31: Chapter 31 Selling Goods

"Mr. Chen, are you okay!"

As soon as Chen Ze returned to the Blockhouse, Wang Yalan hurried forward to meet him, gently grabbing his arm, her eyes filled with worry.

Chen Ze felt a warmth in his heart; having someone who cared about him really didn't feel bad at all.

"I'm fine, I just got bitten by an ant in the forest earlier."

He stretched his arm to show that it was no longer an issue.

"Oh, an ant?"

Wang Yalan responded, subconsciously thinking that an ant bite couldn't be that serious, but when she leaned in to check Chen Ze's wound, she was instantly stunned.

She saw a gruesome wound on Chen Ze's left shoulder, as large as a thumb. The bitten area was swollen and red, the skin tinged with an unnatural purplish-blue color, with a ring of bruising spreading out, looking shocking to the eye.

The thought that it was just a minor bite instantly vanished. Wang Yalan's expression changed abruptly, and her heart tightened.

She reached out with slightly trembling fingers, not daring to touch the wound, only daring to lean in cautiously, her voice laced with panic.

"This is nowhere near a normal ant bite! The wound is so large. Now that it's the apocalypse, with ruins and wilderness everywhere, there are absolutely no hospitals. What are we going to do!"

She looked up, staring blankly at the calm Chen Ze, her voice trembling with anxiety, tears welling up in her eyes, ready to fall.

Seeing her like this, Chen Ze couldn't help but chuckle inwardly, muttering to himself.

She had been so decisive and brave when dealing with her ex-husband, not fearing life or death at all, yet now, over a mere bite, she was so anxious she was about to cry.

Although he thought this with a bit of mischievous humor, he didn't dare to tease her at all. Knowing she was genuinely concerned about him, he quickly reined in his thoughts and softened his tone to soothe her gently.

"Don't worry, it's really nothing. Didn't I come back just fine?"

After saying this, Chen Ze began to speak slowly, telling Wang Yalan everything he had encountered while deep in the dense forest.

After learning the sequence of events, Wang Yalan finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"So, that e-rank tomato can really suppress the ant venom? Then you should quickly eat a few more!"

"Eat a few more?"

Chen Ze widened his eyes, looking at her with a hint of helplessness, as if looking at someone who didn't understand the market.

"This is a genuine e-rank tomato! Do you know how precious it is? Believe it or not, if I put it on the Trading House, it would be snatched up instantly for three hundred survival coins each!"

"Even if it's worth more survival coins, it's not as important as your life!"

Wang Yalan immediately furrowed her brows, her tone exceptionally firm.

"survival coins are important, but what if you're left with some lingering aftereffects because we tried to save a few fruits?"

As Wang Yalan spoke, she took another step forward, her eyes locked onto Chen Ze's.

"Are you going to eat it or not?"

Good grief, was he being brazenly threatened? Even under such pressure, Chen Ze felt not the slightest bit of resistance, but rather, his heart was flooded with warmth.

He truly hadn't expected that the usually seemingly delicate Wang Yalan could have such a strong side.

Chen Ze sighed, caught between laughter and tears, and completely surrendered, raising his hands in helpless compromise.

"Fine, I'll eat, okay? I can't win against you."

As he spoke, he took out four E-rank tomatoes, picked one up, wiped it with his hand, and started devouring it.

"Hmm, you should eat some too. This thing doesn't just suppress toxins; it also boosts all attributes. However, it only works up to three times per person; eating more is useless."

The texture of this E-rank mutated tomato was vastly different from ordinary tomatoes on Earth; the flesh was dense, soft, and glutinous, with rich, mellow juice.

Upon entering the mouth, it was first sweet and refreshing, and after swallowing, a faint trace of spiritual energy flowed down the throat into the body, with warmth slowly circulating through his limbs and bones, making him feel so comfortable that his whole body relaxed.

Even though Chen Ze had tasted it once before, he still found it incredibly amazing when eating it again.

Wang Yalan, however, didn't move for a long time, her eyes fixed intently on Chen Ze, not blinking, until she watched him finish the entire tomato.

She quickly leaned forward, her gaze locked firmly on his shoulder as she examined it carefully. After observing for a long while, she pursed her lips slightly, her tone softening a bit.

"It... it seems it really doesn't have any effect anymore."

"I told you, the ant venom isn't spreading anymore. It'll be fine on its own in a couple of days."

Chen Ze didn't continue the topic and pushed the remaining fruits toward her.

"You should eat, too."

"I shouldn't, right? Such precious things—if you sold them, you could get quite a few survival coins. There's no need to waste them on me."

Wang Yalan shook her head gently, subconsciously taking half a step back.

"Alright, don't refuse."

Seeing that she still refused to take them, Chen Ze's tone deepened, and he spoke seriously.

"If you just want to safely be a vase relying on others, then pretend I said nothing. But if you want to continue fighting alongside me in the future, then eat them all!"

His words were spoken with conviction, without a hint of jest.

Wang Yalan froze slightly, looking up blankly at the serious-looking Chen Ze.

When she had first decided to rely on Chen Ze, she had already prepared for anything; she had even secretly felt that she was probably just relying on her appearance to attach herself to someone, ready to give everything at any moment.

But only now did she truly realize that the man before her had long since considered her one of his own.

This heartfelt appreciation instantly struck deep into her heart, her nose tingled, and an indescribable warmth surged within her.

She no longer had any hesitation or refusal, and she nodded gently.

"I'll listen to you, I'll eat!"

"Mm, that's more like it!"

Wang Yalan ate very slowly, savoring it carefully—not just the taste, but the process of her body strengthening.

Just then, a cold system notification suddenly rang in Chen Ze's mind, and he instantly snapped back to reality.

[Notification: The two hearts of the Fortress you listed on the Trading House have been sold.]

Chen Ze immediately opened the transaction details page to check and discovered that the person who had bought these two items was a survivor who had kept anonymous mode on throughout the process.

He subconsciously furrowed his brows, his heart filled with confusion.

For ordinary people, the heart of the fortress was completely useless—at best, it was a piece of useless talent material akin to chicken ribs. It was truly strange that this person had bought two of them at once.

"Why would this person collect so many useless hearts of the Fortress at once? Could it be that he also possesses a special swallowing-type talent like mine, capable of fusing and absorbing these types of talent items?"

Chen Ze was full of speculation and wanted to try contacting the other party to inquire, but since the other party had enabled anonymous transaction permissions throughout, it was impossible to initiate a private message for communication. After several failed attempts, he had to give up helplessly.

"Forget it, let it be."

Chen Ze quickly reined in his thoughts and made up his mind to hurry and sell off idle supplies, hoarding as many emergency repair kits as possible.

He had already awakened the S-rank talent Tycoons Armor; this talent was strong, but to grow, sufficient repair kits were the most essential supplies right now.

Having made up his mind, Chen Ze immediately calmed down and began to take stock of all the supplies on hand one by one.

arisaka type 38 rifle, mortar, F-rank Tang sword, F-rank planting box, E-rank water purifier, E-rank flying ant beast core, mysterious beast hide, Fortress upgrade materials, F-rank hand crossbow, e-rank tomato.

(The F-rank hand crossbow was looted after killing Security Captain Lei Dayong.)

These items were all scarce goods at the current stage; any one of them taken out could be traded for hundreds or thousands of survival coins.

But after Chen Ze lowered his head to ponder for a while, carefully weighing the pros and cons, he discovered that the only things he could truly safely sell off right now were the F-rank hand crossbow and the surplus E-rank tomatoes.

The rest of the items all had great utility and simply could not be touched.

"Alright! Then I'll sell these two things first!"