The construction project had been in full swing for several days. With the efforts of several hundred people, some buildings had already begun to take shape and would be ready for use in a few more days.
At that moment, Claire stood in her attic, looking out at Nafu City beneath the night sky. For some reason, she had always liked standing high above and looking down at this city that belonged to her.
She glanced at her trade panel. It already had two Trade Points, but Claire was in no hurry to make a trade.
She had been busy battling wits with those nobles these past few days, and fifteen days had passed without her noticing. After tonight, she would gain another Trade Point. Since there was no rush, she might as well wait until midnight, gather three Trade Points, and trade then.
"Almost time," Claire murmured, then walked in from the balcony and returned to her favorite reclining chair.
Leaning back in it, Claire stared at the clock hanging on the wall and began counting down.
"Three, two, one!"
When she reached one, she opened the trade panel. Sure enough, the two Trade Points had become three. Just as she had expected, after advancing, the Trade Points' recharge time had changed from seven days to five.
Then Claire's pupils contracted. On the crude trade panel, she saw a newly appeared button: "Upgrade Trade!"
"Hm? What's this?" Claire was puzzled. The person who had sold her the revolver had only mentioned that she could add fixed friends after reaching two Trade Points. They had never said that reaching three Trade Points would unlock something like "Upgrade Trade!"
Claire scanned the trade panel several times, but she still found no other changes.
After hesitating for a moment, Claire reached out and pressed "Upgrade Trade." An upgrade was better than no upgrade, right?
The next second, the trade panel before Claire vanished with a snap, leaving behind only a small spinning circle. It looked exactly like when her phone had updated in her previous life.
Although there was no indication of when the upgrade would be complete, Claire had plenty of time. She picked up a Magic Book by her side and began reading as she waited.
But she did not have to wait long. In less than ten minutes, Claire felt her vision brighten again, and the panel unfolded before her once more.
Seeing the panel in front of her, Claire pursed her lips. Now this was a real trade panel! Had the one she had used before been a trial version?
The trade panel before her was vastly different from the previous one. Just in appearance, it looked far more high-end than the crude old panel. It also had several new buttons: "Start Trade," "Personal Space," and "Fixed Friends."
Claire opened the Fixed Friends section. It was completely blank, since she had never added any friends. However, it displayed the people she had traded with before. As long as she spent one Trade Point, she could add them as friends.
She then checked Personal Space. It was similar to her Spatial Ring. Items obtained through trades could be placed directly inside, without the time limit of the previous trade space.
Claire looked toward the upper-right corner again, and her eyes widened slightly. Her original three Trade Points had actually become one.
"Did the upgrade use up those three Trade Points?" Claire guessed.
But since they had already been spent, it was too late to feel bad about it. Claire directly tapped "Start Trade" to see what changes the upgraded trade panel had brought.
Words she had never seen before appeared in the center of the energy vortex: "Matching you with a one-star trade user..."
Claire muttered, "So upgrading makes me one-star? Then the users I match with should be of higher quality. Looks like the upgrade wasn't a loss."
The vortex cleared like muddy water being stirred clean, and a delicate face appeared before Claire.
The other person greeted her with a dazzling smile. "Hello! My name is Lan Zhao! What's yours?"
Claire was somewhat surprised. This was the first trader she had encountered who smiled so happily. The previous few had smiled too, but none of them had been as sincere as this person.
"Hello, my name is Antonio." Claire habitually used her alias.
"Hello, hello, Antonio!" Lan Zhao still grinned, showing white teeth. Just looking at that smile made Claire feel a little better.
As they spoke, Claire looked toward the upper-right corner of the panel. The one-minute countdown that had been there before had now disappeared.
But Lan Zhao noticed that brief glance and asked with a smile, "Did you just upgrade to a one-star trader?"
"What makes you say that?"
Lan Zhao scratched his head awkwardly, seeming embarrassed at having seen through Claire. "Normally, only level-zero traders have a transaction time limit. Once you reach one star, the limit disappears. I saw you instinctively glance at the upper-right corner, so I guessed."
Claire simply admitted it. "I did just upgrade."
"It's fine, there's no rush to trade. Let me first introduce some trade items from our world that might interest you. See if anything catches your eye." As Lan Zhao spoke, he turned and walked into the room.
Claire did not wait long before Lan Zhao returned carrying a large pile of differently colored items.
Lan Zhao first picked up a blue egg the size of an ostrich egg, covered in mysterious patterns, and said proudly, "This is a pet egg that I painstakingly transported out of Anxing Forest. I don't know what kind of pet will hatch from it, but it has a three-star appraisal!"
After saying that, he placed the blue egg on the table, then brought out several similar eggs and lined them up. He introduced them as if listing treasures from memory. "These are one-star pet eggs. This one is a slime egg, this is a Fire Dragon Beast egg. If raised properly, it might even become a lord-level pet in the future. This is a Water Cloud Beast egg, and this one is our local specialty, the Electric Tail Cat!"
As Lan Zhao introduced the pet eggs, the bright smile never left his face. He enthusiastically kept telling Claire about the pets from his world.
"The Beast Taming Plane?" Claire had already formed a guess.
"Um... can you show me what they can do?" Claire asked.
"Of course!" Lan Zhao agreed immediately. "Which one do you want to see? I run a pet shop, so I have all the pets that hatch from these eggs."
"Let's see the slime first," Claire said. Her world also had creatures called slimes, and she wanted to see whether they were the same.
"Wait a moment. I'll be right back." Lan Zhao spoke, then returned to the room.
Less than half a minute later, Lan Zhao ran back carrying a jelly-like mass.
"Hahaha, stop tickling me! That's so itchy!" Lan Zhao pulled the slime off himself and placed it before Claire.
It was the same as the slimes in her world. Claire thought to herself, but why is it so close to humans? The slimes in her world were not strong—one could even say they were extremely weak. Any adult with a stick could beat one to death. Yet when they saw humans, they still charged forward without fear of death, nothing like the friendliness they showed toward Lan Zhao.
"Have you decided?" Lan Zhao was still trying hard to free himself from the slime's embraces.
Only then did Claire come back to her senses and ask, "Can living creatures also be traded across worlds?"
"Of course. I specialize in trading pets." Lan Zhao smiled. "Have you decided which one you want? I recommend the Electric Tail Cat. It has a fairly gentle temperament and some combat ability as well."
Claire shook her head. There were quite a few strange creatures like these in her world too. There were not only slimes, but also Five-Colored Dragons, elves, merfolk, fairies, and other unusual beings.
"I'm not very interested in these pets. Seeking tools is worse than seeking skills! I want..."
Didn't I just write yesterday? Why do I have to write again today?! Cries while slamming the table.
Thanks to "Book Friend 20200920090319519" for the 100-coin tip!!!!!!
Before you continue