Despite the conflict with the people who distributed the food, it didn't dampen everyone's enthusiasm for lunch in the slightest.

  Liam brings out the cured meat rice, and the unique aroma of the meat instantly makes everyone lose their composure.

  Victoria doesn't care about her ladylike image anymore. She wolfs down the food, not even bothering to brush off the grains of rice that stick to her face.

  Liam has learned his lesson. Before serving the food, he specially prepares a large bowl filled to the brim with cured meat for Oliver. After all, they can eat the meat thanks to Oliver, and it's only natural for him to have more.

  However, Oliver isn't very interested in the cured meat. After quickly filling his stomach, he distributes the cured meat to the elderly. This act touches the Three-Flavored Elder and the others almost to tears. In the apocalypse, such virtue is extremely rare.

  Praised by the three elders, Oliver loses the desire to stay any longer. He grabs Victoria's hand and pulls her outside.

  Victoria looks puzzled. With her hand being held by Oliver, a blush creeps onto her face. She asks, "Where are we going?" Oliver smiles and says, "Let's go for a stroll in the market."

  Most women love shopping. When Victoria hears this, she almost jumps for joy and doesn't mind having her hand held anymore.

  The others notice their expressions. James' lips twitch, and he shakes his head, but it's unclear what he means.

  Tarzan gets up from the sofa and follows them, saying confidently, "Boss, I'm familiar with the market. With me around, no one dares to act up." He winks at James and adds, "James, I'll leave the house to you. Those people probably won't dare to come again, but it's better to be on the safe side."

  The flea market in the base isn't big. It was transformed from the former People's Livelihood Square. There are soldiers guarding all around, ensuring the safety of transactions.

  The people doing business here are all very shrewd, and you'll suffer a loss if you're not careful. The only trading currencies in the market are gold, diamonds, and food, with food being the most popular. You can even get discounts when trading with food.

  Even though it's the afternoon, the flea market is already bustling with activity, squeezing the small square so tightly that it's impossible to move freely.

  There are a wide variety of items here, from daily necessities to all kinds of electrical appliances. There are even some women with good looks flirting at their stalls and winking at the passersby.

  In the market, some people are secretly trading guns and ammunition behind the soldiers' backs.

  When they first went out, Tarzan saw that Oliver had nothing in his hands and thought he was just going to take a look. But he didn't expect Oliver to pick up a bag from an inconspicuous corner downstairs and hand it to Victoria with a smile. Tarzan has good eyesight and can tell at a glance that it contains compressed biscuits. One piece can allow a person to eat frugally for a whole day.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  With the food in hand, Tarzan suddenly feels full of confidence and no longer cares where the compressed biscuits came from.

  After entering the flea market, he looks around and chats with the stall owners from time to time.

  The people who can do business here all have their own ways. Oliver knows that these people can be divided into two types: one type is those who participate in hunting and obtain items through hunting, so their goods are quite miscellaneous; the other type is those who work in the base factory and manage to bring out some parts to sell when going to and from work by some means.

  Oliver doesn't have a specific purpose for coming to the flea market. He just wants to experience the apocalypse market.

  However, he is a bit disappointed. Although there are many people here, few of them actually have the purchasing power. After all, after three years, those without the ability have already squandered all their money and have no income, so how can they afford to buy things?

  Victoria is carrying the bag, and her mood is completely different from Oliver's. She can't even remember how long it's been since she went shopping. She hasn't had the opportunity since the apocalypse began. So she is extremely excited and stops to look at anything that catches her eye.

  But she is very sensible. For things that are useless, even if she likes them, she doesn't show it, knowing full well the importance of food in the apocalypse.

  When they stroll to the electrical appliance area, Oliver is attracted by a smart rice cooker.

  This rice cooker is a bit different from the ones in the modern world. It has more powerful functions and combines the functions of a microwave oven and a rice cooker. It can cook rice in three minutes, and its power is only 500W, consuming very little electricity. It can be regarded as a must-have in the kitchen.

  The female owner of the electrical appliance stall sees that Oliver is staring blankly at the rice cooker and takes a look at his clothes. Knowing that he is interested in buying it, she greets him warmly, "So, what do you think? This rice cooker was among the top three brands three and a half years ago. It's brand new and has never been used. It took a lot of effort to get it out of Dellai City."

  Seeing that Oliver doesn't respond, the female owner continues, "Originally, this rice cooker is worth at least 20 grams of gold. Since you seem to want it, I'll sell it to you for 15 grams."

  Oliver is a bit tempted. Tarzan laughs beside him and says to the female owner, "15 grams of gold? You're basically robbing people. But..."

  He takes out a piece of compressed flatbread from Victoria's bag and waves it. "One piece of compressed biscuits. If you agree, we'll make the deal."

  The female owner is a bit tempted when she sees it's food. One piece of compressed biscuits is enough for a person to eat for a day. But thinking of how hard it was to get the rice cooker, she shakes her head. "Two pieces. I'll make the deal for two pieces."

  Tarzan chuckles. "Two pieces of compressed flatbread are worth at least 20 grams of gold. And your rice cooker? It's not like you're the only one selling it in this market."

  This hits the female owner where it hurts. She calculates for a moment and grits her teeth. "Okay, considering it's food, I'll make the deal for one piece of flatbread."

  Oliver smiles at Victoria and says, "Give her two pieces. We want two of them."

  Although Victoria doesn't understand, she still does as he's told. The female owner is also quite happy. In the apocalypse, two rice cookers aren't really worth much, and she can accept getting them in exchange for one piece of compressed biscuits.

  In fact, the reason Oliver buys one more rice cooker isn't for backup. It's just that the functions of this rice cooker are so appealing to him.

  He's thinking about taking the rice cooker back to the modern world to see if he can study and replicate it. If this kind of advanced rice cooker is introduced to the market, it will surely become popular all over the world.

  With this thought in mind, Oliver feels that many things here are worth buying, and any one of them can make people excited.