Chapter 268 I want you to broker the deal.

"I’ll call you back, then. Captain Ivy is calling me right now," Erick voiced out as he heaved a heavy sigh. "I bet it’s because of the cold front too."

"Are you going to tell her about the deal, then?" Antelope asked from the other end of the phone, his tone filled with curiosity. "I feel it’ll be okay for you to talk to her. I’m very sure she wouldn’t even hear me out the moment she hears my voice."

"I’m not promising you anything right now," Erick replied immediately, seriousness etched into his tone. "I’ll see if I should tell her or not. Bye for now."

He ended the call before Antelope could say anything else and quickly answered Ivy’s call.

"Hi, Captain Ivy," Erick greeted immediately after connecting the call. "Sorry for the late response. I was actually attending to something."

"It’s fine," Ivy replied immediately, a warm smile spreading across her face, though Erick couldn’t see it. "I actually called to ask how you’re doing. I mean, the cold front has arrived, and no one was expecting it to come this suddenly."

"Oh, we’re coping," Erick replied with a heavy sigh. "Just like you said, it arrived suddenly, but we’re already trying our best to deal with it. Antelope just finished talking to me now."

"Huh?" Ivy raised an eyebrow, her expression immediately turning cold. "That bastard? He called to cause trouble again?"

Erick couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh at her reaction.

"He actually called to propose a deal," Erick explained, his voice calm and serious. "Unfortunately, I can’t accept the deal since I don’t have the resources he needs. But you can."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"I already told him that you might be able to accept his deal, but I doubt he’ll ever tell you about it himself, not when things have been so bad between the two of you."

"And what’s the deal?" Ivy asked, raising an eyebrow as she let out a light, mocking chuckle. "What could possibly make the commander of Antelope Base decide to strike a deal?"

"They’re in need of evolution liquid," Erick explained. "In exchange, they’re willing to provide you with food and winter clothes."

Ivy’s expression changed slightly.

"He knew about my evolution liquid with side effects, and he wanted to get his hands on it," Erick continued. "But I told him that I no longer produce that type. However, you do and yours doesn’t have any side effects."

Ivy stood beside the window of the command room, her eyes fixed on the endless snowfield stretching beyond Hope Base as she listened to Erick.

The apocalypse had already changed the world beyond recognition.

The once-familiar cities had become ruins, ordinary roads had disappeared beneath layers of snow and ice, and the survivors who had managed to stay alive were constantly struggling against one disaster after another.

Now, with the sudden arrival of the cold front, even the strongest bases were under enormous pressure while resources were becoming increasingly scarce, mutated beasts were growing stronger, and the number of evolved survivors was steadily increasing.

At this stage, ordinary supplies could no longer satisfy the needs of stronger survivors.

What everyone wanted now was strength and one of the most effective ways to increase one’s strength was evolution liquid.

Ivy lowered her gaze slightly.

She had already obtained a considerable amount of evolution liquid through the crystal cores she had collected from defeating mutated beasts.

The stronger the evolution liquid, the more crystal cores were needed.

If she wanted to continue improving Hope Base at the same pace, she needed an even greater supply of crystal cores.

Unfortunately, crystal cores were not something that could simply be purchased with ordinary resources.

Even if someone had enough food, clothing, weapons, or other supplies to trade, there was no guarantee that another base would be willing to exchange crystal cores for them.

After all, everyone understood the value of crystal cores now.

They were one of the most important resources in the post-apocalyptic world and that is precisely why Ivy need a stable source.

And that was where Erick came in.

She had specifically called him because of this in the first place, and now, as expected, Erick was bringing her exactly the kind of opportunity she needed.

Apart from Antelope Base, Erick also had connections with several other major bases hence if Ivy want to collect crystal cores from different bases without personally spending all her time negotiating with each one, Erick was undoubtedly the best middleman.

A faint smile appeared on Ivy’s lips.

Antelope had practically delivered himself to her doorstep.

Food and winter clothes in exchange for evolution liquid?

It was certainly a tempting offer from his perspective.

But Ivy wasn’t interested in simply accepting whatever terms Antelope offered.

She had no intention of giving away something as valuable as evolution liquid cheaply.

After all, this was the apocalypse and crystal cores help her with resources from the system.

"Erick, how many crystal cores can Antelope Base provide?" Ivy finally asked

There was a brief silence on the other end of the call.

Erick seemed to have anticipated the question.

"I didn’t ask him for an exact number yet. I wanted to speak to you before agreeing to anything on your behalf." Erick replied.

Silence.

"I want you to broker the deal for me," Ivy finally voiced out, making Erick’s eyes narrow slightly.