Chapter 26: Bandits, What Should We Do?

"Ignore them." Qiao Jia didn’t give the matter another thought; she was the mayor, not a babysitter.

After all, she was still the proprietor of a private settlement—being called a mayor was merely a fancy title for a landlady presiding over a corpse. Besides, Qiao Jia had already warned the survivors about the dangers of those goblins. Let those with a sense of justice and morality worry about the safety of these people.

She focused her attention on the group of survivors before her. Their purchasing power was impressive. Of the blind boxes she brought, these survivors bought half in one go!

She quickly tallied her current points—she now had one thousand eight hundred. The low-durability weapon blind boxes and medical blind boxes sold the most, followed by food blind boxes, and finally, weapon blind boxes. As expected, what people needed most were cost-effective choices. She’d have to look into it later and see if there were any time-limited superpower blind boxes or the like.

Those limited-time blind boxes were all about luck—and speed too, since so many players scrambled to get them.

"Let’s go," Qiao Jia said, tying up her bundle and handing a stack of flyers to the survivors. "Pass these out for me, thank you."

“Jiajia Town—the safest settlement in the apocalypse! Absolutely free from zombie and monster invasions, ensuring a worry-free night for all residents.”
“Overnight fee as low as one crystal core per night, conveniently located on Grand Oak Avenue.”
“Town offers ample hot water, electricity, and gas, plus a wide variety of blind boxes for sale.”
“Even more awaits: blind boxes with spatial powers, cultivation, sci-fi themes, and more—all waiting to be unlocked!”

The survivors read aloud from the flyers, and it was obvious these had been polished by Qiao Jia’s hand. But one had to admit, the content was temptingly persuasive; coupled with her own air of mystery and the magical blind boxes, her claims seemed even more credible.

"What do you think, Brother Lu?" The group turned to the man in the lead, whose brow was furrowed in deep thought. It wasn’t easy to get out of Grand Oak City these days.

Qiao Jia didn’t know which way these survivors would choose, but she was certain the gang of bandits trying to rob her was doomed.

Under the pretense of buying blind boxes, they lured Qiao Jia up to the thirtieth floor of a high-rise. Then, they brandished machetes, electric batons, and other weapons, threatening her to hand over all her supplies.

"If you behave yourself, you won’t suffer. But if you’re smart with us…" The leader grunted twice, the threat clear as day.

"And if I don’t?" Qiao Jia, expression dead as a fish and face as lifeless as a corpse, looked calmly at her assailants and asked.

The survivors from Jiajia Town knew this look well—it was her usual expression. But to these bandits, it was pure provocation.

"Then you’ll end up like the rest of them!" one of the bandits sneered, his face lewd and twisted.

Qiao Jia tilted her head and glanced at the survivors behind the bandits—a huddled group of elderly, women, children, and a few young adults barely clinging to life.

"Emergency rations?" Qiao Jia chuckled, drawing two long watermelon knives from her waist.

Her kitchen knife had been upgraded—now she wielded these longer, sharper watermelon knives. Still, she missed the feel of her old butcher’s knife. Oh well, these would have to do.

"Hahaha—look at this little thing, thinking she can take us down with two watermelon knives! Let me show you what I’ve got," the man boasted, patting the black pistol at his hip, flashing it at her.

Qiao Jia lifted her eyelids, her face utterly devoid of fear.

"Move," she said, nudging the system at her side. The system quickly stepped aside so as not to interfere.

"Hey, there’s even a little puppy," one of the bandits remarked, licking his lips. Puppy meat was the tenderest, after all.

Qiao Jia gripped her knives, lowering into a runner’s stance. The bandits burst out laughing at her display.

To be honest, they’d been holed up in this building for a long time and had seen their fair share of clueless fools. Just yesterday, they’d crippled some wannabe rebel with a hero complex.

But to meet someone as brainless as this woman was rare indeed.

But the next instant, the laughter died. Qiao Jia’s figure flashed before them, head lowered so only the tips of her hair were visible.

She hadn’t moved from her stance; yet the watermelon knife in her hand was already plunged into the belly of the man in front.

She gripped the handle, sliced upward, and his stomach split open, entrails spilling onto the floor with a wet splatter.

The room, already reeking, was instantly filled with a fresh wave of blood and gore.

"Shoot! Shoot her!" the bandits screamed in horror, stunned by how fast she’d moved.

But the only thing faster was Qiao Jia’s knives—one left, one right, slashing and hacking, even landing a solid kick to one bandit’s lower half.

The shrieks sent birds scattering from the rooftop across the street, feathers and two eggs crashing to the ground below.

In less than half a minute, it was over. Not a single bandit survived. Qiao Jia, apart from a cut on her neck from a necklace on one of the attackers, was unscathed.

A corpse must take good care of its body, after all.

She’d have to get the system to stitch her up when she got back—she touched the wound on her neck, feeling the flesh had split a bit.

Amid the mingled looks of fear and gratitude from the surviving captives, Qiao Jia calmly rummaged through the bandits’ bodies.

Surely, these bandits had some crystal cores?

"Miss, their things are all in that room," a little girl of about seven or eight said weakly, pointing to a locked door.

"Xiaobao," the girl’s grandmother quickly covered her mouth and forced a fawning smile at Qiao Jia.

Qiao Jia glanced at them, walked over, and broke the lock with a single chop.

Inside were piles of food and water, but no crystal cores.

The survivors outside the room swallowed hungrily at the sight. Since being captured by these bandits, they’d never eaten their fill—not once. The food was just enough to keep them alive.

Qiao Jia searched thoroughly, but still found nothing. She walked out and had the system scan the area, but it shook its head.

She didn’t know how to describe her feelings—these men had looked so fierce, yet turned out to be so poor!

Passing the corpses, Qiao Jia gave them each a good kick or two.

"Are you leaving?" one of the survivors called out as she prepared to go.

"Is there something you need?" Qiao Jia turned, gazing at them with faint curiosity.

"You’re just going to leave us here?" an old man called out anxiously.

"Weren’t you here to rescue us?"

"No, I was just passing by," Qiao Jia replied, shaking her head. If they hadn’t tricked her into coming up to sell blind boxes, she wouldn’t have come at all.

She hadn’t expected them to be so destitute.

Her apocalyptic experience was still lacking.

"Then what are we supposed to do now that you’ve killed them?" the old man shouted, his eyes wide, cursing her loudly.