Both parties agreed with the proposed idea.
The police officers were happy to settle the dispute and exchange those shards for some food. They knew that those shards could give you a little bit of experience, but since they were able to kill zombies, a bit of experience isn't really needed.
Jun's group exhaled the deep breathe they have been holding on for a long time. The members weren't ready to kill and were glad that it didn't have to come to that.
Lieutenant Cedric was willing to trade seventy essence shards to Jun. Most of the people who looted the dead bodies earlier were the civilians rescued by the police, resulting in the large number of shards in their hands.
The two haggled for a few minutes and finally settled with ninety shards being traded for 30kg of rice, 20 canned foods, and five complimentary gallons of water.
Evo evaluated the value of the items. He used the supply and demand to raise the price as high as possible—an amount that the other party could find acceptable.
Evo set the price of rice to two essence shards per kilogram. The canned foods were set at the same rate at two shards for a single can.
Evo added a lot of complimentary gifts, not only to increase customer satisfaction but to help the civilians survive.
In the end, they need customers who will buy their products if they want to start a retail business.
Besides, they were probably the only live person in the vicinity. Helping each other is the least that they could do.
Jun wasn't acting like an a*shole purposely. He always sticks to his motto, 'What's mine is mine and what's yours, can be mine.'
After the trade, most of the members of the other group left. Two people were left behind, the old man with a straw hat and a teenager that seemed to be his son. The two looked like country bumpkins as they wore old tattered clothes.
The old man stepped forward and said, "Please take us in. My name is Felipe, and this is my son, Anthony. Though I'm a bit old, I can still fight zombies one on one. My son here can also fight a zombie on his own. We were farmers from the Old district looking for financial help from the Municipality when things changed for the worst."
Jun thought for a bit. Having a farmer would be extremely beneficial early on. They could have another source of food—hopefully, a stable one.
"I can accept you, but I need you to answer a few questions," Jun said. "Why do you want to join my group?"
"Because you're group knows what you're doing."
"And the authorities don't?"
"They probably will... after some time," Felipe said matter-of-factly. "I'm already an old man, and I always trust my own judgment than what my eyes can see."
Jun doesn't know what he meant by that but decided to ignore it. He asked the most important question that he needed to know the answer to. A question that he would probably ask everyone in his group and anyone who would like to join his group.
"Are you willing to explain your skills?"
"Of course! I can till the soil and grow some crops. Nothing fancy, a simple vegetable garden, but it could help. I can also–"
Jun held his hand up to stop the old man. "What I mean is the skills you got when you level up. Have you leveled up?" Jun asked.
"Oh, that. Yes." Felipe scratched his head, seemingly embarrassed. "I have two skills. Till and Inspect. Both are plant-related skills, Till causes the land ten meters in front of me to flip inside-out. While Inspect checks for anything wrong with the plant, I tried using Inspect earlier on a dead body, but it failed to activate."
Jun used Threaten to instill fear on Felipe, then he asked, "Are you lying?"
Felipe gulped and stepped back due to the pressure emitted by Jun. He composed himself and managed to answer back. "No."
Hearing his answer, Jun smiled and stopped using the skill. The pressure that Felipe was feeling went away.
Jun turned and started walking. "Everyone, let's go inside. We're having a meeting."
***
"Lieutenant! Are we letting them get away with that!? We should arrest them!"
"Stop thinking like that." Lieutenant Cedric said. "Things have changed. And if we insisted on what we want, we were the ones who would have died."
Lieutenant Cedric was someone who rose the ranks through his sheer talent and years of effort. He was able to become the highest officer and the person-in-charge of the police branch due to his accomplishments.
He had a keen observation and level-headed thinking. He saw someone from the opposite group vanish right in front of him. The teenager had an M16 on his hand, and he had to focus hard enough just to be able to see a silhouette walking off to the sides.
He was sure that if things turned to worst, they would have all died without even being able to fight back. He realized and finally accepted that the world had changed. There are now skills and strange beings that changed everyone's way of living.
The group arrived at the Municipal Building. They reported the result of their scavenging and their encounter with the mayor. When the Mayor heard the report, he became happy. The things that he does best could finally be used.
He gathered everyone in the waiting area on the first floor. The mayor dramatically narrated the story. The way he told the story made the people that took over the mall the bad guys, that they were unwilling to share the food, and the police have to beg and trade for them. The armed group also threatened the authorities, not willing to compromise.
The mayor ended his story with the local government as the hero. That they were doing their best, but some people weren't cooperative and were selfish. He planned to plant a seed of hatred and injustice among the populace. He couldn't use these people as he wants, but he can guide them on what he wanted them to do.
The mayor grinned, just thinking of what that man's face could look like when hordes of angry people come knocking at his door.