Chapter 238
The vast grassland stretched endlessly, and even without paved roads, the truck moved forward without hindrance.
In autonomous driving mode, it took less than an hour before a familiar range of hills appeared in Tang Yu’an’s view.
As the truck crested the highest point of the hill, a squad of Lan Hu guards rushed toward them, fully prepared for battle.
However, upon seeing the iron beast on the hill, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
Zhou Qi quickly brought the truck to a stop, while Tang Yu’an jumped down to identify himself, avoiding any unnecessary conflict.
“Ah, it’s the honored guests of the Merchant God’s Church and Master Kang Kang!”
Recognizing Tang Yu’an, the guards lowered their weapons. They watched as Zhou Qi parked the truck near the edge of the Lan Hu Forest and stepped down, carrying a small child.
“Our Lord has been expecting you for some time!”
The captain of the guards promptly led them into the Lan Hu Forest. But before the messenger could even run ahead to announce their arrival, Tang Yu’an, Zhou Qi, and Kang Kang vanished into thin air as they walked forward.
When the dizziness faded, Tang Yu’an found himself standing before a massive tree, glowing with a faint blue light, like something straight out of a legend.
No matter how many times he saw it, the beauty of the Lan Hu Mother Tree never failed to amaze him.
“October’s mother!”
Seeing the Lan Hu Mother Tree, Kang Kang became overjoyed and ran forward, still hugging his little flower pot with the mutant pasture grass inside.
The branches that had been reaching toward him suddenly stiffened, then casually continued their movement, extending toward Kang Kang.
Kang Kang eagerly introduced his new little pasture grass friend to the Mother Tree and began babbling in a language Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi couldn’t understand.
Still, it was clear that the Mother Tree was delighted.
It gently lifted Kang Kang with its branches, placing him on a swing chair beneath its canopy. That’s when Tang Yu’an noticed that, aside from the swing, there was now a delicate, beautifully crafted table as well.
Before long, Lan Yunqing appeared.
He carried a tray of snacks and honey flower drinks, which he placed on the table.
“Master Kang Kang, please enjoy.”
“Thank you!”
Kang Kang was briefly stunned by Lan Yunqing’s smile, before obediently thanking him.
Lan Yunqing smiled faintly. “It’s my duty.”
Not wanting to disturb the Mother Tree’s reunion with Kang Kang, he sensibly stepped aside, walking over to Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi.
“An An, Zhou Qi, long time no see.”
Although less than two months had passed, to Lan Yunqing, it had felt like an eternity.
Thankfully, the Mother Tree was finally happy again.
“Brother Yunqing, long time no see!” Tang Yu’an grinned.
This past month, Lan Yunqing had earned a significant amount for him, and even handed over all of his personal points in exchange for enabling the fortification’s disaster-resistance barrier.
Even after giving up his personal points, he never slacked off, earning at least 10,000 points daily through steady work.
Truly outstanding!
Unlike Brother Chi Hao, who, after returning to the fortress, initially made a lot of trades but soon stagnated, hardly gaining points or experience anymore.
He mostly relied on reselling fortress supplies in the marketplace to earn points.
While employees from other locations also used fortress goods for trade, those points and experience weren’t directly credited to Chi Hao himself.
As a result, aside from his account balance steadily increasing, his performance and level barely improved.
Judging by his conversations with Xie Chaori and Hong Li, doing business inside the fortress was far more complicated than expected.
The Qingmu Fortress industries were almost entirely monopolized by aristocratic families. For Chi Hao, a combat unit personnel, getting into business was asking for trouble.
That said, his current situation was still better than when he had been constantly on the road.
“Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Lan Yunqing waved his hand, leading the two youths to his residence and preparing some delicious treats for them.
“Try these. They’re made from freshly harvested Star-chain fruits.”
The Lan Hu Forest only bloomed and bore fruit once every few years, so its people mostly relied on eating the leaves.
Now, with the introduction of Star-chain Vines, not only could they harvest fruits, but the flowers could also be used for honey production— That’s right, the Lan Hu Forest had beekeeping.
However, since the forest rarely bloomed, and the external climate was unstable, honey production was extremely limited.
Now, with Star-chain Vines, along with the assistance of wood-type ability users, they could flower and bear fruit within just two months.
If they could maintain stable production, Lan Hu Town would gain an additional food source.
This naturally pleased Lan Yunqing.
Seeing the two youths enjoying their snacks, he finally brought up the main issue:
“By the way, about that problem we discussed earlier…”
The issue was that Lan Hu Town’s only tradeable resource was Lan Hu Leaves, which might not sustain frequent trade in the long run.
How should they solve this?
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi exchanged glances. Then, pulling something from his pocket, Tang Yu’an handed a Peace Coin to Lan Yunqing.
“Brother Yunqing, take a look at this.”
Lan Yunqing examined the Peace Coin, rubbing it between his fingers with a curious expression.
“What is this? Why does it emit an energy fluctuation similar to Lan Hu Leaves?”
Of course, it was only similar, not identical.
Tang Yu’an explained, “This is currency issued by the Merchant God’s Church’s affiliated Peace Commerce Guild. It’s called a ‘Peace Coin.’”
“This coin has a value of 10-unit.”
Zhou Qi gave a brief explanation of the currency system before continuing:
“Residents can use Peace Coins to purchase anything from you. The profit margins will be up to you to control.”
“As for how residents can obtain Peace Coins, you could give them away… but I wouldn’t recommend that.”
“Instead, they could be issued as part of the soldiers’ wages or as partial compensation for construction workers.”
Zhou Qi shared his thoughts.
“We shouldn’t issue too much at the beginning. We need to test the public’s acceptance first. Once they develop some trust in the Peace currency, we can gradually increase its circulation.”
Lan Hu Town was different from other places. Due to the presence of the Lan Hu Forest, the temperature here was mild, making the temperature regulation function of the Peace currency less valuable to the Lan Hu people. Because of this, promoting the currency in Lan Hu Town would be more difficult compared to other areas. However, once it took root, it could fully function as a currency.
Unlike in Jufeng Town, where residents valued the practical functions of the Peace currency more than its use as a trade medium, which made it difficult for the currency to circulate.
“Will this really work?” Lan Yunqing examined the Peace currency in his hand.
“This method has already been tested in our settlement, and it has been proven to work,” Zhou Qi nodded.
Even though the currency used in exchanges was always the Peace currency, the variety of traded goods and people involved in transactions led the system to recognize them as valid trades.
“Additionally, Peace currency is waterproof, fireproof, tear-resistant, and difficult to counterfeit. It’s an excellent form of money!”
Tang Yu’an added, “And all grocery stores under the Peace Commerce Association accept it.”
Lan Yunqing was a little surprised, but knowing that the Lan Hu Grocery Store was numbered ‘5,’ it wasn’t shocking that the Merchant God Cult had other branches.
So he asked, “Besides Lan Hu Town, where else has Peace Commerce set up grocery stores?”
“There’s one in Jufeng Town,” Tang Yu’an admitted. “And in our Desolate City settlement.”
Lan Yunqing nodded. “That’s quite a distance away.”
For ordinary people, traveling between these locations was both difficult and dangerous. Even if Peace currency was adopted, it would mostly be used locally.
Tang Yu’an smiled. “That’s not a problem. In the future, we can build a road.”
He took out his optical brain and played a video of the newly constructed cement road between Desolate City and Jufeng Mountain for Lan Yunqing to see.
“This road was just built. It used to take four to five days to travel this route, but now it takes less than a day. Driving makes it even faster.”
Lan Yunqing widened his eyes, both at the optical brain Tang Yu’an casually pulled out and at the images of roads, bridges, and the massive steel beast shown in the video.
However, he quickly composed himself.
“But disasters are frequent in the Wasteland. How long can this road last?”
A single earthquake could destroy it. Plus, if humans could use the road, so could mutated creatures.
If too many humans started using this road, wouldn’t mutated creatures start lying in ambush nearby?
High-level mutated creatures were quite intelligent.
Hearing his concerns, Tang Yu’an chuckled. “No need to worry because of…”
He paused, then asked, “By the way, brother Yunqing, do you have access to the defensive barrier of the Lan Hu Grocery Store?”
Lan Yunqing answered honestly, “Yes, I upgraded the defensive barrier so that it can now resist natural disasters around the clock.”
“Wow, congratulations!” Tang Yu’an grinned. “I knew the divine envoy would promote you to branch manager.”
Lan Yunqing looked puzzled, but Zhou Qi explained, “That’s a privilege granted only to branch managers.”
“I see.”
That meant these two youths were at least branch managers—or possibly held even higher ranks.
“Besides blocking natural disasters, the defensive barrier also has a function to repel dangerous creatures 24/7,” Tang Yu’an continued.
Lan Yunqing nodded. He had already learned this from Mo Ke, so it wasn’t surprising.
Then, Tang Yu’an suddenly whispered mysteriously, “And we also discovered a loophole in the barrier’s rules.”
Lan Yunqing’s attention sharpened.
This “loophole” must be the reason why they weren’t worried about disasters destroying their roads.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, “How much would it cost me to obtain this information?”
Knowledge was power. The two boys had already helped Lan Hu Town so much, and Lan Yunqing didn’t want to owe them even more.
Tang Yu’an hadn’t expected him to offer a trade. He had originally planned to tell him for free.
He glanced at Zhou Qi, who remained silent, letting him decide.
Scratching his head, Tang Yu’an thought for a moment and said, “How about this? I’ll tell you first, and you can decide what it’s worth.”
This was a gesture of trust, and while it gave Lan Yunqing some pressure, he had no objections.
The defensive barrier of the Lan Hu General Store was of great significance. Based on what the two boys had described, they must have used it to establish their settlement.
That meant the barrier had to be capable of expanding.
Lan Yunqing’s instincts told him that the “loophole” Tang Yu’an spoke of was related to this.
“Alright, tell me,” Lan Yunqing nodded.
Tang Yu’an then explained that by enclosing an area with walls, the defensive barrier could expand outward.
“Normally, the barrier can only be expanded by upgrading it, which requires a huge amount of store resources and points,” Tang Yu’an said. “But after discovering this method, we can essentially expand the barrier limitlessly.”
“The only limitation is that the enclosed land must either be unclaimed or within our legal usage rights.”
Lan Yunqing’s eyes lit up.
If that were true, then they could incorporate all of Lan Hu Town—and even the entire Lan Hu Forest—within the protective barrier!
But he quickly calmed down.
He sighed and said, “The problem is that the number of overnight stays is too limited. Many residents would still be left outside at night.”
“As long as we keep upgrading the store, we can increase the limit,” Tang Yu’an grinned. “Like in our settlement—our limit is already over 10,000.”
10,000? That was more than enough to accommodate all of Lan Hu Town’s residents!
Lan Yunqing nodded repeatedly, his face breaking into a smile. If this was true, then Lan Hu Town could become a new fortress!
It seemed that the first step was to upgrade the store and unlock more overnight slots.
“Thank you for telling me this,” Lan Yunqing said sincerely. “This information is extremely valuable to me!”
Just as Tang Yu’an was about to say it was nothing, he heard Lan Yunqing add, “I think this intelligence is worth at least 1 million points.”
“0.0”
Brother Yunqing is really generous!
Tang Yu’an swallowed nervously, momentarily unsure how to respond.
After hesitating for a moment, he said, “I don’t think we need that much… This is a loophole in the system, and we don’t know when the Divine Envoy might notice it…”
If it got patched like before, then Yunqing’s points would be wasted.
That was also why Tang Yu’an had never intended to trade this information for a reward in the first place.
Yunqing considered this and nodded. “You’re right. It’s a loophole, and if it gets discovered, it could anger the Divine Envoy…”
“That’s not something to worry about.”
Tang Yu’an flashed a cunning smile. “We’ve tested it before. The Divine Envoy wasn’t angry or punished us—he just fixed the loophole.”
Yunqing paused, thought for a moment, then said, “If that’s the case, then how about this: when the loophole gets patched, you return half of the cost to me. How does that sound?”
If it were any other merchant, Yunqing would never make such an offer.
But these two boys had saved the Lan Hu Forest—they were great benefactors. Even if he did give them the full one million points, it wouldn’t be too much.
Besides, from their conversation, it was clear that the home they were building was already taking shape.
Perhaps their “home” would become a new fortress even faster than Lan Hu Town.
Upgrading stores and various functions required huge amounts of points—these two boys must be in great need.
This one million points could help them build their home faster. Lan Hu Town was close by, so it would surely benefit from their development in the future.
They had traveled back and forth tirelessly, not only offering advice for Lan Hu Town’s growth but also showing him the newly built road, suggesting they wanted to build a highway between the two places.
Yunqing could feel their goodwill—he could even see the olive branch they were extending.
Since that was the case, making a small sacrifice to strengthen their friendship was a worthwhile investment.
He would treat this one million points as an investment.
Tang Yu’an had no idea that Yunqing had thought so much in such a short time.
They did indeed intend to develop Lan Hu Town. After all, it had great geographical advantages and a large population—there was no reason not to use it.
In the end, under Yunqing’s insistence, Tang Yu’an agreed.
And so, the deal for one million points was sealed. This was the biggest transaction Tang Yu’an had ever made!
Even if they had to refund half, they would still end up with 500,000 points!
“Do you want resources, or do you want points?” Yunqing asked. “If you want points, I can transfer them to you through the trading area.”
“But I might not be able to pay it all at once—I’ll need some time.”
Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but grin. “No problem, no problem, we can do installments. I trust you, Brother Yunqing.”
Zhou Qi glanced at Tang Yu’an and pursed his lips slightly.
Yunqing, seeing Tang Yu’an accept the installment plan, also smiled.
Then, he looked at the two boys and asked another question.
“I have one more question. I wonder if you can answer it for me?”
“Go ahead.” Tang Yu’an nodded.
“Do you know the secret of the basement in the Lan Hu Grocery Store?”
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi froze.
Seeing their reactions, Yunqing knew immediately that they did know.
“Is it something you can’t talk about?” he asked.
“That’s a permission you can only unlock by upgrading the store to a higher level,” Tang Yu’an said hesitantly.
He was debating whether to reveal the teleportation array, but Yunqing already understood and nodded.
“I see. I will earn the Divine Envoy’s recognition through my own efforts.”
Then, he returned to the main topic, taking out the Peace Coin from earlier and saying, “I will try to introduce this currency in Lan Hu Town. How many did you bring this time?”
Tang Yu’an used his remote retrieval skill to summon a box from the Peace Grocery Store.
Opening it, they saw stacks of Peace Coins with different denominations inside.
“The denominations are 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1.”
“One Peace Coin is equal to one point.”
Tang Yu’an said, “There’s a total of 200,000. You can count it if you’d like.”
Lan Hu Town had preserved its civilization, and the townspeople were literate and could do basic math. This made it possible to introduce a full currency system directly.
Yunqing called in Lan Mao Lin and had him take the box of Peace Coins out for counting.
“200,000 points’ worth of Peace Coins might not be enough,” he said.
Lan Hu Town had a population of 10,000, meaning each person would get about 20 points. But even a single well-preserved Lan Hu Leaf was worth 40 points.
“That’s okay, no rush.” Tang Yu’an smiled. “We’ll see how it works first.”
Yunqing could only nod.
“How should we handle the exchange for these 200,000 points’ worth of Peace Coins? Can I trade Lan Hu Leaves for them?”
Since the people of Lan Hu Town had little to trade other than Lan Hu Leaves, Yunqing’s storage had already accumulated a large amount over the past two months.
While they wouldn’t spoil, putting them into circulation would maximize their value.
Otherwise, they would just remain practical items with no added economic benefit.
“Sure, sure,” Tang Yu’an agreed readily.
They could bring them back and use them to make more Peace Coins!
“5,000 dried Lan Hu Leaves are worth 200,000 points,” Yunqing calculated. “I’ll give you 12,500 leaves. How about that?”
“That way, you’ll generate 400,000 points in revenue, and your next month’s wages should bring in at least 60,000 points. I’ll count that as my first installment payment.”
Tang Yu’an was already stunned by these astronomical numbers, while Zhou Qi calmly said, “Transactions between employees don’t count for points.”
Lan Yunqing was momentarily stunned before realizing the issue.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Can I have Mao Lin trade with you instead?”
Would that still count as a loophole?
But Zhou Qi shook his head again. “Anything taken from your warehouse belongs to you. Even if you hand it off to someone else to trade, it’s still the same.”
It was similar to the situation with Hong Li.
Lan Yunqing could only nod regretfully.
Zhou Qi then said, “Let’s exchange 200,000 points’ worth of Peace Coins for 10,000 Lan Hu Leaves, and we’ll take the remaining 2,500 leaves as our commission.”
“Wouldn’t you end up with no profit that way?” Lan Yunqing frowned slightly.
He didn’t know that the Peace Commerce Guild was actually founded by Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi. He assumed that the 200,000 Peace Coins were bought from the store using points.
In other words, he thought the two boys had already spent 200,000 points.
Although they received Lan Hu Leaves in return, if they couldn’t convert those leaves into points, they would still be at a loss.
“Don’t worry, Lan Hu Leaves are in high demand elsewhere,” Tang Yu’an said with a grin. “We can sell them for a good price.”
Hearing this, Lan Yunqing finally relaxed.
“Besides… the freshly harvested Star-chain Fruits haven’t been stored in the warehouse yet, right?”
“That’s right, they haven’t.”
“Then let’s trade quickly!” Tang Yu’an said eagerly.
“Alright, I’ll take you there.”
Lan Yunqing then led them to the lakeside, where they saw that the land previously cleared for growing coarse rice was now covered with Star-chain Fruit vines.
And for some reason, the vines here seemed even more vigorous than the ones at their home base. The freshly grown, unharvested fruits were densely packed—far surpassing their own production capacity.
Did Lan Hu Town have some kind of special cultivation technique?
“Huh? Weren’t we told before that this wouldn’t grow here?” Tang Yu’an asked in surprise.
“The mother tree changed its mind,” Lan Yunqing said with a smile, not offering further explanation. Then, he ordered the freshly harvested Star-chain Fruits to be brought over.
“My lord, this is the first batch, a total of 5,356 Star-chain Fruits!”
Zhou Qi skillfully negotiated the transaction with the guards in charge of the harvest.
Then—
[Employee “Zhou Qi” has completed a profitable transaction with a loyal customer. EXP +1, Points +107,120]
They had just made over 100,000 points in profit in a single trade!
Tang Yu’an was still grinning in excitement when Lan Yunqing suddenly said, “There’s another batch outside Lan Hu Forest. That area has an even larger yield—I’ll take you there.”
Oh my god, this wasn’t even all of it?! There was still a second batch!
