Chapter 40: No Money? Just Offer Something of Equal Value from Yourself

Jiang Ying stood at the doorway, unmoving for a long while.

“Go on, what are you standing there for?” someone urged.

Jiang Ying turned her head, forcing a stiff smile. “Do I really have to go in?”

“If you don’t, do you expect me to? Don’t worry, there’s a rope,” Lin Mu replied, then dashed into the vehicle and locked the window tight.

The three people in the back all swallowed nervously. It seemed even staying here wasn’t all that safe.

Jiang Ying gazed at the shop ahead, slowly pushing the door open. The shelves were indeed stocked with plenty of food. She dared to step forward, but only just enough to grab a bag of chips from the entrance.

She examined it; it simply said “Chips” with nothing else. When nothing happened, she took two more bags of biscuits and slowly backed away.

Bang!

The door slammed shut! But thanks to the iron chain, it didn’t close all the way.

A figure in a black robe appeared behind the cashier counter, his face shrouded in darkness.

“Welcome to the Highway Supermarket. Please pay for any items you take,” the figure intoned.

Jiang Ying asked in a small voice, “What do I pay with?”

“An item of equal value will suffice. The total value of the items in your hands is 20 points. Please present something of equivalent value.”

“And if I don’t have anything?”

“Then an item of equal value will be taken from your person. However, since this is your first time, you’re allowed to leave once without penalty.” As he spoke, the black-robed man placed a scalpel on the table.

At the sight of the scalpel, Jiang Ying immediately understood his meaning—this was a place where they’d carve out your kidneys.

“All right, all right, I’ll put the things back. I’m leaving now.” Hurriedly, she placed the goods on the counter and fled the shop. She jumped back into the car, slamming the door behind her.

“That was terrifying—there’s a black-robed man in there who wants to cut out people’s kidneys!”

“Calm down. What exactly happened?”

Jiang Ying recounted everything she’d just experienced.

“A bag of chips and two bags of biscuits cost 20 points?” someone exclaimed.

That meant it would take 20 iron ingots to exchange for those three items. The price was absurd. In the trading market, a 100-gram loaf of bread could be exchanged for only two iron ingots. Here, prices were more than double.

A true profiteer.

So, what was the point of this place? Or was this the normal price here? But thinking carefully, it didn’t seem entirely unreasonable.

Through the window, they could see all sorts of goods. There were dozens of types of drinks, even beer and liquor.

Should they go inside and take a look?

Lin Mu hesitated for a moment. “Might as well go in. I have plenty of points, might as well exchange for something.”

He placed a human-shaped doll in the driver’s seat.

[Scapegoat Doll (SS Grade)]: When the player faces mortal danger, their position will be instantly swapped.

He’d acquired this from a diamond chest, and it could literally save his life.

Entering the shop, Lin Mu didn’t see the black-robed figure Jiang Ying had described. The place looked exactly like a convenience store. He picked up a basket from the floor and started loading it with items from the shelves.

“Five cups of preserved vegetable noodles, some chips, some peanuts, a bit of beer...” He tried to put the items straight into his backpack, but it didn’t work. Clearly, there was no exploiting loopholes here.

Lin Mu didn’t take too much, just a moderate amount. As he turned around, a black-robed figure suddenly appeared at the cashier, making him jump.

“That’ll be 212 points.”

“How many points for a unit of wood?”

“Two points.”

Lin Mu raised his eyebrows. The points system here seemed different from the convoy’s—everything was doubled.

“What about iron ingots?”

“Also two points.”

So, everything was doubled, regardless of material. On second thought, the prices weren’t too high, since these were just ordinary goods.

After paying, Lin Mu was able to store the items in his backpack.

He walked out of the convenience store, looked back, and was momentarily stunned.

The entire shop had transformed into an abandoned wreck, filled with dust and litter.

He returned to the car. “Did you all see what happened to the shop just now?”

The four nodded vigorously.

“We saw it. After a flash of white light, it turned into what you see now.”

Lin Mu looked at the shop, realizing it wasn’t what he had expected at all. He’d thought it would remain here, available for anyone to shop. But now it seemed the shop would vanish after a single transaction, just like a mysterious merchant.

Was this another twist in the game?

No matter; better to keep searching for chests.

But before that...

Lin Mu got out of the car and walked into the now-ruined convenience store. With a wave of his hand, a black hole appeared, sucking everything inside the building away.

It worked.

There wasn’t much on the first floor—it took only about ten seconds to clear out.

He went up to the second floor, but it was completely empty. Lin Mu was rather displeased. Had they hired a cleaning crew? It was spotless, nothing left at all.

After that, 001 took over driving while Lin Mu went from room to room collecting trash.

If the houses could be stored in the recycling station, he would’ve taken the entire town. Though the area was 100 square kilometers, there weren’t that many houses; they were scattered in sections.

...

“Reporting, master: there are three chests in this building.”

Lin Mu looked at the three-story standalone building before him. Chests here?

“Do you know where?”

In response, the radar projected onto the windshield instantly displayed a 3D map of the building.

Damn! It could do that?

Clearly, there were many functions yet to be discovered.

“Master, they’re on the rooftop, but there’s no way up.”

The rooftop?

Lin Mu eyed the three-story building—it must have been more than eleven meters tall. He returned to the car and activated his enhancement skills, selecting the resource collector.

“Extend the collector’s length.”

[Plan generated.]
[Flexible Collector, 20-meter range: Iron Ingots x50, Silver Ingots x5, Copper Ingots x5, Rubber x1.]

The required materials had increased significantly. Understandable, since a longer reach would require more resources. If this skill could answer questions, he would’ve asked a couple.

After the upgrade, Lin Mu controlled the axe to search for the chests atop the building. If only he could install a camera up there—but unfortunately, he’d tried and the upgrade skill simply wouldn’t allow it.

He pulled all three chests down from the rooftop.

[Congratulations on opening a Silver Resource Chest: You’ve gained 5 Energy Drinks, 25 Silver Ingots, 10 portions of 500g Braised Beef.]
[Congratulations on opening a Gold Resource Chest: You’ve gained 15 Universal Medicines, 50 Glass Panels, 5 bags of 10kg Rice.]

He really had stumbled across a lot of new things today. As for the quantities, Lin Mu was already used to it. After all, they had five people to support.