Chapter 31: Welfare for the Townsfolk, Northstar Base's Misdeeds

Qiao Jia had no way of knowing the system’s private thoughts. She told Su Xiaoran, Gu Xingye, and the others about the Good Fortune Blind Box.

The activation cost for the Good Fortune Blind Box was ten million points, and each box sold for ten thousand points. If the zombies and monsters were currently high-level, accumulating that much would be quite feasible. But at present, all zombies and monsters hovered around the first tier, with a few at the second. There might be third or fourth-tier creatures out there, but survivors stood no chance against those. Amassing so many crystal nuclei before Su Xiaoran's due date was a near-impossible feat.

In theory, Qiao Jia might have managed it herself. But she couldn’t justify hoarding all the nuclei for just Su Xiaoran’s sake. In her view, a Power Awakening Blind Box would serve the survivors far better than the Good Fortune one.

“By the way, there’s a new product—the Defective Pill Blind Box,” Qiao Jia announced. “I’ll post a notice later. If anyone wants to reserve one, they need to sign up in advance. Each costs a thousand crystal nuclei.”

She showed them the prepared notice, listing the drawbacks of the Defective Pill Blind Box. Still, the chance of drawing a genuine pill tempted everyone; whether for personal use or resale, it could be a windfall. Already, some survivors bought blind boxes just to resell what they found—especially the Weapon Blind Box.

Weapon Blind Boxes were priced at two hundred crystal nuclei each. Even without hitting rare variants, just drawing a repeating crossbow like Shen Hui’s would easily sell for more than the box’s cost. Those unwilling to gamble could purchase directly from these weapon merchants, and Qiao Jia intended to pick up a couple of butcher knives—cheap, close-combat weapons, easily obtained for a handful of nuclei.

“Is it possible to draw a Marrow Cleansing Pill? Like those in cultivation novels?” someone asked, astonished.

Despite being labeled ‘defective,’ the presence of real pills from a cultivation world was undeniable. Drawing even one could be worth spending hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of nuclei—if only anyone currently had that many.

Qiao Jia nodded. “Yes, but the odds are extremely low—even lower than the rare weapons.”

The high cost of the Defective Pill Blind Box and the uncertainty of the market made her insist on advance reservations. She simply couldn’t afford to stockpile that many, nor had the resources to do so.

Su Xiaoran and her group lacked the spare nuclei to buy in, but Xie Jinghan and his companion were tempted. Still, the price and odds meant they needed to consult with others before deciding how many to purchase, if any.

“Oh, you’ve come at the right time. Join me in distributing the town welfare packages,” Qiao Jia said.

The packages had been ready since the night before, piled high in the parking lot—untouched, as no one dared approach them. Crossing the bridge with her team, Qiao Jia posted the notice at the town gate and glanced at the overnight fee collection—over two hundred nuclei—choosing to leave it for now.

Survivors within the town were beginning to stir, eyeing Qiao Jia’s party with curiosity. They’d seen the packages being prepared and now realized the “town welfare” wasn’t just empty talk. Some survivors found themselves sorely tempted.

Beyond the basic supplies, Qiao Jia was already planning the next round of town benefits, aiming to attract well-off survivors to settle permanently. For example, tenants in self-built houses or apartments could claim a fixed amount of food and drink blind boxes each month—the more expensive the rent, the better the perks. Of course, each household had a cap on recipients; otherwise, with the current population density, the town would be bled dry.

This was all stipulated in the rental contracts. Not all tenants in self-built houses were full citizens; Qiao Jia only exempted residents from the overnight fee, considering them temporary citizens, who did not qualify for town welfare.

Lost in thought about future welfare plans, Qiao Jia handed out packages to the queuing citizens.

Most survivors with full citizenship lacked any real need for these supplies; they showed up chiefly to keep on good terms with Qiao Jia.

“Mayor, where do I go to reserve two Defective Pill Blind Boxes?” Captain Catpaw asked cheerfully, taking his welfare package.

“Register and pay over there. They’ll be delivered to your residence tonight,” Qiao Jia replied, pointing at the system, which sat obediently nearby. Survivors like Shen Tong, Xie Jinghan, and Captain Catpaw spent most of their time outside hunting zombies rather than in town.

Recently, a tribe of goblins had moved nearby, offering plenty of monsters to hunt. These goblins had abducted many survivors—not just from Qiao Jia’s town, but from as far as the Beichen Base and Giantwood City. Qiao Jia left these matters alone, but the town’s leaders were already discussing a concerted effort to eradicate the goblin tribe. After all, one couldn’t let monsters trample over humankind forever, could they? Giantwood City’s monsters might be beyond reach, but the goblins were a different story.

Xie Jinghan had even sent someone to Beichen Base to propose a joint attack.

“Boss, may I ask you something?” After distributing all the packages, Qiao Jia bundled up the leftovers to bring back to her cottage. Just as she was carrying them into the yard, Xie Jinghan called out.

“You want to ask about Giantwood University?” Qiao Jia paused, unsurprised.

“How did you know?”

“There are still more than three thousand people alive there, but deaths are a daily occurrence. Whether your friend still lives, I can’t say. The entire area is encircled by a very powerful monster.”

Swinging the bundle onto her back, Qiao Jia drew awestruck gazes from the survivors—no matter how often they saw her carry such loads, her strength always amazed them.

“If you go to Giantwood University now, you’d just be throwing your life away,” she said honestly, giving Xie Jinghan a long look. She rarely sugarcoated the truth.

With that, she returned to her cottage, dropped the bundle in the backyard, and set to work drafting new welfare policies.

Currently, the town had only three types of accommodation for rent: the parking lot, self-built houses, and apartments. Qiao Jia debated whether to extend welfare to parking lot residents. Previously, only temporary citizens lived there, paying five hundred nuclei in rent, with no full citizenship allocated.

After some thought, she designated one citizen spot per parking space, with a monthly welfare allowance of twenty crystal nuclei: one low-durability weapon blind box, five food blind boxes, and ten drink blind boxes—or, alternatively, two medical blind boxes.

So far, only one parking spot had been rented. If citizens and welfare packages were available for parking spaces, Qiao Jia believed many survivors already renting self-built houses would gladly rent an extra parking spot to gain another citizen slot.

There was still only one citizen spot per self-built house, but rent was much higher.

“One hundred crystal nuclei, then,” Qiao Jia wrote on the notice for self-built house citizen welfare: one weapon blind box per month, or five medical blind boxes, or equivalent value in other boxes.

As for the double apartments, they naturally allowed two citizens per unit, with a welfare quota of five hundred.

Additionally, she decreed that only citizens could purchase Defective Pill Blind Boxes. This was a carefully considered decision, meant to attract powerful, intelligent monsters and strong survivors to settle in town. While it sacrificed some short-term profit, the long-term benefits were clear.

Elite teams like Xie Jinghan’s, even the main characters, had the strength to survive independently elsewhere. That scumbag CEO, for example, was always trying to establish his own base. Though he was a scoundrel, as the male lead, Qiao Jia preferred to keep him around contributing to her town’s growth.

Of course, others could still ask citizens to buy boxes on their behalf, but since most citizens were also tenants, Qiao Jia would overlook small-scale resales—but strictly forbid bulk purchasing.

At first, Qiao Jia thought nobody would buy the Defective Pill Blind Boxes. To her surprise, by the time she finished handing out welfare, she had already sold seventeen—all to citizens. That was a tidy profit of ten thousand five hundred crystal nuclei in one go.

With new rules and flyers ready, Qiao Jia instructed the system to post the new regulations around town. As for the stack of flyers left over, she planned to distribute them near Beichen Base and have outbound survivors help post them further afield.

This unpaid job was perfect for the main and supporting characters—reliable people who wouldn’t cut corners. Upon learning Qiao Jia’s intentions, Shen Tong and the others readily agreed.

When Xie Jinghan found out Qiao Jia was heading to Beichen Base to poach talent, he warned her that the base leader was highly controlling and nepotistic—an adequate leader for ordinary, docile survivors. But Qiao Jia would be directly competing for elite talent, and the leader would not let that slide.

“Still, he’s pragmatic enough not to confront you openly,” Xie Jinghan added. “But what he’ll do in secret, I can’t say.”

Qiao Jia nodded, prepared for trouble; after all, she was encroaching on their turf.

Before leaving, she restocked the blind box vending machine, then set off with the system in tow. As she departed, Captain Catpaw and others were already gathered, strategizing their assault on the goblin tribe. Qiao Jia hoped for their success. Having such neighbors was a headache; if they failed, she’d personally clean out the goblin nest.

She’d kept the goblins around as training fodder and a stable economic resource for survivors, but if they threatened the town’s healthy development, she’d intervene.

Leaving the town behind, Qiao Jia headed to Beichen Base with a bundle of blind boxes.

Beichen Base was a converted industrial park, spacious and sparsely populated, with high walls to keep out zombies and monsters. As long as no zombie horde appeared, the base was safe—making it the best survivor base in the region.

At least, until Qiao Jia arrived.

After her arrival, Beichen Base became second best. In matters of strength, there can be no second place—a fact the base leader couldn’t accept, hence his repeated provocations. The departure of Xie Jinghan and his team had truly wounded the base; their absence emboldened other teams, and the leader had to exert considerable effort to maintain order. Now, any mention of Qiao Jia’s town and the blind boxes was strictly forbidden within Beichen Base.

Yet he continued to monitor Qiao Jia’s town closely.

When Qiao Jia reached the outskirts of Beichen Base, night had already fallen. Most monsters were active at night, so no one ventured outside the walls.

[Host, we’re too late,] the system lamented.

“No, we’re right on time,” Qiao Jia replied, shaking her head. She raised her stack of flyers and brush, a small bucket of paste hanging from her arm.

By morning, every survivor emerging from Beichen Base would find the area plastered with Qiao Jia Town flyers!

On the walls above, the base guards yawned, oblivious to Qiao Jia and the system below. Brazenly, Qiao Jia strolled up to the wall, the system perched atop her head.

One handled the upper half, the other the lower, and soon the entire wall was covered in flyers.

As they pasted the last flyer, Qiao Jia and the system wiped imaginary sweat from their brows.

[I wonder if the base leader will blow a fuse when he sees this tomorrow,] the system mused, surveying their night’s handiwork.

“He probably won’t, but he’ll definitely come looking for trouble,” Qiao Jia said, refilling the paste bucket and calling to the system.

“Let’s go—we’ve got plenty more to do.”

With long strides, Qiao Jia set off toward the villages and houses near Beichen Base, determined to have the entire area blanketed in flyers by dawn.

[Wait for me, host!] the system called, mischief glinting in its eyes as it glanced at the wall. With Qiao Jia looking on in confusion, the system, burdened with a huge bundle of flyers, hopped over the wall into Beichen Base itself!