Trading and the Mutual Aid Association

Lin Ye: I also got some bread and bottled water. Limited quantities. DM me if you need any. Trading for maze items; highest offer wins (we still don't know what those things are worth, so decide for yourself whether you want to trade).

"Holy shit, I'm about to starve to death, and this big shot already has spare food to trade."

"Seriously, shouldn't you give your extra food to people who need it? Anyone who can trade with you obviously isn't starving!"

When Lin Ye saw comments like these, he simply blocked them. Once blocked, neither side could see the other's messages or trades, which was better for both parties.

Lin Ye wouldn't have to read such offensive comments, and they wouldn't have to envy him.

He wasn't planning to trade with people like that anyway. Out of sight, out of mind.

Lin Ye hadn't shared the information out of some saintly impulse. He did want to point other survivors toward a way to survive, but he also had his own goals.

Fame and profit had always been inseparable. Once he built a reputation, anything he did afterward would become considerably easier, perhaps even more so.

He didn't need to do much, either. As long as he kept posting accurate information ahead of everyone else, the others would naturally address him respectfully as Goose Leg Bro.

Lin Ye lay in bed checking his private messages, skipping the junk and looking for worthwhile trades.

The goose lay beside Lin Ye, rubbing its head against his arm, its wing draped over him like a blanket.

Before long, Lin Ye had completed several trades. The cards and liquids from those treasure chests would definitely be worth more than bread in the future. He even suspected those things could only drop after the chests' quality improved, while bread and bottled water were the normal contents of the mahogany chests.

"Huh? A blueprint?"

A survivor named Zhang Liang had sent him information about a blueprint in a private message.

[Unranked Mutated Weapon Crafting Blueprint]

[Use this blueprint to craft an unranked mutated weapon. Required materials: 1-5 mutation organs]

[Note: Pay attention to your material combinations. More materials do not necessarily make a stronger weapon]

No one in their right mind would trade a weapon blueprint for a few pieces of bread. Lin Ye felt the other party might have some other purpose.

Lin Ye: What do you want for it?

Zhang Liang: Boss, it's really hard to get in touch with you.

Lin Ye: I don't like wasting time.

Zhang Liang: Boss, we've established an organization called the Mutual Aid Association. It's full of experts with powerful innate abilities. Our president hopes you'll join us.

Lin Ye: I'll pass. Good luck.

Zhang Liang: Don't be so hasty, boss. With your abilities, you'll get at least one blueprint like this every day as long as you join the Mutual Aid Association.

Lin Ye: What do I have to contribute?

Zhang Liang: Nothing much. You just need to provide information to the Mutual Aid Association like you did today. Unlike those ungrateful bastards in the chat, the Mutual Aid Association will naturally compensate you.

Lin Ye: You profit from my information, then give me a cut?

Zhang Liang: ...You could put it that way.

Lin Ye: Have you considered that a lot of people would die because of you?

Zhang Liang: It's simply a normal exchange of effort and reward. Those people shouldn't get information without contributing anything. That's how things should work.

Lin Ye: You're right.

Zhang Liang: But you won't accept?

Lin Ye: You're right.

Lin Ye closed his private chat with Zhang Liang and continued trading items with other people.

Lin Ye could do everything Zhang Liang had described. He could set up a similar organization himself, but he didn't need to.

The Mutual Aid Association had something going for it, but its vision was still too narrow. Since it called itself the Mutual Aid Association, it ought to save all of humanity. That would make things a little interesting.

Short-term gains and losses weren't important. The Mutual Aid Association couldn't give him what he needed.

Zhang Liang: President, he refused.

Wu Ming: A shame. His talent is probably some kind of powerful early-stage talent. With his help, the Mutual Aid Association could help more people.

Zhang Liang: Should I get a few people to smear him? We can just say there's something wrong with his information. Most people haven't been to the maze anyway.

Wu Ming: No need. We need the information he provides too. We'll earn a little less this way, but we'll still make more than those unaffiliated people.

Besides, there's no need to offend him right now. If something happens right after you send an invitation, anyone could guess we did it.

Zhang Liang: You're right.

Wu Ming: Have the people who went out exploring returned?

Zhang Liang: Most died as soon as they went outside. The lucky ones lasted a few more minutes. Should we keep finding people to go exploring?

Wu Ming: Forget it. Looks like we can only gather materials in the Red Maze during the early stages.

Zhang Liang: You're right.

[Please draw today's card]

After a dreamless night, Lin Ye saw this notification the moment he opened his eyes.

"My turn! Draw!"

Though he had only just woken up, Lin Ye still sprang out of bed in excitement to perform his daily draw.

The card he drew this time had a cat pictured on it.

The card dissipated, and a cat with blood-red fur appeared gracefully in the middle of Lin Ye's shelter.

The cat leaped lightly onto Lin Ye's bed, turned onto its side, and reclined against his legs.

Lin Ye stroked the cat's silky fur, suddenly feeling that keeping a pet like this would be pretty nice. He wouldn't have to worry about anything, just pet it every day.

And he could even have a different breed every day.

"What can you give me? You're not going to give me a cat leg rice meal, are you? I've never eaten cat meat."

"Meow~"

A system notification suddenly appeared before Lin Ye:

[Card assistance acquired. Draw one item before each operation. This item can only be used during that operation and will disappear once the operation ends]

"Huh? Did you do this?"

"Meow~"

"But what counts as an operation?"

In response to Lin Ye's question, the cat merely purred lazily, showing no intention of answering.

Like the goose, it could only engage in simple interactions with Lin Ye.

Lin Ye didn't ask any more questions. After petting the cat and eating something, he used his innate ability for the day.

[Simulating Class-D Personnel: Larry]

[Drawing item]

[Item acquired: Abyssal Egg]

[Remaining simulations: 10]

Rumble, rumble...

Lin Ye sat speechlessly in the prison transport. Ever since coming here, he had to ride in one every day. Back on Blue Star, he had barely even been to a police station, and those visits had only been to get an ID card or other documents.

Larry was a brawny man of around fifty with bronze skin and a body covered in solid muscle. Lin Ye felt he could now kill his scrawny self with a single punch.

The system had placed the Abyssal Egg in Lin Ye's right trouser pocket. It was the size of a quail egg and felt a little like a peeled, boiled egg.

Lin Ye squeezed it and found it highly resilient. It wouldn't get crushed in his pocket.

Things related to the Abyss had left a very bad impression on him, and he had no idea how to use this thing.

This time, Lin Ye had only two teammates, though there were still four supervisory personnel.

The other two Class-D personnel looked like trouble, the same sort of people as Larry.

Before long, the prison transport stopped near the entrance to a tunnel.