Reborn in the end of the world, I scavenged in the empty city and bought for free

If a fruit and vegetable store was opened before the apocalypse, it would actually be very ordinary. However, this is the apocalypse, and all kinds of resources are scarce. The weathered and corroded soil is not suitable for large-scale planting. Coupled with the mutation of plants and animals, the small number of fruits and vegetables that are successfully grown have lost their original taste, and the survival rate is extremely low. The temperature, humidity, water, and nutrition conditions are very demanding. The Agricultural Science Institute spent two and a half years of research before developing more than a dozen kinds of fruits and vegetables and staple foods suitable for planting in the apocalypse.

Even so, most people would not think of planting anything in the fields. First, the cost is extremely high, requiring nutrient solution specially sold by agricultural science institutes. Second, the investment is large but the yield is small. The same acre of land can only produce one-third of the crops before the end of the world, and the quality varies greatly. In addition, vegetables and fruits cannot be preserved in large quantities, and sales and pricing have also become big problems.

Although Ye Yan's family runs a grocery store, they only occasionally stock some compressed biscuits and rice, flour, grain and oil as food products, but they would never consider things like fresh fruits and vegetables. Small grocery stores are not competitive with supply and marketing cooperatives, and it is also easy for them to hoard goods. That's why Ye Yan was worried that Gu Tongwan would lose money if he opened a fruit and vegetable store.

"How about... you can think about it again. I think fruit and vegetable stores are not very competitive compared to other industries. You can try to open a dessert shop and make some handmade cookies or small cakes. Several of them near our community are doing pretty well, but it requires a relatively large initial investment. Professional baking machines seem to cost tens of thousands of points."

Seeing Ye Yan giving his advice sincerely, Gu Tongwan smiled knowingly: "It doesn't matter. I have a channel to purchase goods here. The quality of fruits and vegetables is not a problem. Besides, I only run a small shop. Twenty square meters, or even more than ten square meters is enough. It doesn't matter if I can't sell all the fruits. I also have a freezer. Now that the weather is not so hot, they can still last for a while if they are properly stored."

Seeing that the other party had made up his mind, Ye Yan could only smile and nod: "Seeing that you are so confident, it seems that I am too worried. Since there is a supply, it should not be a problem. Now that the weather is gradually getting cooler, fresh vegetables are actually harder to find. Ordinary people can't afford them, but those rich people are scrambling for them. Usually, the fruits and vegetables in the supply and marketing cooperatives are sold out as soon as they are put on the shelves. If the quality of the fruits and vegetables is good enough, there will definitely be profit."

In fact, what Ye Yan said was true. Although the fruit and vegetable business was not easy to do, it was due to the restrictions of weather and environment. But in fact, fruits and vegetables have always been a source of certain nutrients that humans need to obtain. Even ordinary people would buy some basic vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and cabbage every few days to maintain the vitamins that the body lacks. It can be said that at present in the base, or in the entire doomsday environment, fruits and vegetables have always been more precious than meat. Generally, the agricultural science institutes will select the best part of the freshly picked fruits and vegetables on the same day for the selection of those dignitaries who have cooperated with them for a long time. The rest will then be transported to major supply and marketing cooperatives and commercial streets. By the time they are put on the shelves, it is actually the second or third day after the fruit trees are picked.

The reason why Gu Tongwan wanted to ask Ye Yan about the market conditions of the fruit and vegetable store was, firstly, that her family had many years of experience in doing business, and secondly, since it was also a small business, it would be the right thing to do to understand the market conditions from them.

On the way, Ye Yan exchanged contact information with her, and Ye Yan even said with a smile that she could visit his grocery store when she had time.

Gu Tongwan thought that Ye Yan's home was only half an hour's drive from the villa area, so he tentatively made an appointment to go there tomorrow morning.

The two chatted as they walked, and were about to reach the exit when the broadcast behind them continued to repeat the notification that the dungeon was closed.

At the entrance, two Self-Defense Force members saw off the last batch of tourists before re-confirming with the team members on the intercom: "This is Exit C. The last batch of tourists has been sent off."

Ten seconds later, there was a rustling sound and a man's voice came over: "This is Exit D. The last group of people have been sent away."

The situation at exits E and F was similar, but the command center immediately realized that something was wrong after receiving the electronic data provided by each exit.

"Today, 4897 people entered the city. Why did only 4884 people come out? Are there 13 people left in the underground city?"

The captain of the coordination team in charge of this area at the command center immediately frowned, tapping his fingers on the table, and immediately looked at his deputy.

The deputy was also unsure, so he suggested a possibility: "It may be that some citizens did not follow the entry guide and stayed in the underground city without permission."

In fact, this situation is not uncommon. Since the opening of the dungeon nearly two weeks ago, many people have been stranded underground every day, but the number is generally not too large. There are about three or five people staying under the city every day, but most of them are to avoid debts on the ground or want to stay in the dungeon to continue exploring. But these people will eventually rest somewhere temporarily due to exhaustion, until they are sent back to the ground by patrolling Self-Defense Forces that night, or they run to the exit for help the next day.

But now a total of thirteen people are missing, and it will take at least half an hour to retrieve the identities of these thirteen people.

"If they are just stranded, it would be fine. I am worried that they have gone to the dangerous area." The captain of the coordination team covered his forehead and sighed, then raised his head and said, "Hurry up and notify the guards who are about to change shifts to increase the frequency of patrols in the dangerous area."

"Reporting to the leader, the guard team has completed the clearing mission for today, so no additional patrol work will be arranged. The patrol work has been handed over to the members of the Self-Defense Force." The deputy reported the current reality with a helpless look on his face.

Although the underground city patrol team works in three shifts, the guard team is only responsible for clearing dangerous areas, and the subsequent cleanup and patrols are all completed by the Self-Defense Force. The guard team will only stay in the dangerous area continuously during the beast tide.

The coordinating captain could only move his lips and blurt out a sentence in a dry voice: "Then let the information department quickly check and find out the identities of these three people immediately. Make sure they are not ignorant second-generation rich people, otherwise we will all be in trouble!"

Half an hour later, the Information Department sent the basic personnel information entering and leaving the underground city today to the Coordination Department.

The staff member in charge of security coordination immediately frowned when he saw the missing thirteen people.

The captain of the overall coordination team sat in his chair a little irritated, and couldn't help asking: "What's going on? Who are they?"

"Leader, these thirteen people are all from the inner circle. In addition to the eleven who are from normal families, there is also Yuan Zhong, the second son of the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and Chen Fangming, the only son of the director of the hydropower plant."

The captain bit his lip and said unhappily, "They are really two second-generation rich kids. It's so damn unlucky. Quickly notify the underground city action team to find them and bring them out."

The words fell, but the deputy on the opposite side did not take any immediate action. Instead, he looked as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"We had registered at the entrance to the city that these people entered on motorcycles. And according to the report from the captain of the Third Guard Team today, there was a motorcycle team driving madly in the red danger zone. Because the Third Guard Team had just returned from a clearance operation, the individual armored vehicles could not catch up with the other team, and the other team quickly entered a deeper area."

"damn it!"

The captain of the coordination team suddenly stood up from his chair, put his hands on the table, and his face trembled slightly with anger.

*****

At this time in the underground city, the motorcycle gang was still excited because of the mutant red-eyed rats they had encountered before, especially the young man who shot and killed one of the red-eyed rats with a pistol.

"Yuan Zhong, did you see that? I shot and killed that red-eyed rat with one shot!"

"Chen Fangming, just keep talking nonsense. If I hadn't been driving, would you have been able to catch up with this good thing?" As he said this, he stepped on the accelerator and drove towards deeper places, completely unaware that danger was approaching.

The deeper this group of people went into the danger zone, the more they felt the temperature suddenly drop. At this time, Yuan Zhong stopped the car and looked at the underground city electronic watch he had specially purchased on his wrist. It showed that they were at least thirty kilometers away from the nearest gate of the underground city and were currently in the center of the red zone.

"Brother Yuan, why did you stop?"

The several motorcycles following behind him also braked and stopped because of Yuan Zhong's actions, and some people couldn't help but shiver.

"Fuck, it's really cold here, it's under 10 degrees, these people are screwing me, I was browsing the forum last night, and someone told me that the coldest temperature underground was 145 degrees, I wish I could wear a cotton coat right now."

"We've been driving for more than 40 minutes, and we don't seem to see any buildings along the way." One of the younger brothers couldn't help shivering. The lights on both sides were getting dimmer and dimmer along the way. It was chilly nearby, and it seemed as if there was no end at first glance. Since entering the red area, it felt more like a long black tunnel. There were fewer and fewer lights, not to mention buildings. The stone walls on both sides were getting closer and closer to the middle. From the open view of the previous few kilometers to this section of mountain road where only stone walls are left, an unknown fear struck everyone's heart.

The girl behind Yuan Zhong was so cold that her face turned pale. After the excitement and novelty of entering the danger zone disappeared, all that was left was boredom and a long period of emptiness. Moreover, the silence here was almost too much, so she bit her lip and said coquettishly: "Honey, let's go back. It's not fun here at all."

Chen Fangming rubbed his hands and breathed, saying unhappily, "What's the point of saying this now? We heard that there are B-level mutant bats in the dungeon. If we can hunt a B-level mutant bat, we can directly use the crystal core to make high-level nutrient solution to help us upgrade. We can't go to the big forest in the north of the base for now. The dungeon has been cleared out by the guards before. Basically, all the S-level and A-level mutant beasts have been wiped out. We have nothing to be afraid of. Brother Yuan and I are both B-level psychics, plus there are three C-level psychics and a lot of firepower support. We are not afraid of not being able to take down a mere B-level mutant bat."

"That's right. Are you still worried about these things when you follow Brother Yuan? You may have forgotten that Brother Yuan is a B-level ice-type psychic, and he was promoted from D-level to B-level in two years. No one else has this talent. In addition, Brother Liu is also a B-level psychic, and he is a former professional hunter. Are you still worried that a few of us can't deal with a B-level mutant beast?" Another person also followed suit. It was obvious that he had not considered the subsequent risks at all. Instead, he felt that once he got through the danger zone, he would have something to brag about after he returned.

Yuan Zhong's originally wavering heart was immediately dispelled after his two younger brothers cheered him on. There were thirteen of them, except for two women who could not help, there were eleven men left, six of whom were psychics, two B-level, three C-level and one D-level. If they really encountered any situation, this combat power could basically form a small-scale hunting team. In addition, the others had guns in their hands, so they brought a lot of "good guys" when they went out this time. As long as they were not mutant beasts that were too dangerous, they would have to die obediently in front of bullets.

After thinking about this, Yuan Zhong showed a proud smile on his face, and then he snapped his fingers again and said to the others: "Keep going forward. Since we have entered the underground city, there is no reason to return empty-handed. Moreover, we must hunt down good things to show the old man, so that he won't always say that we are idle at home."

The woman behind him pouted in dissatisfaction, but she did not dare to disobey Yuan Zhong's decision. She could only ask pitifully: "Brother Yuan, I'm still cold. What if I get frozen?"

"How could I be frozen? Just hold me tighter. Although I am an ice-type mutant, my body is warm." As he spoke, he touched the woman's hand that was around his waist. The woman could only roll her eyes and dared not say a word. There were more sneers around her.

Just when they relaxed their vigilance, a sharp sound was heard in front of them, followed by a strong airflow. A strong wind rushed in from the bottomless front, accompanied by coarse dust in the air, making it impossible for the group to open their eyes for a moment.

At this moment, someone shouted "mutant bat", and Yuan Zhong became extremely excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He had already started to catalyze the supernatural ice cone in his hand, ready to destroy the beast in one fell swoop when it came over. However, he did not expect that the mutant bat grew its wings and flapped twice, and did not attack them. Instead, it howled twice and flew deeper.

"Fuck, that beast is trying to run, chase it quickly!" Yuan Zhong yelled and twisted the handlebars to accelerate again. The people behind him also became excited, thinking that the mutant bat in front must have sensed their supernatural aura and was scared away, so they were eager to try to capture the mutant bat.