Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System novel Chapter 170

Ace ended up standing in the three-hour line with all five of his men. He forbade them from speaking because he felt like his mental state was already close to snapping.

When they finally made it to the counter, Ace’s eyes bulged at the cost of getting a resident card.

"But we just paid to get in; why do we need to pay again?" he cried out.

The registration staff member sighed; she’d heard this question so many times today.

"I apologize, sir, but these are the rules of the base," she said for the thousandth time that day.

She handed him the paperwork and told him where to turn in the goods for payment.

Ace calculated the cost with what they brought and frowned. They would need to pay half of the supplies they brought just to register!

Grumbling, he made a note to complain that the information they were given by Leader Mai’s team was outdated.

Ace was about to pass out the forms to the others for them to fill out but decided not to. "These guys probably don’t even know how to write," he said, massaging his temples.

After filling out the forms and paying the registration fee, Ace and his group of baby birds went back to the car.

"I’m going to hold on to your resident cards because I know you’ll lose them," said Ace, placing them in his coat pocket.

They drove into the base, stopping at the parking lot outside the main lobby. Now that they had finally entered and registered, all that was left was to find a place to live.

Ace directed his men over to the housing office, feeling hopeful about finding a nice place to live.

"Welcome to the housing office. How may I help you?" asked the housing staff.

Ace walked over to the counter. "Ah, hi. We’ve just arrived and are looking for a place to live."

"Certainly, take a look at our available rooms," said the housing staff, pushing a piece of paper toward him.

Ace looked at the sheet, and his eyes bulged when he saw the cost of renting each space for one month.

It was 700 points for one month of renting the smallest room!

"Is there a typo? These prices are insane!" he exclaimed. There was no way people were living comfortably here if the prices were so high. It was borderline extortion!

The housing staff member looked at Ace and the five lost-looking men behind him, feeling bad. She could tell that they didn’t have much, and that the men in the back most likely had some issues.

Lowering her voice, she looked at Ace. "Listen, I’m not supposed to mention this, but I feel bad for you having to take care of your brothers. We recently built a large dormitory-style building with many bunk beds. It’s only 20 points a month, so it’s a lot more affordable."

Ace calculated in his head. If it was 20 points per month per person, that meant for his group it would be 120 points a month. This was indeed a lot cheaper than renting a room for 700.

After thinking about it, Ace decided to go with the cheaper option. The weather was still bad, and he wasn’t sure how long he would be here for, so he felt the smarter thing to do would be to ration their supplies.

"Thank you, we will take the cheaper option, please," said Ace.

After finalizing the transaction, the housing staff quickly explained where to go to find the building.