Chapter 279: Drought World 7
On a dark and windy evening, a lone young man with a large backpack was walking towards a small market.
His face showed the fatigue of long hardship and the joy of a good harvest; he was just waiting to go to the market to exchange the contents of his backpack for water and other daily necessities.
However, what he didn’t know was that he had already been targeted by someone with ill intentions.
“Stop!”
The man following him called out, his gaze greedily roving over the young man, “Hand over all your valuables, or I’ll kill you.”
The young man turned around, showing little fear on his face, but his actions were a bit exaggerated, “Help! Someone’s trying to rob me!”
That shout made the robbery for money sound like a sexual assault, sending a shiver down the robber’s spine, and he wanted to give the young man a good slap.
But he didn’t.
Because a pistol was pressed against the back of the robber’s head, and the young man who had just been screaming for help instantly changed his demeanor, “Alright, cooperate, hand over all your valuables!”
Black-on-black.
This was the most common way Chu Yian and Zhu Shen had been getting rich these past few days.
When business was best, they pulled off black-on-black three times a day; normally, they had at least one such score every day.
They had gained experience from their robberies; these robbers, without exception, hid their good stuff in shoe soles, clothing interlayers, and even their underwear. It was a bit disgusting, but the items hidden in their underwear were always the most valuable.
As a young girl, Chu Yian, of course, couldn’t do something as shameless as pulling down someone’s pants; Zhu Shen always handled that.
“Hmph, you’re a pervert, kid, hiding your pills in your underwear.”
Zhu Shen commented on the robber’s actions while collecting the items.
He had done this ‘underwear search’ so many times that he even experienced the perverse joy of opening a blind box.
Today’s haul:
Pills: 14 tablets
Strong liquor: 20ml
Lighters: 2
Fuel: 1L
Besides these, there were some less valuable items like steel, shoes, and clothes. Water was becoming increasingly expensive; 60 jin of steel, plus clothes and shoes, could only be exchanged for 100ml of water.
As for the other items today, they collectively exchanged for 7800ml of water. If it had been two days ago, this amount of stuff could have been exchanged for two-thirds more water than now.
Water on the market was getting more and more expensive.
Chu Yian and her group never held onto anything they robbed for more than a second; no matter if the other party lowered the price again, they sold it.
Under such urgency, by the night of the thirteenth day of the game, their water reserves barely reached 50000ml. If nothing unexpected happened, this amount would allow them to barely survive until the end of the game, though it would be a bit tough.
However, they were also practically penniless.
Aside from Chu Yian’s pistol, Zhu Tianguang’s fire axe, and the clothes on their backs, they had almost nothing left. This included the 30-day supply of black brick biscuits they had hoarded and the salt she had kept, unwilling to sell.
Day Fourteen of the Game
The market was sluggish.
Today, prices were surprisingly low.
Black brick biscuits, which previously cost 2 pieces for 100ml of water, could now be bought at 4 pieces for 10ml. Some people even directly used black brick biscuits for transactions instead of water, unwilling to exchange water for other items.
There were still two days until the water completely ran out, but the shadow of the water shortage already loomed over everyone.
Zhu Tianguang secretly admired Chu Yian in his heart; Chu Yian had decisively sold all their inventory on the second day of their robberies. All things considered, they might have lost a bit on buying food, but cutting their losses in time prevented regret.
However, they didn’t have much water either.
It couldn’t support their current extravagance.
Chu Yian exchanged for the next dozen days’ worth of food, plus 500g of salt, then quickly left with Zhu Shen.
The world had been chaotic before, but as long as everyone worked hard, they could barely survive.
There was still some order amidst the chaos.
But now it was different.
People would quickly realize that water was becoming harder and harder to obtain, and without water, ordinary people could live for at most three days.
From being able to guarantee water by working hard, to having to exert all efforts for just a little water, and then to being unable to get water and all household water sources running out, these people would transform from “humans” into “beasts” for survival.
In fact, when the two of them were buying things, many eyes were already secretly eyeing them.
To be precise, they were eyeing their backpacks, especially when they saw Chu Yian putting the remaining water from buying black brick biscuits into her backpack; these people’s gazes were particularly fervent.
More than a dozen people converged on the two of them from different directions.
Fortunately, Chu Yian’s mind worked fast, and she immediately led Zhu Tianguang to run outside.
Those who had targeted them, seeing the two leave so quickly, either turned to find better prey or directly gave chase. Several people pursued relentlessly, and Chu Yian just waited until they were further from the market before pulling out her pistol to deter the group.
“Follow us again, and I’ll kill all of you!”
Chu Yian coldly pulled the trigger, the gunshot echoing particularly loudly in the desolate wilderness.
Those few people were not desperate outlaws.
Seeing that robbing for water would lead to death, they all ran incredibly fast to find easier prey.
“Trying to rob us? Hmph, they don’t even know how dominant we are in these ten li and eight streets.”
Zhu Shen dusted off his clothes, a proud look on his face.
He physically demonstrated what it meant to be impressive when you have a backer.
However, Chu Yian did not relax after driving away the pursuers; upon seeing their clear footprints left in the soft yellow sand, she became even more serious and tense.
“We need to find a place to hide.”
Zhu Shen didn’t understand her meaning.
But Chu Yian didn’t care; her original plan was to stock up on supplies and immediately head to the city ruins. For the last dozen days, they would hide inside and not come out, but at this moment, she suddenly changed direction, leading Zhu Shen towards the trading market a few kilometers away, opposite to the city ruins.
Everything outside was dropping in price due to the decreasing water supply, but the trading market still required 100ml of water as an entry fee.
Chu Yian paid without the slightest hesitation and entered.
Not long after, a group of fierce-looking people followed the footprints to this location.
There were dozens of these people, and they were specifically after Chu Yian and Zhu Shen. They searched around the perimeter of the trading market several times but couldn’t find the two, so they concluded that the two had entered the trading market.
The trading market was an entity they dared not provoke; they could only guard the exit, waiting for the two to come out.
“200ml of water, just used it like that, truly a fat sheep.”
“Not a fat sheep, but a fat tiger. Watch out for that woman, she has a gun. Ironfang, Stoneman, and Zhang Biao all tried to rob them, but they got black-on-blacked instead.”
