Chapter Seventy-Six: A Little Bit Better

Having spent so much time on the second floor, Jiang Wei was actually quite conflicted. Up here, almost all the important members of the group gathered—even the twins had started to take on responsibilities. She alone seemed to have no real purpose. Was it her looks? But no one upstairs was any less attractive than she was, and most of them were even younger.

Only in the past couple of days did Jiang Wei truly feel her value; even a minor cold would have her checking on everyone, one by one. Doing something made her feel much more at ease.

“Jingyi, what’s your next move?” Fang Xia shifted the conversation, bringing up the most urgent matter at hand.

Even if they didn’t venture out to see for themselves, Fang Xia and the others knew well enough about the storm outside. For a smoker in this apocalypse, no one could help them—only cigarettes could comfort the spirit. But now, there were none left.

The big groups certainly had reserves, but they weren’t philanthropists. In fact, they stood by, watching, hoping to profit during this turmoil. Only the most unfortunate, the Lone Wolf Group, was facing immense pressure.

No one would lend a hand—not the City of Dawn, nor the Bloodied Banner. The City of Dawn would rather see fewer powers left in the city.

“What do you think the Lone Wolf Group will do?” Fang Xia casually asked.

“They’ll definitely deny everything at first, but it’s pointless. The whole city points to them. Even if smart people realize they were framed, it doesn’t matter—the Lone Wolf Group definitely has cigarettes, and that’s the crux of the matter,” Jingyi replied.

“If they’re not fools, they’ll take two approaches: first, make an example of someone, intimidate the masses; then, bring out their own stock and sell it.”

Jingyi seemed to have considered this countless times; Fang Xia’s question was met with an immediate answer.

“But as soon as they start selling cigarettes, it basically confirms their involvement. If they sell at a high price, even if they use force to suppress dissent, it’ll be hard for them to expand in the City of Dawn later. If they sell cheaply, how many people could their supply cover? After this incident, no one knows when the zombie rain will stop; everyone will stockpile more at home. The Lone Wolf Group has thousands of members—their own needs alone aren’t met, so how much could they sell?”

“Besides, others will see this opportunity and try to profit as well.”

“No matter what, this mess is stuck squarely on the Lone Wolf Group.”

Fang Xia laughed.

Jingyi hadn’t disappointed him—she’d even gone beyond his expectations.

He knew the Lone Wolf’s nature—indecisive, and this time, he’d suffer a serious loss.

All Fang Xia needed was to wait for the net to tighten.

The sixth day of the second round of zombie rain was also the fourth day without cigarettes for everyone in the City of Dawn.

“The Lone Wolf is shameless—they bought cigarettes for one upgrade crystal, now they’re selling them back to us for two.”

“Exactly, and they claim there are no low-grade cigarettes left, only high-grade ones, and even those are rationed daily. With so many of us, how can that tiny supply be enough? Clearly, they’re playing us.”

“Don’t complain—what choice do we have? Let’s just hope the zombie rain ends soon.”

Once the rain stopped, they could venture out to search for pre-apocalypse supplies again—including cigarettes, of course.

“I refuse to believe the Lone Wolf Group is the only one with cigarettes in the City of Dawn. Don’t the other factions have any?”

Someone spoke angrily.

“The City of Dawn is selling cigarettes now.”

Someone shouted, and a crowd of those who hadn’t managed to buy cigarettes erupted.

“The Bloodied Banner is selling cigarettes too.”

Both major factions seized the opportunity, offering their own reserves—with only the Harem Group in the north remaining silent.

But everyone understood—a team of young women would hardly have much in the way of cigarettes.

“Let’s go—forget buying from the Lone Wolf Group. They deliberately cleared out our cigarettes, then sold them back at a higher price. Despicable!”

“Right, right, let’s buy from the other two.”

A crowd left the Lone Wolf Group’s territory, dispersing toward the other two factions.

“The City of Dawn’s cigarettes are sold out—too fast.”

“Same with the Bloodied Banner.”

Halfway there, the bad news came.

“How could it be so quick?”

No one could understand—it had only been a short while.

“Both sides had people buying in bulk.”

The answer emerged soon enough.

Not only the three major factions, but smaller groups began to join in as well.

Some, even in the apocalypse, never forgot their merchant instincts.

Now everyone was crowded in the City of Dawn, too afraid to wander. Cigarettes were finite, and how many smokers were there every day? It was a consumable, after all.

What are upgrade crystals, anyway? With so many zombies every day, there are always more to kill—no shortage of upgrade crystals. Wait another week, and the cigarette prices could double or triple.

……

In the courtyard of Fang Xia’s villa, beside him was his twin sister Jingyi.

A young woman was reporting the day’s news.

“So many are getting restless—tomorrow we can close the net.”

Jingyi was in high spirits; she’d already completed most of her task, and so far everything was perfect.

Fang Xia looked up at the sky.

The sixth day—if nothing went wrong, tonight’s zombie rain would be the last in this round.

Yet unease stirred within him; he sensed things weren’t so simple.

“Tomorrow, cigarette prices will surely rise again—we’ll sell along with them.”

“But remember, everyone must have a purchase limit.”

This wasn’t part of the original plan.

Fang Xia’s goal was to earn enough to upgrade the young women, so they could handle the pressure outside the city more easily.

But his unease prompted a sudden change.

Within the team, Fang Xia’s word was law; Jingyi raised no objections, only making slight adjustments to the plan.

At dawn, the zombie rain arrived as expected.

The young women had become quite adept—no matter how ferocious the zombies, they calmly faced them, knowing a quick chop would settle things.

With the team expanding, Liu Rui reorganized the work: nearly a thousand people split into two groups, taking turns by day and night.

At night, Liu Rui led; by day, Bai Xing and Li Xiaochun took charge.

Conveniently, Fang Xia had Bai Xing at night and Liu Rui by day—he squeezed every ounce of work from them.

But after just two days, the two women were exhausted; the consequences of challenging Fang Xia were serious, and they suspected he was secretly taking supplements…

In four days, the team had gained nine new third-tier fighters, almost all at captain level—ordinary members didn’t earn such high wages.

After that night, the young girl redid the wage chart; aside from basic food and lodging, everything else had to be purchased with their own salaries.

Some young women, fond of spicy snacks, spent their entire wages on them as soon as they got paid, pestering Liu Rui for a swap, abandoning upgrades entirely.

The nine third-tier fighters weren’t what excited Fang Xia; among them, two were young women with resilient abilities, which greatly strengthened the team.