Chapter 222: Distributing Supplies
The meal was well-organized, with several of her favorite dishes: pork ribs, jumbo shrimp, beef...
Before they knew it, it was time to eat. Nothing was more important than a good meal.
Lily Hart praised as she ate, "Roman Rowe, your cooking is getting better and better." She was so focused on eating she didn’t even look up, a grain of rice stuck to the corner of her mouth.
Roman Rowe was overjoyed to see this, but he feigned indifference. "This is nothing. If you want it, I can make it for you every day." In reality, the corners of his mouth were turned up high, and his body couldn’t help but sway with pride.
He accidentally bumped into Frost Shaw, who shot him a fierce glare. ’What a show-off. So what if your food is good? I can learn too!’
With that, he feigned carelessness and bumped him back. Roman Rowe didn’t notice a thing.
Stan Sterling, sitting in the corner, appeared to be eating, but he was actually observing everyone at the table.
The five little brats were eating heartily as usual, and Leo Colby’s attention was also on the food.
Seth, beside him, was a case study. He treated Lily Hart like a mukbang streamer, glancing at her every few bites before eating with even more gusto.
As for Roman Rowe and Frost Shaw, their intentions were painfully obvious. Throughout the entire meal, their eyes weren’t on the food but were fixed entirely on Lily Hart.
Meanwhile, the protagonist herself, Lily Hart, was focused solely on eating, even having someone peel shrimp for her.
Stan Sterling surveyed everyone, and for some reason, felt a twinge of sadness. He tried to push the feeling away and focus on his meal. ’Food this delicious deserves to be treated with respect.’
After the meal, Lily Hart habitually started to feel drowsy. She looked up and saw there were still many customers, and the lines in front of the machines were quite long.
The system notified her that two machines had sold out. Lily Hart ordered several hundred more scratch-off ticket books and had Diana Sharp and Tina Jacobs go down to refill the machines.
With that taken care of, Lily Hart was idle again. Nowadays, the two youngsters could handle most things. She just needed to oversee the big picture and order more scratch-off tickets.
As she was relaxing, she overheard someone’s discussion.
"Did you hear? They’re giving out free supplies at Central Command’s South Plaza at five this afternoon?"
"South Plaza? The biggest one? Free supplies? Are you sure you heard that right? Since when do we get that lucky?"
"Believe it or not, I’m going to get in line." With that, the man squeezed his way out of the crowd.
"Hey, hey! I never said I didn’t believe you!" The other person also hurried to push through the crowd. You could play the scratch-off games any day, but free supplies were a rare sight.
He had to go check out the commotion. He’d be happy to get anything at all!
Lily Hart got up from her lounge chair, walked over to the table in a few steps, and asked curiously, "What kind of supplies are they giving out?"
’Could it be The Mysterious Clan, trying to win people over? Is this all just a stunt?’
The customer was curious too. He shook his head honestly and said, "I don’t know. I’m going to go check it out. It’s for three in the afternoon, but it’s already almost one!"
As he spoke, he grew anxious and turned to leave, afraid he would miss out on the free supplies.
Someone nearby chimed in, "I think it’s Elder Shaw’s doing. It’s specifically for ordinary people with no superpower. A bottle of mineral water and a piece of bread!"
"Something that good? You’re not joking, are you?"
"It’s been ten years since the apocalypse. Are the good days finally coming?"
"Then what about us, the ones with superpowers? We can’t get any?"
The person who was asked grew annoyed. "I want to know too! Come on, let’s go see what’s going on. Even if we can’t get anything, it’s worth checking out the commotion. We haven’t seen anything like this in years!"
As they spoke, the group left together.
Lily Hart understood now. ’So, this Elder Shaw... bought all these supplies just to give them away to ordinary people for free?’
Central Command had a massive population, the majority of whom were ordinary survivors. A rough estimate put their numbers at one to two hundred thousand. ’Wouldn’t that small amount of supplies be nowhere near enough?’
Lily Hart wanted to check out the commotion too, to see how Elder Shaw was going to pull this off.
Of course, she wasn’t going to go alone. It wasn’t that she lacked confidence in her own abilities, but she was unfamiliar with Central Command and had too many responsibilities on her shoulders to risk anything happening.
She had become quite cautious with her life.
She sent a message to call for backup. Her first thought was Frost Shaw; she knew him relatively well, and he was powerful.
A reply came back quickly—a single, simple word: "Okay."
When he arrived, he had a tagalong. Frost Shaw stalked ahead with a sour look on his face, while Roman Rowe followed cheerfully behind. They boarded the RV one after the other.
Roman Rowe asked, "You’re going to Central Command? I know that place like the back of my hand! I spent two years knocking around in there!" He looked ecstatic, as if they were going somewhere wonderful.
Frost Shaw said quietly, "I know it well too."
Lily Hart’s gaze shifted between them. The two men unconsciously straightened their posture, like products being inspected. Finally, she said, "Alright, alright, you can both come."
Both of them broke into smiles simultaneously. Roman Rowe had his usual goofy grin, while Frost Shaw gave a subtle, restrained smile—completely different from each other.
The main gate of Central Command was magnificent. This was the North Gate; there were also gates to the south, east, and west. The main gate was for vehicles, while the side gates were for survivors.
Right now, the side gate was packed. Survivors from outside had all heard the news about the free supplies and were rushing back.
Even if they couldn’t get the main items, they’d be happy with scraps. This was a rare and joyous occasion!
Survivors who were permanent residents of Central Command were already registered and could enter simply by scanning their Light Brains.
Transient individuals like Lily Hart had to register every time they entered or exited, to be logged in Central Command’s system for a rough headcount.
So, Lily Hart dutifully entered her information on a machine outside the side gate: Lily Hart, female, 23, Wood Ability.
After entering those four simple pieces of information, Lily Hart walked inside and stepped slightly to the side to avoid blocking others.
She gazed at the massive base, feeling a sense of awe. The walls of many buildings were forged from metal, which was blindingly bright under the sun.
Yet it also had a unique, futuristic feel.
Roman Rowe came up and gently nudged her with his shoulder, mimicking her as he looked around. ’They’re just buildings, some tall, some short. What’s the big deal?’
He didn’t get it, but he was eager to ask, "What are you looking at?"
Lily Hart snapped out of her daze. She wasn’t sure how to explain it, so she just shook her head without a word.
"South Plaza is that way!" Frost Shaw pointed in a direction and started walking ahead.
"Let’s go." Roman Rowe gave Lily Hart a tug, motioning for her to follow.
In reality, they didn’t even need Frost Shaw to lead the way. Nearly everyone entering Central Command at that moment was headed for South Plaza. All they had to do was follow the crowd.
South Plaza was the largest square in Central Command. Some people would set up stalls along its edges to trade goods.
Today, however, South Plaza had been requisitioned by Elder Shaw.
The trio moved forward with the flow of people, surrounded by excited chatter about the event.
"Is it really a free handout? Are there any conditions to receive it?"
"You just need to show proof of having no superpower."
"Then what about people like us with superpowers? Why are we even going? Just to watch?"
"I heard we can get something too, but the supplies are different. Let’s just get there and see!"
Central Command was enormous, almost the size of a small city, but its roads were clearly planned out—main roads were main roads, and side streets were side streets.