The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

Zeng Xiaodao was severely injured and completely unconscious. Blood flowed endlessly from beneath his black clothes, and in just a short while, a pool had already formed on the ground.

The question of whether to save him or not only lingered in Shen Lu’s mind for a second before she made her decision.

Save him.

’Of course I have to save him.’

’The progress on my hidden mission moved. It only increased by 1%, but what does that mean?’

’It means Zeng Xiaodao is the key NPC for this mission!’

’Come to think of it, wasn’t this hidden mission triggered after Zeng Xiaodao started chattering on and on to me?’

’But how to save him is a problem, too. I can’t move Zeng Xiaodao, so how am I supposed to get him out of here?’

Shen Lu could only pin her hopes on the Lottery Ticket she hadn’t used yet today.

Shen Lu made a bold wish, "Can you give me an Any Door? That way I can take Zeng Xiaodao straight back to the shop."

System: (￣ー￣)

[Host, we are the Super Delicious Popular Culinary System, not Doraemon.]

"COUGH!" The half-dead Zeng Xiaodao suddenly coughed, spitting out a large mouthful of blood mixed with chunks of flesh.

Even though Shen Lu wasn’t a Superpower User, she could sense that Zeng Xiaodao’s condition was worsening.

Shen Lu: "He’s not about to die, is he?"

[Host is correct. Zeng Xiaodao’s internal injuries are very severe. If he isn’t taken to a hospital in time, he will certainly die within half an hour.]

Shen Lu frowned and quickly used the Lottery Ticket.

[Congratulations, Host, you have drawn prize #120 from the blind box: one Nano-freezer.]

[One Nano-freezer: An ultra-miniature freezer with the function of instant flash-freezing for preservation. It guarantees ingredients remain absolutely fresh. After thawing, they will return to their pre-frozen state without any damage to the ingredient’s vitality.]

[Note: The Nano-freezer can be used for a maximum of 12 hours. Host, please be mindful of the time.]

Shen Lu: ?

Shen Lu: "Are you dropping the ball right now?"

’What am I supposed to do with a Nano-freezer at a time like this?’

’I have no use for it at all!’

[Host, how is this dropping the ball? Have you ever heard of cryonics?]

Of course, Shen Lu had heard of it. In her original world, the technology had been listed by foreign magazines as one of the ten future scientific technologies that would transcend human limits. It involved cryopreserving a human body or animal at extremely low temperatures (below -196 degrees Celsius), with the dream of one day reviving and treating them with advanced medical technology.

Shen Lu: "You mean, this Nano-freezer can freeze Zeng Xiaodao and stop his injuries from getting any worse?"

[Theoretically, yes. But we have never tested it on a human body.]

Shen Lu: "You sound a little uncertain, don’t you?"

This was rare. The System’s tone was usually quite confident.

’But it seems I have no other choice. I can only give it a try.’

She took out the Nano-freezer and, following the instruction manual, placed it directly on Zeng Xiaodao’s skin.

The Nano-freezer flashed a blue light, and Shen Lu clearly felt a penetrating chill. A faint blue layer covered Zeng Xiaodao’s skin, but when she touched it, it wasn’t the hard, cold surface she’d expected. Instead, it had the softness of normal muscle, although the temperature was very low.

Shen Lu found it amazing. "It worked just like that?"

[Yes, Host.]

The System’s voice also clearly sounded relieved.

With his injuries under control, the next problem was how to get Zeng Xiaodao away from here.

A bold idea suddenly popped into Shen Lu’s head. She put the Nanometer Super Realistic Mask on Zeng Xiaodao. A minute later, the young man lying in a pool of blood disappeared, replaced by a three-year-old girl.

System: o(ﾟДﾟ)っ!?

What kind of move was that?!

The corners of Shen Lu’s mouth lifted in a smug smile. "Just a basic move, no need to freak out."

’Don’t forget the description for the Nanometer Super Realistic Mask: after putting it on, you can disguise yourself as anyone you want to be, changing your skin color, facial features, gender, height, and so on.’

’So, a 1.78-meter-tall young man turning into a little girl who doesn’t even reach my thigh is perfectly reasonable, isn’t it?’

’This way, even I can easily pick her up.’

To complete the disguise, Shen Lu stored Zeng Xiaodao’s clothes in the System Warehouse and pulled out a spare chef’s uniform to wrap her in.

The only problem was that the white was too conspicuous, and the uniform was very new.

She grabbed some dirt from the ground and rubbed it on the uniform a few times, managing to dull the white. Only then did she pick her up and walk out of the alley.

Shen Lu’s intention was to avoid the police, but she never expected to run right into two of them as soon as she came out the other end of the alley.

"Stop! Who’s there?!"

The officer shouted at Shen Lu, his expression suspicious as he scanned her up and down.

Shen Lu cursed her bad luck internally and put on a timid, frightened expression. "I... I just came here to collect trash..."

The trash around the corporate park was a hot commodity, but locals from the Upper City District wouldn’t come to collect it. Usually, only the lower-class citizens from the Lower City District did.

The police weren’t about to go easy on her just because she was a girl. There had been an attack on a pharmaceutical company, and they hadn’t caught the culprit. The police station wouldn’t know a moment’s peace, not just for tonight, but for some time to come.

At a time like this, never mind a frail little girl, even a toddler who had just learned to walk would be a person of interest if they appeared in the corporate park.

"What’s your name? Where’s your pass? What are you doing in the Upper City District?"

The slightly older officer forcibly took the child from Shen Lu’s arms, while the other, younger officer turned on his work Light Brain and began scanning Shen Lu, rattling off questions without pause.

The Light Brain contained Shen Lu’s relevant citizen information, which would pop up with just a facial scan. Shen Lu couldn’t lie without raising suspicion, so she answered honestly.

"Shen Lu. My pass is here. I came to the Upper City District to attend a birthday party."

As she answered, the young officer’s work Light Brain was already displaying Shen Lu’s information.

The young officer took the pass Shen Lu handed over and scanned it as well. It wasn’t a fake.

"Who is this? Your reproductive information says you haven’t given birth to any children."

"She’s a child I found." Shen Lu couldn’t very well claim the child was her sister or a relative; that would be too easy to expose. "She looks sick, and I don’t have extra money for medicine. I was hoping to try my luck over here, maybe find some discarded medicine."

It was a mediocre lie, but she couldn’t think of a better story.

Of course, the young officer didn’t believe her. The story sounded fake from the get-go. He gave his partner a look, signaling him to check the child.

The older officer understood and lifted the clothes wrapped around the child.

It was a scrawny little girl, wearing nothing underneath. Her skin had a cold sheen to it, and she showed no signs of life.

The older officer carefully pressed the child’s chest. It was cold. No heartbeat. No breath from her mouth or nose. Her body was even beginning to stiffen.

The child was dead. He estimated she’d been dead for almost an hour.

The older officer silently covered her back up with the clothes, even pulling the cloth over her face. He shook his head at his colleague, indicating there was no problem.

The young officer’s eyebrow twitched slightly. He was a little surprised and paused for a moment before returning the pass to Shen Lu.

"Can I go now?" Shen Lu asked as she took back her pass.