A Price Cut? Not a Chance!

Barely a dozen seconds after Su Ye posted the trade listing...

"Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!"

Notifications began chiming in his private message interface.

Su Ye opened it and took a look. He was not surprised in the slightest.

Right at the top was Full-Coverage Bro, Ling Yue.

Close behind were representatives of the other four tribes: the Tide Tribe, Flame Tribe, Frost Tribe, and Sand Tribe.

Su Ye opened Ling Yue's message first.

"Bro! That's 190 hand crossbows, and you just listed them in the trading hall? Hurry up and take them down! Don't list those crossbows publicly. Let's trade privately. I'll give you a price you'll be happy with. I'll take them all."

Ling Yue's tone was urgent.

Although he had bought over six hundred hand crossbows from Su Ye, he still did not have enough to give everyone under him one. They were still taking turns using them.

If he could buy these 190 hand crossbows, his people would become even stronger.

Su Ye did not rush to reply. He glanced through the other four messages, which all said much the same thing.

"Brother Fuel Gauge, the Flame Tribe will take all the hand crossbows. Name your terms."

"Mr. Never Checks the Fuel Gauge, the Tide Tribe hopes to establish a long-term weapons supply partnership with you. We are willing to buy this batch of hand crossbows at twice the price we previously agreed on."

"..."

Su Ye smiled at the messages.

But his real goal this time was not simply to sell hand crossbows.

He was selling the crossbows because he needed mutant beast meat, but he also had another goal: to draw Ling Yue and the others in.

What he wanted to sell these guys was the hugely profitable product he had just acquired: the Simple Bandage.

"Don't get worked up."

"Since I've already listed these hand crossbows, I don't intend to take them down. I've made the terms perfectly clear: I'll only trade them for mutant meat chunks. If you have any, you're welcome to buy them too."

"Also, if you have the core part, [Simple Trigger Component], I can keep making hand crossbows for you. I can charge you a lower crafting fee."

After sending those messages, Su Ye paused, then continued, "I can't sell this batch of Elite Crossbow hand crossbows to you, but I just got my hands on something new and useful. I think you'll be even more interested in it than in weapons."

With that, Su Ye shared the item attribute link for [Simple Bandage] with all five of them at once.

The chat interface fell briefly silent.

"Holy shit!"

"A healing item? You actually got a medical item blueprint?"

"Bro, you're practically my own brother! How many bandages do you have? I'll take them all, and I'll give you a price you'll be happy with."

True to his nickname, Full-Coverage Bro, Ling Yue once again flaunted his deep pockets, immediately offering to buy everything.

Su Ye was not surprised in the slightest.

It was only the second day since the game began. Players were still in the early stages of adapting to their surroundings, and injuries and bleeding were everyday occurrences.

They were lucky if hunting monsters and opening Supply Crates earned them food and water, let alone medical supplies that could heal injuries.

Even with all the people under him, any medical supplies Ling Yue had acquired would surely be pitifully few. He would barely have enough for himself, much less everyone under him.

At a time like this, the appearance of Simple Bandages was equivalent to gaining an extra life.

Whoever controlled medical resources could quickly win people's loyalty and expand their power in the early stages.

Ling Yue was a smart man. Naturally, he understood that, which was why he was so eager to buy these bandages.

"Brother Ling Yue, we've known each other for a while now. I won't rip you off."

"These bandages actually don't cost much to make. They only require two portions of cloth and one portion of alcohol."

"I'm planning to price each bandage at one unit of fuel."

On the other end, Ling Yue nodded when he saw the price. One unit of fuel in exchange for a life was an extremely fair deal.

But when he saw Su Ye's next message, he froze.

"However, if you want to buy them, it'll be two units of fuel per bandage, not one," Su Ye said.

"Bro, what's that supposed to mean? You're fleecing a regular customer? Other people pay one unit, but I have to pay two?" A hint of displeasure and confusion crept into Ling Yue's tone.

"You've misunderstood. These bandages aren't like hand crossbows. Hand crossbows require core parts, which limits production."

"But bandages can be mass-produced as long as I have basic materials. My plan is to put these bandages directly on the open market and sell them to all the ordinary players."

"The one-unit price is for independent players. They'll have to compete with thousands upon thousands of people in the trading hall, clicking as fast as they can to snap them up. Whether they get any will be down to luck."

"The extra unit of fuel you're paying means you won't have to compete with those ordinary players."

"As long as you pay two units of fuel, I can guarantee that no matter how severe the market shortage gets, I'll prioritize supplying you with the full amount you need. That extra unit buys you a dedicated supply channel and the privilege of skipping the queue."

"One extra unit of fuel in exchange for your people's sense of security and loyalty. Surely you can work out whether that's worth it?"

After messaging Ling Yue, Su Ye left him alone and sent similar messages to the other four tribes.

Then Su Ye waited quietly. He believed that as long as these five wanted to grow bigger and stronger, this deal was as good as done.

That was just how it was. He was the only one with a workbench right now, making this a complete monopoly.

Meanwhile, Ling Yue was weighing things up. Su Ye's price for him was much higher than the market price. It could even be called taking advantage of a crisis.

But he had to admit that a dedicated supply channel and the privilege of skipping the queue were genuinely tempting.

He understood the current situation very well.

The game was only on its second day, and casualty rates were climbing sharply. All kinds of mutant beasts and monsters kept appearing.

If Su Ye really put all these Simple Bandages in the public trading hall, it would trigger an absolute buying frenzy.

He certainly had plenty of people under him, but compared with hundreds of thousands of independent players, their numbers were insignificant.

If they failed to get any bandages and his badly injured people were left waiting to die, morale would crumble, and the group would become difficult to lead.

If he then tried to buy bandages from independent players lucky enough to snag them, he would only get fleeced even worse.

After weighing the pros and cons, Ling Yue gritted his teeth and opened the chat window.

"Brother Fuel Gauge, could you lower the price a little?"

"We're all just trying to survive. You know how precious fuel is right now. My fleet burns through an astronomical amount every day. I really don't have much left."

Ling Yue tried to negotiate the price down.

A price cut?

I've got a fucking monopoly. If I weren't thinking about long-term business, you'd be lucky I wasn't raising the price. Why the hell would I lower it?

"The price isn't negotiable."

"Take it or leave it!"

Su Ye's reply was blunt and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.