Meanwhile.
In another corner of this icy plain.
A middle-aged man with a cold gaze and eyes as sharp as an eagle's stared into the distance.
His fists clenched slightly as he said in an icy tone, "Cao Xing!"
This man was Fang Long.
Behind him, an elderly couple and a voluptuous woman huddled inside the Lord's Cabin, warming themselves by the fire.
It was clear that Fang Long's family was doing fairly well at the moment.
After all, through several previous trades, he had already gathered quite a few supplies.
Just then, a survivor named Ji Jun contacted Fang Long.
"Boss, that damned brat really remembered all our names."
"When we tried to trade with him just now, he not only refused us, but even cursed at us."
Fang Long's expression turned even darker upon hearing this.
Ji Jun continued, "Boss, what should we do now? His bear meat adds so many attributes. If we don't have any, it'll be like we're lagging far behind everyone else. That'll be very bad for our development."
Suppressing the anger in his heart, Fang Long said, "I understand. I'll think of a way to deal with the bear meat."
After ending the call, Fang Long frowned.
Although he had said he would handle it, he had no good solution for the moment.
Just then, a survivor named Liu Zhenjie sent Fang Long a friend request.
Seeing the somewhat familiar name, Fang Long accepted it.
"Boss Fang Long, I'm Muxue's father, Liu Zhenjie!" Liu Zhenjie immediately sent a message.
Fang Long remembered. He had pursued Liu Muxue for a while back then, but she had rejected him.
"So it's Muxue's father. Uncle Liu, what can I do for you?"
Liu Zhenjie hurriedly said, "Yes, of course there is!"
"It's about information on that brat who offended you in the chat channel."
Fang Long was immediately interested when he heard that.
"Uncle Liu, please, tell me!"
A moment later.
After listening to Liu Zhenjie's account, an intrigued expression appeared on Fang Long's face.
"Interesting. So he's just some lowly driver. I thought the brat was some big shot!"
"A bottom-feeder like him comes to this world and thinks he can really turn his life around?"
"Still, I didn't expect Muxue to be staying with this guy."
Fang Long said to Liu Zhenjie, "Uncle Liu, you've done well. I'll trade this piece of beast meat to you first."
Upon seeing the food, Liu Zhenjie was immediately profuse with gratitude toward Fang Long.
After ending the private chat, Fang Long immediately gave an order to the members of the Three Heroes Association.
They were to find Cao Xing's camp location.
At that moment, Cao Xing had no idea Fang Long was searching for his camp coordinates,
because he was once again being flooded with all kinds of trade notifications!
Trade successful: You obtained the skill book: Ice Spike. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) *5 Trade successful: You obtained the skill book: Aurora Blessing. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) *5 Trade successful: You obtained Black Iron Plate Armor (Green) *1. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) *3 Trade successful...
This time, Cao Xing had put up another 500 pieces of bear meat, or 5,000 portions, for trade.
When the nearly hour-long trading period ended, all 5,000 portions of bear meat in Cao Xing's possession had been sold.
The listings on the market were also taken down.
The chat channel, which had been buzzing with excitement, suddenly saw the message that the bear meat was sold out and fell silent for a moment.
Then, the survivors cried out excitedly, "Damn... it sold out that fast? I still didn't get any!"
"I didn't get any either. What a shame..."
"Ahhh! Boss Cao Xing, put up more bear meat!"
"@Cao Xing, be sensible and put up more bear meat. Don't make me beg you!"
Clearly, bear meat was still in short supply throughout the entire market.
After all, Region 174 had over thirty thousand, nearly forty thousand people.
And even counting everything, Cao Xing had only traded a little over seven thousand portions of bear meat.
In other words, less than one-fifth of the people had successfully traded for bear meat.
Although Cao Xing still had 500 pieces of bear meat, enough to divide into another 5,000 portions for trade,
he was saving them as emergency rations or to exchange for valuable items.
So, Cao Xing said in the chat channel, "Everyone, I don't have much bear meat left either, so I can't conduct any more large-scale trades."
"However, if you find anything interesting, you can message me privately."
"I'm taking blueprints, equipment, skill books, and the like."
Cao Xing's words rekindled hope in the survivors who had failed to get any.
"So Boss Cao Xing still has bear meat! That's great!"
"You want skill books and blueprints, right? I'm heading out into the snow to explore right now!"
"This time, I have to trade for bear meat! Charge!"
Just then, Cao Xing reminded them, "Everyone, it'll be dark very soon. Don't rush out to explore now. Wait until you make it through tonight and head out tomorrow."
With that reminder, the survivors realized it as well. "Right, it gets colder after dark, so we can't stay active outside."
"Fair enough. We'll head out tomorrow, then!"
The survivors' enthusiasm was soaring.
Cao Xing's bear meat had stirred up their motivation to explore, which was a good sign.
That meant more survivors would gather resources out in the wilderness.
And at the current stage, aside from Cao Xing, no one else had the ability to deal with Level 15 elite monsters, so his bear meat remained one of a kind.
After closing the chat channel.
Cao Xing looked over his gains with satisfaction.
This round of trading had earned him another 15,000 wood, 7,800 stone, 570 iron, 62 Basic Element Crystals, and 30 Mithril!
Cao Xing glanced at his territory's resource reserves.
Food: Bread *45, Snake Meat *10, Wolf Meat *106, Bear Meat *500 Wood *20764, Stone *11135, Iron *1022, Coal *137
Besides that, he also had 113 Basic Element Crystals and 50 Mithril in his backpack!
One green weapon blueprint, one green plate armor chest piece, and two skill books!
"What an insane amount!"
"Back when I played on my tablet, it would have taken around twenty days to gather this many resources."
And now, Cao Xing was effectively nearly twenty days ahead of the other survivors!
"With the resources in my hands, I could even build a Level 3 Lord's Cabin right away and unlock more buildings."
"However, a Level 3 Lord's Cabin requires a Level 15 furnace. It's still far too early for that."
"Besides, it's almost dark now. I should get back inside the Lord's Cabin and hide first."
Cao Xing returned to the Lord's Cabin.
When Liu Muxue saw him come in, a shy look appeared on her face, and she lowered her head awkwardly.
Then, as if remembering something, Liu Muxue softly said, "A-Xing, I've had dealings with that Fang Long before. He's a very treacherous man, and his methods are ruthless. You need to be careful."
Before you continue