Chapter 241: Chapter 241: Zero-Dollar Shopping in District 1

The hotel had no air conditioning, making the room feel damp and cold. Evelyn Ford took out an electric blanket and changed the bedding to her own set. The hotel’s blankets were moldy and reeked of tobacco and sweat.

Evelyn Ford shivered as she stepped out of the shower.

"I think the thermometer’s broken. It’s negative twenty degrees Celsius in Zaltar, so how does it feel even colder than the negative thirty-five degrees outside?"

"It’s probably because we’re surrounded by the sea. The wind is fierce in Zaltar. A moment ago, it blew out a window from that building up ahead. It fell and killed two people on the street."

Evelyn Ford hurried to the window. Below, only a pool of blood remained. The bodies had already been cleared away.

Just then, a convoy of more than ten cargo trucks passed by below. The first three were packed full of white radishes, and the next five were loaded with processed beef and mutton.

The gamy smell of the meat wafted up into the room. A slight smile played on Evelyn Ford’s lips as she watched the trucks disappear into the distance.

"Ronan, besides growing vegetables, District 1 must have livestock farms."

"They must be for transport to the other districts." Ronan Kendrick came up behind Evelyn and draped his overcoat over her shoulders.

"The woman I’m impersonating is named Sisley. Her papers say she’s from a place called the Moon Pavilion. I’m guessing it’s Zaltar’s red-light district."

Evelyn Ford took out her notebook. She had mapped out their entire journey: from the Earthen Cliff to the forest outpost, and now to District 1.

"Ronan, I don’t think I’ll need to change identities again. This one is perfect. Even if Sisley goes missing, no one will notice."

"Besides, I suspect the livestock farms are over this way, near the forest and behind the vegetable greenhouses."

"Then we’ll go check it out later."

"Okay. We still need to go to the port. Once we’ve collected the goods, we’ll head to District 2 immediately."

After sleeping for five hours, they packed up and left the hotel at eleven o’clock at night. Fully geared up, they encountered no obstacles on their way out. In the garage, the patrol car was still parked in a corner.

After confirming there were no cameras, Evelyn Ford stored the patrol car in her space. They decided to leave on foot.

Late at night in District 1, a few shops were still brightly lit. Patrol guards gathered in small groups for drinks, and drunken men staggered down the street. Ronan Kendrick searched one of them and took his ID. The man was already frozen stiff; in another hour, he would be a corpse.

The district was filled with refugees from all over the world. People who had once lived in affluence were now forced to do the most menial labor just to get by.

The lack of streetlights was perfect for moving unseen. Their boots made a CRUNCHING sound on the frosted ground.

As they entered the inner city of District 1, they could hear boisterous laughter from a distance. Bathed in red light, women were welcoming and seeing off a stream of male patrons.

A seven-story, castle-like building loomed ahead. A neon sign hung from the top, displaying the words "Moon Pavilion" in a foreign script.

"There’s a car on the side of the road."

Ronan Kendrick walked over, knocked out the driver and the woman in the passenger seat, and moved them to the back. He and Evelyn got in and drove directly toward the livestock farms.

Just as Evelyn Ford had predicted, the livestock farms were located behind the vegetable greenhouses. However, the place looked less like a farm and more like a processing plant. They parked the car in a concealed spot and climbed over a back wall to get inside.

After a quick tour, Evelyn Ford had memorized the entire layout.

"There’s a warehouse over here."

Evelyn Ford took out her lock-picking tools and opened the heavy iron lock in five seconds.

Ronan Kendrick was surprised. "You know how to do this?"

"Practice makes perfect."

They closed the door behind them and entered the warehouse. Evelyn Ford found it filled with sealed boxes of canned meat.

"These must be headed for the other districts."

Evelyn Ford opened a can and sniffed it. ’Smells pretty good.’ With a wave of her hand, she swept everything into her space.

It was indeed a meat processing plant. In another warehouse, they also found several hundred barrels of diesel fuel.

Evelyn Ford even took the dozen or so large cargo trucks from the garage. Unfortunately, she couldn’t take the tens of thousands of cattle and sheep from the farm, as her space couldn’t store living creatures. She had no choice but to leave them behind.

When they left the processing plant, the car’s original occupants were still unconscious.

"To the port now."

"Right."

They took a detour around the perimeter of District 1, arriving at its shipping port an hour later.

It was called a port, but it was really just a logistics hub. Supplies destined for other districts were piled high: beef and mutton, various canned goods, animal fat, shoes, vegetables, clothes, cotton quilts, charcoal, wood...

It was one in the morning, but workers were still loading crates. The pair slipped through the wire fence and made their way to the port’s warehouse. Hundreds of large cargo trucks were parked inside, already loaded. At six o’clock, the gates of District 1 would open to dispatch these goods to the other zones.

"Jackpot. Our luck is holding."

The mutton and radishes they had seen that afternoon were still here. Evelyn Ford took everything, trucks and all.

In moments, the massive warehouse was completely empty.

At 2:30 a.m., Ronan Kendrick drove the car back. They moved the couple from the back seat to the front again. Then, finding a secluded spot, Evelyn Ford brought out the patrol car. They waited for other patrol vehicles to pass and merged into their convoy.

At 5:50 a.m., District 1 opened its main gate. The patrol cars filed out one by one, and Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick slipped out with them.

Holding the map of Westeria they had found at the port, Evelyn Ford took out a red pen and circled all the districts.

"Zaltar alone has four districts. And contrary to our earlier guess, it’s entirely a production hub. It seems the other cities are the same. Zaltar is the main center for producing medicine and food. And then there’s this city, Yastin. It’s mainly for coal mining. Refugees from other countries who have no rights, status, or jobs are all sent to Yastin to work in the mines."

"Are we still going to the other districts?"

"Of course." Evelyn Ford drew a thick circle around District 2.

"District 2 produces pharmaceuticals. And according to how they’ve divided up the nationalities, people from Rovan were assigned here to manufacture them. I’m going to take every last bit of medicine. I won’t leave a single pill behind."

Evelyn Ford was in such a good mood that she even started humming. Seeing her high spirits, Ronan Kendrick reached out and gently pinched her cheek.

"At this rate, it won’t even take us a month to clean out all of Westeria."

Evelyn Ford nodded. "We need to finish up quickly and get out of here. The people left on the ship are all old, weak, or injured. We left them weapons, but the most capable fighter, Mr. Graham, is already crippled. I can’t help but worry."

The drive from District 1 to District 2 took only an hour. Upon arrival, they passed through the checkpoint without any issues.

They didn’t plan on getting a hotel today. The idea was to circle District 2 a few times to locate the pharmaceutical plants, grab a meal at a restaurant to gather some intel, and then, once it was dark, go straight for the score.

District 2 was much larger than District 1, and there were just as many men and women scavenging through the trash on the streets.

This time, they were using the identities of the couple from the previous night. The woman had long, wavy black hair, and the man had a thick, full beard.