Apocalypse Trade Monopoly
Chapter 108: – Wreckage and Reverence

Chapter 108: – Wreckage and Reverence

Cassi broke the quiet first, flicking on the wipers as the hummer rolled into a dust-slick curve. The light outside had gone from rust to ash—dusk folding into morning.

"Alright," she said, smirking into the mirror. "That’s enough sentimentality. I’ve got a reputation to uphold."

Ava chuckled softly, brushing crumbs from her lap. "What reputation?"

"Ruthless. Questionable ethics. Fantastic cheekbones. Deadly in heels."

She reached for a half-melted candy bar on the dash, snapped it in half with her teeth. "What else is there?"

Cassi let the silence stretch for a few miles before shifting gears—literally and conversationally.

The hummer hummed along a broken strip of road now halfway reclaimed by wild root systems and cracked signage.

Cassi took one look and muttered, "Still the prettiest part of Sector Nine. That says a lot about this hellhole we live in."

Ava snorted softly, arms still folded as Lucas’s breath stayed steady behind her, chin nudged near her shoulder. His hand had slackened against her side again, caught somewhere between protective grip and unconscious reflex.

Cassi rolled her neck, popping a stiff joint.

"Alright. Small talk. Got any strange food cravings? Because I would kill someone for real butter."

Ava thought for a beat. "Bread. Hot bread. The kind that makes your fingers hurt because you didn’t wait for it to cool."

"Ugh," Cassi groaned dramatically. "Don’t tease me with carbs. I once traded a hard drive just for a tortilla. No regrets."

Ava smiled, small but genuine.

"Your turn." She turned slightly in her seat. "One for one. We’ve talked about Lucas enough. What about you?"

Cassi raised an eyebrow. "You interviewing me now?"

"Balance."

The grin returned. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

Ava tilted her head. "Where were you when it ended?"

That took the air out of the cab for a second.

Cassi let out a slow breath, eyes fixed on the horizon.

"Seven months ago. I was running a courier route for a Tycoon. We were already halfway underground—figured the government would collapse eventually, but not like this."

She paused.

"I lost four people in the first three days. Not to beasts. To confusion. Panic. One guy ran off because he thought his sister was in another city. Another froze in a fight with beast. The last two turned on each other over a girl. Stupid."

Ava’s jaw tightened. "I was in class. Got back to my parents were on the way out. Sinkholes. Lava veins. Car accident happen. I survived. Never even found my parents’ bodies."

They both fell quiet.

Then Cassi added, softer this time, "Survival was about deciding fast who you’d carry. And who you’d let go."

Ava nodded. "You adapt or disappear."

"Lucas?" Cassi glanced back at him. "He adapted too fast. Like he’d already planned for the end before it happened. Consider his old man he probably did it as Plan M. Showed up with plans, contacts, clean gear, and that smug little smirk like the world ending was just a quarterly hiccup."

Ava huffed. "That sounds right."

Cassi glanced over her shoulder again. "How’d you two meet?"

Ava didn’t answer right away.

Then:

"He saved me."

Cassi blinked. "White Knight. Really?"

"Yeah. I’d been scavenging outside the bunkers. Got chase by a beast. My system was barely functional at the time." Ava’s voice lowered. "And then suddenly there’s this idiot smiling making an offer to good to be true."

Cassi grinned. "So he call you an invesment?"

Ava nodded. "Yes. An then it was beauty."

Cassi was quiet for a second, thoughtful.

"You know what I think he meant by that?"

Ava looked at her, skeptical. "Enlighten me."

"You were something he saw. Lucas doesn’t invest in short-term. He backs the things he believes will winning tripple or more. And that’s thinking small."

Ava blinked. Her mouth opened—then closed. She glanced down at her lap. Lucas shifted again behind her, breath still even, unaware of the conversation wrapping around him.

Or maybe not.

[SYNC PULSE: SLIGHT VARIATION – 89.2%]

[VITAL RESPONSE – POSITIVE FLARE / COMFORT-TRIGGERED]

Ava sighed and popped open another energy bar. "You talk too much."

"You love it." Cassi winked, smug and completely unrepentant.

Ava rolled her eyes and took another bite of her energy bar, chewing slower now, her body finally relaxing into the rhythm of the road, the hum of the engine, the not-so-gentle warmth of Lucas wrapped around her back like a human furnace.

Cassi leaned an elbow against the door, smirking to herself.

"Alright, Beauty. You got your trade. You asked about my end-of-the-world origin story, and now I get to share something truly important."

Ava narrowed her eyes. "Is this another near-death memory or are we about to hit gossip territory?"

"Oh, we’re going full gossip. Apocalypse edition. It’s practically currency now."

Ava gave a half-smile. "Fine. One round."

"Deal. So you know how I work—trader, courier, smuggler, sometimes ’aggressive negotiator’ depending on the job title. And in this post-everything hellscape, there’s a weird little club of us who survived long enough to be both respected and hated."

She shot Ava a sly look.

"I’m top ten in the West. Maybe six, depending on how many of the others are currently dead."

"That’s one way to climb a ladder," Ava muttered.

Cassi laughed.

"But you know who’s better? Like, genuinely terrifying in the ’if he shows up at your door, you disappear’ kind of better?"

Ava raised a brow. "I’m guessing this is the part where you drop a name with dramatic flair."

Cassi leaned in slightly, like the walls might be listening.

"Kai."

Ava blinked. "Just... Kai?"

"No last name. No listed faction. Just Kai. And before you ask—yes, he and Lucas know each other. Old ties. Lucas calls him a ’business liability with excellent fashion sense.’ Which, coming from him, means dangerous with flair."

Ava turned slightly, curiosity sharpening. "What’s his specialty?"

"Information trade. But not just data—secrets. Power structures. Council deals that never made it past whispers. He’s the guy you go to if you want to know who’s betraying whom... and then flip the outcome before breakfast."

Ava frowned thoughtfully. "Lucas never mentioned him."

"Because Kai doesn’t get mentioned. He shows up, makes you think you called him, and then walks away with your leverage before you realize what you agreed to."

"That sounds... unsettling."

"Oh, it is. He once convinced a city-tier commander to dismantle her own sync labs in exchange for a cure that turned out to be a bottle of high-grade adrenaline and a prayer. And she thanked him for it."

Ava looked out the window, chewing slowly. "And he and Lucas are still friends?"

Cassi grinned.

"Let’s just say their version of friendship looks like high-stakes poker and mutual blackmail. But Kai respects Lucas. Always has. Even when they’re threatening to ruin each other’s empires."

"So... Lucas has a more dangerous friend."

"Exactly." Cassi winked. "Which means you now have a more dangerous acquaintance."

Ava sighed. "Great. Add it to the list."

[SYNC RESPONSE – PASSIVE SPIKE DETECTED – SUBJECT: L. BAI]

[NOTIFICATION FLAG: PHEROMONAL FLARE – EMOTIONAL TRIGGER / POSSESSION – 90.3%]

Ava glanced down.

Lucas’s hand had tightened slightly at her side again—barely, subtly—but definitely.

Still asleep.

Cassi caught the motion and grinned without looking back.

"See? Told you he was soft for you."

Ava shoved the last of her energy bar into her mouth before she said something she might regret.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.