Reaching the top floor, I asked if someone among the survivors knew about gardening and stuff, to which I found out that, though we don't have any expert gardeners, we got many who knew about basic gardening and stuff.
"Okay, so we will need people to collect enough water from down there and plant some seeds that require less water. It has to be a vegetable seed. I don't want you to put your heart into gardening only to end up finding fancy flowers, okay?" I spoke to everyone and the 'gardeners' nodded before everyone set a small area at the corner where they had decided to make a terrace garden.
'Hmmm… I wonder if [Advanced Time Manipulation] can make the plants bloom faster than usual,' I pondered before deciding to test it later on once the seeds have been planted.
Once that was done, I then started planning the next move as I looked at the healthier young men within the crowd.
"You… you… you… and you…" I started pointing at a few men who I thought were much stronger and healthier than the others,"come here."
They looked at me with a skeptical look before moving towards me.
"All 14 of you are coming down with me and George, I am going to put you guys to work. Also, make sure to carry at least a weapon with you as well," I said before I looked at those people and tried calculating the best path to make sure everyone is used.. Cough cough.. I mean everyone participates.
"Ummm… excuse me, what are we going to do down there?" one of the young men asked with a bit of horror and I nonchalantly spoke as I looked around ,
"We are going for a brief walk. Nice weather for a walk, don't you think?"
'Hmmm… 15 people in the gardening group. 14 coming down with me. Then there is George. That leaves another 22 people left out,' I was pondering as Caroline curiously asked,
"What are you thinking?"
"Just wondering if there is any work I can give the right ones," I said as I kept thinking. White, who was listening from a distance, spoke out,
"There are 9 children among them. We can ask them to look for any pointed objects or something that could be used as a weapon. Will save us a lot of work. As for the rest 10, which are elderly, you can… you know… help them with that…"
Hearing his words, I pondered a bit as I questioned if it would be right to give these people such power. However… I don't see much problem with that. If they become too dangerous, I can take care of them.
"Well. I guess we can do that. Though that changes the way of doing things… well, whatever," I thought out loud before turning towards George.
"Teach them the method to absorb the cores. Here, take more of these as well," I spoke out before passing the cores I collected down there.
George, taking those cores from me, without asking any question, returned the used cores back to me. I observed the used cores in his hand and spoke,
"Well, they don't have any…."
Though all of a sudden, I realized something crucial. Something that I hadn't thought of yet. Maybe… just maybe…
My brain raced with thoughts as I took all the used cores from George and ran down the stairs shouting,"you guys stay here. I will be back in about 15 minutes!!!"
Running down a few floors, I chose an apartment with its door still intact and entered it before closing it from inside. Then finding the nearest sofa, I sat on it before activating my skill
[Second Space!]
My consciousness faded before I entered the white space again. This time I ran towards the [Shop] and saw [Rhea] flying in there as usual.
"Oh, you are already back," she spoke, but I ignored her and ran to the [Sell] section and placed those used cores
[Used E-Grade Zombie Core]
[A Core whose power has been used up. Though the material and the solid soul still remains]
[Would you like to sell the used up E-Grade Zombie Core for 50 Cronas?]
A smile formed on my face as I sold the Zombie Core without any hesitation
[+50 Cronas]
"WOAH! You already got a core, huh? Well, since you can't really use it. I guess selling it for Cronas is honestly a good option. Though the amount of Cronas you get isn't much to be honest," Rhea spoke with a slight surprise and I smiled at her before taking out a dozen more Cores from my pocket.
All the Cores which I had given to Caroline were still with me as I was there when she absorbed them. As for George, he just returned them to me.
[+700 Cronas]
I then checked the total Cronas I had
[Total Cronas: 1373]
"Well. That was totally worth it!" I grinned from ear to ear as I looked at Rhea, who was looking at me with a surprised gaze. Ignoring her, I then moved out of the room and returned to the real world.
While I could have bought something, I would like to save some Cronas for that skill that Rhea had suggested.
I don't know what exactly she sees in that skill, but since she has more ideas about those things than me, I guess it is better to follow her until we find a better alternative.
Then I moved up and saw George already teaching those elderly men about the Cores and the way they function. As for the young people I collected,
"You guys. What are you doing there? Come with me. We have work to do!" I shouted, and they turned at me before looking at each other.
Then one of them spoke out loudly,"We don't want to follow you to our doom. We too want to get stronger using the cores."
When one spoke, another one started shouting along with him and soon everyone began shouting the same thing: that they wanted to absorb the cores and get strong rather than going into danger.
Though…
I just smiled at them as I spoke.
"Looks like… there has been a misunderstanding here."
And then…
Each of them shut their mouth as they looked at this 'calming' smile of mine.