Chapter 14: The Big Star Regrets It

"What? Sis, you gave that kid the gasoline?"

"Sis, are you crazy? That was a whole can of gasoline!"

"We only have two cans in total—if we give it away, what will we use? No way! Sister, I'm going to get the gasoline back."

When Zhou Xiaoxiao found out her sister had actually given away one of their gasoline cans, she was beside herself.

That was a whole can of gasoline.

Before the apocalypse it might not have been worth much, but in the modern world that was life itself.

Without gasoline, the car would be useless.

What the sibling pair might face then went without saying.

Besides, the two of them only had that one car as transportation, and every time they scavenged supplies they had to also gather gasoline.

They had nearly died trying to collect those two cans of gasoline.

Now one had just been given away, for nothing in return.

"Xiaoxiao, don't go. He's a Sequence Superpower! We can't mess with him!"

Hearing her brother, Zhou Lan felt a sting of regret.

But there was nothing she could do—this was the apocalypse; her former celebrity halo was long gone.

Who knew that Zhou Xiaoxiao stubbornly stuck out her neck and said: "Sis, so what if he's a Sequence Superpower? He's only a Mechanic Sequence, not a combat-type like Captain Chu. We have no reason to fear him."

"Besides, Captain Chu is here—what can he really do?"

With that, the handsome youth walked straight toward Chen Ye.

Chen Ye had noticed the commotion.

There was no helping it; the famous Zhou siblings naturally attracted attention, and the kid had deliberately raised his voice as if to pressure Chen Ye.

Even without prying, Chen Ye could hear everything clearly with no effort.

He lit a cigarette and glanced sideways at the boy walking toward him, a playful smirk tugging at his mouth.

The boy stopped in front of Chen Ye, eyes steady and resolute.

"Mr... Mr. Chen... my sister's can of gasoline..."

Chen Ye exhaled a thick plume of smoke in the boy's face. The boy frowned and waved the smoke away with his hand.

Chen Ye flicked his chin and said nothing.

Lowering his head, the boy took the gasoline can down from Chen Ye's motorcycle tricycle.

Such a small incident had occurred within the convoy, and everyone turned to look.

Some looked on with malicious glee toward Chen Ye.

Others gave the Zhou siblings a "what were you thinking" look.

In this apocalypse, daring to offend a Sequence Superpower was just asking for trouble.

Many people had begged to be on good terms with sequences and failed.

Throughout the exchange, Zhou Lan watched from afar; she hadn't stopped her sister's action.

When Chen Ye glanced at her, she awkwardly turned her head away.

Chen Ye had no particular reaction to the can being taken.

If it's gone, it's gone—it's not like she's the only one with gasoline.

Chen Ye walked over to Chu Che.

The barefoot, composed youth smiled gently.

"One can of gasoline—I'll give you a good deal. How about eighteen jin of rice?"

"That won't do. You're ripping us off!"

"Heh heh... Zhou Lan won't trade, but I will. I'm helping you—you're calling me a gouger?"

Chen Ye shook his head. "I want to trade you a piece of information for the gasoline."

"Useless information won't get you a can of gasoline."

"I guarantee it's valuable—it's a method to deal with the Anomalies!"

At Chen Ye's words, Chu Che's expression turned grave. "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. Black dog blood can't kill Anomalies, but it can have an effect against them."

When Chu Che heard that, his pupils suddenly widened; he looked stunned.

Then he murmured, "Of course. Why didn't I think of that? Even if it doesn't kill Anomalies, having an effect is huge."

"That information is worth a can of gasoline."

"I'd also like your foldable solar charging panel."

"That depends on how effective your black dog blood method is against Anomalies."

Seeing Chen Ye get a can of gasoline from the captain with just a few words, the Zhou sisters exchanged glances and read the same phrase in each other's eyes: baffled uncertainty.

Chen Ye then went to find Nana.

Within the convoy, the strongest fighter wasn't the injured Titan Sequence big fellow but the Sword Immortal Sequence girl standing before him.

If not for her, the Titan Sequence "Big Fool" would very likely be dead already.

"What are you planning to do to Zhou Lan and her sister?" was Nana's first sentence.

Chen Ye shrugged. "What else could I do? It’s not like they had the gasoline to begin with."

"And besides, I don't trust you. Not one man among you is a good thing—how do I know what schemes you're hiding?"

In the sword-immortal girl's eyes was only three words: "I don't trust you."

"Alright, alright. I intend to trade you a knife..."

Chen Ye repeated to Nana what he had said to Chu Che.

Nana had the same astonished reaction.

With that piece of information, Chen Ye traded with the Sword Immortal Sequence girl and obtained a blade.

It was an outdoor machete; the blade plus handle totaled over forty centimeters.

The handle was wood, the blade blackened, and the spine was thick—heavy and substantial in hand.

The sheath was leather and could be hung at the waist for convenient access.

Nana said the machete was a brand from the island country.

Before the apocalypse, this machete supposedly cost over three thousand yuan; on the secondary market it could sell for over five thousand.

When Chen Ye chose the machete, Nana's face showed a painful twitch.

Regarding black dog blood having effect against Anomalies, Chen Ye had no intention of hiding it.

Humanity had a glaring disadvantage fighting Anomalies. In just a few months, human numbers had dropped by more than ninety percent.

Any scrap of information that could help fight Anomalies was valuable.

Chen Ye didn't mind sharing that information.

He didn't bother trading for items near the bus.

Although he wanted that two‑unit outdoor power bank, the Titan Sequence big fellow hadn't woken; no one could decide for him.

Meanwhile the Zhou siblings were stunned.

They didn't know what Chen Ye had said to Chu Che and Nana.

They only watched as Chen Ye exchanged a few words and walked away with a can of gasoline and an outdoor machete.

Especially Zhou Xiaoxiao—he recognized the machete Chen Ye had taken from Nana.

He'd wanted that machete for a long time, but Nana's price had been too steep and he couldn't gather enough supplies.

He couldn't understand how Chen Ye had gotten it so easily.

At the same time, Chen Ye also obtained two small bags of black dog blood.

There were two black dogs in the convoy kept by survivors.

It would have been hard for Chen Ye to take those dogs, but Chu Che managed to swap chocolates and sausages with their original keeper and acquired them.

Chen Ye returned to his motorcycle tricycle.

Some of the women's clothes on his stall had been traded away.

"Attention, attention—convoy departs in fifteen minutes! Departs in fifteen minutes!"

A loudspeaker on Chu Che's modified off‑road vehicle announced the message, and many survivors who hadn't finished trades looked visibly anxious.

Chen Ye calmly dug out a bundle of bolt arrows from the truck bed.

Most of these arrows were homemade by him—crude but better than nothing.

His stock of standard crossbow bolts had already been used up.

Now that he had the machete, Chen Ye adjusted the bolts accordingly.

He had to admit—the unknown island country brand machete was very practical.

Finally he stuffed the adjusted bolts into the bag with the black dog blood, tied the mouth shut, and tossed it into a corner of the truck bed.

Soon the convoy began to move.

Leading was Chu Che's modified off‑road vehicle.

After that came Nana's vehicle, then the bus.

Even now Chen Ye hadn't seen the third Sequence Superpower.

He followed behind that bus, effectively placing himself as the convoy's fourth figure.

Behind him was the vehicle of the star Zhou Lan.