77: Chapter 77 Crystal Core Trading

His Adam's apple bobbed as Xiao Lang continued.

"Please, I beg you, can you help me? I want to trade for some fuel, or even an old solar panel. I can trade food for it!"

Because the temperature was so low, his voice trembled, anxious and sincere.

Behind a window of the villa, Qi Yin, Jiang Yao, and Mu Feng were watching all this through binoculars.

After a moment, Mu Feng said in a low voice, "It's just one person. If I'm not mistaken, he really is the owner of Villa No. 19, and he's a special forces soldier."

When Xiao Sinian lived there, he had seen this man in the neighborhood. He was likely home on leave when the Apocalypse happened.

Qi Yin looked at the man in the snow, shivering from the cold but still trying his best to stand tall, her face expressionless.

Picking up the intercom, she said, "Our resources are limited. We don't trade with outsiders. Leave immediately."

Supplies—she had them, true, but she didn't want to give them to an unfamiliar stranger.

Hearing this, the color drained from Xiao Lang's face.

This was his only chance.

"Miss Qi, I beg of you, my mother really isn't going to make it."

With a thud, Xiao Lang knelt directly on the ground and kowtowed three times firmly toward the villa.

"I've been a soldier, I'm strong. I can work for you, do anything, as long as you save my mother."

Seeing that there was still no response, Xiao Lang could only continue kowtowing, the sound of his head hitting the ground echoing loudly.

Once, twice... he repeated the action mechanically.

Jiang Yao couldn't bear to look and turned his eyes away.

Meanwhile, Mu Feng looked at Qi Yin, quietly waiting for her instructions.

Since the Apocalypse, he had seen far too many such pleas, but a single moment of softheartedness could lead to eternal damnation.

However, he still spoke up: "I know this Xiao Lang. He's a Lieutenant in the Kyoto Armed Forces. He's capable. He's from a single-parent family, and his mother is indeed seriously ill, barely hanging on each day with a bit of nutritional supplement."

After saying this, he shut his mouth. Qi Yin would consider the rest herself.

Qi Yin silently watched the man outside who kept kowtowing.

The stubbornness etched in his bones and the humility of begging for his mother's life at this moment formed a very sharp contrast.

There was also a hideous scar on the back of his neck, likely left behind from a life-and-death struggle.

Qi Yin turned her head and asked Mu Feng and Jiang Yao, "In this world, is there really a mother worth a child giving everything for?"

The two of them didn't speak.

They only knew a little about Qi Yin's family situation from Chen Quan—only that her parents hadn't been very good to her.

Perhaps she didn't want to hear an answer to the contrary.

Just as Xiao Lang was on the verge of despair, Qi Yin's voice rang out again.

"What do you have to trade?"

Xiao Lang jerked his head up, his forehead red and swollen.

He shouted hurriedly, determined to seize this opportunity.

"Food! I still have some compressed biscuits, and, and this!"

He hurriedly pulled a heavy bundle wrapped in oilcloth from his chest.

Unwrapping it revealed a well-maintained but clearly aged military dagger and nearly a hundred white crystals.

"I'll give all of this to you. I dug these out of zombie heads, though I don't know what they're for. And my life—I'll give it to you too. As long as you can save my mother, from now on, I'll serve you like an ox or a horse!"

Seeing the contents of the bundle clearly, Qi Yin's eyes couldn't help but darken.

crystal cores? Xiao Lang, a regular person, not only realized these things were useful but had actually collected so many.

Mu Feng was right; this man indeed had some skill.

The strong always command respect.

"Stay right where you are!"

Qi Yin turned to Jiang Yao and said, "Give him a few of the batteries we scavenged from the underwater warehouse, and two barrels of gasoline as well."

Jiang Yao and Mu Feng smiled at each other and went to do it immediately without asking questions.

After a while, Jiang Yao, carrying three solar batteries, a roll of wire, a simple transformer, and two barrels of gasoline, stopped about a dozen meters away from Xiao Lang.

"You know how to use these. Remember, this is the first and last time."

Xiao Lang stood up and looked at the hard-won supplies on the ground as if they were a lifeline. Despite his tough exterior, his eyes actually filled with tears.

He bowed repeatedly. "Thank you, truly thank you. I will remember this great kindness."

He hesitated for a moment but still placed the cloth bundle on the ground.

"These are all for you."

But Jiang Yao waved his hand. "Leave those white stones; you can take the rest back."

"This..."

Xiao Lang hadn't expected them to choose these seemingly worthless crystals over precious food.

But on second thought, they already had solar panels and such, and they likely weren't short on food either.

"O-okay."

He tucked his precious military dagger and compressed biscuits back into his bag.

As if remembering something, he hurriedly added.

"Right, quite a few survivors have come to the bottom of the mountain. Some teams have relatively more Ability Users and might find their way up here. You should be careful."

After saying that, thinking of his elderly mother at home who hadn't had a nutritional supplement in two days, Xiao Lang didn't linger.

He tied the batteries to himself with rope, stuffed the gasoline into a large bag, and carefully climbed down the cliff face, quickly disappearing from the mountain top.

Qi Yin stood by the window, watching the direction he left, her fingers unconsciously tapping the window frame.

Three batteries and two barrels of gasoline for a hundred crystal cores—this trade wasn't a loss.

As for the food and the dagger, she didn't give them a second thought.

However, the tide of survivors was finally surging up.

Turning around, she nodded to Jiang Yao, who was sitting in the surveillance room.

"Keep a good watch."

"Don't worry, Sister Yin."

Then, Qi Yin glanced at Mu Feng.

"You, come with me!"

Mu Feng was stunned for a moment, then immediately stood up to follow.

One after the other, the two arrived at the training room in the villa's basement.

It was Mu Feng's first time here, and he was startled by the sight before him.

Over a dozen zombie "models," countless moving targets—every piece of equipment was ingeniously designed.

This was practically training someone to be a lethal weapon.

Was Qi Yin really just a pampered young girl before?

He wasn't sure; she really seemed less and less like one.

Qi Yin closed the door, and the light in the training ground instantly dimmed.

She turned around, her calm gaze falling on Mu Feng in front of her.

"When dealing with that Fire-type Ability User last night, you used your invisibility well and dodged just in time."

Her tone made it impossible to tell if she was praising or criticizing.

Mu Feng nodded slightly and didn't speak.

Qi Yin's way of speaking was just like his boss, Xiao Sinian; there was bound to be more.

Sure enough, Qi Yin's tone shifted, and her gaze became sharp.

"But most of the time, you only treat your invisibility skill as a tool for evasion—hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to act or avoiding danger. That's not wrong; after all, survival is our top priority."

She took a step and continued, "But have you ever considered why invisibility can't be the best spear for offense?"