Teaming Up with My Enemy to Rule the Apocalypse

Hector Grant waved his hand dismissively. "Rent? Between us? Saying that makes us sound like strangers."

"If you’re going to be like that, then I won’t rent the place."

Hearing Sierra Sullivan say that, Hector Grant sighed. "Alright, you call the shots..."

Hector Grant quickly named a price.

It happened to be the same as the rent they had previously settled on with the staff member.

Sierra Sullivan figured, ’Hector Grant probably knew the price we were quoted for the storefront and intentionally named a similar one.’

Although she suspected this, Sierra Sullivan didn’t say it out loud.

Regardless, the price Hector Grant offered was very reasonable.

They weren’t taking advantage of him, and Hector Grant wouldn’t be losing out either.

Sierra Sullivan directly took out three months’ rent from her space and gave it to Hector Grant.

Seeing the payment, Hector Grant didn’t hesitate and pocketed it immediately.

"Do you need me to write you a receipt?" Hector Grant asked with a smile.

"What are you talking about, Captain Grant? If there’s anyone we trust, it’s you!"

Hector Grant let out a laugh. "Okay, since you trust me so much, I won’t betray that trust. You can set your minds at ease. No one will come here to cause you any trouble. Oh, right, what do you plan on selling?"

Sierra Sullivan wasn’t very clear on that point herself, so she could only look at Yvonne Shelby. "Aunt Shelby, what kind of business were you planning to run again?"

"Just selling some fruits and vegetables," Yvonne Shelby said. "I’m not expecting to earn a lot of Contribution Points. I mainly just want something to do."

"You’re being too modest!" Hector Grant said with a smile, shaking his head. "Fruits and vegetables are still very rare in the base. The moment you put them out, they’ll be in high demand. Your business will be great, no doubt about it. The only thing you’ll need to worry about is whether you’ll be too busy. You should think about finding some reliable staff."

Yvonne Shelby beamed, amused by Hector Grant’s words.

The shop hadn’t even opened yet, and Hector Grant was already saying her business would be so good she’d need to hire staff.

If someone else had said those things, it might have felt like flattery.

But coming from Hector Grant, it didn’t feel like flattery at all.

His sincerity made it feel like he was simply stating a fact.

"Alright!" Yvonne Shelby nodded with a smile. "Then I’ll hold you to those auspicious words, Captain Grant!"

"When’s the grand opening?" Hector Grant asked again. "When you open, I’ll definitely come by to show my support."

"Things are different now. We don’t need a whole grand opening ceremony," Yvonne Shelby said, shaking her head. "Once we get the shelves set up and put the products out, we can start business right away."

"Do you need help with the shelves?" Hector Grant asked again.

The situation now was different from before the apocalypse.

Before the apocalypse, you could easily buy any kind of shelf you wanted, as long as you had the money.

But it was different now.

Now, even if you had Contribution Points, it wasn’t so easy to buy something as niche as shelving.

Just as Yvonne Shelby was about to speak, Sierra Sullivan cut in with a smile, "Thank you for the kind offer, Captain Grant, but that won’t be necessary. I happen to have plenty of shelves in my space that we can use."

Hearing this, Hector Grant just nodded and didn’t ask why Sierra Sullivan would have shelves in her space.

Although he wasn’t a Space Ability User himself, he understood that for a Space Ability User, it wasn’t strange to pull anything out of their space.

"Alright! Since you have it covered, you don’t need my help. You’ll probably open in the next day or two, right? If I’m free tomorrow, I’ll stop by to check it out and show my support!"

"Just by coming, you’d be doing us a great honor, Captain Grant! We’d be more than happy to have you!"

As Yvonne Shelby said this, her face was wreathed in smiles, and her voice was as pleasant as a spring breeze.

One look at her and you could tell she was in her element; otherwise, she wouldn’t be like this.

Watching this version of Yvonne Shelby, Jayce’s expression grew somewhat complicated.

Before the apocalypse, this was how he almost always saw his mom.

But since the apocalypse began, it had been a very, very long time since he’d seen this side of his mom.

’Finally!’

’I’m finally seeing her like this again!’

’This is a good start!’

Hector Grant didn’t stay long and left soon after.

As soon as he left, Sierra Sullivan asked Yvonne Shelby, "Aunt Shelby, what kind of shelves do you want? And how should we arrange them?"

"The way you say that, you make it sound like you have every kind of shelf imaginable," Yvonne Shelby asked, amused.

She had only been asking casually, but to her surprise, Sierra Sullivan nodded seriously. "I do! I have all kinds of shelves in my space. The various types you find in a supermarket, I have them. Of course, I have other types that aren’t from supermarkets, too. It just depends on what kind you want to use."

Yvonne Shelby was speechless.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

’That’s Sierra for you!’

’She has everything!’

’So amazing!’

"Well, since you put it that way, Sierra, then I’ll just tell you..."

Yvonne Shelby walked slowly around the shop, pointing to different spots and describing the shelves she wanted.

Sierra Sullivan followed beside her, taking out various shelves according to Yvonne Shelby’s descriptions.

By the time the two of them had made a full circle around the shop, the place had been completely transformed.

Before, it had been empty, with nothing inside.

But now, it was filled with all sorts of shelves.

Yvonne Shelby gently caressed the shelves. "No time like the present. Let’s do it today! Jayce, go ahead and grow some fruits and vegetables."

Before Jayce could even respond, Candice Tate eagerly spoke up.

"I’ll do it! I’ll do it! I can do it too!"

As she spoke, her hands were already busy at work.

Seeing this, Yvonne Shelby’s eyes reddened slightly.

In the past, she had always seen herself as the one who took care of the whole family.

But now, she had become the one being taken care of by everyone.

The feeling was completely different from before.

But she didn’t dislike it one bit; in fact, she quite liked it.

’Being taken care of is a wonderful feeling!’

With Candice Tate and Jayce on the job, in just a few minutes, the shelves that had been empty moments ago were now filled with all kinds of fruits and vegetables.

Sierra Sullivan and Yvonne Shelby weren’t idle either. The two of them used cardstock to write out the various exchange rates.

The checkout counter was placed directly facing the entrance, with all the shelves behind it.

Customers would stand in front of the counter, look at the signs for the exchange rates, and make their purchases.

This way, even if Yvonne Shelby was working alone, she wouldn’t get overwhelmed, and more importantly, nothing would get stolen.

As for whether people would break the rules or cause trouble, Sierra Sullivan wasn’t worried.

Hector Grant wasn’t one to make empty promises. Since he’d said what he did earlier, he would definitely keep an eye on things here.

’With Hector Grant’s people around, what is there to worry about?’

"Shouldn’t we get a sign?" Sierra Sullivan asked, looking at the empty space above the doorway.

"A sign? I’ll make one!"

The voice arrived first, followed by Nathan Thorne, who was striding purposefully toward them.