Chapter 716: Recruitment

Chapter 716: Recruitment

Whoever Mara was, it seemed that he or she was an impressive merchant, owning different kinds of shops. Shane couldn’t help but feel curious about the merchant’s identity… After all, he couldn’t recall any Survivor with the name Mara at the top rankings.

Anyway, the shop was part bakery, part pet-care stall. A display rack held trays of meat biscuits, enchanted jerky, bone-ash cookies, and jelly packs…

To Shane’s surprise, this food wasn’t simple, they were actually boosting the Pet Skills, Levels, and even Stats!

Normally, Pets provided by the system would be better off if they were fed with Zombie Cores. No one bothered to think of feeding them something else since the Zombie Cores had proven effects, and the Pets liked them as well.

Even Shane does all of that, and only fed them with Zombie Cores… Or perhaps, he’d use human food that doesn’t have any effects just to fill their stomach.

This was especially true for his Metal Slime, Silver.

“I guess I should be a good Pet Owner for once…” Shane muttered.

Behind the counter was a woman with deep bronze skin and unusual silvery scales running along her arms and lower jaw.

‘A bloodline talent?’ Shane thought as he guessed that the woman obtained a reptile-type bloodline as her talent, allowing her to obtain scales.

Her long, serpent-like tail curled around her waist, steadying her as she reached up to stack more snacks onto the shelf.

‘Ahh… She’s a dragonkin…’ Shane suddenly realized as he felt the familiar aura similar to Roan, but it was a lot weaker.

Shane recognized the sign of a Dragonkin Talent—a rare mutation-based talent that granted her not only a powerful physique but also partial traits of draconic beasts. It explained her glowing eyes and slightly forked tongue, too.

‘A Master or maybe Exceptional Grade Talent…’ Shane mused as he didn’t feel the same aura with those with Epic or Legendary Talent.

Anyway, the woman waved over some onlookers and handed out tiny samples to curious pets. As expected, the Survivors moving around had small pets with them.

There was even a mutated squirrel with tiny antlers and tusks sniffing a biscuit, and then gobbled it down eagerly…

“Careful, little guy,” the woman laughed, scratching the squirrel’s head. “That one’s laced with undead-repellent herbs. Tastes like liver, smells like chicken…”

“Undead repellent herbs?” One survivor asked.

“That’s right… For one biscuit, your pet gets 5 minutes of low-tier Zombie Repellent effect. It stacks 5 times.” The woman replied proudly.

“Ohh… That’s interesting. This is good for support-type pets.”

“That’s true… Do you have something for mid-tier Zombie Rebellent?”

“Right… That might be better. I’m willing to pay more for that.”

At this question, the woman could only wryly smile.

“We also have that. However, we can only produce a small number of them, and they’re being sold in the system’s marketplace, so we can get a higher price.” She explained.

Everyone understood what she meant and could only accept their decision. Still, everyone purchases a few snacks for their pets since, aside from Zombie Repellent, there were other effects as well, like doubling experience points, boosting skills, and more.

Shane was amused as he saw the various types of pastries and snacks for the pets. “You make all these yourself?”

The woman finally turned and grinned. “Every single one. I don’t trust the system store to understand what a zombie-infected Ferret needs in their diet.”

As she said this, a Ferret appeared and cuddled her…

He stepped closer, intrigued at the snacks. “Do they expire?”

“Yes… However, that will take a year at the very least.”

She tapped the counter, gesturing toward the various categories.

“This tray over here—spiritual focus boosters for life-sensitive familiars. Those are for digestive regulation. These black ones? Those pets who had gone out of control or become berserk would be docile for twelve hours, suppressing aggression. And those purple jelly drops? They restore minor stamina… Better than a bloody potion shoved down their throat.”

Her eyes narrowed playfully as she looked at Shane… “You’re not just browsing. You’ve got a Pet with you… But I’m not sure how you’re hiding it.”

She was right, Shane certainly had a pet with him, but it was just not obvious. Silver, his Metal Slime, had transformed into his inner armor after all.

“So you’ve noticed that… It’s just hiding… Anyway, is that part of your Talent?” Shane asked…

“Ooh, exotic! It’s really a hidden pet? A ghost type? Maybe an insect, so small I couldn’t see?” she asked, impressed at whatever pet Shane had… “Ahem, yes… My nose can sense other pets nearby. I just can’t distinguish them easily unless I’ve seen one before.”

Shane nodded… “I see.”

The woman chuckled as she fixed a crooked display. “I’m Mara, by the way…”

“Ahhh… I’m Shane… Are you the owner of the multiple shops named after your name?”

“Yes…” Mara replied with a hint of pride in her voice.

Then, realization hit her… There was only one Shane existing in this Apocalypse.

“That Shane? The Eclipse Revenant? First on the Clan Leaderboard?”

“I get that a lot today,” Shane said, chuckling.

“Well, I won’t ask to join,” she said with a smirk, “but I will offer bulk discounts if you want to place monthly orders.”

Shane tilted his head. “Actually… why not open a branch in one of my shelters? There are a lot of people there. I can give you a Merchant Identity Token for one of my shelters.”

He didn’t expect that he would be doing business here, but since he had already started with the other survivors, he might as well work more for his shelters’ benefit.

Lately, he had been focused on other areas of the shelters, and now, he might as well focus on giving a better life for his residents.

Mara blinked as he didn’t expect to get a chance of putting her own shop in one of the best shelters on the continent…

“…Seriously? What’s the catch?! Is it the tax… How much?”