In a frigid apocalypse, I went on a shopping spree with the reborn.

Liu Yuyao remained silent for a long time before looking at Chen Sanyang: "Little Sanzi, how many trading coins do you have left?"

"Over 20,000? What happened?"

Give them all to me.

Chen Sanyang nodded: "That's fine, but boss, what do you need so many trading coins for?"

"Upgrade the quantum computer." Liu Yuyao calculated to herself, "I still have 30,000 here, and even with yours, it's less than 60,000. I recruited a few people at the Overlord Base, but they don't have many trading coins. Upgrading to level two requires 100,000 trading coins, and we're still short at least 40,000."

"Upgrade the quantum computer?" Chen Sanyang was a little confused. "Didn't you say you weren't in a hurry?"

"That was before," Liu Yuyao explained. "Before, we only had 100,000 trading coins in total. We were new here, and everyone was eyeing those 100,000 trading coins. If we didn't give some away, we wouldn't be able to save our lives."

"Besides, for us back then, winning over a group of people was far more important than upgrading the quantum computer to level two, but things are different now."

The more she spoke, the more confused Chen Sanyang became: "But didn't you say before that, according to Wang Dawei's diary, upgrading the quantum computer to level two did not significantly improve combat power?"

"I think we should just hold on a little longer and wait until the next trading zone opens. Then we can pool our trading coins and see if we can buy some special items to boost our strength. If we can get your combat power to 2,000, Brother Li Tie will definitely not dare to target us."

Liu Yuyao looked at Chen Sanyang, speechless for a moment: "Have you ever thought that although Brother Li Tie is not a reincarnated person like Wang Dawei and Jiang Qingyue, he is not stupid?"

"Not long after the apocalypse, he established the Overlord Base and became a local tyrant in Yunyou City. Could he be a brainless person?"

"He knew I had Wang Dawei's diary, he knew we still had trading currency, and he knew my combat strength was greater than his..."

"The fact that he dared to kick us both out at this time shows that he has the confidence."

"What gives you that confidence?"

"I don't know." Liu Yuyao had a headache. "That's why I don't dare to act rashly."

"Little Sanzi, I'm warning you, until I come up with a plan, you better be polite to Brother Li Tie. Don't think we're so great. Just look at Wang Dawei; so what if he's reborn and has foresight?"

"We have a chance, and Brother Li Tie might have one too. Maybe he has a special item that can specifically counter us."

Chen Sanyang: "Oh, what do we do then? Are we really leaving?"

"Go back first and send me all the trading coins you have. Ask your men if they have any, and if so, let's chip in. Everyone knows my character; if I profit, I always reward them double and I won't let anyone who follows me suffer a loss."

"Hey," Chen Sanyang laughed, "Does this even need emphasizing? We chose to work for you precisely because you're different from Wang Dawei. Don't worry, boss, the guys I've won over are all very loyal."

After Chen Sanyang left, Liu Yuyao took out a round ball from the inner pocket of her tactical vest.

This is a special item, a spatial backpack. She obtained it after completing a hidden quest, and she took it out many times to look at it and touch it, but couldn't bear to use it.

Because she knew very well that both the strong and the weak had a mysterious obsession with storage space.

Just like the Lucky Star that Xiao Sanzi got, although it is also a special item, if you put the Lucky Star and the Space Backpack together and let people choose, nine out of ten people will choose the Space Backpack.

Knowing this, Liu Yuyao understood even more that this thing was like a gold watch from before the apocalypse, which could be exchanged for a large amount of trading currency at crucial moments.

Liu Yuyao looked at the special item, the spatial backpack, and hesitated whether to use it now or try to sell it to raise 100,000 transaction coins.

She was well aware of the advantages of having a space backpack. However, the space inside was not large, and it could only hold some extremely valuable personal items.

For her, who aspires to become the ruler of a powerful force, such a small space seems somewhat useless.

"Someone come here." After making up her mind, she called out.

Someone immediately came in from outside: "Boss."

"Go and arrange a meeting with the captain's wife for me. Tell her I'd like to invite her for tea."

"Yes."

Li Tiege's wife is named Nangong Zhao.

She is a beautiful woman who wields great power and maintains her fiery red lips and sky-high heels even in the apocalypse.

With the clatter of high heels, Liu Yuyao raised an eyebrow slightly, picked up a small teapot, poured a cup of tea, and placed it opposite her.

"Captain Liu isn't in a hurry to take over the Happiness Base, but he has the leisure to invite me for tea." Nangong Zhao leaned back on the sofa, crossed her legs, and casually adjusted her skirt.

I looked at the steaming cup of tea, but didn't drink it.

"Since Madam Nangong has come, she should be willing to have tea with me."

Nangong Zhao stared at Liu Yuyao for a long time, then said with certainty, "You can't beat him."

"I know, that's why I asked Madam for help, didn't I?"

Nangong Zhao scoffed, "What makes you think I'd help you? He's my husband. He's in power, I'm the First Lady. You're in power, but would you marry me?"

Liu Yuyao shook her head: "The title 'First Lady' sounds better than 'Captain.' The rhythm of a lady's walk is measured with every step, neither too fast nor too slow, neither too light nor too heavy. This requires a very strong control over one's physical strength."

"I was only able to do this after my combat power exceeded one thousand."

"If I remember correctly, when I first came to this Overlord Base, Madam was already able to do it."

"However, I am very curious. Madam's combat power should have exceeded one thousand long ago, but her name has never appeared on the ranking list."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Zhao neither denied nor admitted it. He stared at her for a long while before laughing: "It's no wonder Wang Dawei lost to you. Tell me, what's in it for me?"

"Since you know I'm playing dumb to fool others, you should also know that not everything is worth me coming out of the shadows to the light."

"After all, although Li Tiege is not smart, he is still very useful as a henchman."

Liu Yuyao revealed a faint smile, and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief; she had made the right bet.

When she first arrived, she observed that the captain's wife, who usually didn't speak during meetings, was actually the most hidden person in this overlord base.

Despite Li Tie's seemingly authoritative demeanor as captain, everything he does actually aligns with Nangong Zhao's expectations.

Thanks to the hardships Wang Dawei put her through, she learned to be humble and observant.

Upon arriving at the Overlord Base, she noticed that several of Li Tiege's capable henchmen would subtly seek Nangong Zhao's opinion when making decisions or speaking.

Furthermore, upon discovering that Nangong Zhao had been hiding his true strength, she knew that this quiet lady was no ordinary person.

She placed the space backpack on the coffee table: "This is a space backpack, serial number 8181, containing a cubic space."

"Although it's small, for you, Madam, one cubic meter is enough to hold many things that you can't show to others."

Nangong Zhao raised an eyebrow: "What do you want?"

"50,000 transaction coins."

"Sure." Nangong Zhao reached out and took the sphere in his hand. "My people will deliver 50,000 trading coins tonight. Also, do you need any help from my side? I have a few decent assassins under my command."

Liu Yuyao quickly shook her head: "I can't afford it."

"Madam, all you need to do is have your people stand by and watch when I make a move against Li Tiege."

Nangong Zhao stood up: "Even so, you still can't beat him."

Liu Yuyao: "Then I guess I'm just not as skilled."

Nangong Zhao glanced at her quietly, then turned and left.

To her, Li Tiege and Liu Yuyao were both knives in her hand; she didn't care which one died.

Liu Yuyao stared at her back, not expecting much help.

She knew the other party seemed polite, but wouldn't help her much. Besides, this spatial backpack only had one cubic meter; even if she took it to the trading area, it wouldn't be worth 50,000 trading coins.

The other party agreed without haggling, which was a way of indirectly helping her.

In other words, between Li Tiege and Liu Yuyao, Nangong Zhao is biased towards her, and that's enough.

That evening, Chen Sanyang and Nangong Zhao's men delivered the trading coins, and Liu Yuyao immediately upgraded her personal computer.

After the upgrade, she browsed through the newly unlocked leaderboards, feeling little excitement, because everything was clearly written in Wang Dawei's diary.

She found Jiang Qingyue's name on the leaderboard and clicked to add her as a friend.

When Jiang Qingyue received the friend request, she was using her spatial storage to transport ice.

She also dug out a separate storage room to store ice, which was very far from the stove.

Every time it's dug up, the vines of the plant doctor will firmly cover the wall, and not a single piece of soil will fall down. Except for a small amount of soil left at the bottom, the ice blocks stored on top are all clean.

Although it can't compare to pure water, fortunately, both she and Long Jiuxing are in much better physical condition than before the apocalypse. Once they are short of water, these clean ice blocks can be used as drinking water after they melt.

Jiang Qingyue was surprised to see the friend request pop up on the computer.

Why did Liu Yuyao suddenly want to add me?

The two weren't actually that close.

However, once you add someone as a friend, you can always block them. Besides, Liu Yuyao has Wang Dawei's original complete diary, which contains more detailed information and might be useful in the future.

Jiang Qingyue approved the application.

Immediately after becoming friends, Liu Yuyao sent a message: "Do you have any plant doctors?"

Jiang Qingyue was quite surprised when she saw this sentence.

She was certain that she had not revealed a single detail about obtaining the plant doctor.

Unlike the killings of Wang Dawei and Yu You, which could be deduced by others from the surge in numerical values, she was the one who carried out the attack.

She stumbled upon the plant doctor by chance. So far, apart from giving Long Jiuxing one of its essence pills to heal his wounds, she has not used it on anyone else, nor has she sold it to anyone else.

Before she could reply, Liu Yuyao's second message popped up: "I really need the essence of the plant doctor. I know it's very precious. If you have it, I'll give you something of equal value in exchange."

Seeing that the other party was certain she possessed it, Jiang Qingyue replied, "What thing?"

At the Overlord Base, Liu Yuyao breathed a long sigh of relief upon seeing the reply.

She had only guessed about the plant doctor before, and wasn't entirely sure.

However, since Wang Dawei repeatedly mentioned this item in his diary, and Jiang Qingyue was also a reborn person with a strength that could easily surpass Wang Dawei's, she deduced that the probability of the Plant Doctor falling into Jiang Qingyue's hands was extremely high.

Just look at Wang Dawei; from the very beginning of the apocalypse, he has resorted to any means to seize all kinds of special items.

Jiang Qingyue completely outclassed Wang Dawei on all three major lists, meaning she possesses even more and better special items.

Moreover, the advantage that Jiang Qingyue showed in the early stages of the apocalypse was not top-notch combat power, but rather a far superior survival index.

According to Wang Dawei's diary, in the apocalypse, the special item that provides the greatest boost to the survival index is the Plant Doctor, without exception.

Fortunately, she made the right bet.

Liu Yuyao continued sending messages: "I learned about a hidden quest from Wang Dawei's diary. Completing it will reward you with a special weapon item."

After sending the message, she stared at the personal terminal, waiting for a reply.

She wasn't worried that Jiang Qingyue would refuse outright. Reborn individuals are not omniscient or omnipotent; their knowledge of information is limited by their own strength and environment.

This hidden mission remains unfinished, and it's obvious that Jiang Qingyue is unaware of it.

In addition, the plant doctor produces a stable nine drops of essence every day, so Jiang Qingyue, who owns it, would definitely be willing to give up a small amount of essence as long as the exchange conditions are right.

It's simply a matter of how many the other party is willing to take out.

Inside the shelter, Jiang Qingyue looked conflicted.

The hidden missions that Wang Dawei and Chen Sanyang completed were so evil that she now feels a chill whenever she sees the words "hidden missions."

Even knowing there would be a generous reward upon completion, she wasn't sure if she would be willing to do it.

She hesitated for a moment, then sent a few words: "How many essences do you want?"

"Three, and I'll give you another message as a bonus."

Three isn't many, Jiang Qingyue thought to himself. As long as he completed the hidden mission, the guaranteed reward would be 60,000 trading coins plus a special item.

The more trading coins the better. Even though she currently has 100,000, the temptation to save up a million as soon as possible to upgrade her quantum computer to level three is too great.

Wang Dawei unlocked generous rewards after only reaching level two; the rewards for the first person to break through to level three must be unimaginable.

Another thing that appealed to her was the weapon reward.

Both she and Long Jiuxing currently lack suitable exclusive weapons. Ordinary weapons can no longer keep up with their rapidly increasing strength, and special types of weapons are extremely rare.

After much deliberation, Jiang Qingyue replied with two words: "Okay."

Although hidden missions are a bit... well, when it really comes down to life and death... it's not unacceptable to grit your teeth and complete one.

Liu Yuyao: "How do we trade?"

Jiang Qingyue was also stumped when she saw the four words Liu Yuyao sent.

Although upgrading the optical computer to level two supports one-on-one private chat, there is still no channel for item trading.

When the trading area is open, both parties can list items and refuse other buyers. However, the trading area does not have a name search function. With so many people, even if she lists three plant essences, it is unknown whether Liu Yuyao can find her name within an hour.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Qingyue said, "If you trust me, just tell me how to complete the hidden quest. I'll put the three essences in a clearly marked location and send you the coordinates. You can send someone to retrieve them."

Jiang Qingyue knew very well that this kind of transaction was very disadvantageous to Liu Yuyao.

After all, once the other party revealed the hidden mission, she could verify its authenticity on the spot.

But she changed her mind and didn't send the essence over, and Liu Yuyao couldn't find her.

To Jiang Qingyue's surprise, Liu Yuyao didn't hesitate for long; in just a moment, she sent several messages:

"Hidden quest: I got married to my best friend. The reward is 60,000 trading coins and a bow."

"The plant extracts should be placed in a clearly marked location, because Xiao Sanzi has a bad sense of direction and I'm afraid he won't be able to find them."

"As I said earlier, here's a bonus message for you: your second uncle Jiang Mitian and his family live in the Happiness Base. Jiang Mitian and his wife were instructed by Wang Dawei to plot against you. They're birds of a feather, so you must be careful."

"But they also have a daughter, your cousin. When her parents conspired with Wang Dawei to scheme against you, that girl secretly sent you a warning message on the world channel."