Chapter 58: Pitiful Alan
The RV was black with metal plating covering its body and reinforced panels protecting its sides.
It had thick, heavy-duty tires and a boxy shape. Although the scratched paint and worn exterior made it look old, its sturdy construction gave it a rugged appearance.
Ni Mengxue walked around the RV several times, carefully inspecting every part of it.
At first, Romeo stood beside her with a proud smile. However, that smile gradually disappeared.
"The suspension is too stiff."
She pointed toward the underside. "This part isn’t reinforced enough either. If you drive over rough terrain, it won’t last long."
She opened one of the storage compartments. "And this locking mechanism is terrible. Anyone with a little strength could force it open."
Romeo’s expression twitched. He had originally thought that she wouldn’t understand much about vehicles.
Now he realized that he had seriously underestimated her. ’What a cunning fox.’
He immediately put on an apologetic smile. "Miss Ni, you’re right. I can fix all these problems. Give me two days."
Ni Mengxue shook her head. "No need."
Romeo blinked in confusion. Was she going to back out of the deal?
"No need?"
"I’ll take it as it is."
She calmly paid him with the agreed amount of grain before getting into the driver’s seat. Romeo watched her drive away with a complicated expression.
He had a strange feeling... like Ni Mengxue was telling him that she knew about his petty trick and couldn’t be bothered to deal with him.
Once she was far enough away, Ni Mengxue stopped the RV in an isolated area and stored it inside her spatial storage.
Only then did she check the notification. Sure enough, the system had issued a hidden mission.
[Hidden Mission Completed.]
[Mission: Purchase an RV. Reward: Unknown Metal Fragment ×1.]
Ni Mengxue stared at the small piece of metal in her hand. "What’s this?"
She checked its information.
[Unknown Metal Fragment. Five fragments are required to activate. Host may receive unexpected surprise once it is activated.]
"Five?"
Ni Mengxue frowned. She had no idea what the system was planning this time. After thinking for a moment, she stored the fragment away.
’There must be a reason the system is giving me these one by one.’
She didn’t intend to worry about it for now. Her next destination was a clothing shop.
Unfortunately, the situation there was considerably worse.
The shop was nothing like the clothing stores from before the apocalypse.
The walls were covered with crude wooden shelves, most of which were almost empty.
Several mannequins had lost their heads, and the remaining ones were dressed in patched-up clothes.
A few rolls of fabric sat behind the counter, but most were so rough and poor in quality that Ni Mengxue didn’t even bother examining them.
There was hardly any fabric left. In the end, she could only buy ready-made clothes.
While choosing them, she overheard several customers discussing a group called the Tiger Hunt.
Apparently, Tiger Hunt was a special group that focused on scavenging supplies in dangerous areas.
They would enter places ordinary survivors didn’t dare approach and retrieve whatever edible or usable resources they could find.
She shifted her focus to the clothes, and finding nothing suitable, she sighed. This was the fifth time when the clothes of cloth shop didn’t satisfy her.
She walked up to the shopkeeper and said,
"Do you have any better quality of clothes? I am ready to pay up to 100 Kg of pure rice."
The shopkeeper, a middle-aged woman with short brown hair, sharp hazel eyes, and tanned skin, listened to Ni Mengxue’s questions before suddenly becoming enthusiastic.
Her body was sturdy from years of surviving the apocalypse, and there was a strange cruelty in the way she smiled.
When Ni Mengxue proposed exchanging supplies for one hundred kilograms of pure rice, the woman’s eyes immediately lit up.
Pure rice was extremely rare and expensive in the apocalypse.
"Come with me."
The woman locked the front door and led Ni Mengxue toward the back. They passed through a narrow corridor before entering a hidden room.
The moment Ni Mengxue stepped inside, her eyes narrowed.
The shop inside was indeed different. It had clothes of various sizes and colors; the racks weren’t as empty as the one in the front shop. There were also shoes and accessories.
But what attracted her attention was... there was a cage in the corner.
Inside it was a young man. He was exceptionally beautiful.
His long silver-white hair was messy and fell around his pale face. His eyes were a clear shade of blue, but they were filled with exhaustion.
His slender body was covered with bruises and whip marks, yet even in such a miserable state, his appearance was striking.
The moment the silver-haired man noticed Ni Mengxue, his eyes brightened. Hope appeared in them.
The shopkeeper immediately noticed. Her expression darkened.
She walked into the cage and slapped him hard across the face. "Don’t even think about seducing another woman!"
The man’s head snapped to the side. He remained silent.
Ni Mengxue merely watched. The shopkeeper’s personality was clearly twisted. She seemed to enjoy seeing the people she controlled helpless and afraid.
The shopkeeper eventually brought her attention back to the transaction.
"One hundred kilograms of pure rice, right?"
"Yes."
"Then choose whatever you want."
Ni Mengxue calmly selected several piles of clothing. When she finished, she was about to leave. However, the silver-haired man suddenly held onto the railing of the cage and shouted,
"Please take me away."
The shopkeeper’s expression immediately became furious. She pulled a whip from her waist. "You better pray that she takes you away."
She cracked the whip against the ground. "Otherwise, I’ll kill you."
Then she looked toward Ni Mengxue. "If you want Alan, you need to pay another five hundred kilograms of pure rice."
With that, she gave a mocking smile as if she knew that Ni Mengxue wouldn’t protect him.
Alan immediately began sobbing. "Don’t!"
He looked at Ni Mengxue desperately. "Please leave. Don’t save me. She’ll only make things difficult for you."