ATDIWR Chapter 27
by Volare“Satisfied?” Gu Jinsheng looked at Ji An, his dark eyes unfathomable.
Ji An knew he was asking about the outcome. Ji An wasn’t someone to be coy, so he nodded directly, “Satisfied, far exceeding expectations.”
This was the result Ji An wanted. His hands remained forever clean, while they themselves dug their own graves.
Satisfied is good, Gu Jinsheng nodded.
With the matters concluded, Ji An finally had the mood to go to the shop.
He had expected the shop to be quite deserted at this time, but unexpectedly, it was packed with people. The queue stretched all the way to the end, and from time to time, arguments could be heard about occupying spots.
What was going on? He hadn’t officially put anything in the shop yet. Originally, after researching and creating items, Ji An had set aside two to sell here, but then Chen Chen and the others came looking for him, and he got busy with those matters.
Only today did he have time to come over and see such a crowded situation.
“Brother, behind, no cutting in.” A male Power User in the queue saw Ji An walking directly into the shop and spoke up to stop him, his eyes fierce, fiercely displaying the bulging muscles on his arms.
Is it necessary? Ji An was speechless.
“I’m the owner of this shop.”
“The owner isn’t…?” The male Power User said in surprise, “You are Researcher Ji? Researcher Ji, I’m from the Command Center, we’re colleagues. Can you sell to me first, for old times’ sake?”
The male Power User’s face changed speed as if he had studied Sichuan opera, grabbing Ji An’s hand, and in just a few words, escalated from a stranger to a friend.
Before Ji An could react, the people behind him became unhappy. The male Power User had poked a hornet’s nest. “Hey, you up front, stop trying to pull connections! I’m from the Research Institute, a proper colleague of Researcher Ji! I’m queueing here honestly, what’s your deal?”
“I’m from the Command Center! Ask anyone in this queue, who isn’t part of these two groups? Outsiders probably don’t even know the news yet.”
Indeed, people from other departments hadn’t received the news yet, so there were almost no people from other departments in the queue this time.
However, with this commotion, everyone quickly found out.
Someone watching the excitement asked, “What’s going on? What are they queuing to buy that’s so popular? Mutant beast meat that hasn’t been infected by the zombie virus?”
Mutant beasts are helpful for Power Users to cultivate their abilities, so they are quite popular.
“No,” the person being asked sneered, “What’s so rare about that? This shop sells Space Storage Items. You know? Like in cultivation novels, you just whoosh things into space.”
“What?! Really?!” The person felt it was extremely fantastical. He just hadn’t been shopping for a day, how did the world feel so different?
“What ‘really’? This happened ages ago, my colleagues have been using them for a long time.”
Alright, the questioner stopped asking and quickly turned around to join the queue.
Now things were even better. In the blink of an eye, the queue extended past the street corner and out of sight.
Tang Ning was in the shop alone, her heart pounding with fear facing so many Power Users. Seeing Ji An was like seeing a savior, and she almost cried.
“Boss, you’re finally here!” Tang Ning pleaded, “I told them our shop temporarily has nothing to sell, but these people just won’t believe me. They insist on queueing first, and some even want to pre-order.”
Ji An smiled reassuringly, “For now, let’s forget about pre-orders. We only accept purchases in the shop.”
Space Storage Items were not hard to sell. If Ji An was willing, they could be sold out in minutes right out of the lab. Now, it was the shop that needed promotion.
“Okay,” Tang Ning agreed.
The problem now was that Ji An only had two Space Storage Items in hand. One of them was already promised to someone, and now so many people were vying for this one. Just thinking about the dense crowd outside stretching out of sight made Ji An feel dizzy.
He was afraid of causing this situation, so he hadn’t advertised it at all before, only letting people within the system know the news. How did so many people still end up coming?
Ji An was a little afraid to take out the only Space Storage Item he had left. He feared he would be torn apart by these people.
Forget it, a true warrior always has to face a bleak life head-on.
Ji An steeled himself and took out a Space Storage Item under the eager, burning gazes of the Power Users.
Ji An didn’t even see how the Power User at the front of the queue moved. Anyway, the Space Storage Item he took out was gone. The Power User grinned, “Researcher Ji, how much is the price?”
“Twenty million,” Ji An’s eyes were calm. He had become accustomed to the madness of these people.
Tens of millions was not a small sum. Such credit points were equivalent to pre-apocalypse paper money at a one-to-one exchange rate. The problem was, before the apocalypse, the country had been established for how many years? The economy had prospered for so long, it was normal to have some rich people. But this was the Apocalypse, only in its seventh year. How could there still be so many rich people?
The Power User who bought the Space Storage Item was in a good mood. He probably saw Ji An’s confusion and grinned, “Back when the Base was first established, everyone’s abilities hadn’t awakened much, and they were fighting zombies with their lives. Those who survived and those who didn’t were given a large sum of compensation for themselves or their families.
After seven years, Power Users have participated in so many battles. As long as they weren’t indulging themselves, they’ve saved up quite a bit.
So, Researcher Ji, you should prepare more, or I’m afraid there won’t be enough to go around.”
Ji An nodded and asked, “What if I say I only have this one available for sale right now? Do you think those people outside will eat me?”
Ji An asked very seriously, also seriously considering how to safely leave the shop.
That Power User’s eyes showed horror. “Researcher Ji, no way! But you’ll definitely be fine. With General Commander Gu Jinsheng keeping them in check, they wouldn’t dare do anything to you, but they will absolutely go crazy!”
After saying that, the male Power User said to Ji An, “Researcher Ji, please wait until I’ve left before you announce this news, or I’m afraid you’ll be fine, but I won’t make it out.”
Ji An said, “Go ahead, walk faster. I’ll wait until you’re gone before I say anything.”
That Power User was truly fast. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. Ji An suspected he hadn’t awakened a speed ability, but rather teleportation.
The second Power User came forward, looking at Ji An eagerly, his mouth stretched wide in a grin. “Researcher Ji, it’s my turn.”
Ji An couldn’t bring himself to speak further. His expression was filled with pity. He coughed, “Uh, the item is sold out. Please come earlier next time!”
“What? Sold out?!” The Power User’s voice almost blew the roof off.
“Yes, sold out.”
“No, Researcher Ji, you just sold one? How is it gone already?”
“There weren’t many in total. The Command Center and Research Institute took most of them. This remaining one is what I desperately managed to hold onto.”
That Power User’s gaze suddenly fell on Tang Ning’s fair neck, as if he had suddenly discovered a stunning beauty standing before him. His gaze was greedy, and he even suspiciously licked his lips.
Tang Ning was scared pale, covering her collar with both hands, constantly hiding behind Ji An.
“You, what do you want to do? I’m telling you, our boss knows General Commander Gu Jinsheng of our Base! Deputy Commanders Kong Zhongcheng, Wan Xueying, and Zhou Qin are our boss’s partners! If you dare touch me, our boss will definitely make you regret it!” Tang Ning shouted, leveraging Ji An’s connections.
“Don’t slander me!” The man looked as if he was even more afraid of his own reputation being tarnished than Tang Ning was.
“My wife is a high-level Power User. If you say that, my wife will kill me.” The man pointed at the necklace on Tang Ning’s neck and said, “That’s a Space Storage Item, right? I’ll pay a high price, how about it? Will you sell it to me?”
The tense atmosphere suddenly eased. Tang Ning’s face felt hot, followed by a faint sense of disappointment in her heart.
“No selling,” Tang Ning said irritably.
“I’ll offer a high price,” the man said.
“Still not selling,” Tang Ning thought for a moment and then said, “Mine is only one cubic meter, it’s not worth much. But it’s a dominant contract, so I can’t resell it anyway.”
“It’s a bit small, but it would be fun to have. It’s a pity it’s a dominant contract. Why are everyone’s dominant contracts?”
“Says you, as if you wouldn’t use a dominant contract if you had such a treasure.”
Just then, a trembling voice sounded, “Bo- boss.”
Ji An looked over. It was the girl named Zheng Yan who came to sell a box of jewelry last time.
Her petite body seemed even smaller and thinner among the group of burly Power Users, looking almost pitifully frail.
Zheng Yan was trembling, a little scared. What kind of business did this shop do? Why were there so many Power Users? Could she still get her final payment?
“Uh, that…” Zheng Yan swallowed, bracing herself, “Your shop assistant notified me to come over.”
Ji An had asked Tang Ning to notify her to come get the money. Ji An had a lot of money now, he wasn’t short, so he had her come over.
Ji An said, “I know. Come with me to the back.”
With so many credit points, and Zheng Yan being an ordinary person, Ji An was afraid that giving her the money in front of the crowd might make her a target for thieves.
In the back, Ji An transferred the credit points to her. The money arrived instantly. Looking at the string of zeros after the account balance, Zheng Yan’s eyes went wide.
It was true, she was really rich. “I didn’t expect that my treasures, which people called worthless stones, aren’t just treasures to me, but can actually save my life. It wasn’t in vain that I never forgot to bring them with me wherever I went in the Apocalypse.”
Ji An was also curious why she had so much jade and asked, “How did you get so many? Do you have more? Our shop buys them.”
“No more,” Zheng Yan shook her head regretfully, “I was a jewelry designer before the Apocalypse. Those were my most precious designs.”
“Then can you appraise jewelry?” Ji An asked.
“Yes,” Zheng Yan said, “Although not as skilled as a professional, I’m still okay. As long as it’s not master-level fakes, I can distinguish them.”
Ji An’s eyes lit up. He needed exactly this kind of talent. Waiting for him to appraise all the jade in the shop wasn’t feasible. As more and more jade was collected in the future, he wouldn’t be able to handle it all by himself.
“Are you interested in working in my shop? Jewelry Appraiser, ten thousand a month, with bonuses,” Ji An said.
“Such a high salary!” Zheng Yan hadn’t encountered such a high salary since the Apocalypse. Then she hesitated, looking fearfully at the Power Users outside. “What exactly does our shop do?”
“Temporarily selling Space Storage Items and also buying jade.”
“Space Storage Items?” Zheng Yan was momentarily dazed, feeling like she hadn’t woken up from a dream. How could she have heard something so fantastical?
Despite the apprehension, Zheng Yan ultimately accepted the job. Although she felt like she was out of her mind and might be dreaming, even in a dream, Zheng Yan wasn’t willing to miss such a great job.
Ji An simply introduced the two of them and confirmed Tang Ning’s position as shop manager, giving her a three thousand raise on the spot.
“In the future, I will hire a Power User to protect you both in the shop. You can rest assured about your safety,” he said. The items in his shop were too tempting to the crowd, and Ji An was afraid that two ordinary people who hadn’t awakened abilities wouldn’t be able to keep things under control.
“Yes, yes,” both Zheng Yan and Tang Ning were willing.
After the simple arrangement, Ji An found that the customers in the shop hadn’t decreased at all, and the queue was showing a trend of stretching even further.
Ji An asked the Power User at the head of the queue, “I already said there are no items left, why haven’t you left?”
“Researcher Ji, let’s make a deal? Considering I stayed up all night yesterday and queued for a whole night, can you count me as a pre-order? Notify me first next time you have stock, how about it?”
“No,” Ji An shook his head, “This shop needs publicity, so we’re not accepting pre-orders for now. If it weren’t absolutely necessary to publicize here, I wouldn’t be sending goods to the shop.”
Ji An turned to Tang Ning and Zheng Yan and said, “The two of you go tell everyone that the items are sold out. Come earlier next time, and this shop doesn’t accept pre-orders.”
“Okay.” Although they were a little afraid of how these Power Users might react violently when they heard there were no goods, neither of them refused and went out to tell everyone one by one.
Unfortunately, the effect was very poor. Almost no one moved.
“Researcher Ji, business is booming!” Zhang Yi walked in, smiling. “Researcher Ji, the business in this shop is really good, packed with people. You haven’t forgotten the matter you promised me, have you? You didn’t sell my item, right?”
“No, of course I remember.” Ji An gave Zhang Yi the Space Storage Item he had specifically saved for him. Zhang Yi was overjoyed, transferred the money on the spot, and thanked him repeatedly.
The Power User who was number one in the queue seemed to have grabbed Ji An’s weakness and howled, “Researcher Ji, you’ve gone too far! Just now you clearly said there were none left, but how come there’s still one? This is insider trading, this is unfair, this is a fix!”
Ji An was speechless. Come on, this was a private shop, he was the boss, he could sell to whoever he wanted! Fix, my foot!
Zhang Yi smiled coolly, “Do you know me? I know you. You’re from the Research Institute, right? You’re currently doing experiments with Researcher Han Yaokun. This time is during work hours, you took leave, didn’t you? What do you think your Director Han Yaokun would react like if I told him you took leave to queue and buy a Space Storage Item?”
What reaction? He’d be fired on the spot!
Who didn’t know about the grudges between Han Yaokun and Ji An? Ji An had already slapped him in the face! If he knew that he wasn’t at work just to queue up and buy Ji An’s stuff, he probably wouldn’t need to work anymore.
The man stopped pretending, his face fell. He clearly recognized Zhang Yi. “Director Zhang, that’s hitting where it hurts, you’re good!”
After saying that, he cursed and left.