Ten days had passed since the last opening.
Shen Yunyun noticed that this time was five days shorter than the previous one.
Fifteen days had separated the first and second openings, and ten days between the second and third.
Did this mean that as the frequency and value of transactions increased, the time between the trading center's openings would shorten?
Without dwelling on it too much, she immediately got to work.
She selected the largest bubble and tapped it, once again experiencing the familiar AI scene transition.
When she came to her senses, she was nearly nauseated by the man before her, who reeked of a foul odor.
She clutched her chest and dry-heaved—it was too stinky, truly too stinky.
A mix of fishy and putrid, like a fish left dead for two days in the summer.
"Ugh~~" She retched again.
Reaching out, she quickly pulled out an activated carbon mask.
Damn it.
If she'd known she'd encounter a scene like this, she would have bought a gas mask in advance and stored it in the basement.
Though she could now retrieve items from a distance, it was limited to what was already in the basement—she couldn't conjure things out of thin air.
With the mask on, she felt a bit better.
The fishy, stench-filled odor no longer kept forcing its way into her nostrils.
"You want to trade your treasures for food and water?" Shen Yunyun decided to cut to the chase and finish the deal quickly.
"Yes, fairy," the man replied, his voice hoarse.
Thinking of the boxes of instant noodles and bottled water in the basement, Shen Yunyun gave him a pack of water and a box of instant noodles.
Seeing the water and noodles, the man's eyes lit up instantly.
He lunged forward, twisted open a bottle of water, and tilted his head back to drink.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp."
It sounded satisfying.
After finishing the water, he immediately reached out to touch the noodles and water, and they vanished in an instant.
Though a bit surprised, Shen Yunyun wasn't entirely unprepared.
After all, this trading center connected to all sorts of bizarre worlds—it wasn't strange for this man to have a space of his own.
She wasn't worried about him reneging, since a box of noodles and a pack of water cost only a few dozen yuan.
Besides, as the trading center's administrator, she had the authority to revoke the transaction.
The noodles and water would return to the basement.
The next moment, the man pulled out a pile of crystals in various sizes and colors.
There were white, gold, blue, red, brown, green, and a few purple ones.
"Are these crystals enough?"
"Crystals?" Shen Yunyun's eyes widened. If she remembered correctly, crystals were a common element in zombie apocalypse novels.
So, this guy was from an apocalypse?
No wonder he smelled so bad—surviving in an apocalypse was harsh, fighting not only nature but also zombies.
"If it's not enough, I'll kill more zombies."
Shen Yunyun wanted to refuse, as the thought grossed her out.
They were dug out of zombie brains, and zombies were humans mutated by a virus—she found it hard to separate them from people.
But seeing the faint spark of hope in his hollow, desperate eyes as he looked at her, she couldn't bring herself to say no.
He was already pitiful enough living in an apocalypse, with nothing else to offer. Crystals it was, then.
After all, that pack of water and box of noodles weren't worth much—she might as well consider it a gift.
The smell was too much; she wanted to wrap up the deal quickly, so she accepted his crystals.
Still, she kindly offered a few words of advice: "Going it alone like this isn't sustainable. If possible, you should team up with others."
"In the apocalypse, humans are more terrifying than zombies," the man said expressionlessly.