Junk? It's treasure!

Qin Mao followed Yan Qi into the first room.

It was full of food.

Instant noodles, bread, compressed biscuits, sandwich cookies, dried noodles, rice, flour, self-heating hot pot, chili sauce, salt, white sugar, eggs, wild dog milk...

There were even some scarce, high-calorie foods like chocolate and candy.

There were also several large stacks of bottled mineral water, Green Bull, and other drinks.

The supplies might have looked plentiful, but there were thirty or forty survivors aboard.

And these were all supplies they could not replenish out at sea. Every bite meant less remained, making them extremely precious.

That was why the fleet risked landing on the small islands it passed to gather supplies.

That was why they spent time catching a hundred contaminated, inedible fish, all for a one-percent chance of catching a normal one.

The supplies in the room were not arranged by category.

Instead, they were kept in separate piles.

Each pile had a slip of paper bearing its owner's name.

Qin Mao glanced around and noticed one particularly abundant pile, stacked high, with the name "Zhou Hao" written on it.

He was the rich kid Su Miaomiao had hooked up with.

Not only was this pile large enough to rank among the top three in the Yaximu fleet, but its contents were also of very high quality.

For instance, the two vacuum-sealed bags of rice were Liuchang Rice, which had been produced in such small quantities even before the apocalypse that ordinary people could not buy the genuine article.

There were some other sought-after goods, too.

Things like Little Godmother Black Bean Chili Sauce, beef jerky, canned Meimu Luncheon Meat, skim milk powder, honey, and freeze-dried vegetables left the other survivors' supplies in the dust.

Qin Mao took a quick look around.

"Yan, these supplies are all privately owned. Who's paying for the ship repairs?"

"My friend, don't worry. Repairing the ship benefits everyone, so of course everyone splits the repair costs. Everyone has to contribute."

"All right, let's look next door."

Yan Qi nodded, led Qin Mao outside, and entered the neighboring cabin.

The things in this room were much more miscellaneous.

Like next door, they were kept separately on shelves, marked with slips of paper bearing names.

The small quantity of medicine was stored separately.

Useful supplies such as water purification tablets and portable freshwater collectors were also kept in safe spots.

The rest, piled about haphazardly, were things they currently had no use for.

Tablets with dead batteries, damaged solar panels, a battered hand-crank flashlight, spare pots and pans, a few clothes and blankets...

Qin Mao walked around, examining things and pointing.

"Two of these towels..."

"This toothbrush and toothpaste, the soap..."

"And that..."

"That too..."

He soon finished choosing.

Apart from toiletries, an enamel mug, a bag of solid fuel, a pot, and a blanket, most of the things were broken.

Yan Qi's face flushed when he saw the junk Qin Mao had chosen.

"My friend, these are broken! Don't be shy."

"Ah, it's fine. I like this stuff. Maybe I can get it working with a few repairs. Ever since I was little, I was the one who fixed the light bulbs and TV at home when they broke."

"But my friend, I'm a man like an eagle too. I won't take advantage of you."

Yan Qi insisted that he choose again.

Qin Mao looked surprised. "Who said this was all I wanted?"

"Huh?" Yan Qi looked utterly confused.

"Next door."

Carrying an armful of things, Qin Mao strolled back into the food storeroom.

"Two cases of that Liuchang Rice... chocolate... sugar... honey... and two cases of Meimu Luncheon Meat..."

"And the Qiqiharbin smoked sausage!"

Behind him, Yan Qi's handsome face grew darker and darker, while Qin Mao seemed not to notice.

"And that Little Godmother Black Bean Chili Sauce, chili powder, salt... oh, and eight or ten cases of purified water and dried noodles each..."

After a long while, there was no sound behind him.

"Huh? Where are you, Yan? Did you leave?"

Qin Mao turned around and found himself facing Yan Qi's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot.

"My friend, your appetite is bigger than ten naan breads."

Qin Mao curled his lip.

Even before the apocalypse, people haggled when buying things.

After the apocalypse, supplies were a matter of survival. What was wrong with asking for a little more?

So he imitated Yan Qi's tone and replied theatrically, "Hey, my friend, am I supposed to scrape meat off ants' legs to fill my belly every day?"

Yan Qi took a deep breath and composed himself.

"No! You're asking for too much. We can't afford it!"

"If that won't do... just sink the ship!"

Since it had come to that, Qin Mao knew when to stop.

The two haggled some more. In the end, the types of supplies remained largely unchanged, but the quantities were much, much smaller.

They gathered the supplies and packed them into a large wooden crate.

With a cold expression, Yan Qi took a thumb-sized skeleton out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it onto the floor.

The skeleton instantly grew to normal human size and picked up the heavy wooden crate with some effort.

Yan Qi felt the pinch, but he knew that, compared with the ship, these supplies were not something he could skimp on.

"Let's go!"

The two men and the skeleton came out of the Yaximu's cabin just like that and transported the supplies onto the Eerie Coconut.

Along the way, Qin Mao kept studying the skeleton from every angle, full of curiosity.

Every Sequence Transcendent had their own wonders. That saying really was true.

Controlling skeletons... he had no idea how that worked.

At the very least, there was no need to fight in person. That alone greatly reduced the danger.

After dropping off the supplies, Yan Qi went straight to Yang Fan and Ye Xuanyin to complain.

"Hey, my friends! It's not that I'm stingy. He's greedier than a naan seller who won't put sesame seeds on his naan! You have no idea..."

"I was so angry, steam was pouring right out of the top of my head! My stomach still feels bloated!"

Qin Mao had no idea how Yan Qi was bad-mouthing him behind his back, nor did he want to know.

All he knew was that he had struck it rich!

He divided the assorted food into two portions and put half in a cabin.

He put the other half in a cabin too.

Keeping it in two cabins would make it less vulnerable, so damage to the ship would not leave him poor again overnight.

"Now for the main event!"

In the room deepest in the bottom of the ship.

Qin Mao switched on his flashlight, spat twice into his hands, and eagerly picked out the supplies he needed.

"System... it's up to you!"

-Damaged portable seawater-to-freshwater collectors ×3.

"Repair!"

-Damaged solar panel + the seawater desalination collector Zhao Yuechuan had lost in their bet.

"Upgrade!"

-Battered hand-crank flashlight.

"Repair!"

-Damaged solar panel + useless electric ceramic cooker.

"Upgrade!"

After checking his Kill Points balance and finding fifteen hundred left, Qin Mao decided to upgrade some more practical household items.

[Ding... spend 300 Kill Points to upgrade the blanket?]

"Upgrade!"

[Ding... spend 1,000 Kill Points to upgrade the wok?]

"Upgrade!"

Soon, Qin Mao had used up nearly all his Kill Points, and a large pile of practical items appeared before him.

Solar-Powered Seawater Desalination Device-with only his own water consumption to account for, he would essentially never lack water again. As long as the weather was good, he could even shower regularly.

Solar-powered electric ceramic cooker-it could store electricity for cooking.

From now on, he could easily enjoy hot meals.

Hand-crank flashlight-powered by hand, it was not limited by environmental conditions.

Portable seawater-to-freshwater collector-a piece of transparent plastic shaped like a pointed hat.

Its water collection efficiency was far below that of the desalination device, but it was still useful and could be kept for emergencies.

Warm blanket-it was warmer than an ordinary blanket.

Delicious iron wok-food cooked in this wok was exceptionally delicious.

"Whew... what a haul!"

Looking at the mere three hundred-odd Kill Points left in the system, Qin Mao felt both the sting and the excitement, and let out a long, slightly off-key whistle.