Chapter 39: Jiang Ying - If You Had Taken It Out Earlier, I Would Have Gone

The first change was that resource chests would no longer be found along the roads. In other words, it would no longer be as simple as picking up chests while traveling. Instead, they were now placed inside the town.

A town spread over a hundred square kilometers? To be honest, that’s not small at all, especially considering there were only twenty chests. Distributed evenly, that would mean one chest every five kilometers. It seemed like a lot, but in reality, it was very little.

However…

He glanced at 001—it was equipped with radar. This was actually an advantage for him.

The second matter was the merging of zones. He didn’t care what others thought, but for him, this was a stroke of luck. Because of the low population, he’d never dared to put too many goods on the market at once. Scarcity made things valuable. If he listed too much, prices would drop. But now, five zones had merged into one—this was practically perfect for him. Even with a conservative estimate, there would be at least eighty thousand people. The opportunity to make money had arrived.

Lin Mu opened the regional channel and noticed a new update. At the top, the region number was displayed:

[Region 562]—Population: 118,621

More people than he had expected. He switched to the global channel, where the population count showed 1.88 billion. Assuming one hundred thousand people per zone, that would mean about nineteen thousand zones. It seemed like quite a lot.

He returned to the regional channel.

"It’s finally over. Thank goodness, the temperature outside is twenty-four degrees—so comfortable."

"Go check the roadside bushes outside, there are lots of fruits..."

"Player Ye Lei died from poisoning."

"Wait! A name just appeared?"

"That can’t be right, our messages aren’t showing names. What’s going on?"

“…”

Lin Mu frowned. Could names really be exposed now?

He quickly opened his personal information—his number was still there. Then he checked the trading center; his information remained hidden. It seemed that only upon death would names be revealed. That was fine—he wasn’t about to die, anyway.

Could the so-called welfare cancellation refer to removing the anonymity of numbers? Lin Mu shook his head, unable to understand. Never mind, he’d figure it out tomorrow.

…

The next morning, Lin Mu came downstairs. It was only six-thirty. The early bird catches the worm; he didn’t want to waste any time. But when he saw the four people sleeping like logs, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger. Why should he be the only one up working while these slackers slept?

No, they all needed to get up.

"001, wake them up for me!"

No more sleeping—everyone up!

Two minutes later, all four were wide awake. There was no other choice—the robot was ruthless. At that moment, a small handprint was visible on Jiang Ying's face. She felt wronged; she’d only been a few seconds late, was such force really necessary?

“Sister Gu, is my face all right?” she asked.

Gu Wanqing shook her head. “No, just a bit red.”

Lin Mu first checked the thermometer.

Outside: 22 degrees Celsius.

Inside: 26 degrees Celsius.

He opened the car window, and a gentle, cool breeze drifted in. Ah, so comfortable.

Lin Mu took out some food and water and tossed it to the back. Following the usual routine, 001 untied them, took them to the restroom, brought them back for breakfast, and then tied them up again.

He opened the worktable. Now that they were in a warm place, it was time to make fans and such. Ice makers, fans, refrigerators—anything that could be made, he made, and placed all the finished items in the back.

“Welfare canceled? I haven’t noticed any problems so far,” he muttered. He checked everywhere but found nothing unusual. Then he looked at the blueprints in his bag.

[AK47 Blueprint (Grade A)]

Grades had been added? What did that mean?

Some other items now had grades as well.

[Tiger Whip (Grade A)], [Snake Skin (Grade S)], [Tiger Skin (Grade S)]…

Lin Mu shook his head; the addition of grades didn’t seem to affect him much.

Ignoring these details, he started the vehicle.

Clatter, clatter—

Lin Mu hit the brakes—he’d forgotten to switch modes. He quickly changed the treads to tires and started again.

Now the speed picked up. Soon, the vehicle reached 120 kilometers per hour, the result of multiple upgrades.

After more than forty minutes, Lin Mu saw a building in the distance. That must be the so-called town.

In the back, Zhao Mingwei glanced at the thermometer, then at the distant structure, his eyes darting around.

With this temperature, maybe he could survive if he ran for it… right?

But then he remembered the voice saying there were only twenty chests in the entire town. Even if he escaped, it wouldn’t help much.

His restless heart calmed once more.

Lin Mu didn’t care what the others were thinking; he was eager to see what the town was like.

As he drove into the town, he slowed down. Soon after entering, he came to a crossroads. He hesitated, then turned left.

“001, activate the scan and let me know the location of the resource chests.”

“Yes, Master.”

But just as he turned, Lin Mu stopped the vehicle.

The town’s buildings weren’t tall—mostly two or three stories. Upon turning, Lin Mu spotted a store. Yes, the sign above clearly marked it as a shop.

Through the window, Lin Mu could see various products arranged on the shelves.

What was going on?

Good fortune never falls from the sky for no reason.

From his bag, Lin Mu pulled out a life-sized human doll and tossed it outside. He then pushed open the door with an axe and used a long knife to nudge the doll inside.

Hmm?

Nothing happened?

That was as expected.

“You, come here,” Lin Mu said, pointing at Jiang Ying.

Jiang Ying looked at him in confusion. “Me?”

“That’s right. Come here.”

Jiang Ying approached hesitantly.

“In a moment, you’ll go in, grab a piece of food, and run out. Understood?”

At that, Jiang Ying instantly sobered up. Big brother, you’re just sending me to my death. You didn’t dare go in yourself, but you want me to? Isn’t that a death sentence?

“Brother Lin Mu, I really don’t want to die. Can’t you pick someone else?”

“Don’t be so quick to refuse. I’ll tie a rope to you—you’ll be safe. When you come back, I’ll give you better food than the others.”

Lin Mu produced a box of Kenjiki Family Bucket and a bottle of Happy Fatty Soda.

Jiang Ying stared at the food, swallowing hard.

“I… I’ll go!”

“001, untie her.” Lin Mu put away his pistol.

Jiang Ying’s eye twitched; he might as well have just pulled out the gun in the first place.

Once she was untied, Lin Mu took out a metal chain and fastened it to her waist. “Don’t go too far in, or I won’t be able to save you. Protect your head—if you die because you didn’t look after yourself, that’s nobody’s fault but your own.”

Jiang Ying’s legs trembled—he really didn’t need to say that.

Lin Mu parked the vehicle across the road, with axes extended from the front—each a full ten meters long. He fastened the other end of the chain to one of the axes.