Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Besides, the resource searching team members, who had been detained by the Bangnang Safe Zone, hadn't had a proper meal in a while.

Last night, after rescuing them, it was too late to provide anything other than warmth and rest.

They barely got a bite of hot food.

Once those who needed to leave had gone, the number of people left in the room dwindled significantly.

Kim Haru was one of them.

From the Delta Squad, Shin Woncheon and Gang Yuwon stayed behind, while Ra Jinho and Ryu Hyunwoo, uninterested in these matters, had already left early with the others.

Jo Sungmo and Vice Captain Yun Posun of the search team also remained.

From the Bangnang Safe Zone, the ones who stayed were their leader Song Hayoon, Yoon Jongju, Kang Hose, Yoon Soeon, and a pair of twin brothers who introduced themselves as Jung Daeryong and Jung Soryong—six people in total.

Although the Bangnang Safe Zone side had one more person, the people from the Pyeongseong Saze Zone still seemed to have the upper hand in terms of presence.

Kim Haru, however, had no awareness of this.

He considered himself merely a background figure.

If it weren't for his awareness of his role as a Vice Safe Zone Commander, he might have found an excuse to join the others in preparing meals instead.

After all, with his space-type abilities, it would be convenient for him to supply anything they needed on the spot.

Even now, as Kim Haru stayed in the room, he had no intention of voicing any opinions during this negotiation.

He admitted to himself that he knew little about such matters and wasn't sharp enough to navigate them.

He didn't think he was cut out for this.

Thus, Kim Haru deliberately chose a seat in the farthest corner of the last row.

The people from the Bangnang Safe Zone—or more precisely, the Caeruleus Draco Squad—found Kim Haru's behavior perplexing, but no one dared to say anything.
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After the others left, Song Hayoon got straight to the point without any preamble.

"Pyeongseong Safe Zone has always had a limited number of ability users. However, our Bangnang Safe Zone has plenty of such people. We can offer these ability users to become part of the Pyeongseong Safe Zone. As for the transaction we wish to propose, it's not about supplies, but rather…" Song Hayoon paused for effect. "The elimination of the Golden Dianthus Squad."

The room fell silent.

Except for Kim Haru, who had no idea what the Golden Dianthus Squad was, Shin Woncheon, Jo Sungmo, and the others were visibly shocked.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Jo Sungmo demanded, his face darkening as he fixed his gaze on Song Hayoon. "If I remember correctly, the Golden Dianthus Squad is the largest team in your Bangnang Safe Zone. Are you planning to eliminate them and take over? Gain control of the Bangnang Safe Zone?"

"With just Pyeongseong Safe Zone's strength, I don't think we have the ability to pull that off," Shin Woncheon interjected, shaking his head. "Moreover, your proposed terms of the transaction don't interest us. While the Pyeongseong Safe Zone does lack ability users, it's not so desperate as to accept just anyone."

Besides, once winter passes and the movement of ability user squads between safe zones becomes more frequent, it won't take long for news of the Pyeongseong Safe Zone's ability to grow normal food to spread.

There would be no hiding it, nor was there any intention to.

Once this news gets out, will Pyeongseong Safe Zone really struggle to attract ability users?

If anything, it will be the other way around, it will be the ability users who are begging to join the Pyeongseong Safe Zone rather than the other way around.

Even ability users couldn't survive indefinitely without food, nor could they escape the internal mutations caused by consuming too much food with mutagenic virus level.

Even if their abilities made them personally resilient to such effects, they had families, friends, and ordinary people they wanted to protect.

Could they truly resist the temptation of providing normal food to those under their care?

They couldn't.

Thus, the condition proposed by the Bangnang Safe Zone seemed laughable to Kim Haru and the others.

This wasn't a benefit for the Pyeongseong Safe Zone; it was clearly a better deal for the Bangnang Safe Zone.

The members of Caeruleus Draco Squad were unaware of the significance of normal food.

Seeing the people from the Pyeongseong Safe Zone's confident attitude, doubts flickered in their eyes.

At first, they thought the people from the Pyeongseong Safe Zone was just bluffing.

But moments later, they realized Kim Haru and his team's confidence was genuine, not an act.

This revelation greatly surprised Caeruleus Draco Squad.

Shin Woncheon turned to the Caeruleus Draco members and asked, "Do you have anything else to add? If not, we're leaving. We're hungry."

"Wait!" Yoon Jongju hurriedly called out, then glanced at their leader, Song Hayoon.

Song Hayoon, understanding Yoon Jongju's intent, gritted her teeth and revealed her final bargaining chip: "I know of something that can rapidly and safely enhance the power of ability user. This method was discovered by Caeruleus Draco Squad by sheer chance and remains a secret. I'm willing to exchange this method with the Pyeongseong Safe Zone."

The people from the Pyeongseong Safe Zone were stunned.

Shin Woncheon and Jo Sungmo exchanged a look, both of them silently conveying that neither had heard of such a thing before.

But if Song Hayoon was telling the truth…

"Wait a moment," Jo Sungmo said, constructing a psychic barrier to isolate sound before discussing with the others.

"Our safe zone is lagging far behind the surrounding areas in terms of combat strength. The harsh winter climate gives us a temporary buffer, but when the spring comes, the other Safe Zone might set their sights on us."

He didn't need to name names; the others knew exactly who he meant.

The Haneulsae trading team's Level 3 Ability Users were currently working in the Pyeongseong Safe Zone, and the Draco Virtus Squad from the Haneulsae Safe Zone had already been reassigned to the pioneering teams.