you interested in cooperating with Central Command? I just spoke with Boss Hart, and she’s interested."
He immediately brought out the big boss. Just as expected, Frost Shaw’s expression softened instantly, his posture relaxing slightly.
Who would have thought Lily Hart would then say, "No, I’m not. It’s up to you."
Frost Shaw’s expression changed in a flash, as if he were a Sichuan opera mask-changer. WHOOSH. It went cold again. He asked, "How exactly does Minister Holland propose we cooperate?"
’You talk first. If I don’t like what I hear, I’m throwing you out.’
Logan Holland chose his words carefully. "A daily supply of necessary goods. For example, five hundred bottles of mineral water, a thousand cups of instant noodles, things like that."
In reality, the quantities would be much larger, all calculated in units of thousands. After all, Central Command’s population was enormous.
"What’s the price?" Frost Shaw asked, glancing at him nonchalantly.
"I saw the prices you have marked on your shelves. I’ll add... 10 points to each item!" Logan Holland declared, feeling he was being very generous.
But this was the apocalypse. While those products were common in the convenience store, they were incredibly rare outside.