Embark on the Road

by Tai Baiyang

  "Ok."

  Out of the blue, Zhang Mu agreed immediately, which made Wang Liang felt strange.

  In fact, Zhang Mu had meant to give these weapons to Wang Liang from the beginning, because he had bought them expressly for the people in Luoyang. After all, he himself didn't have any use for these common weapons. If he hadn’t been prepared to help them, he wouldn't have wasted his crystals to buy these cumbersome tools. It had nothing to do with "kindness". It was simply a long-term investment for him.

  "Good. The crystals have been stored in a warehouse. Let me lead the way."

  Zhang Mu smiled and pulled out a small package that contained ten bottles of agility potions. He handed the package over to Wang Liang without hesitation and said, "Drink them now."

  Wang Liang was shocked. He had seen this amazing space storage technology twice, once from Zhang Mu and the second time with "the Second". However, he still felt found it unbelievable when he saw it again.

  "You'll give me them now?" Wang Liang took the package. He thought that since Zhang Mu had given him the priceless potions directly, he should have absolute confidence in his power. Thinking of this, Wang Liang felt relieved.

  Ok, let's me see if they were really as effective as you've boasted!

  Wang Liang gazed at the package with scorching eyes. He took out a bottle and lifted it, observing the fascinating liquid under the sunlight.

  After a while, he opened it and drunk the potion. Soon after, before Wang Liang's mind even realized it, his body had become nimble. The feeling wasn't very obvious, but it was undoubtedly true.

  Wang Liang remembered that Zhang Mu had told him that he wouldn't feel any obvious change before drinking five bottles of agility potions. So he immediately opened the other four little containers and poured all of them into his mouth at once.

  Instantly, the change in quantity caused the change in quality. It felt as if his body had become brand new.

  At first, after his earth-type ability had awakened, he could control the Earth Blades, but he also felt that his body had become heavy and clumsy. He was afraid that he would accidentally injure his parents so he always kept a distance from other people when killing the walking dead.

  However, after drinking five bottles of agility potions, he could feel that his body had become more nimble than before!

  If he drank all the ten bottles of agility potions, what changes would happen to his body?

  At this moment, Wang Liang finally realized that, even if without the weapons Zhang Mu promised him, the ten bottles of agility potions alone were already worth the one thousand crystals. Zhang Mu really wasn't lying!

  Chapter 66: That Explains the Matter

  After drinking ten bottles of Agility Potions, Wang Liang felt that his body became unprecedentedly light and quick, as though his innate ability wasn’t Earth-type but Wind-type.

  Even so, he didn’t appear overly arrogant because the gaze Zhang Mu had on him was a calm one as before. He caught no intentions of Zhang Mu looking down on him seeing how was willing to sell him these potions. Also, since he had already consumed the limit of the number of Agility Potions one could consume, only Zhang Mu knew how many there were left.

  Hence, he quickly reined in his emotion and propped his wire-rimmed glasses, returning to his normal demeanour. After that, he led Zhang Mu to the storehouse where the crystals were stored.

  Zhang Mu sighed with emotion when he looked at the storehouse before him. It was several single-storey units with their walls knocked down before they were joined together to form a cluster of units. It wasn’t too shabby, but it definitely wasn’t large either. There were four guards on duty around the area. Zhang Mu noticed their attitude; it seemed that Wang Liang had indeed found some responsible people. He must have also realised that grain stocks were the foundation to the operation of every base.

  After seeing Wang Liang, the guards parted way for them.

  When Zhang Mu entered the storeroom, he realised that it wasn't as simple as what he had previously imagined. Despite its small size, all the necessities were there. There were a variety of goods placed on shelves, all of them categorised and arranged in order.

  The food was piled at a side with the sacks of rice stacking sky high. A box in another corner of the storehouse was filled with clothes, with the majority of the apparels being practical rather than aesthetic. Pretty much none of them was gaudy and useless.

  Zhang Mu guessed that the large box right in the middle of the storehouse was the one Wang Liang said to contain the thousand crystals.

  When Wang Liang went forward and opened it, sparkling crystals indeed filled the box to the brim, and hexagonal First-Ranked crystals at that.

  However, the things on top of the white crystals instantly peaked Zhang Mu’s interest more.

  They were dozens of animal cores!

  But... how was it be possible? Wang Liang said that the current strength of their base was definitely not strong enough to hunt mutated animals. Moreover, mutated animals often stuck together, so they should be feeling thankful for not being attacked instead.

  And then there was the zoo incident to top everything off; things were getting too strange. Zhang Mu thought for a while, before asking the question he was puzzling over. "Where did you get these animal cores from? Also, did something happen at the zoo?"

  After his question, Wang Liang immediately became glum. "Didn’t you just return to Luoyang City? How is it that you know something happened at the zoo?"

  Zhang Mu answered calmly. "I saw several rare animals I’ve only seen before in zoos on the highway when I was on my way back to Luoyang previously. Other than those in the zoo, there shouldn’t be any wild ones, so I figured something happened at the zoo."

  "Ah, then that makes sense. They were just driven out of the zoo, so it's not surprising to see them on the highway," Wang Liang explained, and smiled at ease.

  Zhang Mu caught the key word and quickly asked: "They were driven out of the zoo? Who would have the ability to drive so many ferocious mutated animals away? Was it the Second Sub-Merchant or another evolver?"

  Zhang Mu figured that he had to be more careful if the Second Sub-Merchant was actually that strong. If it wasn’t him but someone else ... Zhang Mu hadn’t heard anything about other evolvers being strong enough to do so in his previous life.

  Wang Liang however didn't know what Zhang Mu was thinking, and so, he said mindlessly. "Hence it can be said that both your questions stem from the same root cause.

  “The animals were doing fine in the beginning, but on the third day of the catastrophe, a lot of mutated animals suddenly rioted, and so, a huge wave of mutated animals of all variety with terrifyingly large bodies surged out, killing everyone in their sight, including the walking dead.

  “The ones that were most badly implicated weren’t us but those located nearest to the zoo in the south. They, including those who hid in their houses, were all gobbled up the moment the mutated animals surged out. After our people witnessed that, we were all ready to abandon this base and escape. However, a man in blue feathered robe appeared out of nowhere and gave a light tap. That light tap instantly blew all the mutated animals in front of him into dust. The rest of the mutated animals were probably afraid of him or something and escaped Luoyang City after.

  “That person was too strong! We were literally on the verge of escaping before he appeared. I even wanted to follow him, but that person disappeared after that.”

  When Wang Liang recalled the scene, his emotions dipped significantly, still experiencing the after-effects of the scare. After which, he looked at Zhang Mu in curiosity and said glumly, "You look surprised? The Second Sub-Merchant told me that the man is the Era Merchant in Luoyang City, you should’ve seen him before no? Did you not know he was that strong? Was it because he hid it too well in front of you? Speaking of which Brother Mu, don’t say I didn’t remind you but you should prop up a good attitude when you see him again."

  Of course Zhang
Mu knew how strong Era Merchants were, it was just that he was a little surprised that the Second Sub-Merchant, despite not knowing that, didn’t appear very shocked. Also, he didn't remember any Era merchant helping any human in his past life.

  All Era Merchants’ stance were neutral. If they had been on mankind’s side, how would mankind get stuck in such a difficult position?!

  But this time, No. 37 helped these people! And that really shocked Zhang Mu.

  His only guess now was that whatever it was that had happened had crossed the line and was beyond his expectations. What was it that had happened though? Did one of his Sub-Merchants get killed right in front of the Era store?

  Even if so, that outcome still wasn't possible either; they wouldn't meddle this much in their sub-merchants’ business.

  Exactly how large a change had he brought to this city to make even No. 37 decide to interfere?

  And, how exactly did the zoo incident happen? Despite his queries, Zhang Mu had no way of knowing.

  He shook his head and decided to discard such thoughts; it served no purpose to hazard wild guesses. He should ask No. 37 about it when he visited No. 37 again a few weeks later.

  Zhang Mu shifted his gazes to the animal cores, and he suddenly had an idea.

  "Sell these animal cores to me." He gazed at Wang Liang with a smile.

  "Are they worth a lot?" Wang Liang, as someone who had survived the competitive workplace, was no hothead, so he naturally realized that Zhang Mu was very interested in these animal cores.

  There was no need for Zhang Mu to purposefully say otherwise, after all, Wang Liang would figure it out sooner or later. Also, he found no reason to fall out with him over such little gains.

  "Yes, they are very valuable," Zhang Mu said honestly.

  "I can sell you them, but you need to tell me how much they’re worth."

  “Okay. Evolvers with similar element types as the animal cores can consume them after hitting the ceiling in their current ability level to refine their abilities." Zhang Mu explained to him devotedly; it was a favor done at little cost.

  "So do you want food or weapons?" Zhang Mu asked, smiling.

  "What? You have food too? How much food do you have? Several hundred grams? Several hundred kilograms? Is it comparable in worth to the weapons? Even if you have a lot, we have lots of mouths to feed in our large base." Wang Liang asked mindlessly.

  "What if I said I have ten tons of rice?"

  Chapter 67: Ten Tons of Rice

  "What?! You have ten tons of rice?" Wang Liang was shocked.

  Zhang Mu had so much rice! If it was real, Wang Liang would like to give Zhang Mu all the animal cores to exchange the rice from him. Since Zhang Mu had told him the importance of animal core, if he wanted to evolve himself, then animal cores would be necessary.

  However, he also knew that the energy in his body was still growing. He didn't need to use them right now. Compared to the increase his power, he would rather to get the ten tons of rice, which could buffer against the difficulty the whole habitation was facing. There were about one thousand people living in this habitation. Ten tons of rice could support them to live for at least ten days.

  Wang Liang needed time right now!

  Why did he keep sending evolvers to clean the walking dead in the city? Because they were in lack of food. Ordinary people didn't eat too much food everyday, but almost all evolvers were big eaters!

  These days, he arranged for ordinary people to build defense facilities around the habitation and let evolvers kill the walking dead in the city.

  So far, they had almost cleaned up the walking dead around the habitation, but they didn't dare to attack walking dead crowds, which had forced them into these very adverse circumstances.

  If Wang Liang went to collect the resources in the city, then he had to survey the terrain first and arrange the transit route. During this period of time, the habitation would consume a great amount of food. If any accident happened, they would run out of food.

  However, Zhang Mu had appeared and helped them solve all problems. Twenty set of weapons would become their trump card when they cleaned walking dead crowd. And the ten tons of rice would keep away the fear of food shortage.

  Suddenly, Wang Liang thought of something. His enthusiasm faded like the fall of tide.

  "Brother Mu, how can you bring me the ten tons of rice alone? They can even fill half of the space in the storehouse!" Wang Liang asked with a puzzled look. He was curious about Merchant's Ring and had asked "the Second" about it. The Second told him that his ring could only store things for a few cubic metres. Even if Zhang Mu didn't put anything else in his ring, his ring wouldn't be able to hold ten tons of rice!

  Zhang Mu give him a mysterious smile and said, "It's not something you should care about. Just tell me will you agree to my requirement or not. You need to worry about anything."

  Wang Liang ground his teeth and looked at the box. "Ok, deal!"

  Zhang Mu smiled. He stretched out his right hand, and instantly, a small black hole appeared beside his Merchant's Ring. In Wang Liang's surprised eyes, the box had been absorbed into Zhang Mu's ring.

  Zhang Mu patted Wang Liang's shoulder, who was still gazing at the space with his eyes opened wide. "Don't worry. The storehouse is too small. Lead me to an open space so that I can take out the rice!"

  Wang Liang was still half believing and half doubting whether Zhang Mu's ring could really hold so much rice, but he had no choice. He followed Zhang Mu, walking out of the storehouse.

  Zhang Mu looked around and saw an open space behind the storehouse. He thought that it was fit for the requirement, so he directly walked to the open space and said to Wang Liang, "I will put the rice here. Your guys can carry them into the storehouse yourself."

  Wang Liang nodded and gazed at Zhang Mu with interest.

  Zhang Mu looked at the ground and stroked the special Merchant's Ring, which he had obtained from the Era merchant in Xi'an, with his left hand.

  Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

  While Zhang Mu's finger touched the ring, instantly, one bag of rice after another was poured out from the ring and piled up on the ground. After a while, Zhang Mu had put all the rice on the ground, and then he started to put a bucket of water after another bucket on the ground.

  "Water?"

  Zhang Mu smiled, "They are free gifts, a total of two tons. Thank you for shopping."

  Wang Liang gazed at the rice and the water with rapture. He subconsciously panted and swallowed his saliva. Zhang Mu smiled looking at him.

  Zhang Mu knew what a new-built habitation needed: food and weapon, and he could give them both. He had only spent a hundred and twenty crystals for that rice, but now, he could exchange it for fifty animal cores. By any measure, he had made a killing.

  With those animal cores, Little Black would be more emboldened to start its evolution.

  At this time, Wang Liang didn't mind how Zhang Mu could offer him so much rice and water. What he needed to do now was to call more people to move the food and water. He called up the guards, and told them to put part of rice into the storehouse, and the remaining into the garage which was in the center of the whole habitation.

  Wang Liang looked at Zhang Mu with a mixture of emotions spreading over his face. Zhang Mu had become more mysterious in his heart. Even if not judging him from his power, his trading technique and boldness were much better than "the Second".

  Chapter 68: Solve One After Another

  After Zhang Mu had exchanged all the animal cores from Wang Liang, he let out a sigh of relief. However, this was just a beginning; Wang Liang's base wasn't the only base in Luoyang City.

  What he needed was to completely exchange all his food and weapons at the other bases for the crystals and animal cores he needed. After all, Wang Liang wouldn’t be able to purchase all his goods.

  Moreover, this was just the beginning of the new cataclysm. Even if there were some disputes between the bases, but they wouldn't get into a f
ight over it. After all, the threat of walking dead in the city hadn’t been eradicated. Not only that, but there were lots of mutated animals outside of the city eyeing the city. Therefore, if they didn't want to die, they couldn't run foul of each other.

  As long as the leaders in the bases had even a little brain, they wouldn’t get into a dispute over such trivial conflict of interest with the other bases.

  After all, living was already hard enough in itself.

  When Wang Liang found out Zhang Mu’s idea of going to the other bases, his initial reaction was to persuade him to give up on that idea. Wang Liang was an ambitious person; after tasting the feeling of being in power, the idea of wanting to take control of Luoyang City gradually bubbled in his head.

  However, he had no reason nor the ability to stop Zhang Mu. If other bases could obtain help from Zhang Mu, they would be able to firm their foothold and quickly develop, and that, from mankind’s perspective, was something extremely advantageous. Moreover, half of Wang Liang’s current abilities were gained from his exchanges from Zhang Mu, so how could he possibly hold Zhang Mu back from going elsewhere?

  Still, Wang Liang asked Zhang Mu carefully, "Brother Mu, can you not sell them the standard weapons and armour? As for the grains, I raise both hands in agreement for the exchange of those. After all, I don't want to see our own kind being starved to death."

  Zhang Mu had guessed that Wang Liang would bring it up when he was asking Wang Liang for the locations of the other bases. He gazed at Wang Liang for a while and said leisurely, "I will sell to their bases half the amount of the standard weapons and armour accordingly that I sold to you, and I won't sell more than ten sets of arms to each base. As for the food, you’re right, I don't want to see them being starved to death either. The price of the grains naturally won’t increase, but exactly how much they are able to purchase will depend on their ability to afford it.”