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"Come on, let's go check out your new home."
Julian carried the little golden retriever back to the warehouse.
"Master, what's the puppy's name?" Mafuyu asked.
"Hasn't been named yet."
"Let's check the gender first… female."
"In that case, maybe something gentle… Mabel?"
Julian suggested.
"That's way too ugly…"
"How about Goldie?"
Mafuyu immediately rejected Julian's idea.
The name was simple, but it fit.
The little golden retriever barked a few times, as if agreeing.
"Hana, you're in charge of feeding her from now on."
"Don't be stingy with the meat in the warehouse. I can't finish it all by myself anyway."
Julian gave the instruction.
"Master!"
"She's too young. She can't eat meat yet!"
"I saw dog food in the warehouse. We should start with puppy food, and maybe boil some bone broth occasionally."
Hana knew more about pets.
If they really followed Julian's method of raising her… who knew how long the puppy would survive.
"Oh right, I still need to go out and deliver some food later."
"Help me prepare… about 500 pounds."
Julian estimated roughly. It was already two in the afternoon, so delivering five hundred pounds today should be enough.
"Okay, Master!"
"But…"
"We're kind of hungry too…"
Mafuyu and Hana said with playful smiles.
"Uh…"
"No time to cook. Just drink some red."
Julian held out his hand.
Luckily his wounds healed quickly. Otherwise his fingers would've been gnawed clean by now.
Mafuyu and Hana each grabbed a finger and started sucking.
The little puppy Goldie stared for a moment, then copied them and took a bite of Julian's finger.
"Whoa, hey—"
"You too now?!"
"Shoo, shoo."
Julian quickly pushed the puppy away.
Goldie licked the blood off her teeth and swallowed it.
A surge of energy suddenly swelled inside her body…
Not long after, Mafuyu and Hana released Julian's fingers with satisfied expressions.
"Alright, go prepare the food."
"And make lunch for the little one too. She looks starving."
Julian sucked on his fingers.
The two girls nodded and went off to work.
Meanwhile, Julian logged into the forum, confirmed the delivery addresses, and wrote them down in a notebook.
Today he'd start with the eastern district.
It would also give him a chance to scout East Lake Island.
Soon the supplies were ready.
"Master, can I come with you?" Mafuyu asked.
"You two stay here and guard the place."
"Hana's still not strong enough yet. I'm not comfortable leaving her alone."
"I'll come back once I'm done."
"And you two… watch less of those kinds of videos. Try watching some art films or dramas instead."
Julian instructed.
Mafuyu and Hana lowered their heads in embarrassment.
It couldn't be helped. They were both beginners and didn't have much technique yet.
If they relied on brute force alone…
Well, it worked, but it wasn't nearly as fun.
"Help me move the supplies out first."
"I still need to find a car."
"Little one, don't follow me out."
Julian said to Goldie.
As if she understood, Goldie stayed where she was, lying still.
Or maybe she was just too full to move.
The three of them pushed the food outside using a handcart.
Julian searched along the roadside and finally chose a cargo van.
There was a Porsche nearby, sure…
But you couldn't haul supplies with it.
The cargo van was better anyway. Strong engine, big space.
The two girls helped load all the food into the vehicle.
"Master, come back early!"
Mafuyu kissed Julian on the cheek.
"Me too, me too!"
Hana leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the other cheek.
Julian sighed quietly to himself.
Good thing he only had two zombie girls tagging along.
If there were a dozen of them, just leaving the house would be a headache.
Actually…
If there really were a dozen, he probably wouldn't be able to leave the house at all.
Just feeding them every day would wear him out.
"Alright, I'm heading out. I'll be back soon," Julian said.
"You two go back inside."
"While I'm gone, lure a few dozen zombies over to the door. Let them hang around outside the warehouse. That way no one will dare come snooping."
After giving his instructions, Julian got into the cargo van and drove off.
The first address wasn't far from the warehouse.
It was a shop at the entrance of an old residential complex.
As for why a little shop in such an old neighborhood had so much gold… Julian didn't bother thinking about it.
If the address turned out to be fake, he'd just move on to the next place.
Before long, he reached his destination.
To be honest, the road in front of the old complex was incredibly narrow. Cars were parked everywhere in a messy jumble.
Luckily Julian was a decent driver. Otherwise he never would've squeezed through.
He pulled up in front of the shop and leaned out for a look.
Turns out it was a small goldsmith's shop.
No wonder there was gold here.
Julian set the handbrake and got out.
First he had to deal with the zombies he'd attracted on the way over.
The zombies around this old neighborhood seemed pretty elderly.
Some of them probably had osteoporosis in life—after hobbling a couple steps they'd snap a leg on their own.
Cleaning them up was easy. Within a few minutes, Julian had cleared the area.
Once the zombies were taken care of, he knocked on the door of the gold shop.
There was a faint noise inside, but no one came to open the door.
"Forum. Post. Gold for food," Julian called out.
This time the movement inside grew louder.
"Are there still zombies outside?" someone inside asked cautiously.
They clearly didn't dare open the door without checking.
"I already killed them all. It's safe—go ahead and open up," Julian replied calmly.
Being cautious was normal.
In a world like this, only cautious people survived.
Julian himself had survived an entire year thanks to constant vigilance.
With a rattling sound, the rolling shutter was pulled up.
A man in his sixties stood in the doorway.
Behind him were two boys, both around ten years old, gripping sharpened wooden sticks and aiming them forward.
Pretty alert bunch.
"The food's in the car," Julian said.
"You wanted to trade for twenty jin of food, right?"
"One hundred grams of gold per jin. Got it ready?"
"Yes… we have it ready."
"Comrade, about that price…"
The old man hesitated. It was obvious he thought the price was steep.
But judging by the pale faces of him and the two boys beside him, they hadn't eaten in at least a day or two.
Food mattered more to them right now.
"The price isn't negotiable," Julian said plainly.
"You know what kind of world this is now."
"What's the point of hiding gold? Can you eat it?"
"Or are you planning to turn it into jewelry and take it to the grave with you?"
"....."