Chapter 171

Su Jing's fingertips clicked rapidly on the system store's backend interface, dragging the product icons for "Tier 3 Antidote" and "Mineral Mech Arm" into her exclusive shelf—

The top of the shelf is marked with a red sign that reads "Purchased by partner bases only." Below it is a list of bases that can purchase the item: eight partner bases, including the Northern Base, Chen Yang's Stronghold, and the West City Stronghold, that have previously completed the exchange of demon cores for weapons through the system's transaction channel. When non-partner users click on the item, a "Insufficient permissions" message box will automatically pop up.

"Number 1, synchronize the antidote exchange rules to the exclusive chat channel of the cooperative base: 1 Tier 3 demon core for 20 bottles, 1 Tier 2 demon core for 5 bottles, Tier 1 demon cores are not accepted."

The mineral mech arms can only be exchanged for Tier 3 demon cores; one core can be exchanged for one arm, limited to one arm per person, to avoid hoarding.

Su Jing gave the order through the communicator, and at the same time took out a vial of antidote from her spatial storage and placed it on the control panel.

The pale green liquid contained suspended fragments of spiritual herbs. The communicator displayed: [Tier 3 Antitoxin: Effective against the toxins of Tier 3 venomous monsters such as the Poisonous Scorpion. It takes effect 10 seconds after injection and is effective for 24 hours.]

"Su Jing! People from the non-cooperative base are cursing!" Xiao Jin squatted beside the communicator, its dark eyes fixed on the scrolling system chat area, its little paws tugging at Su Jing's trouser leg, its voice filled with helplessness.

"Some people said, 'Why should we only buy for them? We also need anti-virus drugs!' Others tagged you, saying that you 'discriminately treat people differently and don't deserve to be called the God of Wealth!'"

Su Jing glanced at the chat area—a message from "China-Retail Investor-Zhang Ming" was flooding the screen: "@I am the God of Wealth, why can cooperative bases buy mecha arms? Are we people without bases just destined to be stung to death by scorpions? It's so unfair!"

Dozens of echoing messages followed, with some saying they would file a joint report, and others even fabricating rumors that "the cooperative base and 'I am the God of Wealth' secretly divided the demon pills."

The message from the cooperative base was calmer: "Northern Base: One Tier 3 demon core has been submitted in exchange for 20 bottles of antidote. Please ship as soon as possible."

"Chen Yang's base: I want to exchange for 2 sets of mecha arms. I have submitted 2 Tier 3 demon cores and am waiting for matching."

"Don't worry about it. Non-cooperative bases don't have a stable source of demon cores. Even if they switch to antidotes, they might not be able to deal with the poisonous scorpions. Instead, the bandits might steal them."

Su Jing turned around and walked to the monitoring screen, zooming in on the scene in the direction of the county town—several stinging scorpions were lying in the corner of the abandoned hospital, their stingers occasionally standing up. The bodies of survivors who had been stung to death were scattered on the ground. The communicator popped up: [The stinging scorpions' activity range has expanded, and they are 15 kilometers away from the villa. They are expected to approach within 24 hours.]

She ordered robots No. 2 and No. 3: "You two go and inspect the protective netting around the villa. Re-nail the loose manganese crystal nails and reinforce the water pipe connections of the sprinkler system. Don't wait until the stinging scorpions come to discover the defensive loopholes."

As soon as the robot set off, Xiao Jin suddenly perked up its ears, and the voice in its mind became serious: "There's a pack of beasts 8 kilometers to the east! It's a mix of poisonous scorpions and stone-patterned insects! I can smell their 'poison,' it's so strong, even fiercer than the poisonous scorpions in the county town!"

Su Jing immediately zoomed in on the surveillance footage to the east—in the video, a dozen venomous scorpions were leading the way, followed by dozens of stone-patterned insects, slowly moving along the abandoned road, leaving fine marks on the ground from the scorpions' stings.

"Numbers 4 and 5, form a temporary patrol team, carrying 10 bottles of antidote and 2 tracking laser guns, and go to the east to deter the beast herd and prevent them from getting close to the defensive perimeter."

"Number 1, get the energy impact function on the mech arm working properly. I want to test if it can penetrate the scorpion's carapace."

Su Jing slipped the mineral mecha arm onto her right hand. With a thought, a manganese crystal blade popped out from her palm, and pale blue energy flowed along the patterns on it.

She threw a punch at the discarded metal plate in the control room. With a "bang," the metal plate was pierced by the energy impact, leaving a large hole, with traces of light blue energy burning still remaining at the edges.

"The effect is good; it should be able to penetrate the scorpion's carapace."

Satisfied, she retracted the mecha arm and checked the vibration sensor—a 15-meter detection range with a "high-risk" sensitivity setting; an alarm would be triggered if the beasts approached within 5 meters. Preparations for the defensive perimeter were essentially complete.

The insults in the system chat continued, and some people even started spreading fake news: "I saw 'God of Wealth's' villa! It's deep in the mountains, with a really thick defensive perimeter. She's deliberately not giving us supplies!"

But Su Jing paid no further attention. Instead, she instructed Robot No. 1 to send the antidote and mecha arm from the cooperative base through the system's trading channel, while she herself took the tracking laser gun and walked outside the villa.

The 55°C temperature was still scorching, but the water mist sprayed by the sprinkler system of the defensive perimeter could cool it down slightly. She needed to personally check the stability of the protective net to prepare for the upcoming scorpion beast tide.

As the sun set, a patrol robot from the east reported that the herd of beasts had been deterred and was moving towards the county town.

The antidote and mecha arms for the cooperative base have all been shipped.

The insults in the system chat area gradually subsided, and some people began to contact the cooperating base privately, wanting to buy the antidote at a high price.

Su Jing stood in front of the monitor screen, watching the sky gradually darken outside, her fingertips tracing the energy patterns on the mecha arm—

She knew very well that differential treatment was not unfair, but a necessary means to ensure effective defense in the apocalypse. Compared to dealing with the insults, protecting the villa and blocking the beast tide were the most important things.