Chapter 510: Deployment

Chapter 510: Chapter 510: Deployment

In other words, everyone would have an electric scooter.

Elder Shaw and the others were all sharp people. They understood as soon as Lily Hart gave a brief explanation.

Logan Holland nodded vigorously. "That sounds great. Getting around would be so much more convenient. If you don’t want to squeeze onto the bus or you’re in a hurry, you can just take an electric scooter."

The others all thought it made sense.

For Central Command to have not only buses but also shared electric scooters and bicycles... that would be a huge step forward, a true quantum leap.

And so, the five of them looked at Lily Hart with expectant gazes.

Meeting their hopeful eyes, Lily Hart suddenly felt as if her whole purpose in coming to this post-apocalyptic world was to make their lives better.

’Oh, whatever. This must be my destiny as a savior. So cringey.’

The core area wasn’t far, and it housed their offices and living quarters.

They couldn’t very well squat by the roadside to discuss it, so Elder Shaw led them to his own office. It was bright and spotless.

There was even a small green plant on the desk, looking quite charming. Elder Shaw couldn’t help but show it off. "Ah, a gift from that kid, Fred. He said looking at it more often would be good for my eyes."

Logan Holland and the others expertly began to suck up, praising how thoughtful Fred was...

Lily Hart listened quietly, thinking she should try to learn a thing or two, but then she remembered that she was usually the one getting her boots licked.

’Learn my ass.’

This round of flattery went on for a while. After they were done with Elder Shaw, the group started in on Logan Holland, praising how cute, pretty, and clever Tanya was.

Lily Hart yawned. Elliot Chapman noticed and sidled up to her.

He expertly began to lay on the flattery for her. As Lily Hart listened, she wondered, ’How did things end up like this?’

But the more she listened, the harder it was to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up.

"Boss Hart, how do you manage to have so many useful shops? We don’t know what we’d do without you."

"Seriously, I love every single one of your shops, especially the lottery shop! It’s just too amazing—you can get anything from those scratch-offs!"

As it turned out, no one dislikes being praised.

After a good while, the flattery session finally came to an end.

Everyone gathered around Lily Hart’s Light Brain to start planning the shared electric scooters and bicycles.

First, they had to decide on the number of deployment points—locations where the shared vehicles would be uniformly placed.

This would make them easy to find and prevent them from being scattered messily all over the roads, which would be a management nightmare.

Logan Holland, ever perceptive, took out a detailed map of Central Command.

He spread it out on Elder Shaw’s huge desk, and they each took a side to start picking out deployment points.

Since Central Command was so massive, too few deployment points would make the vehicles hard to find.

They initially settled on thirty deployment points, with about seven or eight in almost every district.

And at each deployment point, Elder Shaw decided they would place... how many electric scooters or bicycles?

As the plan progressed, Yael Lowell finally remembered to ask, "How many Crystal Cores for one electric scooter? And the bicycles?"

He was now in charge of the logistics and finance departments, so all expenditures, big or small, had to go through him.

Naturally, he had to be a little more concerned.

Lily Hart finally checked the prices and was instantly relieved. "They’re super cheap. Fifteen Crystal Cores for an electric scooter, and ten for a bicycle."

She made a comparison. "That’s only enough for two big meals at the hot pot restaurant. Isn’t that a bargain? And if you buy in bulk, it can get even cheaper."

Elder Shaw considered this. "Then let’s tentatively put one hundred electric scooters and fifty bicycles at each deployment point."

Logan Holland asked, "What if someone tries to steal them?"

’So what if they do?’

That’s what Lily Hart thought, but she didn’t say it out loud. Instead, she patiently explained, "It’s useless to steal them. The electric scooters need to be charged, and they can only be charged at the deployment points."

"What about the bicycles?" Logan Holland pressed.

It wasn’t that he was being overly worried; this sort of thing was bound to happen.

Lily Hart was simultaneously asking her system, since she had no practical experience with this herself.

After getting the system’s answer, Lily Hart said, "Don’t worry. These vehicles have to be unlocked by scanning a code before you can ride them. And you have to return them after you’re done."

"If a vehicle isn’t returned and doesn’t move for a long time, the system will detect an anomaly and automatically recall it to a deployment point."

With her explanation, everyone understood. The possibility of theft had been eliminated from every angle.

Lily Hart praised her system internally. ’Okay, that’s a pretty good design.’

The system sighed. The only reason the design was so perfect was that it had learned from countless costly mistakes to get to this point.

While the group circled the deployment points on the map, Lily Hart entered the information into her Light Brain.

After selecting the thirty deployment points, Lily Hart bought three thousand electric scooters and one thousand five hundred bicycles.

A total of four thousand five hundred vehicles. For the massive population of Central Command, it was still too few.

But you have to take things one step at a time.

Most importantly... Central Command didn’t have that much money. They had to keep some Crystal Cores on hand for other matters.

「At a deployment point in a residential area.」

A large, open space had been deliberately chosen. Suddenly, beams of white light began to flash.

This caught the attention of nearby residents, who found the scene incredibly familiar.

Flashing white light... wasn’t that the same sight as when Boss Hart redeemed a prize? The image was already etched into their DNA.

How they wished that the white light of a first-prize win would flash just once for them.

They unconsciously walked toward the light, silently watching as beam after beam appeared and vanished.

Well over a hundred beams of white light flashed, almost blinding them.

But everyone kept watching without blinking, feeling as if they were about to witness a miracle.

Finally, the last beam of light vanished, and the scene before them was no longer blinding.

On the empty lot before them, rows of neatly arranged electric scooters had appeared. They stood in perfect lines, their handlebars all turned in the exact same direction.

The sight was incredibly pleasing to the eye and extremely satisfying for anyone with OCD.

"Are these? Electric scooters?" a resident exclaimed. He had just seen them at the dealership a few days ago.

He’d wanted to buy one but was put off by the price. He had been planning to save up a bit more before getting it.

And now, today, they just appeared right in front of him?

Someone with sharp eyes spotted a notice board nearby, which listed the rules for using the shared electric scooters and bicycles.

It also included the prices based on travel distance, some important notices, and so on.

"Hey, everyone, come look at this!" he shouted excitedly, waving everyone over, his eyes sparkling.

Some people were already eagerly fiddling with the electric scooters, while others went to look at the notice board.

While they were studying the board, someone had already scanned a code to unlock a scooter. CLICK.

The seat, which had been locked, was now usable. The person clumsily hopped on.

He started to ride slowly around the open space, and everyone’s eyes followed him, wanting to see how this thing worked.

Could it be first come, first served? Did this electric scooter belong to him now?

Quite a few people had this larcenous thought. Seeing these brand-new electric scooters, they couldn’t control their hands.

’What should I do? I want to take one home, put it in my storage space, and make it completely mine!’