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"Holy shit… those two girls are seriously hot."
Hammerhead's heart skipped a beat.
One had legs for days. The other had that innocent baby face with a killer body. Just looking at them was enough to make a man drool.
If he could get his hands on them…
Hell, shaving a few years off his life would be worth it.
It was the apocalypse. Laws were gone. Morals? Long buried.
If they could take that place over…
Wouldn't those two girls be theirs to do whatever they wanted with?
Of course, with Nanami standing right there, Hammerhead didn't dare let those thoughts show.
Nanami was too upright. Too stubborn. And strong as hell.
Hammerhead might be bold, but not that bold.
"Brother, this food's good. Fresh," Nanami said, extending a hand to Julian. "If possible, I'd like to keep trading like this."
The expiration dates were all within ten days. Of course it was fresh.
Julian was more than happy to get rid of it before it rotted.
"No problem," he replied, shaking Nanami's hand. "Like I said—gold, gasoline, diesel. Bring whatever you've got."
"Food's limited. First come, first served."
"Got it. We'll be back soon," Nanami nodded. "Alright, boys, grab the stuff. We're heading back!"
His men stepped forward, hoisted the food, and headed toward the road.
The dozen or so zombies drawn by the commotion were dealt with quickly. Clean and efficient.
They weren't weak, that was for sure.
But even if all of them came at once, they still wouldn't be a match for Julian.
No matter how tough a normal person was, the gap between them and an awakened was massive.
"Let's head back," Julian said, then shot Mafuyu a look. "Mafuyu, I don't think I've punished you for that little livestream stunt earlier, have I?"
"Ahhh, save me!" Mafuyu stuck out her tongue and bolted straight into the warehouse.
"Master, I'll help you carry the gasoline," Uzaki Hana said obediently, picking up a jerrycan.
"That's my good girl," Julian said, patting her head. "Once we're done moving everything, we'll continue our earlier… battle."
Hana's cheeks flushed bright red. She quickened her steps with the fuel can.
On the road, Nanami's group finished clearing the zombies and loaded the food into their vehicles.
Eighty jin of food—about forty kilos. If rationed carefully, it could feed everyone at their camp for two days.
Still, they couldn't slack off. Tomorrow they'd have to keep gathering supplies and trade again.
"Boss," Hammerhead muttered, "that place doesn't look like it's got many people. Why don't we just take it?"
"Take it?" Nanami shot him a look. "You've got your eye on the girls, haven't you?"
"I'm warning you—don't even think about it."
"Society may have collapsed, but we don't throw away our basic moral code."
"And you think they're holding that warehouse by luck?"
"There are over a hundred zombie corpses around that place. Who do you think killed them?"
"And didn't you notice? Those two girls were carrying forty jin of food one-handed."
"You really think they're just helpless little women?"
"Starting tomorrow, we trade fair and square. We earn our food with what we've got. Nothing shameful about that."
He gave his men a stern look.
Then they split up and got into their vehicles, engines roaring to life as they drove toward a nearby elementary school.
The gymnasium there was their survivor base.
In the second vehicle, Hammerhead rode with Tanaka and two other thugs he'd brought into the group.
"Damn it," Hammerhead grumbled, lighting a cigarette. "So many resources just sitting there, and we're not taking it. And those girls… Nanami's really something else."
"You're telling me," Tanaka said. "Those two earlier? I was hard just looking at them."
"So… what if," Hammerhead lowered his voice, "the four of us handle it ourselves tonight?"
"I counted three people there. Even if there are a few more inside, if we ambush them, we've got a shot."
"If we take that place, we won't have to bust our asses scavenging every day."
"I'm in," Tanaka said immediately.
"Same here. Stick with Brother Hua, eat meat, play with women," the other two chimed in eagerly.
"Good. One a.m. tonight. Meet at the school gate."
Hammerhead was already picturing the warehouse falling into his hands.
Back at the warehouse, after finishing his "battle" with Hana and giving Mafuyu a proper "lesson," Julian sprawled out on the couch in front of the giant screen and went online.
Today's barter with Nanami had sparked an idea.
Three and a half thousand kilos of short-shelf-life food.
Why not trade it directly for what he wanted?
Hell, he could even deliver it himself.
At this rate, he'd clear out all 3,500 kilos in just a few days.
Once it was gone, he could move to Donghu Island.
Perfect plan.
He logged onto a local forum and made a post.
Fresh food for gold.
One jin of food for 100 grams of gold. Minimum 20 jin.
Leave your address. Delivery available.
First come, first served. While supplies last.
He needed gasoline and diesel too, but Nanami could supply those.
Right now, stockpiling gold was smarter.
The replies poured in almost immediately.
"100 grams of gold for one jin of food? Are you robbing people?"
"Why don't you just go mug someone?"
"100 grams of gold is worth tens of thousands! One jin of food lasts a day at most! Total scam!"
"OP's gone insane."
"OP, I'll trade! I'm at XX Garden, Building 22. I want 50 jin!"
"I'm at XX Villa District, Building 7. Thirty jin!"
"Are you idiots? This is price gouging!"
"Mind your own business! I've got plenty of gold but no food. You expect me to eat gold?"
"Exactly. Broke losers, stop getting in the way. OP, put me down for fifty!"
Soon, the thread exploded with comments.
Most mocked him. But plenty left their addresses, desperate for food.
After all, the rich in the apocalypse were still rich—just with nowhere to spend it.
In times like this, staying alive was all that mattered.
Trade gold for food?
Of course they would.
If Julian had been willing to accept luxury cars or mansions, they'd have handed those over too without hesitation.
But in the apocalypse, who wanted that stuff?
Luxury cars littered the streets, ownerless.
Who was short on those?
After scrolling through the thread, Julian felt pretty satisfied.
It was time for the evening feeding.
The two little kittens were already waiting nearby.
"....."