Chapter 228
Fifty children of varying ages were gathered in the courtyard of the guard post.
Huddled together, their wide eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty as they anxiously awaited their unknown fate.
The guards stood by indifferently, maintaining their posts with stoic expressions. They had no idea why their leader had gathered these children, nor did they need to—following orders was enough.
Hong Li looked at the fifty frail children and felt a headache coming on.
She turned to Hei Xiong and said, “Have someone cook some soybeans for them to eat. Not too much, though—we don’t want them to get sick.”
Soybeans were not easy to digest. Previously, some guards had suffered stomach pains from eating too many.
“Prepare two rooms for them to stay in tonight.”
The children were in poor condition. Figuring out how to transport them to Desolate City safely required careful planning. Otherwise, she feared they might not survive the journey.
Hei Xiong acknowledged the order and went to make the arrangements.
Among the group, there were even two newborn infants. Soybeans were out of the question for them—they would need to be nursed by the recently postpartum family members of the guards.
During Hong Li’s absence, Hei Xiong had remained stationed in Jufeng Town, leaving him completely in the dark about the situation in Desolate City.
However, he could clearly sense that the guards who had followed Hong Li back were different.
One after another, they seemed absent-minded, as if their souls had been shaken by whatever they had experienced.
Initially, Hei Xiong assumed that Hong Li had lost half of her forces in Desolate City and that these guards had been terrified by the mutated creatures in its core.
However, after overhearing their whispered conversations, he quickly realized that wasn’t the case.
“So, what exactly happened in Desolate City?” Hei Xiong asked.
“The boss doesn’t want us to talk about it.”
“What about the rest of the brothers? Did they all die in Desolate City?”
Then, he saw a guard grumble with an envious expression, “They didn’t die—they’re living it up in Desolate City!”
Confirming they weren’t joking, Hei Xiong was even more puzzled.
He didn’t ask any further. After ensuring the fifty children were settled in, he went to report back to Hong Li—only to find her in the warehouse.
For some reason, she didn’t look pleased.
“Boss,” Hei Xiong greeted respectfully.
“Mm.” Hong Li nodded. “The soybeans harvested today haven’t been put into storage yet, have they?”
“No, not yet.”
“Take me to see them.”
“Alright.”
Hei Xiong led the way, with Hong Li following. When they arrived outside the storage room, they saw several guards delivering bags of soybeans.
After inspecting the goods, Hei Xiong reported, “Boss, there’s a total of 263 pounds of soybeans here, freshly harvested by the planters today. Please verify.”
“These soybeans were given to you by the planters, right?” Hong Li asked, staring at Hei Xiong.
Hei Xiong paused, not understanding her intention, but still nodded.
Having confirmed the “ownership,” Hong Li gave a slight nod before taking out two ten-dollar Peace Coins and handing them to him.
“Here, take these Peace Coins. I’m buying these soybeans from you.”
Hearing this, Hei Xiong felt something was off, but he respectfully accepted the two fresh banknotes.
The moment they touched his hands, he immediately sensed something different about them.
Meanwhile, Hong Li reached out and patted the sacks of soybeans. The moment Hei Xiong took the Peace Coins, a system notification appeared:
[Transaction Complete! Profit Earned: +1 Point]
Although her balance only increased by a single point, her monthly revenue surged by 6,555 points.
According to the payroll commission percentage, this transaction alone had earned her over 300 personal points and more than 600 procurement points.
Hong Li nodded in satisfaction.
She had just tested it with the soybeans in storage and found that they didn’t trigger any profit notifications. Even if she gifted them to a guard and had them trade them back to her, it still didn’t work.
Thankfully, since the newly harvested soybeans hadn’t been entered into inventory, they weren’t technically under her ownership yet.
Now that she had reached Level 5, she no longer had an urgent need for employee experience points.
As for the long-term mission reward of 1 point per profitable transaction, she wasn’t too interested in that anymore.
It took three large transactions per person just to earn 3 points, which was still too little for her.
She preferred high-volume trades. As long as she could hold out for another 30 days, the payday would kick in, and her business would enter a stable cycle.
With her current status and power, a single month wasn’t difficult to endure.
Hong Li waved a hand, signaling for the guards to store the soybeans. Then she began pondering how to acquire more supplies.
Something came to mind, and she turned to Hei Xiong.
“How’s the test field we set up earlier?”
*
Meanwhile, at another location:
[Employee ‘Hong Li’ has completed a profitable transaction with a returning customer. Points Earned: +6555. Experience: +1]
Seeing the system notification pop up, Tang Yu’an let out an excited cheer.
“Woohoo! Hong Li is amazing! She just got back and already closed a huge deal!”
He glanced at the map, then turned to Zhou Qi.
“Brother Qi, looks like Hong Li has gathered all 50 kids now.”
Zhou Qi was in the process of putting away a dog frisbee.
In front of him, a small black dog wagged its tail. The moment Zhou Qi put the frisbee away, the dog looked confused for a moment before letting out a few distressed whines and scampering off.
Since their RV was parked by the river to protect the construction bots repairing the bridge, the two of them had left the vehicle to clear out some mutated creatures nearby.
They were trying to complete the ‘Eliminate Dangerous Creatures (4)’ quest.
For Zhou Qi, the mutated creatures near Jufeng Mountain were no longer much of a challenge.
So instead of fighting seriously, he played around—using a cat teaser and a dog frisbee to deal with them.
If he found useful materials on them, he would shift into a mouse form to finish them off.
If he didn’t, he’d simply let them run away.
After all, as long as he didn’t actively attack them or provoke any danger, these creatures, once transformed into cats and dogs, could not return to their original monstrous forms.
“Have all 50 children been gathered?”
Hearing Tang Yu’an’s words, Zhou Qi was also surprised. “That was pretty fast.”
“Yeah. Should we bring the Peace Coins over and check on the kids while we’re at it?” Tang Yu’an asked.
When they sent out the task last night, they had already informed Grandpa Li.
Grandpa Li was now arranging for people to tidy up the rooms, planning to build heated brick beds in the bedrooms and the living room.
Since they were all children, squeezing into the two largest suites should be enough to accommodate them.
Kids were easier to take care of. They didn’t need much living space—as long as they had enough food and water, it was certainly better than starving and freezing on Mount Jufeng.
Zhou Qi glanced at the shared task from Tang Yu’an and said, “Let’s clear one more.”
The task “Eliminate Dangerous Creatures (4)” required them to clear out 60 in total. So far, they had taken down 29. One more would make it a round number.
“Oh, okay!”
Tang Yu’an took the Dog Frisbee, checked the map, and flew toward the nearest red dot.
This time, what appeared in their line of sight was a leopard.
The creature was about three to four meters long, limping as it walked, with visible bite wounds on its hind legs that were still bleeding.
The mutated leopard also noticed Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi. It bared its teeth and let out a threatening low growl.
“It probably ran over from the center of the desolate city,” Tang Yu’an said.
Most of the mutated creatures they had cleared were mutant insects. Large carnivorous animals like this were relatively rare.
Upon hearing the leopard’s growl, Black Pearl, who had been napping in Tang Yu’an’s coat pocket, immediately poked its head out.
It stared at the leopard, squinting slightly.
However, Tang Yu’an didn’t give it a chance to attack. Instead, he hovered in mid-air, shook the cat teaser stick to draw the leopard’s attention, then tossed the Dog Frisbee.
Despite its injuries, the leopard’s gaze was locked onto the Frisbee. It instinctively took off after it, leaped, and bit down.
Then, it turned and ran toward Tang Yu’an with the Dog Frisbee in its mouth.
As soon as Tang Yu’an retrieved the Dog Frisbee, the mutated leopard transformed into a small yellow dog.
Black Pearl stared at the little yellow dog for a moment, then jumped out of Tang Yu’an’s pocket, landing on the ground to sniff it curiously.
Tang Yu’an didn’t have time to deal with them just yet, because—a system notification popped up.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the special title “Doggie Squad.”]
[[Description: Earned by taming 100 dangerous creatures into docile puppies using the “Super Cool Dog Frisbee.”]
[Equipping this title increases pet slots by +1. When you have three or more dogs as pets, you unlock the special skill “Rallying Cry.”]
0.0
Another special title! And it was triggered by using the Dog Frisbee!
Tang Yu’an quickly equipped the “Doggie Squad” title, and sure enough, a new skill appeared in his skill panel.
[Rallying Cry]
[Description: A special skill exclusive to “Doggie Squad.” When used on pets, increases all attributes by 20% for 20 minutes.]
After the skill ends, the affected pets will fall into a weakened state for 24 hours.
Wow! A 20% boost to all stats!
Excited, Tang Yu’an quickly told Zhou Qi about the new skill. “This feels super useful!”
Zhou Qi nodded. “Yeah, the duration is a bit short, but in battle, that should be enough.”
Plus, the skill had no cooldown.
Even though a single pet would be weakened for 24 hours afterward, they could just switch to another pet.
“Hahaha, this is awesome!” Tang Yu’an said happily. “I wonder if the cat teaser stick and the mousetrap also unlock special titles?”
Since the Frisbee was more effective, he hadn’t used the other two items much.
“I should try using them more in the future!”
Tang Yu’an grinned. “This title even gave me an extra pet slot! That means I can officially contract Xiao Hong as a pet now!”
Otherwise, it would have to stay in the alternate dimension, which was kind of sad. Thankfully, Wang Cai and Yin Bi were there to keep it company.
After checking his rewards, Tang Yu’an was about to return to the RV when he looked down and saw the little kitten following the small yellow dog.
“Black Pearl?”
He called out, and the kitten paused, turning its head to meow at him.
“Did it find something?” Zhou Qi asked.
“Let’s go take a look!”
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi followed Black Pearl. After weaving through several collapsed buildings, they saw Black Pearl stop in its tracks.
The small yellow dog also halted, turning back toward them with another attempt at a fierce expression—baring its tiny teeth, but looking more like an adorable bluff than an actual threat.
“Meow—Meow—”
Suddenly, two soft cries rang out.
Two small leopards crawled out from beneath the ruins.
The mother leopard—now in the form of a small yellow dog—grew anxious, trying to push them back into hiding. But now that it was smaller than its own cubs, it simply wasn’t strong enough.
The two little leopards saw Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi and, instead of running away, ran toward them.
Tang Yu’an’s eyes lit up. “It’s you guys!”
Back when the flood had just hit, he had encountered these two little leopards on his way to the swimming hall and even helped them escape a swarm of mutated mosquitoes.
Now, two or three months later, the cubs had grown slightly but still looked skinny and malnourished. They clearly hadn’t been doing well during the disaster.
Tang Yu’an gently petted their heads before looking at their mother.
The little yellow dog sat still, looking a bit lost as its cubs affectionately nuzzled against Tang Yu’an.
Tang Yu’an smiled at it. “You seem to be injured. Let me help bandage you up, okay?”
The little yellow dog hesitated, then looked at its cubs rubbing against Tang Yu’an. Finally, it didn’t resist his touch.
Tang Yu’an carefully disinfected its wounds with alcohol before wrapping them up with a basic healing bandage.
After bandaging the little yellow dog, its expression visibly relaxed.
He then put the little yellow dog down and took out some more dried chicken meat for them to eat.
The two little leopards didn’t hesitate at all, gobbling up the dried meat with eager sounds. The leopard mother hesitated for a moment before also biting into a piece.
Black Pearl sat nearby, watching closely, its eyes fixed on the two little leopards. It had probably sensed the presence of the cubs earlier, which was why it had followed the leopard mother here.
“You want to take them in?” Zhou Qi squatted beside Tang Yu’an and asked.
“I feel like we have a connection with them.”
Tang Yu’an said this but then showed a troubled expression. “But I don’t have enough pet slots…”
“Then just raise them in the home base,” Zhou Qi suggested. “If we raise them from a young age, they should become tame.”
Since the leopard mother had turned into a little yellow dog, it wouldn’t revert to its original form unless it encountered danger. That meant it should be able to pass through the protective barrier.
“When we’re not in the base, having them as guards to watch over the place and deter enemies sounds like a good idea too,” Zhou Qi added.
“That’s a great idea!”
As for food, they could exchange points for dried meat from the store. As long as the leopards were well-fed, they probably wouldn’t pose a threat to the other residents.
Besides, the protective barrier would expel any creature that showed hostility, so there wasn’t much to worry about.
“Alright, let’s take them back!” Tang Yu’an decided.
After the three leopards finished eating, he took out his cat teaser wand and transformed them all into little orange kittens.
Black Pearl immediately ran over and licked their heads one by one. The leopard mother ran off, but the two cubs obediently accepted the grooming.
Faced with three of its own kind, especially two cubs, Black Pearl seemed quite enthusiastic—not at all like its usual aloof self.
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but pat Black Pearl’s head, grinning. “Black Pearl, I’ll leave their training to you from now on.”
Black Pearl proudly nodded.
Then, Tang Yu’an took out his backpack and carefully placed the three leopard-turned-kittens inside.
Black Pearl, meanwhile, curled up back in his pocket.
Since the three leopards couldn’t use the teleportation array, they didn’t return to the RV but instead flew straight back to the desolate city’s base.
Flying was much faster, and with the shadow umbrella for cover, they managed to avoid any aerial threats.
By the time evening rolled around, they had returned to the base and handed the three “kittens” over to Old Li.
Old Li didn’t underestimate them. After all, he had already seen what the previous four pets were capable of.
But he was still surprised at the rate at which Tang Yu’an was collecting pets.
“They’re not my pets,” Tang Yu’an explained. “They’ll be living in the base as our guardian beasts.”
Then, he had Zhou Qi intimidate the three little cats.
Immediately, they reverted to their original forms.
The leopard mother’s fur bristled, but instead of attacking, she just trembled all over, eyes full of fear as she stared at Zhou Qi.
The two little leopards hid behind their mother, while even Black Pearl tensed up, showing a wary expression toward Zhou Qi.
Tang Yu’an quickly stepped in to ease the tension.
The leopard mother, startled, almost lashed out at him—but the next second, she was instantly teleported out of the base.
Seeing this, Black Pearl immediately leapt off the balcony. Mid-air, it shifted back into its original form, then landed in the courtyard and ran toward the leopard mother.
The two little leopards, confused, watched everything unfold.
After Tang Yu’an approached and gently patted their heads in reassurance, they finally calmed down.
“Guardian beasts, huh? Sounds like a good idea,” Old Li mused.
He walked over, holding some dried meat, and fed the two cubs. Drawn in by the food, they quickly began eating again.
“They can stay on the first floor for now,” Old Li said. “I’ll set up a place for them.”
“That would be a big help! Thanks, Grandpa!” Tang Yu’an grinned. “Black Pearl agreed to help train them. If they misbehave, just let Black Pearl know.”
Black Pearl and Grandpa Li had a good relationship—it often curled up to sleep at his bedside. It would probably listen to him.
“Alright,” Old Li nodded.
After getting some food from Old Li, the two little leopards had already warmed up to him.
Then, suddenly, they ran over to the balcony.
Tang Yu’an and the others followed, peering down, only to see a black and a yellow figure moving through the courtyard, heading their way.
It seemed that, under Black Pearl’s “guidance,” the leopard mother had successfully restrained its aggression and was now able to enter the base.
“If everything’s settled, we’ll head out now!” Tang Yu’an said. “We still need to check on Jufeng Town.”
“Go on, go on,” Old Li waved them off.
These two kids were always running around like wild dragons—he was used to it by now.
As he watched Zhou Qi’s tall, powerfully built figure disappear into the distance, Old Li paused for a moment.
Perhaps… it was no longer appropriate to call him a “kid” anymore.
*
Jufeng Grocery Store
By the time Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi teleported over, Xiao Cao and Lan Lin had just finished business for the day and were tallying up their earnings.
Seeing the two young men step out of the teleportation room, Xiao Cao greeted them briefly before continuing with her work, but Lan Lin stood up.
“Boss!” he called out to Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi looked at him in confusion.
Lan Lin hesitated before saying, “Can I apply to transfer back to the base?”
After being recruited and experiencing the power of the “God of Commerce,” the once-arrogant Lan Lin had become much more humble in front of these two youths.
“Why? You don’t like working here?” Zhou Qi asked.
“It’s not that… It’s just… It’s too exhausting…”
Sure, working at Jufeng Grocery Store earned him plenty of points, but for Lan Lin, as long as he had enough for basic living expenses, he didn’t really care about wealth.
As the strongest ability user in the desolate city’s base, he preferred to spend his time training and developing his abilities.
Of course, the knowledge from the compulsory education curriculum was also quite interesting, and he wanted to study it seriously.
“Ever since I started working at Jufeng Grocery Store, I haven’t had much time to do anything else. I want to pursue something more meaningful, so can you transfer me back?”
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi exchanged glances.
They had to admit, Lan Lin and Lin Zhen really were childhood friends—their personalities were quite similar.
Both of them treated points like dirt, and once they found something more interesting, they completely lost interest in earning points.
However, at this point, it wasn’t really necessary for Lan Lin to be stationed here all the time.
Thanks to the “Troublesome Customers Begone” aura, Jufeng Grocery Store could now operate with its doors open. Even if customers were allowed inside, Xiao Cao’s personal safety wouldn’t be at risk.
After a moment of thought, Zhou Qi said, “A direct transfer isn’t possible, but we can implement a shift system.”
With more employees now, they could rotate shifts—staying in the same position for too long could get dull anyway.
“Do I have to take shifts too?” A small, timid voice piped up.
When Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi turned to look at her, Xiao Cao gathered her courage and said, “Little Miracle Doctor, Boss, I don’t feel tired. I don’t want to be transferred back!”
Zhou Qi nodded. “That’s fine. Then Lan Lin, Lin Zhen, and your brother can take turns assisting you.”
“Great!”
Xiao Cao finally broke into a smile and happily said, “Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Little Miracle Doctor! I’ll keep working hard!”
Although he didn’t get exactly what he wanted, knowing he’d at least get some breaks made Lan Lin visibly relieved.
However, he quickly frowned and asked, “Can Lin Zhen and Shi Tou really hold down the store?”
During his time helping Xiao Cao sell salt, things hadn’t always gone smoothly—they had faced a few cases of robbery and theft.
Thanks to his quick reflexes and the fact that the store only had a small window opening, the troublemakers hadn’t been able to get inside, preventing any major disasters. His presence alone had deterred further incidents.
But if he left, those people might become reckless again.
From Lan Lin’s perspective, it would be best to assign a stronger ability user to guard the store.
Tang Yu’an smiled and said, “That won’t be a problem anymore. Those troublemakers can’t get in anymore—you can open the doors and do business freely.”
“Why?” Lan Lin asked, puzzled.
Tang Yu’an gave him a mysterious smile, then pointed up at the sky and whispered, “The divine messenger has issued a decree—any evildoer who disrespects the God of Commerce will be unable to enter stores operated by the Church of the Commerce God.”
Lan Lin’s eyes widened in disbelief.
At first, he wanted to argue, but then he recalled the incident with Li Feng and his gang. He had been there when it happened, and now that he thought back on it, everything aligned perfectly with what Tang Yu’an had just said.
“A power like this actually exists in the world…” he murmured. “Is the God of Commerce really that powerful?”
Tang Yu’an patted his shoulder. “Just trust me. Open the shop tomorrow. Besides salt, we can start selling other goods too.”
“Of course, from now on, you don’t need to step outside anymore,” he added as a final reminder.
After Xiao Cao nodded, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi left to find Hong Li at the guard station.
Lan Lin watched their figures disappear into the distance, growing more skeptical the more he thought about it.
So, he swung the store doors wide open.
“Xiao Cao, let’s test it out!”
“How?”
“Let’s keep working overtime and sell more salt! Let’s see if those evildoers really can’t come in!”
At the mention of “overtime,” Xiao Cao’s eyes immediately lit up. Lan Lin had always insisted on closing the shop on time—it was rare for him to willingly work extra hours.
More sales meant more points!
She eagerly nodded. “Sounds good! Let’s do it!”
