Apocalypse Trade Monopoly
Chapter 40: : Buried in Bai’s Bullshit

Chapter 40: : Buried in Bai’s Bullshit

Lucas stretched, rolling his shoulders like he hadn’t just rebuilt his body from the inside out.

"You owe me a meal, Beauty."

Ava scoffed. "For what? Not dying in my bed?"

Lucas grinned. "Exactly."

Ava rolled her eyes. "You can feed yourself, Bai."

Lucas sighed dramatically. "But why would I, when I have a perfectly capable partner who just so happens to be standing in my kitchen?"

Ava stared at him, unimpressed.

Lucas tilted his head. "Come on, Zhang. Four-can soup. Even you can’t mess that up."

Ava gritted her teeth. "You want soup?"

Lucas’s smirk widened. "So generous of you to offer."

Ava muttered something about throwing the pot at his head but turned toward the cabinet anyway.

Moments later she dropped a bowl in front of him with a dull clatter.

Lucas peered into it. Steaming broth. Chunks of something vaguely resembling meat. Suspicious vegetables.

He picked up a spoon, stirring lazily. "You didn’t poison this, did you?"

Ava plopped down across from him, already eating. "If I did, you’d just regenerate, so what’s the point?"

Lucas laughed, shaking his head. "Fair."

They ate in silence—or rather, Ava ate while Lucas studied her between bites, clearly building up to something.

Finally—he spoke.

"You have orders while I’m gone."

Ava’s spoon paused midair. "Orders?"

Lucas leaned back, tone easy but firm. "I’ll be out for a week. Maybe less, maybe more."

He gestured vaguely toward the room.

"In the meantime, you stay inside. No exploring, no scavenging, and definitely no getting into trouble."

Ava arched a brow. "You think trouble finds me?"

Lucas’s golden eyes gleamed. "I think you run toward it."

Ava rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

Lucas stood, stretching, then disappeared into his room.

Seconds later—he returned, dragging out a stack of crates.

Ava stared.

"You’re kidding."

Lucas grinned, shoving the pile in her direction. "You fixed everything too fast last time. Wouldn’t want you getting bored."

Ava scowled. "I hate you."

Lucas chuckled, already moving toward the door. "That’s the spirit."

Ava crossed her arms. "What happens if you don’t come back in a week?"

Lucas paused, glancing over his shoulder, smirk lazy.

"Then you have my permission to snoop through my room."

Ava blinked.

Lucas’s smirk widened. "But I will come back, Zhang."

His golden eyes flickered—calculated, knowing.

"I always do."

Then—he was gone. Out the door into what every game he had planed.

Ava stared at the pile of crates.

She exhaled slowly. "Unbelievable."

Lucas Bai had just dumped an entire week’s worth of work on her and walked away like he had done her a favor.

Ava stared at the pile of crates.

Lucas Bai was a bastard.

He knew she couldn’t leave the room, so what did he do?

Dump an entire workshop’s worth of broken tech at her feet.

Ava exhaled sharply, rolling her shoulders.

Fine. If he wanted her busy, she’d get it done so fast it’d ruin his plans.

She dropped onto her chair, pulling the first broken piece toward her.

Her Blueprint System flickered to life, already scanning.

[SCANNING DEVICE...]

[MODEL: TACTICAL VISOR – X07]

[STATUS: CORRUPTED INTERFACE – 68% REPAIRABLE]

[REPAIR INITIATED]

Ava got to work.

Her hands moved automatically, guided by the system, each fix smoother than the last.

She worked in short cycles—fix, sleep, repeat.

Minutes blurred into hours.

Her Blueprint System pulsed, running continuous calculations.

[REPAIR SUCCESSFUL]

[SCANNING NEXT DEVICE...]

One piece done.

Then another.

And another.

Ava didn’t stop.

Her fingers worked through rusted joints, melted circuits, fractured power cores.

If it could be fixed, she fixed it.

If it couldn’t?

She rebuilt it.

Piece after piece, problem after problem, the pile shrank.

Ava stared at the last pile of trash. Probably another hour of work but she was burn out. Her hands were coated in dust and grease, her fingers aching from hours of work.

She needed water.

Just a quick break. Five minutes.

Ava pushed open the door to the shared space, heading for the kitchen.

Then—she stopped dead.

Because the room wasn’t empty.

There were more crates.

Piles of them.

Ava’s eye twitched and sheyanked the lid off the first crate, already prepared to hate whatever was inside.

Then—she paused.

The contents were bad.

Not just damaged.

Destroyed.

Circuit boards melted. Power cores fractured beyond repair. Exosuit components with warped metal, fused wiring, completely unsalvageable.

Ava frowned.

Her Blueprint System flickered to life.

[SCANNING INVENTORY...]

[STATUS: NON-OPERATIONAL]

[STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: COMPROMISED]

[ERROR—NO VIABLE REPAIR OPTIONS]

Ava’s fingers twitched.

She popped the next crate open.

Same story.

Then the next.

All of it—wrecked.

Not from age, not from standard wear and tear.

This was failed enhancement damage.

Lucas had tried to upgrade this tech.

And it hadn’t survived.

Ava inhaled sharply, eyes narrowing.

Lucas’s system could improve things.

But only if they didn’t break in the process.

And all of this?

Had broken.

Ava crossed her arms, exhaling slowly.

This wasn’t just busywork.

Ava’s stomach twisted.

Slowly, Ava dragged a broken exosuit component onto the kitchen table, fingers running over the warped metal.

This wasn’t salvageable.

Not in the usual way.

Her Blueprint System flickered, scanning the damage.

[SCANNING...]

[STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 12%]

[POWER CONDUCTIVITY: NON-EXISTENT]

[REPAIR OPTIONS: NONE]

[SYSTEM ANALYSIS: FAILURE DUE TO OVER-ENHANCEMENT]

Ava’s jaw tightened.

Over-enhancement.

Lucas’s system had tried to refine this. Push it beyond its limits.

And instead?

It shattered.

Ava exhaled, moving to the next piece.

Same result.

Every single item in these crates—all of them had been enhanced.

And all of them had failed.

Lucas never wasted time.

If he’d given her this pile of wreckage, it meant one thing.

He wanted her to understand his limits.

Ava stared at the wreckage, mind racing.

Lucas’s system wasn’t invincible.

If he pushed something too far—if he overenhanced it—it couldn’t be fixed.

She pulled the first failed enhancement onto her workbench—a power core split down the center, its casing warped, its energy output unstable.

Her Blueprint System flickered to life.

[SCANNING DAMAGED COMPONENT...]

[PRIMARY FAILURE: STRUCTURAL OVERLOAD]

[CAUSE: ENHANCEMENT EXCEEDED MATERIAL LIMITS]

[REPAIR OPTIONS: NONE]

Ava’s jaw locked.

So that was it.

Lucas’s system could refine. Upgrade. Improve.

But he couldn’t reinforce.

Ava grabbed another piece of wreckage.

A modified circuit board, its inner framework fused beyond recognition.

[SCANNING...]

[ERROR—ENHANCED BEYOND SAFE LIMITS]

[STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS IDENTIFIED]

[CAUSE: MATERIAL INCOMPATIBILITY]

Ava exhaled sharply.

Lucas’s system had pushed this tech past what it was built for.

The raw materials—the foundation—hadn’t been strong enough to hold the enhancements.

And that meant something important.

If Lucas ever tried to enhance himself again—if his body wasn’t built to take it—

He wouldn’t just fail.

He would break.