Nobody wanted any of it.
People always said the same thing: the poor couldn't afford it, the rich didn't care for it.
That just let Jing Shu scoop up a bargain. What surprised her even more was that it wasn't just the modification materials, there were tons of things she happened to need.
Things like motor oil, antifreeze, snow tires, ramming bars and a bunch of related materials. Once a factory shut down, it could only live off whatever stock it had. Stuff like this got used up fast and it wasn't something you bought once and never touched again. Back when the apocalypse first hit, Jing Shu had collected plenty, so when it came to consumables, the more the better.
She waved her hand and swept all that messy pile of supplies behind her again.
By now the entire display table basically belonged to her. She'd only brought ham and seasonings to trade today. She never expected to come back with so much.
If you thought about it, food wasn't even the real issue. Before the apocalypse or after it, good items were always rare and always in the hands of a few. Their values weren't the same as ordinary people's.
They were willing to trade something precious for something they approved of.
That was why her ham and seasonings could be exchanged for this insane amount of materials.
Once she finished wandering the Imperial Capital's black market, her harvest was stacked to the brim. You could say it added another layer of security for the apocalypse ahead.
Fan Jianqiang's harvest was big too. He made several thousand points for nothing, straight into the platinum tier. Those points would be useful.
Song Bin also did pretty well. He took the payment she gave him, a small piece of ham, and traded it for a stack of daily necessities. At her suggestion, he especially stocked up on quilts and thick clothes, even some coal.
Time was running short. Jing Shu returned to where she was staying, sorted all the materials and packed them up. Since these were all acquired through legitimate trades, she couldn't secretly stash them in the space, so she'd have to take them back to Wu City like this.
The next morning, she disguised herself and headed out again. Nobody could recognize her now. She even left Song Bin behind.
Of course, she didn't take Xiao Dou either. Xiao Dou stayed in Tank's storage room, partly to watch over Wanzi's crate, partly to guard the supplies.
As for danger, with Tank there, she didn't need to worry much.
Still, she made preparations. She set up special traps and gave Xiao Dou a life-saving charm. Worst case, if something happened on Xiao Dou's side, she'd receive the signal immediately. That let her relax and head toward her next destination in the Imperial Capital.
It was hard enough to come here once. Who knew when she'd get another chance. So she couldn't just get supplies, she needed to learn something about the city's culture too, right?
In the past few days she'd already toured most of the Imperial Capital for official business. Now that her time was tight and her departure was near, she decided to squeeze in something special.
Otherwise, leaving empty-handed felt wrong.
She also went alone so she wouldn't risk exposing any secrets or her movements.
A plain, oversized truck rolled over, covered in splashes of black and green muck, and picked her up.
A huge cargo truck with only a driver's seat and one passenger seat felt like overkill.
If not for the mask and gas mask she wore, the stench alone could've sent her straight to the afterlife. Was this thing hauling manure?
The driver was a friendly uncle, wearing rubber boots and an apron caked in mud. One hand held a greasy rolled pancake, the other controlled the wheel like he was born with it.
Thankfully, they reached the destination soon.
"Hey, little miss, we're here." The driver grinned, showing his big yellow teeth. He got paid extra just for dropping someone off. This little miss was odd though, wrapped up tight with two huge boxes. What was she carrying?
Not that it mattered. His job ended here.
He pointed ahead. "Right up there."
Jing Shu nodded, hauling the two big boxes toward the tall wall. She knocked hard on the heavy iron gate.
When it opened, a wave of sterilizing chemicals rushed out and the sign inside came into view.
"This is a pre-apocalypse prison. I knew it. Only a place like that would have walls this high and sit in a place this remote."
She stepped through the giant gate as someone led her forward. They eventually passed through an ordinary-looking door.
But once it opened, it was like stepping into another world.
Violent crashes, monstrous roars, darkness and stench everywhere. It felt like she'd walked into hell.
Jing Shu stopped cold.
"Are you alright? Are you sure you want to continue? If you'd like to back out..." A staff member spoke carefully. This place was a forbidden zone for a reason. It was dangerous.
But there were always reasons for it to exist. If it existed, it had value. If it had value, it had research significance.
"I'm fine. Really. This place looks good. Let's go. Show me the target I'm here to take over." Jing Shu smiled. No matter how scary this was, nothing was worse than the despair of her previous life.
"Alright." The staffer assumed she was terrified but too proud to admit it. Trying to calm her, he explained:
"This place used to be a prison before the apocalypse, which makes our work easier. Everything here is a mutated species from after the apocalypse. Some are failed evolutions, some are too aggressive, some mutated from zoo animals. Basically, aside from research value, they're useless."
Anything capable of reproducing or producing meat, anything with value, would never be thrown here. Those would be worshiped like royalty.
The chilling, pitch-black prison held two rows of cells, each containing some unknown creature.
Jing Shu never imagined so many new species would emerge after the apocalypse. It wasn't so much that they were new species, more that animals were desperately evolving to survive. Most of them failed.
So failures ended up here.
She even saw something that looked like a mix between a hippo and a pig. They rammed into each other nonstop. The ones that got smashed to death were eaten brutally. Didn't hippos eat plants?
"Oh, that. Those are a batch of failed experimental pigs. Regular pigs couldn't cut it, so they were pumped full of hormones and stimulants. They can't reproduce and can't be eaten anymore. They'll be left here to die off and then we'll write a report." The staffer didn't care at all.
"These are pigs?" She raised a brow. If he hadn't said anything, she would've thought they were hippos. The change was wild.