Luo Xun easily saw the crowd surrounding several people, a few dressed in a mix if cowboy and hip-hop in the group.
One of the faces demanded, "Do you have it or not? No, then scram. We"re waiting for someone to come and exchange nuclei!"
Selling crystal nuclei?
Luo Xun froze, then hurried forward to look at the small plank. Three pieces with different color, evidently these were higher than the level two crystal nuclei from the zombies they had killed.
Of these, two were gray-black with a peculiar sheen. The other was obviously a level two earth crystal nucleus. Luo Xun"s heart raced, he had never seen any gray nucleus with a mysterious l.u.s.ter. It was unlike the speed and power nuclei, they cores were black but emitting cyan and brownish red light.
"What kind of nuclei do you want to exchange?"
Although it was certain that the two cores were the metal nuclei Yan Fei wanted, if not it would be of no use to Yan Fei. But what if it was?
Seeing that someone had asked, they sellers looked at Luo Xun. Asking about the kind of nucleus proved that he could at least observe that these were level two nuclei.
One answered. "Thunder, power."
Luo Xun thought for a moment before turning around and leaving.
"What"s the situation?" Yan Fei casually asked with a hand against the door when Luo Xun returned.
"There are people exchanging level two crystal nuclei for thunder and strength nuclei." Luo Xun whispered. "I"m not sure but you might be able to use two of them."
No one knew what the metal nucleus looked like, but it terms of appearance, the two pieces really seemed metallic.
Yan Fei raised an eyebrow. "You stay near the car, I"ll go check." He went through the crowd.
Luo Xun opened the door and sat inside the car with his crossbow held in his hands. It was not long before the crowd made noise and gave way, revealing Yan Fei"s return.
"Well?" Luo Xun asked as the other was driving.
Yan Fei nodded. "Yeah, it"s metal." He replied after a short drive.
Luo Xun"s eyes lit up and he smiled. "Just looked at it or absorbed?"
Yan Fei slightly shook his head. "I can feel that it is a metal nucleus, but it’s better to go back before absorbing."
"What kind of nucleus did you use?" Luo Xun was not quite sure why he said that but he expressed his unconditional support.
"One lightning and strength type for their three nuclei." Yan Fei revealed the three nuclei from his pocket.
"Three pieces?!" Luo Xun looked at Yan Fei in shock. "You used two to exchange for three pieces?!" How did those people even agree?
Yan Fei made a helpless gesture with an innocent expression. "I said I did not know which of the two cores I wanted, so they made it buy one get one free."
The scarcity of metal ability users had reached a certain level and only a few knew Yan Fei in the barracks. There were a few people in the base but it would be hard to find them.
Plus, what had Yan Fei been doing before the apocalypse? He was the boss of his own company and very good at negotiations. If he had not been certain that those two nuclei were the ones he wanted, he would have waited a few days to get a lower price.
Luo Xun stifled a laugh. "You already knew which two nuclei that you needed?"
Yan Fei nodded towards the three nuclei. "The two nuclei had a different level. Do not need contact to feel similar properties, as long as one is close enough to feel it."
Luo Xun breathed but could not help but laugh. "Great, after we get back you can try the two nuclei and see what is different."
Back at home Yan Fei did not immediately use the two crystal nuclei. He removed the rest of the metal from the car and brought it up to the 16th floor. He began to create several shelves and pieces of furniture.
Luo Xun made sure the windows were covered with privacy film to avoid people looking inside.
By the time Luo Xun had pasted the film on the gla.s.s, Yan Fei had mostly finished the iron shelves and furniture. The two people began to hang curtains – Luo Xun had specially customized the thick curtains before the apocalypse. Originally meant as a standby replacement, did not think he would end up using it now.
What to do about later replacements? Remember when the end of the world started and the Otaku team went to the shopping mall? They got a large of sock of cloth, which was enough for them to make a few more st.u.r.dy curtains.
Hung up the curtains, checked all the windows after the two people had confirmed the necessary shelves, pots, boxes and so on were placed. Only the new crops to cultivate were left. Puppy wa satisfied after exploring the room and returned back to 1604.
After a simple dinner, Luo Xun washed the table and went to the living room. He saw Yan Fei sitting on the sofa with the metal nuclei between his fingers.
"Want to absorb it?" Luo Xun asked curiously while looking at the nuclei on the table.
He did not know why Yan Fei waited until now. Zhang Yi had immediately absorbed the level two nucleus, but it was a pity that he said there was no sense of escalation. It was different with Xu Mei and Song Lingling, they said them seemed temporarily unable to absorb.
Yan Fei tilted his head at Luo Xun in thought. "I feel…there seems to be something."
"Ehh?" Luo Xun looked at him in confusion.
"It"s a feeling. I think if you want to achieve the best results, it is better to absorb some of the first level crystal nuclei before." Yan Fei wryly smiled at the level two nuclei. "Their energy is not enough."
Luo Xun pondered, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Your ability seemed stronger than the others from the start, perhaps the initial level was higher than theirs…How much more do you think it will take? If it"s not enough, we"ll find a way to get more."
Yan Fei did not lie or evade as he responded. "At least 600 more first level nuclei."
He got at least 20 or 30 cores a day from making metal utensils for the army. By that count, it would take at least 20 days to gather the amount. But the sooner Yan Fei could improve his ability the better not to mention the 400 they had collected the last time they went out.
"Should we sell vegetables?" Luo Xun referred to the balcony full of produce.
He could now harvest a variety of green leafy vegetables with short growth cycles such as lettuce, leek and so on. In addition bean sprouts and other things had grown, they had placed those next door yesterday.
Yan Fei frowned. "Sell vegetables…But what about the price? Could you sell it all in one day?"
The vegetables at home were more than enough for two people and the dog that had developed an appet.i.te for the crops. It was no problem to take them out to sell. Could they sell these vegetables now? Could they sell them in a short time? What price was appropriate?
Luo Xun"s expression also s.h.i.+fted. He had sold food in his last life…no he grew vegetables to buy food for a living! But because he had cultivated a high quality species, he had signed a long term contract with someone from the logistics department and just handed the crops over.
Now that he thought about it, the first time he had wanted to sell his own vegetables he had to carefully carry them and place them in a stall. In the evening he had to deal with already wilted vegetables, if the appearance was okay it could stay for the next day"s sales.
To be honest, in the apocalypse, if there were no high quality species or way to ensure that the crops tasted like normal, there was only enough to live off of.
What was the base population? How many people would think of growing vegetables for a living? Apart from the people who had the strength and ability to go out, it was nice if people had food and clothing.
In a few bases, it was easy to compare the daily lives of people. Teams with ability users were the most comfortable, military workers had the most stable, people with homes that had a large number of solar panels was the most leisurely. As for vegetables…most were just for subsistence.
In addition, there were people on base who stole for a living or sold their bodies. The vast majority of people selling vegetables were only better off than those people.
Of course, it was not possible for everyone to grow vegetables. After all, there was another kind of person in the world – plant killers, people with black thumbs. Such people could only support their livelihood with other sources.
Plus, it was frightening that a plant that looked odd could mutate! After countless mutations that killed their owners, the number of people willing to grow vegetables was also shrinking. The vast majority of people growing home vegetables was just for their own consumption in order save some expenses. Luo Xun was the only one who delved into selling high quality vegetables.
Luo Xun frowned and tapped his chin while musing. "If there was a team in need of long term source of vegetables…"
Yan Fei raised an eyebrow as he suddenly thought of a possibility. "Barracks?"
"Eh?" Luo Xun looked in confusion which turned into excitement. "Yes! Barracks!"
The barracks now lacked food. In the future they would not be able to plant as much but the base might be willing to purchase small batches of fresh vegetables in the long term. Although they now had no way of telling how much to sell, but that would be figured out.
Maybe they could sell at a higher price elsewhere, but who would make sure that the harvested vegetables were sold each day? One reason that the two did not want to open a stall was that they did not have the time.
From morning until three o"clock in the afternoon, they spent their time building walls. When they got home they had to deal with all kinds of things and cook dinner, Yan Fei exercised and so on. If they also set aside time to sell vegetables…Luo Xun did not want to die of exhaustion during the apocalypse.
Maybe in the future, when the base job did not need them, he would make a stall to sell vegetables. But right now, they had not time to think about that.
"I think…Lieutenant Ding told us to inform him if we managed to cultivate anything…maybe he can help with this." Luo Xun thought for a while and temporarily ruled out Captain Guo in charge of wall construction.
Guo was very good, but they should not trouble him with these small things. The two would first go ask lieutenant Ding about the situation.
Yan Fei also agreed, he remembered Captain Guo having problems with the logistics department due to his big stomach…Well it was a good thing to ask other who people who were better situated.
The two men decided to go to the police pavillion in the morning to find Lieutenant Ding.
Luo Xun went to the cabinet to grab the two mobile phones inside, almost forgot to insert the phone card.
Both phones were fully charged before being turned off, ready to be used when the phone was open. The two saw the familiar symbol that meant there was a signal and could not help but sigh.
"I can use it now…"
After checking the signal, the two entered each other"s new phone numbers. With this they would be able to contact each other. In accordance with the automatic pop-up prompt installed in He Qiankun"s app, they both received their first message.
This was the base"s official ma.s.s text message. The base would regularly release messages with similar news and promotions to all mobile phone holders.
Also because the first batch went to the military, some internal military news would be sent to them as well.
Today was news about the promotion of solar panels, there were considerable barriers for some energy sources. Water was still somewhat useable but not to consider coal or natural gas.
After a few years in the apocalypse, the military began to look into solar panels and such. Luo Xun remembered the first time he worked with the military to find solar panels. But there had been how many panels? Was it enough for the entire base?
Therefore, in the recent time period, in addition to collecting materials for the wall and other things like oil and petrol, importance was placed on solar energy facilities.
Recently, a large amount of solar equipment had been transported back to base. It would provide a lot of wealth with adequate facilities. The military encouraged leasing personal devices to solve household electricity problems. The military was prepared to stop all supplies of private electricity in the future along with the creation of public shared electric facilities.
"In other words, in the future we will be able to run the elevator in the building but the electricity will be completely stopped." Yan Fei read the contents of the message and confirmed with Luo Xun.
Luo Xun forcefully nodded. "Right, every night the power supply cuts off around eight to ten o"clock. Having electricity for the elevator is already good. I estimate that in the future, the street lamps will not be supplied."
Currently the street lamp power system was still running. Luo Xun knew that with the popularization of solar energy, the base had replaced the main street lights.
Unfortunately it was not long until the solar panels on the street lights went "missing" so the base stopped. There was no time to recover the stolen lamps, and not mentioned this matter and the usual power had stopped – because many of the streetlights themselves had been stolen.
Even before the apocalypse, one could not ask equal quality for all people, awareness to achieve unified heights. After the end, few people were expected to observe these.
Yan Fei thought for a moment and turned to Luo Xun. "We can change some back. Internal military price seems to be decent. We can try and use our ident.i.ty card to tomorrow to exchange."
"Okay! Let"s go and ask tomorrow after work." Luo Xun quickly nodded.
He did not have many solar panels. Wait until after the base started promoting it he would hang all these things on the outside wall! This was one of his life"s dreams, of course he would not let go of this rare opportunity!
Current solar panels were just enough for Luo Xun"s home but if the room next door was finished and he needed to use lights and other things, the panels would not be enough. Not just lack of electricity, water was the same. Everyday two sets of distillation equipment operated together to provide their own water.
But two sets of distillation equipment would not be enough if a large number of crops were planted next door. Would need to add at least a day to create the filtered water.
Luo Xun opened a notepad on the phone and wrote notes on what needed to be done tomorrow – he found himself seemingly busy again. Save crystal nuclei to upgrade Yan Fei, make solar panels to provide enough energy for next door, make distillation equipment, look for some to sell vegetables as well as going out with everyone at the end of the month to collect crystal nuclei.
Alas..it seemed that the "leisurely apocalyptic farming" life he had envisioned was getting further and further away?
But in his last life, although hard and tiring, it was very consistent with this definition.
After was.h.i.+ng and finis.h.i.+ng recording these things, Li Tie and the others came back.
As a member of the mobile card and app development team, they were among the first to get their phone cards. Their superiors also generously gave each person a brand new cell phone. After the apocalypse, these things were left on the roadside and ignored, could have easily picked up a bunch of new, unopened ones to give people. Very convenient.
The university students held the phones and repeatedly sighed. "Alas, before the end, the latest model just came on the market. We could not even afford the previous generation. To buy this before we would have had to collectively sell a kidney, did not expect to get a brand new one…"
Luo Xun looked at their faces of melancholy and happiness, he poured a basin of cold water. "The mobile phone with big screen is okay for tasks, but very easy to break ah…"
Li Tie and friends were stunned – they had not realized that issue! Zhang Yi despaired their IQ and huffed through his nose.
"But…what? What kind of cell phone is st.u.r.dier?"
Luo Xun coughed and took out the phone the two used. "Triple protection, water, dust and shatter proof! Even if it drops while out it"s absolutely durable, most practical model after the apocalypse. You did not consider it?"
"Where did you get this?"
"Luo Xun, can we exchange with you?"
"It looks thick and ugly, but the closer you look, the better it seems…"
"Luo Xun, is this what you used before the apocalypse? Why does it look so new?"
Luo Xun took out a box from his backpack with a smile. "Before when I was going out to collect supplies I pa.s.sed by a store…brought some back."
Before the apocalypse he had gone to the store and stared. When he had a mobile phone, it would not be possible to buy a new one. He waited until the apocalypse, it was thrown into the street and no one was looking. He conveniently picked up a big box so it was no problem giving some to Li Tie and the others.
As for the rest…he was keeping them as spares.
Li Tie and the others discussed for a bit and exchanged three new phones and 30 crystal nuclei for six more durable phones. Brothers settled their accounts, not to mention they had no need for crystal nuclei at the moment, a phone was more vital.
As for the three machines left over? A few people took turns to have fun. Unfortunately most of the applications were unusable, not to mention games. He Qiankun and Wu Xin had already discussed plans to develop some games for the machine at work.
Ah, being able to program was convenient – even if they did have to creativity to develop a brand new game…could they not imitate some other games to make counterfeit products?