A Booming Trading Market

It was clear that everyone in the chat channels was troubled by the problem of food.

They had no idea how to get food.

In fact, during the Newbie Protection Period,

there were some low-level monsters around everyone's camp. These were also a source of food in the early stages.

Since they were a family team, four of them had combat strength.

If they fought together, dealing with level-one or level-two monsters would not be a problem.

But because they were too afraid, or perhaps had poor adaptability, they didn't dare venture far beyond the snowy area, let alone fight those monsters.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out in the chat channel.

"Look, Fang Long from the Three Heroes Association is selling food again!"

"100g of Beast Meat for 100 wood or 50 stone. Weapons and equipment get priority. If anyone has spare materials, hurry up and trade!"

"Damn... That's way too expensive. Even all my resources together aren't worth that much."

"Do you even know what you're talking about, bro? Do you know how precious food is right now? Are those resources worth more than your life?"

"That's right. If you don't buy it, plenty of other people will!"

"Don't compete with me! I'm fucking starving!"

Looking at the chat channel, Cao Xing fell into thought.

The food Fang Long had listed was a piece of Wild Boar meat. Although the price he had set was outrageous, it had still been snapped up in less than three seconds.

Cao Xing thought to himself, He's selling 100g of Beast Meat at such a high price. That's enough to drain all the resources from a camp.

And the people who trade away their supplies can recover a little Satiety, but they'll be in trouble after that.

They might not be able to develop because they don't have enough resources.

Even if they do manage to develop, they'll probably fall several days behind. Once the Newbie Protection Period ends, they'll be GG.

Cao Xing checked the records.

It seemed this was Fang Long's seventeenth time selling food.

It was easy to imagine how many resources he had accumulated through these trades.

Cao Xing continued thinking, Wild Boars are about the same size as Snow Wolves. That means he probably doesn't have much meat left.

With that thought, Cao Xing also listed a trade offer on the market.

[Item for sale: Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) * 100g. First-time consumption: Strength +2, Constitution +2]

[Required items: Wood * 10, stone * 5, Iron * 1. Mithril, Elemental Crystals, and other materials can be traded in large quantities!]

[Seller: Cao Xing]

[Seller's note: Bear meat that increases fullness and attributes. Large stock available. Accepting all kinds of materials, blueprints, skill books, and equipment.]

Then Cao Xing began setting prices for various items.

1 Elemental Crystal = 1 piece of Bear Meat.

1 piece of Mithril = 1 piece of Bear Meat.

Equipment blueprint = 5-10 pieces of Bear Meat.

Skill book = 5-10 pieces of Bear Meat.

Cao Xing listed one item after another, even adding bullets, all with clearly marked prices.

At that moment, many survivors in the Regional Channel who had already built a [Market] noticed the Bear Meat listed for sale.

Some of them rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Huang Qiufeng: "Holy shit! Blue-quality Bear Meat, and it can grant an Attribute Boost!"

"Guys, hurry and check the market. Someone's selling Bear Meat that grants an Attribute Boost!"

When they heard the news, many survivors were confused.

"What? Meat that grants an Attribute Boost? How come I've never seen anything like that?"

They immediately opened the [Market] and were stunned by the listings.

"Oh my god! It's true!"

"The price is so cheap, too. Just 10 wood for 100g of Bear Meat, and one Elemental Crystal can even get you a whole piece!"

"My god, is this fake? Is this guy doing charity?"

Disbelief filled the survivors' eyes.

After all, they all knew just how frighteningly high food prices had become.

And this was Bear Meat that granted an Attribute Boost!

However, they soon found out it was real.

A survivor named Yang Lin exclaimed excitedly, "Holy shit! I got it! I got it!"

"I traded just 50 stone for a whole piece of Bear Meat. It's enough to increase the attributes of my entire family!"

"What?"

As soon as the first survivor completed a trade,

the others immediately began trading like mad.

"Holy shit! I got a successful trade too. Just 10 Iron for a whole piece of Bear Meat. This is amazing!"

"Does anyone have Elemental Crystals? Just one can get you a whole piece of Bear Meat. Hurry!"

"I traded one skill book for five pieces of Bear Meat. This is incredible!"

"..."

At that moment, the Regional Channel went completely wild.

The survivors who got Bear Meat were thrilled.

They all knew how much of a bargain it was to trade those supplies for Bear Meat.

Some people even posted information about the Bear Meat in the World Channel, making survivors outside Region 174 incredibly envious.

Ed Stafford: "Oh, my God, it's Bear Meat! I've never fought a bear in my life."

Qiu Weichao: "It increases your attributes so much. It's practically a godsend for warriors."

Deguchi Shuichiro: "Baka! Why am I not in Region 174? Why hasn't anyone in Region 11451 gotten Bear Meat like this?"

Cao Xing, meanwhile, was being flooded with trade notifications.

[Trade successful: You received Iron * 10. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) * 1]

[Trade successful: You received stone * 5. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) * 100g]

[Trade successful: You received Standard-Issue Soldier Longsword Blueprint (Green) * 1. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) * 5]

...

Cao Xing had set very reasonable prices. Even if you only had a small amount of supplies, you could still trade with him.

In no time, nearly every survivor in Region 174 had heard the news.

After all, the earlier you consumed an item that could increase your attributes, the more it would improve your chances of staying safe in this world.

Cao Xing practically watched his territory's resources skyrocket!

Before long,

he had obtained 5,400 wood, 3,200 stone, 342 Iron, 43 Lesser Elemental Crystals, a green blueprint, and 20 pieces of Mithril!

It would take all twelve Polar Folk nearly half a month of hard work to gather that many resources, and they still might not get that much.

So far, Cao Xing had only given up 215 pieces of Bear Meat.

And he still had a full 1,000 pieces of Bear Meat left in his backpack!

At that moment, Cao Xing couldn't help swallowing. "I'm rich, I'm rich! I'm completely loaded now!"

Looking at the materials in his backpack, Cao Xing decided to use them to increase his strength first.

First, he would upgrade the [Bonfire], then upgrade the [Lord's Hut].

After that, he would upgrade the [Polar Folk Hut] and recruit more Polar Folk to work.

Then Cao Xing could even build a powerful structure like the [Lesser Elemental Arrow Tower], greatly improving the defensive capabilities of his territory.

So Cao Xing stopped trading on the market. He was going to call all the Polar Folk back to prepare for the building upgrades.

Hearing Cao Xing call them, the Polar Folk put down their work and headed toward the camp.