"I'll do it. I'll give you all the Challenge Task points, plus another 500 points!"
"I'll give you 550. Give me a slot."
"600. The three of us will give you 2,000. That should do, right? Reserve a slot for us."
"900. I'll give you all my points, just give me one chance to get through the canyon."
"."
Dalton's demands were extremely harsh, but the contestants present still fought over the slots like madmen.
The wildly exaggerated scramble quickly drove the price of a single slot all the way up to 1,600 points.
"They're crazy. These guys are all crazy!"
Pulling Man with Gun back out of the crowd, Old Daoist wiped the hot sweat from his forehead.
The two of them could afford those points, but even with their brains, they could tell there would be other demands too.
For example, they might have to give up part of the freshwater market, or simply sell their water well at a throwaway price.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible! Buying a bottle of milk with a hen that could lay eggs—however you looked at it, it was a terrible deal.
Besides, if Dalton could refresh a motorcycle from the merchant, couldn't the others do the same?
"Let them gloat for a couple of days. We don't need to go to the finals anyway."
"Earn whatever points we can. If we can't earn them, so be it."
After comforting themselves for a while, the two returned to the thatched shed and sat down with heavy steps.
The midday heat swept in. Old Daoist gloomily gulped some water, then transferred the newly produced water from the well into the large barrel.
Before long, a few contestants arrived at the oasis right on schedule.
"Old Daoist, they're selling slots over there. Aren't you going to