The Emerging Survivors

Henry drove the jeep back to where the truck was parked. He lightly touched the truck and immediately stored it in his storage ring. Now, the vehicle slots in the storage ring were full—one for the heavy truck and one for the armored mech.

Then, humming a tune, Henry drove the off-road vehicle back to Building No. 8 in the residential area. Snow, seeing Henry return, could hardly contain her excitement. Her tail wagged like a fan, and she dashed over with her tongue stretched out, leaping straight into Henry's arms for a vigorous licking.

"Miss me? Did anyone else come by today?" Henry asked. Of course, Snow couldn't speak or understand such a complex question, but she continued to excitedly nuzzle in Henry's arms.

Entering the yard, Henry noticed that the food bowl was empty. The yard walls were intact, and the crops he had planted were still there. However, there were a few dark masses in the corner of the wall... Henry went over to check and immediately received a prompt:

[Mutant Beast Feces, can be used as Fertilizer... Slightly less effective than Mutant Fertilizer...]

He grimaced. This was something he could do without. Henry covered it with some soil.

The yard was undamaged and there were no signs of anyone climbing over the wall. This indicated that survivors daring to venture out for food were still in the minority. And even those who searched tended to instinctively head to commercial areas, where there were plenty of restaurants and supermarkets with abundant supplies.

Residential areas, with their private doors and security doors, were not easy to break into, and the narrow corridors could be problematic if zombies were encountered. Thus, residential districts were not the first choice for survivors.

As dusk approached, Henry took Snow back inside the building and locked the door.

He first went downstairs to check on the diesel generator. Since electricity was barely used during the day and only briefly before bedtime, it hadn't consumed much diesel. It looked like a single barrel of fuel would last a long time! Henry then returned to his room.

Snow was especially happy to be inside, running around on the floor. She occasionally stared at Henry, as if worried he might run away! Henry closed the electric curtains and turned on the lights. Then, he accessed the chat channel to check today's trading updates and messages.

Clarissa:

"Henry, I had a great harvest today. I sold several tents, sleeping bags, chairs, and tables separately!"

"I even sold quite a few bows and arrows!"

"Really, just like you said, the demand for arrows has skyrocketed, and I sold out of everything!"

"Henry, how about you? Did everything go smoothly today?"

"Just now, I heard the sound of car brakes, really loud, like someone entered the school playground!"

"I saw zombies rush over like a tide!"

"Thanks to that person, there are a lot fewer zombies around me, and I killed more than a dozen this afternoon!"

"Hehe, I'm pretty awesome, huh?"

"Henry, you haven't spoken all day, everything okay over there?"

"It's afternoon now, and I actually saw a few people in the campus heading towards the dormitories!"

"But these people are jerks, they even lifted up a dead zombie's skirt!"

"That's just sick!"

"Henry, are you alright? You haven't replied to my messages all day!"

"Ptooey ptooey ptooey, my Henry must be fine!"

"Henry, see this message and reply to me..."

Henry read the long series of messages left by Clarissa, covering various times from morning to afternoon. The last message was sent just twenty minutes ago!

"I'm here, just got home!" Henry replied.

"~~~Henry, you're back!" Clarissa responded instantly.

It seemed Clarissa was always on standby at the trading and private chat channels, ready to reply the moment she saw Henry's message.

"Are you still safe over there?" Henry asked.

"Pretty good, nobody knows I'm in the security room, and there are a lot fewer zombies around now!" Clarissa replied. "If the number of zombies continues to decrease over the next few days, I might be able to sneak into the convenience store across the street!"

"That way I can fend for myself and won't have to keep relying on you for food... With food being so scarce these days, I feel like I owe you too much..." Clarissa said, a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, by the way, I'm sending over the resources I traded today!" Clarissa then sent a trade box, transferring her trading earnings for the day.

Most of it was food, water, and Energy Cores. A total of 122 Energy Cores, the most abundant and valuable resource in this trade. A cheap longbow that costs one crystal core, plus arrows made from readily available wood material, could be traded for materials worth several times more. It was like picking up money!

However, Henry now had a better way of collecting crystal cores. So, while to the average person, these 122 cores might seem like a huge fortune, to Henry, they were just okay.

"Thanks for the hard work!" Henry responded. "This is your hard-earned reward for today."

Henry traded a stick of sausage, a box of instant noodles prepared with hot water, and a bottle of soda. 

"Huh? Instant noodles?" Clarissa exclaimed. "And still steaming hot! Wow, they smell amazing!"

Clarissa, looking at the steaming bowl of instant noodles, couldn't help but drool.

"I'm having instant noodles for dinner too," Henry said casually. "A kettle of boiling water is just enough for two bowls of noodles. It'd be a shame to let the leftover hot water cool down, especially now with the power outages. Hot water is a resource that shouldn't be wasted."

"So I just made an extra bowl for you, consider it your sales commission for today," Henry added in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Um... you're so kind..." Clarissa, sipping the hot soup, replied with a flushed face.

While the young girl was busy enjoying her noodles...

Henry shifted his focus back to the regional chat channel.

Logically, seeing a Japanese person today wasn't an isolated incident. It indicated that after several days into this post-apocalyptic world, survivors were gradually adapting and beginning to search for resources more actively.

There might even be foreigners moving into the area. Surely, there would be some reactions on the chat channel.

Indeed, as soon as Henry opened the regional chat channel, he saw a flurry of heated exchanges.