Chapter 39: Bartering for Survival in the Base

Tang Huai let out a cold huff. “Why are you worrying about things that have nothing to do with you? Even if there are refugees, they’d head straight for Hui One or Hui Five Base.”

After the Great Evolution of Creatures, humans abandoned their old homes to survive, gathering together to form bases. Two or three years into the disasters, there were hundreds of large and small bases across Hua Nation. But as evolved creatures and the environment kept getting worse, only forty-four remained. For easier management and defense, these forty-four bases were split into four base groups. The core was the Red City Base Group with eleven bases, the Red One Base being the capital. In the north, seven bases formed the White City Base Group; in the west, ten made up the Lan City Base Group; in the center, ten gathered to form the Hui City Base Group; and down south, six combined as the Guilin City Base Group.

As the name suggests, Hui San Base, where Xia Qing was, ranked third in population among the Hui City Base Group. Hui San Base sat south of both Hui One and Hui Five Bases, and five hundred kilometers southwest of Hui Five was Gui San Base, the place most threatened by ocean creatures.

It really was like Tang Huai said—if Gui San Base fell, the refugees heading north would make Hui One and Hui San their first stops.

Still, Kuang Qingwei couldn’t put his worries aside. “Tang, I remember Gui San Base had about two and a half million people. Even if only two million managed to escape, if just a fraction of them headed north, Hui One and Hui San couldn’t possibly hold another million refugees. They’ll have to screen who they let in, and the rest will keep moving north.”

Xia Qing nodded in agreement. Every base barely scraped by as it was. Letting in hundreds of thousands more would be a disaster.

Tang Huai stayed quiet, but then a stranger’s voice popped up on the channel. “Stuff like this is for the higher-ups to handle. Worrying won’t help us. All we need is to tend our own land and make sure we don’t starve.”

As soon as he finished, Tang Huai shot back, “Huzi, you want to farm?!”

Someone from Plot One grumbled, “The name’s Hu Zifeng. I’m here on squad duty to guard Plot One. So what if I’m farming? Call me anything else and I swear I’ll come over and put a bullet in your head.”

Everyone else went quiet…

Compared to Luo Pei who was taken away by plane, this newcomer at Plot One really did have a trashy temper.

Hu Zifeng, a Level 5 Vision Evolver, had been sent over as the new squad leader to protect Xia Qing and Territory Three. It was the perfect job for someone who excelled at long-range sniping.

Xia Qing couldn’t be happier with her security chief for the coming year.

Tang Huai, embarrassed after blurting out the wrong thing, fell silent. Then Zhang San’s lazy voice floated in. “I’m Zhang San from Plot Seven. So, any good food at Plot One?”

Hu Zifeng cooled down and replied calmly, “We’re getting rid of Xiang Grass now. So far we’ve only found a few peanut sprouts and ginger seedlings poking out of the dirt. If we come across anything good, we’ll trade with you.”

Zhang San jumped in right away. “Whenever you harvest peanuts, give me however many you can spare. I’ll take them all.”

Xia Qing chimed in too. “I want ginger.” She didn’t have much—just six plants.

Qi Fu and Zhao Ze spoke up at the same time. “Brother Feng, I’m Zhao Ze from Plot Four (or Qi Fu from Plot Five). I need ginger too.”

No one dared compete with Zhang San for what he wanted, so they could only try vying for something else.

Hu Zifeng replied, “Sure, once we harvest, we’ll trade. But we arrived late and missed planting season. Don’t know if the seeds will sprout. Anyone got extra sprouts in your plots? Can we swap using points or supplies?”

Kuang Qingwei, who had run a fruit shop before the disasters and hustled supplies in the Safe Zone after, now set on making deals in the Territory, jumped in right away. “Brother Feng, you might not know this yet, but we already agreed: vegetable sprouts get traded one for one. Or you can buy them, a hundred points apiece. As for supplies, we stick to Safe Zone prices. What can you offer?”

Xia Qing sat up, her finger pressing on the walkie-talkie button.

Hu Zifeng answered, “We just arrived and didn’t bring much, but I do have two small rotary tillers. Only after we got here did I realize Plot One was too small to need both, so I’m thinking of trading one. Got it from the planting center through some connections—brand new, five thousand points.”

A gas-powered tiller for the price of fifty vegetable sprouts? No one took the bait—manual labor was still cheaper.

The path forward was clear now.

Xia Qing pressed the button, falling in line with Kuang Qingwei and the rest, and called out, “Brother Feng, I’m Xia Qing from Plot Three and want to make a trade. I’ve got garlic, perilla, tomato, pumpkin, eggplant and cucumber sprouts. The perilla and garlic can be transplanted right now, the rest in about half a month. Plus, in a month or so, I’ll have spinach seeds to offer.”

Hu Zifeng answered, getting the hang of things. “Alright. Ten each of tomato, cucumber, eggplant and pumpkin sprouts. As for the rest, how many spinach seeds can I get with the points left over?”

Spinach usually takes around forty days to mature. Once it goes to seed, you can replant and get even more.

Xia Qing bargained right back. “My spinach is a certified safe food—green-labeled. How about five seeds for a hundred points?”

“Deal.”

The moment Hu Zifeng finished speaking, Zhang San jumped in. “Xia Qing, it’s me, your third brother. How much of your green-label spinach do you have? Can I swap for some now? Name your price.”

Qi Fu chimed in next. “Xia, it’s Old Qi. I want spinach seeds too—can we trade for vegetable sprouts?”

“Sis, I want in too.” Zhao Ze and Kuang Qingwei immediately piped up, trying to cozy up. The channel descended into chaos.

Then Zhang San dropped the big one. “Xia Qing, my evolver cat is having kittens.”

Kittens!!!

Xia Qing was hooked right away, but Tang Huai beat her to the punch. “Third Brother, I want a cat. Name your price!”

“Get lost. I’m not trading with Plot Two,” Zhang San shot back at Tang Huai, but then softened his voice toward Xia Qing. “Xia Qing, want a kitten? When my cat gives birth, you can pick any one you like.”

Kittens were on the table, and Boss Sheep suddenly didn’t seem so appealing anymore. Xia Qing’s heart raced with excitement, but she replied cautiously. “Third Brother, I do want a cat. But I’ve only got a few spinach plants, and if I trade them all away, I’ll lose the chance to harvest more seed. Plus, evolver cats are nearly impossible to keep. How’d you manage to hold onto yours? If it has to stay caged up, I’m not interested.”

Even before evolving, cats acted like they owned their humans. Now? They might as well be emperors. No human could really keep one. Lock them up and they’d drive you nuts.

Zhang San answered at once. “No cages needed. As long as you have fish, the cat will come back when it’s hungry. Once you get a cat, you can trade green-label veggies with me for dried fish. I won’t take all your spinach—just clip off some leaves for me to try.”

Xia Qing was speechless…

But Zhang San added more to the deal. “I’ll throw in a home food dehydrator and a fully automatic vacuum packer as well.”

Xia Qing easily guessed his angle. “Third Brother, you want me to trade for vacuum packing bags too?”

Zhang San laughed. “You can buy from the patrol squad if you like, but I guarantee mine are the best quality.”

With fungus and bacteria evolving fast, food spoiled in no time. A food dehydrator and a reliable vacuum packer were premium items in the Safe Zone—practically impossible to get.

With just those two, fresh veggies could be dried and sealed, lasting for months.

Zhang San was really sparing no effort just for a taste of spinach.

Xia Qing was tempted but stayed cautious. “I only have a handful of spinach, and I can’t promise it’ll stay green-label after the next Xiang Rain. I have to save them all for seed. How about we wait until I can harvest seeds and grow another crop, then trade?”

Zhang San, always easy to talk to, agreed. “Works for me. But just so you know, my cats and supplies are in high demand. If you want to lock it in now, you’ll need to pay a deposit in spinach. No need to pull up the plants—just clip off whatever leaves you can spare.”

Xia Qing was stunned.