He plucked up his courage again. "Who knows whether you secretly put them away afterward? We can't see what you put into that space of yours."
The company owner tapped his watch a few times and brought up the surveillance footage. It showed the entire process of Sang Luoluo putting down the clothes. Afterward, she stepped back and waited to one side, and then the young man left to find him.
The young man argued, "I left to get the boss's signature. Who else could it have been but her?"
Sang Luoluo looked at him. "It could have been you, too. You said you went to get your boss's signature, but who knows whether you took a detour and stole them?"
Sang Luoluo compared the photos she had taken with the company owner's and discovered that twenty pieces were missing from a corner at the far back. The surveillance footage showed that she had never gone there.
Sang Luoluo looked at the person in charge. "That proves my innocence now, doesn't it?"
The person in charge said, deeply embarrassed, "Ms. Sang, I'm sorry. We misunderstood you. It's just that those twenty pieces of clothing weren't cheap, and we didn't want to bear the loss."
Sang Luoluo smiled. "I won't be taking part in the rest of the investigation. This mission is over, so I'll be leaving. Have a pleasant day, everyone."
With that, Sang Luoluo drove her wheelchair toward the company entrance.
Two minutes later, the person coming to pick him up arrived. He was an unfamiliar member of the Guard. Sang Luoluo got into the vehicle and asked him to follow the address listed in the mission.
The person in charge marked the mission complete, and Sang Luoluo successfully received her payment of 150 points.
The clothing company's representative gave her a three-star review, which meant her mission performance was average.
Sang Luoluo looked at her watch, not particularly bothered. In her dashboard, she uploaded a video under the clothing delivery mission: the footage of what had just happened in the factory. In particular, it had captured the entire incident of the young man kicking her wheelchair while she was sitting in it.
The mission dashboard had an appeal function. The base took a protective stance toward Evolved Humans, and many missions could only be carried out by them. Under normal circumstances, it would not let Evolved Humans suffer unfair treatment. Sang Luoluo submitted an appeal.
Some people who watched it left comments below.
[This kind of thing is pretty normal. Aside from major institutions, big companies, and trustworthy bosses, you run into it all the time with small companies. They think Guard members have plenty of points and can be extorted for a fair amount.]
[I got scammed out of a whole 300 points. Why didn't I have the sense to take some photos or record a video back then?]
[Just be careful.]
[Let your fists do the talking with people like that. Picking a fight with Guard members? They must have a death wish.]
[Once you've seen enough of it, it stops being surprising.]
[OP's pretty sharp.]
[...]
This mission had also served as a warning. She did not even have a suitable weapon. Back in the warehouse, when the young man kicked her wheelchair, she had been thinking that if a fight broke out, she would throw big rocks at him straight from her space.
But rocks could be too cumbersome. It would be nice to have a handier weapon.
Sang Luoluo searched the forum for places to buy self-defense weapons and noticed a place called the black market.
Chapter 34: Black market [Eating Expert]
Her appeal on the Evolved Human forum soon received a response. With the recorded video providing conclusive evidence, the base Guard took the initiative to compensate her with 100 points.
They arrived instantly.
There was a perk like this, too?
Sang Luoluo deducted the thirty points she had spent from the additional six hundred she had earned that day, then transferred all of the remaining 570, along with the hundred points from her appeal, to Sang Yunpu.
Seeing another "huge sum" arrive, Sang Yunpu had no idea his younger sister had faced extortion outside. He also felt bad that she was working so hard out there to earn points.
Sang Yunpu immediately messaged her. "You're still growing. Don't wear yourself out. From now on, just send me half the points you earn and keep the rest."
It had also occurred to Sang Yunpu that his sister could not be left without any points. She was a girl, and there would always be things she needed to spend points on. When he saw the 670 points just now, an uneven sum that did not match the mission information he had seen on her watch before she left, he realized she might have other expenses.
Naturally, Sang Luoluo was delighted and immediately replied with a cheerful "Okay."
After spending the day running around, she went straight home to rest that evening. It was a little muggy outside, so she entered her space to wash up, then took the leftover barbecue from yesterday out of the space's warehouse and leisurely enjoyed it. Sensing that his owner had returned, Chuanchuan immediately ran over with his bowl in his mouth, sat beside Sang Luoluo, and tilted his head as he waited for her.
Sang Luoluo grilled some slices of meat for him and put them in his dog bowl so he could take his time eating.
She also made a point of taking out a few strawberries to savor.
Once she had eaten and drunk her fill, Sang Luoluo decided not to leave her space. She would sleep inside tonight. The temperature was comfortable here, and she did not need to use electricity.
Unable to sleep that night, Sang Luoluo went to the kitchen to make some food to store in the Stasis Zone.
She started by putting on some chicken soup. There was still plenty of fruit and unprocessed milk in the warehouse. She took out a blender, washed the ingredients, and made mango-banana milkshakes, strawberry-blueberry milkshakes, orange and snow pear milkshakes, apple-carrot milkshakes, and more. Once they were ready, she poured them all into glasses and arranged them in rows on different levels in the Stasis Zone.
After finishing those, she also specially marinated some meat for jerky and put it in the oven to dry. If eating a meal became inconvenient while she was out in the future, she could discreetly snack on some jerky to replenish her strength.
By the time she finished, it was precisely midnight, and Sang Luoluo went to sleep.
The next day, she slept until she woke naturally. When she left her space, it was already eight in the morning outside.
It was a little hot outside. Sang Luoluo checked the weather forecast on her watch: high temperatures today and tomorrow. It was impossible to stay in the room without air-conditioning, and she did not want to go out and suffer, either.
There were several unread messages on her watch.
Asuo had messaged her to say that the water from last time had sold out and ask when he could get the next shipment. He had also transferred nine hundred points.
Sang Luoluo accepted the points and replied: [Eight tonight. Same place as last time.]
Balance: 1769.
Sang Luoluo was just thinking of visiting the black market that evening to see whether she could find some self-defense weapons.
During the day, she rested at home and looked up information about the black market.
According to the forum, the black market circulated things that could not be traded openly. Laser weapons, for example, were generally restricted to official use, but there were always a few people with channels to sell them on the black market. There were also rare items that might not fetch a high price on the regular market, whereas no one in the black market would investigate where they came from.
That evening, Sang Luoluo first took her wheelchair to the alley outside the base Guard's entrance. Asuo had already been waiting there for a long time with his handcart.
"You're finally here."
Sang Luoluo saw the delight on his face. "You sold it all that quickly?"
Asuo did not intend to hide it from her. "This water sells really well. A lot of buyers are fighting over it."
Hearing that, Sang Luoluo said, "Great. I'll give you a thousand bottles this time. Can your cart carry that much?"
Asuo hurriedly replied, "No problem. Just leave it to me."
With a wave of her hand, Sang Luoluo placed six hundred bottles on his cart and the remaining four hundred on the ground beside it. She said gently, "I have other things to do, so you'll have to handle loading them yourself. Next time, you can bring a bigger cart."
Asuo's eyes lit up, and he hastily assured her, "No problem. Absolutely no problem. How about this? Once I sell this water, I'll transfer all the points to you together."
Sang Luoluo nodded. "That works. An honest partnership is a lasting one."
Sang Luoluo headed toward the black market in her wheelchair. It was quite far from the base Guard, and even in her wheelchair, it took her forty minutes to arrive.
Aboveground, it looked entirely ordinary. After eight at night, an illuminated sign was placed at the entrance: [Black market entrance. Business hours: 8:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.]
The opening hours were fairly long. Before entering, Sang Luoluo put away her wheelchair, switched to a pair of crutches, and picked up a free mask at the entrance.
The masks for entering the night market all had the same face, making it easy for everyone to conceal their identities.
Sang Luoluo saw that everyone going inside was pulling a suitcase, carrying a large backpack, or bringing some other luggage, all tightly covered.
Those were probably the goods they had brought to sell at the black market.
Seeing this, Sang Luoluo pulled an extra-large suitcase over. As soon as she went down, someone stopped her.
"Friend, show me your identification."
Sang Luoluo paused. "Identification?"
The person, wearing the same mask as hers, asked bluntly, "First time here?"
"Yes."
"On your first visit, we need to see what you've brought and whether it qualifies you for a card."
The person stared at the suitcase Sang Luoluo was pulling as he asked brusquely.
Sang Luoluo asked, "A card?"
She suddenly remembered reading on the forum that blank points cards circulated in the black market. They had no names or personal information on them. In other words, anyone could use a blank card to spend and receive points freely here. No matter how much or how frequently they spent, the owner's information could not be traced.
"Yes. Newcomers have to get a card on their first visit. After that, you just show your card when you come."
Food was the most valuable thing here. Sang Luoluo placed a box of strawberries inside the suitcase, packed in a foam box that kept their scent from escaping.
Sang Luoluo said, "All right. Go ahead and look."
The two masked people opened Sang Luoluo's suitcase and saw a box of bright red strawberries the size of their palms, giving off a sweet, fresh scent. Their mouths practically watered.
Seeing them freeze, Sang Luoluo closed the suitcase and asked softly, "Can I get a card now?"