First Class Through the Apocalypse

Chapter 009

Jenna Cole and Stella Lane exchanged a hesitant glance, their eyes darting toward the other female survivors who were still completely exposed to the chilly air of the carriage. Jenna bit her lower lip in uncertainty, her voice laced with guilt. "Is this really appropriate? After all, nobody else has any clothes to wear yet, so it feels wrong for just the two of us to cover up."

Caleb Mercer waved his hand dismissively to cut off her protests. "Just take them and put them on. I possess a special ability that allows me to duplicate items, but I can only replicate five things per day. If we just wait a few days, everyone in this carriage will have a full set of clothes to wear."

"Really?" A chorus of surprised gasps echoed through the train.

The girls' faces lit up with genuine joy and relief upon hearing his explanation. With their collective guilt alleviated, Jenna and Stella no longer hesitated and quickly pulled the garments over their shivering bodies.

After the two girls were fully dressed, Caleb stood up and swept his gaze across the cramped interior of the carriage. The visual stimulation was still incredibly overwhelming. People always claimed that a woman was most alluring when her figure was partially hidden, but that rule clearly did not apply in this confined space. He genuinely had no idea where to look, or rather, where he was actually supposed to look without crossing a line, because every single angle presented a dangerously intoxicating view filled with overwhelming hormones and raw beauty.

Caleb cleared his throat loudly and forced himself to put on a calm, authoritative facade. "Everyone has been starving for the entire day, so it is time to distribute the supplies we just scrounged up from the ruins. Each person will receive one ration bar and one bottle of bottled water."

With a grand sweep of his hand, a heavy box of ration bars and a case of bottled water instantly materialized on the floor, pulled directly from his system storage. The women did not even question his seemingly magical methods, simply assuming it was another miraculous ability granted exclusively to a conductor.

The moment the starving survivors laid eyes on the solid food, their eyes practically glazed over with primal hunger. A few of the girls were so overwhelmed by emotion that they immediately burst into tears. Staring at those simple rations made them truly realize they had been saved from the brink of death and were actually going to survive the night. It did not take long for Caleb to hand out a ration bar and a bottle of bottled water to every single person in the carriage.

Taking a ration bar for himself, Caleb walked over to the main computer terminal and tapped the glowing holographic screen. He directly opened the World Channel, deeply curious to see how the rest of the global players were faring in this apocalyptic nightmare.

The chat feed was moving at a blistering pace, filled entirely with desperate pleas for salvation.

"Can some kind soul please spare a single bite of food? I can give you money! I will transfer ten billion dollars to your account right now!"

"Save your breath, buddy. This godforsaken world does not care about your bank account, meaning all your cash is just a pile of useless paper now."

"Exactly! Is there any generous sweetheart willing to give me a single bite to eat? Your little sister is not wearing any clothes right now, and I can send you lovely pictures in absolutely any pose you want!"

Caleb scrolled through the endless wall of text for several minutes, realizing that almost every single message was a desperate beggar pleading for either food or water. There was absolutely no useful information to be gleaned from the panic-stricken masses. Caleb was certainly no saint, so he had zero intention of wasting his precious resources on these random strangers.

After a moment of thought, he tapped the trade button located on the side of the interface, which instantly summoned a pop-up window in front of him. This was the global trading feature that functioned much like an online marketplace for all survivors. Caleb scanned the current listings and found that the vast majority of offers consisted of people trying to trade naked photos for basic sustenance. In a true life-or-death scenario, human dignity and explicit photos were completely worthless commodities.

However, Caleb currently possessed a massive surplus of clothing in his inventory, which meant he could easily use those garments to barter for valuable construction resources. He needed exactly one hundred units of wood and one hundred iron ingots to upgrade his train to Tier-Two. He was incredibly curious to see what kind of powerful transformation the carriages would undergo once they evolved.

Without any hesitation, Caleb typed out a public listing: "Trading one piece of clothing for ten units of iron ingots or stones. Private message me if you are interested."

The moment his message appeared on the World Channel, it triggered a massive uproar among the desperate survivors.

"What the hell?! Where did this absolute madman come from? I do not even have a crumb of food to eat, and this heavy hitter is already selling luxury items like clothes?"

"Wait a second! Is that not the same badass who secured the first kill on a zombie earlier today?"

"Handsome stranger, do you happen to need a lover? I am incredibly flexible and know every single pose imaginable!"

"Boss, can you please donate a single piece of clothing to me? I will send you pictures! I am a famous internet celebrity!"

Caleb frowned slightly as he watched the chaotic barrage of messages flood the screen. It made perfect sense, considering that aside from someone with a cheat system like himself, no ordinary survivor could possibly possess excess luxury materials this early in the game. Realizing the general chat was a waste of time, he shook his head helplessly and prepared to log off.

Just as his hand hovered over the exit button, a private message notification chimed softly from the system interface. Caleb instinctively opened the tab, noting that the sender was a player named Vivian Vale.

"Hello. I have iron ingots available for trade, but your asking price of ten units per garment is completely unreasonable. I can offer you a maximum of five iron ingots for one piece of clothing!"

A faint smile curled the corners of Caleb's lips as he read the incoming message. He genuinely had not expected to find someone who actually possessed surplus construction materials so soon.

"Deal! How many pieces of clothing do you want to exchange?" Caleb typed back quickly.

Vivian replied almost instantly. "Let us start with twenty-five pieces!"

Caleb's pupils contracted in sheer surprise upon reading her demand. He had never imagined this Vivian person would be hoarding such a massive stockpile of iron ingots, making him wonder if the other party had also awakened a hidden system. Pushing his suspicions aside, Caleb immediately listed twenty-five garments into the trade panel and finalized the exchange, watching as one hundred and twenty-five iron ingots instantly materialized inside his inventory.

Staring at the completely androgynous profile picture on the screen, he could not help but ask a probing question. "Do you mind telling me exactly where you managed to acquire so many iron ingots?"

Vivian's response was cold and dismissively brief. "Sorry, but I have no comment on that!"

Caleb did not let the rejection bother him and simply shifted his strategy. "Then do you have any stones, or do you happen to know anyone who does?"

"We only have fifty stones in our possession, but we are no longer in need of clothing. However, if you have any surplus food or water, we might be able to work out another deal," Vivian explained through the text interface.

"That works perfectly for me! How about I give you one bottle of bottled water for every five stones?" Caleb offered.

"Deal!"

The transaction was completed in a flash, and Caleb watched in satisfaction as fifty units of stone dropped into his digital inventory. He was now only fifty stones short of being able to finalize his train upgrade. Unfortunately, it was glaringly obvious that the other party had completely exhausted their supply of stones.

If he had been missing a massive amount, Caleb might have just let it go for the night, but being a mere fifty units away from his goal felt like a cat violently scratching at his heart. If he did not manage to gather those final fifty stones today, he knew he would be tossing and turning all night long. Caleb immediately returned to the World Channel and began posting high-priced bounties for stones, a brazen display of wealth that made the starving masses incredibly jealous. Anyone who had luckily scavenged a stray rock or two instantly finalized a trade with him, while those who had absolutely nothing could only stare at their screens and pace around their shelters in bitter envy.

An unknown distance away from Caleb's current location, a rusted train barreled through the suffocating darkness of a massive underground cave.

Inside the dimly lit carriage, a stunning woman standing roughly five feet seven inches tall let out a heavy sigh of relief as she inspected the fresh clothing in her hands. She possessed an incredibly fiery figure, though she, much like the rest of her crew, had been entirely naked until this very moment.

She turned around and called out to the other shivering members huddled in the carriage. "Sisters, we finally have clothes, so hurry up and put them on!"

Hearing the commotion, the group of women immediately gathered around with overjoyed expressions.

"You are amazing, Vivian! I cannot believe you actually managed to get us real clothes."

"Yes, she is absolutely incredible!"

The women chattered endlessly, sparing no effort in showering her with genuine praise.

Vivian shook her head with a helpless smile and gently urged them to dress. "Just hurry up and put them on, girls. Even though we are all women here, it is still not very appropriate for us to run around completely exposed like this."

A young, beautiful girl with snow-white skin and breathtaking curves tilted her head in pure curiosity. "Vivian, why is that guy named Caleb collecting so many iron ingots and stones? Those materials are everywhere in this cave system, so it would not hurt us even if we traded every last piece away to him."

Vivian nodded in agreement, acknowledging that they certainly did not lack those basic geological materials down in the subterranean depths.

The young girl hesitated for a moment before voicing her most pressing concern. "But Vivian... we do not have a single piece of wood down in this cave! What exactly are we supposed to do about that?"