Bet Right

"Holy shit, who is this guy? He's incredible, with water and sausages and everything!"

"It seems he just happened to be at the supermarket, which is why he got his hands on so much stuff. He's struck gold!"

"This world is just so unfair. Why am I stuck in a toilet stall while someone else is in a supermarket?!"

"Let's see what he needs, maybe we can barter for some food!"

"@Warren, I'd do anything for him, just for a couple of sausages!"

"Sigh, I don't even dare to go out, and I have nothing to trade for food and water. It's frustrating!"

Actually, many people felt just like the last person who spoke.

Surviving isn't easy these days.

And birthplaces are random.

Where can one even get supplies to trade for food and water?

Henry opened the trading channel.

He was surprised to see all sorts of items listed.

These must have been posted by other survivors during their encounters with zombies.

All sorts of odd items were up for trade.

Ladies' underwear, stuffed toys, empty bottles, cups, chopsticks, hats...

It looked like survivors were listing whatever they could find at hand.

The hope was to accidentally encounter a sucker who would take the useless items they offered.

Unfortunately, the highest demand was for food and water.

Who would waste resources on these useless things?

So these items had been hanging for a couple of hours with no deals made.

Henry selected food and water in the filter options.

Quickly, the series of items Warren just posted appeared right before him.

The terms of the trade were strict.

500ml of [Pure Water]required one Energy Core in exchange.

[Well-packaged sausages]required the same, one Energy Core!

Energy Cores were valuable items.

They were essential for enhancing one's strength.

Whoever possesses a large number of Energy Cores is bound to see a meteoric rise in strength!

If Warren were to exchange all of his over 40 food and water items for Energy Cores, he would definitely elevate from the strength of an ordinary person to that of a robust survivor. It's even conceivable that if he continues to sell large amounts of food and water, he might become an extraordinarily strong survivor!

Henry's expression darkened! This was definitely a potential threat! Those appearing in the regional channel were all nearby survivors, and he could run into them at any time. There's an old saying from peaceful times: the more capable a person is, and the more reactionary their thoughts, the greater the harm they can do to society.

The same holds true in this apocalyptic world. The stronger a person is, and the more dangerous their thoughts, the greater the threat they pose to other survivors!

Henry couldn't afford to naively think of Warren as a good person. What if he was wrong? In peaceful times, people were cautious about opening doors to strangers. How could they be unprepared in an apocalypse for a neighbor who could beat them single-handedly, lurking in the shadows? After all, you only have one life! You must prepare for the worst to have the best chance of survival!

But where exactly is this guy?! Henry, without showing any change in demeanor, continued to monitor the regional chat channel.

"Man, the food and water he's listing are too expensive. One Energy Core each, that's practically robbery!"

"Yeah, I was lucky, killed two juvenile zombies, and only then did I get one Energy Core. These things don't drop 100% of the time!"

"Trading one Energy Core for a bottle of water or a sausage is literally trading with your life, it's not worth it!"

"Lucky I brought a can of luncheon meat and a bottle of water, or I'd be starving today!"

"Now the best strategy is to fight the zombies; if you can't defeat them, you won't have the resources!"

"Without resources, you can't exchange for what you want, and that's a dead end!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately received a chorus of agreement:

"Yeah, we have zombies right outside, we could go out and scavenge some food, but how do we fight with our bare hands?"

"I'm a martial arts instructor, but I'd rather use a knife than my fists. A scratch could lead to an infection, and that's no joke!"

"Does anyone have a knife? Is someone selling one, or even a hammer would do!"

"I have a fruit knife... but I'm too scared to kill zombies. I'll give the knife away for free to anyone who's close to the school, just come to the classroom and save me!"

Watching the chat, Henry couldn't help but smile slightly.

It seemed that not all survivors were foolish. They understood the principle that teaching someone to fish is better than giving them a fish. Food could run out after one or two uses, but with weapons, they could kill zombies. That would provide them with the opportunity to obtain materials and energy cores!

Thus, at this stage, the importance of weapons and food was clear.

Henry had anticipated this, which is why he had brought all the kitchen knives from the first floor up with him. He also collected all the knives from this room's kitchen—five chef's knives and four fruit knives.

Henry opened the auction trading interface and chose to list them. For the exchange items, he selected: canned luncheon meat + 500ml of pure water.

The price was neither too high nor too low. It essentially bought out a survivor's food and water for the day.

Henry dared to offer this price because he had calculated the survivors' psychology. Those in most urgent need of weapons were of two types. One was the physically strong survivors who could fight the zombies, killing them in large numbers to obtain energy cores, which could then be exchanged for more food and water. The second type of survivor was those in areas with few zombies, where it was obvious that there were water and food near the zombies.

Trading a day's worth of food and water for several days' worth of food and water.

Anyone with a bit of sense could figure out that this was an extremely advantageous deal!

Henry was betting that such survivors definitely existed, and probably in significant numbers!

—In fact, even if he was wrong, it was no big deal; he could just take the listings down and relist them. Henry wouldn't lose anything!

So, that's what he decided to do!

Ding! Henry listed a [Sharp Chef's Knife]!

Ding! Henry listed another [Sharp Chef's Knife]!

Ding! Henry listed a [Sharp Fruit Knife]!

...

At the same time, others also sharply realized that weapons were currently the most popular items.

They too started listing items like [Long Wooden Sticks], [A Brick], [An Ashtray], [Chairs]...

It was truly a bizarre and comprehensive assortment...

Similarly, these people also wanted to exchange their items for food and water.

Some, feeling a bit insecure, opted for either food or water only.

Indeed, using sticks, bricks, and ashtrays as weapons was barely acceptable.

But chairs... that was a bit too much!

Of course, these would have been reluctant choices had Henry not listed the chef's and fruit knives.

Now that there were chef's knives available, who would want those other items?!

Ding! Congratulations on a successful trade, one chef's knife sold for [Canned Luncheon Meat]+[Pure Water]!

Ding! Congratulations on a successful trade, one chef's knife sold for [Canned Luncheon Meat]+[Pure Water]!

Ding! Congratulations on a successful trade, one fruit knife sold for [Canned Luncheon Meat]+[Pure Water]!

...

Soon, all the weapons Henry listed were snapped up.

He gained a total of 9 cans of [Canned Luncheon Meat]and 9 bottles of [Pure Water]!

His ability to survive improved again!

He bet right!