Chapter 29: Ability Fruit
Wife? He did have one... but she was better off dead.
"I don’t," he lied bluntly, lowering his face to hide his complex emotions.
"How is that possible? Brother Ji, you are handsome and have healing light... so how are you not matched yet?" Ai Tong murmured in confusion.
Ji Henghua gave a faint smile, and Ai Tong finally stopped probing and changed the subject.
"Brother Guo, I met your cousin Xiong Tan just the other day. He was on a mission and talked about this newly opened base called Fair Shallow Base."
"Hm? Did he tell you how he is doing? Does he need help?" Guo Wangshui frowned hard.
"No. He is doing great, and he even asked me to join them. According to him, the missions assigned at the base are super easy since they’re mostly infrastructure-based. And now it is the golden time to join them."
All of them soon started to gossip about the new base while Ji Henghua made future plans. Once he finds his brother, he wants to settle in this new base too.
Just from their words, he was sure that the base leader was smart; rather than rushing to build makeshift shanty houses, they preferred quality over quantity. Pity... they might fail if they maintain this.
In an apocalypse, no one looks at the quality as long as the quantity can suffice.
......
Ni Mengxue arrived at the mercenary group at the Starlight building. Just like before, she saw Su Yun flirting with a young man, while another young man served her obediently.
"Miss Su, I am here to collect my items."
Su Yun frowned when her fun was interrupted... again. However, when she noticed it was Ni Mengxue, a smile spread across her face.
"Oh my! Miss Ni, please come. Your items are ready, but the quantity might exceed your expectations." Su Yun’s voice sounded cautious.
"Don’t worry, I hadn’t specified the limit, so even if it might bankrupt me, I will take everything." Ni Mengxue laughed, making Su Yun’s smile more sincere.
She was soon led to the back side of the building, where a huge warehouse was guarded by a few ferocious-looking men. On seeing Su Yun, all of them respectfully moved aside.
Ni Mengxue arched a brow and asked, "Aren’t you worried that I might be carrying some kind of weapon with me?"
"Miss Ni, you truly know how to joke with me. You are my client; how can I doubt you?" Su Yun smiled, but the glint in her eyes told Ni Mengxue a completely different story.
Once inside, Su Yun pointed at the left side of the warehouse, which was filled with herbs, and said, "That’s all yours."
Ni Mengxue first checked the commonly found herbs. Many of them resembled the herbs from her past life. She wondered if she could grow them since all of them had medicinal properties.
Then she moved toward the unique plant; her eyes flickered with shock when she found the ability fruit. There were only 10 of them, but for Ni Mengxue it was a boon!
Ability fruit could increase a user’s level. In her past life, many had avoided it due to its toxicity. Direct consumption could lead to death, and indirect consumption, like cooking it up or purifying it, could lead to diarrhoea or allergies.
All in all, it was a dangerous item. However, she could transform it into a levelling-up serum. With that serum, she could exchange it for items her base lacked.
"Miss Ni, are you satisfied?" Su Yun’s voice broke Ni Mengxue’s daze, and she grinned. "Yes, I am. As I said, I will give 34 kg of extra pure rice since I am satisfied with the unique herbs. Please weigh the remaining herbs."
Su Yun’s eyes sparkled in delight. Getting paid for these junk herbs was a huge bargain, especially when there were 40,000 kg of herbs present.
That was straight away 40,000 kg of rice! But now she was getting an extra 34 kg of pure rice! Even if she deducts the labour cost, she would at least get 5 kg of pure rice!
When it was time to pay, Ni Mengxue’s lips almost twitched. 40,000 kg of coarse rice... almost equivalent to 4000 kg of pure rice.
Thank god she had exchanged her spinach, lettuce, and turnips for 100,000 kg of coarse rice in advance.
Once the payment went through, she stored the item, took out a few herbs, and placed them on the table. "Get me 40kg of this type of herb, and if there are any unique herbs, please get them for me. The amount is still the same."
"Understood, Miss Ni!" Su Yun beamed with joy, while the few mercenaries lurking instantly perked up.
"Wait." Ni Mengxue suddenly said, making everyone hold their breath. "I have radish and turnips. Can they be put up as a reward too?"
"I would like to inspect the quality if you don’t mind, Miss Ni," Su Yun said in a gentle voice, but she snorted internally.
’Sure enough, no businessman is honest. Radish and turnip? Was she talking about those wilted pieces of vegetables? I would pretend to look closely and then speak bluntly. Lest she pull out this trick again.’
With a perfunctory attitude, she opened the paper bag and her eyes widened in surprise. There were indeed radishes and turnips! And they were plump, with a touch of grassy fragrance.
Rather than rushing to accept it, she looked at her newly recruited seventeenth husband, Yu Rong, who was a plant-ability awakener.
He took the turnip, closed his eyes, and soon a glow enveloped the entire turnip. Finally, he opened his eyes with joy and nodded at Su Yun.
Su Yun closed her eyes in regret. ’This idiot! He should have at least restrained his emotions... now how am I supposed to negotiate?’
"Miss Ni... these are indeed amazing. How about 1 kg for every 1000 kg of plants?" She quickly stated the highest price that came to her mind.