Chapter 274: Drought World 2
Chu Yian noticed that whenever Zhu Shen bestowed a blessing, the treasure box would become much gentler.
However, gentleness did not fulfill her wish.
Chu Yian seemed to have discovered a pattern with the treasure box: if her requests significantly lowered the game’s difficulty, it would impose restrictions.
Still, having two large watermelons was good. With trading spots everywhere, she would inquire about the local prices and then trade these two watermelons for water.
Zhu Shen actually felt a bit greedy looking at the large watermelons.
But he also knew what was most important for them in this round of the game.
He watched Chu Yian put away the watermelons, licked his somewhat dry lips, and obediently followed behind her, “Big Chu, do we have a plan now?”
“Yes.”
Chu Yian nodded, “Today, we need to find out the local prices, look for weapons, understand how to obtain water locally, and ideally, find a relatively safe place to spend the night.”
After she finished speaking, Zhu Tianguang had a relatively clear objective.
There were many small markets like the one they just left. They walked for a short while and encountered another one. However, the people here didn’t seem as friendly; as soon as they arrived, some gazes fell on their backpacks.
But their backpacks were empty now, and Chu Yian didn’t pay it any mind. To gather more information, the two of them even split up for a while.
She focused on the shops here.
Gold and silver were rare here; the hard currency had become water.
She saw a burly man carrying a large piece of steel to a stall. The boss weighed it at 40 catties on a scale, then took out a measuring cup and filled it with 400ml of water.
She also saw someone carrying a bundle of dry wood to another shop and receiving 100ml of water.
They walked around the market several times. Chu Yian saw that the items being traded were mainly steel and metal, firewood and fuel, medicine, and a type of black, ant-like insect. The prices of these items, in order, were: medicine was the most expensive, followed by fuel, wood, and metal, while the ant-like insects were the cheapest items here.
Just as Chu Yian was recalling roughly how much water these items were worth, Zhu Shen beside her had already begun to summarize.
“If measured by 100ml of water, that amount of water is roughly equivalent to 100 catties of black beetles, 20 catties of wood, 10 catties of metal (including precious metals like gold and palladium), and 8 catties of fuel (gasoline, diesel).
And a single medicine tablet sells for the exorbitant price of 600ml of water!”
Besides this, the people here were also eating a type of black brick-shaped biscuit.
The biscuits were the size of a red brick used for construction, and looked as if they were made from black sesame. 100ml of water could be exchanged for two such biscuits. This was probably the only food for the people around, as they had not seen any other food.
Chu Yian also wanted to ask how much water watermelons or bread could be exchanged for.
But asking that would definitely draw attention.
After all, it would give off a ‘protesting too much’ vibe.
Zhu Tianguang, on his end, had not yet finished relaying what he had found out, “Also, I found out how to earn water here.
One way is to go to a more distant place to catch black beetles; these insects are the raw material for black brick biscuits. The advantage is that it’s safe, but the items are cheap, so not much water is exchanged.
Another way is to pan for gold in the abandoned cities submerged by yellow sand. If you can find things like medicine, cigarettes, or alcohol, you’ll make a huge profit. However, these places are mostly occupied by many small gangs, and there’s always a risk of collapse.”
Zhu Tianguang had gathered much more information than she had on his trip.
Chu Yian looked at the faintly visible city in the distance and immediately made her choice.
Dealing with insects was not their best option; they had to accumulate enough water for the future within sixteen days. But the problem with going out now was that their food would only last for one day at most. What if they didn’t find anything on the first day?
“Zhu Shen, have you found any channels where we can offload watermelons or bread?”
Although she only had a rough idea of the prices, her intuition told her that non-expired bread and fresh watermelons would definitely be worth a lot of water.
“I think it’s best not to take out the watermelons yet. I’ll go see if I can find someone who buys bread.”
Zhu Shen was full of energy upon hearing this and quickly blended into the crowd.
Chu Yian, meanwhile, watched the ironware shop from a distance, eyeing two steel bars she really wanted.
Half an hour later, Zhu Shen returned.
He also brought back a dusty middle-aged man, “Big Chu, this man wants to buy our bread. 100g of bread for 600ml of water.”
“No, that’s too little.”
Chu Yian shook her head, imitating someone haggling, “That’s the freshest bread, you know. You want 100g for 100ml of water? I’d lose too much. 100g for 1000ml of water.”
Zhu Shen was startled by Chu Yian’s outrageous demand.
The middle-aged man frowned slightly upon hearing this, then agreed, “Alright, I’ll take all the bread you have.”
Seeing his decisiveness, Chu Yian realized she might have still underestimated her asking price.
However, in business, once both parties agree, there’s no going back.
“I have five hundred grams of bread.”
She had divided the bread in a secluded spot. She and Zhu Shen had a total of 1000g of bread, exactly two portions.
The two parties exchanged goods, and they received 4900ml of water.
Why was it 100ml less?
Because even plastic bottles for holding water cost money these days.
Chu Yian looked at the plastic water bucket, whose surface was already yellowed, and knew there was no room for complaint at the moment.
With water, now they had to prepare other supplies.
They bought 4 black brick biscuits—costing 200ml of water.
The two steel bars Chu Yian had her eye on earlier—costing 100ml of water.
After finishing these tasks, the two carried their items out of the market. But they hadn’t gone far when Chu Yian brought out the treasure box and put all the exchanged food and water into it.
At the same time, several suspicious people behind them had already approached.
Chu Yian and Zhu Shen had just finished putting everything into the treasure box and putting it away. They stood with steel rods, facing the five young men who had followed them. The men were gaunt and sallow, with cloudy eyes, but their gazes at the two’s backpacks held an undisguised greed.
“You have a lot of stuff, huh? Leave what’s in your bags.”
The two had exchanged quite a lot of items with Gu Wenqiang, so they had been noticed early on.
They had followed them all the way here, just to rob these two ‘fat sheep.’
Especially their backpacks.
The Tiger Head Gang and the Hyenas had all managed to snatch such backpacks, and the fresh bread inside was enough to exchange for quite a lot of things.
