Apocalypse: After Being Reborn, I Stocked Up on All Supplies

Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Made a Fortune (Requesting monthly votes and followers!)

“Su Dai, if you were to con someone in this kind of environment, aside from choosing those who can compensate with supplies, who else would you target?”

Jiang Yan asked this, and it happened to coincide with what Sun Jingtao was thinking.

Su Dai replied without hesitation, “Definitely those who are easy to bully, after all, you have to pick the soft persimmons to squeeze.”

It was like the child who was the first to cling to her legs, because among the few of them, she had the smallest figure.

Whereas Jiang Yan, dressed neutrally and walking with great presence, also had height on her side.

To say she was a somewhat shorter young man wouldn’t be unbelievable to others.

After all, nowadays, men who are nothing but skin and bones are quite common.

Having said that, Su Dai instantly realized, “Right, they shouldn’t be targeting us by that logic!”

Their group, except for her being a bit weaker, the rest all had an imposing air about them.

Especially Song Qian and Ye Qing, their physique stood out among the various weak and disabled who had made it ashore.

Those people who came to con their group either had an agenda or had water in their brains.

“Ah, now that we’re being targeted, we probably can’t enter this base anymore.” Su Dai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Song Qian gave her a glance and said, “It’s not you guys who are being targeted, but Kong Wu and me. This base is likely a mix of several forces; they pay special attention to survivors who look like a new force. However, it should be no big deal. You don’t need to worry too much.”

The others looked at each other and understood instantly.

Song Qian and Kong Wu were still wearing their standard combat uniforms, and the backpacks they carried were professional tactical packs.

Although the clothes and backpacks were already tainted with soot, compared to most people wearing an entire wardrobe of clothes swollen on them, they were still notably different.

The overly sharp and efficient two were like two noticeable bags walking on the street.

“Alright, what’s done is done, let’s go through the procedures and take a rest before discussing further,” Sun Jingtao composed himself, “Jiang Yan, Brother Song, what do you think?”

After the recent incident, there were quite a few people standing at the entrance just like them, chattering and hesitant about whether to enter the base or not.

Fortunately, Jiang Yan and her group were all wearing masks.

Even if there were people secretly observing, they wouldn’t know what they were discussing.

Jiang Yan nodded, “Sure.”

After witnessing the incident with the car rampaging through pedestrians, she had many doubts and suspicions about this base.

Not just about those soldiers and staff pretending to be deaf and dumb, but also about those people in area B of the dormitory whose lives seemed as worthless as weeds, and about that lawless magenta Mercedes.

She believed Sun Jingtao and the others felt the same.

But now wasn’t the time for idle chat, and it was about to get dark; settling down first was the priority.

If they sensed something was off, they could leave at the start of the next day.

Besides, thinking that this place was the Coal Mine Capital, Jiang Yan also had her own private plans in mind.

“I have no objections,” Song Qian nodded as well.

Old Xue quickly led them to the front of a container at the base entrance to complete the registration.

Only then did they learn that the food they paid for the housing was just part of the cost.

To enter the base, an additional city entrance fee had to be paid per person.

The entrance fee included the cost of making a resident card and the fee for occupying resources inside the base.

Those who paid the card-making fee would receive a chest badge, also color-coded.

This color matched the residential area corresponding to Old Xue’s group.

Single apartments, courtyards, and villa areas all had red badges.

Residential buildings and youth apartments had green badges.

The dormitory, whether areas A or B, didn’t have badges at all.

What Old Xue hadn’t mentioned before was that those wearing red badges would be given priority protection by the warriors when attacked by refugees outside the base.

Including but not limited to intervening, assisting in counterattacks, etc.

And those with green badges would also be protected by warriors when attacked outside the base.

But limited to intervening by reprimanding to stop the behavior and such single methods.

So-called refugees referred to both those from the dormitory and those who hadn’t yet completed procedures to enter the base.

After hearing this, they all felt somewhat wistful inside: it sounded like paying protection fees to local thugs.

Who would’ve thought that, at any time, the division of class could be so pronounced.

The entrance fee could also be paid with food, energy, weapons, etc.

Among these foods, fish, shrimp, and crab were the most common.

Because the area was surrounded by water, the base organized daily fishing expeditions.

The most precious were vegetables and fruits.

Even if they were severely dehydrated and shriveled, as long as they hadn’t completely rotted, they were considered treasures.

It was said that although the base had energy supply and greenhouses and the like, due to soil quality and other reasons, the number and variety of vegetables and fruits that could be grown were very limited.

Not even enough to share among the high-ranking officials of the base and their family and friends.

Su Dai handed over the sweet potato she had gotten from Jiang Yan, the one stripped of its leaves.

They had gotten sick of sweet potatoes these past days; other staple foods had become more important to them at this moment.

One sweet potato covered the entrance fee for six people and exchanged for half a month’s energy supply.

It seemed outrageous, but indeed they had made a fortune.

After completing the procedures, Old Xue took them through twists and turns within the base, and finally, when it was almost dark, they arrived at the area they were renting.

There weren’t many small courtyards here, just over fifty or so.

Originally tiled with green roofs and white walls, now they were dull and gray.

Even the walls were black.

A light pat of the black soot would cause a thick layer to fall off.

According to Old Xue, most of the small courtyards were vacant, with not many people renting them.

“Why?” Su Dai was puzzled.

When she first landed, she had observed that the survivors who managed to reach the base, some with boats and even small yachts, were not few.

Some people looked like they commandeered a pleasure boat from some scenic area as a group; they were not lacking in supplies.

Those like them with rubber boats had just reasonable conditions.

“Those with more supplies all rented big villas; some people even thought about not leaving the base and bartered their boats for supplies.

As for those with fewer supplies, of course, they’d choose the residential high-rise. Like you guys with supplies and still—” stingy with them.

Old Xue didn’t finish saying what he insinuated, and the words that came out changed to “careful with your budget, are the minority.”

Jiang Yan gave Old Xue a side-glance.

It was clear that this man was playing dumb with a clear mind.

After a few more brief instructions, Old Xue took a bag of instant noodles as a tip and left.

Song Qian and Kong Wu helped the group to bring in their supplies, agreed on a time to meet again, and then left, one after the other.

After entering the courtyard, according to Jiang Yan’s instructions, they shut the door tightly, put down their backpacks and supplies, and started inspecting the place.

After all, there was electricity here.

Even though the power supply provided to them was intermittent, only one hour per day,

it was hard to say whether things like surveillance were on an independent circuit…