Jun dug the soil around the flower using his hands. To not cause scratches, he strengthened his fingers and applied some energy on his fingertips. His hand easily dug through the soil with little to no resistance.
Jun placed the flower in his dimensional storage. This flower was one of the few unique things he found after the ashfall. Some animals that fed on wild plants became bigger. Various insects that usually looked like a dot were now as large as a fist.
Things are changing fast and humanity is being left behind.
A few things happened this week. Some were small matters like new survivors popping out of nowhere, and some large cases like deaths. The most notable one was the mayor's death.
The public was told that the mayor couldn't accept the changes and decided to kill himself. Though the citizens were sad about the news, they really couldn't care about that right now, when there's a possibility that they could die too.
The two powers that currently control everything in the region was the National Police and Jun's group.
Jun gathered everyone onto the plaza square. He stood beside the portal and ambitiously declared that he owns the 1km radius with the portal as the center. Any individual who stays inside the radius would have to obey his rules.
The citizens have a divided view of the event. Some were happy while others were clearly unhappy.
The remnants of the police force were of the latter side. Though being used to following orders, taking instructions from a civilian group still felt wrong to them. If it weren't for the fact that they were outgunned, they would have already fought the opposing group.
Jun and Lieutenant Cedric talked privately on the mayor's office. Though there were shouting and desk banging that happened in the room, they peacefully settled their disputes.
The police force would operate on their own and would rescue survivors under the name of the government. As compensation, everything that they found would be given to Jun. The task force would receive food and supplies like clothes, etc. in exchange.
Jun happily agreed with that deal. It was a total win for him and Lieutenant Cedric didn't even know about that.
With the police force helping him in clearing the surrounding area, the requirement for his quest to clear a one-kilometer radius should be finished in a few weeks.
After the meeting, he donated a pile of food for the civilians. It was to make a better image for himself and to promote the Black Haven market.
You only need to pique a person's interest and they would do all the work to know more. Some people quickly found out about the market and went to look.
Unfortunately, only those who own a Black Haven card can enter. Anyone who owns a card can bring another person to shop around. To own a card, someone must exchange one hundred credit points worth of goods.
It would seem high if you would just exchange the 'cheap' items like essence shard and the like. But when you think about exchanging foodstuffs, which are exchanged at a higher price, one hundred points to get a card was quite easy to achieve.
And that was what happened.
Some of the curious folks, who fortunately looted a lot of goods on the first few days of the apocalypse, traded their items for points. Their plan was to look around and brag about what they saw inside to those poor ones outside. It was part of the human instinct to brag and show-off to those who were less fortunate.
That day Bernard had to ask for help and Ester helped her. Ester became in charge of issuing new cards. Bernard gave her the necessary funds for topping up the cards when a customer exchanged for goods.
The Black Haven market wouldn't attract customers if they just traded common goods. That's why Jun placed his newly finished set of swords made from the Rank 2 Destroyer on one of the stalls. Together with the glistening essence crystals, it served as an attraction to curious individuals.
There were two swords, one rapier, and five essence crystals displayed on the counter-top. There were price tags on a piece of paper placed in front of the items.
You can buy a sword at a staggering price of 10,000 CP, the rapier was priced at 9,500 CP, while the essence crystals were priced at 5,000 CP.
Marianne became the promo girl for this stall. She wore a red fitting dress that tightly hugged her body, paired with a set of high heels. The dress showed enough curves in the right places, attracting a lot of onlookers.
When there's a line, people follow. The group became larger and she finally introduced the items. The crowd went crazy after listening to her descriptions. A sword that can easily cut through any infected and a crystal that could be absorbed to increase your stats.
Staring at these mysterious items would prompt you to steal it, but after seeing the guards, armed with assault rifles, stationed on its sides, no regular civilian would try and dare do something.
Most of the sales this day were medical supplies.
Since the start of the apocalypse, people prioritized food over medicine. Luckily, Jun raided Sheila's clinic and the members scavenged more from the area.
The plan was to introduce the monetary system to the public even if they make some losses. No business would skyrocket at its starting phases. While some start to gain their investment in the early stages, most businesses recoup or start earning on the mid-stages.
After months or even years, when people accepted the new system as the new money, Black Haven would finally stand tall. Just imagine people selling rare or unique items and types of equipment, Black Haven could buy it without blinking an eye.
No one would use the same set of armor and weapon forever, even clothes! They would want to buy a new one, for flair and prestige, then get rid of their old ones.
Jun watched the bustling crowd in front of the gate. He smiled then turned towards Felipe who was watering the crops.
"Can you help me for a second?"
A variety of flowers appeared on Jun's hand.