Fishing in Troubled Waters!

[Global Trading Market].

More and more players discovered this newly appeared feature, and all kinds of messages flooded the world chat channel:

"Whoa, the Global Trading Market is live! Good thing I didn't go to sleep—this is a victory for the night owls!"

"How do we use this newly launched platform? Why isn't there even an explanation...?"

"Any lonely ladies out there? Any ladies looking for a relationship? Add me as a friend—I'll help you show off and carry you to victory in this apocalypse game~~~"

"Are you so desperate for women that you've gone crazy? This is a global trading platform, not your personal matchmaking hotline..."

"By the way, why haven't any newcomers appeared on the Ranking List these past two days? Are Slaughter Chests no longer appealing?"

"Hey, hey, the guy above who mentioned Slaughter Chests—did you actually kill someone?"

"Wow, the big shot at the top of the rankings, hurry up and punish him!!"

"Manually @-ing Qi Zeyu, the number one on the Ranking List. Sir, are you still looking for teammates?"

"Same question, same question. Brother Qi Zeyu, take me with you! I have a soft voice, a supple body, and I'm easy to push over~~~"

In an unfinished building on the outskirts of Yong City.

As Qi Zeyu watched the messages continuously pop up in the chat channel, he felt no joy. Instead, it felt as though a thorn were pressed against his back.

Though he was currently ranked first on the Ranking List, he was still only an Lv.3 player.

Yet half an hour ago, he had personally seen three Lv.4 players appear above him. Within seconds, they had vanished from the rankings again.

That had once filled Qi Zeyu with panic!

Three Lv.4 players had been instantly killed—what did that mean?!

It meant this Ranking List was completely fucking useless!!

The real big shots were all suppressing their levels, hiding outside the Ranking List like soft-shelled turtles lurking in a swamp.

Only fools like him would stupidly level up to first place and turn themselves into glaring targets!

Fortunately, player locations on the Ranking List were not updated in real time, which allowed Qi Zeyu to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

"Since it's called a trading market, there must be trade listings. Let's see if I can exchange for something good and increase my strength..."

Skipping over the useless information, Qi Zeyu finally spotted a trade listing—

[Mana Crystal Exchange! Exchange First-Order Mana Crystals for Second-Order and Third-Order Mana Crystals. Exchange rates: 35:1, 150:1.]

"Tsk, someone actually wants to exchange low-order Mana Crystals for high-order ones. Do they really think all players are idiots...?"

Qi Zeyu clicked his tongue and continued scrolling.

[Mana Crystal Exchange! Exchange First-Order Mana Crystals for Second-Order and Third-Order Mana Crystals. Exchange rates: 40:1, 170:1.]

[Mana Crystal Exchange! Exchange First-Order Mana Crystals for Second-Order and Third-Order Mana Crystals. Exchange rates: 45:1, 180:1.]

[Mana Crystal Exchange! Exchange First-Order Mana Crystals for Second-Order and Third-Order Mana Crystals. Exchange rates: 50:1, 190:1.]

Three consecutive listings, all requesting similar exchanges, with increasingly higher rates.

The other players chatting in the channel noticed it as well and began commenting:

"Using low-order Mana Crystals to exchange for high-order ones? What a scheme!"

"Who doesn't know about the limit of only absorbing ten Mana Crystals every seven days? The person posting these messages is treating everyone else like idiots..."

"But his exchange rates really are high. Setting aside the absorption limit, they're actually pretty generous based on experience points alone..."

"Hahaha, generous? Then go exchange with him. He'll sit securely at the top of the Ranking List while you slowly absorb your First-Order Mana Crystals!"

"The higher a player's level, the more experience they'll need later on. First-Order Mana Crystals definitely won't be enough."

"But there are really so many of them. I'm starting to feel tempted..."

"Go ahead and be tempted. Trade for a whole pile of First-Order Mana Crystals, and you still won't finish absorbing them by the time you die, hahaha..."

Qi Zeyu chuckled along with the players in the channel.

But unlike the others, the observant Qi Zeyu paid attention to the player who had posted the trade listings.

They all came from a player named "Xiao."

Unless the name was deliberately duplicated, this player called "Xiao" must have been urgently trying to raise their level.

Qi Zeyu exited the chat channel and began checking the Ranking List one name at a time.

Before long, his gaze settled on a particular name.

"Xu Xiao, Lv.3, location: Yong City No.1 High School?"

Qi Zeyu rubbed the orange Mana Crystal in his hand.

It was his only Third-Order Mana Crystal. He had originally planned to absorb it once the seven days were up.

But now, he had another idea.

As the saying went, people feared fame, and pigs feared growing fat.

For now, the number one spot on the Ranking List drew the most attention. It brought a hundred harms and not a single benefit.

Since that was the case, why not simply hand it over?

With that thought, Qi Zeyu opened the listing with the highest exchange rate and sent a trade request.

"I have 1 Third-Order Mana Crystal. I'd like to trade it for 190 First-Order Mana Crystals."

He had assumed that the person using the alias "Xiao" would immediately accept the request.

But to Qi Zeyu's utter disbelief, not only did the other party fail to accept it—they rejected it outright!

"What the hell? I'm kindly offering to trade with you, and you reject it? Don't tell me you clicked the wrong button by accident?!"

Out of caution, Qi Zeyu sent the request again.

It was rejected again.

This time, however, it came with a friend request—

[Player Xu Xiao has requested to add you as a friend. Accept? Yes/No.]

"Fishing? Don't let me be the one getting hooked..."

Qi Zeyu tapped Yes and successfully added Xu Xiao as a friend.

In the friend chat window, Xu Xiao sent a message:

"Sorry, I don't have any First-Order Mana Crystals on hand at the moment. But if you have First-Order Mana Crystals, I can trade higher-order mana crystals for them."

Qi Zeyu was completely baffled.

He carefully reread Xu Xiao's message over and over before confirming that she really did want to trade high-order crystals for low-order ones.

What the hell?!!

Did Xu Xiao have nothing better to do? Was she screwing around on the Global Trading Market in the middle of the night?!

Ignoring Xu Xiao's question, Qi Zeyu turned his attention back to the world chat channel.

Several more mana crystal exchange listings had appeared. They were all offering First-Order Mana Crystals for higher-order ones, and their rates were even higher than the one Xu Xiao had posted.

The Players who posted them all had different names, but each name ended with the character "Zhao."

"Oh, competition's appeared."

Qi Zeyu watched with great interest as the exchange rates continued to climb.

Perhaps because he had just been "played," he even found himself looking forward to Xu Xiao getting burned.

Though even now, he still could not figure out whether Xu Xiao wanted First-Order Mana Crystals or higher-order mana crystals.

Before long, the exchange rates on the trading platform stabilized.

The rate for exchanging First-Order Mana Crystals for Second-Order Mana Crystals was 60:1.

The rate for Third-Order Mana Crystals had reached an astonishing 250:1!

The rate was simply too tempting. Qi Zeyu could not resist trading away his only Third-Order Mana Crystal in exchange for 250 First-Order Mana Crystals.

Just then, Xu Xiao sent another message:

"Hello? I'm buying First-Order Mana Crystals. Are you interested?"

With a mocking expression, Qi Zeyu casually set an exchange rate and sent Xu Xiao a trade request.

[Player Qi Zeyu requests a trade.

Trade contents: 180 First-Order Mana Crystals.

Required payment: 1 Third-Order Mana Crystal.]

This was the rate Xu Xiao had originally posted, far below the current rate of 250:1.

Qi Zeyu knew that anyone with even half a brain would never agree to such an exchange rate.

He merely wanted to use it to mock Xu Xiao.

Yet to his surprise, the panel did not display a trade failure message, nor did it say that he had been blocked.

Instead, the unexpected words "Trade Successful" appeared...