Sun Chen stood on the ridge, cursing loudly, and soon attracted the other members to gather and watch. They didn't know what was going on, but after listening to him for a while, they began to guess what was going on and began to whisper among themselves:
“Someone actually stole something!”
"How come even watermelons are being stolen!"
"Yeah, and it's not ripe yet! How can a half-cooked watermelon taste good?"
"Will it be different in the game? No... you've misled me. Even if it's delicious, you can't steal it! Things in our territory are so cheap. If you want a watermelon, can't you just buy one?"
"Exactly. Plus, they have ready-made iced watermelon juice for sale. Isn't this much better than stealing half-ripened watermelons?!"
There was a lot of chatter and discussion, and Sun Chen cursed loudly.
In a corner of the small market, Du Chuan set up a stall and watched coldly.
He had already calculated the amount of juice he'd need for three days. First, he couldn't sell the eight cups of white-quality juice, as that would arouse suspicion, so he kept it all for himself, which would last him just four hours. He still had two and a half days left, and assuming he'd be out eight hours a day, that would be 20 hours, requiring ten cups of blue-quality cold drinks.
He had 22 cups of blue-quality iced watermelon juice, which meant he could sell 12 of them. If each cup sold for 30 gold, that would bring him a total of 360 gold. He'd previously hired someone to make the juice for him, which cost him 330 gold. So, he'd gotten enough cold drinks for three days, plus a net profit of 30 gold!
There's no better deal than this. Du Chuan was so happy that he hummed a little tune. The more he looked at the watermelon juice in front of him, the more he liked it.
A dozen meters away, another stall owner frowned and glanced at him indifferently. After pondering for a while, he temporarily handed the stall to a familiar stall owner next to him to help watch over it, and trotted towards the farmland.
Over in the fields, Sun Chen was still cursing, his curses raging. The vendor waited patiently outside the crowd for a while, until Sun Chen had grown tired of cursing and the crowd had mostly dispersed. Then he approached and asked, "Hey, how many watermelons did you lose?"
Sun Chen sat down on the ridge of the field with his head down. "Ten, ten! They'll be ripe tomorrow! It's so hot now, there's no place else to sell such good watermelons. Why did they get stolen right now?"
"I might know who did it." said the female player.
Sun Chen suddenly raised his head.
The female player took two steps closer, squatted beside him, and said in a low voice, "I've been selling watermelon juice since before the weather got hot. Most of the time, I buy watermelons from foragers who pick them from the wild. Later, when you started growing them here, I bought some too."
Sun Chen looked at her and nodded: "You look familiar."
"Yeah." The female player breathed a sigh of relief. "I was trying to say that since joining Get Rich Overnight, I've sold at least a few hundred cups of watermelon. Whether it's wild watermelons or the ones you grow here, they all make blue-quality watermelon juice. At most, the wild ones are volatile in size, so sometimes one watermelon can only make two cups, but the quality is still stable. But today, someone asked me to make watermelon juice on their behalf. I made it normally, but eight cups of white quality came out. I was completely baffled, so I had to refund him the money. Just now, after hearing what you said, I realized that the watermelon... wasn't ripe enough?"
Sun Chen's spirits suddenly lifted: "How many cups did he ask you to produce?"
"30 cups." The female player paused, "That's exactly ten watermelons."
Sun Chen stood up suddenly and rolled up his sleeves angrily: "What's his name? Where is he? Take me to find him!"
"Stop yelling!" The female player forcibly pulled him back down, reducing her presence. "I can tell you who he is, but you have to know that you have no evidence. Even if you take this to the boss, you're not in the right. Besides, I see he's wearing several purple items. He's a combat-oriented player. If you provoke him without evidence, what if he takes revenge on you while you're out? You won't be able to defeat him!"
"..." Sun Chen gritted his teeth in anger, "Then what do you say we should do?"
The female player said calmly, "I can tell you who it is first, but you need to stay calm and think of a reliable solution before you say anything else, okay?"
Sun Chen took a deep breath and nodded: "Okay! Thank you, I will definitely take care of it!"
The female player then confidently gestured and described the situation to him, "There's a man selling watermelon juice in the southwest corner of the market right now. He's a man, about this tall, with a side-parted hairstyle. He's wearing purple-quality brown leather armor and wields a scimitar."
Sun Chen made up a rough idea in his mind and carefully memorized the features: "I remember it."
"Okay, I'm leaving now. But please don't sell me out! I can't beat him! And... I'm not sure if he stole that watermelon!" The female player added cautiously, "What if the high temperature caused the wild watermelons to be of poor quality?"
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you!" Sun Chen assured him repeatedly. After the female player walked away, he seriously considered what to do.
Two minutes later, Sun Chen sent a message to An Yan.
An Yan had just returned home from dinner when he saw Sun Chen calling him and immediately ran over. Sun Chen briefly explained what had happened, and An Yan was furious: "How could there be such a person!!!"
"Don't worry, don't worry." Sun Chen, who had just been cursing, now turned to persuade An Yan. "Based on the clues provided by enthusiastic people, I now have a suspect, but I'm not sure yet. Come with me and play a trick on him."
An Yan frowned: "What kind of play is this?"
Sun Chen: "Think about it, this guy is so wicked, not only did he steal melons, he stole ten at a time. If he doesn't suffer this time, do you think he will stop next time? I don't think so. He will just think that he was being covert enough and will continue to do it."
An Yan nodded in confusion: "That's the truth."
"So we have to reassure him." Sun Chen sneered and strode towards the small market with An Yan.
After entering the market, they quickly found Du Chuan's stall according to the female player's instructions. It was in a corner and only sold a few cold drinks. There were too few stalls like that.
And it’s also thanks to the stall being inconspicuous in the corner, otherwise, with the popularity of cold drinks these two days, just a few cups would have sold out quickly.
Sun Chen took An Yan to sit down at a stall selling fried stinky tofu diagonally opposite Du Chuan and ordered two servings of fried stinky tofu.
When the fried tofu was served, An Yan spoke at the right moment: "Brother, don't be angry. It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost. Next time we go out to collect melons, we can leave someone to watch over the fields, so we won't lose any more melons."
Across a narrow aisle, An Yan forced himself not to look at Du Chuan.
Sun Chen ate his stinky tofu in silence for more than ten seconds before saying, "Forget it."
An Yan: "Ah?"
Sun Chen sighed, "I'm angry, but after thinking about it, the town members are all good. They even stole unripe watermelons. I guess they can't make ends meet. Let's just turn a blind eye and forget it."
An Yan's expression was complicated: "You are such a good person..."
"Everyone has difficult times." Sun Chen said briefly.
An Yan said nothing more, as if agreeing with his idea. Across the aisle, Du Chuan looked around casually, a hint of ridicule in his eyes.
The next day, at the auction house.
The golden-quality [God's Cloak] put on the shelf by Meng Xiaomeng finally changed from "under auction" to "sold" status.
Gold-quality equipment was already scarce, and with the recent new mode requiring a cloak for protection, auction prices continued to rise. She had listed the item with a starting price of just 5,000 gold, but the final sale price was a whopping 72,000 gold, more than tenfold the starting price.
There are currently only two small-town-level territories on the map of T City. In addition to the Overnight Rich, the other one is on the south side of T City, called Tiaodeng Town.
The moment the God's Cloak was sold, Tiaodeng Town erupted in excitement. Since the auction house wouldn't reveal the seller's name, everyone started asking around, especially the top 20 high-ranking players in the territory. They were surrounded by people asking if they had won the bid, but every high-ranking player lamented, "No."
This was the first time everyone had seen gold equipment, and although they wanted it, they were also quite cautious. When the price increased tenfold, many people hesitated, fearing they would be wronged and unwilling to buy it.
"So, who took the photo?" In the villa, An Ruoying, the lord of Tiaodeng Town, was lying on the bed with his legs crossed, full of curiosity.
Then, she somehow entered the lord interface and placed her fingers on the two words "Ye Miao".
She had done this many times, but never actually opened the dialog box to contact the other party, because they had no intersection at all. Since they were far apart, even the business trip team had never visited each other, and it would be very abrupt to contact them rashly.
But she was indeed curious about what kind of person founded this "Pure Land" which had long been famous in T City.
"Forget it, forget it. There's no rush." An Ruoying finally closed the dialog box, shook her head, and said to herself, "As long as she doesn't die suddenly due to some accident, I won't be left out. We will definitely meet again in the future. There's no need to rush!"
In the town that became rich overnight, Chu Cheng looked at the cloak in his hand and calmly sent a message to his teammates and Ye Miao: "Is there something worth celebrating? Let's get together tonight? Come to my house at 6:30, I'll take care of all the food."
No one could refuse the simple offer of "I'll take care of all the food." Before six o'clock, Yi Hang and Li Chenqi were the first to arrive. Chu Cheng, who hadn't finished cooking yet, had just opened the door when the two of them rushed straight to the kitchen as if on autopilot: "Do you need some kitchen help? I'll do it!"
Chu Cheng raised his eyebrows: "Stay away from my kitchen."
At half past six, everyone gathered together. There was a table full of delicious dishes, from cold to hot to soup, from vegetarian to meat to seafood. It was so sumptuous that it made people want to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Everyone started eating happily. Chu Cheng's four good brothers cared about him, but not much. They forgot about him when faced with the delicious food.
Ye Miao didn't forget to ask, "You said there was something worth celebrating, what was it?"
"Oh." Chu Cheng stood up, took out his backpack, and took out the cloak.
“!!!” The four brothers, their mouths full of delicious food, were stunned.
"You got it!!!" Ye Miao's pupils trembled, and he stretched out his hand hurriedly, "Let me see!!!"
Chu Cheng handed it over with a smile, looking at Ye Miao's eyes full of surprise, he really wanted to say: You can take it.
But he held back.
Don't be impatient. You can't make the same mistake twice.
"How amazing!" Ye Miao exclaimed in amazement, and then asked everyone excitedly, "Let's go to T City to kill monsters tomorrow, okay? I want to see if the monsters will avoid him!!!"
"Hahahahaha!" The teammates burst into laughter. Yi Hang nodded first. "Okay, it's been a few days since we went. Let's go together tomorrow! Chu Cheng, please make sure to wear this cloak the whole time. I'm a country bumpkin, and I love seeing the envious eyes of passersby!!!"
This gave Chu Cheng an opportunity. He sat back and said calmly, "Then let the boss wear it tomorrow, so that passersby will envy our town."
"Alright, alright!" Yi Hang applauded, and the other team members joined in the cheering. "This is a great idea. It'll stop outsiders from thinking our Pure Land's weakness is fighting! This time, let's show them that we not only have a capable boss, but also capable equipment. And our capable boss can even wear this capable equipment!"
"Hahaha." Ye Miao also laughed. "Then let me use my power to intimidate you on the way tomorrow. Once we enter the dungeon, you still have to do it. I'm a melee fighter and can't fully utilize the properties of the cloak."
Chu Cheng nodded calmly: "Okay."
The shelf life of iced watermelon juice is only three days. After three days, the food will deteriorate and cannot be consumed.
Therefore, Sun Chen speculated that the melon thief would come back to steal the melons at the latest on the third day.
So Sun Chen specially left a few watermelons and didn't rush to harvest them, and let An Yan temporarily become the acting captain of the team. He went out with them every day, and then took a shortcut back, watching the movements in the farmland from afar.
In addition, he also found a helper.
The third day arrived in a flash. The old iced watermelon juice was still drinkable, but if new one was not made tonight, it would be useless by tomorrow morning.
Sun Chen's heart was hanging for the whole day.
In the evening, Sun Chen finally saw a sneaky figure moving towards the intermediate farmland.
Sun Chen acted decisively, grabbed his helper and ran over. When Du Chuan stole the third melon, someone patted his shoulder: "Hey!"
Du Chuan suddenly turned around, and before he could focus his eyes, he was thrown to the ground with an over-the-shoulder blow.
Players within the territory cannot attack each other. Although this shoulder throw looked powerful, it did not cause any damage at all, only a brief pain.
The pain faded, and Du Chuan immediately tried to run away, but was stepped on the chest: "Run? Do you believe I can force you out of the territory, beat you to a pulp, and then bring you back?"
“…” Du Chuan panicked.
In the dim sky, the person in front of him was wearing an assassin's veil, so his face couldn't be seen clearly, but there was a terrifying coldness in his eyes.
Sun Chen, standing next to him, already felt a surge of satisfaction from a moment of revenge. "Tsk tsk tsk, let me tell you, this guy, Fang Yuming, is a veteran member of our town and a former police officer! I advise you to behave yourself and don't have any evil thoughts, or you'll be in trouble!"
"..." Fang Yuming glanced at Sun Chen speechlessly, thought about it, and did not say directly that he was just a student in the police academy and had not yet graduated to become a policeman.
"I, I, I... I won't move!" Du Chuan, whose chest was being stepped on by Fang Yuming, began to cower. Then, thinking back to what Sun Chen and An Yan had said while eating stinky tofu that day, he immediately followed his train of thought and said, "Brother, brother! I stole the melon because I couldn't survive! You're such a good person, please be kind..."
"Bah!" Sun Chen couldn't stand it anymore and kicked him in the face. "Do you have any fucking shame? Does watermelon replenish your energy or eliminate hunger?! You can't survive, so you steal steamed buns instead of watermelons? And you stole ten of them in one go?!"
After saying that, he reached out and pulled Du Chuan: "Come on, follow me to see the boss!"
"I won't go!" Du Chuan struggled hard, "I, I, I won't go!"
The two men were of similar build, so Sun Chen couldn't move him. Fang Yuming slowly grabbed him by the back of the collar, and Du Chuan's struggles were immediately futile. He was led to the residential area with a look of terror in his eyes.
In the villa, Ye Miao was lying in front of the desk in the study, writing and calculating.
Over the past few days, she had a vague feeling that the temperature outside remained high, while it was getting hotter inside the territory. However, she couldn't be sure, so she could only observe the duration of the cold drink to calculate it.
Take the blue-quality cold drink for example. The 2 hours shown by the system actually refers to the time spent outside. If you stay in the territory, this time will actually be extended, and the countdown will slow down. But today...
She calculated it three times using her not-so-stellar math skills and finally concluded that the rate of decline seemed to be 20% less than on the first day.
Ye Miao frowned, wondering what to do when there was a knock on the door. She went downstairs and opened the door. The first person she saw was Sun Chen. Then she noticed someone turning around and trying to run away, only to be grabbed back by Fang Yuming.
"What's wrong?" Ye Miao was stunned.
Sun Chen got straight to the point: "Boss, this guy stole ten watermelons in one go. He even went to the market to find someone to process them, and then used the excuse of quality issues to ask for a partial refund. He's cheating both sides! What a jerk!"
"Ah?" Ye Miao was speechless.
Du Chuan flatly denied: "I didn't!"
"You are nothing!" Sun Chen glared angrily.
Fang Yuming said lightly, "We caught him in the act. There are still two melons in his backpack. We didn't wrongly accuse him."
Du Chuan fell silent.
Ye Miao's expression turned cold, and he opened the panel without saying a word. He even skipped the step of "moving out of the territory" and directly blocked the person.
According to the game settings of "Fantasy World", "moving out of the territory" is a very neutral operation. If a member is removed, they usually have some time to pack up their belongings, and the length of time is freely set by the lords. However, if they are "blacklisted", they will be teleported outside the barrier in an instant.
Sun Chen and Fang Yuming watched as a living person disappeared from their sight in a snap.
Then he heard someone cursing outside the gate: "Damn it! Sun Chen! If you have the guts, don't leave the territory in your lifetime! Otherwise, I'll kill you!"
"I'm a man of my words! Just wait!"
"Hiss..." Sun Chen whispered to himself, "Who are you trying to scare, grandson?" However, there was a hint of guilt in his eyes.
Ye Miao glanced at him, and in an instant, Sun Chen felt a cool breeze passing by his side. When he looked again, Ye Miao had already rushed out, drew out two swords with both hands, and headed straight for the gate of the territory.
"If you're a man, get out of here now if you have the guts...Ah!!!" Du Chuan, who was still challenging, was kicked and flew several meters backwards.
"Who!" He stood up angrily, and the moment he saw his opponent clearly, his face turned pale, "Boss, Boss, I'm not..."
Once outside the territory, all attacks became real. Ye Miao kicked away nearly 20% of his health, and he dodged repeatedly, clutching his chest.
Ye Miao spun the two swords leisurely in his hands, speaking even more slowly: "Originally, it was just stealing a few melons. I didn't think the crime deserved death, so I told you to get out of here. But now, since you've threatened the safety of the members of the territory, I'm sorry. In this apocalypse, I can be flexible."
After saying that, she approached Du Chuan step by step. The dark shadow pressing towards her in the dim evening was like a nightmare come true.
"No, no, no, no, no..." Du Chuan wanted to argue, but Ye Miao did not hesitate. His right sword flew up and slashed across his neck.
[Critical Hit]
【-5800】
Du Chuan's eyes were wide open, blood was flowing from his neck, and he fell to the ground.
The drops included various equipment, materials, medicine, gold coins, and three watermelons. Ye Miao calmly put everything away and walked back to the territory, where he saw Sun Chen and Fang Yuming had already won not far away.
Sun Chen was amazed and gave a thumbs up: "Boss, your character will never collapse!"
"I'll return the watermelons to you." Ye Miao handed over the three watermelons one by one, and then casually grabbed a handful of gold coins. "These are what Du Chuan dropped. See if it's enough to cover your loss last time. If it is, I'll keep the rest."
Sun Chen focused his gaze: [Gold Coins*1286]
"Enough, enough, enough! Thank you, boss! You've worked so hard! I'll treat you all to dinner tomorrow night!"
"You're welcome." Ye Miao said calmly.
Sun Chen didn't bother him any more, collected the watermelon coins and left. Ye Miao was about to go back when Fang Yuming called out, "Ye Miao."
Ye Miao turned around, and Fang Yuming was silent for a moment. "I found a new boss nearby. Are you interested in teaming up to fight him? If you have other teammates, you can also call them."
"Hmm..." Ye Miao hesitated.
If she was allowed to go alone, she would have no objection, but she felt embarrassed when she mentioned "other teammates". After all, everyone's strength was quite different from Fang Yuming's, so they said they were forming a team together, but in fact they were just helping him.
However, the next second, Fang Yuming opened the panel, which clearly read:
【Combat skills: Level 90】
Ye Miao:?!
How did this guy level up like it was just a piece of cake?! She was already shocked the last time she saw him at level 70 or 80, but now he's already at level 90. That's outrageous!
In many games, an invisible threshold appears when the level reaches a certain level, and it becomes obviously more difficult to practice further.
The hurdle of "Fantasy World" is at level 90. Before level 90, you can work hard to upgrade, but after level 90, each level is very difficult, and there is a clear gap in strength for each level difference.
Because of this, aside from those like her who used cheats, and Chu Cheng, who already had incredible talent in their original world, there weren't many max-level players in the entire game. Level 90 and above was firmly in the first tier, a true powerhouse.
Ye Miao was stunned. Fang Yuming looked at her with gloomy eyes. "There are snow monsters on the snowy mountains south of T City. They're not very high-level, but they appear in groups, so you need to form a team to kill them. If you're interested, call a few people to go with you tomorrow. If you can't come back at night, you can find a nearby inn to stay. Do you want to go?"
"...Okay." Ye Miao slowly came back to his senses, coughed, and replied, "Okay! How many people do you think are suitable?"
"It's up to you." Fang Yuming paused, then said, "What time do you want to leave?"
Ye Miao pondered and said, "It's quite far to the south, so let's go earlier. How about 7 o'clock?"
"Okay." Fang Yuming smiled slightly, and his heartstrings relaxed.
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