The two districts' overall strength differed by a full ten percent!
A suffocating gap.
Their district had clearly been more outstanding, and several district-wide announcements had all come from their side.
The others had noticed it too. For a moment, every eye turned to Zhu Jiusi.
Zhu Jiusi opened his mouth, then glared back. His eyes said it all: Don't look at me! My brain only just recovered, and I haven't gotten used to using it yet.
Whoosh—Skateboard slid forward. Rain Seeker stepped forward and sighed softly. "How about I handle this?"
Her parched eyes held a hint of helplessness. The few people she'd just started to feel familiar with didn't seem particularly good at thinking things through. How had she, a Red Carp who'd started out as a secretary, become the brains of the group?
Everyone turned to look at her.
Rain Seeker paused, then looked at Fox Waiter. "How long will Small Market remain open?"
Fox Waiter gave her an admiring glance. "One hour, starting now."
Just two hours, more or less the same as the time limit on their Dao Discussion Cards.
Rain Seeker straightened up a little. "Quickly list every item for sale, along with its wealth value!"
As she spoke, she looked around with her parched eyes. "Gather every Gourd in the district. Each ordinary Gourd is worth four basic resources, and each Bronze Gourd is worth twenty. I'll figure out what to exchange them for."
Each resource had a different wealth value, and the number of Gourds required varied, too. Rain Seeker needed to trade the fewest Gourds for the greatest wealth value.
Fox Waiter smiled faintly. "The product catalog is right here, but what do you mean by wealth value? What we see may not be the same as what you guests see."
Journey Survival was fair. If there were things only NPCs could see, then naturally there were also things exclusive to Path Seekers.
Rain Seeker looked at Sword Seven. "Sister Sword Seven, help me check the wealth values. Read them out one ship at a time, one item at a time."
Sword Seven nodded. She couldn't bring herself to go into the chat group and hawk the Gourds like a peddler. But reading out item values was no problem.
She picked up Rain Seeker's fish tank, went straight to the river, and filled it with water. Then she tossed Rain Seeker in. The next moment, she began.
"Guobaorou, thirty-five. Crystal Pork Skin Jelly, thirteen."
"Sister Sword Seven, read out the other items that won't spoil and are easy to store first."
Sword Seven turned her head. "Life-Facing Stone, five thousand four hundred and fifty-six. Heavenly Stellar Crystal, seven thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine."
Rain Seeker said, "...The ordinary ones!"
Those items were too overpriced. There was no point reading them out.
Sword Seven turned her head again. "Life Stone, fifty. Soul Jade, fifty. Sword Sharpening Stone, thirty-eight..."
While they called out prices, Zhu Jiusi and the others were already frantically flooding the chat.
Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "Buying Gourds! Empty Gourds that have already been opened. Paying a high price!"
White Beard's Fist: "I'm buying too!"
After calling out for ages, only a few people had slowly brought out a little over a hundred Gourds.
A group of people near the top of the rankings were suddenly buying Gourds in the chat. The others thought they were sitting on something valuable and decided to hold on to theirs.
Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "We're boosting District 66's overall strength. If you have Gourds, sell them now!"
He shouted it several times, but even fewer people were willing to sell. Those who did only sold one or two at a time.
If they could boost overall strength, these Gourds had to be worth more than four basic resources.
The things they'd used to carry water every day were actually treasures?
"Rain Seeker, those idiots won't sell. Should we raise the price?"
The carp in the water surfaced, her eyes clear and lively again. "No!"
If they raised the price by one, people would think they could raise it by two. It would never end, and fewer and fewer people would sell.
The price she'd offered was already very high.
"If we don't raise it, no one will sell! Only a few people we're on good terms with have sold theirs, and even they want to know what's going on."
"Keep buying at the original price," Rain Seeker said.
They called out their offer in the chat again. But after half an hour, they'd bought back only a few dozen.
Orchid Pavilion Scholar was furious. "A bunch of idiots! The Cave Master told you to come over with your Dao Discussion Cards so you could see what's happening for yourselves, but you didn't come. Now we ask you to sell something, and you won't even do that! Are you all blind? Can't you see the comparison of the two districts' overall strength on the Scroll?
"You don't want a ten percent increase in resources?! I'm boosting District 66's overall strength! Sell if you want, or don't!"
He was beside himself with rage.
After hurling abuse for more than ten messages in a row, he finally got a few more people to sell. But it still wasn't much; all told, they'd only managed to get three hundred Gourds.
Rain Seeker immediately exchanged them for resources.
Everyone could see the overall strength of District 66 rise slightly on the Scroll.
But at the same time, District 33's overall strength was soaring.
Someone in their district must have had a way to directly boost everyone's enthusiasm for selling Gourds.
"Rain Seeker?" Orchid Pavilion Scholar looked over.
Rain Seeker glanced at the time and listened as Sword Seven continued reading out the item values, calculating rapidly in her mind.
She had already exchanged everyone's Gourds for resources.
But for an entire district, it was still just a drop in the ocean.
She listened, calculated, then looked up at Orchid Pavilion Scholar. "Lower the price by one. From now on, buy Wood Gourds for three basic resources and Bronze Gourds for fifteen."
Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "??"
They wouldn't sell for four, but they'd sell for three?
Rain Seeker blew a bubble. "Tell them we'll stop buying in an hour and a half."
The others didn't understand why, but they obeyed. They posted her message in the chat exactly as she'd said it.
In an instant, Scrolls all over District 66 began lighting up.
It had been half a month. Who didn't have a couple of Scroll friends they got along with? They discussed it among themselves.
This time, more people sold their Gourds, but the trickle continued. Most were still watching and waiting.
But this time, Rain Seeker wouldn't let anyone shout out their offer to buy. She only had Orchid Pavilion Scholar pop in now and then to rant like a shrew.
He mixed mockery with barbed insinuations, stopping just short of cursing their ancestors' graves.
But gradually, even Orchid Pavilion Scholar fell silent.
Then, half an hour later, several big shots posted the same message in the chat at once.
The price of Wood Gourds had dropped to two resources, and Bronze Gourds to ten. The offer wouldn't last.
This time, quite a few people panicked. Some even jumped out to protest: Why had the price dropped? What gave them the right to lower it?
Orchid Pavilion Scholar: "Because I damn well feel like it. Because I'm the one buying Gourds, not you. Sell if you want; I'll buy if I want. If you can, offer a higher price and buy them off me. I've got as many as you want to buy. If you can't, shut up!"
That person was ready to fight back, but didn't quite dare.
These people had all been summoned by the Cave Master. They all had Dao Discussion Cards. The foul-mouthed guy knew how to use a blade, and his life value was already thirteen—and that was half a month ago. Who hadn't improved their strength at least a little in the past half-month?
"@Master of Cloud Stack Cave, could you explain what's happening, big shot? We don't know anything!"
Zhu Jiusi snorted twice like a pig. "Scholar may be cursing, but he's right. We just want to beat District 33. If you want to know why, come over with your Dao Discussion Card. Journey Survival has rules. We can't say it out loud.
"Also, in half an hour, the buying price for Wood Gourds will drop to one resource, and Bronze Gourds to five. Buying will stop in an hour.
"Whether you sell is up to you. I don't care whether District 66 keeps its name. Whatever I lose, I'll make back by killing a couple of people."
Before you continue