This group of people has low combat ability and cannot adapt to the wasteland world. Gradually, they are classified as defective people.
Zyler observed Ellie's expression and, seeing that she was calm, continued.
"To avoid wasting the base's resources, defective people are restricted from trading and doing many kinds of work."
Ah, I see!
Ellie understood. "If I can't trade, can I still transfer money?"
She thought her identity problem might be hard to solve, but leaving the star coins in her account wasn't a solution either.
Zyler shook his head.
Defective people weren't common, and he had never interacted or traded with them.
Ellie lifted her slender wrist. "Come on, try it."
She adjusted something on her wristband and lightly touched Zyler's wrist with her snow-white arm.
[Sorry, defective person, no permission to transfer money]
What the heck!!!!!!
Others can transfer money to her, but she can't buy things, can't transfer money to others.
Looking at the 2650 star coins in her account, Ellie scratched her head.
Being poor isn't scary, what's scary is that I'm poor!
"You really need money?"
Zyler turned his head to look at her.
Ellie sighed and laid flat on the cold, hard metal bed.
If I can't spend money, can't buy things, life would be so boring!
She heard Zyler's soft laugh.
"If you want to buy something, you can use my money."
Hmm?
Ellie sat up quickly, surprised, and stared at him.
His sharp, handsome face softened a little with his smile, and when he saw she wasn't responding, he added, "We are a family, you said so earlier."
He probably guessed what had happened.
Ellie must have wanted to buy things for her family, but she was delayed and later realized that because of her identity, she couldn't buy anything.
Ellie stayed quiet for two minutes, then slowly spoke.
"How much money do you even have with your situation?"
"Don't worry. Next time I make money, I'll have them transfer it to you. Then we'll have money to spend."
"You stay here, I'll take care of some things."
Knowing the situation and having a temporary solution, Ellie jumped off the bed and started working.
She wasn't someone who would dwell on things.
Her principle was: Read the page the wind blows to, and tear off the page she didn't understand.
It's just that she can't spend money, so she'll just use Zyler's account. Same thing.
"I…"
Zyler touched his wristband. He did have money.
Five years ago, he was a well-known high-level warrior from the Wind City. Before his accident, he had just hunted a rare mutated fire eagle.
A big figure from another city bought it from him and gave him 100,000 star coins.
But this information was never told to his family before the accident. Afterward, his mother's attitude toward him changed, and he became a little indifferent. That money was left untouched.
Now, his little girlfriend wants to use the money…
Ellie was holding a large basin, washing the things she brought back under the faucet.
She had cleaned it at the slaughterhouse, and now she was just processing it a little.
The spoiled cow stomach could not be used, but after soaking the remaining chicken scraps in clean water, her delicate eyebrows furrowed tightly.
"That… Zyler, do you have 500 star coins? We need to buy something."
"If not, we can sell a nutrient pack. Don't worry, we'll earn the money back soon."
There's too much missing in this house.
Some money still needs to be spent.
Zyler pushed the wheelchair to her side and gently patted Ellie's head. "We have some, let's go buy it now. It will be dark soon."
Ellie stood up, adjusted her clothes, grabbed the small cloth bag, and pushed Zyler toward the inner city.
She had no money to buy anything, and Zyler was poor too.
They had to compare prices and be very careful with money.
She searched for several seasoning shops on her wristband map.
Cooks need seasonings for preparing ingredients, and rich people, besides nutrient pills, also eat food. So seasoning shops are naturally in demand in the market.
But the prices were ridiculous.
"A can of salt costs 150 star coins? Why don't you just steal it?" Ellie was shocked.
The robot's mechanical voice sounded, "Please mind your words, I don't intend to rob you."
That can, at most, weighed one kilogram, which would be 150 soft coins per kilogram!
Who could afford that!
Then there was the sugar, claiming to be from a rare plant crystal, costing 300 star coins per can.
In the end, Ellie painfully bought a can of salt and a can of natural soda.
As for other seasonings, she could either make them herself or wait until she earned some money.
Zyler quietly watched Ellie's conflicted expression and silently made a note of the seasonings she wanted.
The two of them then went to a daily goods store, which was a bit like a hardware store. Most of the items were made of metal.
They were actually pretty cheap.
"The city has its own iron ore, so steel and iron are not expensive," Zyler explained when he saw her confused expression.
"No wonder," Ellie said as she picked through the shelves.
She needed a cutting board, a knife, a pot, a spatula, and a cooking spoon, two bowls, and four plates.
Oh, and chopsticks and a simple gas stove.
She also bought a chair, three large bowls—one for washing her face, one for washing her feet, and one for washing her small clothes, etc.
Previously, Zyler had lived on his own and didn't care about the quality of the food.
But now, with two of them, it was different.
They had to focus on hygiene.
When Ellie had finished choosing everything, Zyler raised his wristband and paid for it.
"Beep, payment successful."
This was the first time in two lifetimes that Ellie had gone shopping with a man, and the man paid for everything.
It was kind of nice.
Seeing that Ellie was about to go home, Zyler asked, "Is this all you're buying? I have money. If you want something else, we can buy it together."
Zyler had never gone shopping with a girl before.
He didn't understand romantic things, but he just wanted to buy more things for Ellie.
"Don't. We'll need money for other things later. Let's save for now. Once I earn some money..."
I'll support you.
Those three words, of course, couldn't be said out loud.
She had even planned to buy a bed, but she wasn't bold enough for that.
Imagine, a newlywed couple, and the wife wants to buy a bed and sleep alone while using the husband's money.
Who could stand that?
Ellie gave up on buying the bed, and with Zyler's situation, it seemed like he couldn't do much about it.
The two of them returned to the little house before it got dark.
Every street had a natural gas pipeline, and Ellie skillfully connected the gas to the house door using the metal hose that came with the stove.
Now, she had the basic conditions to cook.
In the outer city, no one cooked for themselves. Everyone ate nutrient pills.
Natural gas hadn't been used in years.
Her actions attracted the attention of the neighbors, and people who came home after work gathered in the alley to watch what she was doing.
Zyler's mother and Zyler's brother also came rushing over.
When they reached the door of the house, they immediately smelled an unpleasant odor.