The Players' Envy

Most of the players had already died. Only five survivors remained in one vehicle.

The five had clearly been trapped here by the zombie horde. Before Lin Hui appeared, they had been at the end of their rope, their eyes filled with despair.

Then Lin Hui's RV appeared, crushing the zombie horde with overwhelming force and saving them as well.

Now, every survivor stared open-mouthed at the black behemoth, as if a god had descended from the heavens.

"Wh-what kind of vehicle was this upgraded from?"

A round-faced, bearded man swallowed, the iron pipe in his hand trembling.

"A tank? An armored vehicle? No... that's a whole fucking house, isn't it?!" The companion beside him sucked in a breath.

"Did it just... blast those monsters apart with a cannon? With that kind of power... how big is the caliber?"

"It's so powerful... if I had that vehicle, I could do whatever I wanted!"

Envy, jealousy, awe.

All kinds of complicated emotions mingled in the survivors' eyes.

What happened next completely shattered their understanding of the world.

Once the imposing black RV came to a stop, its occupants neither came out to rob them of their supplies like other predators nor hurried to leave.

The door opened.

A cute girl with a ponytail hopped out. Instead of a gun, she held an enormous toolbox.

She walked straight toward the abandoned vehicles by the roadside, which had been caught in the fighting and burned down to their frames.

"This one's wrecked, but the chassis is still here. The scrap metal can still be recycled."

Su Qingqian muttered to herself as she pressed her hand against the scrap metal.

"Disassemble!"

Hum!

Blue light flashed.

The hulking wrecks vanished instantly, turning into neatly stacked piles of "scrap metal."

"Wh-what are they doing?"

"Collecting junk??"

The survivors exchanged looks, unable to wrap their heads around it.

Driving an apocalyptic war machine of this caliber, firing an autocannon with a terrifyingly large bore, and staying after killing the monsters... just to pick up trash?

Just then, the RV's window opened, and Lin Hui poked his head out.

"Friends up ahead, don't be nervous."

He then pointed at several relatively intact vehicles.

"I see there are only a few of you left from your convoy. One vehicle should be enough for you. To lighten your load, I'll recycle the rest."

The round-faced, bearded man summoned his courage and forced a smile. "Sir, you saved us. It's only right that you take them."

Lin Hui nodded. At least you know what's good for you.

Just as Lin Hui was about to close the window, the round-faced, bearded man suddenly spoke in a humble tone. "Sir, could we follow you?"

At that, the other survivors looked at Lin Hui with hope in their eyes.

After witnessing Lin Hui's strength, they all wanted to latch onto him.

"Yes, exactly!"

"We're not afraid of hard work, we barely eat, and we love staying up late. As long as you let us follow you, you can work us like beasts of burden. We can do anything!"

The round-faced, bearded man gritted his teeth and even took out a Basic Gene Potion. "I just got this potion. It's yours. All I ask is that you take us under your wing."

He was perceptive enough to tell that Lin Hui wasn't a bad person.

"A Basic Gene Potion?" Lin Hui paused in surprise, then said, "Pass it over. Let me take a look."

The round-faced, bearded man tossed it up. Lin Hui caught it and checked. It really was a Basic Gene Potion.

Giving away something so rare without hesitation-this man certainly had guts!

Looking at the round-faced, bearded man, Lin Hui shook his head. "Sorry! I have no plans to establish a guild or take on followers..."

The round-faced, bearded man's face fell with disappointment.

But just then, Lin Hui changed tack. "However, for the sake of this Basic Gene Potion... I can do business with you!"

"Business?" The round-faced, bearded man looked puzzled.

"That's right." Lin Hui's gaze swept over the survivors before settling on the round-faced, bearded man. "I need large quantities of scrap metal. You can collect it, then sell it to me or trade it for supplies."

"Trade it... for what?" a scrawny man wearing glasses asked, mustering his courage.

"Universal Fuel, purified water, canned luncheon meat, vegetables... even firearms."

Lin Hui's voice was full of temptation.

"Three thousand units of scrap metal for one portion of Universal Fuel, or goods of equivalent value."

"No matter where you get it or what you pay for it, I'll give you that rate. However much you can collect, I'll buy it all!"

"Goods on hand, instant settlement. Fair dealing for everyone."

Hearing this, the survivors froze.

"Scrap metal for fuel?!"

What use was scrap metal in this world?

Even level 2 vehicles required at least refined steel to upgrade. Ordinary iron wouldn't do.

In this world, plenty of ruins contained scrap metal, and the roadsides were littered with abandoned, rusting vehicles. Scrap metal was practically worthless!

They stared at Lin Hui in disbelief, wondering if he was messing with them!

After all, who would trade lifesaving supplies for garbage?

Inside the RV, however, the corners of Lin Hui's mouth curved upward.

How could he not know what they were thinking?

Scrap metal really was useless.

But he had the [Infinite Synthesis] trait.

Synthesizing this scrap metal at a ratio of 10:1 would produce refined steel. Synthesizing it again would yield bulletproof armor steel, then high-strength titanium alloy, and finally [blue titanium alloy], a rare material in this world!

One portion of Universal Fuel would get him 3,000 units of scrap metal, which he could ultimately synthesize into 0.3 units of blue titanium alloy!

That was an incredible profit!

The main issue was that he didn't have the time or energy to buy all this stuff himself. Otherwise, he could lower the cost even further.

Of course.

He had to leave his partners some room for profit.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Lin Hui said calmly:

"If you want to work with me, one of you can add me as a friend. We'll trade directly through the system."

After a brief silence, the round-faced, bearded man said solemnly, "I want to work with you!"

He saw this as an opportunity.

If the man wasn't joking, this might be their chance to rise!

They had nothing to lose by giving it a try!

Lin Hui smiled and asked for his name and ID. By then, Su Qingqian had also climbed back aboard. Lin Hui closed the window and drove the RV away.

The five survivors, including the round-faced, bearded man, were left exchanging looks.

"He wasn't messing with us, was he?" the man with glasses muttered.

"I don't know, but I don't see why he would." The only woman among the five shook her head gently.

"Li Xian, did that big shot add you as a friend?"

Only then did the round-faced, bearded man snap out of his daze. He opened his personal panel and found a friend request waiting there.

"Lin... Lin Hui?"

Why did that name sound so familiar?

The woman clapped her hands, stumbling over her words. "Remember the server-wide announcement the day before yesterday? The player who got the 'Tier Three First Kill' was named Lin Hui!"

"It's him!"

"No wonder he's so strong!"

"Ah! What a shame. We're not good enough for him!"

"Otherwise, I'd have someone backing me up in this apocalypse!"

"It's not too late!" Li Xian stroked his beard, his eyes shining. "Didn't he give us a chance to work with him?"

"Let's do a good job for him!"

Everyone nodded firmly. "Yes! Since he needs scrap metal, we'll dig up every bit of it in this area!"

Li Xian glanced at the system just then and smiled. "Boss Lin sent me a batch of supplies."

"Supplies?" the others asked. "What's in it?"

"Some food and water, fifty portions of Universal Fuel, ten grenades, a rifle, and fifty rounds of ammunition!" Li Xian, the round-faced, bearded man, listed the supplies.

"He's so generous." Everyone was both delighted and surprised.

The woman said thoughtfully, "These should be payment for that Basic Gene Potion. That also means Boss Lin Hui is probably sincere about working with us!"