Chapter 160
Zhou Qi was taken aback by Tang Yu’an’s idea and sat down to consider its feasibility.
After a moment, he shook his head. “The trade happens instantly, and the goods appear directly beside Gan Lin. It probably wouldn’t create rain.”
Tang Yu’an imagined the scenario.
“True,” he muttered, rubbing his chin. “Instead of rain, Gan Lin might get swept away or even drowned. He probably can’t swim, can he?”
Considering that Gan Lin’s environment was near cacti and likely desert-like, it was highly improbable that he knew how to swim.
“And the water outside is filthy—he might get sick if he drinks it,” Tang Yu’an added.
“That’s not something to worry about,” Zhou Qi said.
“Huh?” Tang Yu’an blinked in confusion.
Zhou Qi shrugged. “We’re trading water, not the dirt and impurities in it.”
Tang Yu’an froze for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “You mean the system will automatically purify it? Like the inventory system does?”
“I think so. But we’d need to test it first,” Zhou Qi replied.
The first time they traded water with Gan Lin, it hadn’t been an amorphous blob of water; it had been in a container. If the system could extract just the water from the container, there was no reason it couldn’t extract clean water from dirty water while leaving the impurities behind.
Tang Yu’an’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Zhou Qi’s suggestion seemed highly plausible.
“Now there’s just one problem,” Zhou Qi said. “How do we get the system to recognize the floodwater outside as our property?”
That was a valid point…
But Tang Yu’an wasn’t too concerned. With only the two of them alive in the area, and based on the system’s rule of claiming unowned items, why wouldn’t the water be theirs?
“Let’s test it out first,” Tang Yu’an suggested.
First, they needed to confirm whether the water traded through the dream system was indeed purified. If it was, they could instruct Gan Lin to find a safe place to store it. Finally, they could implement their plan!
Both felt a surge of excitement at the idea.
Even if the plan didn’t yield many points, not every action needed to be about rewards or profits. The sheer novelty and challenge made it worthwhile.
Tang Yu’an walked over to the dream drifting bottle window, carefully identified Gan Lin’s bottle, and pulled it out from the sea of dreams.
As the glowing orb floated into the air, Gan Lin’s voice emerged.
“Mysterious Merchant, I found a lot of firestones today!”
“What do you want to trade for today?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“I still need water…” Gan Lin hesitated. “But not too much. Can I leave some firestones with you and trade for more things later when I need them?”
“Is it because you have too much stuff to consume right now?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“Not exactly…”
Gan Lin explained that he and Old Mo had moved to a new area. Trading too many goods at once could draw unnecessary attention.
Tang Yu’an glanced at the map and confirmed that Gan Lin and Old Mo were indeed in a new location, with a higher population density than before.
“Alright, but I need you to confirm something for me first,” Tang Yu’an said.
“What is it?”
*
Near Flame Dragon Fortress
Night had fallen, but Old Mo wasn’t sleeping. He stood outside the house, chewing on a blade of grass and holding a mutant mantis scythe in his hand.
The night sky above was dark, but the horizon glowed red with fiery streaks as several fire dragons roared and danced in the distance.
The fire dragons didn’t fill the sky entirely—they appeared sporadically, sometimes on the horizon and other times alarmingly close.
Earlier that day, Old Mo had left their original area with Gan Lin to find an old friend closer to Flame Dragon Fortress.
His luck was good; he managed to locate one of his friends before nightfall.
The houses in this area were intact, as Flame Dragon Fortress had sent people to repair them during the fire dragon’s dormant periods. This gave those unable to enter the fortress at least some form of shelter.
However, once the fortress staff withdrew due to increased fire dragon activity, gangs moved in and claimed the area.
To live here, one had to pay protection fees to these gangs.
Fortunately, Old Mo’s friend didn’t have to pay since he worked as an enforcer for one of the gangs. Though he had no abilities, his decent combat skills made him a useful underling.
Being an enforcer meant collecting protection fees, fighting off desert mutants, and sometimes even being used as cannon fodder—a hard life, albeit survivable.
“Sha Zi, why don’t you come work with me?” Old Mo asked, glancing at the man crouching nearby, munching on soybeans.
Sha Zi, younger than Old Mo by about a decade and looking to be in his forties, glanced up and chuckled. “Uncle Mo, you must be joking.”
“You think I came all this way just to joke with you?”
Sha Zi froze, sensing Old Mo’s seriousness. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “What kind of work are we talking about?”
“Same as here—bodyguard and enforcer work. But we’ll provide your food and drink,” Old Mo replied.
Sha Zi thought it over and tossed another soybean into his mouth. It was his first time trying them, and the more he chewed, the more he enjoyed their flavor.
“How many people do you have?” Sha Zi asked.
Old Mo didn’t lie, answering honestly, “Just me and Gan Lin.”
Sha Zi clicked his tongue. “Just the two of you? What’s the point of starting a gang with only two people?”
“There will be more people in the future,” Old Mo said calmly. “I came to you first because you once saved my life. You’re the first person I thought of.”
“Trust me. Joining us will definitely be better than staying here.”
Seeing Sha Zi’s cracked and bleeding lips, Old Mo handed him his canteen. “How many sips of water do you get here in a day?”
Sha Zi took the bottle and quickly drank a mouthful.
But he didn’t dare drink more until Old Mo said, “Drink up. It’s fine.”
Only then did Sha Zi gulp down several mouthfuls.
“If you stick with me and protect Gan Lin and me, you’ll have water to drink every day,” Old Mo promised. “I trust you, which is why I want you to join us.”
After finishing the water, Sha Zi let out a satisfied sigh.
“You’ve found…” He paused, realizing something, then silently mouthed the words “a water source.”
Though he had already checked the area and knew no one was nearby, and their conversation was in hushed tones, he preferred to err on the side of caution.
In this region, people depended on an underground river, with the well controlled by gang members. Ordinary folks gathered here, willing to be subjugated in exchange for access to water.
If word of another water source got out, the gangs would undoubtedly send people to seize it.
Old Mo nodded, confirming Sha Zi’s guess.
Sha Zi’s expression turned excited but quickly sobered.
“Uncle Mo, is your water source secure? I’m not trying to ruin the mood, but the three of us can’t defend it if too many people come for it.”
Without abilities, Sha Zi was just an ordinary thug. Meanwhile, Old Mo was a man in his sixties or seventies, and Gan Lin was just a child—far from an intimidating force.
“You don’t need to worry about its security,” Old Mo replied. “But you’re right about needing more protection, which is why I came to you.”
Looking Sha Zi in the eye, Old Mo said, “Think it over and give me your answer tomorrow morning.”
With that, Old Mo dragged his scythe and went inside.
Sha Zi watched his retreating figure, silent as he popped another soybean into his mouth, crunching away thoughtfully.
Inside, Old Mo found Gan Lin awake and holding an iron box that once contained firestones.
The firestones were gone, replaced by a box of water.
“Did the Mysterious Merchant show up again?” Old Mo asked quietly.
“Yes,” Gan Lin nodded. “He agreed to let me store the firestones with him for now and exchange them for more supplies later.”
They had only brought two canteens of water, some soybeans, and two scythes with them while hiding the rest. Trading too many supplies in this crowded area would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention.
“Uncle Mo, try this water,” Gan Lin said, holding out the box.
Although puzzled, Old Mo took a sip. Apart from a slightly earthy taste from the sediment left by the firestones, the water seemed fine.
“What’s wrong?” Old Mo asked.
“Nothing,” Gan Lin replied, shaking his head. “The Mysterious Merchant just asked me to observe this water carefully and report back tomorrow night.”
What an odd request…
Old Mo muttered to himself before asking, “Anything else?”
Gan Lin nodded. “He also asked us to look out for any pools or dried-up lakes that could hold water.”
Old Mo froze. “Why would he ask that? Could it be…”
His heart raced as he thought it over.
Gan Lin licked his lips. “He said he might be able to send us a flood of water.”
*
Peace Grocery Store, Attic
“I wonder how this will turn out,” Tang Yu’an mused as Gan Lin’s bottle disappeared into the sea of dreams.
Returning empty bottles to the dream sea increased the chances of retrieving them again—likely by enhancing the bottle’s brightness.
Since Gan Lin’s orb was already bright and easy to spot, Tang Yu’an decided not to enhance it further. If it became harder to retrieve in the future, he’d consider it then.
The earlier experiment had confirmed something important:
When Tang Yu’an extended his hand beyond the barrier, the floodwater outside became “his property” according to the system’s rules.
This allowed them to successfully trade 100ml of water with Gan Lin.
Because Gan Lin had stacked the firestones in a tin box they’d provided, the water logically replaced the firestones and appeared inside the same box.
If this rule held true, they might be able to prevent Gan Lin from drowning in a deluge by controlling the amount of water traded.
Now, they just had to wait for Gan Lin’s feedback tomorrow.
“Why not recruit Old Mo as an employee?” Zhou Qi suggested. “It’d make it easier to get information from that side.”
Though Old Mo would need to reach Lv5 before he could communicate on the message board, his experience surviving in the wasteland made Zhou Qi confident he’d adapt quickly.
“Wow, we can recruit Old Mo as an employee! With him recruiting people, we’ll have a steady stream of customers every day!”
Tang Yu’an was fully on board with the idea, waving both hands in agreement. Drawing from the successful experience with Hai Jing, he quickly composed and sent a recruitment message to Old Mo.
Old Mo promptly accepted the offer, officially becoming an employee of the Peace Grocery Store. Tang Yu’an immediately sent him the orientation task and beginner benefit missions.
In no time, Old Mo completed the tasks and unlocked his employee panel.
Tang Yu’an activated the sale of two items for Old Mo: salt and soybeans. Currently, the only drinkable item available in the wholesale market was milk, but at 50 points per liter, it was too expensive for someone just starting out like Old Mo. The alternatives were much more practical.
Tang Yu’an could only hope Old Mo wouldn’t disappoint and would quickly advance to Lv5.
After finishing that, Tang Yu’an got up again, ready to retrieve another drifting bottle, when a sudden flash of light at the window caught his attention.
“That reaction…”
Tang Yu’an’s eyes lit up. “A cross-dimensional drifting bottle has returned!”
[Your “Dream Drifting Bottle” has successfully returned. Please open the Dream Sea to retrieve it.]
Tang Yu’an hurried to the window and saw a gray-blue bottle floating in the Dream Sea. He blinked.
“Another tech-side drifting bottle?”
He retrieved the bottle and checked the code at the bottom—MR26558.
It was the one from the water-scarce tech-side dimension!
Tang Yu’an remembered it clearly: the sender was a young girl who had mentioned that many people were being sent into stasis pods for eternal sleep due to the water shortage. She was terrified of this fate and desperately needed water to avoid being next.
Her situation was similar to Gan Lin’s but even worse.
Because she was from another dimension, their only means of trading was through the drifting bottle. Unfortunately, the bottle’s limited capacity and the time lag caused by cross-dimensional transmission made it nearly impossible to send her large quantities of water.
If they ever used drifting bottles to contact their own family members, this issue would need solving too.
For now, Tang Yu’an decided to hear what the girl had to say.
He sat down beside Zhou Qi and opened the drifting bottle. The light orb floated to the attic ceiling, and a girl’s voice emerged.
“Hello, Mysterious Merchant. My name is Corsona, but my friends call me Nana.”
Thanks to the translation module, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi could understand her words perfectly.
“Thank you so much for the water you sent me. It saved my life. Without it, I would’ve been forcibly sent into a stasis pod by now,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion.
“Everyone says entering a stasis pod means your consciousness is copied into a quantum brain, but it’s not real life. Living in the quantum brain isn’t truly living…”
“I’m so scared. I don’t want to die…”
Her voice, filled with tears, painted a grim picture of her post-apocalyptic world. When she calmed down, she moved on to the main topic.
“Although the water you sent arrived just in time, it’s far too little. Could you send me more?”
She added eagerly, “I’ve explained the situation to Yana. It said it can provide resources for me, but only if I can deliver more water.”
“Since your bottle is too small, Yana gave me two spatial capsules.”
She explained, “These capsules were created by some of our best scientists. Production hadn’t even started when the drought hit us.”
“Each capsule can create a 10-cubic-meter space within any container, and they can be stacked for larger capacities.”
“If you can provide 10,000 cubic meters of water, Yana says one capsule will be your reward.”
Tang Yu’an was momentarily stunned and scratched his head.
10,000 cubic meters of water equated to 10 million liters—a massive amount.
Given that the store charged 1 point per liter of water, buying that much was completely out of the question.
However, the floodwaters outside could easily supply that amount. A pool measuring 100m by 20m by 5m would suffice, and the water outside their store alone was more than enough.
But the challenge lay in trading that much water with Corsona. Even with one spatial capsule, the bottle could only hold 10 cubic meters. Using both capsules would double the capacity to 20 cubic meters, but that would still mean splitting the trade into 500 deliveries.
While Tang Yu’an didn’t mind the effort, he worried whether Corsona’s world could wait that long.
Fortunately, Corsona’s voice resumed.
“Yana says our nation will prioritize producing more spatial capsules to expand the bottle’s capacity further.
“I hope you can agree to this deal and deliver the water to us in installments. I’m counting on your help.”
With that, the message ended.
The deal seemed feasible but raised another issue.
“How long did it take for this bottle to travel back and forth?” Zhou Qi asked.
Tang Yu’an checked the logs and said, “It took about ten days.”
“If it takes another ten days for the next trip, we’d only be able to deliver water three times before the floodwaters recede.”
Based on what Granny Guo had said, floods usually lasted just over a month. By the time the water retreated, they might not have such an abundant supply.
Tang Yu’an scratched his head. “There should still be some water left in the river, right?”
He examined the drifting bottle again. From the outside, it didn’t look any different despite being expanded to hold 20 cubic meters.
Opening the bottle, he found two capsule-like objects inside. He poured one out and cast an appraisal spell on it.
[Would you like to spend 5,000 points for appraisal? The appraisal fee is 10% of the item’s total value.]
This meant the spatial capsule was worth a whopping 50,000 points—equal to a void stone!
“Brother Qi, let’s go for it!” Tang Yu’an exclaimed.
A 50,000-point item and 10 cubic meters of space were too tempting to pass up. For comparison, the upgraded Auto-Fill Insulated Bottle only held 21 liters.
Tang Yu’an quickly pulled out the bottle, emptied its contents into the drifting bottle, and then dropped the spatial capsule inside.
[The magical furniture “Auto-Fill Insulated Bottle Lv2” has detected a compatible spatial material. Fusion in progress…]
[Fusion complete!]
[Congratulations! The capacity of “Auto-Fill Insulated Bottle Lv2” has increased to 10,021 liters.]
“Huh?!”
Tang Yu’an stared at the system notification, then tipped the bottle over to try and retrieve the capsule. It wouldn’t come out.
“What the heck?! The bottle actually absorbed the material!”
He looked at Zhou Qi helplessly and said, “Brother Qi, it looks like we have no choice but to proceed with the deal…”
Zhou Qi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Seems that way. We’ll figure out how to replenish the water later.”
Feeling slightly guilty about the mishap, Tang Yu’an suddenly had an idea. “What if we give Nana water-element crystals?”
Since wind-element crystals could provide wind for him, it stood to reason that water-element crystals might contain usable water.
“We’ll ask Grandpa Li tomorrow,” Zhou Qi said. “But we only have three water-element crystals on hand. That might not be enough.”
“And we don’t even know if her world can use them…” Tang Yu’an added.
“Guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
For now, Tang Yu’an suggested, “How about we fill up the bottle with water first?”
Since this wasn’t a dream transaction, the system wouldn’t purify the water for them. They’d have to find a way to prepare 10 cubic meters of clean water themselves.
“That’s easy,” Zhou Qi said.
He went downstairs to the warehouse and retrieved their last remaining Lv1 Super Storage Cabinet.
The Lv1 model had a capacity of 1 cubic meter. Zhou Qi placed it flat on the ground and opened its door.
Tang Yu’an immediately understood his plan. He rushed outside, extended a finger beyond the barrier, and used the remote item collection skill to pull in 10 cubic meters of floodwater into the cabinet.
Using the inventory system, Tang Yu’an transferred the purified water into Corsona’s drifting bottle. As for the leftover sludge in the cabinet, a quick purification spell took care of it.
Tang Yu’an spoke a few words into the bottle, formally agreeing to Corsona’s trade.
When he placed the bottle back into the Dream Sea and selected Corsona’s dimension, the system trade notification appeared.
[You have successfully completed a profitable trade with a Dream Wishmaker: Points +40,000, Experience +6, Dream Shard +1.]
The cost of the 10 cubic meters of water was 10,000 points, leaving them with a net gain of 30,000 points.
Despite spending over 20,000 points reinforcing the swimming pool earlier that day, this lucrative deal—combined with over 10,000 points earned by their employees—brought Tang Yu’an’s balance back to over 90,000 points.
And they now had a 10-cubic-meter Auto-Fill Insulated Bottle!
Tang Yu’an grinned, turning to Zhou Qi. “Brother Qi, if water crystals can really produce water, do you think we could trade them with Nana for more spatial capsules?”
“Then we could expand the Auto-Fill Bottle even more! Even if the system’s wholesale market disappears someday, we’d never run out of water again!”
