Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 71

Chapter 71 Trading Bread for Salt

Chapter 71 Trading Bread for Salt

+30 Free Coins

“SpicyBurger: Any unsealed salt will do–brand isn’t important. Coarse rock salt in big pieces works too. Buying now, first come first served.”

The post went live.

“What?”

“Wait, am I reading this right? Bread… for salt?”

“Is this some trust–fund kid messing around? Salt’s worthless right now! It doesn’t fill you up–just makes an empty stomach feel worse”

“Check the username before you say another word.”

“Oh crap–it’s that guy! I’ve got salt! A whole box of coarse salt I picked up last week, just sitting in my storage! Take it, please!”

“SpicyBurger? That’s the same person who was selling high–grade gear before. Now trading bread for salt… How stacked is this guy?*

Riley watched the red notification dots stack up in her private messages, her face showing no reaction.

To most survivors, salt really was one of the least useful items at the moment. It didn’t provide calories, didn’t keep you warm, and since the system mostly handed out ready–to–eat meals, demand for seasonings was practically nonexistent. A single container of table salt could last one person for months.

She tapped on the message from the person claiming to have a full box.

Their username was StrayCat, and they wrote as if they were afraid she’d back out any second.

“StrayCat: Hey–I’ve got 20 containers! You can have all of them!”

“SpicyBurger: Five loaves of bread plus three cans of beef for 10 containers. That’s my offer. Deal?”

The other side confirmed almost immediately.

“Obtained: Packaged Table Salt x10”

Transaction complete,

Riley lifted the heavy bag of salt in her hand and gave a slow, satisfied nod.

She wasn’t hurting for bread or canned beef.

“Time to get to work.”

She dropped the salt onto the workbench, rolled up her sleeves, and her eyes took on a focused glint.

“Neeko!”

The girl with beast ears, who’d been curled nearby fiddling with her tail, jerked upright.

1/3

3:46 pm

1. PP.

Chapter 71 Trading Bread for Salt

+30 Free Coins

“Bear form.”

Neeko nodded. A soft shimmer rippled around her.

In the blink of an eye, the slender girl transformed into a hulking brown bear standing well over six feet tall.

It wasn’t Riley’s first time seeing the shift, but it still got her every time–the ability was practically unreal.

With the workshop still off the grid, the wind turbine couldn’t be assembled in one go. It had to be pieced together step by step, module by module.

Following the system prompts, Riley started by crafting the base from steel.

t didn’t take long before the foundation was finished.

‘Keep this steady for me.”

Riley pointed at the heavy steel base.

The brown bear–Neeko–gave a low grunt and wrapped her massive paws around it, holding it firmly in place.

‘Bzzzz–rrrr-”

The whir of a power drill cut through the silence of the snowy night.

Riley adjusted her safety goggles, her hands moving quickly between tools.

Mounting the stator, setting up the magnet rotor, winding the coil.

Her movements were smooth, with no wasted effort.

“hanks to the system streamlining the build and setup process, Riley worked fast.

There was something almost graceful about it–the precision, the assembly. In a world slipping back toward the primitive, this orderly, mechanical rhythm felt hypnotic.

Half an hour later, the frame of a ten–foot–tall small–scale wind turbine was taking shape.

Let’s get this thing up on the roof.” Riley patted the turbine housing.

leeko rumbled in reply, wrapped her arms around the unit, braced her legs, and lifted it straight up.

‘Nice!”

Riley had to admit–having Neeko around changed everything.

The two of them climbed up onto the roof one after the other.

The wind was stronger up there, and icy flakes nipped at their faces.

Riley guided Neeko to line up the turbine base with the pre drilled anchor points.

“Down… easy… right there!”

2/3

3:46 pm

Chapter 71 Trading Bread for Salt

+30 Free Coins

“Click.”

The sound of the steel lock snapping into place was crisp and satisfying.

Riley quickly pulled up the camp system interface and selected Install.

Then she climbed up, released the blade lock, and-

“Whoosh-”

The wind rushed past.

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