Natural Disasters Strikes: I stockpiled like crazy!-Chapter 216: Snatching Customers (1)

Nanzhi and Lin Weihao looked at the "best place" they had been given. It was at the farthest corner, tucked in a dark back alley near the garbage bins and the side exit of the temple.

There was no stall, not even a table or a single chair. It was simply an empty patch of cold pavement, barely two by two meters in size.

Surrounding them were sellers sitting on tarpaulin mats, cardboard boxes, and dirty mattresses laid out on the cold, dusty ground. They were selling alien beast meat, second-hand clothes, tools, repair services, and many other items but no food and water.

The only light illuminating the area came from three candles placed on the heads of the temple guardian statues.

The sellers who lacked their own light source squinted painfully and leaned toward the candles to inspect and count the spars, trying to avoid being cheated.

Their lips twitched. The thin man with a pockmarked face smiled at them, pretending not to notice their dark glances. "Well, then, I'll see you around. If you want to set up a stall here tomorrow, come find me again!" he said cunningly.

He had memorized every face in the market, so he knew these two were new.

Lin Weihao's gaze darkened. If Nanzhi hadn't been holding his hand and discouraging him, he would have caused a scene. This man would have had a lightning tribulation to deal with.

No one gets to take advantage of his wife and walk away unscathed.

A soft whisper reached his ears, calming him down. "Leave him be… for now. This guy will come back later on his own. Then, I'll make sure he pays triple the price."

Nanzhi committed the man's face to memory.

The thin man with a pockmarked face had no idea he had escaped Lin Weihao's wrath. Smiling, he pocketed the spars, never realizing he would soon regret his actions and end up paying much more than he had scammed.

He walked into the temple, heading toward a hidden door, where a middle-aged man sat sipping tea. He was the Longmen Base's closest confidant and the one Nanzhi had been searching for—Lu Chenyu.

"Let me do it." Lin Weihao didn't let Nanzhi touch the dirty ground. He quickly cleaned it himself.

Nanzhi took out a clean mat from her duffel bag and laid it on the ground. She had brought extras so that Lin Weihao could sit properly.

Even though the mat was large, Lin Weihao still sensibly sat near the edge so that Nanzhi would have enough space to move.

However, Nanzhi pulled him closer. "Why are you sitting so far away? I still need you to help me sell things."

Lin Weihao obediently scooted closer to her and explained, "I just want you to be comfortable."

"Well, you'll make me more uncomfortable if I see you sitting on the dirt."

Lin Weihao didn't say anything more, but his smile deepened. "Okay. I'll listen."

Afterward, Nanzhi took out a flashlight, her goods, and the small price stand she had written out earlier.

Nanzhi: Now, let's snatch some customers... I mean, do some business!

At the entrance to the market, Wu Hao and Zhao Lin said goodbye to a group of awakeners they had met. They had driven out of the base that afternoon and encountered this group while hunting alien beasts.

The group was called the Iron Gale Squad, comprised of four members. Liu Ming, the leader, was a strength-type awakener. He had a square jaw, cropped black hair, and a scar over his left eyebrow. He was currently 40 years old.

Beside him were the Dai siblings: Dai Rui, a wind awakener, and Dai Yun, a healer. Dai Rui was a lean man with short, spiky brown hair, and Dai Yun had shoulder-length, dark blue-dyed hair and soft features. The last member, Wang Bo, was receiving treatment from a doctor they had found in the slums.

Dai Yun caught Zhao Lin's eye because, even though she was a non-combat awakener, she wasn't a damsel in distress. She could handle alien beasts on her own without anyone's help. She also had a blunt mouth, just like Zhao Lin, and was refreshingly straightforward.

Cho Jin stood next to Wu Hao, absentminded and silent.

"Let's meet up tomorrow near the slums! My team and I have stayed there for a while," Liu Ming said.

"Okay," Zhao Lin nodded.

The Iron Gale Squad waved goodbye before entering the market to search for medicine. Dai Yun's current healing abilities were not enough to fully heal Wang Bo's wounds.

Upon entering the temple hall, they could already hear the sounds of arguing.

At one of the stalls, they saw a gaunt man, clutching a small child, standing in front of a stall selling crushed biscuits and noodles.

"Please, sir, I only have a few scraps of cloth and this jade charm… It was my wife's—"

The merchant, a fat, greasy man with yellowing teeth, sneered. "Do I look like I need your dead wife's junk?"

The father's eyes reddened. "But my son hasn't eaten in two days—please—"

The merchant snorted and waved his hand dismissively. "Then maybe he should learn how to survive like the rest of us."

The father froze.

Then, with trembling hands, he reached into his tattered coat and pulled out a small mutant spar—a glowing blue shard extracted from a Tier 1 mutant beast he had fought earlier that morning. It was the last spar he had.

But it wasn't enough.

One biscuit cost three Tier 1 spars.

One noodle was priced at four Tier 1 spars.

500 grams of moldy rice or flour were five Tier 1 spars.

Even though it was unsafe to eat, many people still bought it.

A can of ham cost six Tier 1 spars.

Firearms and bullets were ten times more expensive. That's why people here settled for cold weapons they scavenged from the outside.

There was little room for bargaining, as the sellers in this area were united. One person was controlling the prices behind the scenes.

The merchant's eyes glinted with greed.

He snatched the spar from the man's hand, weighing it in his palm. Then, without warning, he tossed a half-eaten packet of biscuits he got from his pocket and onto the table.

The father stared at it.

"This… this isn't enough—"

"Take it or leave it," the merchant said, already waving to the next customer.

The father bit his lip until it bled, but he grabbed the half-eaten biscuit before someone else did.

His child, barely standing due to hunger, clung weakly to him.

When the child was given the biscuits, he ate it quickly.

The father smiled in pain before carrying his child toward the side exit.

Dai Yun furrowed her brows. She was the most impatient among her team, and her blood pressure rose at the sight of this.

"Don't do anything," Liu Ming sighed, stopping the hot-headed Dai Yun.

Dai Yun snorted. She glanced at the father and son before walking toward the side exit, following them.

Outside the side exit, the father and son spotted Nanzhi and Lin Weihao's stall. The father, who had been here many times, immediately recognized them as new sellers.