The Trade Ends.
After leaving the Wetland Park.
Sun Shiqi, with an indignant expression on his face, couldn't help but start complaining loudly.
"It's unbelievable!"
"I've never seen such stingy Blue Coats before. Where is their civility? What about reciprocity? These greedy groundhogs!"
"I shouldn't have had any illusions about them!"
In the tavern of the Redstream's trading center, four out of ten most talked-about stories were related to the Blue Coats. Some people received bags of goodies from them with just a few compliments, while others used a pile of colorful papers to deceive and scam their way into free food and drinks. When they were kicked out, they still carried a large package of "survival supplies" prepared for them.
These Blue Coats had become synonymous with being foolishly wealthy, and stories about them often revolved around overnight fortunes.
Sun Shiqi never thought that he could pry open the treasure trove of the shelter with just his mouth, as rumored in the streets. It seemed that conducting normal business would be a good choice.
However...
Their reactions were beyond his expectations.
To the point that he couldn't help but wonder if these guys were a group of disguised vagrants.
Could there really be Blue Coats building houses on the ground?
Besides, he didn't even see where the sanctuary was in the end...
The gunner walking ahead turned around and glanced at him, then looked at the bulging package on the back of the two-headed cattle, asking curiously.
"So, did this deal end up in a loss?"
As a bodyguard for many years, the gunner had dealt with many merchants and rarely saw them make a loss.
"Not exactly a loss," Sun Shiqi said indignantly, "but I could have earned more!"
"..."
The gunner had no words to respond and shifted his attention away from him, continuing to scan the surroundings vigilantly.
Sun Shiqi took out his ledger from his pocket, wearing a pained expression.
He had exchanged only 30 kilograms of smoked jerky for 10 kilograms of salt.
If this trip had included a visit to Boulder City, even if someone had pointed a gun at his head, he would never have accepted such a harsh price!
But unfortunately, there were no "ifs" in this world.
And he couldn't actually drag all this salt to Boulder City, exchange it for daily necessities and electronics, then trade those goods for grains at the farm, and finally exchange the grains for meat here.
Such back-and-forth would take him at least four days, if not a whole week!
The roads in the city were much more difficult to traverse compared to outside, and winter was approaching. Both humans and mutants were frantically preparing for the harsh winter ahead.
At this time in the wasteland, this timeframe was more dangerous than ever.
In terms of both time cost and risks, he couldn't adopt such a detour plan.
And that man, obviously, understood this point.
It wasn't just the 10 kilograms of salt. The ten revolvers and two bags of ammunition he carried were also heavily bargained down by that guy using various excuses.
Firearms might not be valuable in Boulder City, but no survivor stronghold would refuse to stockpile these convenient, durable, and cheap firearms. One gun could be exchanged for the bodies of three to four mutated hyenas, providing more than enough meat. Even an ordinary butcher could slaughter and provide 60 to 70 kilograms of meat.
That's 70 kilograms of meat!
Exchanging it for 30 kilograms of dried meat wouldn't be unreasonable, right? If that wasn't possible, even 20 kilograms wouldn't be a loss!
But that man, for each gun, was only willing to give him 10 kilograms of unsmoked dried meat!
No matter how hard he tried to persuade him, that man only nodded out of friendship, allowing him to take an additional 1 kilogram of smoked fish.
That damned groundhog!
"I don't really understand, but isn't earning enough the goal?" the gunner said casually, as if nothing had happened. "Happiness lies in contentment. That's what I've heard people say."
"Heh, what do you understand? Contentment doesn't bring great wealth."
Sun Shiqi couldn't be bothered to respond, waving his pen impatiently. He continued to calculate in the ledger while walking, muttering to himself.
"...To exchange these dried meats, I need at least 60 kilograms of coarse salt. No, at least 80 kilograms to make this trip worthwhile. I need to think carefully about which mining camp I should do this trade with."
The gunner glanced at him, then at the goods on the back of the two-headed cattle, and said in a relaxed tone.
"In that case, you should embrace devotion and gratitude."
"At least I, who accompanied you on this trip, am a contented guy."
...
130 kilograms of smoked jerky plus 10 kilograms of smoked fish were exchanged for 10 kilograms of coarse salt, 10 revolvers, and two large bags.
Light Chu was quite satisfied with this trade.
Of course, the timing was just right.
Approaching winter, whoever had food was the boss. Furthermore, with most games and preys going into hibernation, occasionally catching one and leaving it in the snow preserved it well, so salt wasn't as crucial.
But when spring came next year, it would be a different story.
After all, it was a bit far-fetched to think of storing dried meat for winter without using any salt during spring and summer. It was a bit of wishful thinking.
But then again, by that time, would the outpost still need to rely on buying food to make money?
Light Chu didn't think so.
In any case, for Light Chu, the production cost of 130 kilograms of smoked meat and 10 kilograms of smoked fish was only around 60 to 80 silver coins.
Even if you calculated it based on the purchase price at the granary, it would only be 140 silver coins.
But currently, gamers were selling their games directly to the granary and temporarily not slaughtering the animals or smoking the meat themselves, so it was more appropriate to calculate based on production cost.
Actually, it didn't matter which price you used to calculate.
After all, Light Chu now had an additional 500 kilograms of the same in-game currency.
To him, "money" was just a number as the governor...
...
Alone, Light Chu dragged the coins into the sanctuary and placed them in an empty room. He looked at the shiny coins and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
If only he could exchange them all for chips.
Forget about power suit, it might even be enough to buy an airplane, right?
If someone was selling...
Money that didn't enter the market had no meaning at all.
Light Chu admired his masterpiece for a while, then turned around and left the sanctuary, returning to the surface to figure out the glass jars he had obtained from that merchant Sun.
In a glass jar, ants the size of fists were crowded together, scrambling their legs and antennae, searching for an exit.
Among them, an iron-back ant with its face toward the outside was the most energetic, tapping the inner wall of the glass jar with its pincer-like mouthparts.
However, the inner curve of the glass jar was too smooth, and it couldn't find a point to exert force by biting. Even if its bite force was stronger, it was useless. It could only fret against the transparent "wall."
Light Chu wasn't interested in insects, but he wanted to know how these little creatures became the nemesis of mutated leeches.
After all, even the larvae of mutated leeches were much larger than them.
So Light Chu went to find the fishermen by the lake and borrowed a larva of a mutated leech. Then, he picked a sturdy and energetic iron-backed ant and put them together in the same bottle.
Something interesting happened.
The mutated leech didn't immediately attack the prey in front of it. Instead, it cautiously extended its mouthparts as a probe.
Just as the edge of its mouthparts was about to touch the iron-backed ant, the mutated leech suddenly retreated, as if it had touched an electric switch. Then, it twisted its plump and round body and arched to the other side of the bottle, as if avoiding something.
The ant was also interesting. It seemed to realize that there was an extraordinary giant nearby.
However, it didn't panic at all. It didn't attack immediately or turn around to escape. Instead, it circled the inner side of the bottle while shaking its antennae.
What was it doing?
Could it be...
Squatting on the ground, Light Chu touched his chin and suddenly had a realization on his face.
"So that's how it is..."
"It should be searching for companions."
He seemed to have guessed the reason why these ants could restrain mutated leeches.
Just as Light Chu was about to further verify his guess, nearby gamers were watching and whispering.
"What is our governor doing?"
"I don't know, it seems like he's playing with ants."
"I saw him borrow a larva of a mutated leech from the fishermen. Could it be that he wants to see ants and leeches fight?"
"Damn, how can someone have such strange hobbies?!"
Raven_raven, who was carrying mushrooms and walking toward the granary, happened to hear the nearby gamers' conversation. Her back felt cold, and she couldn't help but shiver.
Le, leeches?
How could someone play with such disgusting creatures?!
This is too terrifying...
.....
After repeated comparative experiments, Light Chu finally confirmed his conjecture.
First, leeches do not have eyes and mainly rely on their sense of smell to search for prey. The mutated leeches are the same, and due to their heightened sense of smell, they are quite sensitive to odors.
When the Ironback ants detect prey, their first instinct is not to attack, but rather, like other ants, to immediately release pheromones to inform nearby companions, saying, "There's a fat lamb here, let's all attack together."
The digestive fluid of the mutant leech is corrosive to most prey, but it is almost ineffective against the Ironback Ant. Even if the ant is swallowed whole, it cannot be digested and instead gets gnawed from the inside.
Therefore, the fear of this natural enemy has been ingrained in the genes of the mutant leeches. The moment they smell the pheromones released by the Ironback Ants, they instinctively flee without even daring to look back.
"...The case is solved."
"It really was because of this thing."
Looking at the thumbnail-sized translucent gel-like substance in his hand, Light Chu gently squeezed it, feeling a bit like spoiled tapioca pudding.
This thing is the pheromone gland of the Ironback Ant, located beneath its abdomen. It can be easily pulled off with little effort.
After removing the pheromone gland from the giant ant, Light Chu placed it back into the bottle, sharing the space with the mutant leeches.
This time, the mutant leeches showed much more courage.
After a few attempts, they finally mustered the courage to swallow the prey whole, considering that the scent of this thing on its body didn't resemble that of its natural predator. The leech then wriggled its body like a wave.
About five or six minutes passed.
The mutant leech larvae, which had been wriggling before, suddenly became motionless.
Light Chu poured it out of the bottle and cut open its belly with a small knife.
Inside, the ants had been suffocated to death, but they still clung to a piece of meat, probably torn from a certain part of the mutant leech larvae.
This minor injury was not enough to kill the leech. The real cause of death might be the formic acid or something else injected into the leech's body.
"It's not realistic to kill the leeches in their nest."
"But if we can extract the glandular secretion and apply it to ourselves, disguising ourselves as natural enemies of the mutant leech... wouldn't that allow us to pass through the leeches' nest unharmed?!"
Realizing this, excitement filled Light Chu's face, and his gaze towards the glass jar changed.
We're going to strike it rich!
Trading 20 kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushroom for 2,000 chips. If we can harvest 200 kilograms...
Of course, 200 kilograms might be an exaggeration.
But a hundred or so kilograms shouldn't be a problem, right?
Unfortunately, these Ironback Ants are all worker ants without a queen to reproduce, otherwise, we could fleece the mutant leeches' nest every day!
"...I need to find a gamer with a high gathering skill proficiency for this job."
Light Chu's gaze began to wander around the forward base, searching for this lucky individual.
Suddenly, his eyes stopped on a player not far from the granary.
Raven_raven!
Seeing this young gamer, Light Chu's eyes instantly lit up.
That was close.
I almost forgot about her!
If I remember correctly, this gamer has the talent "Toxin Intuition," and all the Blue Umbrella Mushrooms she sees emit a green glow!
While others need to use a light to search inside the cave, she already has night navigation built-in, simply focusing on the things emitting the green glow. Can't she easily gather over a hundred pounds?
Feeling the gaze from the Governor, Rara shuddered all over after just completing a punishment quest.
Her perception ability allowed her to anticipate danger in advance.
But just as she was about to make a quick exit, Light Chu anticipated her anticipation and approached her, triggering a plotline.
"How did your punishment quest go?"
Hearing the voice behind her, Rara cautiously turned around, looking at the governor with trembling fear.
"Completed... just completed it. I just finished and already delivered 100 kilograms."
Light Chu nodded.
"Perfect timing. From now on, your identity level is restored to Resident. Additionally, I have a glorious and challenging task to give you."
Under normal circumstances, Rara would have gladly accepted it with a joyful face, standing tall and offering her loyalty. After all, who wouldn't love a hidden quest?
Maybe she could even increase her favorability with an NPC!
However, since a while ago, her right eye had been twitching uncontrollably, warning her of a big pit waiting ahead.
"I might not be able to complete it. Maybe you should find someone else..."
"Believe in yourself, you can do it. And this task can only be completed by you!"
Without giving Rara a chance to refuse, Light Chu interrupted her murmuring with a serious expression, pausing for two seconds before continuing.
"I will give you a bottle of special powder to apply on yourself."
"It will guarantee your safe entry into the mutant leeches' nest. Your task is to gather the blue mushrooms emitting a green glow."
Rara was on the verge of tears, especially after hearing the words "mutant leeches' nest." She was almost scared enough to log out on the spot.
"Can I come out safely?"
Light Chu replied with a confident tone.
"Theoretically, yes."
Rara: "???"
Theoretically?!
Light Chu didn't give her a chance to protest and continued speaking.
"I say 'theoretically' just to be precise. Don't worry, the success rate is over 90%. Even if you fail, it will only be considered sacrificing yourself in a special mission, without any punishment other than revival cooldown."
So, there's still a punishment!
The worst is the revival cooldown!
Rara pitifully asked, "Can you waive the revival cooldown as well?"
Light Chu paused for two seconds and selectively ignored her question.
"The task is straightforward. You have 10 minutes of absolute safety time and 20 minutes of relative safety time."
"After entering the nest, you don't have to worry about anything. Avoid the leeches and gather as many blue mushrooms emitting a green glow as you can see."
"You can gather as much as you can before the time runs out."
"For every kilogram of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms..."
"I will credit you with 4 copper coins and 5 contribution points!"