Chapter 271
Hearing Zhou Qi’s words, Tang Yu’an suddenly remembered that there were still nearly five thousand “followers” over at Flame Dragon Fortress. Just thinking about that gave him a headache.
But since things had already begun, there was no way to stop now. He could only grit his teeth and push forward.
Zhan Xiong had no idea that the “God of Commerce” was watching him. He simply followed the teachings of the two veterans from Store No. 6, leading his fishing team in morning prayers to strengthen their understanding of the doctrine.
Although proselytizing was technically forbidden within the fortress—
The Church of the God of Commerce was just offering way too much!
Purple Sky Fortress had indeed given them a place to stay, but that was all. If they wanted food, they still had to risk their lives going out to sea.
And it wasn’t free to live there either. After catching and cleaning the fish, most of it had to be handed over to the fisheries officer, who would transport it inland to sell.
What they were left with barely filled their own stomachs.
Of course, Zhan Xiong wasn’t trying to complain about the fortress being unfair—after all, they relied on its equipment to fish—but now that a better opportunity had come up, he had no reason to drag his people through hardship.
Besides, his was only one of many fishing teams in Purple Sky Fortress. Losing a few hundred people wouldn’t make much of a dent.
Fishing at sea and hunting mutant creatures was a job where death could come at any moment. Zhan Xiong had become captain because he was capable.
He had earned the team’s respect, and they were willing to follow his lead.
And since their lives were always hanging by a thread, they didn’t have much loyalty to the fortress.
Whoever could keep them alive and fed—that’s who they’d follow.
So, in less than half a month, Zhan Xiong had converted every member of the fishing team into followers of the God of Commerce and even had them hand over their houses.
This way, the entire fishing village came under the protection of the God of Commerce—
A trick Zhan Xiong had picked up from the employee forums.
With the God’s protection, anyone who bore them ill will would be automatically repelled from the village.
Once he managed to claim the land surrounding the village, it truly became their own territory. At that point, Zhan Xiong dropped all pretense.
Now, he led morning prayers every day, then sent his followers to collect seawater to trade with him—despite the fact that the fishing team had a pump, he didn’t use it, preferring to earn points through “manual” trade.
After testing, he found that 500 grams of seawater was worth 10 points.
If he traded at full capacity daily, he could rack up over a million points in transactions.
Of course, he didn’t actually go that far.
The fishing village didn’t have enough space to store that much seawater. As for dumping it back into the ocean?
He’d considered it, but figured the God of Commerce wouldn’t tolerate that kind of cheating—after all, he’d read in the forums that traded goods couldn’t be your own property.
And since water flows, who knew if dumping it back might make the God consider all the seawater his?
Zhan Xiong now bore responsibility for the livelihood of hundreds. He couldn’t afford that kind of gamble.
So, he had each household send out one or two people a day to fetch about 10kg of seawater to trade. Even with this modest scale, he still generated tens of thousands of points in daily revenue.
The thousands of kilogram of seawater he received was then listed for sale in the forum’s trading section.
His prices were dirt cheap—1 point for 1kg—focused on volume and fast turnover to clear stock.
Maybe because it was so cheap, he usually sold out by evening. After deducting transaction fees, he still pocketed two to three thousand points a day.
And it was with these daily earnings that he managed to feed the hundreds in the fishing village during the first month—
Because most of the villagers were strong adult men who ate a lot. Just feeding them brown rice took hundreds of jin a day.
Brown rice cost 5 points per 500 grams, a massive expense for someone just starting out like Zhan Xiong.
Fortunately, he barely scraped by, ultimately proving both himself and the Church of the God of Commerce, winning everyone’s loyalty.
Just recently, he paid out the first month’s commissions: 48,000 personal points and 96,000 in purchasing credits.
With that big payout, he finally had some breathing room.
But perhaps because he’d flooded the market earlier, seawater was now harder to sell. To move his inventory, he had to lower prices, just barely breaking even.
After finishing morning prayers, Zhan Xiong dismissed the group and sent them off to collect seawater for trade.
He was just about to check for new forum updates when he noticed a hunched figure slowly making its way down the street.
Zhan Xiong paused.
“Dad, it’s Grandpa Lixia!” said Zhan Xiaotian.
Zhan Xiong responded with a grunt, then walked toward the old man. “Uncle Yu, what brings you here? Come in and have a seat!”
“If I didn’t come, were you planning to lead the fishing team in open rebellion?” Yu Lixia said with a sigh.
The old man’s head was full of white hair. A noticeable scar marked his right eye, and he walked with a limp—one leg clearly deformed.
Despite the stare he was giving him, Zhan Xiong just grinned, completely unfazed.
The fact that the old man could even make it into the village meant he wasn’t hostile. Any guards who wanted to punish them had been stopped several hundred meters away. They couldn’t even get close.
So, what was there to be afraid of?
“Uncle Yu, you’re joking. We’re not trying to rebel. We’re all just trying to survive in the fortress—we’re on the same boat.”
“Besides, Purple Sky Fortress is like a grasshopper in autumn—it doesn’t have long. What’s even left to rebel against?”
Yu Lixia frowned and asked, “That so-called Church of the God of Commerce—what exactly did they give you?”
As the regional fisheries officer, he had obviously done his homework before coming to negotiate. And he had clearly witnessed Zhan Xiong leading morning prayers.
Zhan Xiong chuckled. “All the food and drink we need—and no more going out to sea.”
“No more going out? Then what are those people doing?” Yu Lixia pointed at the fishing team members running toward the shore.
“You’ll see in a minute.”
Sure enough, the first man soon came running back with a bucket. He greeted Yu Lixia, then handed the seawater over to Zhan Xiong.
“What do you want to trade for today?”
“Put it on my tab for now. I’ll save up and trade for some meat tomorrow!”
“Alright.”
Zhan Xiong pulled out a notebook and wrote it down, then had the man pour the seawater into a nearby water tank.
Since Zhan Xiong only collected 10kg of seawater per person per day, and with a 15% commission rate, each customer could only trade for items worth up to 30 points.
That could get them about 2.5 or 3 kilos of brown rice or wheat, but for meat, they had to save up a bit.
Next came the second person, who traded for 500 grams of wheat and 500 grams of hard charcoal—charcoal produced by the system, which burned for a long time and was great for boiling water and cooking.
Yu Lixia stood to the side watching. The deeper he saw that Zhan Xiong could continuously “create” food and supplies, the more tightly his brows furrowed, and the more silent he became.
What he didn’t know was that there were two other pairs of eyes watching him as well.
“Brother Qi, do you think this Grandpa Lixia… might be Grandpa’s old friend?” Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but mutter.
From the conversations between the villagers and him, it was clear that this elder named Yu Lixia was the Fisheries Officer of Purple Sky Fortress. He used to be part of the fishing team but moved up in rank after getting older and retiring from active duty.
Zhou Qi was observing the old man too. He nodded and said, “Very likely.”
“Then should we recruit him as staff? That way, Grandpa can reconnect with his old friend!” Tang Yu’an said excitedly.
Zhou Qi was about to say they should observe a bit longer, but then he paused, turned to look at Tang Yu’an, and asked, “What do you think of him?”
“Huh? Me?”
Tang Yu’an took a closer look at the old man and finally said, “Feels like a really kind grandpa.”
That was good enough.
Even though it didn’t sound logical, An’an’s luck had always been beyond logic.
All the employees he’d picked so far had been solid.
Even though they had rules for employees, they didn’t impose many restrictions on what could be said on the message board or forum. And up to now, not a single employee had been fired for violating core principles.
That kind of track record said a lot, didn’t it?
“Alright, let’s recruit him,” Zhou Qi said. “Worst case, if it doesn’t work out, we can always let him go.”
Besides, Yu Lixia was a Fisheries Officer—bringing him on might lead to some unexpected benefits.
“Okay!”
With Zhou Qi’s approval, Tang Yu’an happily opened the panel and sent out the recruitment message.
[The Mysterious Merchant would like to recruit you as a Sales Clerk at ‘Peace Grocery Store No. 6’]
[Accept] [Decline]
Yu Lixia was still watching the transactions between Zhan Xiong and the villagers with a serious expression when this message suddenly popped up, leaving him momentarily stunned.
He looked toward the building behind Zhan Xiong and saw a sign hanging at the entrance that read: “Purple Sky Grocery Store,” with a smaller line underneath: “Peace Trading Company.”
So this “Peace Grocery Store” was the creation of the so-called God of Commerce?
And now they were trying to recruit him?
Yu Lixia narrowed his eyes. He was determined to get a closer look at what kind of organization this “God of Commerce” group really was, since it seemed to have such impressive reach.
So, he chose to accept.
When he saw the newbie task, he frowned but still pulled over Zhan Xiaotian beside him and made a trade, smoothly completing the task and unlocking the employee panel.
Yu Lixia quickly began exploring the system, and the more he looked, the more shocked he became.
What kind of technology was this? How could it do all this? So Zhan Xiong was getting food out of nowhere by exchanging points in this store system?
Before long, he found the employee forum. He looked through posts in the discussion section, browsed the dazzling array of goods in the trading area…
And finally reached the message board. When he saw a certain “1D” in the public channel, Yu Lixia froze.
While he stood there in a daze, Zhan Xiong came over after finishing the trade.
“Uncle Yu, so? You saw it all, right?”
Zhan Xiong grinned. “The God of Commerce is more powerful than you can imagine. And they’re willing to help the weak—a very worthy organization to follow.”
“We don’t want to go against the rest of Purple Sky Fortress, but we definitely aren’t planning to go out fishing anymore. Maybe you could talk to the higher-ups and propose we collaborate?”
To his surprise, Yu Lixia nodded. “I understand everything you’re saying. Let me ask you this—do you know someone named Chang Qing?”
“Chang Qing? Yeah, I know him… Wait, what?” Zhan Xiong stared at him in shock. “How do you know about him?”
“Oh, I was just recruited by the Mysterious Merchant,” Yu Lixia said casually.
“…”
Zhan Xiong froze, then quickly looked around. He pulled his son over and asked, “Xiao Tian, did the Divine Envoy appear just now?”
“No?” Zhan Xiaotian shook his head in confusion.
Zhan Xiong looked around again. He knew the Divine Envoy could turn invisible. Maybe they were watching them from somewhere nearby?
After over a month of “thought re-education” from ‘Little Noisy’, he had come to realize just how terrible his initial attitude toward Lord Sliverlight had been.
Now, all he hoped was that Lord Silverlight didn’t hate him because of it.
“Did Lord Silverlight speak to you?” Zhan Xiong asked Yu Lixia again.
Yu Lixia shook his head.
Zhan Xiong let out a breath of relief. If that was the case, then it probably meant the Divine Envoy hadn’t appeared just now. And Lord Silverlight likely hadn’t returned to Purple Sky Fortress in just a month…
At that moment, Yu Lixia asked, “What does it mean that you need to be Level 5 to post on the message board?”
Zhan Xiong explained it to him.
Then he patted the old man’s shoulder and said, “You’ve gotta work hard! Just complete 150 profitable trades and you’ll unlock the forum access. Then you’ll be able to add other employees as friends too.”
“You have Chang Qing on your friends list?” Yu Lixia asked.
Zhan Xiong nodded. In fact, a big part of why he’d been able to organize the entire village was thanks to Chang Qing giving him advice and strategies.
Also, the fruits, vegetables, potatoes, and sweet potatoes produced by Chang Qing were all high-quality food, and Zhan Xiong had traded for quite a lot from him.
“Can you ask him for me—his last name—is it Li?” Yu Lixia asked.
Zhan Xiong hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed.
On the other side, Old Li quickly saw a new message pop up.
[Private Chat – Datu: Changqing bro, is your last name Li?]
Seeing this message, Old Li frowned slightly. Just as he was thinking about how to reply, another message popped up from the same person.
[Datu: I’ve got a friend—he’s a new employee. He asked me to check for him. His name is Yu Lixia.]
Staring at that familiar name, Old Li’s memory suddenly flashed back to twenty or thirty years ago. His eyes instantly grew misty.
But he quickly pulled himself together, thought for a moment, and began typing a reply.
[Changqing: You’re in Purple Sky Fortress?]
[Datu: Yep.]
[Changqing: You’re not Zhan Xiong, are you?]
[Datu: …]
Zhan Xiong was completely stunned. What? How did he guess that? Had they met before?
But his silence said it all.
Old Li couldn’t help but chuckle.
[Changqing: I held you when you were a baby, but you probably don’t remember.]
[Datu: Seriously??]
Zhan Xiong quickly went to ask Yu Lixia, and after getting confirmation, they basically confirmed each other’s identities.
[Changqing: Tell Lixia to level up quickly. Once he can add friends, we’ll catch up properly.]
Zhan Xiong relayed the message, but still asked in confusion, “How the heck did he guess my name?”
Yu Lixia didn’t answer—he was already hurrying away from the fishing village to find someone to trade with.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi watched his figure as he left.
“Haha, I can’t believe it really was Grandpa’s old friend!” Tang Yu’an said happily.
Zhou Qi gave a soft “mm” and began surveying the fishing village environment. He said, “Purple Sky Fortress isn’t really livable.”
Tang Yu’an nodded. Because the mutated jellyfish electrolyzed seawater, some of the resulting gases escaped into the atmosphere, slowly spreading across Purple Sky Fortress.
The concentration wasn’t high, but it still impacted the residents’ quality of life—many were in a state of mild poisoning.
Fishermen who spent a long time at sea were affected much more severely, with their faces turning dark purple and black.
“We can’t let this continue,” Zhou Qi said.
“Then how about we use the teleportation array to move everyone out?” Tang Yu’an asked.
He had thought about it before, but hadn’t decided which branch store to send people to, and he also wasn’t sure the people of Purple Sky Fortress would trust him enough to follow.
Zhou Qi shook his head and said, “We won’t use teleportation. We’ll bring them back by ship.”
“Huh? Won’t that be too flashy?”
Having experience swimming freely in the ocean, Tang Yu’an wasn’t worried about mutated sea creatures attacking the boat—he was just concerned it might be a bit too high-profile.
Zhou Qi smiled and said, “That’s exactly the point—we want it to be high-profile.”
