Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Before long, Jang Dojang returned with the head of the logistics department, Sung Soo, entering the meeting room.

"Safe Zone Commander, Mr. Kim," Sung Soo greeted them. On the way, Jang Dojang had briefed him on the situation, so without wasting any time, he opened his notebook and began his report.

Overall, the current food stockpile in Pyeongseong Safe Zone isn't too low. The main source is the recent batch brought back from Gokmul County, which significantly boosted Pyeongseong's food reserves. Combined with what was stored earlier, it can sustain everyone in the Safe Zone for a month.

In a month, a third of winter will have passed. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire

"It's far from enough," Kim Haru shook his head. "The last batch of food needs to be kept as seed for this season's crops; otherwise, my personal seed reserves alone won't be nearly sufficient."

Even though Kim Haru could buy seeds directly through the system, it would be far from cost-effective.

No, this batch of supplies doesn't need to be planted right now.

Kim Haru suddenly realized that planting rice or wheat now wouldn't make it in time. Not only do they have growth cycles of around 100 days, but even if he managed to produce high-efficiency fertilizers to shorten the growth period, waiting until the harvest was complete to use it for trading supplies would simply be too late.

"How long would a round trip from Pyeongseong Safe Zone to Haneulsae Safe Zone take?" he asked.

"A month at the fastest," Jang Dojang replied.

"Is Haneulsae Safe Zone the closest to us? Are there any other safe zones nearby with supplies we'll need for the winter?"

"Haneulsae is the closest. There's also Bogang Safe Zone, a bit farther away; they're close to salt flats and have a large supply of salt," answered the Pyeongseong City Commander. "Beyond Haneulsae, there's Ahnhae Safe Zone, which produces a kind of mutated mycelium that can be woven like silk into fabric and it's great for making warm clothes or bedding."

"But a round trip to Bogang Safe Zone would take at least a month and a half. Ahnhae Safe Zone is even farther, probably around two months."

Or rather, Kim Haru thought this might be even better since they could play with the timing.

"Let's do this—first, gather a team and prepare to go out for trade," Kim Haru calculated. "Tell them not to bring too much food and go together to the three Safe Zones. On the return, bring back the supplies we need and let people from the other Safe Zones come along to pick up their share of the food here."

"We'll say that carrying too much makes travel difficult, and that Pyeongseong Safe Zone doesn't have many Space-type ability users," Jang Dojang suggested.

The Pyeongseong Safe Zone Commander also understood what Kim Haru was aiming for. He considered it and instructed Sung Soo, "When you go back, record a video showing our food reserves, and I'll record a commitment to the trade. We'll guarantee that we're willing to use these food reserves to trade for supplies and won't deceive them."

Kim Haru nodded.

It took Sung Soo a moment to catch up with the group's thinking, and she hesitated. "But Commander, when the trade team returns, will we have enough food to give out to them?"

Yes, the key point of this plan was ensuring that, by the time the trade team returned, Pyeongseong Safe Zone would have sufficient food stockpiled.

With limited time, they couldn't afford to negotiate one Safe Zone at a time. All three trade teams had to head to the Safe Zones simultaneously. For the supplies needed to secure everyone's survival through winter, it would take more than a minimal amount of food for barter.

If each of the three trade teams took enough food for a full exchange, they could scrape it together from Pyeongseong's current reserves. But what then? They'd be left with nothing. Not only would they lack reserves for winter, but even the seeds for spring planting would be gone.

So, they'd only be offering a down payment for now.

The video of the food reserves was meant to assure the other Safe Zones that Pyeongseong Safe Zone had the capability to fulfill their food promise. With a direct commitment from the Safe Zone Commander on video, the reliability would increase.

If the people from the other Safe Zones agreed to the trade, they would accompany the team back to Pyeongseong Safe Zone with the supplies, both to ensure the exchange was honored and to transport their food back.

This trading process posed no issues for either side in terms of time or security. Even for the farthest Ahnhae Safe Zone, they'd still have time to collect their food and return before winter's arrival.

Everything would be fine as long as Pyeongseong Safe Zone had enough food to trade by the time they sent people over.

For Kim Haru, as long as timing wasn't an issue, neither was anything else.

He turned his head to the Pyeongseong Safe Zone Commander, "If we show rice and wheat in the video but use potatoes and cabbage for the trade, they shouldn't get upset and back out, right?"

The Commander of Pyeongseong chuckled, "Come now, it's all food, isn't it? As long as the quantity's right, who cares about the type? Besides, your potatoes and cabbage are much better than those rice and wheat stocks that have been sitting around who knows how long—they're fresher and tastier. Anyone with sense would know which to pick."

Kim Haru shrugged.

Exactly. He thought so too.

At first, he almost made the mistake of assuming rice and wheat had to be used as seeds, forgetting that the system's three beginner seeds matured in just three days. Potatoes especially yielded a massive harvest—perfect for a time like this.

"Let's get started, then." Kim Haru stood up. "I won't handle the trade itself. Just leave me to the planting."

"Alright, you just handle the farming, and I'll take care of everything else," the Pyeongseong Safe Zone Commander promised. With a major issue on the brink of being resolved, his mood lightened significantly, and he even mischievously flashed a "peace" sign at Kim Haru.

...

Afterward, the entire Pyeongseong Safe Zone entered a busy phase.

The ability user team in the Pyeongseong Safe Zone wasn't that large. After the official call for three trade teams, there were less than a hundred ability users left in the Safe Zone.