Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Cunning Merchants in the New Era
Translator: 549690339
Soon, Bai Qi had moved all of the Angel’s Flowers into the secret space. He only relaxed when he confirmed that there was no sign of rejection from the Angel’s Flower.
“I’ll need to create a separate greenhouse for the Angel’s Flowers later on. Otherwise, who knows when Beta, this stupid dog, might chew on it.”
Bai Qi withdrew his spirit power, then stretched out his muscles. “Beta, widen the search area. We’re preparing to harvest the whole field!” he said to Husky.
“Woof! Woof!”
(It’s all wrapped up in this dog’s body!)
Husky howled, and swarms of Mechanical Bees and Mechanical Spiders crawled out from his half-mechanical body. They quickly dispersed, beginning to scout out the surroundings.
[Name]: Mechanical Bee / Mechanical Spider.
[Introduction]: Mechanical creations, specifically used for scouting out the surrounding situation.
With his surveying machines and his own perception skills, Husky’s range of perception expanded several times over.
Calming Fruit?
Gather it all up!
Moonlight Stone?
Dig them all up!
Exotic Fruit tree?
Uh, I could not bring all of that.
Midway up the Danggu Mountain.
Several examinees stared at the forest in front of them, cut through like the passing path of the Insect Race, a bewildered look in their eyes.
Where are all the resources that were supposed to be everywhere?
Why does this seem worse than the small mound behind my house?
“I took the exam on Danggu Mountain last year. There should be a cluster of Tranquilizing Grass here. How is it all gone now?”
“Who isn’t in the same boat? I’ve just passed by the Exotic Fruit forest – some bastard harvested all the fruits in there, not even a single one was left for me.” “The two of you are lucky. You’re just failing to complete your tasks. Look at me. I was blown away by some bastard’s leftover bombs. I feel like I’ve fallen into shit.”
“Uh, dude, that smell on you. You didn’t really end up eating it, did you?”
“…You know too much.”
The group chatted. Suddenly, they felt people approaching from behind and immediately became alert.
“Who is it!”
They were all examinees from Lingxi City, skilled in wilderness survival. Their alertness was high.
Seeing the three in combat-ready stance, Bai Qi quickly waved his hands and said, “Relax, I am just here to do some trading with you.”
Saying that, he took out a Tranquilizing Grass and an Exotic Fruit. “These should be the items you need for your task, right? Give me something of equal value, and I am willing to trade.”
Seeing the two items in Bai Qi’s hand, the examinees’ eyes brightened. They immediately took out items of the same value for the trade, but Bai Qi put away the two items.
“Sorry, these aren’t valuable enough.”
“That’s impossible. These two items are both rare materials. How could they be less valuable?”
One of the examinees frowned, looking a bit disgruntled.
“I know, but since these items are mine, I get to decide the price.”
Bai Qi nodded his head seriously, scanning the badges on their uniforms. “You guys are from Lingxi City? Then the price would be five times the value.” “Five times? Might as well just rob us!”
“Please don’t vilify me. This is a legitimate trade.”
Bai Qi straightened his face, saying, “I’ve harvested all the Tranquilizing Grass and Exotic Fruit nearby. If you want to complete your tasks on time, your only choice is to buy from me.”
“So it was you causing all the trouble!”
The three of them glared at Bai Qi, and then looked at each other, quietly surrounding him.
“Actually, I don’t recommend you guys doing this.”
Seeing their movements, Bai Qi sighed, and chin-nodded toward their backs.
Two broken swords quietly hovered behind two of them. Behind the remaining person, a tall Ice Shadow Swordsman in ice armor silently watched him.
“Is that the Ice Shadow Swordsman? Are you Bai Qi?”
Looking at Alpha overwhelming protection, one of them recognized him.
“Hmm, you’ve got the wrong person.”
Bai Qi waved away the notion casually, “So, are we trading or not? If not, I will be on my way.”
The three glanced at each other, seeing a sense of helplessness in their eyes. They gritted their teeth and offered up five times the resources for the trade with Bai Qi.
Although they didn’t like it, it was more economical to complete the task.
Though resentful, they didn’t want to lose everything over a small matter.
“Tsk…Thanks for your patronage.”
Bai Qi received their resources with a beaming smile, having confirmed that everything was correct, he handed over the items they needed.
“Remember to spread the word, both to people you know and those you don’t. If all goes well, all the resources around here should be with me. So, remind them to make a move ASAP.”
Upon hearing this, the three men’s eyes twitched. They wanted to retaliate, but thinking of the undead creature that appeared silently behind them, they chose to give up.
If I can’t trouble them, I can still avoid them, right?
Watching the three walk away, Bai Qi’s smile grew even wider.
I quite enjoy the feeling of people disliking me but being unable to do anything about it!
Looking at the sky which had darkened, he pitched a tent that he took out from the secret space, then turned to Husky and asked, “Did you hand out all the flyers?”
“Woof! Woof!”
(It’s all taken care of!)
Husky confidently patted his chest, then pulled out a large screen directly from the secret space, plugged it into his energy source, and all the materials they had collected and their prices appeared on the screen.
“Exchange rate for Gusu City examinees: 1:2, Lingxi City ordinary examinees: 1:3, Tainxuan High School examinees: 1:5. Hmm, pretty reasonable.”
Even though Bai Qi had collected many resources and pretty much monopolized some, it was impossible to plunder the whole Danggu Mountain.
However, with the current rate of exchange, when the small amounts added up, his business would only get bigger.
He only had to take care of the sales; the resource searching would be left to these hard-working bees.
I just realized I have a knack for business!
Satisfied, Bai Qi nodded his head. Then, he crawled into his tent.
“Beta, you’re in charge of trading tonight. Alpha, keep an eye out for any troublemakers and kick them out forcefully. Also… Achoo!”
“Clank Clank.”
“Woof! Woof!”
His twin pets, Alpha and Beta, confirmed they understood and quickly returned to their positions. Meanwhile, Bai Qi rubbed his nose and crawled back into his tent.
Just like I thought, the nights in the mountains are chilly. Hmmm. I should add an extra blanket tonight.
“Bai Qi, Bai Qi!”
Bai Qi was woken up by shouting. He reluctantly opened his eyes and poked his head out of his tent. Han Wei and others were looking at him with strange expressions. Next to them, a group of people were orderly lining up to trade with Husky.
These were people who couldn’t complete their tasks on time and couldn’t defeat the ferocious beasts either, so they had no choice but to exchange resources with Bai Qi.
Even though they were reluctant, the ones who could beat Bai Qi had already completed their tasks. The only ones left were them, the weaklings.
You said we should fight back?
Okay, you go first?
“Why are you here? You haven’t completed the tasks either?”
Bai Qi crawled out of the tent. “Since we know each other so well, I won’t charge you extra. I’ll change the exchange rate to 1:1..”