Chapter 60

The transaction was over.

After leaving the wetland park.

Sun Shiqi, with a face full of resentment, finally couldn't help but start complaining loudly.

"Absolutely unbelievable!"

"I've never seen such a stingy Blue Coat. Where is the civility of the civilized? Where is the reciprocity? These greedy groundhogs!"

"I shouldn't have had any illusions about them!"

In the Red River Town trading center, four out of ten stories that people enjoy telling are about the Blue Coats.

Someone once received a large bag of good things from the Blue Coats with just a few flattering words, and another person went in with a pile of colorful papers to scam food and drinks, and when he was kicked out, he still had a large bag of "survival supplies" in his hand.

These Blue Coats almost became a synonym for being gullible and rich, and their stories often revolve around the word "overnight riches."

Sun Shiqi didn't expect to be able to pry open the treasure of the shelter with just his words like the rumors suggested, but doing business normally seemed like a good choice.

However...

Their reactions were beyond his expectations.

To the point where he couldn't help but doubt if these guys were a group of refugees in disguise.

Would a Blue Coat really build a house on the ground?

Moreover, he didn't even see where the shelter was...

The gunman walking in front turned back and looked at him, then at the bulging package on the back of the two-headed bull, and asked in confusion.

"So, did you lose money on this deal?"

He had been a bodyguard for many years and had dealt with many merchants, rarely seeing them lose money.

"Not really," Sun Shiqi said angrily, "but I could have made more!"

"..."

The gunman was speechless, shifting his attention back to the surroundings to maintain vigilance.

Sun Shiqi pulled out his ledger from his pocket, his face showing pain.

10 kilograms of salt had only been exchanged for 30 kilograms of smoked meat.

If it weren't for the fact that this trip didn't include a plan to go to Boulder City, he would have refused such a harsh price even if someone pointed a gun at his head!

But unfortunately, there's no such thing as "if."

He couldn't possibly drag the salt to Boulder City, exchange it for daily necessities and appliances, then go to the farm to exchange for grain, and finally use the grain from the farm to exchange for meat here.

Back and forth, it would take him at least four days, or even a week!

The roads in the city are much harder to navigate than outside, especially with winter approaching, and both humans and mutants are frantically preparing for the coming cold.

In the wasteland, this time of year is more dangerous than any other.

Considering both the time cost and the risks involved, he couldn't possibly take the detour.

And that man clearly saw this.

Not only the 10 kilograms of salt, but also the ten revolvers and two bags of bullets he carried were heavily discounted by that guy for various reasons.

Firearms might not be valuable in Boulder City, but no survivor settlement would refuse to stockpile these easy-to-maintain, durable, and cheap weapons. One revolver could easily be exchanged for 3 to 4 mutated hyena corpses, which could yield 60 to 70 kilograms of meat when butchered.

That's 70 kilograms of meat!

Exchanging for 30 kilograms of dried meat wasn't too much, and even 20 kilograms wouldn't be a loss!

But that man was only willing to give him 10 kilograms of unprocessed smoked meat for each revolver!

No matter how he tried to persuade, that man only nodded in friendship, letting him take an extra kilogram of smoked fish.

This damn groundhog!

"I don't really understand, but isn't making a profit enough?" the gunman said casually, "Contentment brings happiness, I always hear people say that."

"Ha, what do you understand? Contentment won't make you rich."

Sun Shiqi ignored him, impatiently waving his pen as he hurried along the road, muttering and calculating in his ledger.

"These dried meats, at least 60 kilograms of coarse salt. No, at least 80 kilograms to make this trip worthwhile. I need to think about which mine to do this trade with."

The gunman glanced at him, then at the goods on the back of the two-headed bull, and said in a relaxed tone.

"Then you should be grateful and content."

"At least I, who accompanied you on this trip, am a content person."

...

130 kilograms of smoked meat plus 10 kilograms of smoked fish were exchanged for 10 kilograms of coarse salt, 10 revolvers, and two large bags.

Chu Guang was quite satisfied with this transaction.

Of course, it was also a matter of timing.

As winter approached, whoever had food was the boss, and with prey hibernating, a little salt wasn't as important since meat could be preserved in the snow.

But come spring, the situation would be different.

After all, making dried meat in spring and summer without any salt to store until winter is a bit unrealistic.

But then again, would the outpost need to rely on buying food to make money by then?

Chu Guang didn't think so.

In any case, the production cost of 130 kilograms of smoked meat and 10 kilograms of smoked fish for Chu Guang was only 60 to 80 silver coins.

Even at the warehouse's purchase price, it was only 140 silver coins.

But currently, players sell their prey directly to the warehouse, not slaughtering and drying the meat themselves, so calculating based on production cost is more appropriate.

Actually, it doesn't matter which price is used.

After all, Chu Guang now had an additional 500 kilograms of game currency.

Money, for him as a manager, was just a number...

...

Dragging these coins into the shelter alone, he placed them in an empty room, and looking at the shiny coins, a satisfied smile appeared on Chu Guang's face.

If only he could exchange them all for chips.

Not to mention power armor, buying a plane might be enough, if someone was selling it...

Money that doesn't circulate in the market has no meaning.

Chu Guang only admired his work for a moment before leaving the shelter and returning to the surface, starting to think about the glass jar he got from the merchant surnamed Sun.

The ants, as big as fists, were huddled together in the glass jar, flailing their legs and antennae, searching for an exit.

One of the iron-backed ants, facing outward, was the most energetic, using its pincer-like mouth to tap the inner wall of the glass jar.

However, the inner curved surface of the glass jar was too slippery, and even with strong biting power, it was useless, leaving it to stare helplessly at the transparent "wall."

Chu Guang wasn't interested in insects, but he wanted to know how this small creature could become the natural enemy of the mutated leech.

After all, even the young of the mutated leech is much larger than them.

So, Chu Guang went to the fishermen by the lake, borrowed a young mutated leech, and picked a strong and energetic iron-backed ant, placing them in the same bottle.

An interesting thing happened.

The mutated leech didn't immediately attack the prey but extended its mouth tentatively.

Just as the edge of the mouth was about to touch the iron-backed ant, the mutated leech suddenly recoiled as if it had been shocked, then wriggled its fat, round body to the other side of the bottle, as if trying to avoid something.

The ant was also interesting, seemingly aware of the presence of a formidable creature nearby.

However, it wasn't panicked, neither attacking immediately nor fleeing, but circling the inside of the bottle while waving its antennae.

What was it doing?

Could it be...

Chu Guang, squatting on the ground observing, touched his chin, and a sudden realization appeared on his face.

"I see..."

"It must be looking for its companions."

He seemed to have figured out why this ant could control the mutated leech.

Just as Chu Guang was about to further verify his hypothesis, nearby players were whispering to each other.

"What is the manager doing?"

"I don't know, he seems to be playing with ants."

"I saw him get a young leech from the fishermen. Could he be watching the ants fight the leech?"

"Damn, what a weird hobby!"

Yaya, carrying mushrooms to the warehouse, overheard the conversation and felt a chill, shivering involuntarily.

Water, leeches?

How could anyone play with such disgusting things?!

This is too scary...

...

After repeated experiments, Chu Guang finally verified his hypothesis.

First, leeches don't have eyes and mainly rely on their sense of smell to search for prey. Mutated leeches are the same, and their heightened sense of smell makes them very sensitive to odors.

When the iron-backed ant discovers prey, it doesn't immediately attack but, like other ants, immediately releases pheromones to inform nearby companions of the presence of a large prey, inviting them to join.

The digestive fluid of the mutated leech can corrode most prey, but it is almost ineffective against the iron-backed ant. Even if it swallows the ant whole, it can't digest it and will be bitten from the inside.

Therefore, the fear of this natural enemy is almost written into the genes of the mutated leech, causing it to instinctively flee upon smelling the pheromones released by the iron-backed ant, without even looking back.

"Case solved."

"It's really because of this."

Looking at the thumb-sized, translucent gel-like substance in his hand, Chu Guang gently pinched it, which felt a bit like spoiled tapioca pudding.

This substance is the pheromone gland of the iron-backed ant, located under its abdomen, and can be easily removed.

After removing the pheromone gland from the ant, Chu Guang put it back in the bottle with the mutated leech.

This time, the mutated leech was much braver.

After several attempts, it probably decided that the smell of this creature wasn't like its natural enemy, so it finally gathered the courage to swallow the prey, and its body began to undulate.

About five to six minutes later.

The young mutated leech, which was still wriggling, suddenly stopped moving.

Chu Guang poured it out of the bottle and cut open its belly with a small knife.

Inside, the ant had suffocated but still had a piece of meat in its mouth, probably torn from some part of the young mutated leech's body.

This minor injury wasn't enough to kill the leech, but the fatal blow might have been the formic acid or something else injected into the leech's body.

"Eliminating the leeches in the nest is unrealistic."

"But if the pheromone gland extract can be applied to the body to disguise as the natural enemy of the mutated leech... wouldn't it be possible to pass through the leech nest unharmed?!"

Realizing this, Chu Guang's face was filled with excitement, and his gaze on the glass jar changed.

Wealth!

20 kilograms of blue umbrella mushrooms can be exchanged for 2000 chips, and if he could harvest 200 kilograms...

Of course, 200 kilograms might be exaggerated.

But a hundred kilograms should be doable, right?

Unfortunately, these iron-backed ants are worker ants, and there is no queen to reproduce, otherwise, he could harvest from the leech nest every day!

"I need to find a player with high collection skill proficiency to do this."

Chu Guang's gaze began to wander around the outpost, looking for this lucky player.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped on a player not far from the warehouse.

Yaya!

Seeing this little player, Chu Guang's eyes lit up.

Phew.

Almost forgot about her!

If I remember correctly, this player named Yaya has the talent "Toxin Intuition," and the blue umbrella mushrooms appear green to her!

Others have to search with a light in the cave, but this player has a built-in night vision, just focusing on the green glow, and can easily collect over a hundred kilograms.

Feeling the manager's gaze, Yaya, who had just completed her punishment task, shivered.

Her perception talent allowed her to predict danger.

But just as she was about to slip away, Chu Guang anticipated her move and approached to trigger the plot.

"How did your punishment task go?"

Hearing the voice behind her, Yaya cautiously turned around and said nervously to the manager.

"Completed... just completed, I've already delivered 100 kilograms."

Chu Guang nodded.

"Good, now that it's completed, your status is restored to resident. Additionally, I have a glorious and challenging task for you."

If it were any other time, Yaya would have been happy to accept, standing tall and offering loyalty, as hidden tasks are always exciting.

Maybe it could even increase NPC favor!

But from the start, her right eye kept twitching, telling her there might be a big pit 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 Yaya a chance to refuse, Chu Guang interrupted her with a serious face, paused for two seconds, and continued.

"I will give you a special powder to apply to your body."

"It will ensure you can enter the mutated leech nest safely. Your task is to collect the green-glowing mushrooms inside."

Yaya was almost in tears, especially after hearing "mutated leech nest," almost fainting on the spot.

"Can I come out safely?"

Chu Guang said with certainty.

"Theoretically, yes."

Yaya: "???"

Theoretically?!

Chu Guang didn't give her a chance to protest, continuing.

"Saying 'theoretically' is just for accuracy. Don't worry, the success rate is over 90%. Even if it fails, it's a special mission, and you won't face any penalties other than the resurrection cooldown."

There