Chapter 359: Automatic Vending Machine

Chapter 359: Chapter 359: Automatic Vending Machine

Lily Hart resorted to technology for help: auto-reply!

She did a quick scroll, set up a few frequently asked questions for them to choose from, and then wrote out the corresponding answers.

For example:

Q: When are you coming to XX Base?

A: To be determined.

Q: Can we procure supplies from you?

A: Yes. Send your procurement list to Frost Shaw (contact info provided).

It was set up just like an e-commerce chatbot. She felt like an emotionless robot, just typing, typing, and more typing.

After setting up the auto-replies, she turned on Do Not Disturb mode.

She also remembered to replicate a convenience store just before the stroke of midnight.

When this was all done, the last ounce of energy Lily had been holding onto vanished. She slumped down, closed her eyes, and fell asleep instantly.

「The next day.」

She slept until the sun was high in the sky, her eyes unfocused when she finally got up.

She hadn’t slept well all night, constantly feeling like someone was messaging her, leaving her in a daze.

She decided not to look at her Light Brain just yet. She rolled out of bed, washed up, and went downstairs.

Downstairs, Diana Sharp and Tina Jacobs were already proactively setting up the scratch-off tickets and greeting customers.

She ate some breakfast, successfully recharged her batteries, and after mentally preparing herself, opened her Light Brain.

As expected, a veritable flood of messages threatened to drown her.

Lily sighed, rubbing her forehead with a wry smile, and began the thankless task. First, she set aside the flattering but useless messages.

Next were those who had already sent procurement lists to Frost Shaw and expressed interest in further cooperation. She would handle these conversations personally.

As for inquiries about prices, supplies, the store, or the scratch-off tickets, Lily forwarded them all to Roman Rowe for him to handle.

Categorizing them like this made things much clearer. Time to get to work!

She completely tuned out the outside world, not even realizing that Simon Keane had been forcibly recalled again last night until the system reminded her.

It took Lily a moment to process before she remembered. She asked, "Then he’s now..."

"He left again last night."

’Wow... I’d like to see how many times his old bones can handle being dragged back and forth. Once he’s tired of it and sees sense, maybe he’ll finally settle down. I’ve seen sense, too. He can do whatever he wants. He can let himself get buried in his own filth for all I care.’

Lily had adopted a devil-may-care attitude. Her Light Brain’s screen lit up again, signaling another incoming message.

Right now, she had absolutely no time to care about some Sims Keaton or Simon Keane.

First, she had to deal with these inquisitive humans. It was the first time she realized so many questions could even exist.

"Boss Hart, I heard you recently left stores in Solara, Prudence, and Phanfly Base. I was wondering, can you leave a lottery shop? Can you leave a night market?"

’No, because there’s already an automatic scratch-off machine.’

"Boss Hart, can you lower the prices a bit? They still feel too expensive. Our base doesn’t have many superpower users, so we don’t get a lot of Crystal Cores..."

’No, they’re already dirt cheap.’

"Boss Hart, I looked at the online supermarket and the supply list you provided. There’s a pretty big price difference. I was wondering why that is."

’Why? Because the online supermarket has shipping fees and warehouse storage fees, making it twice as expensive as the physical store.’

’The prices on the supply list are only ten points more than the physical store, and you have to pick up the items yourselves!!’

Muttering to herself, Lily typed away furiously, answering their questions. She worked nonstop until noon.

Leo Colby, who had been busy all morning, arrived at the RV to see Lily Hart, Frost Shaw, and Roman Rowe sitting in a row.

Each had a screen in front of them, and they were all clattering away at their keyboards with serious expressions, as if discussing matters of national importance.

"You guys..." Leo Colby began hesitantly, feeling as if just speaking would disturb them.

Lily looked up in a daze. "Huh? Is it noon already? Time really flies when you’re busy."

She stood up and gazed into the distance to relieve her eye strain, not forgetting to pat the two people beside her.

"Hey, hey, stop looking. Give your eyes a rest," Lily said.

Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe stood up, joined her side, and stared into the same distant spot, completely oblivious to Leo Colby.

Leo Colby was speechless. He walked around to stand in front of the three of them and said with a sigh, "I’ve been monitoring the situation all morning. It’s escalating faster and faster."

"As of now, the resource exchange centers in over three hundred bases have closed, no longer providing supplies to their residents. The complaints are piling up, and they’re mainly directed at..."

Leo Colby looked at Lily Hart. Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe looked at her too.

Lily pointed at her own nose. "Me?" She let out a laugh of exasperation.

The three of them nodded in unison. Lily had been playing customer service all morning and hadn’t paid any attention to how the situation was developing.

’The Mysterious Clan sure moves fast, shutting down three hundred centers just like that!’

"The main problem is that The Mysterious Clan is too good at hiding. They’ve been fanning the flames from the shadows, throwing all the mud your way!" Roman Rowe said through clenched teeth.

Frost Shaw was angry too. Who knew how many hired trolls The Mysterious Clan had on payroll to sling mud nonstop.

They were all claiming, in unison, that this was all Lily’s doing from start to finish.

Because Lily wanted to monopolize the market, make a huge profit, and squeeze out the original resource exchange centers.

Besides, there were many bases Lily had never even been to, where even the online supermarket wasn’t available. They relied solely on their resource exchange centers.

With this move, their inhabitants had come to hate her directly.

’Hot damn, of course they’re cursing me out. They were just looking for a place to direct their anger.’

Lily decided this wouldn’t do. She couldn’t be the scapegoat anymore.

Relying on Base Commanders to procure supplies was too inefficient. The main issue was self-pickup; a single round trip was a major undertaking.

The online supermarket wasn’t a perfect solution either. Some people didn’t even have a Light Brain, so what could you do? ’You can’t make bricks without straw!’

The other three continued to murmur, discussing how best to resolve the issue.

Lily propped her chin on her hand, thinking. Suddenly, it occurred to her, ’If there are automatic scratch-off machines, why not vending machines?’

’They were common in the civilized era, often used to sell drinks, instant meals, potato chips, and so on...’

’There shouldn’t be any requirements for installing these.’

’It probably isn’t like the scratch-off machine, which requires earning 100,000 points in a base to unlock.’

She searched the system’s store for "vending machine," and a whole bunch of similar devices popped up.

She bought one that looked similar to those from the civilized era: a large metal box with a screen on the front, a slot for inserting Crystal Cores, and a large opening for dispensing products.

It didn’t display physical products—that would hold too few items. Instead, she directly linked the machine to the convenience store.

You could select any item from the convenience store on the screen, pay directly, and the product would come out from the bottom immediately.

The price was only two points higher than in the physical store.

This type of machine wasn’t expensive, only 5,000 points each. She bought one to try it out first.

Lily tried to install the vending machine outside the RV, and it actually worked! She was instantly thrilled!

’Does this mean that even those remote bases can enjoy the pleasure of having abundant supplies?!’

One was too few, so Lily bought four more and placed them next to the automatic scratch-off machines.

You had to admit, at first glance, they looked quite dazzling and neat.

Even though there was already a convenience store here, it didn’t interfere with the use of the vending machines.

What if some people just didn’t like crowds? What if some people had social anxiety?