The moment the howling wind and snow burst through the door, the temperature inside the store plummeted.
Qi Ye snapped into a standing position, his hand clamped onto the hilt of his blade, his eyes turning razor-sharp. Lin Wu followed his icy gaze.
Through the white-out curtain of the portal, a shadow loomed.
The man was a giant, his shoulders broad enough to fill the frame. He wore a deep-gray tactical suit caked in frozen slush and grime, looking like he'd just clawed his way out of the deepest pits of the ruins. In his right hand, he gripped a long black rifle; with his left, he dragged a heavy metal crate that screeched against the tiles—a sound that set teeth on edge.
As he stepped inside, the very air seemed to sink under his weight.
Unlike Qi Ye, whose danger was that of a starved, coiled wolf, this man radiated a more visceral threat. This wasn't posturing. This was the aura of a man who had killed, many times, and wouldn't hesitate to do it again before his next breath.
The System panel flickered into Lin Wu's vision.
[ CUSTOMER ORIGIN: WASTELAND APOCALYPSE REALM ] [ THREAT LEVEL: C+ ] [ IDENTITY: WILDERNESS HUNTER / HIGH-FREQUENCY TRADER ] [ REMARK: LOW HOSTILITY, EXTREME VIGILANCE. ] [ ADVICE: ASSERT STORE AUTHORITY. ]
Lin Wu scanned the data. Not a psycho, then, but certainly no saint either.
The man didn't say a word at first. His eyes scanned the shelves, lingered on the purification module for a heartbeat, and finally settled on Lin Wu.
"Owner?" His voice was a low rasp, sandpapered by the desert winds.
"That's me," Lin Wu leaned against the register, her tone as flat as ever. "Buying or selling?"
The man didn't answer. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Qi Ye.
"You're still breathing."
Qi Ye's fingers tightened on his hilt. "You're not dead yet. Why should I be?"
The exchange was anything but friendly. Su Yu, huddled in the corner with Sui Sui, held her breath, while outside, Wang Defa stopped his pounding entirely, pressing his face against the glass with a mix of terror and hunger.
The giant shifted his focus back to Lin Wu and dropped the metal crate.
THUD.
"Names Lu Chen," he said. "Heard there's food here. Water. And rules."
Lin Wu nodded. "Word travels fast."
"In the Wasteland, the slow-to-know are already six feet under."
Lu Chen finished speaking and hoisted his rifle onto his shoulder. As if by accident, the muzzle drifted toward Qi Ye's direction.
The movement was subtle, but Qi Ye's gaze instantly turned lethal.
In that exact microsecond, a faint, high-pitched hum vibrated through the store.
Lu Chen's rifle was suddenly slammed down by an invisible, crushing force. The muzzle jerked aside with a sharp clack, and the weapon slipped from his shoulder, clattering onto the floor.
Faint golden circuits crawled over the gun's frame. The safety, the trigger, and the energy ports—everything was instantly "locked" by the Store Rules, the weapon's glow fading into a dull, dead gray.
[ THREATENING WEAPON POINTED AT CUSTOMER DETECTED. ] [ LEVEL 1 RULE WARNING TRIGGERED. ] [ RULE: ALL AGGRESSIVE THREATS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED ON PREMISES. ]
Silence reigned for two long seconds.
Lu Chen looked at the dead weight of his rifle, then back at Lin Wu. For the first time, he actually saw this little shop. It wasn't about the stock or the lights anymore—it was about the fact that this place had a Will that could suppress his steel.
Lin Wu tapped the counter rhythmically.
"The first time, I'll call it ignorance." "The second time, I'll call it a declaration of war."
Her voice was level, devoid of heat. Yet that very calm made Lu Chen's lingering urge to "test" her vanish instantly.
He bent down, picked up his disabled weapon, and slung it across his back without a word. He raised a hand in a brief gesture of concession. "My bad."
Lin Wu gave a curt nod. She didn't mind a guest who tested the waters, as long as they learned to swim by her rules.
Lu Chen dragged the crate to the counter and snapped the latches open. Three items were displayed neatly inside:
A bag of grayish-white, coiled mycelium.
Two blue energy cores, noticeably brighter than the Level 1 variety.
A palm-sized black data chip with a faded laboratory serial number.
[ TRADE ITEMS DETECTED: GRAY-WHITE MYCELIUM x12 ] [ TRADE ITEMS DETECTED: LEVEL 2 ENERGY CORES x2 ] [ TRADE ITEMS DETECTED: ANCIENT LAB DATA CHIP x1 ] [ VALUATION: HIGH ] [ NOTE: MYCELIUM IS A KEY INGREDIENT FOR 'HEMOSTATIC SPRAY'. ]
Lin Wu's eyes sharpened. Now this was a customer.
Before she could speak, Qi Ye's brow furrowed. "You went to the White Building District?"
Lu Chen smirked. "Got lucky. Didn't die."
Qi Ye went silent, but Lin Wu caught the subtext: the White Building was a suicide mission.
"I want compressed biscuits, canned meat, clean water, and hemostatic meds," Lu Chen stated, staring at her. "Anti-infection supplies too. As much as you've got."
Lin Wu ran a quick tally of her inventory. She had the basics, but the anti-infection stuff was low. The goal wasn't just to sell—it was to squeeze every drop of value out of this trade.
"Your crate is worth a lot," she said, looking up. "But it's not enough for everything you're asking for."
Lu Chen didn't flinch. "Name your price."
Lin Wu loved those words. She tapped the counter twice.
"I want the mycelium, the cores, and the chip. In exchange: twenty crates of water, thirty crates of biscuits, twenty crates of canned goods, and ten boxes of basic hemostatic meds."
Su Yu, eavesdropping from the corner, was floored. Twenty crates? Thirty? She had traded her life's savings for two measly bottles. Here, they were trading by the ton.
Lu Chen's expression darkened. "And the anti-infection meds?"
"Separate deal," Lin Wu said. "Those are luxury goods."
"What's the tag?"
"Show me something that makes my heart skip a beat."
Lu Chen went quiet. After a moment, he reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a thin, metallic-textured sheet covered in dense, old-era circuit diagrams.
[ DETECTED: AREA POWER GRID SCHEMATICS (FRAGMENT) ] [ SOURCE: OLD CITY UTILITIES ARCHIVE ] [ VALUE: MEDIUM-HIGH ] [ REMARK: CRITICAL FOR ASSESSING REAL-WORLD INFRASTRUCTURE. ]
Lin Wu's pupils dilated. Infinite power in the shop was a "Newbie" perk, but she knew it wouldn't last forever. If she wanted to dominate the surrounding blocks later, a power map was gold.
Lu Chen caught the shift in her gaze. "This, for the anti-infection meds."
"Two boxes," Lin Wu countered.
"Deal."
The air grew heavy again. A classic standoff. Wastelanders didn't do "goods first." But Lin Wu didn't do "credit."
A few seconds later, Lu Chen pushed the mycelium, the cores, and the map across the wood. "Fine. Your way."
Lin Wu smiled. Cooperative big fish were her favorite kind.
She swept the items into her Basic Storage Space. One by one, they vanished into thin air. Su Yu's jaw dropped; even Wang Defa outside stopped breathing. Lu Chen only narrowed his eyes, sensing a deeper mystery.
Lin Wu walked toward the inventory corner and waved a hand.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Crates of water, biscuits, and cans appeared in a neat, towering formation before Lu Chen. It looked like an entire warehouse had been summoned on the spot.
Lu Chen stared at the mountain of supplies. For the first time, his hardened face showed a flicker of genuine shock. In the Wasteland, this wasn't just food. This was life for a small army.
"You... you really aren't short on stock, are you?"
Lin Wu didn't give him a straight answer. She simply placed the medicine on top of the pile. "Stock depends on whether the customer can pay. Simple as that."
Lu Chen chuckled—a low, gritty sound. For the first time, he was looking at her as a peer. A true Boss.
"I'll be back. Often."
[ HIGH-VALUE TRADE COMPLETE. ] [ STORE REPUTATION +5 ] [ REWARD: BASIC CRAFTING TABLE x1 ] [ REWARD: NATIVE WORLD RESTOCK PERMIT (ONE-TIME) ]
Lin Wu's heart gave a small thump. A crafting table.
As Lu Chen packed his haul into specialized folding rigs, he placed his locked rifle on the counter. "The gun's dead. But there's a military-grade compressed battery in the stock. If you can crack it, it's yours."
"A gift?" Lin Wu raised an eyebrow.
"A down payment for a long-term relationship," Lu Chen said, moving toward the portal. "Places that sell water and meds don't stay neutral for long. I'd rather be your friend."
He vanished into the snow. The silver gate faded, leaving only a chill in the air.
As the shop went quiet, Su Yu whispered, "Manager Lin... will you keep selling meds?"
Lin Wu didn't answer. She was watching a silver-white console slide out from the wall behind her.
[ CRAFTING TABLE DEPLOYED. ] [ START CRAFTING: HEMOSTATIC SPRAY? ]
She tapped [YES]. The mycelium vanished into the machine.
[ PROGRESS: 1%... 3%... 7%... ]
Then, the sound of footsteps hit the glass. Not the dragging feet of zombies, but the crisp, heavy boots of a group.
Flashlights cut through the dark.
[ NATIVE SURVIVOR GROUP DETECTED. ] [ STATUS: HIGH VIGILANCE / RESOURCE DEPLETED. ]
Outside, Wang Defa screamed at the newcomers: "Over here! There's a shop! She has medicine! She has everything!"
Su Yu paled. Qi Ye reached for his blade.
Lin Wu watched the progress bar on the medicine and narrowed her eyes. One big client leaves, and the first batch of local vultures arrives.
She tapped the register, her voice steady and dangerous.
"Perfect. It looks like the night shift isn't over yet."