Looking at Cris disappearing in the distance, Cris's mother blamed Cris's father, saying,
"It's all your fault. You were the one who firmly disagreed with our son joining that special squad with me. Now, we can't say anything anymore. Since he joined, every mission has been dangerous. And he's already this old but still doesn't have a girlfriend."
"Don't be mad. It's all my fault. But our son is already grown. He has his own thoughts. As parents, we should support him. Besides, his grandfather is watching over him. He'll be fine," Cris's father comforted her.
Time passed quickly. Soon, it was the day Tracy had agreed to meet with those people.
She arrived a bit earlier. At this time, the others hadn't shown up yet, but Tracy wasn't in a rush. She patiently sat inside the shop and waited. It was still early morning, so those people had probably just left the base.
Since Kei's team returned from Tracy's small shop back to the base, they hadn't rested.
They first dealt with the instant noodles and bottled water they got.
Food like that wasn't something they could enjoy themselves. If they traded it for the base's water and coarse flour buns, they could get several times more food.
Even though the noodles tasted better, to stay full, they had to go for cheaper food.
They also wanted to use that food to collect gold, silver, and jewelry. So, the more food they had, the better.
Inside the base, there was a specific area – a big open space – where people could make trades.
Kei and the others paid two coarse buns to rent a small spot there.
Then they started using the buns to buy gold, silver, and jewelry from others.
Gold and jewels still had some value, but not much.
Most people didn't want to trade for that stuff because you can't eat or wear it.
Food was still the most important thing in trades.
Now, with Kei's group acting like "fools," trading real food for gold and jewelry, everyone rushed to bring out the shiny stuff they had collected earlier and made deals with them.
But Kei's group didn't have much food to begin with, so they quickly ran out.
Once everything was traded, they packed up and left, making the people who came too late feel upset.
They thought, "Why didn't I come earlier? If I had, I could've traded my useless jewelry for food. I could've had a full meal. Too bad I missed the chance."
"Don't worry. We'll come again in a few days. Be ready with your gold and jewelry then," Kei told them.
"Really? That's great! We'll be waiting for you," someone from the base replied happily.
When people ran for safety back then, they brought their valuable things.
But when they arrived at the base, they found that these things were useless.
Food was the only thing people cared about, so everyone stopped paying attention to gold and jewelry.
Now that they could trade that stuff for food, they were thrilled.
Even if they had to wait a few days, it was worth it.
"Boss, don't you think Kei and his team are dumb? They're trading food for gold and jewelry. That stuff is worthless now. Maybe they still think it's like before the world ended. I wouldn't even bother picking it up off the ground," Huzi said.
"Don't worry about why they're collecting it. We should focus on finding more food," Arthird said.
"You're right, Boss!" Huzi replied.
"But if we have time, we should keep an eye on Kei's group. See if they do anything strange. If they keep collecting jewelry, we can do the same," Arthird added.
"Why though, Boss? What's the point of gathering that useless stuff?" Huzi asked.
"You really have no brain, huh? Nobody's a fool these days. If Kei's group is doing this, they must know something. Maybe there's a new rule coming up. What if the base starts accepting gold and jewelry as money later on? We'd make a fortune.
Even if not, we're not losing much. Worst case, we just sell it back to Kei," Arthird explained.
"You're smart, Boss! This is a sure-win plan," Huzi said excitedly.
Although Kei's actions drew some attention, most people didn't care much.
After all, he didn't trade that much. At most, it was just something people talked about.
Kei's group soon used up all their food and only kept enough for the next few days.
"Captain, we've used all our food to buy gold and jewelry. What if, when we go back next time, Tracy's shop is closed? Or she refuses to sell to us? Then what do we do?" Gelmer asked.
"We didn't have much food anyway. Even if we did nothing and just ate it, it wouldn't last long. It's better to take the risk.
If we can keep trading with Tracy, we'll be eating well every day and even making a profit.
Why not take the chance? Besides, we only got that food by trading Tracy's instant noodles and water. It was basically free for us," Kei replied.
"Captain is right. If we just sit and wait, this food won't last. We'll still end up starving. And whether the trade works or not, we'll find out when the time comes. Worrying now won't help," Isa said.
"This time, we're going all in. Except for keeping some food to rent the car on the third day and for our meals until then, everything else is now gold and jewelry.
We must succeed. If not, we'll end up hungry again.
Let's hope everything works out," Kei said.
"Captain, don't worry too much. Tracy doesn't seem like the kind of person who would fool us.
She has no reason to lie either.
I believe she'll keep her promise. When we go back, we'll definitely be able to buy enough food from her," Isa said.
These three days were really hard for Kei's team. So, on the third day, as soon as the base opened, they rented a car and drove straight toward Tracy's location.
This time, they drove directly to the front of Tracy's small shop. Since they were going to buy a lot of food, parking far away would make moving the supplies difficult.
The trip wasn't easy. There were many abandoned cars on the street. They had to get out several times to push those cars out of the way. Luckily, this area had already been searched by other teams, so most of the cars were already cleared. They only had to move a few vehicles before they reached Tracy's shop.
When they saw that Tracy's shop was open and full of food, they finally felt relieved. It looked like she had not lied to them. That made them feel calm and hopeful. Just as she said, they could trade gold, silver, and jewels for food. It was enough to fill their whole vehicle. For them, being able to eat full meals was a wonderful thing.
Since the world fell apart, they often went hungry. Even eating enough was difficult, let alone eating well.
"Tracy, we're here. Are the prices still the same as last time?" Kei asked.
"Don't worry. I won't change the price. I do fair business. How much gold did you bring? I've prepared enough food for the trade," Tracy replied.
The gold and jewelry they brought were traded earlier for very cheap. Just some rough buns had earned them so much. They were worried Tracy might change her mind, but she kept her promise. This made them feel more confident. It felt like luck was finally on their side.
"This time, we'll trade one kilogram of gold," Kei said.
They had more gold and jewels, but their car couldn't carry more goods. Besides, Tracy's shop was here, so they could always come back. There was no need to trade everything at once.
"No problem. I have rice, salt, candy, chocolate, instant noodles, bottled water, and more. Here's the price list. Same as before. Look and choose what you want," Tracy said.
Kei's team didn't expect that Tracy would have candy and chocolate. These things were usually only for people with power in the base.
Candy and chocolate had high energy, were small, and easy to carry. The team looked at them with excitement. Luckily, the price was not high. Using gold to buy them felt like a great deal. So, they took all the candy and chocolate first, then chose salt, rice, and other foods.
Box after box was moved out of the dimension shop. After everything was counted, they ended up paying two kilograms of gold.
Candy and chocolate cost more and took less space, so the total trade amount was more than they planned. But they were happy.
Tracy was even happier. She looked at the gold and jewelry and felt she had made a big profit. If she sold them, she could make a lot of money.
"Thanks, Tracy. We can't fit more now. We'll come back again to trade. I hope you won't turn us away next time," Kei said.
"Of course not. I hope you keep coming. And if you can tell others about my shop, I'll be very thankful," Tracy replied.
"No problem. Goodbye, Tracy. See you next time," Kei said.
Even though he said that, Kei and the others didn't plan to tell anyone else. This was a huge money-making chance. They wanted to keep it a secret.
If other people found out about Tracy, they would all rush to trade with her. Then it would be hard to get good deals. They wanted to keep this secret so they could earn more.
If people knew that gold and jewels had real value again, they wouldn't be able to buy them cheaply anymore.
Right now, they had a lot of food. After returning to the base, they planned to buy up more gold and jewelry before the news spread.
Still, they knew there was no guarantee the secret would stay hidden. They had found Tracy's shop by chance. Other people could also find it.
If that happened, others would also want to trade. That would create competition. But since they already had so much food, they just needed to act quickly. If they bought enough gold and jewels now, they would still stay ahead, even if others found out later.
Tracy knew they probably wouldn't help her spread the word. But she still had a bit of hope. Maybe another team would come to her shop. Trading with only one group was too slow.
She needed one thousand trades to unlock another world. That would take forever at this pace.
And the shop's spirit was still asleep. It had used a lot of energy to save her, and that made it fall into deep rest.
Each trade gave it a little bit of power. The more trades she made, the faster the spirit could recover. Whether it was to earn more or to help the spirit wake up, Tracy hoped more people would come.
Looking at the shop, now half empty again, Tracy knew it was time to restock. Once she sold the gold and jewelry, she would have enough money to buy more supplies.