The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

The eggshell on the right has a thin crack that extends from the top to the middle. The edges of the crack are black, as if it was torn open from the inside by something. A faint, sweet and fishy smell of egg liquid seeps out from the crack, exactly the same as the smell of the egg liquid that the bear on the roof stole and drank.

Su Mu walked over, squatted down, looked at the two eggs, and remained silent for a few seconds.

"This one," Lin Yuwei pointed to the cracked egg on the right, her tone as calm as if she were introducing today's vegetable prices at a market, "was already cracked when I got there. I didn't do it; it was from the aftershocks of your fight upstairs. I had just reached the edge of the Bird's Nest and hadn't even reached out when I heard a 'crack'—it cracked. I didn't have time to pick them out, so I took both."

Su Mu nodded without saying anything.

Lin Yuwei glanced at him, then pulled a crumpled piece of paper with a pale blue fluorescent glow from her backpack and waved it in front of Su Mu. "This thing..."

There was a hint of heartache in her voice that she herself might not have realized: "Disposable roll, blue quality, perfectly mimics the smell of any item, lasts for three hours."

I used it on two empty soda cans I grabbed from the shelf to imitate the smell of those two eggs.

No, you don't think that bear and the big bird would chase after us.

The two fake eggs the bear was holding could fool it for a while, but only for a short time.

Those two fake eggs didn't contain any egg liquid, the smell wouldn't last long, and the bear would know as soon as it tasted them. We need to get far enough away before then.”

Su Mu looked at the crumpled remnant of the scroll, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

He could imagine the brown bear carrying two empty cans, running across most of the zoo, chased by a large bird until it had nowhere to run, finally finding a chance to open the "egg" to replenish its energy, only to find it empty...

No, it probably wasn't even empty; it was just two ordinary aluminum cans, taken from the shelf, and whose expiration dates were unknown. Su Mu didn't want to guess what the bear's expression would be.

He looked up at Lin Yuwei. This woman had said so much, from the reel to the can, from the can to the smell, from the smell to the risk, from the risk to her sacrifices; her meaning was clear... she wanted to divide the spoils.

Su Mu didn't respond; he was waiting for Lin Yuwei to reveal the allocation plan herself.

Lin Yuwei stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled.

That smile wasn't her usual shrewd, calculating one; it was a more relaxed smile, as if she were saying, "Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush with you anymore."

"I won't touch the whole egg." Her tone was decisive, as if stating a decision she had made long ago. "I'll take a quarter of the egg white from the cracked one."

Su Mu was stunned.

He had already mentally prepared himself... Lin Yuwei would want a whole egg, or at least half an egg's yolk, or use the whole egg as a bargaining chip to exchange for something else. He had even thought about how to bargain, at what point to make concessions, and what conditions to exchange for what conditions.

He never expected that Lin Yuwei would only ask for a quarter of it.

The egg was already damaged; if it wasn't dealt with immediately, the yolk would spoil quickly, and eventually, not even a quarter of it would be preserved.

She essentially asked for nothing. It took him several seconds to process this information, and a few more seconds to confirm that he hadn't misheard, before he looked at Lin Yuwei.

This is practically asking for a lion's share of the spoils.

Lin Yuwei felt a little uncomfortable under his expression. She frowned slightly, and her tone became more wary: "You wouldn't be willing to do less than a quarter, would you?"

"Can."

Su Mu said. His voice was calm, but his mind was still racing.

A quarter—this number was far below his psychological threshold.

Lin Yuwei paid a heavy price this time... Using a blue-quality disposable reel, she risked being discovered by the large bird and the brown bear to sneak into the nest. While Su Mu and the brown bear were fighting, she seized the opportunity precisely and successfully stole two eggs, and also set up two fake eggs as bait.

Without her stealth abilities and that scroll, even if Su Mu killed the brown bear, he might not have been able to safely bring the eggs out of the nest. A quarter, that's too little.

But Su Mu didn't say anything like "You can take more".

It's not that he didn't want to, it's just that this stuff is too precious. You see, he personally witnessed the changes in the bear after it ate this egg liquid.

However, he kept this in mind. From now on, whenever he had something good, she would be the first person he thought of.

Lin Yuwei secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Su Mu nod.

Her expression remained unchanged, still indifferent and unfathomable, but her fingers loosened from the edge of her cloak, and her knuckles were no longer white.

She didn't completely dislike the intact egg.

But she had witnessed the changes in the bear after it drank the egg liquid... golden fur spread from a small tuft to half its body. This kind of enhancement was terrifying, something any survivor could only dream of.

But she also knew that this kind of improvement was beyond what her current body could handle.

That bear was a level 10 purple-grade creature, and it was fine after drinking the egg liquid because it was a giant beast. If it were her, it would have been blown apart by that energy. She was only level 4, and even if she only drank a small sip, who knows what would happen.

Moreover, what she wants is never "the most," but "the most worthwhile."

She could ask for the yolk from half an egg, and Su Mu might agree, or even give her more because he felt indebted to her.

But if that happens, her relationship with Su Mu will change from "cooperation" to "transaction," and from "friends" to "business partners."

She didn't want that.

A quarter of a broken egg—no more, no less—was just the right number that Su Mu wouldn't refuse, that she could afford, and that Su Mu wouldn't think she was greedy.

Moreover, Su Mu will remember this. If another opportunity like this arises, she will be the first person he thinks of. That's far more valuable than that little bit of egg yolk.

"Hmph! See if you dare call me a swindler again!"