ATDIWR Chapter 19
by VolareJi An heard the sound of the door opening and knew his roommate was back. He withdrew his mental power from his spatial dimension and casually took out a roasted chicken.
Maintaining a good relationship with roommates was beneficial for a pleasant mood.
“Hello, I’m your new roommate. My name is… Ji An.” Ji An walked out and found that the person who entered was someone he knew, someone completely unexpected.
“Why is it you?” Ji An narrowed his eyes slightly. Is Jing Shi Base that poor? Even the Highest Commander is reduced to sharing a room with someone?
“The family that moved out today was surnamed Gu. What’s your relationship with them?” Ji An asked.
“Parents,” Gu Jinsheng was still as taciturn as ever, unwilling to say an extra word, as if talking cost money.
Ji An didn’t say anything and turned back to his room.
About half an hour later, the room door was knocked again. Ji An didn’t want to open it, but the other person kept knocking. Each time they knocked softly three times, unhurried, seeming very polite.
Ji An pulled open the door. Gu Jinsheng’s expressionless handsome face appeared at the doorway. “Dinner.”
Ji An walked out and saw candles, flowers, champagne, and steak on the dining table in the restaurant.
The lights were dimmed. Gu Jinsheng led Ji An to the dining table and gentlemanly pulled out a chair for him. Only after Ji An sat down did he return to his own seat.
Gu Jinsheng poured champagne for Ji An in a courteous manner and raised his glass to him, saying, “Firstly, welcome to Jing Shi Base. Then, congratulations on escaping the sea of suffering. Furthermore, I wish you a bright future, a road paved with flowers, a smooth journey for the rest of your life, and happiness, love, and unwavering companionship with the one you love and the one who loves you.”
“Pfft,” Ji An burst out laughing, the small discomfort in his heart disappearing. “Who wrote that speech for you? It’s a bit corny. Did you practice it for a long time?”
Gu Jinsheng was exposed but remained expressionless, showing no embarrassment at being found out. He merely revealed the culprit. “Kong Zhongcheng.”
“Ah, him. He’s no good,” Ji An said. “His emotional intelligence is too low. Next time, you can find Wan Xueying for something like this.”
Gu Jinsheng nodded very seriously.
Suddenly, he felt that having a roommate wasn’t so objectionable after all.
Ji An slept very well on his first night at Jing Shi Base. The next morning, he went to the cafeteria for breakfast and met a few acquaintances. Among them were Zhou Fanxiu and Bai Na. Zhou Fanxiu again expressed his desire for Ji An to work and study in his laboratory, which was again rejected by Ji An.
After eating, Ji An went to find Tang Ning. He had Tang Ning’s residential address; he had gotten it from Kong Zhongcheng yesterday. Although Ji An was unfamiliar with Jing Shi Base, after asking a few people, he accurately found where Tang Ning lived.
Tang Ning lived in a single dormitory building. While the environment wasn’t as good as where Ji An lived, it was still decent. Such a single dormitory would have cost seven or eight hundred yuan a month, under a thousand yuan, before the apocalypse.
“Mr. Ji, why are you here?” Tang Ning asked happily.
“I came to see where you live,” Ji An said.
“It’s very good,” Tang Ning said happily. “Getting away from Tang Tang, anywhere is paradise.”
It was clear that Tang Ning was very happy.
“Want to go out for a walk?” Ji An asked.
“Okay,” Tang Ning happily took her key and walked out with Ji An.
The public security in Jing Shi Base had been restored almost to how it was before the apocalypse. Pedestrians came and went on the streets, which were still lively.
The difference was that there weren’t supermarkets everywhere like before the apocalypse, with a small shop every five steps, a large supermarket every ten steps, and a shopping plaza every hundred steps.
However, although there weren’t as many shops, the necessary ones were quite complete. It was just that the variety of goods in the shops was no longer as comprehensive. Snack items like potato chips and cola were available, but the stock was low and the price was expensive, more than three times more expensive than before the apocalypse.
Shops selling popular goods like rice, noodles, grains, and oil also existed, but transactions were no longer made with money, but changed to Zombie Crystal Cores and credit points.
“Mr. Ji, production at Jing Shi Base seems to have recovered very well,” Tang Ning looked around with wide eyes. “Third Base also has rice, noodle, and oil shops, but they are all government-run. I see private ones here?”
“They should be opened by Earth-type Power Users or Wood-type Power Users.” As far as Ji An knew, Jing Shi Base did not lack Wood-type and Earth-type Power Users; in fact, these two types were the most numerous among power users.
These two types of power users were good farmers in the apocalypse. One could purify the soil, and the other could accelerate plant growth.
Jing Shi Base gave these two types of power users the greatest preferential treatment. They could choose to go on missions, or choose to help the base farm, or choose to contract land themselves.
Of course, if they contracted land themselves, they had to bear the losses themselves, and whatever was produced from the land could be disposed of freely.
If they helped the base farm, regardless of the harvest, the base would provide some guarantee. If the harvest was good, they would also be given at least a 20% share.
Many Earth-type and Wood-type Power Users would choose to go on missions and farm simultaneously. Therefore, although the combat power of these two types of power users was not outstanding among all power users, their lives were still relatively good.
“There’s a gold shop over there!” Tang Ning exclaimed.
This was also normal. In addition to absorbing Zombie Crystal Cores, Metal-type Power Users could also upgrade their abilities by absorbing gold and silver.
Effectiveness: Silver < Gold < Zombie Crystal Core.
Jing Shi Base had even restored public buses. Ji An and Tang Ning took a bus ride around, feeling as if they were back before the apocalypse.
"There's a shop for rent over there, let's go take a look." Ji An saw a small shop for rent. The shop wasn't big, about forty to fifty square meters, and it even had an independent bathroom inside.
"Are you the owner? How is your shop for rent?" Ji An asked.
The owner said, "One peak Tier 1 Power User's crystal core a month, or three thousand credit points a month."
Ji An glanced at it. The location of this shop wasn't too good, but not too bad either. The price was acceptable.
So Ji An said, "Credit points transaction, rent for one year first."
These credit points were given to him by the base because they felt he was at a disadvantage for the expensive experimental equipment he provided. He had over 300,000, and Tang Ning also had over 30,000.
"OK," the owner printed the contract on the spot, and both parties signed.
"Mr. Ji, what kind of business do you want to do by renting a shop?" Tang Ning asked curiously. Didn't Ji An just arrive at Jing Shi Base? He's unfamiliar with the place, does he already have a source of goods?
"If possible, I'd like to invite you to help out at the shop." Instead of entrusting it to someone unknown and worrying, it was better to entrust it to Tang Ning. After all, the two of them had experienced so much together, and Tang Ning's character was still quite good.
"For now, let's collect jade stones," Ji An wanted to research spatial storage items. And the carrier that could contain space required a special type, which had to be jade stones with spiritual energy.
The spiritual energy within jade stones was born from heaven and earth, a very special energy. Only this energy could be transformed and made into spatial storage items.
"But I don't recognize jade," Tang Ning said somewhat awkwardly.
This was indeed a problem. Not all jade stones had spiritual energy, and not all jade stones were suitable for making spatial storage items.
In fact, the quality of jade stones often talked about before the apocalypse was closely related to the degree of spiritual energy saturation within the jade stone. Often, good quality jade stones contained rich spiritual energy and were more suitable for making spatial storage items.
Ji An said, "I'll stay with you for a few days first. Once we've collected enough jade stones, I'll leave, and then we'll figure something else out."
Ji An didn't recognize jade before the apocalypse either, but he discovered it while exploring the spatial necklace. He seemed to be able to sense that mysterious and profound power within the jade stone. He believed this power was the most special spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
For renovating the shop, Ji An didn't hire anyone. He and Tang Ning would just handle it.
He didn't know where Gu Jinsheng got the news, but he brought Kong Zhongcheng and Wan Xueying over to help.
With three power users joining, the shop was tidied up faster and was ready in one day.
Since they had helped clean up all day, Ji An wanted to treat them to dinner in the evening, but everyone left smiling.
As Wan Xueying left, she said meaningfully, "You don't need to repay this favor; someone else will. And what they repay will be much greater than you could."
Kong Zhongcheng silly asked foolishly, "Who's repaying it? Why don't I know?"
Wan Xueying slapped him back to the command center.
The next morning, just as Ji An opened the shop door, someone came calling. It was a Wood-type Power User. Ji An couldn't discern his level, but he should be stronger than Ji An.
The person was very polite and said with a smile, "Yesterday, the boss saw that you were lacking a few decent counters here, so he specifically had me make a few exquisite and sturdy ones to send over. Take a look, are they suitable?"
Ji An smelled a faint scent of camphor wood in the air, very fresh and invigorating. Ji An could feel that there wasn't much spiritual energy on the camphor wood, but rather a faint residue of ability. This should be wood cultivated with abilities, but it was still a rare find.
"Thank you," Ji An thanked him. He still had cola in his spatial dimension, so he took out a bottle for the visitor.
The person smiled and said, "You're welcome. If you need any help in the future, just find me. My name is Zhou Qin, and I live in Xitong Community."
After Zhou Qin left, Ji An noticed many people in the surrounding shops peeking out and looking towards him, acting all mysterious, as if afraid of being discovered by him.
Ji An understood after a moment's thought. These people probably all knew Gu Jinsheng, the base commander. Now they were likely secretly guessing his identity.
Ji An pretended not to notice, turned back into the shop, and quickly set up a whiteboard at the entrance. The whiteboard simply had one line written on it: This shop constantly buys jade stones in exchange for various supplies.
Less than a minute after the whiteboard was put out, the owner of the shop next door came in. His eyes darted around the shop, noticing that it wasn't very large, totaling only about fifty square meters.
This was a rectangular shop overall. Facing the entrance was a large counter, placed against the left wall. On the right side was a half-height barrier, allowing one person to pass through.
Behind the counter was a nearly square bed, long enough for a woman of medium height to lie down, and wide enough for two average-sized adult women to lie side by side.
Further back was a very small room, which was divided into two small rooms: a bathroom and a kitchen.
The walls on both sides of the entrance were newly built counters, divided into compartments of varying sizes, which had an artistic sense. However, they were currently empty, with nothing displayed.
With this layout, the entire shop space became quite cramped.
The shop owner next door rolled his eyes and asked, "Hello, I saw your shop is buying jade stones year-round?"
Ji An saw that this owner only wanted to probe for information and wasn't genuinely interested in trading, but based on the business principle of treating guests kindly for profit, he still politely said, "Yes, sir, do you have any jade stones? As long as the quality is good, whatever supplies you want to exchange for, anything is negotiable."
The owner probed, "Jade stones were fine before the apocalypse, loved by people and hyped up to exorbitant prices. But after the apocalypse, they're useless for eating or drinking; they're just a nice-looking broken stone, completely impractical. No one wants them. What are you buying them for?"
The owner saw that even the base commanders had come, so he wondered if the jade stones had some other use that hadn't been revealed yet.
Ji An glanced faintly at the owner and said, "Personal matter. I liked this stuff before the apocalypse. I didn't have money to buy it back then, but now that it's the apocalypse and I have money, I want to fulfill my past dream."
The owner knew Ji An wasn't telling the truth and understood that he wouldn't get any useful information by asking further. He hadn't expected to find out anything useful anyway.
"Oh, is that how it is, hahahaha." The owner laughed awkwardly twice. "I have a piece of jade stone here. Would you be interested in buying it?"
Ji An thought this person was just here to probe for information and didn't expect him to actually have a jade stone.
Ji An used his mental power to slightly probe and found that this piece of jade stone did indeed have spiritual energy, but it was very weak. It could be used, but if it were made into a spatial storage item, the space wouldn't be large, about one cubic meter.
"I can buy it, one hundred credit points," Ji An said.
The owner didn't expect this piece of broken jade, which was equivalent to a stone in the apocalypse, could actually sell for one hundred credit points. For a moment, he was a little excited.
"I don't want credit points. Can I exchange for other supplies?"
"No," Ji An said directly. "The quality of the jade stone isn't high enough."
The owner wasn't discouraged, but instead sighed with emotion, "To think I spent over four hundred thousand yuan buying this piece of jade before the apocalypse, and now it's only worth one hundred credit points. Forget it, it's better to exchange for a little than nothing. Before, this stuff couldn't even be exchanged for a loaf of bread. I saw many people threw it away because they disliked it."
Ji An gave the other party one hundred credit points and exchanged for the jade stone.
Tang Ning's expression was very strange. "Mr. Ji, what's the use of this thing? It was valuable before the apocalypse, but after the apocalypse, no one really wants it.
When I was fleeing, I saw a woman offering this stuff in exchange for a sip of water, she even knelt down but couldn't get it. They say her jade bracelet cost two to three million yuan when she bought it."
That's really a shame. A two to three million yuan jade stone, the quality should have been good, and it must have contained a lot of spiritual energy. Conservatively estimated, making a storage space of dozens of cubic meters should not have been a problem.