High Spirits

Meanwhile.

In another corner of this ice field.

A middle-aged man with a stern gaze, his eyes sharp as a falcon's, stared into the distance.

His fists clenched slightly as he said coldly, "Cao Xing!"

This man was Fang Long.

Behind him, an elderly couple and a sexy woman were huddled around a fire inside the Lord's Hut.

It was clear that Fang Long and his family were doing fairly well for now.

After all, through the previous few trades, he had already gathered quite a few supplies.

Just then, a survivor named Ji Jun contacted Fang Long.

"Boss, that hateful kid actually remembered all our names."

"We just went to trade with him, and not only did he turn us down, he even insulted us."

Hearing this, Fang Long's face grew even more livid.

Ji Jun continued, "Boss, what should we do now? His bear meat boosts so many attributes. If we don't get any, it's like falling behind everyone else, which is really bad for our development."

Fang Long calmed his anger and said, "I know. I'll think of a way to get some bear meat."

After ending the call, Fang Long furrowed his brow.

Although he'd said he would handle it, he didn't have any good ideas at the moment.

Just then, a survivor named Liu Zhenjie sent Fang Long a friend request.

Seeing the somewhat familiar name, Fang Long accepted.

"Boss Fang Long, I'm Muxue's father, Liu Zhenjie!" Liu Zhenjie immediately sent him a message.

Fang Long remembered. He had once pursued Liu Muxue for a while, but she had rejected him.

"So you're Muxue's father. Uncle Liu, what can I do for you?"

Liu Zhenjie hurriedly replied, "Yes, of course!"

"It's about that kid who offended you in the chat channel."

Hearing this, Fang Long immediately became interested.

"Uncle Liu, go ahead!"

A moment later.

After hearing Liu Zhenjie's account, an intrigued expression appeared on Fang Long's face.

"Interesting. So he's just a lowly driver. I thought he was some big shot!"

"A nobody from the bottom of society comes to this world and thinks he can really turn his life around?"

"But I didn't expect Muxue to be staying with that guy."

Fang Long said to Liu Zhenjie, "Uncle Liu, you did well. I'll trade you this piece of beast meat."

Seeing that there was food on offer, Liu Zhenjie thanked Fang Long profusely.

After ending the private chat, Fang Long immediately issued an order to the members of the Three Heroes Association.

They were to search for the location of Cao Xing's camp.

At that moment, Cao Xing had no idea Fang Long was searching for his camp's coordinates,

because he was once again being flooded with trade messages!

[Trade successful: You obtained the skill book: Ice Spike. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) *5]

[Trade successful: You obtained the skill book: Aurora Blessing. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) *5]

[Trade successful: You obtained Black Iron Plate Armor (Green) *1. You lost Fresh Bear Meat (Blue) *3]

[Trade successful...]

This time, Cao Xing had put up another 500 pieces of bear meat-that was, 5,000 portions-for trade.

After nearly an hour of trading, all 5,000 portions of bear meat in Cao Xing's hands had been sold.

The listings on the market were taken down as well.

The chat channel, which had been buzzing with excitement, suddenly saw the notice that the bear meat was sold out and froze for a moment.

Then the survivors shouted excitedly, "Holy crap... It's sold out already? I still didn't manage to get any!"

"I didn't get any either. What a shame..."

"Ahhh! Big shot Cao Xing, put up some more bear meat!"

"@Cao Xing, be sensible and put up some more bear meat. Don't make me beg you!"

Clearly, bear meat was still in short supply across the entire market.

After all, there were nearly forty thousand people in all of Region 174.

And Cao Xing had traded, at most, a little over seven thousand portions of bear meat.

That meant that fewer than one in five survivors had managed to get any.

Cao Xing still had 500 pieces of bear meat, enough to divide into 5,000 portions for trade.

But he was keeping them as emergency rations, or to exchange for some precious items.

So Cao Xing said in the chat channel, "Everyone, I don't have much bear meat left, so I can't make another large-scale trade."

"But if you come across anything interesting, you can message me privately."

"I'll take blueprints, equipment, and skill books."

Cao Xing's words gave the survivors who hadn't managed to get any a new sense of hope.

"So Big Shot Cao Xing still has bear meat! That's great!"

"He wants skill books and blueprints, right? I'll go explore the snowfields right now!"

"This time, I'm definitely getting bear meat! Let's go!"

Just then, Cao Xing reminded them, "Everyone, it's almost dark now. Don't rush out to explore. Get through tonight, then go out tomorrow."

At the reminder, the survivors realized this too. "That's right. It'll get colder after dark, and we won't be able to stay outside."

"Fair enough. Then we'll head out tomorrow!"

The survivors were in high spirits.

Cao Xing's bear meat had stirred up their enthusiasm for exploring. This was a good sign.

It meant more survivors would gather supplies in the wilderness.

And at this stage, apart from Cao Xing, no one else could take on level 15 elite monsters. That meant his bear meat was still one of a kind.

After closing the chat channel.

Cao Xing looked at what he'd gained with satisfaction.

This trade had brought him another 15,000 wood, 7,800 stone, 570 iron, 62 Lesser Elemental Crystals, and 30 pieces of Mithril!

Cao Xing glanced at his territory's resource reserves.

[Food: Bread *45, Snake Meat *10, Wolf Meat *106, Bear Meat *500]

[Wood *20764, Stone *11135, Iron *1022, Coal *137]

Besides these, his backpack also contained 113 Lesser Elemental Crystals and 50 pieces of Mithril!

One green weapon blueprint, one green plate armor chest piece, and two skill books!

"What a terrifying amount!"

"When I played this on my tablet before, it took me about 20 days to gather this many resources."

And Cao Xing was now nearly twenty days ahead of the other survivors!

"With the resources I have, I could even get the Lord's Hut straight up to level three and unlock more buildings."

"But the level-three Lord's Hut requires a level-15 Great Furnace. That's still a long way off."

"Besides, it's almost dark, so I'd better get back inside the Lord's Hut first."

Cao Xing returned to the Lord's Hut.

When she saw him come in, Liu Muxue's face turned shy, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

At that moment, Liu Muxue seemed to remember something and said softly, "A Xing, I've dealt with Fang Long before. He's a very treacherous man, and he's ruthless. You should be careful."