Money Everywhere

Chu Wen was an orphan with no burdens to speak of. After exchanging a few messages with Chen Dai, he set off alone for Warrior Fortress No. 033 on the very day he signed the contract.

He wore the same dark green C-grade combat uniform that had been issued to everyone before. Only the saber in his hand could barely be considered A-grade.

Among the warriors heading out into the wilderness, he seemed somewhat out of place.

The moment he stepped off the train, the rotten stench rushing at him dragged his thoughts back to a month ago.

After a month, he had already adapted to the environment of this era.

Chen Dai had returned to school, while he himself had embarked on an entirely different path. Tightening his backpack straps, he knew there was no turning back.

"Chu Wen? You started today? You're alone?"

Inside the fortress, a warrior handling reception checked the information on his optical computer and looked at the young man before him in surprise.

The other party looked more than ten years younger than him, like a student still in school.

"Dropped out of Jiangnan Martial University... Oh, Jiangnan Martial University is no longer an independently accredited school. With student enrollment shrinking, you found this job to make a living? What a pity."

Other than the Zhang Yong incident, none of Chu Wen's information was hidden in the optical computer. Having fully understood the situation, the man transmitted him a string of access keys through the optical computer.

"Your room is C2-220. It's a single-occupancy room."

"Though you're already an elementary warrior, let me remind you that the wilderness is still very dangerous. When scouting, you can stop while you're ahead."

The person in charge felt some sympathy for Chu Wen's circumstances, so he offered him a reminder.

Every year, the casualty rate among temporary workers remained high. Those without even formal warrior qualifications could not be too strong, and once they fell into a siege by demonic beasts in the wilderness, there was practically no chance of survival.

"I've joined a temporary warrior squad once before," Chu Wen explained.

The man in charge nodded. "True. If you managed to survive and complete your mission during the Base City relocation, you're not an idiot."

Then he smiled. "Oh, right. My surname is Chen. You can call me Brother Chen. If you hunt any demonic beast materials, you can sell them to me. My prices will definitely be higher than Chaos Martial Arts Hall's buyback rates."

"Alright."

Chu Wen glanced around the resting hall, found his room, and put away some toiletries.

From now on, he would be staying here for a long time.

Chen Dai had transferred him five million Blue Star coins. At Chaos Martial Arts Hall's prices, that could buy him, at most, a C-grade combat uniform. Rather than that, he might as well hunt demonic beasts himself and directly buy the expensive stuff.

With his current strength, he could take down beast soldier-grade demonic beasts with a casual slash.

As long as he grew strong enough, he would not need to worry about whether any organization would take him in.

After dinner, Chu Wen entered the wilderness under cover of night.

Bzz!

A smooth silver arc sliced through the air.

A three-meter-long swamp frog collapsed to the ground, and Chu Wen skillfully cut out its eyeballs and placed them in his backpack.

Along the way, he had already cleared out several wandering beast soldier-grade demonic beasts.

[Blood Qi: 9/100]

"The increase in Blood Qi really has slowed down..."

This time, he planned to head for County 0671, in the direction of Ancient Huizhou.

Jiangnan Base City had just been breached, and a large number of demonic beasts had gathered in the south. Naturally, Chu Wen would not head south. Instead, he slowly advanced eastward, swaggering straight through waist-high fields of weeds.

Following a ruined national highway, he came upon an abandoned village. Dense blood qi permeated the place—two high-ranking beast soldiers were fighting over territory.

"Fresh ones really are the best choice."

His movement technique, Shadow Follows Form, was about to enter the realm of completion. As long as his opponents were not beast generals, they could not touch him at all.

After breaking through the Blood Qi limit once, he could feel that his perception of the surroundings had become extraordinarily sharp. When he gathered his qi and focused his mind, he could hear aphids in the distance gnawing at leaves.

"My senses can actually become this sharp."

In the city, he had never used these methods, and had even kept his Blood Qi concealed all along. Now, he could finally show what he was capable of.

A glint of coldness and blazing heat shone in Chu Wen's eyes.

He suddenly stomped down. The earth around him cracked into a giant spiderweb, and his body shot out like a fired cannonball toward the two battling beast soldiers—

They were all money!

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Chu Feng had made several round trips between the Base City and Warrior Fortress No. 033.

His saber speed had also become increasingly fluid. Gone was the former broad and sweeping style; instead, his strikes had become far more restrained. The blade's edge was hidden in his hand, and one strike was enough to kill.

Even stronger high-ranking beast soldiers took no more than two slashes.

Chu Feng had even killed two elementary beast generals alone! Without suffering so much as a scratch!

Under Chu Wen's relentless slaughter, the county city had also begun to reek heavily of blood. Even warrior squads passing through found it eerie, wondering whether they had come to the wrong place. Since when had all the demonic beasts in County 0617 migrated away?

Meanwhile, Chu Wen hummed a little tune as he returned to Warrior Fortress No. 033.

Chen Yang had long been waiting there.

Over this past month, Chu Wen's continuous hauls had allowed him to make a fortune as well.

When Chu Wen returned for the first time, he had spent seven days away and come back carrying a backpack stuffed to bursting with demonic beast materials.

"On your first scouting trip, you actually killed demonic beasts?"

"Kid, only the main materials are worth money. Why did you carry back the whole demonic beast?"

"Hm? This is a Shadow Cat's tail whip? And this is Luminous Boar tusk powder?"

"No way! An entire bag of main materials?! How did you do it?!"

Chen Yang had been dumbfounded then. He checked over and over again. Chu Wen was merely an elementary warrior—how could he be so strong?

Even ordinary warrior squads could not gather so many beast soldier materials.

"Two thousand per beast soldier material. I can give you five thousand for the rare ones, and I'll round up the remainder. How about 1.02 million?"

"Don't think it's too cheap. These are all beast soldiers. I only make that little bit of profit, and there are warehouse costs too."

Chen Ang excitedly counted the materials, wishing Chu Wen would leave again immediately.

And that was exactly what happened. The next day, Chu Wen left the warrior fortress once more.

Three days later, he returned for the second time.

"Huh? An elementary beast general's ligaments? You... how did you do this? Did someone help you? The quality of these ligaments is top-notch! I'll take them for five hundred thousand. We've worked together for so long—hey, hey, hey, don't leave! Six hundred thousand, six hundred thousand! I've already transferred it to your card! Together with the remaining beast soldier materials, that's 1.3 million in all."

At least five million a month—he could earn a hundred million in two years!

What kind of money-making speed was this? Even high-ranking warriors could not earn fifty million a year!

When he returned for the third time—

"Brother, you're my real brother. If you get materials in the future, don't forget about me. Some warrior squads can't even make as much as you do."

"By the way, where are you finding so many lone beast soldiers? Won't you end up surrounded by beast soldiers if you keep this up? And if you keep slaughtering beast soldiers, you'll attract the attention of nearby beast generals. They'll target you, so you have to be careful."

"Ah!"

"Another elementary beast general? The beast general from County 0671? Wow, you brought back all its teeth. Good grief... This time, I can count it as two million for you. That beast general was fierce, and you actually took it down by yourself."

The fourth time—

"Brother Wen, this haul is pretty average. No beast generals, just materials from 179 ordinary beast soldiers. I'll give you a flat five hundred thousand. What do you think?"

Seeing Chu Wen silently nod, Chen Yang swiftly transferred the money over.

Warrior Fortress No. 033 consisted of only a few buildings and two residential areas. Naturally, Chu Wen's actions sparked discussion among many warrior squads. After all, an elementary warrior collecting beast soldier-grade demonic beast materials with such efficiency was simply unheard of.

Some elementary warrior squads were naturally rather envious. An elementary warrior was actually making money faster than a five-man squad of elementary warriors.

When they learned that he was only a temporary worker, their eyes widened even further, finding it utterly inconceivable.

"A temporary worker? This competitive? Aren't temporary workers only supposed to monitor demonic beast movements? Is he trying to wipe out every demonic beast by himself?"

Some passing elementary war generals, meanwhile, merely chuckled with interest. "What an oddball. Isn't he afraid of working himself to death?"