Chapter 54

"Lucy," Margaret said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Everyone's got their own tasks but Lucy's in the inner city all day every day. We can train her to be a reliable bodyguard," Margaret explained.

I thought Margaret's idea was spot on. In the future, the inner city wouldn't just have Lucy as a maid. If we could build a team of maids who were not only beautiful but also strong, that would be pretty cool. So, I called Lucy over and handed her a bottle of 'Body Strengthening Potion.'

"For me?" Lucy could hardly believe her eyes.

"Yep, work hard from now on. Think of this potion as a perk," I said. Lucy's eyes widened like her brain had short-circuited. One moment she was cleaning the kitchen, and the next, she got a bottle of 'Body Strengthening Potion.' She probably felt like she was dreaming.

Lately, all the girls in the inner city knew Jessica was working on a new type of strengthening potion that could turn ordinary people into Mutants. I figured Lucy knew how valuable the potion was, which explained her reaction. In her daze, Lucy drank the potion, and soon she started sweating and feeling feverish.

Without checking Lucy's power attributes, I gave her a task right away, "Lucy, take Grace with you and go take a bath. If you don't, you'll stink to high heaven."

After sending them off, we got down to another important matter. "We're almost at Wasteland City. Margaret, how are things looking?" I asked.

Margaret's face turned serious, "The goods are ready. Sophia will handle the face-to-face trade, and I'll take care of selling the loot," she replied.

"Good, make sure to include these potions in the mix," I said, pointing to the bottles on the table. There were about four left.

"What?" Margaret looked puzzled. "These are top-notch, hard-to-get items. Are you sure you want to sell them?" she asked.

"Absolutely, but these potions need a little tweaking," I replied. Then I asked Sophia to fetch a large bucket of water and more than ten new jars. I kept one bottle of 'Body Strengthening Potion' aside for Emma. The rest, I poured into the large bucket, diluting the potion. I looked at Sophia and asked, "What color was the 'Body Strengthening Potion' you used to drink?"

"Purple," Sophia said, catching on to what I was planning.

I then asked Sophia to find some purple paint in the storeroom, and soon she brought it over. I mixed it into the wooden barrel. Suddenly, the 'Body Strengthening Potion' turned a light purple color. Pointing at the large barrel of mixed potion, I smiled at Margaret, "So, how much should we sell each bottle for?"

Margaret got my drift and gave me a thumbs up, saying, "You're quite the merchant."

I chuckled, accepting the compliment. Each of those bottles could fetch a good price. As for the effects, maybe if someone collected all the bottles, they could evolve into a Level 5 Mutant. Either way, it would definitely have some effect.

Sophia stood by, eyes wide with disbelief, staring at me and Margaret, and she seemed to know that she had stumbled upon something unspeakable.

On the other side of the wilderness, there was this massive abandoned reservoir. It had dried up ages ago, but the structure itself had turned into a natural city wall. At the bottom of this reservoir lived a tribe of nearly ten thousand people. They called this place 'Wasteland City.' Geographically, it was on the edge of the wilderness, so it barely counted as part of it.

When the outline of Wasteland City came into view, Selena finally let go of Ellie's hand, and both of them were panting hard. They had been running non-stop.

Ellie bent over, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Her beloved dress was all dirty. She glanced back at the empty wilderness behind them and whispered to Selena, "The monsters could catch up any moment. We need to get into the city fast."

Selena looked at Wasteland City ahead, grabbed Ellie's arm, and said firmly, "Don't stop, keep going."

That powerful monster had been chasing them like a nightmare for days. It wasn't just once, but multiple times it had appeared in front of them. The scariest moment was in a cave, where the narrow space left them almost no way out. The monster's sharp claws flashed in the dim light, nearly shredding Ellie's shoulder. Luckily, they made it through and escaped to Wasteland City.

Standing at the entrance of Wasteland City, Selena frowned at the not-so-high city wall and murmured, "This wall won't stop the giant tortoise."

Ellie stood up straight, hearing Selena's muttering, and couldn't help but argue, "What are you talking about? It's not easy for the people here to build this city. You're being too harsh."

Selena didn't continue the conversation about the wall. Tortoise City was enough to destroy everything here. Her gaze lingered on the city wall for a moment before she looked away, her voice calm but with a hint of emotion, "I've seen better places."

Ellie felt something was off and said skeptically, "You've been acting strange lately. Have you fallen for someone?"

A faint blush appeared on Selena's face, "What are you talking about?"

"Really?" Ellie raised an eyebrow, "Selena, why is your face turning red?"

Selena gritted her teeth, her tone cooling a bit, "Cut it out. I haven't liked anyone."

Ellie chuckled, crossing her arms, "Your face is betraying you, you know. Come on, who has caught your eye?"

Selena ignored Ellie, turning to continue walking towards the city. She had arrived at the location agreed upon with Mr. Steele. Everything could wait until Tortoise City arrived. Next, they needed to hide well so they wouldn't be found by that detestable monster.

Seeing Selena walk away, Ellie quickly stepped in front of her, "You definitely like someone. Tell me, I don't want you to be deceived! At least let me see what he looks like."

"Ellie, you're really annoying. I do like someone. That's it, don't bother me," Selena said impatiently.

Ellie followed behind Selena, her tone suddenly serious, "Selena, does he know what you look like? Do you think he would accept you as a monster?"

"He will accept me," Selena said with certainty, leaving Ellie momentarily speechless.

"Are you having a secret crush? Has he seen your face?" Ellie asked.

Selena nodded slightly, "He has."

Instantly, Ellie widened her eyes, looking shocked, "What? He really has seen you? Are you joking?"

Selena looked up at the sky, urging Ellie in a low voice, "Let's go in quickly."

Ellie, however, stopped in her tracks, staring sharply at Selena, "Selena, does the person you like know that you are infected with the 'Super Zombie Virus'? Is he afraid of you? Or is he actually deceiving you?"

"He's not afraid of me," Selena recalled Mr. Steele, a bit shyly, "He... touched my face."

After hearing Selena's words, Ellie was once again surprised, "What? He touched your face? Is that guy out of his mind?"

"Ellie! Are you looking for trouble?" Selena waved her fist in annoyance.

"Tell me, please, what kind of person is he? Is he a child?" Ellie inquired.

Selena immediately refuted, a hint of urgency in her voice, "What are you talking about? Mr. Steele is several years older than me."

"Mr. Steele?" Ellie shrugged helplessly, "Fine, several years older is fine, at least he's not a little boy."

They had entered Wasteland City, both wearing cloaks to avoid unnecessary trouble, concealing their faces and even their genders. They saw the dirty streets and smelled the pungent odors.

Ellie wrinkled her nose, covering it with her hand, "It's so dirty. How do people living here tolerate it?"

Selena shrugged nonchalantly, "Finding a place to live in the wilderness is already good enough." 

"Ellie..." Selena looked at Ellie, her tone suddenly serious.

"What's wrong?" Ellie made a soft sound of surprise.

"Actually, Jessica may come here in a few days, and you will see some surprising things. I wanted to tell you earlier, but I promised Mr. Steele to keep it confidential, even about the 'Devil Fruit'," Selena said softly.

At the mention of 'Devil Fruit', Ellie's eyes immediately lit up, "There's really 'Devil Fruit' here? That's great, I hate this birthmark on my face!" She pointed to her face.

Ellie's voice was a bit loud, and Selena glanced around coldly, "Not only 'Devil Fruit', but all the bad things should come to an end. In two days, everything will be different."

"Is Jessica coming alone?" Ellie raised an eyebrow, "She's so absent-minded, won't she get lost on the way?"

Selena's lips curled slightly, her voice softer, "She's not alone."

Ellie was taken aback and immediately asked, "Who's with her?"

Selena hesitated for a moment but still answered, "It's that person."

Ellie was almost shocked, "The person you like? You let him accompany Jessica?"

Selena smiled briefly and didn't say more.

Ellie took a deep breath, suppressing her curiosity, "Fine, it's only two days. I'm curious about your boyfriend."

They continued forward. Ellie looked at the buildings at the innermost part of Wasteland City, where the environment was obviously much better than the outskirts. Suddenly, she whispered to Selena, "Do you think the 'Devil Fruit' could be in the inner city? If it is, we can call Linda to steal it together."

Selena shook her head, "Actually, the 'Devil Fruit' is in Jessica's hands."

Ellie looked puzzled, "Since it's in Jessica's hands, why didn't we just meet up at Maple Camp? Why take such a big detour?"

Selena glanced at Ellie and didn't explain further, "Wait for two days, you'll understand when you see Jessica."

Ellie watched Selena's back and muttered softly, "You all treat me like a little girl, so annoying!" Ellie stomped her foot in frustration.

Meanwhile, far outside Wasteland City, a giant beast as tall as a mountain crawled in the wilderness. The tremendous noise caught Alexander Barnett's attention.

Alexander was crouched on a rock on a small hill, closely watching the huge commotion outside the valley. Suddenly, the incredibly massive beast appeared before his eyes, making Alexander feel the air tremble.

"Captain, that's no ordinary hill!" a hunting team member whispered as he crawled over.

Alexander was focused on something else. "Damn it! That giant beast is heading towards Wasteland City!" Alexander quickly realized the gravity of encountering the ancient behemoth and led the hunting team to retreat immediately. If such a beast appeared near Wasteland City, it would surely cause a huge uproar, and he needed to report to the city as soon as possible to prepare for it.

This was an elite hunting party, and even in retreat, they remained composed. Each member strapped on their backpack, secured their prey, and swiftly departed. Throughout the process, no one spoke. In the valley, the team members ran desperately because the speed of that beast was too fast. The small hill they were just on had already collapsed under the beast's weight.

Alexander looked very worried. Wasteland City was divided among ten different factions, each occupying a section of the reservoir. There were frequent frictions between the factions, and several people had died in the struggle for the core area's water well. To make matters worse, the old mayor of Wasteland City had passed away three years ago, and the new mayor was the old mayor's daughter. However, she seemed somewhat negligent in managing affairs. The team members doubted her leadership. Even the core strength of the hunting team had many people gossiping about the new mayor's capabilities, which made Alexander feel very uneasy. Now, with the appearance of the ancient behemoth, he didn't know if Wasteland City could survive this massive disaster. He hoped the annoying higher-ups in Wasteland City wouldn't cause more trouble.

"Captain, look over there, there's a flag!" a team member suddenly shouted.

Alexander followed the direction pointed by the team member and felt his heart sink. The giant beast had a black pirate flag stuck on it! 'They are bandits, my goodness, bandits riding a giant beast!' Alexander broke out in a cold sweat. When did such a powerful and outrageous force appear in the wilderness? They had actually raised a giant beast. "Everyone, retreat faster!" Alexander hurriedly commanded.

On the other side, on the shell of the giant tortoise, I was standing on the city wall directing Jack's movements. Jack's massive body moved slowly on the ground, like a huge tank, crushing through rough terrain, each step causing a dull rumble. Just now, Jack almost trampled someone.

Mary had already informed me when the hunting team from Wasteland City appeared. I furrowed my brow, glancing at Wasteland City in the distance, already making a judgment. The people of Wasteland City would definitely mistake Jack as a threat, which could lead to conflict.

I didn't want to resolve things through violence. My goal was to trade, to exchange for the crystal energy I needed, the more, the better. If a conflict broke out, there would surely be casualties, and every resident of Tortoise City was important. "I need to contact these people," I said quietly.

Originally, I had planned to keep Tortoise City hidden, but now it was no longer possible. I scratched my head, feeling somewhat irritated.