Three Starfire Type 26 Semi-Automatic Tactical Rifles and 120 rounds could buy roughly five days' worth of food for a ten-person convoy, or eighty liters of gasoline.
Yet all those weapons together could only buy two boxes of antibiotics.
Meanwhile, water filtration systems, heating equipment, and communications equipment grew increasingly valuable as the apocalypse dragged on.
And so red beans, or Eerie Blood Essence as the Phoenix Association called them, had become a new hard currency. As Polar Night encroached and research progressed, more and more uses for them were being discovered.
They could enable communications during the Tide of Darkness, offer glimpses into the Dark World, enhance abilities, and even measure Spirit Purge Value to determine how dangerous an area was...
Their importance was easy to imagine.
At that moment, Lin Xian was especially eager to get his hands on a Spirit Purge Value Detector.
If he could install something like that on the train, they could assess an area's risks whenever they stopped to rest. It would greatly improve their safety during stopovers while freeing up more time for him to explore the Mechanical Heart.
Before long, most of the convoys had negotiated trades with one another. No one lingered; they went straight to exchanging goods.
"My friend."
Just then, the middle-aged man named Xu Jin approached with an anxious expression, accompanied by the woman named Shu Qin.
"If you have a moment, could you take a look at her water purification equipment?"
Shu Qin was short, with cropped hair, but she looked capable and efficient. She said to Lin Xian, "Yes. If you can fix it, I can pay you too."
"Let's take a look first."
Lin Xian told Kiki, "Little girl, have Da Lou bring over the things we agreed on earlier and trade them for