The man looked at her with disbelief. His lips trembled. Then his eyes widened as he saw Ivy turn to the remaining zombies. She moved quickly, her arms slicing through the air. Each zombie fell with a single hit, like she was chopping vegetables in a market.
He stood frozen, watching.
’She... she’s not human. She’s like a storm. How can soone kill zombies like they’re nothing?’
anwhile, Ivy didn’t even notice his stunned expression. After the last zombie dropped, she brushed the dust off her hands and started walking toward her base.
The man blinked, then hurried to follow her. "Wait! Who are you? Thank you for saving my life. My na is Marcus."
Ivy gave a small nod. "Ivy. I was just on my way to the nearby base. I heard you can buy food there."
Marcus stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened. "Base? Is there a base other than military?"
"Yes," Ivy said calmly.
He grabbed her arm, desperate. "How much is the food? How many crystals does it cost?"
Ivy looked at him and spoke flatly. "From what I know, one kilogram of flour or rice costs no more than one hundred crystals."
Marcus froze. His jaw dropped. "What? One hundred? That’s too expensive! Even the military sells it cheaper!"
They soon arrived at the base Ivy ntioned. To Marcus’s eyes, it looked very small, almost laughably small. There were only ten box-like apartnts and nothing that looked impressive.
"Is this... really the place?" Marcus muttered.
Ivy didn’t answer. She simply walked toward a small store at the center. Marcus followed, unsure but curious.
Inside the store, his eyes went wide again. On the shelves were bags of rice, flour, and even salt. Real food. The kind he hadn’t seen in weeks.
He walked closer and checked the prices. Rice, one kilogram, one hundred crystals. Flour, one kilogram, one hundred crystals. Salt, forty crystals.
His throat went dry.
Out of all the things on the shelf, only rice and flour were costly. Compared to that, salt was much cheaper. In fact, it was so cheap that Marcus could not even buy it at a military base.
His hands tightened into fists as he stared at the small bag of salt.
He turned to Ivy with wide eyes. "Do you... do you live in this base?"
Ivy paused. Her lips pressed together for a mont before she nodded slowly. "Yes. I live here."
Hearing her words, Marcus felt a flicker of hope. His heart thumped in his chest. "Then... how is it? How are the apartnts compared to the military base?"
Ivy thought for a while before answering. "It is good. From what I know, all the apartnts will soon have solar panels. That ans there will be electricity all the ti. This base will also bring in more food, cheaper food. And the place to live is not bad either."
Marcus felt his eyes brighten at her words. His lips moved before he could stop them. "That... that sounds amazing. How much is the rent?"
Ivy hesitated. She thought back for a mont and then spoke plainly. "To rent one apartnt, you need to pay ten thousand crystals."
Marcus froze. His body stiffened like a statue. His jaw hung open as he stared at Ivy. "Ten... ten thousand?" His voice cracked in disbelief.
His heart pounded in his ears. ’Ten thousand? That is a joke. Who in the world can pay that? Even I can barely gather a hundred crystals in a whole month!’
He looked at Ivy strangely, his eyes full of disbelief. "Who would pay that much? This place has cheap food and electricity, but still... ten thousand is too much."
Ivy gazed back at him without flinching. Inside, her thoughts spun.
’Did I miscalculate? In my past life, even fifty thousand crystals for a single room was considered cheap. People fought like crazy for it, even if the roof leaked or the walls had holes. Everyone poured their crystals into it, treating it like treasure. But now... to them, ten thousand is already too much. I thought I was doing them a favor by lowering the price. It seems no one can appreciate it.’
But then she stiffened and rembered sothing. In her past life, the price started to hike after a year of the apocalypse. Now it was still early, and many of the superhumans would struggle to even kill 100 crystals.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. ’I cannot change the price. This base must remain stable. The price will not go down. I will keep it the sa till the very end.’
Anyways, 2 months have passed since her rebirth, and she only needs to wait for a month before her base would erge out as a cost-effective and secure base.
She looked at Marcus and spoke calmly, her voice steady. "From what I heard, paying ten thousand crystals a month guarantees safety. The boss I contacted promised that no zombies will ever breach this base."
Marcus stared at her as if she had grown a second head. His mouth twisted into a frown. He shook his head slowly, disappointnt heavy in his eyes.
"That is too expensive. The food is expensive, too. Even with electricity, it is not worth it."
But he could not ignore the salt. He reached forward and grabbed a small bag, clutching it tightly like it was a treasure. His throat felt dry. He wanted it. He needed it.
When he pulled out his crystals, his brow furrowed. He looked around the store, scanning the shelves, the walls, and the empty counter. "Wait... there is no shopkeeper here. Who do I pay?"
Ivy blinked. For the first ti since they had entered, a small smile tugged at her lips. She had almost forgotten this detail. "It should be . I am the shopkeeper here."
Marcus’s eyes widened. His face turned red. Heat crept up his neck as he realized what he had said earlier.
Just a few minutes ago, he had been complaining about how expensive everything was.
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