Trash in the Apocalypse

For the next few days, the territory remained peaceful.

The announcement regarding the alliance between the government and Black Haven came as a shock to some people, but they had no choice but to accept it. They could only bury the hatred in their hearts as they continued their daily life.

Jun slowly find his natural pace in everyday life. In the morning, he would spend some time to manage the territory. Most of the things that needed his attention were matters regarding expansion and safety. Everything else below doesn't concern him.

Bernard took most of the laborious job as the Head of HR Department. New territories need a lot of workforces and a large variety of them.

Cardona has become the food center of the territory and was heavily guarded by the First Army. Thanks to the advent of evolved fishes from the lake, new recruits don't have to risk their lives for the first few days of training. Every recruit could easily get a few levels off killing lake fishes.

As more people were saved during the territory expansion, more children of all ages started to appear. The management decided to teach those who were willing to attend basic survival techniques together with free basic skills they might need.

Currently, the Black Haven Academy had less than three hundred students ranging from thirty years old and below. Most of the citizens don't want to sit in a classroom to learn things that they could learn outside. 

However, that doesn't mean there aren't any old people who want to study the changes brought by the new world.

In the future, a few of these curious people would surely stumble upon new knowledge that would improve everyone's lives.

On the eastern side of the territory, Baras, Jun led everyone forward to scavenge on the next town, Tanay. 

Their goal for today was to scavenge for as many water purifiers and water filter equipment they could get. 

The Mission Board already assigned high rewards for buying as many water filter equipment available. It was a project by Gina to allow everyone a free source of purified drinking water.

Underground wells still work but many got sick drinking from them. The various organisms or waste inside them couldn't be guaranteed. The stock water was also dwindling at an alarming rate due to consumption.

If they can get a water filter tank and several other types of equipment, Evo could modify them a bit to their advantage. Evo's skills weren't magical, they were just rare and unique. He could easily modify an item as long as it corresponds to its normal use. 

For example, he can't make a pen shoot a laser, but he could modify it, so he could write in thin air. The words would remain floating in the air for some time and would only dissipate once the energy used to create them was consumed. 

Once they get enough equipment, they could purify the lake water into potable drinking water. A debate whether the cold and hot option should be added was still on-going at the town center. Either way, everything would depend on how much energy does it require to run, purify, and convert water. 

Tanay was a decently-sized town and has a population of more than 100,000 people. It had a couple of tourist spots that could potentially turn into treasure spots or monster dens.

Upon arriving at the outskirts, Jun immediately felt something strange about the town. 

It was eerily quiet.

The national road they were traveling in was devoid of people, alive or dead. The farmlands on both sides of the road were empty with only grass reaching above the knee. 

There were no signs of carriers in the distance nor survivors looking around to scavenge. Still, they were still far away from the town center to determine the overall situation and so, he gave it some benefit of the doubt.

With a simple gesture of his hand, the First Army moved forward. King made relevant commands to send scouts and secure the region.

It didn't take much time for the scouts to come back and inform them of their findings.

The place was clean. There were no carriers to be found in the immediate vicinity nor there were any survivors snooping around. 

That means they can safely search the nearby houses. 

After deciding that he already had enough information, Jun assigned everyone to their jobs.

"Search the houses, take everything useful, leave anything we can't use. If it's too big to enter your dimensional storage, then carry it on your shoulders.

"But that probably won't happen too often. We'll meet back here after half an hour."

Everyone dispersed and ran to the houses by the side of the road. They were at the entrance of the town and they weren't expecting any good loot here. Still, any kind of loot they could take would surely help them even if it was small.

Right then, Jun noticed someone peering at him from the distance.

He immediately turned his head to try and catch the culprit but failed to see anyone on the horizon. The town center remained tranquil with no signs of life appearing anytime soon.

Some time later, the army returned with their loot and Jun didn't waste any time.

"There's something in the town. Don't tense yourself, but be prepared. Let's go!"

—

—

Back at Black Haven, Evo had his jaws open after hearing the terrible news.

"It usually takes five months?! Can't we do something to make them grow faster?"

Felipe nodded and patted his shoulder.

"Well, we can use the energized watering-can to speed it up a little bit. But even then, the peanut plant might take 2 to 3 months until we can get some harvest. Why not try some corn nuts? We have a lot of corn, and they're great snacks."

Felipe left after giving a few more advise and went back to his duties, leaving a dismayed Evo.

"Corn nuts... do I really have no other choice?"

Corn nuts were one of the country's renowned products. A lot of recipes could be found online and with the vast resources that he could get his hands on, making them shouldn't be a problem.

A small orchard on the corn farm was turned into a peanut farm. Evo stared at them longingly before leaving filled with hope.

"Two to three months without peanuts?"

"I can do it! I can survive!"