Catching a ride in a downpour, felling a tree for a crystal core, unlocking a grand villa...
She placed it in front of the old man and said, "This is a crystal core, right? I happened to pick it up while scavenging."
The old man was visibly excited, then bent over with a smile. "Yes, of course I buy these. They aren't common, but people do find them occasionally. Plenty of people bring them here to exchange for points."
As he spoke, the old man went to fetch a device for testing crystal cores.
He continued as he walked, "Crystal cores are good things, but they're not much use to ordinary shantytown residents like us. The base buys them at a high price to power all kinds of weapons."
Sang Luoluo watched him place the crystal core in the testing slot. A moment later, a reading appeared: 312.
The old man smiled. "A D-grade crystal core, the lowest grade. Energy value: 312. That converts to 3,120 points. I've transferred them to you. Have a look around my shop and see if there's anything you need. You can buy it here."
Sang Luoluo immediately thought of the crystal core inside the tree she had marked. She needed a chainsaw.
So she asked, "Boss, do you have any chainsaws? The kind that can cut down big trees."
"Sure do. Are you renting or buying? I have plenty of models. Take a look and see which one you need."
Sang Luoluo thought about how the crystal cores she had found lately had been either underground, inside mutated plants, or inside mutated animals. Relying on her stone knife alone simply wouldn't do.
She would keep looking for crystal cores, and having a usable chainsaw on hand would be incredibly convenient.
She followed the shopkeeper into the storeroom to look at his stock of chainsaws. They ranged from palm-sized ones to ones several meters long, with widely varying prices.
She picked one within her price range. "I'll take this one for 1,000 points."
Sang Luoluo chose a rechargeable handheld chainsaw with a removable battery that could be taken out for charging. The saw was about forty centimeters long and had plenty of power.
Anything larger would be difficult for her to lift. This one was right in both price and size.
The chainsaw already came with a fully charged battery that would last two hours. To be safe, she bought two replacement batteries for 400 points.
The chainsaw alone had cost her 1,400 points. She now had only 2,526 points left.
"Do you want a solar charging panel too?"
There were different sizes here. Her chainsaw would need charging, after all.
The thought pained her. She had originally had a small solar charging panel in her shack, which she normally used to store electricity to charge her wristwatch and power her home. Unfortunately, that thief had stolen it too.
But remembering that she still needed to look at housing in the safe zone, she couldn't afford to spend any more points. Her wristwatch still had enough charge to last a week without a problem. She could come back next time.
So she declined. "No, I'll buy one next time. Oh, I also need a pair of rain boots and a raincoat."
"That'll be 150 points altogether."
Both the raincoat and the rain boots were wasteland products coated with a special corrosion-resistant material that effectively protected against acid rain.
Sang Luoluo transferred the points, leaving her with just 2,376.
Sang Luoluo put everything in her back basket, covered it with dry grass, and left the shop, heading straight for the safe zone.
Watching the direction Sang Luoluo took, the old man clicked his tongue twice. Some people really could get rich overnight. Finding such a tiny crystal core was worth what some people earned in a year.
In any case, she had no charging equipment, so she would be back.
When Sang Luoluo reached the entrance to the safe zone, a muffled clap of thunder sounded overhead. While no one was around, she hurriedly reached behind her into the basket and put the chainsaw into her space, then put on her raincoat and rain boots. Only then did she enter the safe zone with her basket on her back.
Entering the safe zone required scanning her wristwatch to record her identification details. Once her information was verified, she could naturally go inside.
The guard warned her, "Leave before eight tonight. You're not allowed to linger in the safe zone."
Sang Luoluo nodded. She had neither safe-zone residency nor property there, so she could only enter for a limited time. If she overstayed, the base guards would come to arrest her. Surveillance cameras were everywhere in the safe zone, so there was no need to worry about being unable to find her.
The outskirts of the safe zone looked far better than the shantytown outside.
The buildings here had multiple stories, with clearly divided individual homes. Every household had a high-tech lock on its door. Of course, there were also extremely crowded apartment buildings with many households on each floor and very small rooms.
Because of the rain, there weren't many people on the streets, but some were still out with umbrellas or raincoats.
Sang Luoluo walked into a buying station and took five large potatoes out of her basket. Each weighed about three jin. "Boss, work out how many points these are worth."
An ordinary shop assistant received Sang Luoluo. "Please wait a moment. I'll test their radiation level first."
The detector showed a radiation reading of zero.
The assistant was astonished. "Am I seeing this right? It really is zero? Hold on, let me try another detector."
The second detector still showed a radiation reading of zero. Looking pleased, the assistant weighed them: sixteen jin in total. At 115 points per jin, the assistant transferred 1,840 points to Sang Luoluo.
Balance: 4,216 points.
Sang Luoluo thanked the assistant, then headed toward the nearby rental building she had found and selected through her wristwatch.
Rain pattered against her raincoat. The standing water on the ground already reached her calves. The base's drainage
system
was still very effective. In the shantytown outside, the water was already knee-deep.
An hour later, she finally reached the rental center by following the navigation directions.
"Hello, ma'am. How may I help you?" The receptionist wore a clean business outfit and didn't neglect Sang Luoluo just because she looked thin and frail. Her professional manner made a very good impression.
Sang Luoluo sat down in front of her and stated her purpose directly. "I'd like to rent a place in the safe zone."
The receptionist smiled. "Please show me your information."
Sang Luoluo held her wristwatch against the reader, and her information immediately appeared on the receptionist's end.
After a brief search, the receptionist showed her the screen. "Ma'am, because you're a shantytown resident, you'll need to pay a 500-point security deposit to rent in the safe zone. This amount will not be refunded when your tenancy ends. Please take a look at these available properties."
Sang Luoluo looked through the online listings. The cheapest single room was only about four square meters. People living there had to fit things into an extremely compact space; they would have to be experts at organizing. It cost 200 points a month.
Sang Luoluo immediately passed on it. She took a liking to a single room of about twenty square meters. It wasn't large, but it had a window, the building had an elevator, and security was better. It was also close to the safe-zone entrance. The monthly rent was 1,500 points.
Sang Luoluo pointed to it. "This one."
The receptionist asked, "How long would you like to rent it for?"
Sang Luoluo calculated her points. "I'll rent it for two months first, then see whether I want to renew."
The receptionist's smile widened. She had closed a deal so quickly, and the customer was quite generous with her spending. There would be a commission for her. Smiling, she said, "All right. Please confirm your identity and make the payment here."
Sang Luoluo watched her deduct 3,500 points without feeling any pain over it.
At last, she had somewhere to live.
"Can I move in now?"
The receptionist smiled and shook her head. "No. New tenants can only move in after seven days."
Sang Luoluo: "..." What kind of stupid rule was that?
The receptionist continued with a smile, "Ma'am, we'll enter your information into the system and send you a message once your move-in approval is confirmed. You can move right in with your bags then. If you have any questions about your rental, you can contact me at any time."
Sang Luoluo nodded.
She looked down at her wristwatch. Balance: 716 points.
What she lacked now wasn't points, but crystal cores.
With darkness falling, she left the safe zone. By the time she returned to her shack, it was already eight at night.
The shack was full of standing water, with only one dry patch on the bed. She secured the door and sat on the dry edge of the bed, listening to the rain outside as she took out a hot roasted potato and started eating.
Her last meal had been that morning. Now she was so hungry that she finished an entire potato. In the wasteland, even eating a plain roasted potato tasted delicious.
Before transmigrating, she had even been a picky eater. Now that she was penniless, that habit had been cured.
Listening to the pouring rain and rumbling thunder outside, she really missed the days of lavish meals.
Chapter 8: Catching a ride in a downpour, felling a tree for a crystal core, unlocking a grand villa...
After eating and drinking her fill, Sang Luoluo didn't enter her space. She just curled up in a corner to rest for a while. Closing her eyes, she controlled the potato patch inside her space. She selected a few potatoes with plenty of sprouts, cut them into chunks with her stone knife, and planted them in the area she had harvested.
Unfortunately, she had no suitable farming tools. Fumbling along with the stone knife, it took her half an hour to finish. Next time she visited the trading point, she would have to check whether they had any metal knives.
With the potatoes planted in her space, she slept leaning in the corner that night. This also made it easier to listen for sounds outside, so she could leave immediately if she noticed anything wrong.
Fortunately, although heavy rain fell all night and there were shouts outside, there was no danger.
The next morning, the rain outside had eased considerably. She wondered whether she should take advantage of having time today to go into the wilderness and cut down that tree. It wasn't very far away. Normally, the sound of gathering and sawing wood would attract other gatherers nearby, so going while it was raining would be just right.
If the rain grew heavy, she could shelter in her space.
With that thought, she secured the door and went out in her raincoat and rain boots.
The rainwater reached her knees. To make walking easier, she put her basket in her space and slowly made her way out of the shantytown.
There wasn't a single person on the road.
Sang Luoluo covered her face tightly with her raincoat so that even if rain struck her face, it would slide down the raincoat instead. She headed toward the wilderness. Little bubbles formed one after another in the rainwater on the ground, appearing and vanishing rapidly.
She looked up at the sky. Dark clouds filled it, but fortunately, the wind wasn't strong. Walking was difficult, but she could still move steadily.