Two points. Only when her hunger faded did she feel alive...

All the bases had joined together to establish a unified standard for classifying crystal core energy values.

The lowest-ranked D-grade crystal cores had energy values of 0-999.

The next rank up, C-grade crystal cores, had energy values of 1,000-9,999.

B-grade crystal cores had energy values of 10,000-99,999.

A-grade crystal cores had energy values of 100,000-999,999.

S-grade crystal cores had energy values of 1,000,000-9,999,999.

SS-grade crystal cores had energy values of 10,000,000-99,999,999.

SSS-grade crystal cores had energy values of 100,000,000-999,999,999.

SSS+-grade crystal cores had energy values of ≥1,000,000,000.

Sang Luoluo's head was filled with zeros as she read. What a shame she hadn't had time to test the energy value of that green crystal core today.

There was nothing she could do about that. She didn't have any equipment for testing crystal cores. They did sell it at the trading market, but even the cheapest cost 1,000 points. She didn't have a single point on her now. The body's original owner had spent her last three points on one final bottle of nutrient solution, which was already gone.

Crystal cores were extremely hard to find. Most people in the shantytown had never seen a single one in their lives. Even if they came across one, it was easy to overlook. Some crystal cores were tiny, the smallest only the size of a grain of sand. Whose eyes were sharp enough to spot that?

Apparently, Base 71 used an SS-grade crystal core to power its radiation shield. It had supplied the base with power for twenty years without running out of energy.

Besides that, crystal cores had a wide range of uses. A small number of people with special constitutions could absorb them to strengthen their bodies, heal injuries, and repair genes. They could also power new weapons, much like disposable batteries. The base's research laboratory was still studying their uses. Unfortunately, these things came from outer space, and even after three hundred years, humanity had barely begun to develop their potential.

The base offered extremely generous exchange rates for crystal cores, awarding points equal to ten times the energy they contained.

There had been several cases in the base's history where people from the shantytown accidentally discovered crystal cores while scavenging in the wild. They handed them over to the base, exchanged them for large sums of points, bought homes in the inner part of the safe zone, and lived without worrying about food or clothing until they died naturally of old age.

That really was getting rich overnight. Even she was tempted.

She read some more information about crystal cores, but as she read, she could no longer fight her drowsiness and closed her eyes.

The next day, her wristwatch alarm rang before dawn.

Sang Luoluo came to her senses and remembered her circumstances. She scrambled up, tugging at her wounds with a hiss, then hurried to light a fire and make something to eat.

Breakfast was green mush made with spirit spring water. Without any nutrient solution, she still gulped it down, barely filling her stomach halfway. It tasted bitter and astringent. After eating, Sang Luoluo took a few more mouthfuls of spirit spring water to rinse her mouth before shouldering her basket, taking her stone knife, and heading out.

She wanted to check the place she had visited yesterday again.

She had found a crystal core there. Perhaps there were more nearby.

She had left a little earlier today and reached yesterday's dense patch of purslane by eight. There were far fewer people today. Perhaps they had discovered there was nothing edible here and moved elsewhere.

Sang Luoluo went to the spot where she had found the crystal core yesterday. The mantis corpse was long gone. Only two chewed-up, spiked forelegs remained on the ground. Presumably, some other wild beast had eaten it during the night.

She couldn't help feeling a chill all over. She looked around nearby but found no sign of any other crystal cores. Then she tested the purslane she hadn't had time to check yesterday. Not a single leaf was edible.

With a soft sigh, she followed the crowd farther out, not daring to linger.

If she arrived late, she could only pick through what others had left and test it again. There was no point. That was far too inefficient.

If only she had a vehicle. She could drive deeper into the dense forest or travel farther afield. Right now, she had only her own two legs. When radiation peaked at noon, if she couldn't find a suitable place to shelter from the sunlight, she would lose her life out here.

Someone in the distant crowd shouted, "The guards are here! Hurry and follow them!"

Sang Luoluo saw the people nearby running east.

In her memories, everyone liked scavenging behind the guards. With the guards there, they would be a little safer if wild beasts attacked.

As long as they didn't interfere with the guards' work, the guards turned a blind eye to those following them in search of food.

Seeing this, Sang Luoluo ran after them too.

Chapter 3: Two points. Only when her hunger faded did she feel alive...

With her skinny arms and legs, she barely managed to keep up with the crowd and was already exhausted.

She stopped for a drink of water. Seeing the guards' vehicles in the distance, she couldn't help remembering how they had rescued her yesterday. Everyone in their convoy had weapons and training. Dealing with those mutated beasts was so much easier for them than for ordinary people like her.

This place was already far too distant from the shantytown. She had been walking here since before dawn, and it was now twenty past nine.

Not daring to waste any more time, she immediately found a spot and began testing the nearby plants.

"Beep, beep, beep! Radiation level: 99. High radiation. Consumption not recommended!"

"Beep, beep, beep! Radiation level: 95. High radiation. Consumption not recommended!"

Radiation levels in this area were quite high. Sang Luoluo didn't expect to find anything edible here. With so many people ahead of her, finding food would be far too difficult.

Perhaps she shouldn't be traveling with so many people.

But being alone would be even more dangerous. With her tiny frame, any mutated beast could knock her down and eat her.

Soon, it was ten. Sang Luoluo found a large tree to shelter beneath ahead of time. Today was especially hot. She had drunk every drop of water in her bamboo flask, yet she kept sweating. It already felt like over forty degrees.

It was only just past ten. Who knew how high the temperature would climb by noon?

In the distance, she saw that the guards had already taken shelter inside their vehicles. Their trucks had been specially modified to block radiation. They would be perfectly safe inside, but scavengers like her were different. They could only find shaded spots that blocked radiation and hide there.

Sang Luoluo discovered just how terrifying the high temperatures in her memories were. They could reach eighty or ninety degrees at their highest. Hiding beneath a tree wouldn't be enough. At that level of radiation, people could only go outside wearing radiation suits. Those without them could only stay indoors with air conditioning, provided they had the means.

She had been careless. Feeling a little anxious, she tapped her wristwatch to check today's weather forecast. The predicted high for the next two hours was sixty degrees.

The tree behind her cast plenty of shade, but Sang Luoluo still felt hot and kept sweating. She could only discreetly fill her bamboo flask with water to ease her fatigue.

While sheltering from the radiation, Sang Luoluo didn't dare move around or sleep. Just now, she had seen someone snatch another person's water and even steal their patch of shade, pushing the other person into the sunlight and radiation. She watched that person suffer exposure for a while before laboriously finding somewhere else to hide. In that brief time, burns had appeared in several places on their body.

The guards were quite far away, and they wouldn't risk radiation exposure to interfere.

Not only that, while humans couldn't move around under intense radiation, mutated animals could. They appeared as usual. Sang Luoluo watched two enormous mutated rats, each the size of a full-grown cat, pass nearby.

Although Sang Luoluo wasn't afraid of rats, this was the wasteland. If a mutated animal bit her, an infected wound would be the least of her worries. If she caught some unknown virus, a severe case could doom the entire shantytown along with her.

She finally endured until nearly three, when some people began coming out in sun-protection hats. The temperature was too high, and they had followed the guards a long way this time. Several people had already finished their water.

"Could you spare me some water? I spilled mine while fighting a mutated flying insect earlier. I can pay in points." A middle-aged man went from person to person beneath the shade, asking each one.

"Please, just one mouthful of water."

"Please, someone kind, sell me a little water."

Everyone shook their heads and refused. Water was precious. To reduce the weight they carried, each person had brought only a small flask, and they had to ration even that. They wouldn't trade it even for points.

Sang Luoluo looked over. The middle-aged man seemed not to have had any water since morning. His lips were so dry they were peeling, and his body had long since become drenched in sweat. Under the scorching heat, he was losing sweat rapidly too. From the sound of his voice, even his throat was swollen.

Sang Luoluo wasn't short of water. She was short of points. She was penniless now, and her circumstances couldn't get any worse.

Carrying her nearly full bamboo flask, she walked over and stood in the shade, beckoning him. Watching him cautiously, she said, "Two points, and I'll give you most of my water. I'll only keep a little."

"Deal," the man said delightedly. Two points. This girl was clearly young and didn't know how to gouge people. If he really ran into someone demanding an exorbitant price, he would have to pay even if they wanted dozens of points. In a crisis, could points matter more than his life?

Sang Luoluo showed him how much water was in her bamboo flask, then poured most of it into his container, leaving herself only a little.

Delighted, he immediately transferred two points to her.

After three, Sang Luoluo continued testing. There were flying insects on the weeds and leaves before her too. Flying insects that she remembered being the size of sesame seeds were now as large as dragonflies in the wasteland, flitting everywhere. Fortunately, these green flying insects weren't very aggressive.

Sang Luoluo used a wooden stick to part the waist-high weeds, making sure no mutated animals would suddenly leap out before walking over.

She had also learned to be more careful. Places others had tested always bore traces, so she headed toward somewhere up ahead that no one had visited yet.

Even from a distance, she could hear the guards' gunfire and the howls of mutated animals being hit.

She was lucky enough to find a patch of beans. They were different from the beans she remembered. Here in the wasteland, these highly irradiated beans were each as thick and long as a loofah gourd, and their vines were much sturdier too.

She tested them in order from one end, her wristwatch sounding alerts nonstop.

"Beep, beep, beep! Radiation level: 77. High radiation. Consumption not recommended!"

"Beep, beep, beep! Radiation level: 120. High radiation. Consumption not recommended!"