Chapter Seventy-Three: Buying Cigarettes
It seemed as if she sensed a murderous aura; Jingru hurriedly produced another facial mask and began coaxing Doctor Jiang to use it with her.
“Doctor Jiang, think about it carefully. Sooner or later, you’re going to end up sleeping in the captain’s bed. With a good facial mask, your chances in the competition will be greater.”
“Just imagine—though you are indeed beautiful, which of the women in this house isn’t an angelic face with a devilish figure?”
“Well… Yunyun isn’t.”
…
So, another mask would have to be spent.
In the end, the four women comfortably applied their facial masks, but their gazes inevitably kept drifting toward the tightly closed door.
Half an hour ago, a painful scream had echoed from within; since then, there had been no other sounds.
“Click.”
The door opened.
Everyone’s eyes turned in that direction.
Fang Xia appeared, drying his hair with a towel.
After the upgrade, his body had sweated profusely, leaving him sticky and uncomfortable, so he had simply taken a shower.
“No hair dryer—how inconvenient,” he muttered while toweling off.
“Bang!”
A hair dryer landed in front of him.
Fang Xia stared, dumbfounded, at Liu Rui who had tossed it over.
“There is one. Use it. It’s a Dyson, you know. Each one costs three thousand.”
[I was out here worried sick, and you were inside taking a shower? Still want a hair dryer? Fine, use it.]
Liu Rui was not as calm as she appeared. Fang Xia was the soul of the team; if anything happened to him, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The other women covered their mouths, stifling laughter.
“Ahem!” Fang Xia cleared his throat, ignoring the expensive hair dryer before him.
“I’ve reached the fourth tier.”
Everyone had been waiting for those words. Though they had anticipated it, hearing Fang Xia declare it made them genuinely happy.
“Congratulations, Brother Fang.”
The stronger Fang Xia became, the safer they all were.
“Yunyun, put the team member upgrades on hold. Let’s wait for Jingyi’s results first.”
Now that he was fourth tier and had upgraded his abilities, Fang Xia feared no one in Dawn City. Even though other factions had fourth-tier fighters, Fang Xia was confident he could dominate any of them.
Yunyun nodded; after all, selecting new members would take time, and she wasn’t in a hurry.
---
“Have you heard? There’s a place buying cigarettes in bulk.”
“Really? Where? What price?”
“In the business hall in Dawn City.”
“Let’s go check it out.”
…
That day, a piece of information spread like wildfire through Dawn City, and countless people, skeptical yet intrigued, headed toward the business hall.
Someone still buying cigarettes these days? What use are they; you can’t eat them.
Arriving at the trading market, they found a long queue already formed.
“Bro, what’s going on?”
“Here, you can exchange cigarettes for upgrade crystals. Don’t cut in line—queue up at the back.”
“Huh, people buy weapons, food, housing, but cigarettes? And in such huge quantities.”
“Exactly! Last time I found a store full of cigarettes, I only took a few packs for myself. If I'd known, I could have struck it rich.”
Waiting in line was dull, so people started chatting.
“Does she have enough money? So many people—will there even be any left when it’s our turn?”
“Don’t worry. I heard they brought out a whole box of upgrade crystals, gleaming and sparkling.”
Reassured, everyone patiently stayed in line.
“Attention: damaged packaging not accepted. Cigarettes under fifty yuan are only accepted in full cartons. Don’t queue blindly.”
“Attention: damaged packaging not accepted. Cigarettes under fifty yuan are only accepted in full cartons. Don’t queue blindly.”
…
A man, apparently a market staff member, shouted these instructions repeatedly to the crowd, informing newcomers. If anyone still didn’t listen, it was their own fault.
Some people who’d finished their exchanges walked out.
“Bro, how much did you exchange? What’s the rate?”
“I have a heavy smoking habit. Last time I found cigarettes, I took two cartons of ‘Under Heaven,’ smoked half a carton myself, and exchanged the rest for fifteen upgrade crystals.”
He grinned from ear to ear.
Luckily, he brought expensive ones; the guy ahead brought ‘Furong King,’ earning only one crystal per carton—a huge loss.
The excitement lasted until after five in the afternoon, with queues still stretching outside the door.
“We’re closing up. The rest of you come back tomorrow.”
Many people had been sleeping during the day and only just got the news, not expecting the booth to close so soon.
Thankfully, the exchange would resume tomorrow, and everyone left reluctantly.
In the west of the city, within Dawn City’s territory.
“Today, we acquired a total of 5,720 cartons of various cigarettes and spent 11,420 upgrade crystals.”
---
Inside a villa, Jingyi was calculating diligently, while her sister sat idly nearby.
The villa was rented from Dawn City. For these few days, they wouldn’t return to their own team but would stay here as businesswomen.
“Sister, isn’t this overspending? Over ten thousand in a single day.”
Ten thousand upgrade crystals—enough for eleven second-tier women to ascend to the third tier, with some left over. All spent in one day, exchanged for a heap of cigarettes.
“It won’t last. Tomorrow the numbers will drop. Right now, the city is surrounded by zombies, including many second-tier and even some third-tier ones. Except for large groups, who would dare venture out alone?”
Jingyi was confident. She wasn’t worried about people selling her their cigarettes; sooner or later, they’d have to exchange their upgrade crystals.
…
That night, the wind was bitter and cold.
“So chilly. Hey brother, got a cigarette? Give me one.”
“You’re out? Didn’t you get a carton last time?”
“Heh, I sold it to those women today. Got seven upgrade crystals.”
“Damn it, get lost! Sold your own cigarettes to bum mine?”
Similar scenes played out all over Dawn City.
When selling, everyone focused only on the money, not on keeping a few for themselves.
The next day.
Jingru and Jingyi arrived punctually at the business hall.
Outside, a long queue had already formed; many who missed yesterday’s news had come today.
These were upgrade crystals—ten would make someone a first-tier fighter, a hundred would elevate them to second-tier.
Most people were still ordinary first-tier fighters, far from reaching the hundred-crystal goal.
Moreover, many had families with them, not just alone; with upgrade crystals, they could help their loved ones ascend as well.
Another fruitful day, though today’s crowd was visibly smaller, with periods when the hall was even empty.
Meanwhile, the other groups were alert, halting all cigarette distributions.
In Dawn City, an invisible undercurrent was stirring.
“Bro, any cigarettes left?”
“No, didn’t we exchange them all for upgrade crystals?”
“But I really want to smoke.”
In one room, two brothers lived.
Both were smokers, and since the apocalypse began, their consumption had skyrocketed.
But yesterday, they sold all their cigarettes, finally collecting one hundred upgrade crystals, allowing the elder brother to successfully reach second-tier.