Chapter 7 of 10

Chapter 7

14 min read3,476 words

The world is never short of smart people, but for those who truly want to succeed, reading people and situations is an essential skill.

Imagine a new player coming to the mine to look for ore, and after digging up a magic crystal, he has a calm and composed expression. There are only two possibilities: either he has seen it many times, or it doesn't suit his taste.

In "The Ninth Continent," you can't create multiple accounts, so how could a new player have seen this item so many times?

Without a doubt, Li Dalong clearly falls into the latter category.

After hearing Li Dalong's needs, Dingdingyu immediately slapped his chest and said, "Brother, I have everything you need, but..."

How could Li Dalong not see through his deliberately difficult expression?

"Trade?" Li Dalong asked.

If Baldy and Commando were there, they would probably be so angry that they would curse him as a big idiot dozens of times. You're using a magic crystal to trade for sulfur, nitric acid, and charcoal, these cheap things. Your brain must be waterlogged.

But can you blame Idiot Dragon? You really can't. After all, he is poor and doesn't understand the market, and he urgently needs the first start-up capital for his entrepreneurial journey. Well, start-up capital is too idealistic, but at least he needs something to eat, drink, wear, and use.

This is where Li Dalong's twisted thoughts come into play. He also put on a deliberately difficult expression, "Let me think about it..."

His "difficulty" made Dingdingyu a bit anxious. He came for the magic crystal and was too eager to succeed, so he quickly put on a smiling face, "Brother, we can talk slowly, the price... is negotiable."

The moment he heard the word "money," Li Dalong's eyes lit up. Not only would he get the raw materials, but he would also get extra money. This was too good.

"However..." Dingdingyu struggled to say these three words.

"Hmm?" Li Dalong stared at him intently.

Dingdingyu felt a bit guilty under his gaze and had to explain, "My goods are stored in the warehouse in Maocao Village."

Li Dalong laughed, "That's no problem, let's go back now!"

The so-called warehouse is something no player should be unfamiliar with. It has infinite storage capacity and many trading functions. In "The Ninth Continent," you can withdraw from any town or village at any time.

"How much do you have?" Li Dalong squinted his eyes, and his expression might make others think he was an expert.

Dingdingyu was indeed not simple, "If we count 500 grams as one portion, I have 20 portions of charcoal, 10 portions of nitric acid, and 42 portions of sulfur. What do you think, Brother?"

What could Li Dalong do? He didn't know the market at all. He had no idea if these things were worth a magic crystal.

His current situation was that his storage was empty, and he had no money in his bag, so he could only be confused and hesitant. Although he was anxious inside, his expression made Dingdingyu feel uneasy.

Li Dalong furrowed his brows, as if he was deeply thinking.

"Brother, can you give me an answer?" Dingdingyu urged, hardening his resolve.

"Um, um, this... what..." Li Dalong stammered, looking like he was having a hard time, but actually hiding his ignorance.

But in Dingdingyu's eyes, it wasn't the same. Fine, this guy is clearly dissatisfied with the conditions. Think about it, he has professional mining tools and a strong background, how could he be fooled?

"Alright, Brother, I'll add 20 silver coins, just one word, deal or no deal." Dingdingyu was determined, this was basically all he had.

100 copper coins equal 1 silver coin, and 100 silver coins equal 1 gold coin, and so on, with higher denominations like diamond coins and holy coins.

Objectively speaking, Dingdingyu's offer was very sincere. Although magic crystals are precious, the one Li Dalong had was small and of low quality, only 12 points.

Regardless of its size, the current record in "The Ninth Continent" for the highest quality is 2388 points. Such an item is priceless. It is said that the player who owns this treasure is a rune master in the Obsidian Land, who can face dozens of strong opponents without a scratch and retreat unharmed.

Li Dalong definitely didn't know these things, but he knew one thing: now others were begging him. Since he could get silver coins, he would pretend to be hesitant and then agree.

Although he didn't have a clear concept of money, he could still do the math. 20 silver coins were enough for him to mine 100 times in the Southeast Mine.

Mining 100 times and not getting good ore? That would either mean he had bad luck or a scary appearance.

Watching the transaction bar between the storage cabinets slowly progress, Li Dalong felt smug. Why did he make money so easily? It was because he was handsome.

Yeah, being handsome is capital, being handsome is like having food.

"Cucumber Brother, if you find more magic crystals in the future, come to me for a trade, don't let the benefits go to others," Dingdingyu reminded him.

Li Dalong asked, "Why do you need this so urgently?"

Dingdingyu replied, "I want to become a magic master."

A magic master is a difficult profession to achieve in "The Ninth Continent," different from ordinary mages.

Ordinary mages mainly rely on magic points, or mana, to cast spells, typically wind, fire, lightning, light, and ice. These spells are relatively simple, but magic masters guide or transfer these energies for attack and defense. Not only do they consume a lot of mana, but they also heavily depend on equipment. Most magic masters use crystal sources to enhance their equipment attributes, but they mostly focus on skill cultivation, so they are particularly concerned with collecting magic crystals.

In short, magic masters are the most dependent on magic crystals. A 100-level magic master without magic crystals is not much different in combat power from a 1-level newbie. This is why Dingdingyu was willing to go to any lengths to buy this from Li Dalong.

Of course, these game common knowledge and experience were purely gibberish to Li Dalong.

I don't care what you practice. Even if you want to become a great demon king in the future, you can't stop me from contacting our great Commando brother now.

"Brother Commando?" Li Dalong picked up the sound box and shouted, "I'm a hard cucumber, I found the stuff, I'm at..."

He had only said half of his sentence when his vision suddenly blurred, and the surroundings slowly became distorted and blurry.

The cold, indifferent voice of the system sounded in his ear, "Player, your game time limit has been reached. Please log out in a safe area immediately, or you will bear the loss."

Oh no, Li Dalong was extremely frustrated. Why did the system fail me at this critical moment? Is a prisoner so powerless?

When his vision returned to normal, he found himself back in the white, bleak cell. The metal drawer on the wall was automatically retracting the helmet, and finally, the drawer closed and retreated into the wall, leaving everything as if it had never happened.

Baldy and Linzhi also woke up and sat on their beds. Li Dalong sighed helplessly. He began to understand why Baldy said this was a welfare time. Thinking about sitting in this room all day, the only hope was not to be released from prison but to earn money during these three hours.

Baldy spoke first, "Did you have any gains?"

Li Dalong nodded weakly, "I found about sixty to seventy portions of materials."

He looked listless, and Baldy was surprised. Damn, this guy is so fierce. He found so much in just a few hours. Is he a 1-level newbie? When I was 1-level, I could only get a dozen lizard skins in a day, and this guy managed to get so many materials in a few hours.

Baldy fell into deep thought. He didn't care how Li Dalong got the materials but was thinking about something else. If this guy really focused on cultivation, he would definitely be a prominent figure in the assassin world in the future.

"By the way, can't the in-game money be exchanged for real-world credit points?" Li Dalong finally asked.

"That's right," Linzhi replied, "The exchange rate is 1 gold coin for 1 credit point, and the federal government charges a 2% handling fee. You're actually concerned about this now."

Linzhi's tone was somewhat disdainful, his sense of superiority resurfacing. He thought, a 1-level newbie can't get more than a couple of copper coins in a few hours, let alone find jewels in the newbie village.

Faced with Linzhi's sarcasm, Li Dalong showed no reaction. He was just bitterly calculating. He worked so hard in the game, but in reality, he couldn't even buy a crumb of bread. The world is tough.

"Dinner is here, let's eat!" Seeing his worried expression, Baldy guessed what he was thinking, "Eat well, rest well. Thinking too much about some things can give you a headache. It's better to think less. Maybe when you wake up tomorrow, it will be welfare time again."

Li Dalong nodded. Baldy's words were simple but made sense.

Others are in the world, unable to control their own fate, but I am in prison, penniless.

The prison dinner was very simple, extremely simple.

The metal drawer for the helmet extended again, but this time it held a transparent test tube filled with a blue liquid. This was a highly concentrated nutritional liquid, providing the body with all the necessary energy and vitamins for the day.

Human technology has advanced to the point where even traditional eating utensils are unnecessary. Just open the test tube cap, tilt your head, and take a sip. The whole process takes less than 5 seconds. Dinner is over, wash up, and go to bed.

If this mode had existed on Earth a few hundred years ago, it would have been widely welcomed and praised. But now, people eating this way is a form of suffering because you can't enjoy the pleasure of eating.

The appreciation of food and the enjoyment of the process are human instincts. However, with today's advanced technology, making a table full of delicious, colorful, and aromatic dishes is child's play.

Of course, it's child's play for the rich, but for ordinary families, it's an extremely luxurious expense. As for prisoners, being able to take oral nutritional liquids is already a demonstration of humanitarianism. Not being injected is already a favor.

Think about it, three meals a day, three needle pricks on your arm every day, that would be a terrible experience.

Despite this, Li Dalong was still furious, "Damn it, the procurement department of this prison must have taken kickbacks from some fake supplier. This nutritional liquid is a half-bottle of counterfeit goods. I'm going to complain to the warden, complain..."

He screamed at the surveillance camera on the wall, and Linzhi shouted in dissatisfaction, "Idiot!"

"Troublemaker!" After saying this, Baldy also lay down to sleep.

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