PSW - Chapter 81
Chapter 81
How could her heart not race?
How could she possibly… not be moved.
On this sweltering night, even though the air conditioner turned on promptly at eleven, Yu Yinan's blood was still boiling. The sensations of cool and warm intertwined in her mind for a long time. She wanted to calm down, but she couldn't help but sink deeper into savoring the memory.
She was the special one, right? Yu Yinan asked herself. It was a question without an answer, but she felt the answer was yes.
Yu Yinan couldn't possibly imagine Zheng Yi being so intimate with another devout follower.
In the silent night, she restrained herself, trying not to let her temperature spiral out of control. She slept properly on her side of the bed, not daring to get close to the sleeping Zheng Yi on the other side. Tomorrow, tomorrow Zheng Yi had to make it rain. From what those people said, they wanted Zheng Yi to try two rounds of rainmaking; the second might be at noon, or perhaps in the evening.
They thought Zheng Yi's ability was to summon a deity to bring rain, but Yu Yinan knew clearly that there was no such thing as a deity. It was just Zheng Yi's… deep manipulation of her water ability. Something like that must be incredibly draining on her mental energy. Yu Yinan didn't want to disturb Zheng Yi in the slightest.
Thump, thump. Yu Yinan lay on her side, pressing a hand hard against her heart with restrained force. She pressed so hard her ribs ached, but she couldn't quell the slightest bit of the fluttering.
Why…
Was she still not satisfied?
Zheng Yi was already so good to her. She could hug and even kiss Zheng Yi now. And yet…
In the beginning, all she had wanted was to stay by Zheng Yi's side.
Compared to Yu Yinan, who couldn't sleep from noon until midnight because of a single kiss, Zheng Yi was much more carefree.
After satisfying Yu Yinan's expectations, Zheng Yi opened the store to see what new thing had been unlocked.
【Beginner Apocalypse Shelter Barrier】: Creates a one-meter-radius protective circle centered on the target placement point (lasts for one day).
Price: 100 Saint Points
Inside the protective circle, one is unaffected by high heat or extreme cold, and it has a certain deterrent effect on mutated creatures and zombies.
Following Zero One's previous route for creating a shelter, this barrier would be extremely useful. The temperature would be suitable for cultivating crops, people within the range would be unaffected by periods of high heat or extreme cold, and it could even effectively reduce attacks from mutated creatures and zombie hordes.
But one hundred Saint Points for one day was simply an exorbitant price. Was it unlocking such a high-priced item just because her cumulative total had broken five thousand?
【Intermediate Apocalypse Shelter Barrier】: Creates a twenty-meter-radius protective circle centered on the target placement point (lasts for one week).
Price: 2000 Saint Points
【Advanced Apocalypse Shelter Barrier】: Creates a one-hundred-meter-radius protective circle centered on the target placement point (lasts for one month).
Price: 5000 Saint Points
Case closed. This must be intended for base construction.
Zheng Yi looked at the advanced barrier's one-hundred-meter range and one-month duration, then at its five-thousand-Saint-Point price… If she had an entire base to support and a stable income of over ten thousand Saint Points, she could just buy one advanced shelter barrier during a critical period and safely get her followers through it. Compared to the beginner version, which cost 100 Saint Points for a one-day, one-meter radius, the advanced version was clearly the most cost-effective.
[See? The things unlocked through cumulative points are never too bad!]
Zheng Yi ignored Zero One. She scrolled through the store, looking at the intermediate healing ability.
The efficiency of the beginner healing was too low, and its mental energy utilization wasn't high either; most of her mental energy was wasted when she used it.
The price for intermediate healing was… 2000 Saint Points. Since she already had beginner healing, upgrading from beginner to intermediate would only cost fifteen hundred Saint Points.
The price for advanced healing was eight thousand. And below the advanced option was a note explaining that the beginner, intermediate, and advanced skill levels were set according to the use and manipulation of the ability. Having an advanced-level ability didn't mean that an advanced host who bought it would become the top-tier user of that ability.
This note only appeared on the purchase page for advanced-level abilities.
Zheng Yi spent 1500 Saint Points to upgrade her healing to intermediate, then spent another 500 Saint Points to buy the beginner-level storage space ability.
Her 5077 Saint Points instantly became 3077.
That wasn't all. Zheng Yi continued scrolling through the store to expand her inventory.
90 Saint Points, 110 Saint Points, 130 Saint Points, 150 Saint Points, 170 Saint Points.
She unlocked five inventory slots in one go, without even blinking.
Host: Zheng Yi
Saint Points: 2427
Inventory Slots: 11
Special Abilities: Water / Healing (Intermediate) / Storage Space (Beginner)
Seeing Zheng Yi spend points so decisively, Zero One felt a little reluctant at first, but then it remembered the two prayer sessions tomorrow and the day after, and that reluctance vanished. Spend! She should spend lavishly! It would be best to get Zheng Yi addicted to shopping in the store, to let her experience the thrill of unrestrained consumption. That way, she would be more proactive in earning Saint Points.
The beginner storage space was only ten cubic meters, but that was more than enough for storing miscellaneous items and snacks. If an item was too large, like a car, she could just put it directly into her inventory, and it would only take up a single slot.
The second rainmaking.
With the first rainmaking as practice, Zheng Yi was much more proficient the second time. Zero One helped by activating the Saint's Halo at the critical moment, and the rest was up to Zheng Yi's performance.
This time, the people were just as ecstatic. Some still lost their composure and kowtowed, using every container they could carry to collect the rainwater.
[Ding! Detected that Host's cumulative Saint Points have surpassed 10,000! Reward: Special Product · Capsule Series Unlocked1, Saint Exemption1]
The total earnings this time were 5323 Saint Points. It seemed quite a few people had become more devout. That made sense; the rain was something they could actually see and feel.
After it was over, Zheng Yi spent thirty Saint Points on a Stamina Recovery Pill and took it. She opened the store and browsed the newly unlocked capsule series as she walked toward the conference room.
【Capsule · Portable Desk】, Price: 50 Saint Points.
【Capsule · Portable Single Bed】, Price: 288 Saint Points.
【Capsule · Portable Double Bed】, Price: 400 Saint Points.
First, there were all sorts of 【Capsule · Portable XX】 furniture items. Scrolling further down, there were also increasingly fantastical things like 【Capsule · Portable Shower Room】, 【Capsule · Portable Hot Spring】, and 【Capsule · Portable Ski Resort】. Of course, the prices for these portable "locations" were also unbelievably high.
These cumulative unlocks were really quite clever.
Just because she'd accumulated ten thousand Saint Points, did that mean she could afford items that cost thousands, or even tens of thousands?
[That's not it! While their prices are indeed a bit outrageous, the locations are different from the furniture. The price of the furniture corresponds to near-perfect quality and user experience. But those locations…] Zero One paused. [The portable shower room can provide you with a whole range of items you might need, like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, facial cleanser, exfoliating mitts, bath towels, hand towels, and so on, all for free. All these items are provided for free. As long as you step in and then out, the next time you go in, it will be just like the first time you entered.]
[The water temperature can be adjusted at will, and there are no limits on time or water usage for showers! There's an infinite supply of hot water! Of course, nothing from inside the shower room, including the water, can be taken out. If someone were to drink the water inside, they would still feel thirsty upon leaving.]
[The other locations are all like this.] Zero One paused again, then added, [Unlimited use, no such thing as durability, and it can even be shrunk to capsule size for easy carrying! Host, even though it's a bit expensive, it's worth it.]
It really was a Saint-saves-the-world template. Zheng Yi glanced at the 【Capsule · Portable Arcade】 in the store. These things… they even took entertainment into account.
'Zero One, are you encouraging me to save up more Saint Points and raise all of humanity in captivity?'
[What?] Zero One was stunned. Zero One was dumbfounded. [What do you mean, raise in captivity… How could it possibly be about raising all of humanity in captivity!]
'Isn't this pretty much the same as when I was raising that zombie?' Zheng Yi thought. Back then, she had prepared a small private room for the zombie, would visit and chat with it every day, and fed it meticulously.
Switching the subject from a zombie to humans just seemed to add needs for bathing and cleaning, using the toilet, and mental entertainment.
Most importantly, even if they were being raised in captivity by her, most ordinary people would probably be happy about it. After all, in the apocalypse, whether they could survive and for how long were major questions. In the eyes of ability users, unless they were family or close friends, ordinary people were far less valuable than ability users. They were the ones who would be abandoned at a moment's notice.
[…] Zero One was speechless. It actually felt that what Zheng Yi said made a lot of sense. Intuitively, it felt wrong, but it didn't know how to refute her.
As her mental energy gradually recovered, Zheng Yi walked with Yu Yinan by her side. Feng Shuxian and the others joined them, and they went upstairs together into the conference room.
This time, the recording of the faith values was much more efficient.
"The day after tomorrow's third prayer session, would it be possible to start doing two rounds of rainmaking per day?" Feng Shuxian asked. "The morning time will stay the same, and you can decide the time for the second round. Afternoon, evening, as long as it's before eleven o'clock is fine." The residents didn't have to come out for the second rainmaking. She would arrange for people to prepare containers and collect and store all the rainwater.
A Stamina Recovery Pill cost 30 Saint Points. With its recovery effect, performing a second rainmaking at dusk would be no problem at all. And in the long period between the second rainmaking and the next morning, Zheng Yi could fully recover whether she took a pill or not. Of course, if she wanted to take it easy, a daily expense of 60 points was perfectly fine.
"Alright, I'll try it the day after tomorrow," Zheng Yi agreed. "Don't worry, I'll do a good job."
"No, your well-being is the priority. If you feel unwell or overloaded, you can talk to us anytime." Base Leader Feng shook her head. The daily rainmaking had a huge impact on the base. If they pushed too hard for a second round and Zheng Yi got hurt… not only could it affect the daily rain, but it would also be detrimental to the friendly relations between them.
Zheng Yi nodded obediently.
"The high-heat period… will probably last for at least another week. During this time, if you encounter any trouble or need anything at all within the base, you can tell me immediately." Feng Shuxian paused, looking at Zheng Yi seriously, as if making a formal declaration. "I will resolve it for you."
Zheng Yi looked at her and tilted her head, seeming a little puzzled.
Feng Shuxian said with a serious expression, "After the high-heat period ends, if you're willing, you can stay at the base. Your jiejie can serve as the vice-base leader, and you can take the position of base leader."
"Food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—as long as the base can provide it, and as long as you are willing to stay and lead the base's development, we will do our best to satisfy your needs in every aspect."
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