Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 336: Chapter 336: The First Patient

After a payment of twenty-eight Crystal Cores, the Treatment Pod activated. A shimmering green light filled the pod and converged on the injured man’s body. Five minutes passed.

The pod door slid open automatically. The man, whose eyes had been tightly shut, now snapped them open, a lively glimmer in them. The bleeding from his chest had stopped.

He jolted upright, clambered out of the Treatment Pod full of vigor, and stood on steady feet. "Where am I?" he asked.

The captain rushed forward. "You’re awake! Are you in any pain? Do you feel any discomfort?"

The team member shook his head without hesitation, even hopping a couple of times. "No pain at all!" he said, brimming with energy. "I feel amazing! It’s like I have a whole new body!"

The other team members stared at him in stunned silence. He had been attacked by a mutated plant, its vine piercing straight through his chest.

Although they had rescued him immediately, the blood loss had been massive, and his breathing grew fainter by the second. They had been rushing him to the base hospital.

But then they saw the clinic just outside the base. With their teammate on the verge of taking his last breath, they decided to take a shot in the dark.

They had brought him over fully expecting him to die, but against all odds, he had been saved!

’All thanks to this simple little Treatment Pod?’

’As expected of Boss Hart!’

’Everything she does is incredible! Even a shabby-looking Treatment Pod like this has such magical properties.’

’Just lie inside for a few minutes and all your injuries heal up. No one will have to worry about getting hurt anymore!’

’The only worry is whether you have enough Crystal Cores.’

You could always earn more Crystal Cores, but a life, once lost, was gone forever. The captain felt it was absolutely worth it.

His mood soaring, the captain waved a hand grandly. "Come on, let’s go check out the convenience store!"

A team member piped up weakly, "But Captain, didn’t you say we were getting scratch-offs?!"

"What’s more important, eating or scratch-offs!" the captain barked, smacking the man on the back of the head.

"Hey, let’s go, let’s go! If you keep dawdling, the captain won’t give you any Crystal Cores!" The team members jostled each other as they headed out.

Before leaving, they all thanked Lily Hart in unison.

Lily Hart waved them off. "Bye-bye!" She turned and met Roman Rowe’s wide eyes. He was grinning foolishly, looking like a puppy begging for praise.

"Roro, you’re the best! You won such a huge prize with just one scratch! It can save so many people," Lily Hart said, reaching out to stroke his golden hair.

If Roman Rowe had a tail, it would have been spinning so fast it threatened to launch him into the sky.

Roman Rowe tried to look proud, but he couldn’t stop a wide grin from splitting his face. After such praise, he really did feel like he was the best!

It was well past lunchtime, and Lily Hart’s stomach let out a loud GRUMBLE GRUMBLE.

Roman Rowe snapped out of his proud reverie. "Let’s go, let’s go!" he said urgently. "Time to eat. We can’t have you starving."

The others were in the RV. When they noticed Lily Hart was missing, they figured she had wandered off again.

They had started cooking on their own. Seth and Stan Sterling were busy in the kitchen, with Frost Shaw helping out.

Leo Colby was chatting with Owen Warren. He looked up in surprise when Lily Hart and Roman Rowe walked into the RV together.

"Where did you two go? You skipped lunch," Leo Colby asked, uncrossing his legs and frowning slightly.

Owen Warren’s eyes were fixed on them as well.

A sudden chill ran down Roman Rowe’s spine. He instantly straightened his back, ready for their interrogation.

Lily Hart, on the other hand, acted as if nothing was amiss. She ambled over to the sofa and flopped down.

As her body sank into the soft cushions, she let out a contented sigh. "Roman Rowe won a clinic."

That one short sentence explained everything. All eyes turned to Roman Rowe.

Roman Rowe chuckled, raised an eyebrow, and prepared to launch into a full-blown bragging session.

He recounted the entire, thrilling tale, from how he won the clinic to how they successfully saved a critically injured superpower user.

Leo Colby was skeptical. "That Treatment Pod thing... is it really that good?"

"Of course it is! How about I stab you and you can try it out for yourself?" Roman Rowe slid in next to him, slinging an arm over his shoulder with a laugh.

"Get lost!" Leo Colby shoved him away. ’What are two grown men doing hugging each other?’

Owen Warren was also skeptical. "If that’s the case, won’t doctors and medicine become obsolete?"

Roman Rowe nodded emphatically, a look of grand ambition on his face. "Exactly! Once I make this clinic bigger and better, no one in the world will ever die from their injuries again!"

CLAP CLAP CLAP—Lying on the sofa, Lily Hart raised her hands and applauded him.

"Heh heh, thank you, thank you. It’s just my duty," Roman Rowe said with a silly grin, puffing up with pride at the slightest praise.

Frost Shaw emerged from the kitchen carrying a dish. The sight of Roman Rowe’s goofy grin annoyed him. "Hey! Stop standing around and help carry the food!"

Roman Rowe agreed cheerfully, not the least bit annoyed that his bragging had been cut short, and scurried over to help. He really was good-natured.

Lily Hart dropped her hands, lying on the sofa like a corpse. She was hungry and tired.

Lunch was ready in no time. As platters of food were set on the table, the aroma instantly revived Lily Hart.

She shot up from the couch, yelling, "Food, food, food! I need to eat! I’m about to starve to death!"

Her meals and schedule were very regular now. If she missed a mealtime, she would feel exceptionally hungry...

Roman Rowe brought out her bowl of rice, set it in front of her, and chimed in, "Food’s here!"

Lily Hart snatched up her chopsticks, lifted her bowl, and shoveled two mouthfuls of plain rice into her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in days.

Seeing this, the others all pushed the serving dishes a little closer to her so she could easily reach them.

When Cynthia Whittaker saw her, her heart ached. She placed several pieces of steamed pork ribs with rice flour into Lily’s bowl.

She muttered, "Eat up, eat up. I don’t know what you were up to that made you so hungry."

The delicate rice flour coated the tender, perfectly cooked pork ribs. They fell right off the bone, and the flour coating melted in her mouth. It was delicious.

After finishing the ribs, Lily Hart looked over at Cynthia Whittaker. It was the first time she’d seen her all day.

Cynthia’s expression was natural; she showed no signs of discomfort at being away from Sue Sutton.

’That makes sense,’ Lily thought. ’She went to Steadfast Base a while ago, and Sue Sutton has been at Solara Base the whole time.’

’Who says you can’t live without someone else? It’s not like they were soul-bound, fated to die if the other one did.’

After the meal, Lily Hart’s energy was finally restored. Full of life again, she went back to watching others play scratch-offs.

Lily Hart even made a special post celebrating Roman Rowe winning the clinic.

She tagged Roman Rowe and posted a few pictures: one of the clinic’s exterior...

...one of the injured man on a stretcher, at death’s door; and a final shot of him, alive and kicking, after climbing out of the Treatment Pod.

It was a vivid demonstration of just how incredible the Treatment Pod was.

The post immediately ignited a firestorm of discussion on the [Human Social Sphere].

"Is there really something that awesome? I won’t believe it unless you bring it to Leonine Base for me to see."

"Your scheming is so loud I can hear it all the way from Harshwind Base."

"Boss Hart, don’t listen to them! I believe you! Come to Featherlight Base!"

"All of you just want to trick Boss Hart. I’m the only one who genuinely wants her to visit!"

"Whoa, is there anything in the world you *can’t* get from that lottery shop? I have to try it at least once in my lifetime!"