A huge thank you to David_Carpenter_6713, Phiak_Yu, ryan_brogan, Kiljam, Adrian_Hardin, Unwilldien7days, and Logan_Thompson_2940 for the Golden Tickets! Your support truly means a lot and keeps me motivated to continue writing and improving the story.
[Lilith: Sorry, handsome, I was too busy just now and didnât have time to reply.]
[Lilith: As compensation, if you come to our Crimson Desire Shelter to visit, the entrance fee is waived~]
Looking at the other partyâs message in the chat, Vikram didnât know why, but he got goosebumps even though it was just through a screen.
[Vikram: Your Shelterâs entertainment program... Is it legitimate?]
Ignoring what Lilith said about waiving the entrance fee, Vikram asked himself.
He had originally just wanted to casually grab someone who seemed to know what was going on to explain why everyone was reporting coordinates in the channel.
Now Vikram understood the answer to that question, but since they were already friends, and he had nothing else to do, it wouldnât hurt to ask.
"Looks like another customer has taken the bait."
Looking at Vikramâs reply, Lilithâs lips curved into an arc.
What she said in the chat channel about waiving Vikramâs entrance fee was just a nice way of saying that everyone who came would get this discount.
She had long seen through these menâs minds; as long as they felt they were getting a good deal, attracting them to her shelter for an experience was practically a sure thing.
She had used this trick to attract customers many times, and it had always worked.
[Lilith: Legitimate, of course itâs legitimate. Handsome, donât you work hard every day to survive just to live a little more comfortably?]
[Lilith: So whatâs illegitimate about relaxing and releasing the stress accumulated from daily life?]
[Lilith: As long as you come here just once, I guarantee youâll get a deep, bone-penetrating relaxation.]
[Lilith: If you pay the fee on the Survival Platform first, you can also enjoy an 80% discount~]
Saying that, she directly sent her Shelterâs coordinates to Vikram.
"This really is a madam, isnât it?"
"These people arenât thinking about how to survive properly, but they have so many tricks up their sleeves."
Vikram chuckled, treating it as entertainment, and then closed the chat.
Just as he was about to go back to his room to sleep, Vikram suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
A bad premonition rose from the bottom of his heart, and he tremblingly turned his head...
At some point, three figures were already standing behind him.
"Gulp~" Vikram swallowed.
"You listen to me, Iâm trying to quibble, no, listen to my explanation." But obviously, this explanation seemed a bit weak, and Sophia, Divya and Anjali were still staring at Vikram with resentful eyes.
"You havenât even had the ones at home yet, and youâre already thinking about the ones outside?"
"Exactly. Be careful the black fogâs poison doesnât kill you, and you get poisoned by the rotten fish and shrimp outside."
"What are you talking about? Donât talk nonsense, okay?"
"I was just looking for fun, I really wasnât planning on going." Vikram wanted to cry but had no tears, so he directly opened the chat, preparing to delete that madam from his friends list.
Who knew that before his finger could even press the delete friend button, Divya grabbed his hand.
"Huh?" Divya exclaimed in surprise, then leaned closer to Vikramâs wrist to look at the chat history with the madam.
"Whatâs wrong?" Anjali scratched her head, clearly also puzzled by Divyaâs behavior.
"Look, this womanâs name looks so familiar, havenât we seen it somewhere before?"
Hearing this reply, Vikram and Anjali exchanged glances, both seeing a hint of confusion in each otherâs eyes.
Then they both focused their attention on the womanâs name.
"Lilith?" Vikram had no impression at all, but Anjali, upon seeing the name, seemed to remember something and slapped her forehead.
"I know!"
"Iâm not too familiar with this name, but this Crimson Desire Shelter seemed to have recruited members in the group before."
"That madam is a member of our small group?" Vikram raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"These new members were all pulled in by Kashif Ali. Logically, their overall strength and quality should be quite high."
"How did even a Shelter that solicits prostitutes get pulled into the group?"
"No matter what, Kashif Ali is backed by an Official Shelter. How could he know these kinds of people?"
Shaking his head in confusion, Vikram opened the group chat members list.
Sure enough, he found Lilithâs name there. She was also the second-in-command of Crimson Desire Shelter, and the group even had other members from Crimson Desire Shelter.
"Kashif is from the government?" Divya and Anjali didnât know about this, so instead of answering Vikramâs question, they asked their own.
After some effort, Vikram explained to them about Kashif Ali inviting him to his shelter before, and only then did they show expressions of understanding.
"Ah? Since it was an official invitation, why did you refuse it? Wouldnât agreeing have been better?" Anjali looked surprised, not understanding why Vikram had so unhesitatingly rejected the invitation.
"What good would going to an Official Shelter do? Donât forget, this is the Wasteland World."
"Without resources, whether itâs an official background or not, itâs all useless."
Sophia heard Vikramâs answer and immediately analyzed the reason, speaking slowly.
Vikram nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Sophiaâs statement.
Itâs not that an Official Shelter is necessarily bad, but in this godforsaken place where most people canât even get warm food, even if it develops well, in this harsh environment, just keeping its members from starving is already a great achievement.
Vikramâs own territory had such good conditions, why would he bother joining in?
Moreover, now he wants to create his own faction, so why cares about the others?
"Now that you mention it, it does seem that way." Anjali scratched the back of her head thoughtfully, her face full of wisdom.
"Hehe, Vikram is still very impressive. Even the official people canât compare to our Shelter."
Anjali, who had figured out the reason, paused, as if she had thought of something, and continued, "Then how could Kashif pull someone like that into the small group? He wouldnât have accepted benefits or kickbacks from Crimson Desire Shelter to bring her in, would he?"
She had seen plenty of movies about official-business collusion on Earth, and this reason involuntarily popped into her mind.
Both of them shook their heads simultaneously, clearly unable to fully understand this question.
However, Vikram felt that given Kashif Aliâs personality, this was most likely not the reason, but he also had no better explanation.
"Who cares? As long as it doesnât affect me, itâs fine." Vikram shrugged indifferently.
For them, the biggest use of this small group at the moment was the gossip Kashif Ali shared.
As for the other members, as long as they didnât affect his survival, he didnât care what they did...
The next day.
After a comfortable nightâs sleep, Vikram woke up early, feeling refreshed, and stretched lazily.
Then he walked out of his room.
Sophia, Divya and Anjali had already prepared breakfast and prepared in the living room and were sitting on the sofa.
A fried egg and corn, his breakfast, were left on the table. "Are you all ready?"
This time, Divya, Sophia and other new members were in charge of staying home, so this question was naturally directed at Anjali.
"Ready! This time, exploring the resource point, Iâm definitely going to collect the most resources!"
Anjali patted her chest, full of confidence.
Nodding, Vikram handed the machine gun to Divya.
"This is...?"
"This time, youâre watching the territory, so remember to be careful. The people from Green Wind might still be restless. Keep this machine gun for self-defense."
"Although Archy, Ranzy and many others are here for you. But, even if anything happens, send me a message immediately."
As he spoke, Vikram didnât forget to kiss Divya while she was taking the machine gun.
Divya kissed him back,
"Alright, hurry up and go. We still donât know how big that resource point is. If we drag it out any longer, itâll be evening."
Vikram smiled and nodded at her words, then pushed the door open and left with his breakfast.
After he took out the RV, Healy, Lighty, Stormy and Phanty had already appeared inside.
"Itâs getting late, letâs get in." Vikram lowered his arms from his chest and spoke slowly, looking at the Anjali was still waiting.
"Vikram, I have quite a bit of driving experience from before. Let me try driving this; you can rest beside me."
Anjali said looking at him, her expression was like that, if he denied her, she would start crying.
He has also experienced in the news and reality, that how the girl drives the vehicle.
And thinking of this, he hesitated. But she is also his wife, he canât deny her.
After thinking so much, he agreed to the request.
"Anjali, drive carefully."
"Of course, I drive carefully," Anjali nodded.
Hearing this, Vikram got into the vehicle.
The front and rear rows of the vehicle were equipped with premium leather seats, supporting electric adjustment, heating, and ventilation functions.
The middle row consisted of two independent seats that could be folded and slid, allowing easy access to the rear.
The rear row featured three connected seats, with the middle seat foldable to create additional storage space.
There were a total of six on this trip, and the vehicle was perfectly spacious enough.
Vikram and Anjali sat on the front seats in the very back.
While the four Plant Team sits backside.
At the same time, as soon as the iron gate opened, the sound of it immediately attracted the attention of the Zombies outside the wall.
However, these ordinary Zombies no longer posed much of a threat to them.
Anjali, who was responsible for the machine gun on this trip, was currently driving an RV. So, it all taken care of by the Phantom Druid.
In less than a minute, a horde of Zombies attempting to break in had met their demise.
At the same time, Anjali, who was driving the vehicle, wasnât idle, shouting from the driverâs seat, "Vikram, you donât mind if I use your RV to run over these ghastly things?"
"Just hit them; this RV isnât that delicate."
Vikram smiled faintly and said.
This was a Golden RV, from the time he was driving it, he didnât face any issues. For him, this RV is invincible on the Wasteland roads.
After receiving the go-ahead, a glint flashed in Anjaliâs eyes.
"Itâs been a while since Iâve done this, I hope Iâm not rusty." No sooner had she spoken than Vikram, felt a strong push against their backs.
The vehicleâs speed was maxed out in just a few seconds. The Zombies rushing towards the vehicle hadnât even figured out what this iron monstrosity was when they were already sent flying back with a heavy impact. Some lower-grade Zombies were directly smashed into a pile of flesh on the spot.
"Woohoo, this is so damn exhilarating, Iâm going to die loving this RV."
Watching Zombies occasionally being sent flying by the vehicle in front, Anjaliâs eyes gleamed, praising the RV without reservation.
Vikram chuckled at this. When he was driving the RV, he didnât get any praise, but when she was driving the RV, she was praising it non-stop.
Outside the Wasteland, the cold wind was biting, but after the windows were closed, the temperature inside the RV slowly rose.
Vikram enjoyed the heated seats while eating the breakfast he hadnât had time for earlier.
If one ignored the Zombies being smashed into blood mist, looking at the nearby scenery outside the car window offered a unique charm.
And also the factory resource point that Abhishek had given him was not far away.
It was only a little further than the Hospital.
Along the way, this RV in Anjaliâsâs hand blazed a trail and quickly arrived at its destination.
"This should be it."
Anjali looked at the coordinates Vikram had given her and pulled the handbrake.