by Tai Baiyang
As time went by, the evolvers in the future excavated more and more of their potential. He didn't only need to avoid being found by the evolving monsters, but he also needed to avoid other humans.
Even though it was a very sad truth, but Zhang Mu had been used to it, because he knew that people were always selfish. He wouldn't harm strangers intentionally, but he also wouldn't lend a helping hand to others.
Zhang Mu looked at his watch. It was already 11 o'clock now. It was about time to leave.
Zhang Mu found some cookies in the room. He put them into his backpack, then held the sword in his hand and walked to the balcony.
He inserted the Tang sword into the backpack, then threw it down to the ground. After that, he also jumped off.
It wasn't a high building, but he still rolled on the ground to relieve the force. His body must be kept in the best state, because the things he was going to do was too important to make any mistakes.
...Boom! Boom! Boom!
Zhang Mu put the earth wire and the live wire together, then immediately separated them. He rapidly repeated this action several times and finally launched the pickup truck he just found. Zhang Mu curled his mouth with dissatisfaction, but he didn't have any other choice. This was the only sturdy car he could find. Besides, higher-end cars couldn't be hijacked this way.
The car's roaring engine was particularly loud in the strange silence. It instantly provoked the zombies around this street, making them run towards his location.
"Go, go, go! Ha ha ha ha!"
Zhang Mu frantically laughed. He opened the dazzling car lights, rampaging in the narrow street. He completely ignored the zombies that were running after him.
The zombies' vicious faces and the soaring speed made adrenaline flow through Zhang Mu's veins. His heart slightly found his passion once again.
Soon afterwards, he reached his destination. The bright car lights illuminated the People's Square not far away.
Although he knew that it wouldn't be a nice trip, but the situation of the square still took his breath away.
Most of the zombies had left the square, however, there were still hundreds of zombies wandering around.
Fortunately, he was driving a pickup truck. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have the smallest possibility to pass through them.
It was about time. Zhang Mu turned up the volume of the car’s speakers and started driving the pickup truck in circles around the square.
"Fluorescent lights, chandeliers, and spotlights continue to shine, stroboscopic lasers continue to be announced tonight."
Zhang Mu took a glance at the car audio. He remembered the song's name: Color of Night.
He used to hum this song in the past. Although he had almost forgotten it as time went by, but when the song came to the climax, he still shouted with the rhythm.
"Come on, let's dance! Let's be happy and crazy! Give up, let's dance! Let's scream! Hi! Hi! Hi!"
Over a hundred zombies turned around and stared at the truck. However, Zhang Mu had seen enough similar scenes in the future. His only response was to raise his voice.
At the same time, the zombies chasing after his truck also reached this place. They joined the zombies of the square, forming a pretty horrible army of the dead.
If people were to see this scene of an old pickup car being followed by a crowd of zombies, they would be struck dumb.
"Zi!"
It was 0:00 A.M. now.
A silver light column was instantly projected down from the sky. The zombies in the light column were all blown away instantly. The ten huge columns, which were originally on the square vanished, as if they had never existed.
Zhang Mu squinted his eyes, waiting for the era merchant's coming. Just like the rumours he once heard, the living beings were blown away and the common objects were pulverized to dust.
Zhang Mu stuck his head out of the car window and looked back. The zombies after him regarded the light column as nothing and were still chasing after him.
As he had expected, zombies don’t realize the existence of era merchants.
It was about time.
Zhang Mu made a turn. He stepped on the gas, driving the truck rushing towards the zombies.
The truck's brakes were broken, so he immediately opened the car door and jumped off the truck. When his hands and legs touched the ground, he supported himself and landed smoothly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After smashing down a dozen of zombies, the pickup car gradually stopped.
As Zhang Mu stood up and watched the pickup truck, the zombies had turned around and rushed towards him. He could even see some of their ugly faces.
He really hoped that he had a time bomb at this time. In his eyes, these zombies were simply a lot of walking crystals.
He thought so, but didn't stop his footsteps. He ran at full speed towards the light column.
The light column was only about hundreds of meters away, but Zhang Mu felt that he was racing with death itself.
A few zombies should be mutants. Their speed was way faster than other zombies. The distance amongst Zhang Mu and them was quickly reduced.
Zhang Mu didn't dare to look back. He was so worried that he would be caught by these zombies.
Shuffle!
Dozens of seconds later, Zhang Mu finally reached the light column. He immediately jumped into it without hesitation.
Zhang Mu finally had time to look back. He gasped for air and watched the light column bounce off the zombies.
At this time, a lazy, but magnetic voice suddenly appeared behind him.
"Hello. Welcome to the Shop number 37."
Chapter 9: No. 37
It was such a casual voice, but Zhang Mu shuddered when he heard it. He slowly turned around, looking at the strange, but familiar person.
The master of the voice wore a blue robe made of countless feathers that reflected bright lights.
Zhang Mu looked up, gazing at the person's face.
It was a man who had a high nose bridge with long golden hair that covered his shoulders. To be honest, he looked naturally noble.
Zhang Mu clearly remembered his name: No. 37.
Although Zhang Mu was No. 37’s last sub-merchant, apart from the first time they met, he normally couldn't see No. 37 even when he came to trade.
However, when Zhang Mu saw No. 37’s face, he remembered their first meeting in his last life. That was a pretty memorable experience.
Wait... Something was wrong!
When Zhang Mu was thinking, the golden-haired man also gazed at him in interest. He said with a faint smile on his face, "Human, you don't look surprised. Besides, I think the emotion in your eyes is... loss? Have you seen me before?"
Zhang Mu got a fright. Why were No. 37's senses so sharp? Had he found something?
However, Zhang Mu was not a young man anymore. He had ten years of experience. After a second, he calmed down. It was time to act now.
He didn't intentionally hide his feelings of loss, but exposed it more.
"Oh, it was really dangerous when the zombies chased after me. I suddenly saw a light column here and saw it rejecting the zombies. I was already driven into a corner, I had no choice but come here to try my luck," Zhang Mu said.
He paused for a moment, then kept his lie, "As for you... I thought that you looked like one of my old friends. I don't know if he is still safe now. Maybe he had been killed by these monsters."
Zhang Mu pretended to be sincere and sad. The golden-haired man thought for a while, then decided to put Zhang Mu's strange emotion aside.
He changed his lazy expression and slowly said with a robot-like voice, "You can call me No. 37. I'm the thirty-seventh era merchant of the Third Era Caravan. This planet is Testing Field Number Forty-Seven and I'm responsible for our branch in Luoyang City. We, era merchants, come here to collect the Spirit Qi that aggregates in different areas in this plant. However, we don't belong to this world, so the world's rules don't support us travelling beyon
d time and space. Each era merchant can only control a small area. For example, I'm only responsible for this branch in Luoyang City."
No. 37 paused for a while, then continued, "The way to judge us era merchants' achievements is in accordance with the local aggregates' number and products they have collected, and the conventional method is to recruit aborigines as our sub-merchants."
"Our sub-merchants can trade freely in the ninety-nine cities of the entire testing field and the goods we accept are those of the current era and the era’s local goods."
"The price of the era goods won't change between the different era merchant branches. However, as time goes by, their prices will be gradually readjusted. Their main use is to help you humans cultivate."
"As for the local goods, they are the several spirit qi coagula that are found in different areas. Naturally, they have different prices."
"We will offer a fixed amount of the two goods every month. However, the local goods will be relatively rare."
"Of course, you can buy Luoyang City's goods from me, then sell them to the era merchants in other cities. You can make a margin of profit this way, then bring back a great amount of goods from other places."
"However, I can't promise that you will definitely earn money from that. It depends if you can meet different era merchants' demands. You can only explore the rules by yourself."
"The only currency our Era Trade Caravan accepts is crystal. You have to obtain them from the zombies."
"The trading currency of local goods, on the other hand, are golden leaves, a currency that is only used in our caravan. I can give you a few golden leaves in advance, with which you can buy goods from other places. I will offer you an equivalent amount of crystals or some special goods according to the value of the local goods you bring back. The goods and golden leaves will be saved in your Merchant's Ring. You can find crystals from the abandoned people's necks. As for golden leaf... Look, it is this little thing."
The era merchant's speaking speed was very fast, but the sentences were clearly imprinted in Zhang Mu's mind, as if by magic. This was one of era merchants' abilities.
Suddenly, No. 37's expression turned back to normal. Well, to be exact, he looked like a human again. He snapped. A dark gold leaf appeared between his two fingers.
"Money is a good thing no matter where you are!"
The golden-haired man closed his eyes and said with an intoxicated look. Looking at his expression, Zhang Mu's heart wasn't as peaceful as what he showed on the surface.
Zhang Mu knew what the crystal and gold leaf was, he remembered the trading method clearly in his mind. However, his memories did not include the era merchant’s current behavior. The era merchant wasn't as indifferent as what he remembered at all.
He always thought that the era merchant was just an automatic system, but he was wrong. Apparently, the era merchant had his own thinking.
Was it because he was the first sub-merchant? Could he contact more secrets now?
After a while, No. 37 thought that Zhang Mu should have understood his words. He opened his eyes, then gazed at Zhang Mu and said, "So, do you want to be my first sub-merchant?"
Zhang Mu suppressed his strong desire to trade with the era merchant immediately. He pretended that he had many questions to ask, purposely making himself look like an ordinary person and shouted at No. 37 with anger, "What the hell is going on? What is the 'Paradise' the voice mentioned at dusk? Who are these people exactly?"
No. 37 didn't interrupt Zhang Mu. He just looked at him as he listened to his questions. After Zhang Mu finished, No. 37 exposed a weird smile on his face, as if he had expected that, then said slowly, "The code of the new era is 'Paradise'. According to the rules, I can't tell you more. After all, the Era Trade Caravan is just one of their partners."
He paused for a while, then continued, "However, you're the first aboriginal who has come to see me in the debugging time from the dozens of testing fields I have recently visited. You had the luck to escape from hundreds of abandoned people and had the guts to run into this unknown light column... You mind, courage, and ability must be unusual. I'm very interested in how far you can go. Therefore, I will give you a piece of advice."
No. 37's gaze sharpened. He continued, "You don't have the power to change the world, so you can only try your best to survive in this world. You must stay alive and keep evolving. Remember, you can never stop!"
Suddenly, No. 37 changed the subject. He said with a smile, "Well, that's all I can tell you. It’s your turn now. Tell me, do you want to be my sub-merchant?"
No. 37's words made Zhang Mu's heart boil again. One question after another kept appearing in his mind.
So, the era trade caravan was just one of the partners of the presences hiding behind "Paradise". Then who were they?
There were dozens of testing fields... So, was earth not the only testing field?
And "abandoned people"... was this how the era merchants referred to the zombies?
So many thoughts all appeared in one second. The next second, Zhang Mu gazed at No. 37. He decisively nodded and answered, "It looks like I don't have any other choice. Ok, I will."
No. 37 looked very satisfied to Zhang Mu's answer. He lightly whipped his golden hair, then smiled, "I know you are a clever man. Therefore, the contract is established. This is your Merchant's Ring, No. 1. It’ll record your information into the Era Trade Caravan's archives."
As No. 37 spoke, a black, old ring suddenly appeared on Zhang Mu's ring finger. Before he took a few more looks at it to see the difference between this ring and his ring in the past, he heard No. 37's voice again.
"Boot up, Era Magical Cube!"
Chapter 10: Sub-merchant's Task
No. 37 flapped his blue robe. A small magic cube flew out from his sleeve, hanging in the air and emitting magical lights.
After a second, the lights disappeared. The white column suddenly contracted, pouring all its energy into the magical cube. In the blink of an eye, the magical cube’s bright lights recovered with a higher intensity, covering both Zhang Mu and No. 37.
The magical cube was hollow and transparent. Zhang Mu felt as if he had been wrapped in a fantasy bubble.
Everything around Zhang Mu had disappeared, replaced by a messy sky map.
Above his head, beneath his feet, and in all directions, the space turned into a vast sea of stars. The distant stars were obviously far away from him, but Zhang Mu could clearly perceive their unique auras.
What a miracle!
Zhang Mu was really shocked.
This was the first time he enjoyed this treatment. In all the ten years in his last life he had been a sub-merchant, he could only trade from a product list on a light screen or with No. 37, who always looked at him indifferently. However, he had heard from others of the difference in attitude when No. 37 traded with other sub-merchants. He was skeptical at that time, but he thought that their description was too conservative now.
A faint smile appeared on No. 37's face. He had seen too many similar expression on other aborigines. He didn't say anything, but he swung his sleeves, quietly stretching out both hands and gently grasping the air. A burst of rumbling sounds came from in front of him.
Zhang Mu looked at the direction the sound came from. He suddenly found that the stars in the surroundings started flying towards them all at once.
Looking at the dozens of stars flying to them, Zhang Mu subconsciously tried to get out of their way, but found that they all suddenly disappeared.
He looked back and found that the stars had turned into a stream of tiny planets, lining up between them.
"This is the first day of the new era and I don't think that you know what the crystals are exactly and how to collect them. You can only buy era local goods from me right now. Let me give you a brief introduction. All sub-merchants will receive four golden leaves as their starting capital. You are my first sub-merchant, so you can buy my goods at a 20% discount this time... Oh, you are also the firs
t era-merchant of the whole Testing Field Number Forty-seven! So the goods for your first trade are all 50% off!"
Zhang Mu finally understood why the first few sub-merchants could dominate the market so easily. He hadn’t started at the same starting line as them. The era merchant didn't say it clearly, but Zhang Mu knew he could not make a loss in his first trade.
No. 37 casually picked up two purple planets amongst these stars, then said to Zhang Mu, "This is a Luoyang Peony Bud, a bundle of these peony buds is equal to one gold leaf. I have a total of ten peony buds. This is Yellow River Carp, one carp is worth half a gold leaf. The total number is twenty. You can spend all your gold leaves or leave some as backup. After all, you should know that you won't always earn money from trading. Your task is to ensure that after selling my goods to other era merchants, you can earn at least ten golden leaves and you must return to my shop within half a year."
No. 37 stopped and waited Zhang Mu to think on his words, but Zhang Mu couldn't suppress his happiness any longer and eagerly said, "I don't need to save any golden leaves! Give me eight Luoyang Peony Buds!"
Zhang Mu really worked hard in his past life. He survived in the chaotic world only relying on his analytical ability and his rich experience. Because he often regretted his wrong choice in his past life and even thought of the kind of goods he should’ve sold in the beginning of the new era, he already had a plan in his heart since a long time ago.
In his past life, when he became No. 37's sub-merchant, there were only two bouquets of Luoyang Peony Buds left. He only dared to buy a bundle of buds and two Yellow River Carps, saving a gold leaf as a backup because he had been frightened by No. 37's cold voice. He didn't have guts to run out of all his gold leaves.
In fact, other sub-merchants also made the same choice like him. However, when Zhang Mu took the great risk of going to a nearby city and saw the price of Luoyang Peony Buds there, it was already too late for him to repent.