My 100th Rebirth a day before the Apocalypse-Chapter 965 - 963 Spiritual Fruit’s Prices

Kisha was not the type to leave loose ends, especially now that she had more people to protect. In the apocalypse, mercy without caution was nothing but a loaded gun pointed at your own back.

Cruelty, at times, was survival.

Everyone had their own agenda now, and Lisa, with her vindictive nature, was exactly the kind of person who would crawl through the mud just to strike back.

So why leave danger alive?

Kisha chose the simplest, safest solution: end the threat before it grew teeth. She even gave Lisa a chance, more than she deserved. Kisha let her believe she still had hope of survival, a chance to change.

But Lisa proved her right in the worst way. Kisha had left a Scarlet Bee behind to observe her, and it faithfully transmitted Lisa's words and plans straight to Bell. Every intention… every scheme to try to kill Kisha again.

Given all that, who could blame her?

And now that Lisa was gone, Kisha knew she would deal with that treacherous couple sooner or later. They'd better pray they never crossed paths with her again, because she would make them pay for the life they stole from her in her past life. This time, she didn't even need to wonder what kind of people they truly were; she had already seen their real faces before she died.

They were masters at pretending: weak, harmless, kind… the type who hid behind the masks of "friends" and "family" to manipulate others into doing their bidding. And Kisha, like a fool, had walked straight into their trap. She protected them, provided for them, shielded them from everyone who tried to warn her.

And what did she get in return?

She even dragged Duke into her mess and got him killed. Then she died, too, after building a safe haven that they enjoyed. They worked her like an ox until she had nothing left to give, and when she was no longer useful, they killed her.

They feared that if they didn't get rid of her soon, people's loyalty would shift to her, that she might take the leadership of the base and let all the good things finally, rightfully, fall into her lap.

But she couldn't really blame anyone before; she had been blind to seeing these people for who they truly were. Who knew when the two had secretly hooked up behind her back? Or perhaps they had been involved long before, using her all along to do their bidding.

And she had been foolish enough to follow them. Because of that, those who opposed them had died one by one, while she still naively believed these were just unfortunate accidents.

After all, in the apocalypse, life and death were unpredictable; no one could say when or at whose hands, or claws, someone would fall to the ever-growing horde of zombies.

Now that she was reminded of that treacherous couple, Kisha found herself looking forward to the moment she would finally meet them and exact her revenge. If fate didn't bring them before her in this life, she wouldn't go out of her way to hunt them down; they could consider themselves lucky then.

But if they crossed her path, it would only mean that fate itself was urging her to settle the score, and she would not hesitate. Just thinking about it, the corner of Kisha's mouth curled up into a small, almost mischievous smile. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Wifey, what's got you so happy? Hmm?" Duke suddenly tightened his grip on Kisha's waist as he watched her.

He had just soaked in the joy of his newfound strength, seeing the changes in his stats with his own eyes, when he noticed his little wife looking like she was plotting something. He could only feel a pang of sympathy for whoever she had in mind.

Not that he thought Kisha was bad, far from it. He had been with her since the start of the apocalypse and had grown to understand her temperament and the way she handled challenges.

If anything, he admired her skill at navigating this harsh world, especially knowing she had endured so much before. Part of him felt sorry for her past struggles, yet he also respected how she had never turned dark despite them. He knew, without a doubt, that anyone she was scheming against must have truly deserved it.

And whoever those people were, he would surely help his wife get her revenge.

"It's nothing important," Kisha said, shaking her head with a sweet smile as she pushed those thoughts away. Then, effortlessly shifting the mood, she added, "It's already late. How about we have our early lunch? Hmmm?"

She looped her arms around Duke's strong, sturdy waist. There was no fat to pinch, just hard, sculpted muscles, but she loved every inch of him. In her past life, she could only admire his body from afar, but now, having the freedom to hug him whenever she wished, Kisha pressed herself against him with a radiant smile, feeling pure joy from ear to ear.

Seeing Kisha like that, Duke couldn't help but grin smugly, feeling her hands brushing against his waist and muscles. "Alright, let's cook. What do you want to eat?"

He started leading her away, but before heading back to the cabin, he guided Kisha to where the table and chairs had been blown over. Then, Kisha stored the table, chairs, and inscribing tools into her inventory with ease.

Then, clinging to each other like conjoined twins, they walked back to the cabin. Although it was lunchtime in the territory space, it was still dark in the outside world.

Hugo and his team had already woken up and were hard at work on the biogas project. Duke hadn't arrived to help, but the team continued diligently, with no complaints or requests for rest this time.

So, Kisha and Duke could relax, knowing everything was under control.

When they returned to the cabin, Duke immediately seated Kisha on the small counter in the kitchen before pulling out a few spiritual fruits directly from the territory's warehouse. The sight of the fruits reminded Kisha of what she had been doing earlier.

While Duke went to the sink to wash them, Kisha opened her Store on the Sales Channel again, while waiting for 008 to return from its market research.

"Host! I'm back!!!" 008 suddenly chimed inside her mind.

"How was it? Did you get the data?" Kisha asked immediately, her expression brightening as she perked up in anticipation.

"Yes, Host. As expected, the higher the grade of the spiritual fruit, the more expensive it is. Right now, there are very few high-grade fruits being sold, which is why it took me a while to gather accurate pricing information."

"The spiritual fruits most commonly found in the market are Grade D and Grade C or below. There are occasional Grade B fruits, but they're always sold out the moment they appear, usually only a dozen at most, and the restocking period takes months."

"It's extremely difficult to cultivate spiritual trees that can bear high-grade fruits in the Cultivation World. Most cultivators need to set up spiritual-gathering arrays around the trees to raise the fruit's grade, and they also have to use spiritual fertilizers and various other nutrients to prevent the grade from degrading over time."

"And even then, a spiritual tree takes years to bear fruit, sometimes even decades. That's why high-grade spiritual fruits are so expensive..." 008 explained, pausing briefly as if to catch its breath before continuing.

"And so, the prices actually range from 5,000 system points to 10,000 system points, and that's only for Grade C spiritual fruits. Grade B fruits cost double that amount," 008 reported, its voice dropping to a whisper.

"Wait, what?!" Kisha's eyes widened. "Doesn't that mean we've basically been giving away our spiritual fruits and vegetables for free this whole time?!"

"Well, Host… I actually suspect that the ones selling the high-grade spiritual fruits and vegetables in the market got them from us. That's probably why they can restock only after several months; they're creating deliberate scarcity. It's classic hunger marketing. They have access to higher realms, so it's easy for them to sell those products at sky-high prices while sourcing them cheaply from a lower realm like ours."

Kisha could practically picture 008 pouting like a wronged child as it continued, "So essentially… they're making a killing because of us."

It wasn't as if 008 hadn't done its homework before listing their products, it did. The problem was access. Viewing the stores in the higher realms required 008 to spend a ridiculous amount of system points, while the higher-realm owners with high-level stores enjoyed free access to all lower-level shops. That was their privilege as high-level merchants.

Because of that, they could freely browse the lower-level markets, buy items for cheap, and then resell them to higher-realm customers at premium prices. After all, those higher-level stores had better visibility, better promotions, and appeared at the top of the system's marketplace.

With the sheer wealth of the customers in those realms, no one had the time or patience to scroll all the way down the list to look for smaller or lower-ranked shops.