In the Garden of Eden, women are valuable commodities.
This was the conclusion Lin Sanjiu came to from what Yuzi said as someone violently pulled her helmet off her head. She could feel the sharp pangs of pain in her knee. Luckily, the bald, muscular man probably held himself back, so her kneecap was still intact.
This was the first time that Lin Sanjiu had no strength to defend herself. She fell to the ground as her muscles pulsated with pain. While the bald man held the helmet in his hands, Yuzi's eyes immediately followed the item. Yuzi laughed ingratiatingly, "Regarding that helmet, we already agreed..."
"I know. It's yours. It won't go anywhere."
Despite saying that, the bald man continued holding the helmet. Yuzi did not dare to provoke him, and he was in no hurry. The man looked at Lin Sanjiu's face carefully for a while as if judging a piece of furniture.
"Her facial features are not bad, but she has an off-putting temperament," he nitpicked. "Look at that short and messy hair. She doesn't look gentle at all. It is better for women to be pretty and delicate."
"Brother Sandwhale, a makeup artist can cover up those small flaws. Don't you agree?" Yuzi said eagerly, laughing.
Sandwhale seemed to agree as he nodded and lifted Lin Sanjiu's chin. He looked at her right and left profile before he changed his tone suddenly, "But that's not the main issue! I can't believe you didn't tell me this beforehand."
Lin Sanjiu's heart pounded rapidly. She couldn't wait for that man to just quickly drop down and die.
Unfortunately, things did not play out as she had hoped. For some reason, the Versu Poison on her body did no harm to the bald man. It had already been ten seconds, but Sandwhale was still haggling with Yuzi, "This woman's Potential Growth Value is too low. That's why her radiation resistance is so pathetic. Look at her. I don't even need to do anything, and she is already this weak. If she is so weak, how can we use her?"
'Use? What are they trying to do?' Lin Sanjiu thought to herself furiously.
After the voice recorder was taken from her and she struggled for a bit, she lost the little energy she had previously saved, which was barely enough to keep her moving. Right now, even breathing felt difficult for her. 'So, when the description mentioned 10 Anti-radiation Gummi Candy V2.0, you really couldn't miss even one.'
Though she had converted Er Dao's backpack and those gummies into cards and stored them in her body, there was no chance for her to eat them. Sandwhale had already pressed her to the ground swiftly and tied her hands behind her back as if he had done that action many times before.
Yuzi was only a little worried before, but when he saw Sandwhale's action, his face turned red with anger, "Brother Sandwhale, you must be joking. Once we enter the Garden of Eden, this won't be a problem."
Sandwhale gave him a dismissive look but did not stop. He stuffed a black sponge into Lin Sanjiu's mouth while he retorted, "This won't be a problem? I still have to feed her Anti-radiation Gummies, right? Who knows how many doses she will need before her turn? Moreover, if the radiation in her body is already too high, I will be making a loss."
"Brother Sandwhale, just state your offer. I mean, we have been working together..."
"60%, just like the previous deal. Take it or leave it," Sandwhale said, grinning. "And don't forget, you want this helmet."
The black sponge in Lin Sanjiu's mouth was wet and tasted bitter. When Lin Sanjiu realized that the sponge had been soaked in anesthetic, it was already too late. Her vision started to blur. Even though she strongly refused to accept the situation as it was, she couldn't help shutting her eyes. Before she lost consciousness, the last line she heard was, "I will put her with the others, and we can send them all to the Garden of Eden tomorrow."
'Garden of Eden.'
These three words were carved so deeply in her mind that they were the first thing she thought of when she regained consciousness.
Unfortunately, what she saw when she opened her eyes was entirely different from the image that the three words would normally invoke.
She was in an extremely large room in which the very thin walls and floor were made of the same homogeneous green material that was neither metal nor wood. It was probably dawn as the room was flooded with an ashen white light. The window in the room was so high that it was nearly touching the ceiling, and it made her feel like she was in prison.
There was a row of large capsules under the window. The capsules were at least two meters tall and were placed in an upright position. The top half portion of the capsule was transparent, and the bottom half was black. Each capsule also had a small door.
A few unconscious women were laid haphazardly on the ground in front of the capsule, thrown there like lambs to the slaughter. Their eyes were shut, but they were clearly breathing. When Lin Sanjiu looked around, she could tell that there were at least ten women around her. Some of them, like her, were starting to rouse, while others were still fast asleep. Notably, all of them, including herself, had their hands and legs tightly bound and sponges in their mouths.
A fair-skinned girl with long hair caught her eyes. She had blunt bangs, and her raven black hair flowed over her snow-white shoulders, creating a beautiful contrast. Her looks should be considered aesthetically pleasing, but with her twisted expression of fear accompanied by her bloodshot eyes and her face covered in sweat, saliva, and mucus from crying, it was simply unsightly.
People who could survive in the Garden of Eden were certainly not fresh newbies experiencing their first apocalypse world. The fact that the girl was so frightened meant that she definitely knew something. With much effort, Lin Sanjiu propped herself up with her shoulders and, with a thud, flipped herself closer to the girl.
The girl's body jerked backward in extreme fear before looking at her, quivering.
Unexpectedly, Lin Sanjiu felt a nauseating sense of weakness coming from the core of her body after executing that simple maneuver. Everything turned black, and she couldn't see anything even after a few minutes.
For an instant, she felt her pores flaring. After quite some time, her sight gradually returned. Lin Sanjiu looked down at her chest and noticed that Er Dao's blood had already dried up. They formed crusty patches on her skin, which fell as she moved. It had been more than a day, and Er Dao's blood was no longer effective.
Before Lin Sanjiu could get over the previous horror of losing her sight, she found herself once again at the doors of Death. She instantly lost her motivation to get more information from the girl. She did not dare to move her body even an inch and momentarily couldn't think of any way of saving herself. The only thing better about her current situation now was that she had eaten nine anti-radiation gummies. Because of that, her body could still last for a while.
A few other women began to stir from their stupor, perhaps shocked by the 'thud' that Lin Sanjiu created. Within a few short minutes, the room was filled with a continuous muffle of noise.
"Yo, I think most of them are awake," a slick-sounding man's voice came from outside the door, clearly approaching them.
"Be a bit more gentle, will you?" Sandwhale yelled out with his grating voice. Following this, the women heard the clanking sounds of locks from the door. A group of men pushed open the doors, and light flooded through the doors.
Sandwhale strode into the room first and frowned without turning to the men behind him. "Do what you are supposed to do. Don't just fuck around!" he commanded.
There were five men behind him, and they leered lustily at the women on the ground without any restraint. A skinny man among the group rubbed his hands together before he casually pinched the waist of a woman lying near his feet, "Brother Sandwhale, it is such a pity to send them over without even touching them."
Sandwhale spat and replied, "I have no idea what abilities these women have. If you do, then go ahead."
The five men fell silent. Gender does not play a role in determining people's Evolved Abilities, unlike how women are naturally physically weaker than men. If the men carelessly untied those women, no one could predict the outcome if they fought back.
The eyes of the skinny man, who was still groping the woman by his feet, lit up, "Brother Sandwhale, didn't you mention that one of the women has very poor resistance to radiation? If we played with her, it should be safe, right?"
Lin Sanjiu froze. While her killing intent rose, she couldn't help looking forward to the moment that man touched her skin. Surprisingly, Sandwhale said something that Lin Sanjiu didn't anticipate, "That woman's body is poisoned. You will die if you touch her; you can try."
The skinny man was visibly disappointed when he heard that. Talking about Lin Sanjiu, Sandwhale looked down at her and couldn't help cursing, "Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have bought her. I can't believe she is fucking bleeding."
Lin Sanjiu only felt a slight itch under her nose when she heard his words, realizing that blood was indeed pouring from her nose. While Sandwhale ranted, he grabbed a handful of gummies from a small bag before cautiously counting ten precious gummies. He lifted his chin and jammed them into her mouth.
Sandwhale smirked when he noticed her expression. "I don't know what you have on your body, but with my activated protection, your poison is useless against me."
As the gummies reached her stomach, Lin Sanjiu quickly felt much better.
Sandwhale dusted his hands and stood up. He looked to his men and ordered, "Package them. We are sending the goods out now."
Before the women started wailing, the group of men rushed over and hauled each of them like hogs, dragging them by their legs. Each woman was thrown into a capsule. As Lin Sanjiu had poison on her, none of the men dared to touch her. In the end, Sandwhale gripped her arms and stuffed her into a capsule.
There were two wheels on the bottom of the capsules, and when a person held the handles of the capsules from the front, the large capsules could be moved like hand trucks. In that manner, the women were wheeled out of the room.
Despite the sounds of sobbing from the women within the capsules and the noise of their bodies hitting against the walls of the capsule, the ten pairs of wheels continued forward without hesitation.
Sunlight reflected off Lin Sanjiu's amber eyes, but all she saw was the gray skies and the gloomy surroundings of the same shade. The men walked with the capsules for some time before Lin Sanjiu finally heard the sounds of the people receiving them. Lin Sanjiu couldn't resist stretching her neck out to look at the fate that awaited her.
In the distance, she spotted the cleanest and most beautiful city she had ever seen in her life.