Chapter 394: The Customers’ Impact

Chapter 394: Chapter 394: The Customers’ Impact

"What’s up with him?" Roman Rowe didn’t get it. He stood up and headed back to the clinic. He hadn’t been watching the shop all afternoon and wondered if things were still running smoothly.

Of course, they were. After several improvements, the clinic could now run smoothly on its own with just the machines, even if no one was there to watch it.

Upstairs, Lily Hart was washing up, letting her mind go blank. She didn’t have all the messy, complicated thoughts they did.

’As long as I’m happy, that’s all that matters.’

’Why worry about all that stuff?’

’They’re the ones who should be thinking things through. My only job is to be happy.’

She never even considered the question of responsibility. What era was this? It was the apocalypse... and she was the one who had given them all of this in the first place.

Lily Hart felt perfectly justified. Sometimes, she even wanted to do something even more outrageous.

After washing up, she changed into her pajamas, threw on a jacket, and went downstairs.

She poured herself a glass of water, only then noticing that the two of them had left.

A thought flashed through her mind: ’I’m craving beef hot pot... so hungry for it. I’ll make it happen tomorrow.’

After finishing her water, Lily Hart checked the time. Instead of going back upstairs, she sat down on the sofa to rest, under the nice-sounding pretext of watching the store.

With an hour and a half until closing, Lily Hart was wandering aimlessly inside the RV when she glanced toward the high-speed rail station and saw a huge crowd of people suddenly pour out.

At first glance, their frantic, chaotic running style made her think they were zombies. Lily Hart was about to activate the highest level of defense, but upon a closer look...

They seemed to be people. A massive group of them.

As they ran, they waved their arms and legs wildly, shouting greetings to her. "Boss Hart! We’re here!" Then they sped past the lottery shop...

Once they entered the main street of shops, they began to split up. Some made a beeline for the clinic, others for the hot pot restaurant, and still others for the factory.

’Where did all these people come from?’

Of course, some people didn’t skip the lottery shop. One ran over excitedly to buy scratch-off tickets, shouting, "Boss Hart, ever since you left Central Command, I haven’t won a single prize!"

Lily Hart was surprised. "Don’t tell me you all came from Central Command?"

The customer nodded while picking out scratch-off tickets. "Yeah, yeah, we took the high-speed rail. It was super fast! People from Steadfast Base and Solara Base came on the same trip, too."

Well, damn. They had all managed to get together for this.

"So... how are you getting back? The subway, too?" Lily Hart asked, confused.

"Yep, we already checked the schedule. The last train leaves at 2:30 AM. We’ll get back around dawn, just in time to catch up on sleep, hehe~" the customer said.

Lily Hart clapped her hands. "That’s a pretty good plan, but... we close at ten o’clock."

The customer: "Huh?" Hearing this, he immediately put away the scratch-offs and bolted for the factory.

They had come this time specifically to buy the legendary clothes that could keep them warm. The weather was getting colder and colder; they needed to prioritize staying warm and stocking up on food.

That way, they could hibernate through the winter. The winters of the apocalypse were the longest.

The area in front of the factory was swarming with customers, the small service window packed solid. Seth was stunned. It was almost time to get off work, so why had so many people shown up out of nowhere!

’Is this for real?’

Seth glanced at the time and sighed. There was nothing for it. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work. The fast food was already sold out; only clothes were left.

Some people had come specifically for those thermal clothes, but not every piece of clothing had the effect—it was a matter of chance.

Ever since discovering these thermal clothes, Seth had been paying attention.

He had purposely set aside the thermal garments and had stockpiled quite a few, but looking at the dense crowd outside the window, he figured it wouldn’t be nearly enough to go around.

Seth sighed again and switched on the clothing assembly line.

He sold items while the assembly line produced more, all the while wishing time would pass a little faster.

’I want to go home...’

Some people were lining up at the factory, while others queued at the convenience store, wanting to stock up on more food. After all, it was the cheapest here.

It was much cheaper than the online supermarkets. Besides, Central Command didn’t have any vending machines, so they had to seize this opportunity to buy, buy, buy!

The clinic was also packed. Everyone knew it was a new shop, and since they had made the difficult trip here, getting a scan couldn’t hurt.

They’d heard online that it could even cure chronic, old illnesses, as long as you had enough Crystal Cores in your pocket.

To everyone, this was nothing short of a miracle!

In the apocalypse, medical supplies were non-renewable resources. No matter how many there were before, they would eventually run out.

When people got injured, they could either rely on their own bodies to heal or just wait for death.

The luckier ones didn’t die, but they were often left with all sorts of lasting pain and injuries.

Now that they finally had this opportunity, they had to get themselves treated properly. Crystal Cores were not an issue! Wasn’t the whole point of killing zombies to earn Crystal Cores?!

And wasn’t the whole point of earning so many Crystal Cores to spend them?!

Everyone was very open-minded about this, but Roman Rowe was starting to lose his.

’What is going on? So many customers showing up right before closing! Do they even want me to get off work?!’

’Don’t they know I’m just waiting for ten o’clock to close up so I can go chat with Boss Hart! Otherwise, she’ll say I’m not taking my job seriously...’

But he just sighed and continued to stay busy, even though his role was mostly that of a mascot.

Still...

Watching the customers enter the Treatment Pods one by one and then come out with faces full of surprise and joy gave him a real sense of accomplishment.

It was as if he had healed all these people himself.

It wasn’t just the convenience store, the factory, and the clinic that were getting bombarded.

Even the milk tea shop, the cake shop, the kitchen, and the night market were hit.

Inside the milk tea shop, Serena Sawyer was completely dumbfounded as she watched a huge crowd of customers suddenly pour in.

She glanced at the time. Something was wrong. It was almost nine o’clock, and she had sold out of all the ingredients she’d prepped for the day long ago! She was just cleaning up!

Serena Sawyer quickly explained, waving her hands. "We’re sold out for today! Please come back another day!"

The customers simultaneously glanced at the work area behind her. It really did look like she was sold out.

The countertops were wiped spotless, without a speck of dust or any sign of milk tea.

"Let’s go, let’s go, on to the next one." They didn’t linger and hurried away.

Serena Sawyer breathed a sigh of relief and quickly opened her Light Brain. A ton of messages had flooded the group chat.

The one at the top was from Lily Hart: [Guys, get ready. The main force is here!!]

What followed was a string of complaints from everyone.

Roman Rowe: [Oh my god, these people are insane, coming all this way...] (One hundred words of complaints omitted.)

Frost Shaw: [Completely exhausted.]

Seth: [+1, sold more than I did all day. You guys think this is normal?]

Serena Sawyer felt the same way. When she’d looked up a moment ago, the dense crowd outside had scared her into thinking they were there to trash the shop.

Leo Colby and Owen Warren chimed in: [What people? We haven’t seen anyone. Are you all so tired you’re hallucinating?]

Frost Shaw: [Heh heh.]

This crowd had come for food and clothes. They were skipping things that required a long time to enjoy, like the bathhouse or the hotel, opting instead to live in the moment.

Closing time arrived, but the customers were completely unmoved and continued about their business.