Apocalypse: I Can Upgrade Everything

Chapter 99: Goal: Finding a Water Source

The moment the distribution of Artifacts was announced, the atmosphere shifted. The surrounding survivors watched with naked envy, while the Beyonders leaned in, interest piqued.

Chen Ye felt a surge of anticipation.

His eyes were fixed on one specific item: the Bone of the Man-Eating Two-Headed Cow. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on it and upgrade his Doomsday Pickup into a true Artifact. He had been eyeing this material since the moment the beast fell.

He quickly checked his system interface.

Killing Mo Huairen and the Demon Sequence youth had netted him a windfall of 20,000 Slaughter Points. Combined with his previous savings, he finally had enough to fund an upgrade.

Seeing the massive point reward for killing fellow Beyonders gave him pause. The system’s incentives were dark, pushing him toward a path of bloodshed. But he quickly suppressed the random, chaotic thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for moral philosophy.

He weighed his options.

The Human-Faced Scorpion’s Face Skin was objectively higher quality than the Cow Bone. However, compatibility mattered more than raw power. He couldn’t imagine how to integrate a monster’s face skin into his truck. Would he upholster the seats with it?

Maybe for a horror theme, he mused, but survival comes first. The Cow Bone was the structural reinforcement he needed.

“Alright,” Chu Che began, gesturing to the pile. “First up, the Cow Bone. I don’t know the specific quality of this material, but coming from a mutant of that size, it shouldn’t be trash.”

“Everyone has a share in this. Whoever wants to claim the material must compensate the other four members.”

Chen Ye didn’t hesitate. “I want it.”

“I’m not interested in bones,” Mad Lion shrugged, picking his teeth. “If Chen Ye can give me one… no, two camels, I’ll sign over my share.”

“Mad Lion, you’re being too dark!” Chen Ye shot back.

Two camels was a steep price. Even though it was Artifact material, in this wasteland, food was the irrefutable truth. Food was the base currency of life.

After a heated round of haggling, Chen Ye beat him down to one and a half camels.

Ding Dong watched the exchange with confusion. In the pre-apocalypse world, or even in established safe zones, Artifact materials were priceless. Yet here, they were being traded for meat?

Sun Qianqian leaned over and whispered into Ding Dong’s ear, explaining the convoy’s grim reality: power is useless if you starve to death before you can use it. Ding Dong listened, her eyes lighting up as she grasped the economics of their survival.

Chen Ye ignored them and turned his sights on the Captain.

“Captain, you want the Lovesick Lighter, don’t you? Give me your share of the bone, and I won’t drive up the price on the lighter.”

Chu Che’s face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead.

“Chen Ye, you greedy bastard!”

It was the exact same insult Chen Ye had thrown at Mad Lion moments ago.

“Captain, it’s fair trade,” Chen Ye said with a grin. “That lighter is a finished Artifact. You can use it the second you pick it up. You’re getting the better end of the deal!”

“Bullshit! Even if I give you a discount, you can’t gouge me like this!”

“Come on, look at me. Would I cheat you?”

“You’re usually all smiles, but you’ve got a heart of coal!” Chu Che grumbled, clearly annoyed by Chen Ye’s ruthless pragmatism.

Despite the complaints, they eventually struck a deal. Chen Ye paid in rice, flour, and a portion of his camel meat allocation to buy out Chu Che’s share.

It hurt. Watching his stockpile of food shrink was physically painful, but the trade was acceptable. Unlike the others, Chen Ye was a lone wolf. Chu Che and Sun Qianqian had dependents—”burdens” they had to feed. Iron Lion and Ding Dong had entire crews to look after. Chen Ye only had himself, so he could afford to burn food for power.

When it was Sun Qianqian’s turn, the pink-haired girl grinned mischievously. “I don’t need supplies. Just promise you’ll help me refine an Artifact later, and you can have my share.”

“Absolutely not,” Chen Ye refused flatly.

Refining required Slaughter Points. He barely had enough for himself; he wasn’t about to spend his life currency on charity.

In the end, he paid her in supplies as well.

Ding Dong also took her payment in camel meat—another one and a half camels’ worth.

By the time the transaction was finalized, Chen Ye had committed three full camels worth of meat to the others. His mountain of supplies had shrunk significantly, but the heavy, dense bone of the Two-Headed Cow was finally his.

Next came the Human-Faced Scorpion’s Face Skin.

Chen Ye had originally wanted this too, but his wallet was empty. He simply didn’t have enough food left to buy out the others. Sun Qianqian claimed it, compensating Chen Ye with a small cache of supplies.

The Scorpion’s Carapace found no takers. Chu Che stored it away, intending to trade it if they ever encountered another survivor team.

Finally, the main event: The Lovesick Lighter.

This was a finished Artifact, a weapon ready for war. Unlike raw materials, it required no refining. Chen Ye coveted it, but he knew his limits. He was tapped out.

He formally withdrew from the bidding.

Captain Chu Che claimed the lighter, but the victory cost him dearly.

He not only wiped Chen Ye’s debt for the previous gasoline loan but also handed over a fresh 30-liter jerrycan of fuel and a stack of other supplies. It was a massive hemorrhage of resources.

Chen Ye eyed the fuel suspiciously. Does the Captain have a spatial storage item? Where is he pulling all this gas from?

Chu Che remained tight-lipped, maintaining his air of mystery.

The biggest winners of the night, purely in terms of wealth, were Iron Lion and Ding Dong.

Iron Lion’s Titan Sequence relied on the body itself; his path was the “Flesh Apprentice.” Ding Dong, a martial artist, was similar. They had little need for external trinkets, so they sold their shares and raked in a fortune. The pile of food and water in front of them was mountainous, leaving their subordinates grinning so hard their faces looked crooked.

“Alright, supplies are distributed,” Chu Che announced, looking exhausted but satisfied. “One last thing before we sleep.”

“Seriously?” Sun Qianqian groaned. “Can I skip it? I haven’t practiced my sword forms today.”

Ever since her epiphany, the girl had been training maniacally every night. Chen Ye had often seen her silhouette dancing with a blade in the moonlight when he woke for his watch.

Chu Che ignored her complaints. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled, yellowed piece of paper. He handled it with extreme care, signaling its importance.

Only Ding Dong recognized it.

“Captain, is that…?”

“Ding Dong, you gave this to me. You should explain it.”

Ding Dong nodded, her expression serious. She turned to the group and dropped a bombshell.

“It’s a map to a water source.”

The Beyonders froze, glancing at each other in shock. Slowly, shock turned to elation.

If this map was real, it was worth more than every Artifact on that sand dune combined. They had gathered plenty of bottled water today, but in the desert, bottled water was a finite clock ticking down to zero. A renewable source? That was hope. That was life.

“Our next mission,” Chu Che said, his voice firm, “is to find this water source before our reserves run dry. Otherwise, none of us are making it out of this desert alive.”

It was a grim warning, but it was also the most uplifting thing they had heard in days.

When the news trickled down to the ordinary survivors, a cheer erupted from the camp. For the first time in a long time, they had a destination.

With the meeting adjourned, Chen Ye waved over two survivors to help load his haul.

The bed of the Doomsday Pickup was now packed tight, leaving no room to sleep in the back. Fortunately, his share of the loot included a high-quality camping tent.

He tossed a small loaf of bread to his helpers, who bowed and thanked him profusely before scurrying off.

Chen Ye set up the tent quickly and crawled inside, zipping the flap shut against the cold desert night. He didn’t waste time admiring the shelter. His heart was pounding for a different reason.

He summoned the system interface.

He had been thinking about this ever since dinner. If not for the prying eyes of the crowd, he would have checked the results of his deduction hours ago.