Chapter 242: Chapter 242: Zero-Dollar Shopping in District 2

After two laps, the pair had a clear grasp of the road conditions in District Two.

"The pharmaceutical factory is in the center of District Two, and it’s staffed twenty-four-seven. Aside from what’s stored in the warehouses, it looks like our only option is to hit the port."

In addition to the pharmaceutical factory, District Two also had two water plants.

District Two had no forests and was closer to Yarrow. They had even channeled seawater backflow from Yarrow to build a power plant.

Ronan Kendrick parked the car outside a restaurant. As soon as the two entered, someone stopped them, wanting to see their IDs.

Ronan Kendrick handed over the documents, and the person immediately led them to an empty table.

The restaurant’s food was very simple: a dish of lamb stew with white radish and two bowls of noodles with bean paste.

A waiter asked Ronan Kendrick if he wanted a drink, but he waved his hand in refusal.

The surrounding tables were filled with all sorts of people of different ethnicities, speaking various languages. Among them were even a few of their own countrymen.

"The food at the factory is terrible. We haven’t had meat once this month. My landlord just told me rent is going up next month, too. Half my paycheck goes right to rent."

"Meat prices have gone up, too. All the good cuts are shipped off to other cities. Here in Zaltar, we’re stuck with frozen and expired meat."

"It’s overtime every single day, fourteen hours a day. I feel like I’m about to drop dead from exhaustion. I’d be better off mining coal in Yastin. I hear it’s only ten-hour shifts, and the pay is better."

"You think that’s bad? At the water plant, we work fifteen-hour days."

...

The air was thick with complaints. Aside from Mandarin and English, Evelyn Ford couldn’t understand the other languages. The two quickly finished their meal, retrieved their IDs, and left the restaurant.

Back in the car, they turned on the heat and went to sleep.

Fortunately, the days were short and the nights were long; it was already dark by three-thirty in the afternoon. They headed to the water plants first. The two plants were monopolized by different countries; even the text on the bottle seals was different. Evelyn Ford even spotted labels written in her native tongue.

"I didn’t expect to find our countrymen in District Two."

’No sense in preying on our own,’ Evelyn thought. She only took a symbolic amount before heading to the water plant contracted by Rovan.

She took everything: water purifiers, water pumps, bottled water, and water cooler jugs. They couldn’t get into the production workshop, but in the warehouse, they didn’t even leave behind a broom.

"I just tested it with a paper strip. The water’s safe to drink," Evelyn Ford said with a satisfied smile.

Ronan Kendrick stood watch by the window. "Should we take the delivery trucks in the garage?"

Evelyn Ford walked over and pinched Ronan Kendrick’s cheek. "What do you think? It belongs to those Rovan bastards. Forget the trucks, I’d take the doors right off their hinges."

"It’s a shame we’re low on Smoke Bombs. We have to save them for other cities. Otherwise, I would’ve cleaned out the production workshop, too."

After leaving the water plant, they went to the pharmaceutical factory. The factory didn’t just produce medicine; it also made protective suits, gloves, masks, gauze, medicinal wine, heat-resistant suits, cold-weather gear, toothpaste, body wash, shampoo, soap...

The pharmaceutical factory was huge, spanning dozens of acres with twenty warehouses. There were still workers inside at this hour, so Evelyn had to use her homemade Smoke Bombs to knock them out before she could go in and collect the goods.

The factory had security cameras, but they were useless once the Smoke Bombs went off.

In addition to the warehouses, there were trucks in the garage already loaded for the port. She took everything, not leaving a single item behind.

There were so many warehouses that it took them nearly two and a half hours to reach the production area. Inside the workshop, workers were slumped over, unconscious. Evelyn took the production machinery as well.

Looking at the various Rovan slogans on the walls, Evelyn Ford took out a pen and drew a smiley face next to them.

Ronan Kendrick watched her wicked prank and gave a resigned smile, then went back to keeping watch at the door.

Because the factory area was so large, it took about three hours to finish clearing it out. During this time, someone came in from outside and was promptly dealt with by Ronan Kendrick.

"We need to hurry to the port. It’s almost three o’clock."

They had to clean out the port before six o’clock. In the car, Evelyn Ford was taking inventory of the supplies in her space and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

"It’s even more than I imagined. Oh, right, there’s a gas station next to the port."

Evelyn Ford took out the map of Zaltar and put two X’s over District Two and District One.

On the road, there were other patrol cars, drunk men vomiting on the roadside, and workers getting off their long shifts. Everyone’s face was etched with fatigue and hardship.

But those who could come here, find work, and settle down were either Westeria locals or the wealthy from other countries before the apocalypse.

The poor had already died at the beginning of the apocalypse.

At 4 a.m., the rolling shutters of the port warehouses were already closed. The two once again climbed the wall and went inside, systematically looting everything from the inside out.

The warehouse security guard had already been knocked out by Ronan Kendrick. Evelyn Ford rubbed her frozen hands and ran towards another warehouse.

Leaving the port, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick high-fived, but it wasn’t time to celebrate yet. They still had to go to the gas station to get gasoline.

"There are even more supplies here than in District One. I took the forklifts, cardboard boxes, and packing rope from the warehouse. But District One should be in chaos by now, and District Two will definitely be locked down tomorrow. Let’s go to Yastin first."

"Okay." Ronan Kendrick had no objections.

They arrived at the gas station. It was brightly lit, but there were no staff. Ronan Kendrick went over first, set off a Smoke Bomb, and also managed to get the key to the storage tanks.

District Two only had one gas station. The tanks in the storage area were all large five-cubic-meter tanks. Although Evelyn Ford was afraid of these things, at this moment, she completely overcame her fear, feeling only excitement and joy.

An hour later, the two left the gas station, preparing to leave District Two by blending in with a patrol.

However, before six o’clock, news of the missing cargo from the port had reached the ears of the person in charge of District Two. The leader immediately ordered all exits to be sealed.

Meanwhile, District One was already in chaos. Fearing repercussions, they didn’t even dare to leak the news and planned to investigate secretly. However, the culprits were already long gone.

District Two was locked down. All patrol personnel were dispatched to search door-to-door. Evelyn Ford disguised herself as a man, changed into a patrol guard’s uniform, and blended into a patrol team with Ronan Kendrick.

Driving the car next to the barbed-wire fence, Evelyn Ford stored the patrol car in her space, and the two made their getaway once again.

Meanwhile, District Two was still being searched door-to-door. The person in charge of the pharmaceutical factory, a former Rovan political figure, was kneeling and apologizing in the office of the District Two leader. If the medicine couldn’t be recovered, he and his family would be exiled.

Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick had already switched to a truck and were on their way to Yastin.

"It’s 350 kilometers from Zaltar to Yastin."

Evelyn Ford put the map away. Looking at the trees on both sides of the road, she suddenly sighed.

"What’s wrong?" Ronan Kendrick stopped the car and reached out to pat Evelyn Ford’s head.

"This place hasn’t changed much from before the apocalypse. The trees are lush and the road is flat, without even any cracks. But with so many refugees pouring in, Westeria’s order has already collapsed."