42 Draw Cards!

42. Draw Cards!

Shen Jinwen did not need to find any excuse. After all, there was a gap in strength between them. If the other side refused to open the door, she could simply force it open.

Fortunately, the people inside were wary, but not so wary that they refused to open the door altogether. After hearing Shen Jinwen's friendly words, they recalled the unusual fact that they had encountered almost no danger since arriving nearby and immediately understood the reason.

So this was territory with an owner.

Someone stepped forward and opened the door. Behind him stood three others holding weapons, their expressions tense. Upon seeing that Shen Jinwen and Xu Zhi were both girls, they instinctively relaxed first, then hesitated over whether to invite them in.

Xu Zhi smiled and took the initiative to ask, "Won't you invite us in to talk?"

After saying that, she felt like this was not the first time she had said something like that.

Seeing that Xu Zhi and Shen Jinwen did not attack them outright, the man at the door stepped back a few paces and let them enter.

Once inside, Xu Zhi said nothing. The four people in the room focused more of their attention on the Gyrfalcon perched on her shoulder.

After Shen Jinwen proposed that anyone living here had to pay one core per week, the group exchanged looks. To their surprise, they did not make a scene, instead asking rationally, "If we choose not to stay and leave now, do we still have to pay the core?"

Shen Jinwen shook her head. "No. But think carefully about the environment around here along the way. We've cleared out the area, leaving only relatively weak mutated animals. It's perfect for newly awakened Transcendents to practice against. And if you live here, you won't have to worry about mutated animals suddenly breaking in at night and eating you."

"One core a week is only the lowest price."

As soon as Shen Jinwen finished speaking, Xu Zhi said casually, "That's only because your team has three Transcendents and one ordinary person."

The instant her words fell, the faces of the four people before her changed drastically. "H-How did you know?!"

Xu Zhi's tone remained unhurried. "The weak have no privacy before the strong."

"Decide quickly. Today is Tuesday. If you want to stay, give me three cores now and you can remain until this Sunday. After that, go to the neighborhood office in the residential district every Monday and pay her your lodging fee: four cores."

"Also, if you bring outsiders here to live, each person counts as one core."

Xu Zhi and Shen Jinwen had discussed this as well. As Xu Zhi's assistant, Shen Jinwen could receive Winter Attribute Cores as payment.

As for bringing in outsiders, Xu Zhi would simply go with the flow. What she wanted were more leeks that could grow and keep developing. Four people were far from enough.

After hearing Xu Zhi's words, the group was already tempted and no longer wanted to leave.

Even in peaceful times, people had to pay rent or buy homes. Now, in the apocalypse, the other side could provide a safe place to live and mutated animals of suitable levels nearby for training. One core per week really was not an unreasonable price.

Even though they had survived in this city for more than a month, they had not saved up many cores.

Xu Zhi had plenty of ideas, but there were too few people for now. Once the settlement became more populated, she had plenty of ways to harvest those leeks ruthlessly.

Safety was the most enticing thing in Cloud City right now. The four did not deliberate for long before deciding to stay.

"Then what if we want to leave later?"

Shen Jinwen replied, "Same thing. Just leave."

It was entirely voluntary.

Hearing that, the four finally relaxed.

One middle-aged man, who seemed to be their leader, asked, "How many people are here? And roughly how large an area nearby is relatively safe for us?"

Xu Zhi thought for a moment and replied, "There are three more, but you won't get to see them."

Then she roughly indicated the area that the Familiar had cleared. After the man asked several more inconsequential questions, which Shen Jinwen answered, Xu Zhi and Shen Jinwen left.

"Remember to go sit at the neighborhood office every Monday from now on. Contact me immediately if anything comes up."

Before parting, Xu Zhi reminded her, then took two Winter Attribute Cores from her warehouse.

"This is an advance on this month's salary. Come find me on the first of every month from now on, and I'll pay you."

Even though they were now considered companions, Xu Zhi did not intend to rely solely on personal ties and pressure to make Shen Jinwen work for her.

Shen Jinwen's salary was not fixed. It would depend on the profits and the circumstances. Xu Zhi was only giving her two cores for now because there were only four people at the moment, and Shen Jinwen did not need to do much.

Two cores were enough to hire a Transcendent in Cloud City to handle a month's miscellaneous work for her. It was absurdly cheap labor.

But that was only in the early stages.

Once there were more people in the settlement.

"Take it step by step." Only after Shen Jinwen became stronger, and her own strength could crush these Transcendents as well, could they begin expanding rapidly.

For now, she still needed to rely on the Familiar. It was not a good time yet, but she could slowly establish the rules here.

That night, after tallying the gains of the three Familiar and feeding them cores with suitable attributes, Xu Zhi consumed four Moth Attribute Cores herself.

This time, several more moths surrounded her in the hallucination.

The next morning, Xiao Zhen brought good news.

It had finally found black fruits again after many days, and there were two of them.

Xu Zhi did not hesitate and fed both to Xiao Zhen.

The reason was simple. Xiao Zhen currently had the fewest traits, only four: Sharpness Lv5, Agility Lv8, Endurance Lv5, and Strength Lv4.

Other than Sharpness, no matter which of the other three she drew, it would be very good for Xu Zhi.

Her only concern was drawing Sharpness again. But all three Familiar had Sharpness, so that concern existed no matter which one she drew from.

Moreover, as the only flying unit, Xiao Zhen truly needed greater strength.

The traits Xu Zhi currently possessed were Sharpness, Evolution, Vigilance, and Bloodlust. Pairing any of them with Agility, Endurance, or Strength would make for an excellent combination and greatly increase her own strength.

After weighing the pros and cons, Xu Zhi decisively fed both black fruits to Xiao Zhen.

When Xiao Zhen awoke, it had already reached Level 19.

[Familiar: Gyrfalcon Lv19

Mental: 730

Physical: 2400

Traits: Sharpness Lv5, Agility Lv8, Endurance Lv5, Strength Lv5

Special Ability: Instant Death Lv2]

Other than Endurance increasing by one level, the most important change was that Instant Death had also risen by one level.

[Due to a certain special reason, you may draw one trait from your Familiar.]

The familiar notification appeared. Besides it, there was another line.

[Congratulations, your Familiar's special ability level has increased.]

[Instant Death Lv2: When the Familiar activates this Transcendent ability, its attacks may cause the target to die immediately. Instant Death cannot be resisted, reversed, or altered. Current activation chance: one in a thousand.]

[As the probability rises, the Transcendent energy your Familiar must pay to use this ability also increases.]

[At present, your Familiar can only use this ability once at full power.]