Chapter 16: Even This Works?!!
“No need to shove. There’s plenty for everyone. Please line up.”
Standing behind the counter, Ling Jing took charge of maintaining order.
The moment her words fell, the crowd that had been losing its mind over the roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes felt an invisible, gentle force guiding them. Before they even realized it, they had formed a neat queue in front of the roaster.
None of them found this strange in the slightest.
After all, whether exchanging crystals or collecting rations inside the city, waiting in line was the golden rule.
Hearing that there was enough for everyone, those farther back relaxed a fraction, though they still craned their necks on tiptoe to watch the customers at the front making their purchases.
Their mouths were practically pooling with saliva.
Every pair of eyes blazed with ravenous hunger for those roasted potatoes.
“Whoa, is it really only one percent? Why do I feel like my whole body loosened up after just two bites?”
A young man who had just bought a potato took a couple of mouthfuls and let out a deeply satisfied sigh.
“One percent is plenty! When was the last time you ate food that actually purged toxins?!”
“Listen to yourself! Forget purging poison—when was the last time any of us had a roasted potato since the apocalypse hit? Gnawing on those black biscuits day in and day out… chewing on that crap is harder than surviving, sob, sob, sob.”
“Boss! Inside this white light of yours, how come there isn’t a single wisp of emerald mist?”
The middle-aged man finally couldn’t hold back the question burning in his chest.
“Because there isn’t any.” Ling Jing gestured toward the restaurant sign and the rules board. “Please refer to the Restaurant Rules.”
“Restaurant Rules…?”
The area had been absolute pandemonium ever since they arrived. Now that Long Qian’s crew had bolted and an orderly line had formed, the newcomers finally followed the boss’s pointer and read the placard planted in plain view.
“1. All food served in this restaurant is absolutely safe and non-toxic. 2. Diners within the premises of this restaurant are guaranteed absolute safety…” someone murmured aloud.
“So! Whenever we’re buying food from you, we’re completely safe?! We won’t be corroded by the emerald mist?!”
Having tasted the roasted potatoes, the survivors harbored no lingering doubts about this boss’s miraculous nature.
For so many years, countless Awakeners, the leaders of the great cities, and even the elite research facilities in Qiweng City hadn’t managed to make these corrupted plants edible!
The boss’s capabilities were unfathomably deep! If she could do that, shielding an area from the emerald mist was hardly out of the question!
In an instant, the gazes of both those holding potatoes and those still waiting in line burned with feverish reverence.
The frail young man who was the first to buy a potato had now finished nearly half of it.
He retreated to a quiet corner sheltered by the white light, his chewing growing slower and more deliberate.
He wanted to savor every single nuance.
This feeling… was pure bliss.
If only Mom, Dad, and his little sister were still around to share it.
A hot sting rose in his eyes. He lowered his head, his vision blurring.
For some reason, a tiny spark of hope to keep living seemed to kindle in his chest once more.
Nearby, the injured woman crouched down. She split the freshly bought roasted potato in half and placed a portion into the hands of the little girl beside her.
Seeing the girl curiously lift it toward her mouth, the woman quickly intervened. “You have to blow on it first, sweetie. It’s very hot.”
“Mama, it smells so good! Can we really eat it?” The girl looked slightly younger than Lina, perhaps eleven or twelve.
The apocalypse had begun shortly after she was born. Memories of starving one meal, scraping by the next, and chewing endless black biscuits had long since overwritten any peaceful days before the fall.
To her understanding, food meant black biscuits and nothing else. She had never even seen a normal potato.
“Yes, we can eat it. It’s real food from before the apocalypse. It’s called a potato.” When facing her daughter, the woman was entirely stripped of the fierce, guarded vigilance she showed toward others.
She spoke gently to the child: “Xixi, blow on it carefully. Only put it in your mouth once it’s cooled down.”
As she spoke, the woman pinched off a tiny piece from her own half, blew on it until it was cool, and fed it to Xixi.
“Whoa!” The little girl’s eyes lit up. She chewed eagerly. “It’s so yummy! Is this a potato?! I’ve never tasted anything like this before!”
Hearing this, the woman gave her daughter a faint, bittersweet smile. “Eat slowly, sweetheart.”
Those who had already secured their food were either choked with emotion, weeping openly, grinning ear to ear, or savoring every bite.
Those who hadn’t bought anything yet were growing anxious.
At the front of the line by the roaster stood Auntie Yun, Jia Wen, and Uncle Xu.
“…Little sister, can we buy something if we don’t have City Coins on us? We only brought crystals.”
Auntie Yun asked cautiously.
Even now, she didn’t fully understand why Long Qian had told them to bring crystals instead of cashing them in at the plaza.
Others in line who were carrying crystals pricked up their ears as well.
“You can exchange your crystals right over there.”
Ling Jing pointed toward the exchange box.
“We can exchange them here?”
Auntie Yun led Jia Wen and Uncle Xu over to the Item Exchange Box.
Long Qian must have had a good reason for telling them to wait until they got here.
The trio approached the container marked with the bold placard reading “Item Exchange Box.”
“Do we just drop them in here?”
Ling Jing gave her a brief nod.
Auntie Yun reached into her tunic and pulled out three small crystals.
After a moment’s hesitation, she decided not to put them all in at once.
She picked out a single crystal and dropped it into the pitch-black opening.
Clatter, clatter—
City Coins tumbled out of the dispenser slot below.
It really worked!
Auntie Yun scooped up the coins spit out for her.
“Wait, this isn’t right…”
“What’s wrong? Did it shortchange you?” someone behind her called out.
“It’s not short—it gave me too much! How did one small crystal give me three coins?!”
Ling Jing nodded. “That is correct. This machine calculates the exchange rate based on the exact size of the crystal. Whatever it dispenses belongs entirely to you.”
“!”
Auntie Yun finally realized why Long Qian had told them not to exchange in the city.
This place clearly paid out more!
Without a second thought, she fed the remaining two small crystals into the slot.
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
This time, it dispensed five City Coins.
Altogether, three small crystals had yielded eight City Coins! Back in the city, the guards would only ever give six.
The difference was practically equivalent to an entire extra small crystal!
“I brought crystals too!”
Seeing this, someone else hurried forward to exchange theirs.
“Line up, line up! We haven’t finished our turn yet!”
Standing at the front, Auntie Yun took it upon herself to enforce the line, gently pushing Jia Wen toward the slot. “Go on, your turn.”
Jia Wen nodded firmly.
The maddening aroma of sizzling meat, mixed with the sweet fragrance of roasted sweet potatoes and earthy potatoes, had caused his mouth to water dozens of times over.
While standing in line, he had worried incessantly about whether crystals would even be accepted.
Seeing that he could trade them right here lifted a crushing weight off his chest.
As for getting more than in the city…
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
Jia Wen scooped up the coins spat out by the box and counted them: “Six! My two small crystals gave me six City Coins?!”
The delight caught him completely off guard.
That was the payout for three small crystals back home!
With two successful precedents right before their eyes, others carrying crystals swarmed over to queue up: “Quick, let us try!”
“Whoa! My crystal was barely touching medium size, and it paid out six coins on the spot! That’s more than what they give for a normal medium crystal! That settles it—I’m getting a roasted sweet potato!”
“It really gives more! Way more!”
One by one, the scavengers completed their trades, clutching their coins and beaming like idiots.
What kind of paradise was this? Not only could they eat real roasted potatoes, but they could also fetch better rates for their crystals!
Was this a dream?!
In no time at all, the crowd by the exchange box finished swapping their crystals and rushed back to the roaster to buy food.
A bargain! An absolute steal!
Suddenly, a commotion stirred outside the perimeter.
Several figures came sprinting back through the haze beyond the white light.
Charging in the very lead was… Long Ya?
Basking in the joy of their newfound wealth, the survivors watched in utter confusion as Long Ya bolted to the exchange box, carrying a bundle wrapped in a tattered cloth.
She dumped the entire heap into the chute without missing a beat.
Huh? What was that? Those weren’t crystals.
Poisoned potatoes?
Could that even…
Clink, clatter—
The exchange box actually spat out two coins!
What in the world?!
Even plants corroded by the toxic mist could be traded for money?!
Finally, someone noticed the fine print on the exchange box’s placard that everyone had overlooked until now, shouting at the top of their lungs:
“Look! It says right here: corrupted and mutated ingredients can be exchanged for City Coins too!!!!!”
“WHAT?!!!”
“EVEN THOSE CAN BE EXCHANGED?!!!”
The crowd was struck dumb with pure, unadulterated shock once again!
