Compensation?

Qu Jianlei was stunned for a moment when he heard that, then quickly understood.

A business that could sell Energy Blocks—given that kind of strength, privately buying gold was perfectly normal.

So he asked, "When you say a high price... how exactly are you buying it? What will it be converted into? Don't tell me Hong Five Silver Coins."

"Hong Five Silver Coins?" The manager gave a disdainful laugh. Clearly, he thought little of Hong Five Silver Coins as well.

He stated without hesitation, "Naturally, you'll exchange it for Energy Blocks. We'll sell them to you at seventy percent of the market price."

When ordinary Wasteland goods were bartered, the discounts were usually steep.

But Energy Blocks were genuine hard currency, more stable than the privately minted Silver Coins of the various Settlements.

So don't think seventy percent was too little. It was genuinely a very sincere offer.

Qu Jianlei looked at him and asked with interest, "What if I only want to buy a bag?"

"We can handle that too," the manager answered without hesitation, carrying himself somewhat like an elite Blue Star white-collar worker.

Still, things were ultimately different. On Blue Star, shouldn't there at least have been a "No need to buy one, we'll give you one"? But the Wasteland population was complicated and highly mobile, so VIP systems were relatively underdeveloped.

"I'll definitely exchange some for Energy Blocks," Qu Jianlei said decisively.

He was not good at dealing with people, but he had not entered society only yesterday. In a backward place like this, mutual benefit was the right path.

Then he asked again, "I also plan to buy some Mutated Beast Crystals. Do you have any channels for that?"

"This..." The manager finally hesitated. Mutated Beast Crystals were far rarer than Energy Blocks.

In the end, he still said, "I'll need to ask for instructions on this matter. The price may far exceed your imagination."

Qu Jianlei did not consider price at all. What he needed most right now was to rapidly increase his strength.

At heart, he did not care much about wealth, much less when all of this had been picked up for free.

As for what he would do if he ran out of money in the future... as long as his strength increased, how difficult could earning money be? So he asked bluntly, "How long?"

Time... The manager pondered for a moment, then drew a deep breath. "Within two days. How does that sound?"

"Not good. That's too long," Qu Jianlei replied without hesitation. "Can you help me purchase a batch of grain, meat, and water?"

"I'm afraid I can't help with that," the manager answered just as bluntly. Qu Jianlei's words had struck a nerve. "We don't handle low-end business."

The Energy Block shop was far too arrogant, directly defining all other supplies as low-end transactions.

In truth, they could be flexible for certain regular major customers and arrange low-end supplies for them. Business was business—nothing shameful about it.

But Qu Jianlei's words had genuinely offended him. Go buy it yourself, then.

Qu Jianlei did not know the hidden complications, nor did he care to think about them. He simply spoke directly.

"I'm buying a thousand Energy Blocks. Do you deliver?"

After being stunned for a moment, the manager nodded. "We deliver within the Settlement. Within the Residential Area, there will be a certain delivery security fee."

"Fine." Qu Jianlei nodded. "I'll be purchasing within the Settlement. Can you send someone along with us, then deliver everything together afterward?"

"No problem," the manager answered without hesitation, then emphasized, "But delivery is only free within the Settlement."

"I know," Qu Jianlei answered crisply. "Make the arrangements. Bring a thousand Energy Blocks, and we'll go shopping."

"Wait." The manager became anxious. How much gold could a thousand Energy Blocks even exchange for? "We have some information about Mutated Beast Crystals. We can help broker a deal for you."

Qu Jianlei shook his head and muttered softly, "No need. Two days... who knows how many adventurers that might attract."

Worrying about others coveting you was the behavior of the weak.

But openly showing that concern was not the sort of reaction a weak person should have.

That left only one explanation: he was not truly afraid of adventurers swarming in. He merely found them troublesome.

Yet Qu Jianlei really was worried that he could not defeat them. After all, he was alone, and Xiao Jing's combat ability was practically nonexistent.

The manager immediately explained, "It's not vertical business. It's horizontal."

In other words, it was not something from higher up the chain. There were relevant channels within Hong Wu Settlement itself.

Qu Jianlei understood. Wasn't this just how big companies on Blue Star operated? Branch managers could dominate their own territory and be extremely influential, but major matters still had to follow the head office.

At the same time, they had local connections and some private side jobs that could be handed to local people.

Such business was not necessarily against the rules. On the contrary, it could often strengthen the company's influence.

So Qu Jianlei was not surprised. He asked directly, "How long?"

"One day." After thinking it over, the manager corrected himself. "If you're willing to pay a higher price, perhaps only half a day."

"Heh." Qu Jianlei smiled. "Then one day."

Then he picked up that stack of documents. Since he had nothing better to do, he said, "Please help me check these."

The manager took them, flipped through them a few times, and handed them straight back. There was even a trace of... pity on his face?

"The Settlement's layout has changed. All these places have already been requisitioned or redeveloped."

Requisitioned? Qu Jianlei was not particularly surprised, but he was still somewhat confused.

"These land deeds and property certificates are gone. Who requisitioned them, and how was the compensation calculated?"

"Compensation?" The manager gave him a very strange look. What an unusual line of thinking.

"Yes." Qu Jianlei nodded decisively and looked at him calmly.

He did not know whether requisition and demolition on the Wasteland came with compensation, but there had to be something to it.

At his words, a trace of panic appeared in Xiao Jing's eyes.

But the manager did not notice. He had already been shocked by Qu Jianlei's wording and attitude.

After hesitating for a moment, he gave a light cough.

"I can help you ask about that. I happen to be heading out now to make arrangements and inquire about Mutated Beast Crystals."

"Alright." Qu Jianlei nodded, raised a hand to close the safe, and retrieved the silver plaque. "We'll wait at the door."

He was still very mindful of propriety. The two of them should not remain here; they needed to avoid any suspicion.

The manager gave him another surprised look before nodding slightly. The three of them left the storeroom together.

After closing the door, the manager hurried away.

The two sat on the steps outside the door. Xiao Jing looked around, and only after confirming that no one was nearby did he speak softly.

"Black Sky Bro, requisitioning and redeveloping houses is often just forced seizure, especially when the owners aren't around."

He felt that Black Sky Bro's earlier behavior had been somewhat unreasonable and might have exposed something.

Qu Jianlei gave him an indifferent glance. Right, this was what a child should look like.

"Don't apply your little bit of common sense... If there was no compensation, why would these things have been put into a saf... treasure chest?"

Xiao Jing blinked and froze. "That's right, but before..."

While the two whispered to each other, the manager entered a large room.

The room was exquisitely decorated, with beautiful furnishings. A scene like this simply should not have existed on the Wasteland.

A middle-aged man sat with one leg crossed over the other, reclining in a high-backed chair as he smoked.

Seeing someone enter, he lazily asked, "What's the situation?"

The manager honestly reported what had happened and explained his judgment.

"...The key point is that he actually mentioned compensation when facing requisition. That way of thinking is rather uncommon."

The middle-aged man stopped blowing smoke and spoke after thinking for three or four seconds. "It has nothing to do with us, does it?"

The manager cautiously asked, "Then they want to purchase Mutated Beast Crystals... should we broker the deal?"

"We're businessmen," the middle-aged man answered without hesitation. "Right. Try to keep all the gold."

"That will be difficult," the manager replied carefully. "There's nearly a hundred kilograms of gold."

The middle-aged man paused, then nodded slightly. "Then do your best. Gold is about to rise in price again."

Qu Jianlei and Xiao Jing waited like that until evening.

Xiao Jing's stomach was already growling with hunger. He had Nutrient Solution in his arms, but he forcibly suppressed the urge to eat.

Qu Jianlei was not doing much better, but drinking Nutrient Solution now would not fit the background the two of them had established.

The manager finally returned, carrying two Food Boxes. "Hungry? Have something to eat?"

Xiao Jing was tempted, but Qu Jianlei said, "Let's talk business first."

He knew far too many stories of murder for wealth, and the order here was truly too poor.

The manager spoke calmly. "We're currently contacting the holders of Mutated Crystals. There are five to eight Mutated Crystals."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we should have an answer tomorrow morning."

"But there's one point we need to discuss... If you purchase them directly with gold, word could easily get out."

Gold transactions themselves were prohibited.

Qu Jianlei asked thoughtfully, "Your shop is this large, and you don't even have the ability to handle that?"

After considering it, the manager replied, "If possible, I would prefer that neither side meets the other."

Qu Jianlei asked without changing expression, "Do you want to isolate the information and make more profit?"

The manager answered without hesitation, "It's not that bad... We simply want to keep as much of the gold as possible."

Qu Jianlei pondered for a while, then snorted. "Fine. Do as you wish. Our gold has to be exchanged for supplies sooner or later."

He wanted to refuse, but could he? Once word got out, he and Xiao Jing would not be able to leave the Settlement alive.

It was better to let the other side earn a little more. Perhaps considering their "background," they would not completely tear off the mask.

Then he asked, "Any news about that requisition compensation?"

From Qu Jianlei's answer, the manager had already determined that the other party had reservations. That was a good thing to him.

But hearing the word "compensation" again made him feel somewhat disappointed.

He forced a smile and answered seriously, "I looked into it. There was compensation..."

"But it has already been claimed by some people. There is truly nothing we can do about that."

As he spoke, he carefully watched Qu Jianlei's eyes.