Chapter 6: Redeeming New Blueprints

Lin Mu closed the world channel and opened the trading center. Now that he had these resources, it was time to purchase some items, especially blueprints.

Speaking of blueprints, he hadn’t even looked at them yet.

He opened his backpack, which was filled with all sorts of supplies. Lin Mu was confident that no one else in the world had as many resources as he did.

He tapped on the blueprint.

[Use?]

Of course he’d use it.

After he confirmed, the blueprint vanished. The backpack interface automatically switched to the workbench.

On the left side of the workbench, a list of craftable items appeared—not just the small purified water collector.

Longbows, long knives, spears, axes, charcoal—every basic item could be crafted here, provided you had the materials.

Lin Mu wasn’t particularly interested in these basic items. He focused on the small purified water collector to check its required materials.

Iron ingot x2, wood x5, plastic x10.

Not much, really. He had everything except for the plastic.

“Just my luck—not a single piece of plastic from twenty boxes,” he muttered.

Others might say: Bad luck? Ending up with a backpack full of materials? Who could complain?

Lin Mu reopened the trading market.

There were more items for sale now. At first, there had only been a handful, but now the listings seemed endless. The prices were also much more reasonable.

[Iron Ingot x1]: Exchange for Wood x5
[100g Bread]: Exchange for 500ml Mineral Water
[100g Rat Meat]: Exchange for 250ml Mineral Water
...

Most of the exchanges were reasonable, though a few were simply ridiculous.

For example:

[Original Black Stockings from a Young Girl]: Exchange for 100g bread plus 500ml water.

At that price, only a fool would take the trade. Yet, right before his eyes, someone did exactly that. Instantly, the listing was marked as “Exchanged!”

“Are you out of your mind? You’d trade for a battle-worn pair of stockings? Aren’t you afraid your little buddy will catch athlete’s foot?”

Lin Mu couldn’t fathom what that trader was thinking.

Not far away, on a road, a chubby boy was driving a Wuling minivan.

He pushed up his glasses, a sly grin on his face.

A pair of stockings, slightly frayed and carrying a faint sour scent, appeared in his hand.

He lifted the stockings to his nose and took a deep breath.

Inhale—ahh.

“What a delightful aroma,” he sighed, visibly satisfied.

After a moment, he tossed the stockings aside, driving at an erratic pace. Three minutes later, looking content, he put the stockings back onto the trading center.

[Used Original Black Stockings from a Young Girl]: Exchange for 100g bread plus 500ml water.

“Only a fool would keep these,” his eyes gleamed.

...

Lin Mu had already exchanged for ten pieces of plastic and four pieces of glass, all using wood as currency. He hadn’t touched his iron ingots. Although he now had a reliable source of iron from the Black Iron Resource Box, the number of those boxes was still limited.

Wood boxes, on the other hand, were plentiful, so he didn’t mind trading away wood.

Still, he had spent forty pieces of wood, but he didn’t regret it.

He kept searching.

“Where are the blueprints? Not a single one?” Lin Mu frowned. He’d been searching for two minutes, paging endlessly, but hadn’t found a single blueprint.

This was an entire district; even with bad luck, someone should have listed one or two.

The sheer volume of listed items made it impossible to keep up.

He exited the interface, then reopened it.

The very first item left him confused.

“Wait... is this the same as before? Used what?”

Sure enough, it was the chubby boy’s listing.

Shaking his head, Lin Mu ignored it. He studied the interface carefully—there had to be a filter or search function.

He enlarged the tablet-sized screen and slowed the car. Upon zooming in, he spotted a magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner.

“Aha, found it.”

He tapped it, revealing a search box.

With his thought, the word “blueprint” appeared in the box.

He searched.

Instantly, all other exchange options vanished, leaving just three blueprints.

“Knew it. There had to be blueprints.”

[Ordinary Hand Crossbow Blueprint]: Exchange for 4x 500ml mineral water, 10 iron ingots, 20 wood (Note: Paupers need not apply)

???

Lin Mu was speechless. Who in the world would have the audacity to ask for so much?

He could tell the seller was just a few materials away from upgrading their vehicle. But with six days left, what was the rush?

He had all those materials, but Lin Mu wasn’t about to be swindled.

[USp Handgun Blueprint]: 5x 500ml mineral water, 2x any food, 7 iron ingots, 5 wood (Negotiable, serious offers only)

That was a lot too, but it was for a handgun—double the price would still be worth it.

He checked the last one.

[Small Purified Water Collector Blueprint]: 5 iron ingots, 5 wood, 2x any food.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Mu decided to exchange for the collector blueprint—even though he already had the device. He could always use it to trade for something else; it was a win-win.

After all, he already had the required materials.

For food, he chose two pieces of bread.

Within ten seconds, the other party accepted. A blueprint appeared in his backpack.

He ignored it for now. There was still the handgun blueprint to negotiate.

He opened the seller’s profile, but due to game protections, he couldn’t see anything.

He opened chat.

“Hello, your price is a bit high. At this point, no one has that much stuff. If you’re sincere about selling, name a fair price.”

He figured it was worth making an offer—who knew?

Unhurried, Lin Mu increased his speed.

He glanced at the odometer: 150 kilometers traveled. Only 50 kilometers remained to the next resource chest.

That meant another batch of income was coming soon.

Ding—

A message arrived.

“You can take off two bottles of water, but the rest stays. Remember, this is a handgun, not some ordinary item.”

Lin Mu considered. He checked the blueprint’s details—he had all the materials, and the price wasn’t too steep.

“I’ll take it,” he replied.

Both sides confirmed. Deal!

Handgun blueprint acquired.

He quickly opened the crafting interface. Instead of making the handgun, he chose to craft the purified water collector—best to use it as soon as possible.

[Ding! Consumed: Iron ingot x2, wood x5, plastic x10. Crafting successful.]

A half-meter-tall metallic device appeared in his backpack. As Lin Mu was about to take it out, a message flashed in his mind.

A three-dimensional schematic of his vehicle appeared in his mind’s eye.

[Please choose a placement location.]