Trash in the Apocalypse

"Aren't we losing out on this trade?" King said as he stood beside Jun.

Instead of answering his question, Jun raised a thin booklet that was common in Black Haven.

"See this booklet? Everything that we get off trading this is considered a profit. Besides, we didn't lose out. We actually gained a lot in this trade."

Jun tossed a cloth bag to King, which startled the man.

King clumsily caught the cloth bag before looking at Jun. "What is this?"

"They are new breeds of seed that we don't have. I managed to identify three seeds and we can raise them as crops. We just need exclusive farmers, since Old Felipe already has tons of work to do."

King peeked inside the cloth bag and saw seven different colors of seeds. 

Jun explained. "The red small seeds are called Bloody Wheat. This wheat can be substituted for rice and could give adequate energy regeneration. It also provides substantial amounts of a number of components that are beneficial for health..."

Sensing that King was eyeing him strangely, Jun stopped overly explaining and gave short explanations.

"The red small seeds are Bloody Wheat, a rice substitute. They speed up stamina recovery upon consumption. When too many are consumed, the Berserk side-effect could be activated."

"The small grainy-brown seeds are Healing Parsley seeds. They have health regeneration properties. We can probably use it as a vegetable or alchemy ingredient when needed."

"The small orange seeds are called Glow Flax seeds. As the name states, once the plant flowers, it would glow in the dark. There's nothing much from its description. Maybe my skill level isn't enough to dig for more information."

"As for the rest of the seeds, I don't know what they are. Hand everything to Old Felipe later for identification, and ask him to prepare a report on what kind of seeds they are.

Jun ignored King for the rest of the afternoon and King didn't know what he did wrong.

Before the warm sun disappeared on the west, the First Army has gathered back at the central plaza. During this whole afternoon, encounters with strangers were endless and filled with tension.

Not all strangers were hostile, but that doesn't mean they could take them back to Black Haven. They were strangers a moment ago, and its better to remain that way for the time being.

Jun realized a lot of holes in the current implemented government. After going back, he had tp tackle those issues with several people. 

First of all was the influx of survivors.

Seeing that people finally adjusted to the new world, people would now become free to go anywhere they wanted to. Without the IDSystem from the past, it was impossible to keep track of everyone and their identities. Besides, killing in the new world was as natural as breathing.

Jun doesn't disdain killing. What he hates are the vile acts that happens in the dark. Unless they can make something to identify people with their current crimes, it would be disastrous to recruit new people into the group.

The impending crisis over hostile individuals had to be improved. The First Army can't wait to get shot upon before reacting. They need to train exceptional individuals into proper leaders who could act correctly at the right time.

New military departments must also be created to divide labor. Everything must be set in place while the army was still small to adjust things easier.

The haul for today was worth the travel. The expedition group gathered more than 30 filtering equipment after sweeping all the buildings in the town center.

With this, they could convert and provide 10 filters per town, allowing for clean and healthy drinking water. Currently, most of the scavenged water filters in their corresponding towns were already looted. These sets of water filters would be distributed to highly populated towns, so there would be enough drinking water for all the towns under Black Haven. 

The expedition group returned back to Binangonan with large water tanks on their shoulders. These water tanks were 2 meters tall and 1 meter wide. It was part of the water filtering equipment and they just want to bring back everything that they could. 

During the return trip, they had to apply energy coating, so the item wouldn't be left behind after teleportation.

Jun went back to his room in the compound after settling some matters with Evo. He had to make sure that his friend would be informed about the future direction he was planning to take, so the man could take proper measures along the way. 

It was blind trust among friends, and it's been going on for years.

After taking his jacket off, Jun produced a clean bottle of water from his inventory. He took several gulps as he walked towards the wooden cabinet with a clay pot on top of it. 

There was nothing to be seen except for dirt, and yet Jun gazed at the dirt pot with a bit of longing. He drank another mouthful before pouring the rest of the water towards the pot.

—

—

"What did you get?" An old man hastily asked after seeing his grandson appeared from the Teleport Portal. 

"A lot. Mostly new information. I also got this weapons as extra gifts. Overall, I think they're good people." Edson reported.

The old man appeared unhappy about the things displayed in front of him. "Did you become soft again? I told you to get as many benefits you could take. Oh dear lord, when will you guys learn that this world has always been for strong people. Is this the attitude what your father taught you? Just wait until he gets back, I'll give that soft-hearted brat a little beating!"

"You're already old enough to see what's right for you and this family! You should follow the footsteps of your brothers!"

The old man calmed down after some time, then ate the vegetables in front of him. After munching on the food, he took a few seconds to think of something to ask his grandson.

"Do they know what those seeds are?"

"I don't think they know..." Edson answered.

"You think? Did you not ask them?"

"I-I couldn't ask. The man just glanced at the seeds with curiosity,then stored them away. From his expression, he knows nothing about the seeds."

The old man didn't pursue the matter anymore. Those seeds were a bit strange. They dropped from mutated forest animals as loot but they don't grow even after being planted for weeks.

At first, they though it was natural, but the other seeds they got from the town were already showing sprouts when they were planted at the same time.

At long last, they could only give up on planting them and use them as 'rare' materials for trading. Finding a strange person who wants strange seeds was their great fortune.

The old man drank his water contentedly before standing up to bring the dishes to the kitchen. 

On the forested area, a wide clearing was made with dozens of tree huts all over the place. At the center of them all, an eye-catching modern villa radiated with bright lights illuminating the area.

Only selected people could get close to the villa, and most of them were the regular caretakers even before the apocalypse. The villa was a restricted property that only family members are allowed to enter.