What Can I Do

"Where's Brother Xiao Jun?"

"No idea, I haven't seen him since I woke up."

The girls in the room asked around, even the four bodyguard girls downstairs, but no one knew when Xiao Jun had left.

"If Brother Xiao Jun's not here, let's just proceed as usual. Everyone go today."

Jiang Yue came out of the room. After a night's rest and taking a mutant crystal after waking up, Jiang Yue looked much better, though her right hand was still a bit inconvenient.

Without Xiao Jun's instructions, Jiang Yue lacked confidence, but ultimately decided for everyone to go together, so that they would at least have a fighting chance in case of any sudden situation.

As they left the villa, the girls were already waiting downstairs.

Seeing that it was still Jiang Yue's group coming out, some of the girls' expressions seemed a bit odd, but that quickly disappeared.

"Is the cigarette shop open today?"

Jiang Yue looked puzzled towards the entrance. At the edge of the territory, a few girls did not come to assemble but were preparing to open shop instead.

"Yes, they said Brother Xiao Jun told them to open early this morning."

Little loli didn't know herself, but surely no one would dare to deceive her about this.

Moreover, the cigarettes they had were genuine, and only Xiao Jun in the team could have acquired so many.

"Alright then, you take charge here. We'll head out first."

Little loli wasn't a combatant anyway.

It was almost 9 o'clock when Jiang Yue led nearly a thousand girls from the Lone Wolf Group out of their territory, unsure of what the Future City had become after last night's events.

...

"Low-grade cigarettes, 2 mutant crystals."

"The price dropped? Give me two packs then."

"Sorry, it's 2 mutant crystals per pack. High-grade ones are 6 mutant crystals per pack."

Hearing the salesgirl's sincere words, the man was a bit dumbfounded.

Yesterday it was still 6 mutant crystals per cigarette, today it became 2 mutant crystals per pack? Is this really okay?

The girl's genuine smile now looked like a sly merchant's smirk to him.

"Don't worry, we're not profiteers. We absolutely won't force any sales. But a friendly reminder, there aren't many low-grade cigarettes left."

"Damn it."

The man cursed under his breath but still took out 2 mutant crystals to buy a pack of Furong King cigarettes.

The girl smiled warmly, as if she hadn't heard his curse, enthusiastically taking his crystals with one hand and giving him the cigarettes with the other.

"Welcome again next time."

The man left resentfully under the girl's sweet voice.

Those queuing behind had also heard their exchange, and immediately a portion of them left.

So expensive, will smoking make us live longer?

But they had only taken a few steps before running into people coming from other cigarette shops, and upon inquiry, found that cigarette prices had risen across the entire city today.

"Damn it, smoking won't make us live longer, but not smoking doesn't mean we'll live for very long either."

Having survived last night's battle, those still alive felt even more hopeless, like they could die any day, so they might as well just indulge themselves first.

"I want to buy cigarettes, me too."

Soon the crowd swarmed back, growing larger and larger.

"Damn it, I don't know when I'll die, what's the point of hoarding these few mutant crystals? Might as well enjoy myself."

Many shared this mindset.

This not only stimulated cigarette purchases in Future City but also greatly boosted the growth of another special industry, where many girls finally went from kneeling to lying down for a living.

Afternoon.

The Lone Wolf Group's cigarette shops had run out of stock long ago, while the other three major shops still had endless queues of people.

The long lines that seemed to have no end made those at the back increasingly restless.

Yesterday they had listened to those rumors but didn't buy the cheap cigarettes, enduring for one more day. If they couldn't get any cigarettes today, they'd have no spiritual solace left.

"There's a new cigarette shop open over there, hurry and go!"

Someone shouted, drawing everyone's attention.

"It's at the intersection of Yangtze Avenue, go quickly or they'll run out!"

The person yelled again.

Those at the very back, seeing that their turn might never come, doubtfully ran towards the direction the person had pointed.

"Isn't that the leader of the Gale Gang?"

"And the leader of the Tiger Leopard Gang."

They were also gangs in Future City, but only had one or two hundred members each, incomparable to the other major ones.

Upon closer look, they were indeed selling cigarettes, at the same prices as the other three major shops.

Soon this news spread throughout Future City.

A fourth long queue formed.

West of Future City, at the Lord's Residence.

"What do you think of that Xiao Jun?" Chen Gang suddenly asked while drinking tea.

"He's capable, resolute, and cunning. Most importantly, he's ruthless enough."

"How so?"

Chen Gang pressed further.

"For a girls' gang, how many cigarettes do you think they would normally have? They must have hoarded them all early in the morning in preparation."

"I heard it was a pair of sisters who aggressively purchased cigarettes in the past few days. They were probably his people too."

"Selling cigarettes that cost 1 mutant crystal each for 20 mutant crystals, even the profiteers from before the apocalypse weren't as ruthless as him."

"More importantly, he dares to gamble. If the zombies hadn't come, or hadn't evolved today, the cigarette buying frenzy wouldn't be so crazy. Then with all his investment, we three other major powers would end up benefiting the most instead."

"He dared to gamble, and won."

Chen Gang nodded thoughtfully.

"But this person doesn't seem to have much ambition, forming a girls' gang."

"Or perhaps, he has even greater ambitions."

...

At this moment, Xiao Jun was sitting in a high-tech bathtub, with the twin sisters diligently scrubbing his back from behind.

Back scrubbing was something they had gotten used to through practice. Even the usually shy younger sister had become accustomed to it.

"Put some effort into it, I've been giving you two so many snacks for nothing."

The elder sister looked aggrieved. Why single her out? Why not say the same about her younger sister?

"Your sister can help earn money, what can you do?"

"How do you know what I can or can't do? Why don't you give me a try!"

"..."

The elder sister proudly thrust out her chest, thankfully Xiao Jun had his back turned and couldn't see.

The younger sister covered her mouth, suppressing a giggle. After being together for so long, they had come to understand Xiao Jun's personality. He wouldn't mind their playful banter.

"Alright, I'm going to rest now. Call me again at mealtime."

Not having slept for a day and night, Xiao Jun was feeling drowsy too. There would still be a zombie rain to deal with tonight.

As for Jiang Yue and the others who had gone out, Xiao Jun wasn't too concerned. With their strength, they could handle even fourth-tier zombies.

"The appearance of fourth-tiers is already outrageous enough, there couldn't possibly be fifth-tiers, right?"

Xiao Jun muttered to himself.

If that were the case, it would be too unforgiving.

But looking at all the events since the apocalypse began, although often leaving one feeling hopeless, there was always a glimmer of hope left, like a process of natural selection.

With these thoughts, Xiao Jun drifted into slumber.