The next morning, the members woke up and went to the grocery store as usual. Those with less money would buy a cheap breakfast, while those with more money would buy some delicious food at the small market before heading to the grocery store to see if there were any new items on the shelves.
Recently, in addition to the items Ye Miao was "reselling" from the system store, Xiao Shuai would also put a few pieces of equipment he crafted daily on the shelves for everyone to choose from. Members would usually casually browse with a sense of chance, buying if they found something suitable, and returning if they didn't.
But today, the people queuing in front of the grocery store were moving noticeably slower than usual, and a lot of them had gathered before anyone noticed.
The people in the front row took a long time to leave, and the people in the back row became impatient and shouted, "Can't you hurry up? What are you doing in front?"
According to system settings, the shopping panel at the City Merchants' Shop is visible to only one person at a time, and the one at the Territory Grocery Store is also visible to only three people at a time. The three people in the front were perusing the introduction with a look of curiosity. When they heard someone urging them to leave, they were anxious but reluctant to leave. They could only shout, "Excuse me! We have something new today!"
The person behind frowned: "There are always new things lately!"
"Today is different!" one of them said, "Let me read it to you!"
She lowered her voice and spoke in a rhythmic voice, "Item: Kung Pao Chicken; Quality: Purple; Price: 70 gold. I won't bother reading the description, you all know it. There's a note below: Originally owned by a territory member named 'Cao Xi'. Cao Xi absconded with the supplies during the hiring process and is now deceased..."
"Item: Intermediate Blood Replenishing Potion; Quality: White; Price: 20 gold coins. Note: Originally owned by territory member 'Cao Xi', who absconded with the supplies during the hiring process and is now deceased..."
After reading two sentences, the team behind started discussing.
"Cao Xi? The one the boss announced a bounty for yesterday?"
"Yes, yes, that's the name..."
"He was fine just two days ago, and now he's dead? How terrifying!"
"What's so scary about this? It's all your own fault! Didn't you hear the note about 'absconding with supplies during the employment process'? To put it bluntly, you're taking the boss's job, earning his money, and then stealing his stuff. Would you tolerate this?"
"That's right..." The member who had been lamenting the horror sighed, thought for a moment, and then sighed, "She's quite foolish. Our boss treats everyone so well. If she followed him, he would definitely not treat her badly. Why did she think of stealing things... I don't know what she stole."
"I stole a gold card. According to the market price, it's worth about 30,000 gold." Ye Miao's voice came over calmly. The members who were whispering looked in the direction of the voice, and the whole team fell silent in an instant.
Ye Miao remained calm as always: "I don't like to do things so drastically, but I don't like others thinking that I'm easy to bully. So, I hope everyone can get along well with each other in normal times, and don't think that bullying others will go unpunished, whether it's towards me or other members of the territory."
There was a long line in front of the grocery store, and it was dead silent.
Ye Miao raised his eyebrows: "Do you understand?"
“…I understand, I understand!” The members came to their senses and nodded rapidly.
"Very good." Ye Miao nodded in satisfaction, said no more, and turned to head towards the small market.
The news spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred. For most of the day afterwards, the atmosphere in the village was a bit depressing.
In the afternoon, Ren Guoqing and Wang Yong set out with their respective teams and met by chance at the gate of their territory. Ren Guoqing was caught off guard by his "companion" and felt a little awkward. However, Zheng Sisi from Wang Yong's team reacted quickly: "Hey, Brother Ren, are you going on business too?"
Ren Guoqing: "Ah, yes! I'm planning to go to Fearless Village!"
It must be said that some of the "unwritten rules" in the apocalypse are still useful. Although the Fearless Village and the Overnight Rich Village are incompatible, they have always adhered to this rule, and the merchant teams have always been safe.
Therefore, both Wang Yong and Ren Guoqing love to go to Wuwei Village to do business!
On the one hand, the two territories were close together, making it convenient for them to trade. Everything in Fearless Village was expensive, so no matter what goods they brought there, they would always sell out. This perfectly reflected the principle of "low cost, high profit" in every aspect.
On the other hand, the people of Fearless Village have been demoralized recently. It seems that Xu Wu and the core members are extremely angry about their sudden wealth, while the other members are increasingly yearning for this "pure land".
When both teams went to Fearless Village, they were envied by many members. After all, everyone is a little vain, and who doesn't enjoy the envious gazes of others?
An hour later, the two teams arrived at Wuwei Village. Wuwei Village had ample purchasing power, and neither side wanted to avoid unnecessary hostility. After checking in at the post station, Wang Yong said, "Shall I go east?"
Ren Guoqing: "Then I'll go west."
After leaving the post station, they split into two groups and each went to find an open space to set up a stall.
Less than five minutes after the various products were put on display, the stall was surrounded by people.
Zheng Sisi enthusiastically introduced the products while carefully observing the changes around her. After a while, she seized the opportunity to strike up a conversation with a friendly-looking male pastor: "Why do I feel like there are fewer people today?"
The male priest said, "Hi," "Everyone's out hunting monsters these days!" He paused and sighed, "But... a lot of people have left recently."
Zheng Sisi asked knowingly, "What's the matter?"
The male pastor looked at her and said, "Why, haven't you seen anyone from the Fearless Village come to your side? Everyone is envious of the prices and atmosphere over there, and they've all turned from evil to good!"
Zheng Sisi was enjoying the fun and asked, "Why don't you go?"
The male pastor's face darkened when asked: "Why not go? Don't you want to? Aren't you poor and cowardly?"
He was poor, and couldn’t escape even with the 3,000 gold bodyguard fee; he was timid, and didn’t dare to leave on his own.
He felt that the most miserable people in Fearless Village were those like him.
Over at Ren Guoqing's place, another "poor and timid" player, after careful consideration, decided to open a new track. She cautiously watched from the side, patiently waiting until the crowded players ahead had finished their purchases and left. Then, she approached Ren Guoqing and asked, "Can we discuss business?"
Ren Guoqing was squatting behind the stall sorting out unsold items. He looked up at the sound and asked, "What business?"
The female mage also squatted down and whispered, "Take me with you when your caravan leaves Fearless Village, and I will pay you 1,000 gold."
Ren Guoqing: “…”
Female Mage: "Is it possible?"
"...I think it's the same if you walk to the door of getting rich overnight, then quit the Fearless Village, and then directly add it after quitting." Ren Guoqing spoke word by word.
Female Mage: "That won't work. If I do that, even if I join the Get Rich Overnight Village, Xu Wu will probably find someone to hunt me down, and my life will be in turmoil."
Ren Guoqing was puzzled: "Then if you follow me, she won't chase you anymore?"
"Of course!" the female mage said confidently, "You have a team of so many people. If I go out with you, doesn't it obviously show that I have someone to protect me? Otherwise, why do you think those people who were taken away by the boss were not hunted down?"
"..." Ren Guoqing was speechless. "Is there a possibility that those people were not hunted down because Xu Wu really couldn't defeat those big guys. But if I take you away, Xu Wu really can defeat me."
"Oh no!" the female mage smiled. "Hunting caravans is an iron rule. Fearless Village is already facing internal and external troubles, and we won't do something that will obviously incur public outrage!"
Ren Guoqing: "Stop fooling me!"
"Can I add another 500 gold?" the female mage persisted. "If it works, I can also gather a few more friends. You can earn thousands more gold per trip, tens of thousands is not impossible!"
Tens of thousands? How many people would that be?
Ren Guoqing stood up and told the team members: "You guys keep an eye on it for a while, I'm going back to the post station to catch up on some sleep!"
After saying this, he turned around quickly and jogged towards the post station.
"Ah——" The female mage didn't have time to stop him, as he had already run away.
The female mage knew that the team leader had run away, and even if the team members were persuaded by her, they would probably not be able to make a decision. She was heartbroken.
But after taking two deep breaths, she decided she couldn't give up. She pulled herself together and looked at the best-equipped person among the remaining people: "Hey, this young lady~~"
Two hours later, it was dinner time in the village. Normally, at this time, the business of the merchant teams was at its peak, but today most of the people from both teams gathered in the small lobby of the post station, leaving only one person from each team to continue setting up stalls outside to handle business.
On both sides of a square table, the two captains sighed to each other.
The team members were all in deep thought. For a long while, only sighs could be heard in the room, until Wang Yong broke the silence.
He raised his eyes and looked at Ren Guoqing: "What are your plans?"
Ren Guoqing breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair. "They've got 21 of us, and if we collect 1,000 gold per person, that's 21,000 gold. There are six of us on your side, and six on my side, so that's twelve in total. If we split it evenly, each person will make a net profit of 1,750 gold. If we collect 1,500 gold, that's 2,625 gold per person."
Wang Yong couldn't sit still any longer: "I think I'd be a fool not to make this money."
"Yeah, who wants to go against money?" Ren Guoqing said this, but his smile was bitter.
Wang Yong: "What are your concerns?"
Ren Guoqing: "Aren't you afraid that the people in Wuwei Village will act without any moral principles and just kill them regardless of whether they are merchants or not?"
Wang Yong fell silent again.
"Besides," Ren Guoqing drummed his index finger on the table. "The 'unwritten rule' protecting the caravans was because the trade was beneficial to the territory. Now if we help them 'smuggle' across, it would be a direct provocation to Xu Wu. You're Xu Wu, can you swallow this?"
"I understand this..." Wang Yong gritted his teeth. He knew that making this kind of money was like licking blood from a knife, but he couldn't help but be tempted.
What does 2600+ gold coins mean? It doesn't sound like much, but it can buy three stone houses, and more than half a brick house. If you don't count it by house, this money can directly cover daily expenses for more than half a month, and that's enough to eat and drink well every day.
What's more, it can also dismantle the stage of Fearless Village.
In the "Get Rich Overnight Village," who wouldn't want to tear down the "Fearless Village"? It's simply a shared passion and expectation, right?
Zheng Si pondered for a moment and spoke cautiously: "I have an immature suggestion..."
The two captains and the entire room of team members looked at her. Wang Yong asked, "What?"
Zheng Sisi hesitated and asked, "Is it possible for us to make money without taking any responsibility?"
"?" Ren Guoqing laughed. "You wish. If such a good thing could happen, wouldn't the combat players in the village have come long ago? How could it be our turn?"
"After all, we have a caravan buff, which makes us much safer than others!" Zheng Sisi took two steps forward and said her thoughts seriously, "I think we can lower the price, but we must make it clear to them that we are only responsible for maintaining appearances. If Xu Wu doesn't send anyone after them, that's fine. If she does, we will immediately distance ourselves from the matter and only hope to escape unscathed. We will not be responsible for protecting them!"
Wang Yong was speechless: "Isn't this inappropriate?"
"We're not lying to them." Zheng Sisi spread her hands. "We've made the price and conditions clear to them. If they want to take a chance, they can go with us. If they feel unsafe, they can stay here. It's not like we'll turn against them and abandon them if something goes wrong."
It seems that it is not impossible...
Wang Yong was shaken.
Ren Guoqing said with mixed feelings: "Young people are still very smart!"
Wang Yong still didn't dare to make a hasty decision. After thinking for a few breaths, he asked Ren Guoqing, "Do you want to do it?"
"Let's do it." Ren Guoqing made up his mind.
"Okay, let's do it together!" Wang Yong laughed.
That night, the news spread slowly across the Fearless Village like a gust of sand.
In order to avoid being caught by Xu Wu, the members were very careful. No one spoke directly in the chat channel, but chose the most simple way of communication, "word of mouth".
"Pure Land group tickets are available for 20 people, and each person can go for only 800 gold! The advantages are that it's cheap, and there's support. The disadvantages are that they're just there to 'support' you, but they're not responsible if anything goes wrong. If your application isn't approved once you get there, you'll have to find somewhere else to stay."
This news did not conceal the services that came with the price tag, and it caused a lot of discussion as soon as it spread.
Some people were crazy about it: "It's only 800, it's worth it!"
Someone remained calm: "What's it worth? I'm only charging 800 gold to support the cause. Not only will I not be held responsible if anything goes wrong, but I can't guarantee your application will be approved. All those brought in by the bosses have successfully joined the 'Pure Land' without exception!"
"So the prices for the big guys have nearly quadrupled!" the enticed person retorted. "Don't you think about it? That's the 'Pure Land'. Not only is the atmosphere friendly, but the cost of living is also extremely low. If your application was guaranteed to be approved, would it be this price? Do you think everyone can enter the 'Pure Land'?"
The person who was refuted fell silent, and at the same time felt a little damn moved.
Someone else said, "I think this price is fine. We're just betting on whether anything goes wrong along the way. If not, it should be fine to join."
This time even the crazy one was curious: "Why do you say that?"
The man said, "There's nothing good about Fearless, but there's one good thing: everyone's pretty strong. In the apocalypse, real strength still counts. If we apply, our chances of getting approved should be much higher than others. Besides, if it really doesn't work out..."
He looked around and lowered his voice: "I've thought it through. If it really doesn't work out, I'll just stay at the overnight inn for a few days! After all, except for the expensive accommodation, everything else is cheap when you get rich overnight. It won't cost much overall. I can wait until Xu Wu's anger is over before looking for another territory!"
"That's a solution..." Seeing that there was a way out, everyone became even more excited.
Damn it! He clearly knows that the death rate of “smuggling” has always been extremely high throughout history, yet now he can’t help but want to take the risk!
At six o'clock the next morning, the members of the business team gathered at the entrance of the post station in the gray sky.
In the past, they had not gotten up at this time yet, but today they got up early on purpose in order to slip away before Xu Wu got up. It felt like a ritual of smuggling.
After everyone gathered, they left the post station and headed for the main gate. Ren Guoqing felt a little sleepless, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he left. But when he looked up at the main gate, he was instantly awake: "?!"
Not only him, but everyone stared at the crowd in front of them in amazement. Three seconds later, even Zheng Sisi, who had come up with the idea, couldn't help but be shocked: "How many people?!"
"...34." The female mage who had first spoken to Ren Guoqing yesterday came out to answer the question, a little embarrassed. "Isn't it inconvenient with so many people? How about...how about we keep half of them and do it next time..."
"Next time?" Ren Guoqing immediately shook his head. These people didn't mind waiting a few more days, but he didn't want to engage in such a dangerous business back and forth.
He had no choice but to calm down and waved his hand: "Let's go!"
After saying that, he and his teammates went out first.
Wang Yong held his ground, motioning the stowaways from Wuwei Village to go ahead. After the last person left, he led the team to catch up.
In this way, Ren Guoqing's team walked in the front, five or six meters away were more than 30 members of the Fearless Village, and then five or six meters away were the members of Wang Yong's team.
Ever since Ye Miao started to stir up trouble, Xu Wu had arranged for two people to stand guard outside the gate. At this moment, a large group of people were rushing out, but no one looked at them, and they walked out with a righteous attitude.
"Oh..." The two people were in a dilemma.
——The group in the middle is obviously their people, but there are caravans in front and behind, with a distance in between. It seems that they are somewhat related, but also seem to have nothing to do with each other.
——Why don’t they go over and ask?
——No... If it was another caravan, they would just ask, but their sudden wealth has already made them hostile to them. If they take the initiative to question them, it is likely to arouse their hostility, which will be very troublesome.
While the two people were struggling, the large group of people had already walked more than ten meters away.
The 34 members of the Fearless Village held their breath, only to relax slightly when they saw they hadn't caught up. Then, they opened their interfaces and pressed "Exit."
"Member [Wu Yue] has withdrawn from [Fearless Village]."
"Member [Li Xiaorui] has left [Fearless Village]."
"Member [Guo Ying] has withdrawn from [Fearless Village]."
"Member [Han Ziyang] has withdrawn from [Fearless Village]."
"Member [Du Chuan] has left [Fearless Village]."
…
The news of withdrawing from the territory popped up 34 times in Xu Wu’s message prompt bar.
However, getting up early caused everyone to accidentally encounter a bug - when the lord was sleeping, the member application and exit prompts were all muted!
The two buddies at the door were still struggling, but they couldn't see the reminder sent to Xu Wu, and didn't know that those members had quietly withdrawn. In the end, they felt that it was better to have less trouble than more.
More than an hour later, when the group arrived at the village that had become rich overnight, Ye Miao had just woken up and was eating pancakes in the small market.
Over the next few days, Deng Wei's schedule became increasingly streamlined. She'd rise in the morning to sell a batch of pancakes, then join Zhang Tingting's team on a monster hunt, acting as the team's strongest support. She'd return at noon, taking a leisurely rest. She'd continue monster hunting in the afternoon, and then set up shop again in the evening.
The pancakes smell so good!
Ye Miao was enjoying the food mouthful by mouthful when suddenly dozens of application messages popped up, and the message alert sound almost choked her.
"What the hell." Ye Miao took a sip of soy milk to slow down, then clicked on the details.
She was inevitably surprised by the large number of applications, but she quickly calmed herself down and checked the specific attributes of the applicants.
Almost all of them were combat players, and their levels were not low. Ye Miao had some guesses, assuming they all came from the Fearless Village. He smiled with mixed feelings and then approved them in batches.
Anyway, now that the upper limit of the number of people has been raised, there is no harm in increasing the total combat power of the territory.
At first, she was worried about the character of the members coming from the Fearless Village, but now it seems that most of them are nice. It can be seen that hunting players and slaughtering territories are only the intentions of the core team, and ordinary players do not like to join in the looting.
If I have to point out an obvious shortcoming, it is that the people coming from Fearless Village are too arrogant!
Outside the territory gate, the players anxiously awaited a response.
The moment they saw the "Application Approved" pop-up window, a noticeable sigh of relief erupted from the crowd. Then, almost cheering, everyone rushed through the gate, heading for the "pure land" in their minds.
"I heard there's a lot of delicious food here! I'm going to eat my fill today!"
"You're useless... I want to buy a house! I don't need to live in a thatched hut this time! I'm going to buy a wooden house!"
"I need to see if there's a team I can join. Even though I've been forced to level up, killing monsters isn't really my thing. I really miss life back home, farming and raising chickens..."
Everyone happily rushed towards their new lives. In the small market, Ye Miaojing watched a large group of people pouring in from the main gate. She sighed and smiled, then returned to the residential area and knocked on Chu Cheng's door.
Chu Cheng moved to a new house last night, moving into a three-story villa. However, Ye Miao herself was reluctant to move and always wanted to keep the house and sell it to make money.
Chu Cheng opened the door and saw that it was her. He invited her in. Ye Miao took two steps inside and said straight to the point: "I think it's about time to settle accounts with Xu Wu."
Chu Cheng paused as he was closing the door and turned around: "Have you thought it through?"
"Yeah." Ye Miao nodded. "Actually, the problem with this matter has never been whether I want to cause trouble for her or not, but that once she recovers, she will cause trouble for me. So now that the time has come, let's solve the problem as soon as possible and not give her a chance to recuperate."
"Okay." Chu Cheng nodded. "Then you set a time and I'll go find someone. How many people do you need?"
Ye Miao pondered, "I asked a new member yesterday, and he said that when he left, there were less than eighty people left in Fearless Village. Thirty-four more arrived today, so there are only about thirty left. There are definitely some non-core members among them. I don't think they will fight to the death. Nine out of ten times they will flee when they see the situation is not going well. Let's be conservative and count thirty people as well."
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