Chapter 140: Countdown |
Outside the window, the morning sun rose.
The dawn light illuminated the eaves of the arrow corridor.
Today was the last day the residents of the residential complex would spend in this forest.
There were 26 hours, 14 minutes, and 32 seconds remaining until the next transition.
When the sun set today and rose again tomorrow, they would bid farewell to this forest.
Qin Ziwen ran into Wang Xiaoli. Wang Xiaoli, who usually lowered her head and avoided him upon seeing him, hesitated for a moment and greeted Qin Ziwen, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Qin Ziwen nodded with a smile.
"Excuse me, is your team still recruiting people?" Wang Xiaoli's nervous voice came from behind.
Stopping in his tracks, he turned to look. On the stairs, the woman in black clothes, holding a bucket, looked at him expectantly.
Wang Xiaoli was overjoyed: "Then how can I join?"
"You already are."
Listening to the sound of them going downstairs, Wang Xiaoli put down the bucket, covered her mouth, and wiped the corner of her eye.
She had previously thought about joining the Alliance, but the Alliance people knew about some of her past experiences and refused her entry.
But now, she had a team too.
Wang Xiaoli raised her head, a bright smile appearing on her face.
Coming out of the stairwell, Qin Ziwu whispered, "Brother, what are ordinary members?"
"They're peripheral members."
Qin Ziwu understood, "Oh, 'ordinary members' sounds nicer."
Qin Ziwen carried strips of preserved meat to Building 6.
The door had just opened. Guo Xiaochun was still yawning when he spotted Qin Ziwen approaching at a glance.
"Brother, you're here so early, come in, come in, have a seat."
Guo Xiaochun hurried inside to fetch a stool for Qin Ziwen.
"You worked hard yesterday. I brought a little token of appreciation, hope you don't mind." Qin Ziwen raised his right hand, shaking the meat strips in his hand.
"Ah, my brother, don't embarrass me, how could I possibly mind!" Guo Xiaochun grinned as he took the preserved meat. "Thanks to riding your coattails, my intel agency has really made a splash this time. By the way, brother, I have another piece of inside information. After the news broke yesterday, the Alliance's higher-ups hurriedly held an emergency meeting. I don't know the specifics, but it's probably related to you. However, you can rest assured, with your reputation being so big now, they wouldn't dare cause trouble for you, otherwise their reputation would be ruined."
"Thank you."
"We're all on the same side, no need for thanks." Guo Xiaochun suddenly remembered something and quickly slapped his forehead.
"There's something else, not sure if you'd be interested, brother. It's just a rumor, of course."
"Go ahead, I'm listening."
Guo Xiaochun said, "A few days ago, a team from our complex followed the river downstream. Because they weren't planning to return the same day they set out, needing to spend the night outside, they went quite far.
Then, on the plain at the end of the downstream, they found some ruins, a bit like ancient brick-and-tile houses, uninhabited for a long time. I suspect there might be indigenous inhabitants in this forest, but our exploration range is limited, so we haven't made contact yet."
Qin Ziwen pondered this, "Then what do you think, could it be something similar to our existence?"
Guo Xiaochun nodded, "Brother Qin, I've considered that possibility too, but if something like that happened before, historical records should have some mention, right? I've never heard of similar events occurring in the past."
Guo Xiaochun rubbed his hands together and asked somewhat shyly, "By the way, brother, do you have any similar news... or goods you'd like to trade through me?"
"Not in a hurry for now. Let's wait until we reach the next map." Qin Ziwen patted his shoulder.
"Alright, brother, travel safely on your way."
After leaving Guo Xiaochun's place, he happened to run into Xiao Meixue and the others coming downstairs.
They were preparing to go to the river to set the fish traps. Qin Ziwen needed to continue guarding the house, waiting for Zhang Bo to deliver the fish later.
"Liu San, how much salt do we have?"
"Sir, we stockpiled yesterday. Today we have eighty catties of coarse salt, and sixty catties of green salt."
"Good, keep up the effort."
......
"President Zou, you asked for me." Zhang Bo walked into the room.
Zou Jianghe, sitting on the sofa, looked at Zhang Bo with calm eyes, "I heard from the Hunting Team that you've been taking live fish from them these past two days? What do you need so many live fish for?"
Zhang Bo smiled, "President, I didn't take them for free. I traded salt with the brothers from the Hunting Team. That's considered fair internal trade, right?"
Zou Jianghe pressed further, "I'm asking, what do you need so many live fish for?"
Zhang Bo said casually, "To eat."
"Three hundred catties, you ate all of them?"
"Yes, I all... uh, took them back to salt and preserve them. Didn't we hear the next map is the Gobi Desert? Want to stockpile more meat, salted fish is just right." Zhang Bo answered with a chuckle.
Zou Jianghe just looked at Zhang Bo, who sat on the sofa like a slippery character.
Zou Jianghe stared at him, his eyes narrowing slightly, "But you asked for live fish."
Zhang Bo replied without hesitation, "Live fish are fresh! Dead fish stink. President, you didn't call me here just to ask about this, did you? As far as I know, private trading within the Alliance is allowed. Everyone's doing it."
Zou Jianghe finally waved his hand helplessly.
Zhang Bo stood up from the sofa, patted his butt, and turned to leave.
Watching Zhang Bo's retreating figure, Zou Jianghe felt somewhat aggrieved. The intelligence he gathered was that after Zhang Bo brought the fish back, he took those fish to Building 8.
The only one who could handle that many fish was probably that Qin Ziwen.
That Qin Ziwen clearly refused to join the Alliance, yet he was leveraging the Alliance's strength.
But just yesterday, news about the next map being the Gobi Desert came from Qin Ziwen, boosting that kid's fame tremendously while also forcing the Alliance's internal leadership to hold an emergency meeting, urging members to stockpile water and food in large quantities.
After Zhang Bo had gone far, Zou Jianghe looked behind him, "I don't understand. That Zhang Bo is someone who won't move without profit. He actually cooperated with that Qin Ziwen."
Behind him, an old man with a small mustache and a crew cut said, "That Qin Ziwen collecting so many live fish is probably preparing for the next map. He might have a building that can raise fish. Zhang Bo might have reached a cooperation with him; one provides fish, the other provides salt. But since he can cooperate with Qin Ziwen, we can also cooperate with him. Everyone's goal is to survive. For now, there's no conflict.
What we really need to pay attention to is the population replenishment. We just don't know what method this replenishment will take. If it directly fills the vacant rooms in the complex with residents, that would be the easiest. If they're pure newcomers, even better. We veterans have already experienced this once. Veterans guiding newcomers would also make it easier to absorb them.
What I worry about is if they are experienced veterans, maybe even 'seniors' with more experience than us."
"Why are you so sure there will be others?"
The old man smiled and said, "Whatever brought us from Earth here might be a natural phenomenon. But when Home and cards appeared, it absolutely cannot be explained by natural phenomena."
As he spoke, his eyes grew obscure, "Have you seen gladiator arena performances? The struggle between man and beast is certainly thrilling, but what truly drives the audience wild are the intense battles between top gladiators and the large-scale, spectacular epic group melees."
Hearing the old man's words, Zou Jianghe fell silent. He could understand this logic, but he didn't wish for it to be true.
"Are you afraid?" the old man suddenly asked.
"Afraid?" Zou Jianghe laughed loudly, "I failed in business three times, was heavily in debt, didn't dare go back to my hometown for the New Year, worked alone outside to repay debts. I survived such desperate days. What is there to fear now? I firmly believe the greater the storm, the more valuable the fish."
......
"Here are the fish you wanted." In the morning, Zhang Bo made two trips, bringing the remaining two hundred catties of fish to Qin Ziwen.
Previously, he had considered the impact, but now that it was exposed, there was no need to hide it.
"Here's eighty catties of coarse salt. I'll make up the rest with fifteen catties of fine salt." Qin Ziwen handed the salt to him.
Zhang Bo waved his hand, "Too many eyes around. I'll come get it later."
Qin Ziwen's eyes flickered. He understood.
Zhang Bo didn't want news of him having a salt well to leak.
Otherwise, if Zhang Bo gave him fish and then carried a large bag of salt back right after, all Zhang Bo's elaborate efforts would be meaningless.
Considering they had just finished cooperating and he currently had no plans for large-scale retail salt sales, Qin Ziwen agreed accordingly.
Zhang Bo seemed to relax, "If you want anything, you can come to me. I'll be the middleman. Now in the complex, only the two of us have salt wells. There's no need for us to engage in a price war, right?"
"Of course. Boss Zhang, I'd also like to buy another two hundred catties of live fish."
"I think we should consider that price war after all." Zhang Bo turned to leave.
"Haha, just kidding." Qin Ziwen pulled him back.
Zhang Bo's face darkened, "It's not like I can get as many fish as I want. And wasn't it you who spread the news about the next map being the Gobi Desert? Now everyone is guarding their food tightly. It took a huge amount of personal favor to get you these three hundred catties. Even I can't buy food now."
Qin Ziwen just watched him exaggerate.
Zhang Bo continued, "But if you want other things, like good timber, woven hemp rope, that kind of material, that's possible."
Qin Ziwen became interested, "Do you have wood suitable for making bows?"
Zhang Bo didn't expect Qin Ziwen to actually want more, but he didn't think it would be much, "Yes, I have Cudrania Wood and Mulberry Wood."
"What about Yew?" Qin Ziwen remembered Du Yu saying yew was excellent material for making bows.
"No, no one has seen any." Zhang Bo waved his hand. "Just Cudrania and Mulberry. How many pieces do you want?"
"What's the price?"
"If bought by someone outside the Alliance, material for one bow costs about ten catties of meat. If bought internally within the Alliance, it's still five catties of meat. Give me five catties of meat, I'll buy it for you."
Qin Ziwen waved his hand dismissively, "How could this rotten wood be worth so much."
Zhang Bo explained, "Cudrania Wood isn't that rare, but what's rare is the material suitable for making bows. Suitable bow material needs straight, knot-free Cudrania heartwood, usually from the tree core. A single tree doesn't yield much material. Getting enough for three or four bows is considered a lot. Besides finding the right tree, you have to cut it down, bring it back, and do the rough processing."
Qin Ziwen said, "Then how about this: two catties of coarse salt, or one catty of fine salt, trades for one piece of bow material. Help me get material for twenty bows first."
Zhang Bo was stunned. He thought Qin Ziwen would want material for five or six bows at most, but he wanted this many.
Are you forming an archery battalion?
The problem is, even if you get this many bows, you don't have that many people. Can you even use them all?
Zhang Bo said, "That's too much. At most, material for six bows."
Qin Ziwen countered, "Fifteen."
"Seven."
"Fourteen."
"...Are you playing math problems with me!" Zhang Bo said helplessly, "You asking for so much is really troublesome. How about this: I'll get you material for seven bows in the short term. If there's a chance later, I'll try to get you more."
Qin Ziwen said, "Alright then, thirty catties of fine salt, get me material for ten bows. Try to get Cudrania if possible. Cudrania is better than Mulberry. Don't worry, it's fine. You might have bows, but do you have arrows? Without that many arrows, making bows is useless anyway."
Hearing the number thirty catties, Zhang Bo's eyes flickered. He hesitated for a moment, his tone carrying a hint of reluctance, "Alright then."
Coming downstairs, Zhang Bo suddenly felt like those ancient traitors who smuggled military equipment and grain. If caught... wait, bah! What smuggling? This is called fair trade.
The complex residents accepted fine salt more readily than coarse salt. After all, their palates were spoiled by industrial salt before, so fine salt had stronger purchasing power.
According to Zhang Bo's estimate, about twenty catties of fine salt could probably get material for ten bows. The remaining ten catties would be his own commission.
Of course, the price couldn't be calculated so simply. Dumping a large amount of salt in a short time would also cause the market salt price to drop.
But aren't newcomers coming soon?
After Zhang Bo left, Qin Ziwen pondered. Currently, good wood for making bows wasn't that scarce because they were in the forest.
But once they reached the Gobi Desert, with scarce resources, finding good bow material wouldn't be so easy.
So stocking up more now was always a good idea.
Cudrania was harder, suitable for longbows. Mulberry was only suitable for short bows. In terms of lethality, longbows were definitely stronger against beasts.
In the afternoon, Du Yu and the others who went up the mountain returned to the complex.
Today, the cave altar on the mountainside gave out a [Blank Expansion Card (Small)].
After dividing the contribution points equally, Li Yue finally gathered 8 contribution points, exchanged for a Blank Expansion Card (Small), and successfully activated his Home.
Now, the last team member had finally activated their Home, achieving the full Home activation milestone.
Everyone relaxed for a rare moment, preparing to welcome tomorrow's new life.
At this time, the Hunting Teams, Gathering Teams, and various other teams that usually went out hunting were mostly staying within the complex.
Knowing they would transition again tomorrow, many people stayed in the complex, worried about missing the time.
Some children followed their parents. After this month, not just the children, but the adults had also become much more robust, their skin generally a shade darker.
"Captain!" Yuan Ming, who was taking a walk downstairs with his parents, waved at Qin Ziwen.
Hu Huilan and Yuan Dajun looked curiously at Qin Ziwen. They had heard of him before but were meeting him in person for the first time.
"Uncle, Auntie." Qin Ziwen greeted the two.
Yuan Dajun extended his hand, "Hello, I'm Yuan Ming's father. Thank you for taking care of Yuan Ming."
Shaking hands, Qin Ziwen noticed Yuan Dajun's hands were somewhat rough and very strong.
Hu Huilan said, "Captain Qin, we entrust Yuan Ming to your care. If he doesn't listen, feel free to scold or even hit him, it's fine."
"Yuan Ming is very capable. He's very proactive in the team." Qin Ziwen replied with a smile.
After chatting with Yuan Ming's parents for a while, he was surprised to learn that Yuan Dajun had studied martial arts before, pursued a dream in the film industry when young, but due to his looks, could only work behind the scenes as a stunt double. He later became a professional martial arts director, doing action choreography.
Because of work, he often traveled and worked overtime, so child-rearing was mostly left to the mother. Hu Huilan had always been very strict with Yuan Ming.
After chatting for a bit, he politely declined Hu Huilan's invitation to have a meal at their home.
But Qin Ziwen instead extended an invitation to Yuan Dajun, "Uncle, seeing how strong you are, it's the perfect time to strive. How about considering joining my team? You and Yuan Ming could fight side by side, father and son."
Yuan Dajun seemed tempted but didn't agree immediately, saying he needed to go back and think about it.
Later, while taking a walk with his brother, Qin Ziwen passed by the first floor of Building 6.
He happened to see Wei Zhaohua carrying a bag of soil to fill the green belt.
"Teacher Wei." Qin Ziwen waved.
"Mr. Qin." Wei Zhaohua stopped, a smile appearing on his face.
"How is your father's health now?"
Wei Zhaohua expressed gratitude, "Thanks to the honeysuckle you provided last time, his illness is almost cured. But there are some aftereffects. His stamina isn't as good as before; he gets out of breath easily after walking a few more steps."
"It's good that he's alive."
"Yes, it's good that he's still alive." Wei Zhaohua sighed. When he was working before, he felt a lot of pressure. As a homeroom teacher, he managed students not only during work hours but also often dealt with a bunch of things after work.
But after experiencing these events, he realized that as long as loved ones are still by your side, that is the happiest thing.
"Are you planning to do more greening?"
Wei Zhaohua pointed to the soil on the ground, "Just messing around. But I don't think it will be very effective. The sun is strong in the Gobi Desert. This soil will probably dry out quickly."
Mentioning this, Wei Zhaohua couldn't help but ask, "By the way, how are those seeds I gave you before?"
"They're doing well. Most have sprouted and grown into small seedlings."
Wei Zhaohua was somewhat surprised, "That's fast then. Congratulations."
"By the way, Teacher Wei, would you like to join my team?"
Wei Zhaohua looked somewhat troubled, "I haven't joined any organization, but my wife joined the Alliance."
"It's fine. Didn't Doctor Zhao also join the Alliance and even became a Building Head?" Qin Ziwen indicated he didn't mind such minor matters.
Hearing this, Wei Zhaohua thought that seemed reasonable too.
"Alright, if you don't mind me, then I'll join."
"Welcome, Teacher Wei, to our team."
On the way home, Qin Ziwu asked, "Brother, how many people are we planning to recruit for our team?"
"It's not about how many people we recruit, but how many people we can support. If we want to hunt large beasts, ideally, we could routinely form a team of around twenty people. Too many would make it unwieldy. With twenty people, spears in front, bows in back, that should be about right."
......