Chapter 165
“A m-miracle?”
Sha Zi and Luo Xiaolei were dumbfounded. They never expected Old Mo to say something like that.
“Exactly!” Old Mo declared firmly.
Ever since Gan Lin had told him that the mysterious merchant would send them a flood, Old Mo had been pondering how to handle the situation.
Could he keep it a secret? Certainly not.
If secrecy wasn’t an option, why not go all out? Especially after exploring the interface the mysterious merchant had opened for him, Old Mo saw endless possibilities.
The only way to ensure his and Gan Lin’s safety while conducting transactions openly and gaining more points was to gather a loyal following.
Yes, Old Mo had a plan—to create a god!
“I won’t hide it from you anymore,” Old Mo said seriously. “I’ve become an apostle of the mysterious merchant. This water is a gift from the mysterious merchant.”
“The mysterious merchant?” Sha Zi repeated, looking confused. The name didn’t sound particularly divine.
“Yes,” Old Mo replied without hesitation. “That’s just the earthly name of a newly awakened deity.”
“But…” Old Mo gestured toward the well brimming with water.
“As you can see, even though their power is still growing, it’s already enough to change our destiny!”
Sha Zi was completely stunned.
Luo Xiaolei, however, continued to eye Old Mo skeptically. “Old Mo, you’ve been inside a fortress. You know how strict they are about preaching, right?”
In this post-apocalyptic world, people often turned to deities for solace amidst constant mental strain, giving rise to numerous religions.
Flame Dragon Fortress didn’t encourage religion and strictly prohibited preaching, which kept such movements from spreading.
Old Mo smiled faintly. “It seems you don’t believe me.”
Who would, under normal circumstances?
Faced with Luo Xiaolei’s doubts, Old Mo didn’t rush to explain. Instead, he maintained a calm, enigmatic smile—a quintessential “mystic” expression.
“You’ll believe it in time,” Old Mo said. “The mysterious merchant is real; there’s no doubt about it.”
Luo Xiaolei thought for a moment before pointing at the well. “Give me some of that water, and I’ll believe you.”
Old Mo laughed heartily.
“The mysterious merchant provides not just water but also food and weapons!”
He held up the mantis scythe in his hand. “This is a god who gains power through commerce. I need to complete transactions to earn their favor and receive blessings.”
“Are the soybeans you gave me also from the mysterious merchant?” Sha Zi asked curiously.
“Yes,” Old Mo nodded.
“Then this is a kind god!” Sha Zi said earnestly.
To receive supplies just by trading—it was far more practical and benevolent than any religion Sha Zi had encountered.
If this deity encouraged blind piety, Sha Zi would’ve run the other way. But commerce?
They were already doing that every day!
Old Mo looked at Sha Zi with approval. As someone who had survived the Desolate City for years, Sha Zi was far more perceptive than most young people.
“You’re right. This is a benevolent and merciful god who saves and helps the suffering. Without them, Gan Lin and I would have perished under the fire dragon’s scorching light…”
As he spoke, a genuine emotion seeped into Old Mo’s voice.
Indeed, he had been on the brink of death, and it was the mysterious merchant who had extended his life and given them hope.
Whatever this entity was, to them, it was a god.
Seeing the fervor in Old Mo’s eyes, Luo Xiaolei opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.
Sha Zi, however, asked, “So this water is for us to drink? Can we use it freely?”
Old Mo shot him a glance. “Of course not. You need to trade Flame Stones with me.”
“What do you need so many Flame Stones for? It’s already so hot…” Sha Zi muttered.
“Aren’t you worried we’ll just take this well by force?” Luo Xiaolei suddenly asked.
Old Mo snorted. “Could you even defend it? Without me, where else would you get these supplies?”
He raised his left hand, and a handful of shimmering salt appeared out of thin air. Then he raised his right hand, revealing 100 grams of red-skinned peanuts.
The peanuts spilled onto the ground, while Sha Zi and Luo Xiaolei stared in shock.
The two exchanged a glance before Sha Zi crouched down, picked up a peanut, and popped it into his mouth.
“It’s real peanuts!”
Though raw, they tasted divine to someone who had survived on roots and grass.
Luo Xiaolei stepped forward and, with Old Mo’s permission, dipped her fingers into the white granules. She tasted them and immediately brightened.
“This is salt! Pure salt with no impurities!”
She was genuinely astonished.
She had been watching Old Mo closely, her spiritual energy scanning him. She was certain he hadn’t played any tricks.
These items had truly appeared out of nowhere.
Luo Xiaolei looked back and forth between the well and the items in Old Mo’s hands, her expression growing increasingly incredulous.
Old Mo… could it actually be true? Could there really be a deity in this world called the “Mysterious Merchant”?
*
Peace Grocery Store, Attic
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi had no idea that Old Mo was going to such lengths. After transferring 8 cubic meters of water in their trade, they received 20 Flame Stones.
Though the yield was slightly less than usual, they understood that digging the well had taken up time and effort. Future trades would likely yield more.
Tang Yu’an continued fishing for bottles.
As he reached for one of the brightly glowing ones, the orb inside the bottle floated up, and a man’s weak, pleading voice filled the attic.
“Mysterious Merchant… Mysterious Merchant… Are you there?”
Xie Zhaori? Tang Yu’an was surprised. Wasn’t this the man who had refused to trade?
“I’m here,” he replied.
“You’re finally here again!” Xie Zhaori’s voice held a noticeable edge of desperation.
Tang Yu’an exchanged a puzzled look with Zhou Qi before cautiously asking, “What do you need from me?”
“Nothing much…” Xie Zhaori’s voice cracked with frustration. “How many days has it been since our last conversation?”
“Since our last interaction?”
“Yes.”
Tang Yu’an calculated quickly and said, “Only about five days.”
“Five days?” Xie Zhaori’s disbelief was palpable. “It feels like it’s been at least a month!”
“I have no reason to lie to you,” Tang Yu’an said firmly. “It’s only been five days.”
“Then why haven’t you shown up?” Xie Zhaori asked, sounding deeply aggrieved.
Tang Yu’an was speechless.
He refused the trade—why would I bother checking in? Besides, he simply hadn’t come across Xie Zhaori’s bottle until now.
“I remember you declined a trade last time,” Zhou Qi interjected.
“Yes, I did!” Xie Zhaori admitted, his voice tinged with despair. “Even if I healed my injuries, I might still die, so I refused. But now, I feel like I’m going insane!”
Living underwater, in a world shrouded in darkness and silence, was maddening.
Most of the time, apart from the sound of water, everything around him was eerily quiet. Occasionally, a creature would pass by, but they were few and far between.
Xie Zhaori’s perception of time had become completely distorted in the underwater abyss.
The faint changes in light told him whether it was day or night, but time still crawled agonizingly slowly.
“I can’t take it anymore! If I don’t have someone to talk to, I’m going to lose my mind!”
Hearing Xie Zhaori’s anguished plea, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.
It truly sounded terrifying—like being confined in a pitch-black room with no end in sight.
“But there’s not much we can do to help you,” Tang Yu’an said honestly.
“I know. I just hope you can talk to me…” Xie Zhaori’s voice weakened again after his earlier outburst.
“Maybe you need another drop of healing potion?” Zhou Qi suggested. “One drop won’t heal your injuries, but it might enhance your perception.”
Xie Zhaori let out a bitter laugh. “In my current state, heightened perception might be more of a curse than a blessing.”
“Why did you go to the center of Desolate City if it’s so dangerous?” Tang Yu’an asked.
Xie Zhaori fell silent.
“Can’t say?” Tang Yu’an pressed.
“We didn’t know how many mutated creatures were there when we arrived…” Xie Zhaori finally admitted.
“So you discovered some kind of secret in the city center?” Zhou Qi asked sharply.
After a pause, Xie Zhaori said, “Yes. If you can get me out of here, I’ll tell you what it is.”
“By the time we save you, whatever secret you’ve found will likely be useless to us,” Zhou Qi replied coldly.
Xie Zhaori laughed bitterly again.
“If I tell you the secret now, what do I get in return? Will you stay and talk to me forever?”
Clearly, that wasn’t possible.
Tang Yu’an considered the situation. Should I buy him an AI brain? But even if it’s waterproof, it wouldn’t survive in a place as perilous as the city center. Besides, Xie Zhaori is just a stone right now—he can’t speak or give commands to the device. The light brain wouldn’t be able to interact with him.
Then an idea struck him, and his eyes lit up.
“You’re just bored, right?” he asked.
“It’s not just that… but yes, being bored is part of it,” Xie Zhaori admitted, puzzled.
“Then why not become one of my employees? I can give you a points allowance, and you can use those points to enroll in courses where you’ll have someone to talk to.”
“Courses?” Xie Zhaori asked, intrigued.
Tang Yu’an explained, “The instructors are AI, but they’re highly intelligent and can engage in conversations.
“More importantly, they offer a consciousness exchange mode!”
With this mode, Xie Zhaori could communicate directly through his thoughts, bypassing the limitations of his current form.
Although consciousness-based communication has its challenges—like losing focus and thinking about unrelated things, which results in garbled input for the course instructor—becoming an employee offers other perks.
Once an employee, Xie Zhaori could access the forum’s message board. While he wouldn’t be able to post until reaching level 5, he could still view the discussions and information exchanges happening there. This might help alleviate some of his boredom.
“However, if you become my employee, we won’t be able to talk in the dream realm anymore. The choice is yours.”
He could either become an employee, taking courses and browsing the message board to stave off boredom, or continue with sporadic dream encounters where he could talk to Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi for brief periods.
Xie Zhaori fell silent, seemingly weighing his options.
Finally, just as Tang Yu’an thought he might refuse, Xie Zhaori spoke. “If I become your employee, will you control me?”
“I won’t control you, but you’ll need to follow certain rules,” Tang Yu’an replied.
After a moment’s pause, Xie Zhaori made up his mind.
“Alright, but I can only tell you half the secret,” he said quietly.
Tang Yu’an thought about it and nodded. “That’s fair.”
For Xie Zhaori, becoming an employee didn’t offer many tangible benefits—just some mental relief and the risk of having his memory erased at any time. Agreeing to reveal only half of his secret seemed reasonable.
“But you’ll need to tell me the secret before I send the recruitment offer,” Tang Yu’an added.
“How do I know I can trust you?” Xie Zhaori asked hesitantly.
“That’s up to you,” Tang Yu’an replied firmly. After all, they weren’t desperate for the secret—Xie Zhaori was the one in need.
After gritting his teeth, Xie Zhaori finally relented. “Alright, I’ll agree!”
He knew he wouldn’t have survived this long without the two doses of healing potion provided by the mysterious merchant.
From their interactions, Xie Zhaori could tell the merchant wasn’t a malicious figure. He decided to take a gamble.
If he didn’t, his mental state might deteriorate to the point of madness soon enough.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “Every fortress will want to claim this place.”
“You mean the center of Desolate City?” Tang Yu’an asked in surprise.
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
Xie Zhaori fell silent, refusing to elaborate further. Clearly, that was the “half” of the secret he was willing to share.
To Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi, even this partial revelation was valuable.
If every fortress desired the city center, then once Chi Hao returned to Greenwood Fortress and reported, it was likely they would send more people.
And this time, it wouldn’t just be two individuals.
This would hinder the development of Desolate Home and might even expose them to attacks.
In such a scenario, it wouldn’t be surprising if Hong Li led her guards to attack them, turning their worst fears into reality.
Both their expressions grew grim.
“I’ve said my part. You’ll keep your word, right?” Xie Zhaori’s voice broke the silence.
Tang Yu’an opened his mouth to reply but was stopped by Zhou Qi.
“How far are fortresses willing to go to claim the city center?” Zhou Qi asked.
“Some… might stop at nothing,” Xie Zhaori admitted. “That’s all I’ll say.”
Unwilling to divulge more, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi had no choice but to proceed. They sent the recruitment offer.
[You have completed a non-profit, non-loss trade with a dream wisher. EXP +6, Dream Fragment +1.]
[“Xie Zhaori” has accepted your recruitment offer…]
[This dream wisher has become your employee and can no longer engage in dream trades. The dream will now dissolve.]
“Mysterious Merchant, I…”
Before Xie Zhaori could finish his sentence, his glowing orb vanished, and the drifting bottle in Tang Yu’an’s hand shattered into light and disappeared.
Just as they had suspected—once a dream wisher became an employee, their drifting bottle could no longer be retrieved.
Tang Yu’an checked Xie Zhaori’s employee profile.
[Xie Zhaori]
Employee Level: Lv0 (0/10)
Age: 36
Height: 185 cm
Skill: Earth Element Manipulation
Title: None
Overall Ability: B
Potential: S
Special Status: Symbiotic State, Critically Injured (Health below 25%), Petrified
Xie Zhaori’s overall ability was one grade higher than Chi Hao’s! Unfortunately, his petrification made him unable to assist with trades or tasks.
Tang Yu’an unlocked the store for Xie Zhaori as promised, activated the 12-year compulsory education course, and awarded him 120 points as a bonus.
This was enough for Xie Zhaori to redeem all the courses available.
Additionally, Tang Yu’an granted Xie Zhaori individual access to the message board—currently, employees needed to reach level Lv1 to view it, but he was able to adjust this setting for Xie Zhaori.
As for posting privileges, there wasn’t much he could do. Perhaps after a few more level upgrades, those permissions could be unlocked.
*
Desolate City Center
Xie Zhaori awoke from the dream.
Around him, the underwater world was still dark and lifeless, with only the sound of waves echoing in the void. But this time, something was different.
A glowing screen appeared before him.
What’s this? Could it be the course that the mysterious merchant mentioned?
System notifications began to pop up.
[The mysterious merchant has unlocked the store interface for you…]
[You have received 120 personal points…]
[Forum access enabled; message board viewing privileges unlocked…]
Xie Zhaori blinked in surprise. A forum message board?
He focused on the screen, and it seemed to respond to his thoughts, opening to the forum and displaying the message board.
It was nighttime, but the message board was bustling with activity.
[Pan Shi]: Hey, Greenish Bro, did you really defeat a mutant giant dog?
[Greenish Blue]: That was nothing! A piece of cake.
[Pan Shi]: Wow! That’s amazing! I really wish I could awaken powers too…
[Greenish Blue]: How old are you?
[Lu Wei]: Friendly reminder: Do not share personal information casually.
[Greenish Blue]: Tch, who cares?
[Pan Shi]: Lu Wei didn’t mean anything bad, Greenish Bro. Don’t be mad! Can you tell me more heroic stories?
[Greenish Blue]: Hmph, of course!
As the messages kept popping up, Xie Zhaori raised an eyebrow.
The message board felt somewhat like the fortress chat groups he was familiar with—those could only be used within fortress boundaries and became useless outside, making them rather limited.
Greenish Blue… That speech pattern is oddly similar to Chi Hao’s, Xie Zhaori thought, but he shook his head. Even under threat, Chi Hao would never pick a username like that, let alone let people call him ‘Greenish Bro’
Other usernames began appearing on the board, indicating there were quite a few employees under the mysterious merchant.
How had I never heard of this organization before?
Xie Zhaori shrugged off the thought. Who cares? I might never see daylight again. What does it matter?
The lively atmosphere of the message board was a refreshing change. For the first time, Xie Zhaori felt a sense of connection to the world again.
The only downside? He couldn’t participate.
He needed to reach level 5 to gain posting privileges… and he had no idea how to level up.
His store only displayed one item: “12-Year Compulsory Education (Comprehensive Edition).”
Once the message board quieted down, Xie Zhaori decided to redeem the first-grade course.
While the idea of first grade sounded ridiculously simple and childish, he was bored enough to give it a try. Besides, higher-level courses were still locked, so he didn’t have much choice.
When the holographic projection appeared before him, Xie Zhaori was once again taken aback.
I might have underestimated the mysterious merchant…
He toggled between three versions of the holographic “teacher,” each tailored for different age groups. The answers they gave to his questions varied accordingly.
Their responses were so lifelike, it felt like talking to real people—nothing like the crude artificial intelligences he’d encountered before.
Xie Zhaori couldn’t help but gasp internally.
I’ve seriously underestimated this mysterious merchant! They’re not just someone with dream-trading abilities. This person is a major player!
Recalling his earlier impudence, Xie Zhaori felt a chill run down his spine.
At the same time, hope sparked within him.
If the mysterious merchant is interested in the Desolate City Center, perhaps I still have a chance of being rescued…
The merchant even knew about Chi Hao’s return to Qingmu Fortress.
Could Chi Hao have been recruited as an employee too?
Regrettably, without posting privileges, Xie Zhaori had no way to confirm his suspicions.
He sighed deeply and decided to bide his time while exploring the course material.
To his surprise, the lessons turned out to be quite engaging…
Back in the attic, Tang Yu’an reached for the last bottle of the night and found it belonged to “Lu Yan.”
Yesterday, Lu Yan had used mutant blueberries in their trade. With those exhausted, they now offered a new fruit—mutant strawberries.
These strawberries had detoxifying properties, particularly effective against chemical toxins, and could also help repair liver damage.
Lu Yan proposed trading two pounds of strawberries for one vial of basic healing potion.
“You still want healing potions?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“No, no trade,” Lu Yan replied. His voice, which had been hoarse before, now carried a pleasant tone.
It seemed like his speech had improved significantly, making communication much easier than before.
“You sound really happy. Did something good happen?” Tang Yu’an asked with a smile.
“… He’s better… he’s okay now…”
“Who’s okay?” Tang Yu’an asked curiously.
But Lu Yan didn’t answer. Instead, he laughed cheerfully, and soon, his dream shattered.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, Tang Yu’an moved the map to Lu Yan’ location. In the area marked as the abandoned chemical factory, aside from Lu Yan’ light dot, there was now another green dot!
They were so close together that Tang Yu’an hadn’t noticed until now.
Could someone else really survive in the toxic mist along with Lu Yan? That’s incredible!
Tang Yu’an labeled the new green dot with information and returned Lu Yan’ drifting bottle to the Dream Sea. Then he tried his luck with the Lucky Wheel.
Today, he won a daily refresh card. He sighed, shook his head, and climbed into bed with Zhou Qi to sleep.
That night, they both enjoyed another peaceful rest.
The next morning, as soon as Tang Yu’an opened his eyes, a system notification popped up.
[“Lan Yunqing” has accepted your recruitment. Would you like to open the employee interface now?]
[Yes] [No]
Wow! The leader of Lanhu Town finally accepted my recruitment offer? Tang Yu’an thought excitedly.
