Chapter 6: Zhao Haifeng

"This, this, this... is this fruit? Boss, take a look!" Wang Qiang was so excited he could hardly speak, quickly handing the item to Lu Li.

She took it and glanced at it—an apple. What was there to be so excited about?

With an expressionless face, she shoved it into the Maneki-neko (lucky cat). Three pairs of eyes stared intensely at the statue. Soon, a red and green, plump, and fragrant apple dropped out.

It smelled sweet, not cloying, and incredibly refreshing. Wang Qiang couldn't wait to grab it, cradling it in his palms as if it were the rarest treasure in the world.

It wasn't just Wang Qiang; Chen Zhi was the same. Both men gulped simultaneously.

Fruits and vegetables—such green, organic food was practically priceless in the apocalypse. The Central Base had spent a fortune to cultivate them, but they were sold at exorbitant prices; without connections or channels, one couldn't even dream of getting them.

But now, with just the gamble of a single crystal core, one could obtain an entire apple!

"I once saw the Base Commander eat one of these. Damn, the fragrance traveled for miles—it's so crisp and sweet!" Chen Zhi drooled, staring greedily at the apple.

Wang Qiang tucked it into his chest, shielding it from the malicious gazes of others.

Chen Zhi was displeased. "What's the harm in letting me look?"

Wang Qiang replied mercilessly, "If you want to look, go play the scratch-offs yourself. Why look at mine? What if you damage it?"

Chen Zhi felt stifled. If he could win one, would he be drooling over someone else's apple? He wasn't willing to give up and prepared to try again.

Meanwhile, Wang Qiang planned to find a corner to eat the apple. The entrance to the base was crowded and messy, and since this was a rare treasure, he worried about being targeted.

Whenever someone stepped out, the recreational vehicle (RV) was the first thing they saw, and most were curious enough to take a peek. Once they looked, and after hearing Lu Li's brief introduction, anyone with a crystal core would buy a ticket.

By noon, Lu Li had made a fortune. Watching her point balance climb higher and higher until it broke the two-thousand mark, she silently patted herself on the back. Seeing Chen Zhi still scratching away, she shook her head and decided against trying to persuade him otherwise.

When he finished his current ticket, Lu Li looked at his disappointed expression and, before he could start another, said, "We're closed. Come back this afternoon."

Chen Zhi looked reluctant, stuffing the three scratch-offs he had left into the mouth of the lucky cat with a numb expression. The cat spat out three rewards: a pair of chopsticks, an iron basin, and a glass cup. He had scratched at least ten tickets, and only these three had rewards. Aside from the bullets, which were somewhat useful, what could you do with the rest? What could you possibly do?!

Thinking of this, Chen Zhi was furious. Why could everyone else get good stuff, but he lacked the luck? Unreconciled, he gathered his rewards from the table and stormed off in a huff.

Lu Li pulled down the window shutter, and the interior of the RV suddenly darkened, returning to silence.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the window. Lu Li frowned in annoyance, reached for paper and a pen, and scribbled a few large characters. She quickly slid open the shutter and slapped the paper onto the side of the vehicle. It read: *Closed for rest, do not disturb!*

Anyone with a shred of social awareness would have walked away, but the knocking only grew louder. Lu Li even heard the sound of the paper being torn to shreds. She narrowed her eyes and turned to slide open the shutter.

"Didn't you understand me when I said I was resting?" she blurted out, lips pursed, her gaze sharp.

It was a tall, burly man wearing a black baseball cap, his black short-sleeved shirt stained with dirt.

"So you're the one selling these scratch-offs? Give me one," he said with a look of disdain.

Lu Li was already irritated by his tone. With a flick of her mind, she threw him out. Within the ten-meter safety zone of the lottery shop, she was the master—even a dragon would have to bow down to her.

"You bitch! You don't know what's good for you!" The man scrambled up from the ground, his face twisted in a snarl.

A flicker of flame suddenly erupted from his left palm. He was an ability user—Lu Li became interested. She knew that in this world, people hadn't just mutated into zombies; some had evolved supernatural abilities.

Next, a flame appeared in his right hand as well. He pressed his palms together, and the two flames collided, forming a fireball the size of a palm. Lu Li crossed her arms, expressionless, not taking him seriously at all.

It was near noon, the weather was hot, and it was the busiest time for people entering and leaving the base. Many stood nearby, whispering, looking from the man to the fair-skinned Lu Li, unable to help but sigh.

"That Zhao Haifeng is throwing his weight around again. What a pity for that young girl."

"He's just relying on the fact that his brother is the Base Commander. What's he so arrogant about?"

"Exactly. So what if he has fire abilities? There are plenty of those all over China."

"Sigh, that Zhao Haifeng ruined another young girl a while back, drove her to hang herself..."

Everyone in the New Life Base had a terrible impression of Zhao Haifeng. He was complete scum. Regardless of gender, if he took a fancy to someone, he would act as he pleased, relying on his brother's position and his own strength. And now, he had set his sights on the new girl who arrived today.

The more people gathered, the more excited Zhao Haifeng seemed to become. With his palm facing up, cradling the palm-sized fireball, he walked slowly toward Lu Li. As he walked, a cruel smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "If you behave, this young master might spare your life."

Lu Li clenched her fists and shook them slightly in front of her chest, saying expressionlessly, "I'm so, so scared."

This was a blatant provocation. Zhao Haifeng's smile vanished instantly; he raised the fireball and swung it toward her with all his might.

The onlookers nearby instinctively covered their eyes, not wanting to witness the brutal moment.

The next instant, a scream rang out as expected—miserable, shrill, filled with struggle and rage.

It didn't sound like the girl's voice?

They looked directly at the scene. On the ground, a ball of fire seemed to be rolling about, screaming hideously.

Looking back at the RV, the girl was still standing with her arms crossed, leaning against the vehicle with a faint, amused smile on her face, as if she were watching a performance.

The "fireball" spoke: "Help! Someone help me! If you save me, I'll have my brother give you the best resources—ah—!"

Someone, driven by greed for the resources, ran forward, but when he reached a meter away, he was blocked by an invisible wall. He tried to slap it, kick it, but he couldn't get through.

The fire-covered man's screams grew even more intense. Just as he was about to be burned to a crisp, the fire suddenly stopped and gradually extinguished. A gust of wind blew by...

The onlookers smelled something charred and swallowed hard. "It smells so good..."

Zhao Haifeng was covered in soot, his already thinning hair now worse for wear, and he looked like he had been hit by a cannonball—disheveled and in a complete mess. But fortunately, he was a fire ability user, so this fire couldn't kill him; it at most caused some damage to his appearance.

He lay on his back on the ground, unable to understand how things had turned out this way.