Chapter 6

In the yard, Louise Parry was basking in the sun when she saw Sharon walking in, carrying large shopping bags. "Lucy is back?" Louise asked with a warm smile. "She got back yesterday," Sharon replied. "These clothes are for you and Dad. Hurry up and try them on." "They don't look cheap. She bought them from the city, right?" Just then, Delaney Walton—Sharon's sister-in-law—walked over, smiling as she spoke. "The tags are still on. 399 dollars for a pair of shoes—that's expensive! Quick! Return them! 300 dollars is more than enough to cover a month's living expenses for me," Louise said, waving her hand after seeing the price. "These are gifts from Lucy," Sharon said. "She earned the money while working in the city!" When Lucy had wanted to go to college, Tatiana had strongly opposed it due to the high tuition fees. But Louise had scraped together some money to help. "She even bought me and Gordon smartphones!" Sharon added. "Smartphones aren't cheap, right?" Louise said, looking at Sharon with pride. Seeing them doing well made her happy. "I'll make sure my daughter goes to college too, so she can work in the city," Delaney chimed in with a smile. Going to college in the city and getting a good job could promise a bright future. "Come on. Try it on! There's something for Dad too!" Although Louise complained about the expense, she couldn't hide her delight. She eagerly took the clothes and asked Sharon to help her inside to try them on. … Hans and Leo had spent the night in a dingy room. Hans checked his pocket space—there were now medicines, MREs, and even a freshly roasted chicken. He couldn't help but drool. Without hesitation, he took out the roasted chicken. "Wow… Am I seeing things? Is that… roasted chicken?" Leo was stunned. It had been ages since he'd seen a real chicken. After the apocalypse, all animals had mutated. Chickens were no exception—they had become grotesque creatures, oozing green pus. They were revolting to look at, let alone eat. Hans, generous as always, shared half of the chicken with Leo. The two savored it carefully, resisting the urge to wolf it down. They even had clean bottled water to drink. "At dawn, we'll go look for supplies, kill some zombies, and head back to the base," Hans said. There were still many people starving at the base. Without food, some wouldn't make it. "Yeah." Leo nodded eagerly. The taste of real food was heavenly. In the past, people had eaten anything just to survive, no matter how awful it tasted. Sometimes, they even consumed poisonous or mutated plants. Some were so desperate that they ate dirt. In the city base, pregnant women who ate mutated plants often gave birth to deformed babies. Many didn't even survive birth. "We'll have more food like this, right?" Leo asked cautiously, swallowing a bite as if afraid it might be his last. "As long as we find valuable things, we can exchange for more," Hans replied firmly. He frowned slightly, which made Leo nervous. After experiencing meat pie, roasted chicken, and clean water, he was terrified of losing everything. "The pocket space is small," Hans continued. "If we want to exchange large amounts of supplies and feed the entire base, we'll need Pluting." Only by upgrading the pocket space could they exchange larger quantities of supplies. With the population drastically reduced after the apocalypse, survival was a daily struggle for the people in their city base. "Leave the zombie hunting to me!" Leo said confidently. Plutings were rare, but they weren't as rare as food. Sure, Plutings could enhance abilities, but what use was more power when people were starving and dehydrated? Food was essential. Without it, it was impossible to survive. "Alright!" As long as the pocket space was upgraded, its capacity would increase. "I'll start hunting zombies right away. Just promise me food!" "We'll focus on finding something valuable first, then head back to the base," Hans replied. "Those people will starve to death if we don't bring them food. We'll send them food, and the people at the base will give us Plutings and find supplies for us." "Right. Oh, my son's still at the base. Can we get some milk powder for him?" Leo asked. "Should be doable. Let's focus on finding valuable items and Plutings first." They needed to find valuable items to exchange for food and water. This was fair—an equivalent exchange. Hans, always meticulous, knew that while he could exchange supplies now, the limited pocket space was a huge problem. Only by upgrading it could they store and exchange for more supplies. The more they exchanged, the more people at the base could survive. … At dawn, the two set off toward the city. They didn't dare venture too close, as the area was swarming with zombies, posing a serious threat. Along the way, they killed every zombie they encountered, but most didn't have Plutings. Like how some humans awakened powers while others didn't, only certain zombies carried Plutings. Even so, they dissected every zombie's head in search of Plutings. Half the capacity in the pocket space was already taken up by the food Lucy had bought. He placed two Plutings in the pocket space. With the time difference, it was currently daytime for him but nighttime for Lucy. The shops lining the streets, including convenience stores, small supermarkets, and snack shops, had long been looted. Even the clothing stores were mostly emptied. Noticing a small notebook in the pocket space, Hans opened it. In neat handwriting, Lucy informed that if he found any novels or artistic items, she wanted them. "There's a bookstore over there," he said. "Let's check it out." "A bookstore? Aren't we supposed to be heading to the gold shop to find valuables?" Leo asked, puzzled. His mind was entirely focused on money now, when in the past, he had never cared much about them. "Just follow me," Hans replied curtly, not wanting to waste time explaining. Obediently, Leo followed. Hans was in charge now, and sticking close to him meant food. The bookstore was covered in dust, and the displayed books had grown moldy. Hans picked a couple from the shelves, including a comic book, and stored them in the pocket space. They then went to a nearby jewelry store. Though it wasn't a gold shop, it still had some valuable items. After collecting a decent amount, Hans' pocket space was nearly full. "Let's head back to the base," he said. They needed to deliver the supplies before they could gather more. "Alright!" The limited pocket space meant they couldn't carry too much at once. … The next day, Lucy woke up and immediately entered the pocket space. She still had plenty of food left from the previous day, along with the books and jewelry Hans had found. Although the jewelry wasn't gold, it was beautifully crafted with unique designs. She glanced at the books and comics, and they were clearly from another world. Two of the books were novels—volumes one and two of a trilogy, missing the final volume. After turning on her computer, she registered as an author on a well-known novel platform. Typing up the entire novel by hand seemed too tedious, so she figured she would need a scanner. The jewelry looked valuable enough. She planned to list it online and see how much it might fetch. Her phone buzzed with a flurry of WhatsApp notifications. It was her junior high school friend, Viviana Perry. "I'm getting married this weekend. Will you be my bridesmaid?"