Evan’s mouth twitched. "You are so thin. What can I get from selling you? You have no meat at all."
Zerra gasped. "So, you are planning to sell me, after all?"
The man rolled his eyes and didn’t bother with the dramatic girl anymore. Instead, he got up from his seat and picked a small plastic package. "There are some seeds inside."
She took the plastic from him and opened it. There were small bundles; some were still intact with the labels, wrapped in foil packaging. As for the rest, it was unknown what kind of plant seeds they were. Some seeds mixed with another.
"You exchange those for crystal cores, right?" She lifted her eyebrows.
The base had let ordinary people earn supplies too. They even hired them to do menial jobs–the requirement for such jobs was: they didn’t awaken any ability.
They had considered ways to make ordinary people survive by making use of their manpower. They could have given the food for free, but that would backfire in the long run.
Those people needed to know that they should earn the supplies. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair for the ability users who had worked hard to risk their lives on missions.
Ordinary people could also scavenge for things and exchange them for supplies or crystal cores based on the items’ value. Evan must have gotten the seeds from them too.
"Yeah, so make use of it wisely," he advised.
Zerra nodded. Her interest was piqued when found there were seeds she had never seen before. It was exciting to find the kinds of plants that would grow from seeds.
She could wait to grow them at the farmland. Oh, talking about farms, she turned to Cassias. Since Evan already knew their abilities, she didn’t hold back her words. "I almost forgot. What about the farm animals you have taken before?"
Lately, she had never seen him taking the farm animals again. He had gotten them from Scott’s barn. Cassias didn’t want them to get infected by zombie virus if he let them stay outside, so he always kept them in his space.
However, she remembered he had talked about time limit.
"Have you upgraded your space again?" She asked suspiciously.
Cassias smiled and nodded. "I can now let them stay in the space for months."
Her mouth twitched. Wasn’t that too big of an upgrade? Her shoulders drooped slightly. Cassias was too abnormal!
"Oh, you didn’t tell me about this." Evan gazed at Cassias with a look full of disapproval.
"Do you treat me like an outsider now?" He clutched his chest exaggeratedly. "I need some tea and spring water to heal my wounded heart."
Evan didn’t get his tea and spring water, but a basket full of fruits. Grapes, kiwi, strawberry...
He didn’t seem to mind, though.
"Your fruit is still as sweet as ever," Evan sighed as he put a grape in his mouth. He appeared a little dazed before letting out a pleasant sigh.
Zerra found his expression a little strange. He liked exaggerating things.
"Do you want to check the base’s farmland, Zee?" Evan snapped her back to her senses.
Isryn had applied to take care of the base’s farmland, but the Research Institute rejected her application and sent other wood ability users.
She didn’t understand; she thought it was more convenient if it was her who was assigned the base’s farmland. She was living at the base, after all. Nevertheless, even after she went to her teacher, he couldn’t help her much.
She still had to take care of the plants in the Research Institute’s garden. Zerra was disappointed when she heard the news.
Some people at the Research Institute were friendly, but she could never truly feel safe. It was as if people were secretly watching her. Perhaps it was just a psychological reaction to her anxiety.
"Is it finished now?" Zerra asked.
"Not yet. Some parts are already finished, though. You can try to grow some plants there." Evan smiled like a fox.
Cassias clicked his tongue. "After you grow the plants, don’t forget to ask for payment from him, Zee. Don’t let him take advantage of you."
Evan’s temples twitched, and he sent him a glare. However, his cousin merely stared back nonchalantly.
Zerra widened her eyes and nodded furiously. "Yes, I will do that if you give me crystal cores."
Her third tail would appear soon. She already had a faint feeling it was there, but it hadn’t had solid form yet. The uncertain feeling was making her anxious.
After thinking it through, she guessed she would need more spiritual energy. She had planned to join Laziel and Nyra in the forest in a few days. But if she could get more crystal cores from exchanging her fruits, she was more than happy to grow plants. Google seaʀᴄh noᴠelfire.net
"Of course, I will give you payment, Zee." Evan adjusted his expression. "I am a soldier, so I am an honest and straightforward person."
Zerra raised her eyebrows at him.
He coughed and looked away.
When they arrived at the farmland, Evan told the people to leave. He also didn’t want anyone witnessing Zerra’s ability.
Although the farmland was recently built, there were already plants all around. Some even already had ripe fruit. Those were the work of the previous wood ability users before she went there.
Evan had never witnessed Zerra grow plants with his own two eyes. Usually, he always got the fruit directly. Now, he wanted to see the incredible feat with own eyes.
He handed her a pot of vegetable–cabbage. "Try this, Zee."
Zerra took the pot from Evan’s hands and began to concentrate. The small cabbage was slowly growing. Until it became as big as a basketball.
She handed the pot back to Evan, who had a flash of complication in his eyes before he smiled. "You did a good job, Zee."
"It’s a cabbage... " she paused before giggling. "Are you going to give me a car in exchange?"
Evan rolled his eyes. She was still making fun of him. She moved to other parts of the soil, slowly growing her vegetables...
Until that day finally came.