Chapter 87: Chapter 77 Procurement
The Alien’s slender tail whipped across a zombie like a steel lash, instantly bursting its head.
After Little Black cleared the remaining scattered zombies on the third floor of the mall, it even courteously stood on its hind legs and used its claws to help Tao Yu open the doors of the shops ahead.
Meanwhile, Tao Yu was stocking up like a shopper on a spree, his backpack bulging on his back.
Besides himself, Cao Shaolin, who hopped along behind him, also carried a large pack, as did the Alien, Little Black.
“Zero-cost shopping can be addictive.”
Tao Yu began to pick and choose as he entered the store.
The shops he selected were mostly still in order.
Even though a few months had passed and gathered some dust, it wasn’t too much.
At this moment, Tao Yu had changed out of his combat suit with burn marks to a set of climbing gear, while Cao Shaolin trailing bouncily behind was now wearing a loose set of sportswear, complete with an eyepatch over one eye.
Beyond that, they also packed a good amount of daily necessities, like toothpaste and toothbrushes, among other miscellaneous items.
After returning to the settlement, he planned to add some items to his family’s home supplies.
“That should be about enough.”
After picking out a set for his mother and sister-in-law, Tao Yu stuffed everything into his backpack.
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Then, looking at Cao Shaolin with an eyepatch covering his face, he felt somewhat regretful.
Zombies could shadow-fuse and blend into shadows, but only their carried personal equipment would merge, while anything like a backpack would fall off.
Traveling between the Abyss and the real world, one could bring ‘followers,’ but the requirements were strict.
One must achieve ‘complete control’ to travel back and forth, and there was only one spot allowed, with size limits too; huge beasts couldn’t be taken, and if there were multiple, one would have to bring them back in separate trips.
‘Complete control’ essentially meant that if ordered to commit suicide, the ‘follower’ would comply immediately.
Furthermore, if one couldn’t meet this requirement and any changes occurred, even if the ‘follower’ had been brought back, it could not be taken again.
Currently, even Little Black had not met this criterion, but Cao Shaolin did.
However, Tao Yu usually stashed Cao Shaolin into his shadow, which likely wouldn’t take up the spot, nor did he wish to reveal him carelessly.
Now, letting him out was more about getting accustomed to control and, incidentally, to have him carry some things.
“Next, we’ll collect goods to sell at the new settlement, the big transport plan starts now, we need to get a truck, preferably one that’s ready to go, to save time…”
They hadn’t received an update on the two siblings via radio yet, but that didn’t stop Tao Yu from getting into position early.
After completing the second Deification of the two Skills, Tao Yu, who had originally had a fortune of a hundred thousand Yuan Force, dwindled down to less than thirty thousand.
Although this was enough to sustain his training Acceleration for a while, he needed to find opportunities to replenish it at any time.
“There are too few survivors, the competition should not be fierce yet, goods should be easy to find.”
Tao Yu contemplated.
For Outsider Pioneers, collecting supplies in a place infested with zombies probably meant moving cautiously in teams like ants carrying food.
If it had been the former Tao Yu, he would have had to do the same because his personal endurance wasn’t enough, and cleaning up zombies while also finding food was quite troublesome.
After all, it was for the sake of earning task money, so it was definitely not worth using Yuan Force to replenish his strength.
But now, with Little Black and Cao Shaolin at his side, Tao Yu’s pressure from zombies had greatly reduced.
Zombies could hardly breach the defenses of these two creatures, so as long as he was cautious and didn’t venture into large hordes of zombies, there would be no major issues.
“`
Carrying a backpack and walking down the stairs along the halted escalator, Little Black charged ahead, its agile figure and that deadly tail enabling it to deal with zombies without making much noise.
Cao Shaolin was playfully hopping along behind, providing the rear guard.
This gave Tao Yu, who was walking in the middle, a rare sense of ease.
He could even practice the “Basic Breathing Method – Modified II” using Yuan Force while walking.
Feeling the tumult of Qi-Blood in his body and the tingling sensation in his muscles and organs, Tao Yu took out a can of food and started eating.
The corpses strewn all over the ground, some things that required censorship, and the stench in the air, none of these stopped Tao Yu from eating.
“That military base has many advantages, but in the long run, it also has its drawbacks. The Gobi’s environment likely doesn’t have enough groundwater for irrigation.”
Tao Yu tried his best to think like a manager, then considered what the base urgently needed so that he could conveniently transport those items when needed.
There was no need to worry about food at the base in the short term; they had already stockpiled quite a bit, and with the initially sparse population, it would be enough for a long time.
But as more Pioneers slowly arrived, along with survivors of this world, there would definitely be a deficit.
There was production in the current world, but transportation was inherently troublesome, and it wasn’t possible for Starshine City to keep subsidizing it.
“Las Vegas is the only oasis nearby, forty kilometers to the southeast is Hoover Dam, they can even supply electricity, but these are still a bit too far from the military base, so what is most needed now…”
Tao Yu did not consider himself to be exceptionally intelligent. Apart from being fortunate, he felt that his worldly experience from his past life simply gave him a little more knowledge than the Outsiders.
Essentially, he still considered himself an honest, simple, hardworking, and loyal person from the outskirts.
Slap, slap~
With two whip-like lashes of its tail and a couple of slaps with its upright stance, Alien Little Black cleared the zombies that had wandered to the entrance, and Tao Yu stepped out of the shopping mall’s main door.
A dozen meters outside the door, there were still some zombies wandering around.
But Little Black, already familiar with the habits of zombies, was very cautious and made no noise.
Upon reaching the door, Tao Yu took the backpack from Cao Shaolin and hung it on Little Black’s tail.
As Yuan Force flowed in, the black tendrils that emerged from Cao Shaolin’s mouth, nose, and armpits merged back into Tao Yu’s shadow the next moment.
Then, one man and one Alien started heading to a nearby alley and climbed upwards.
The most convenient way to avoid the zombie horde was still through the rooftops.
After a few leaps, they arrived at an area where zombies were not densely packed.
There, a black Jeep Wrangler was parked.
Beside the Wrangler lay the bodies of a dozen zombies, which Tao Yu had found for temporary transport.
“I remember the West City Trio, those three guys, seemed to have found a good spot, which is why they were looking for cannon fodder…”
Tao Yu climbed into the vehicle, let Little Black into the spacious backseat, and threw the backpack onto the seat.
The initial rift between the West City Trio and Jack was over using some native cannon fodder to lure away zombies from a gas station.
It seemed there were some trucks used for hauling goods there.
Since he didn’t know how to pick goods, it made sense to just take what was already loaded, saving time on both procurement and loading…
With the Skill “Riding” at his disposal, Tao Yu stepped on the gas pedal, immediately roaring off in the general direction.
The gas station should still be quite visible…
“`