Quentin and his brothers took a deep look at the two zombies. Then, Quentin pulled out a bag from his pack.
"Here are 50 corpse cores. Count them and exchange them all for food!"
"Fifty?" Elijah was a bit surprised. That would require killing at least 200 zombies to collect, and with the 20 or so they'd previously given, Quentin's group must have killed at least 300 zombies. Much more industrious than him!
But then he thought about it. He only cleared the zombies blocking the way, while Quentin's group cleared out an entire neighborhood of zombies. That amount was about right, maybe even more. Elijah felt relieved.
"These corpse cores can be exchanged for 250 days' worth of food. It's a lot of stuff, so we'll need some time to bring it out. Where's your vehicle parked, Quentin?"
"We parked on the east side of the mall."
"Okay, we'll move the supplies to the east entrance. You can collect them there."
"Thank you so much!"
Quentin worried that driving directly up might make Elijah suspicious. After all, from the outside, you couldn't see what was inside the truck. It wouldn't be good if Elijah thought they were hiding people. So they parked on the east side and walked over, planning to report in and then drive up. Since Elijah offered to bring the supplies over, it saved them some trouble.
Quentin and his men immediately headed to the east entrance of the mall, while Elijah, Fiona, and Hannah began pushing the prepared shopping carts from the underground supermarket. In half an hour, they had all 25 shopping carts at the east entrance. Additionally, Elijah gifted them an extra shopping cart of cooking oil, rice, flour, and beer.
"250 isn't a nice number. Consider this extra cart a gift for you guys!"
Quentin, who was supervising the loading, responded immediately, "Thanks on behalf of the brothers!"
Although 250 days' worth of food sounded like a lot, Quentin's community had over ten survivors. With recent rescues, they now had over 20 people. 250 days' worth would only last them about ten days. And that's assuming average consumption. For Quentin and the men who fought zombies, their needs were higher, especially his own. So this food wasn't much.
Elijah's gift, though not much, was life-saving for them. Seeing that Elijah's zombies had awakened abilities and knowing that Elijah had just accepted 50 corpse cores, Quentin started to worry Elijah might stop collecting corpse cores.
"Elijah, are you still collecting corpse cores?" Quentin couldn't help but ask.
"Yes! Keep bringing them! Even if we run out of extra food, we have other things to trade. I think you'll be interested!" Elijah remembered Fiona's suggestion about monopolizing trade and couldn't help but add a bit of intrigue.
"Oh? What kind of things?"
Quentin asked curiously. Their biggest need was food, followed by gasoline and diesel. Other things didn't really entice him. But since corpse cores were useless to them, even trading for something else useful was better than nothing.
"Items that can awaken abilities!" Elijah said with a mysterious smile, speaking in a low voice.
"What?" Quentin exclaimed, eyes widening in shock.
Everyone turned to look at him.
If necessary, he could exchange them for materials.
"By the way, I have a woman who craves fresh meat, and another who is fond of exotic plants. If Quentin encounters live poultry or livestock, or vibrant flowers and plants, they can be exchanged for materials with me, and I guarantee satisfaction !" Elijah casually mentioned.
"Ah, I envy you for your fortune, buddy!" Quentin glanced at Fiona and Hannah, giving Elijah a thumbs up.
"If Quentin is willing, your settlement should also have plenty of people vying for your affection, right?" Elijah gave a knowing smile.
Quentin scratched his head and chuckled.
"But Elijah, you've found the right person. There are indeed seven cows in our neighborhood!" Elijah raised an eyebrow, surprised at how casually Quentin mentioned it.
His real goal was the spirit plants, but of course, if there were poultry or livestock, it would be a pleasant surprise!
"Quentin, are you kidding me? Livestock are not allowed in Neoville City, right?"
"Well, naturally not allowed, but it happened right downstairs from me.
I don't know where they got seven calves from, but they kept them as pets on the balcony.
Damn, the smell, so foul and noisy.
I heard their neighbor complained, and if it weren't for the sudden outbreak of the zombie virus, they would probably have been arrested by the police.
It's strange, after the virus outbreak, all the people died, but those seven calves were fine.
After cleaning up the zombies, I started raising them."
"If Elijah wants, I can sell two to you, but I don't recommend slaughtering them for meat now; they're too small to yield much."
"Ah, the world is indeed full of wonders!" Elijah sighed, "Thanks, Quentin!"
Seeing the supplies loaded into the car, Quentin bid farewell to Elijah:
"Tomorrow when we come to exchange supplies, I'll bring the two cows. It's getting late today; we'll take off now!"
"Take care, no need to see us off!" Elijah watched Quentin and his group leave in the car, then turned to Fiona and Hannah, saying, "Let's pack up quickly and head back to the island after this wave!"
As the sun set, the sky began to darken.
Off the southern coast of Azure Isle, a small boat was approaching under the dimming sky, heading towards Azure Isle!