"Where's Never Checks the Fuel Gauge? Didn't the big shot say he'd list Simple Bandages tonight? I've been watching since this afternoon. Why aren't they up yet?"
"Yeah, I ran into a pack of mutant wolves today, and they tore a chunk out of my thigh. The bleeding won't stop. I've endured the pain until now, waiting for his bandages to save my life. Please list them already! I'll buy even if you raise the price."
"Are you there, boss? I'm on my knees begging you to sell Simple Bandages."
"Same here. As long as I can get a bandage, I'm willing to spend everything I have."
"Hey, person above, I doubt everything you have would even add up to one unit of fuel."
Reading these messages, Su Ye felt no sympathy whatsoever. Instead, a satisfied, capitalist smile spread across his face.
Naturally, he had finished making the Simple Bandages long ago.
The reason he had waited until now to sell them was to let things play out a little longer.
He wanted these players to experience despair after getting injured, to understand how precious medical supplies were. That was how he could maximize his profits.
"The timing's about right."
Su Ye immediately posted a message.
[Never Checks the Fuel Gauge]: Don't worry, everyone. In one minute, I'll list ten thousand Simple Bandages on the trading interface. The price remains unchanged: one unit of fuel each. First come, first served.
The moment this message appeared, the already lively chat channel erupted even further.
"You're the best, boss! Thanks for saving my sorry ass."
"One minute. I've got my fuel ready. None of you are getting in my way this time."
"Thank you for not raising the price, boss. I'm ready."
"Time to see whose fingers are fastest. Twenty years of being single had better pay off today."
Everyone was overjoyed, and countless players stared fixedly at the trading interface.
Their fingers hovered over the purchase confirmation button. They even held their breath, terrified they might fail to grab a life-saving bandage.
Time ticked by, second after second.
The sixty-second countdown felt unbearably long.
Soon, the minute was up!
Su Ye kept his word. He promptly opened the marketplace and listed all ten thousand Simple Bandages right on time, at a price of "1 unit of fuel each."
The instant the goods went live-
Whoosh!
Less than three seconds.
The trading interface before Su Ye flashed frantically.
The ravenous players snapped up all ten thousand bandages within three seconds, leaving none unsold.
Looking at the empty listings, Su Ye smiled in satisfaction.
He had gained another ten thousand units of fuel.
Combined with his previous savings, his fuel reserves had officially surpassed the hundred-thousand-unit mark.
A hundred thousand units of fuel.
While others were still risking their lives and killing monsters for one or two units of fuel, he already possessed a staggering energy reserve.
These were the enormous profits a monopoly brought.
Once the bandages sold out, the chat channel grew noisy again. It could practically be described as a madhouse.
"Fuck, are you people animals? Ten thousand of them, gone in three seconds? My purchase screen hadn't even refreshed!"
"Hahaha, I snagged one! Too bad the boss set it so you could only buy one at a time. Still, I got one, so my life's saved."
"Fuck all you single bastards with lightning-fast fingers! I tapped until my hand cramped and still didn't get one. Can anyone spare one? I'll pay double the fuel."
"Simple Bandages for sale, only ten available. Ten units of fuel per bandage, or resources of equivalent value. Message me if interested. First come, first served."
"Bandages for sale. Fifteen units of fuel each. No bargaining."
Besides those lamenting their failure to grab a bandage, some had spotted a business opportunity and started reselling them.
These messages immediately drew furious curses from countless players.
"Have you no shame? The boss sells them for one unit, and you turn around and charge ten or fifteen times that? Profiteering off a disaster like this-aren't you afraid your sons will be born without assholes?"
"Heh, it's a free market. If it's too expensive, don't buy. I'm not the one who's going to bleed to death."
"Exactly. Only by staying alive do you get a chance to meet girls and have sons. Who cares if my son has no asshole? That's still better than you lot dying without ever having a son."
"Boycott the scalpers! Don't buy from them, everyone. Wait until the boss lists more tomorrow, and we'll try again."
Watching everyone argue furiously over the scalpers in the channel, Su Ye wasn't angry at all. In fact, he nearly laughed out loud.
"Scalpers are everywhere, let alone in Road Survival, where there are no laws to restrain them."
"Still..."
A hint of mockery flashed in Su Ye's eyes. "If we're talking about the biggest scalper in this zone, that would definitely be me."
He was no saint, much less a living savior.
Besides the ten thousand bandages he had just listed, another twenty thousand lay quietly in his Storage Ring.
Did they really think he had been doing charity by selling bandages at the low price of one unit of fuel the first two times?
Wrong!
He had been cultivating the market!
"As time goes on, the players will get stronger, and some will definitely acquire other ways to heal."
"The value of Simple Bandages is bound to plummet in the future."
"So I have to reap a massive haul while everyone's still a beginner, with low combat strength and a desperate shortage of medical supplies."
In his eyes, these nine hundred thousand-plus players of other races were a flourishing field of suckers ripe for harvesting.
If these players died during the beginner phase, he would get nothing.
But if he kept them alive and sold them supplies at high prices, they could work for him in the future, providing an endless stream of rare materials, blueprints, and high-tier resources.
"Just be good little suckers for me to harvest."
However, raising the price directly was something he absolutely couldn't do himself.
First, it would badly damage the reputation he had built.
Second, it could easily provoke public outrage.
In this Survival Game, individual combat strength mattered a great deal, but getting collectively boycotted or even hated by hundreds of thousands of people, planting the seeds of future trouble, would be incredibly foolish.
He needed a front man to handle this dirty work.
His thoughts racing, Su Ye opened the private chat interface.
His gaze swept over his friends list before finally settling on a name.
Mo Yu!
His reasons for choosing him were simple.
First, he had traded with Mo Yu several times before, so they were reasonably familiar with each other. The man was tactful and knew how to read a situation.
Second, Mo Yu was also a lone-wolf player, without a large team backing him.
If Mo Yu dared to double-cross him and steal his goods, Su Ye would still have a chance to take revenge later.
If he chose the leader of a major faction, someone like Ling Yue, and that person stole the goods, the protection of a team would make taking revenge much harder.
Having made up his mind, Su Ye composed a message and sent it.
[Never Checks the Fuel Gauge]: You there?
Less than two seconds after he sent the message, a reply arrived.
Before you continue