"Hm-hm-hm, today's a good day."
Outside Hope Town.
After eating and drinking his fill, Duan Xiong strode out of the town gate with his head held high, humming a little tune only he understood.
Behind him, the thirty or forty people from the Si Ping Merchant Group filed out one after another.
"Big Brother, aren't we losing out by trading so many things for just one engine?"
Duan Bang, the merchant group's deputy manager, looked troubled. He glanced at the smiling townspeople nearby and couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
"What the hell do you know? Plenty of people would treat this engine like a treasure!"
"Someone wants it?" Duan Bang froze.
He wasn't one of those "little white rabbits" who had just joined the merchant group and knew nothing.
Duan Xiong turned around, his gaze burning. "You didn't forget already, did you? Go north along this road, take a turn, and you'll reach that newly emerged faction. Aren't they the ones who love items that look like Black Technology? Their offers have never been low. Maybe we can even trade it for some good stuff to 'protect ourselves.'"
Duan Xiong emphasized the words "protect ourselves."
The next disaster was about to arrive. Traveling outside, the merchant group would inevitably encounter Gathering Places driven mad by hunger.
At times like this, having some firepower was extremely important. At the very least, it could ensure the other side wouldn't go completely insane.
And if they encountered a weak Gathering Place, having a certain number of weapons might even let them temporarily become bandits and make a fortune from one or two raids.
"Just this broken engine can really be traded for that?"
Duan Bang still couldn't believe it. At the end, he added, "Big Brother, Brela's reputation isn't exactly