As if worried Claire Warner might leave, Lewis quickly brought out a pen and paper and placed them in front of her.
"Alright."
Before coming, Nina Jacobs had already decided on the quantities and prices.
She had traded supplies with the base in her previous life, so she wasnât entirely without experience.
So when Henry Dixon received the price list handwritten by Claire Warner, he couldnât help but give her a second look.
"Can you go any lower?
I mean, itâs a bit expensive."
Henry Dixon tried to haggle.
"No, this is already the wholesale price."
Nina Jacobs shook her head.
If it werenât for the System Experience Points she could claim, there was no way she would sell at this price.
"Then can you throw in something extra?
I mean, like a freebie."
Henry Dixon asked, not giving up.
"A freebie?"
Nina Jacobs thought she had misheard.
"Itâs perfectly normal for a buyer to ask for a freebie, isnât it?
For example, you could throw in a few extra bags, or some other small supplies.
Anything like that would be fine."
Henry Dixon explained.
"Fine. I can throw in an additional 50 barrels of cooking oil."
Nina Jacobs felt that made sense.
After all, this was a transaction involving thousands of pounds of grain.
"Then... is there any cashback for a good review?"
Henry Dixon asked again.
"Or maybe some other gifts would work.
It would make it easier for us to work together next time, you know."
After Henry Dixon finished speaking, Marshall and Lewis, who were standing behind him, were already starting to feel embarrassed for him.
"Donât get me wrong, I would never line my own pockets.
Iâm just engaging in the normal haggling that happens between a buyer and a seller."
Seeing Claire Warner frown, Henry Dixon quickly explained.
"Just the 50 barrels of cooking oil. Nothing else."
Nina Jacobs finally understood why Daniel Hale had called this man stingy and calculating.
"Just think about it some more...
Fine, fine, weâll go with this price.
Iâll take you to make the transaction right now."
When Henry Dixon saw Claire Warner get up as if to leave, he realized she wasnât going to be a pushover.
Nina Jacobs knew that Henry Dixon was trying to test her limits, step by step.
"Director Dixon, if you want to trade long-term,
it would be better to get straight to the point in the future."
Nina Jacobs said.
âLong-term trade?â
A sharp glint flashed in Henry Dixonâs eyes.
âCould it be that this Claire Warner has some powerful backing?â
âBut the price she offered is indeed a great deal.â
âI just donât know about the quality of the goods yet.â
And when Claire Warner started pulling out the grain, bag by bag, directly from her space, everyone around her looked pleasantly surprised.
"Director, thereâs no problem with these goods. Theyâre in excellent condition."
Sean Hawthorne from the warehouse said after inspecting them.
The grain was as clean as new, much cleaner than the supplies the rescue teams had brought back.
"These are the Crystal Cores, Miss Warner..."
Henry Dixon was a bit shocked. Claire Warner had stored the box of Crystal Cores in her space without even counting them.
"I trust in Director Dixonâs character."
Nina Jacobs said.
The second after she stored the Crystal Cores, the system sent a notification:
[Detected that the host has completed a supply transaction. "The Doomsday Supplier" title has been triggered. 4050 System Experience Points awarded.]
"Reliable, very reliable.
Miss Warner, if you have any more supplies,
we can continue our transaction today."
When Henry Dixon had gone to get Justin Lawsonâs approval just now, Justin had already put him in charge of the matter.
When Claire Warner took out the cooking oil from her space earlier, it was obvious she had more left.
"I can, but Iâm just a Space Superpower User.
This transaction today..."
Before Claire Warner could finish, Henry Dixon immediately gave his assurance.
"Donât worry, Miss Warner, we understand.
We wonât leak anything about you to outsiders."
After Henry Dixon finished, Sean Hawthorne and the other warehouse staff also voiced their agreement.
Claire Warner nodded.
In truth, she wasnât worried about her identity being exposed.
Because no one could find Claire Warner.
Once the transaction was done, Claire Warner would simply disappear.
Saying it this way just made things seem more logical.
Sean Hawthorne led Claire Warner to an open area, and she slowly began to unload the supplies.
She deliberately slowed her pace.
A normal Space Superpower User would consume their Superpower not only when storing items, but also when taking them out.
"Miss Warner, why donât you take a break? Weâre not in a hurry."
Henry Dixon suggested.
"No need."
Nina Jacobs wanted to free up more space.
The grain from before was really just a drop in the bucket.
It didnât even fill up a single storage slot.
She tried to take out items with shorter shelf lives first, such as corn flour, cooking oil, coarse grain flour, various types of beans, instant noodles, and so on.
Henry Dixon personally tallied the supplies.
While having Marshall record the quantities on the side, he said with a beaming smile:
"The shelterâs supply consumption has been too high recently.
These will help alleviate the pressure a bit.
Weâre starting to build the base in two days, and I was originally worried..."
Henry Dixon said.
After all, not many new supplies had come into the warehouse recently.
Although the amount of supplies Claire Warner was trading wasnât massive, it was enough to ease his anxiety.
"Alright, thatâs about it."
As Claire Warnerâs pace of unloading supplies slowed, Henry Dixon was also close to finishing his count.
[Detected that the host has completed a supply transaction. "The Doomsday Supplier" title has been triggered. 3598 System Experience Points awarded.]
She had gained nearly 8,000 System Experience Points from a single trade.
Nina Jacobs was very satisfied.
"Does Miss Warner have a permanent room?
If not..."
Henry Dixon asked with a smile.
"I have my own team and place to stay.
No need to trouble yourself."
Knowing he was trying to pry into her situation, Nina Jacobs refused him directly.
âEvery word and action of this Henry Dixon is like a sly old fox.â
âIf Iâm not careful, heâll lead me by the nose.â
Nina Jacobs didnât remember a character like him at the base in her previous life.
She left the logistics department.
Nina Jacobs then did a lap around every floor of the shelter.
Only then did she turn off her "Facial Adjustment" Skill in a place where no one could see her.
She decided not to set up her stall for the next couple of days.
Because she had just implied that her space was now empty.
"...Still, a lot of Superpower Users have signed up for the Superpower User Alliance."
"Anyone with a discerning eye can tell thereâs something wrong with that place. Otherwise, why would the people they recruited before refuse to go back?"
"Yeah, even someone like Kevin Holden isnât willing to go back.
There must be something fishy going on."
"Canât be helped. There are always people willing to take a gamble. After all, free food and lodging, who wouldnât be tempted?"
Nina Jacobs overheard the surrounding survivors discussing this amongst themselves.
She sighed in relief internally.
âIt seems the people from the Superpower User Alliance are about to leave.â
Just then, she suddenly heard a cry of alarm. It was clearly Sherry Rennerâs voice.
Only then did Nina Jacobs remember that she hadnât turned off her "Five Senses Enhancement" Skill.
âSomething happened to Sherry Renner?!â
She quickly ran in the direction of the interrogation rooms.
There were screams from the crowd; it seemed someone had zombified.
Nina Jacobs paid them no mind. Just as she burst into the hallway of the interrogation rooms, she ran head-on into someone.
"Nina Jacobs, stop him!"
Hearing Sherry Rennerâs voice, Nina Jacobs decisively threw a punch!
The man was wearing a black face mask and a baseball cap, his features obscured.
Several bullet-sized flames shot towards the man, but he quickly backflipped to narrowly dodge them.
His cap, however, was hit and fell to the ground.
"Hey, hey, I heard youâre not supposed to use Superpowers inside the shelter, right?"
The man said with a helpless expression.
But dense, thread-like bolts of lightning were already surging from his hand toward Nina Jacobs!
To his surprise, when faced with his Thunder Element Superpower attack, Nina Jacobs didnât flinch.
Instead, she charged straight at him!