Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 365: Chapter 355: The Team

The hardware store was just a temporary hiding place for Aunt Hua and the children. Now that they had a destination, there was no reason to linger.

Since they’d decided on a destination, the sooner they set out, the better. Time was precious, after all. Every extra day spent outside meant one more meal to eat.

And they didn’t have much food left.

"We can’t make it that far on our own. We’ll have to find a team."

"A team?"

Tang Mo was a little confused. From what she’d seen, the people of this world had no intention of fighting the Meat Dragons. So what was the point of having a team?

’It couldn’t just be to share meals, could it?’

"That’s where you’re mistaken." Knowing Tang Mo had just escaped from confinement and didn’t understand much, Aunt Hua patiently explained, "If people want to travel long distances now, they’ll inevitably have to pass by many Red-eyed Meat Dragons, and we have to feed them to get by. One person’s food supply is never enough, but if it’s a group, everyone can pitch in a little. There’s always a way. That allows us to travel farther."

"So that’s how it is."

Tang Mo nodded, indicating she understood.

Indeed. For the people of this world, the cost of clearing a path was fixed. The purpose of a team was basically crowdfunding. It was easy enough to understand.

If, in Tang Mo’s previous world, the person with the highest attribute values and greatest combat strength held the highest status in a team, then in this world, the person with the most food had the most say.

Tang Mo shook her head inwardly.

’Attribute values could grow and would never disappear, but food in this world was a finite consumable. They were being foolish.’

’Once all the food was gone, humanity’s doom would truly arrive, with no chance of recovery.’

While Tang Mo was pondering these profound questions, Aunt Hua had already taken out all her food and was carefully counting it.

"Aunt Hua, what are you doing?"

Tang Mo looked down at the items in Aunt Hua’s hands.

Heh! Aunt Hua’s stash wasn’t small. Not only was there the remaining half-pack of instant noodles, but there was also a new, unopened pack. A few packages of cookies were placed ceremoniously in the very center, a clear indication of their high status.

Meanwhile, Da Bao sat to one side holding Er Bao, staring longingly at the food on the ground. Even though his stomach was rumbling with hunger, he was sensible enough not to reach for it or ask for any.

"It’s not that easy to join a team. You have to pay a ’ticket fee’ per person."

Don’t be fooled by the short time Aunt Hua had been out here with the children; she clearly understood the way things worked outside better than anyone.

It turned out that teams operated on different models. The two most common were the "AA" model, where everyone paid a relatively small entry fee—the "ticket"—which was, of course, food, the only hard currency nowadays.

However, in this model, the food was more of a security deposit. If they actually encountered Red-eyed Meat Dragons, everyone would still have to go "AA" again on the food to feed them.

The other model was an "all-inclusive price." A founder would act as the team leader, and as long as you paid the fixed amount of food they demanded, they would guarantee your passage to the destination.

Of course, if some accident happened along the way and the leader was no longer able to get you to your destination, there was nothing to be done about it.

After all, in these apocalyptic times, unexpected things happened all the time. No one could say for sure. But generally speaking, leaders of teams who dared to offer an all-inclusive price were usually quite capable.

Food was a person’s lifeblood now, so it wasn’t so easy to scam people out of it. If you were caught trying to trick someone out of their food, you’d be beaten to death.

But of course, everything had its risks. No matter which team you chose, there was a certain amount of danger involved. The all-inclusive teams were even riskier; it all depended on how you weighed the pros and cons.

Tang Mo really hadn’t expected the teams in this world to have so many rules. She found it quite interesting. ’Human ingenuity truly is limitless, no matter the era,’ she thought. ’They can always forge a new path in the face of adversity.’

"Even though Er Bao is little, he still counts as a head. Damn it all! Okay, for the four of us, let me see what we have..."

Four people?

’She’s counting me in, too?’

A warmth spread through Tang Mo’s heart. But in a time of such food scarcity, wasn’t Aunt Hua being a little too nice to her?

Although Tang Mo had only known her for a short time, Aunt Hua was definitely not some brainless, sweet, Mary Sue type.

The fact that she understood her surroundings so clearly after such a short time proved she was no simple housewife.

’Is it because I have some special charm?’

Tang Mo reflected for a moment. ’Am I just that likable? No one’s ever said so before.’

However...

Tang Mo glanced again at the food Aunt Hua had laid out.

’This little bit isn’t enough, is it? Didn’t she say we have to feed the Meat Dragons? Do they have the appetites of a bird?’

Tang Mo had never fed a Meat Dragon before, but she wasn’t wrong. Despite looking strong and bulky, the Meat Dragons did, in fact, have small appetites. Just a few bites of food could keep them docile for ten minutes or so. If they ate more, they’d stay quiet for even longer.

This was one of the most important reasons why the people of this world hadn’t yet considered fighting back.

Because with such terrifying monsters, just tossing them a mouthful of food was enough to make them give up the chase. When you thought about it, it seemed like a pretty good deal.

Of course, this all depended on one crucial fact: that you still had food.

"Aunt Hua, I have some food too."

Seeing Aunt Hua calculating and recalculating with her meager pile of food, Tang Mo opened her backpack and dumped its contents onto the ground.

Beside her, Aunt Hua, Da Bao, and Er Bao all stared with their mouths agape, their expressions identical.

"Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to tell you I had some food as well."

Tang Mo scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed.

The truth was, for Tang Mo, even in this world and without her Space, acquiring food had never been a difficult task.

So she hadn’t given the items in her backpack a second thought.

She didn’t know why, but the way Aunt Hua treated her like one of her own made Tang Mo feel too embarrassed to hide her stash any longer.

After all, they would be traveling together for a long time. It was better to be open and honest with each other.

Tang Mo felt that her backpack didn’t contain much—just two bottles of mineral water, a few packs of instant noodles, more than a dozen compressed biscuits, some chocolate, and a few bags of candy.

This was all high-calorie gold. Nowadays, a single piece of candy could keep a Red-eyed Meat Dragon quiet for at least fifteen minutes.

"Xiao Jin, hurry and put these things away."