Chapter 338: I’m Flustered When You’re Not Here

Chapter 338: Chapter 338: I’m Flustered When You’re Not Here

But whenever Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe were together, they were like a pot and a mismatched lid—they just had to bicker.

Still, they had to make do with each other. It wasn’t like they could be replaced.

"Alright, alright, you keep watching. I’m heading back." Lily Hart walked around Frost Shaw and started to leave.

The two of them blocked her path, saying in unison, "Don’t go, Boss Hart."

Roman Rowe said pitifully, "Boss Hart, I get flustered when you’re not here."

If Lily Hart hadn’t just seen him handling the customers so calmly, she might have actually believed his nonsense.

"It looked to me like you were handling things perfectly well!" Lily Hart called his bluff, swatting his hand away.

Frost Shaw snickered and stopped blocking her. He had come here for two reasons: one, to see Roman Rowe, and two, to see Lily Hart.

Lily Hart swaggered away.

Generally speaking, people didn’t go to the hospital for minor injuries. Superpower users relied on their own self-healing abilities for things like small cuts...

They didn’t go to the hospital for major injuries, either. Things like severed limbs, damaged internal organs, or head trauma were a lost cause. With limited resources, they couldn’t be saved anyway.

But the clinic was different. From a simple knife gash to every last internal organ being destroyed, as long as you were still breathing and had enough Crystal Cores in your pocket, you could be saved.

Lily Hart returned to her RV and rested for a while. By dinnertime, no one had scratched off a prize that she found particularly impressive.

There were, however, quite a few people who won fruit, fast food, and weapons.

This got the surrounding customers very excited. They all thought about how great it would be if they had won those prizes, or kicked themselves for not picking that particular ticket.

The result of all that regret and excitement was that by nine o’clock, the goal for Prudence Base had been met. She could finally buy the [Automatic Lottery Machine], which meant she wouldn’t have to wake up early tomorrow!

She immediately bought ten [Automatic Lottery Machine]s and placed them outside the lottery shop, next to the breakfast shop.

As ten o’clock approached, the lottery shop closed for the night.

The customers gradually dispersed. People streamed out of the various shops and headed toward Prudence Base, slowly merging into a long river of bodies.

They excitedly discussed their hauls from the day. Some were so hyped up they decided to skip sleep entirely and go kill zombies all night long!

’The moment Boss Hart opens up, we’ll go on a scratching spree! Then a shopping spree at the convenience store! And then we’ll have a blast at the bathhouse!’

Just the thought of it filled them with anticipation for the day to come.

They finally understood why the residents of the other bases never wanted Boss Hart to leave. They really, truly didn’t. In just a single day, they had already grown dependent on her...

’What would we do if Boss Hart left?’ But they had heard from the residents of Solara Base and Steadfast Base that she would hold a vote right before she was about to leave.

They would get to choose which shops they wanted to keep.

Meanwhile, Lily Hart was considering that very issue. ’Should I hold a vote every day, or just on the last day?’

To maximize her gains, she decided to do it daily. After all, she could duplicate one shop every day; she couldn’t let that opportunity go to waste.

Options:

Clinic (Restores the injured to their former selves!)

Convenience Store (Never worry about food or drink again, shop ’til you drop!)

Breakfast Shop (Start your day off right!)

Bathhouse (A place you’ll never want to leave—your home away from home!)

Hotel (A warm and welcoming sanctuary!)

Factory (Food and clothes, we’ve got it all!)

Hot Pot Restaurant (Reward yourself after a hard day of killing zombies!)

The poll would run from ten o’clock to eleven o’clock, open only to the residents of Prudence Base.

She also added a thoughtful note: she would be staying at Prudence Base for three full days, a vote would be held each day, and the results would directly determine which shop would be duplicated. Residents were advised to choose carefully.

Lily Hart washed up and got into bed right at eleven o’clock.

She checked the results of the poll. In first place was the clinic, followed by the convenience store in second, and the factory in third.

Lily Hart wondered if she should just use these results to decide which shops to duplicate over the next three days.

’Nah, better stick to the plan. One vote per day.’

’At the next base, I’ll do what I was just thinking—hold only one vote for the entire stay.’

’Alright, I’ll duplicate the clinic today!’ Lily Hart sprang into action.

But just as she was about to spend 500,000 points to duplicate the clinic, the system notified her of an insufficient balance. She was furious.

’A big-shot, loaded boss like me, running into an insufficient balance? How is that possible?’

She checked her balance. After counting the digits, she saw she only had a six-figure sum—less than half of the 500,000 she needed...

Then she remembered. She had spent almost all her savings before coming to Prudence Base, leaving her with less than 100,000 points.

She had earned a hundred thousand or so today, but then she’d spent points on ten [Automatic Lottery Machine]s, putting her right back where she started...

’Jeez, even a hero can be tripped up by a single coin! To think I can’t duplicate a shop just because I don’t have enough points?’

She absolutely refused to let that happen! This was a once-a-day opportunity!

Suddenly, Lily Hart remembered: this week’s profit share from her other shops hadn’t been deposited yet!

Before, the profit share was deposited as soon as a shop made any income, but she had found the constant notifications annoying and changed the setting to a weekly deposit.

’I should change it back to daily deposits,’ she thought. She was short on funds at the moment.

Once the profit share was deposited, her balance swelled instantly. Just like that, her confidence was restored.

Time to duplicate the shop!

Only after duplicating the shop could Lily Hart finally sleep in peace.

The residents of Prudence Base were all up exceptionally early the next day. Everyone on the road was beaming.

The question on everyone’s lips was, "Where are you headed?"

And the answer was always, "Do you even need to ask? To the lottery shop outside the base, of course!"

Someone passing by chimed in, "Hey, I heard there’s a breakfast shop, too! We’d better hurry and get in line!"

"What’s the rush? Seriously, it’s not like the breakfast shop is going to run away!" the person said, even as they quickened their pace.

It was still early, and everyone had been strolling along at a leisurely pace, but then some instigator had to stir things up.

They just had to start competing, which set everyone off into a speed walk, terrified that a moment’s delay would land them at the back of a hundred-meter line.

The closer they got to the base gate, the more residents converged, all single-mindedly pushing their way out. Some even started running.

When The Guardian Corps saw so many people running for the base’s main gate, their hearts sank. ’Did something happen inside the base?’

’So... should we open the gate or not?’

Before the main crowd had even reached the gate, people were already shouting impatiently, "Hurry and open the gate! Open up!"

’Don’t make us late for the breakfast line!’

This made The Guardian Corps even more anxious. The way everyone was acting, it was as if a horde of zombies was relentlessly chasing them from behind.

’Might as well open it, then. We have to ensure the residents’ safety first and figure out how to deal with the zombies later.’

The members of The Guardian Corps nimbly opened a side gate, and residents immediately started bolting through.

One after another, they streamed out, their faces alight with excitement, moving as if their feet had grown wings.

Watching them, The Guardian Corps thought, ’They don’t look like they’re being chased by zombies.’

They stood on their tiptoes to look past the crowd but saw no zombies. They breathed a sigh of relief.

They finally managed to grab hold of one resident and ask, "Why is everyone in such a hurry to get out of the base?"

The resident, extremely reluctant to be stopped, answered hastily, "What else could it be? We’re going to get breakfast!"