CHAPTER 89: CHAPTER 89: SOLAR STOVE

"Anyways. I think I would be able to do a good job." Edward continued, his voice laced with excitement.

"Alright then, I will pass on the message, at most by tomorrow you will receive an answer." Ivy vaguely replied, delighting Edward to no end.

He nodded before leaving, and he didn’t forget to pause and say softly, "Ivy, you are smart yourself, just stay away from the Ravencroft family."

"Hm." Ivy nodded her eyes, gradually turning a bit dazed. For a moment, the slightly aged man overlapped with the young man who had once tried to help her, only to be pushed away by her.

Once she returned to the military compound, it was already night. Ivy decided to visit Talia tomorrow morning.

Opening the door of the apartment, Ivy realised that the apartment was dim and there was no sign of a living person there.

It was as if Silas hadn’t returned to his apartment for the past 5 days.

Ivy walked up to the guest room and entered the room. She first took out the Ravencroft family members.

Seeing their terrified expression, she chuckled. After all, in the past 3 days, whenever she cleared out an area with zombies and lacked them, she would toss one of the Ravencroft family members out and use them to lure the zombies.

It was amusing to see them struggle and crawl away from the approaching zombies. She admitted that her sense of humor has become dark.

Noticing their environment, the Ravencroft family members heaved a sigh of relief. They never realized that staying inside a house could be so comforting.

Ivy chuckled. She wondered how they would react once they knew how, going forward, this constant fear would become their life.

Without sparing a glance in their direction, she entered the storage, took a shower, and cooked a delicious dinner for herself.

The smell of sizzling oil filled the air as Ivy placed a whole cleaned fish into the hot pan.

The skin crackled and turned golden brown as she added finely chopped garlic and ginger, letting them dance around in the oil.

A splash of soy sauce followed, giving the room a mouth-watering, salty aroma.

She added chopped green onions and a spoonful of thick sauce she had personally made before, made from fermented beans and dried herbs. It wasn’t much, but compared to what most people had, this was a feast.

As the fish simmered in the sauce, its scent got stronger, rich and savory.

The sauce bubbled gently, coating the fish in a deep brown glaze. The skin was slightly crispy, while the inside stayed soft and flaky.

Ivy leaned over and inhaled deeply. "Smells so good," she murmured to herself with a small smile.

She plated the braised fish carefully, adding a few spoonfuls of hot sauce from the pan over the top.

She also cooked a bowl of steaming hot rice and set it beside the fish.

Sitting down at the small dining table, Ivy picked up her chopsticks and took the first bite. The fish melted in her mouth, tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The garlic and ginger gave it a warm kick, while the sauce soaked perfectly into the rice.

"This is heaven," she whispered, eyes closed in satisfaction. After dinner, Ivy thought of the food in her storage space.

During her 5-day trips, she mainly ate bento since she didn’t have a stove. It made her realise the importance of having pre-cooked food.

She added a note in her mind to find a solar stove and make some pre-cooked food.

Feeling tired from the hustle and bustle of the day, Ivy lay on her bed and had a good night’s sleep. The next day, she woke up and made fish curry.

After packing some for Silas, she set out for the military compound. On the way, she found many of the soldiers carrying wood, steel pipes, and other raw materials.

"Hm?" Ivy raised an eyebrow, "It looks like they are setting up the base..."

According to her past life’s memories, the military set up a base a month later. Now she was unsure if she was recalling everything correctly.

On reaching Talia’s private military ground, Ivy peeked and saw her training again. She sighed before knocking on the door.

There was a silence for a while before Talia’s indifferent voice rang out, "Come in."

The moment Ivy appeared, Talia’s expression changed before she smirked and asked,

"What happened? Back before even 6 days have passed? Hm... let me guess, you gave up? Or are you here to show your fox tail, considering you haven’t brought Silas with you?" Talia smirked.

Ivy smiled back. She calmly put the backpack she was carrying all along and placed it on the ground.

Before Talia could even speak, she opened the backpack and dropped the contents on the ground.

The moment glittering crystals of various colors dropped on the ground like a meteor shower, Talia’s smirk stiffened.

Though she couldn’t count them, she had a rough calculation that these crystals must exceed 1000.

"Here. " Ivy’s cool voice echoed in the private room, "I have fulfilled my part of the deal. Now you have to listen to me."

Talia froze. She bent down and picked one of the crystals, her heart filled with disbelief, "Not possible, these must be fake..."

The lightweight cold crystals slowly eroded the disbelief, filling her with shock. Unsatisfied, she started to count them.

One... two... two hundred... five hundred thirty... seven hundred ninety... one thousand one hundred...

One thousand one hundred! She did it! No... she exceeded the limit and it was only the 6th day!

Talia could feel her cheeks burning. How was this possible?

Ivy... the weakling who couldn’t stand up against the Ravencroft family. A girl who used to flinch at the smallest sound... a girl who foolishly longed for familial love... a girl who couldn’t even slap back those who had hurt her...

Now killed almost 1100 zombies within 6 days.. No... to get 1100 crystals... she needs to fight at least 5,000 zombies.

Nothing was making sense. The crushing reality made Talia unable to speak for a long time.