Chapter 253 I Picked Up Trash on the Battlefield of National Fortune 9
Zhou Jue felt his feet touch solid ground, and the weightlessness brought on by the teleportation instantly disappeared.
She didn't look up immediately, but first adjusted to the sounds around her.
It's very quiet.
Only a faint commotion could be heard in the distance, along with the humming sound of liquid flowing in the pipes around us; this place felt like a narrow logistics corridor.
She looked down at her new outfit.
He wore a dark brown hooded robe that covered his entire body. The fabric was thick and the hem almost dragged on the ground. On the chest, inconspicuous silk thread, was a line of small characters: NPC-1024.
She reached out and pulled down her hood, the wide brim hanging down and completely hiding her face in shadow.
This disguise is quite good.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from the other end of the passage.
An NPC dressed in a repairman's uniform hurried past her, pushing a cart full of parts.
When the man saw Zhou Jue, he paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the number on her chest. He then nodded slightly to her before continuing to push his cart away.
There wasn't a single word exchanged throughout the entire process; it was like a tacit understanding between colleagues.
Zhou Jue's tense nerves relaxed. It seemed that the backdoor opened by the system was perfect, and her identity file was flawless.
She walked along the passage toward the direction from which the light and sound were coming, and after a few steps, an exit appeared before her.
With one step, a breathtaking view unfolds, and the clamor of voices washes over you like a tidal wave.
A massive, streamlined building pierces the sky, while a holographic screen suspended in mid-air displays a scrolling leaderboard. In the wide plaza, players of various attire, their faces showing either fatigue or excitement, can be seen everywhere.
This is Player Town.
A futuristic, high-tech rest base for the victors.
Zhou Jue pulled his hood down even lower, like an inconspicuous shadow, silently merging into the crowd and walking along the edge of the square.
Her gaze swept quickly across the unfamiliar faces, and soon she spotted several familiar figures in the crowd in the center of the square.
Lin Feng, Wang Meng, Chen Xue...
Their team members were all there, surrounded by a large group of other Chinese players, like some kind of celebrities.
Meanwhile, Wang Meng, who had the loudest voice, was gesturing wildly with spittle flying everywhere.
Zhou Jue approached discreetly, hiding behind a player who was looking at the leaderboard, and pricked up his ears.
"Let me tell you, you didn't see it! That monster was taller than a two-story building, and it shattered our energy shield with a single slap!"
Wang Meng's voice was filled with the excitement of surviving a disaster.
A player next to him looked incredulous: "Really? An A-rank 'Lava Bear'? Anyone who touches that thing during the newbie phase is dead. How did you guys survive?"
"Hey, this is all thanks to our luck!" Wang Meng slapped his thigh, beaming with pride: "We ran into a god-like NPC!"
"A divine NPC?"
This word immediately aroused the curiosity of everyone around.
“Yes!” Wang Meng emphasized, “An NPC wearing a gray janitor’s uniform, pushing a broken-down cart, we lured the monster over, and without saying a word, he picked up a spray can and sprayed it like it was spraying a cockroach, ‘whoosh!’”
He imitated the spraying motion, making exaggerated sound effects.
"That A-grade behemoth melted into a puddle of water in just three seconds, like an ice cube falling into boiling water! Not even a trace was left!"
Holy crap!
"That intense?"
"Really? A spray? What kind of spray can instantly kill an A-rank monster?"
A gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.
Lin Feng, who had been silent until now, spoke up. His voice was calm and steady, suppressing the surrounding noise.
"It's true, we all saw it with our own eyes. The NPC's number is 0714, and his task seems to be cleaning up the contaminants on the battlefield, including the monsters."
Chen Xue, the short-haired girl, pushed up her glasses and added, "The most crucial thing is that he didn't react to us players at all. Whether we called for help or approached, he acted as if he didn't see us. Our captain took the purification agent from his car, and he didn't stop us at all."
The crowd erupted in chaos.
"No reaction even after the props are taken away? What kind of living Buddha is this?"
"We get warned for even glancing at an NPC, yet you manage to steal from them?"
"Damn it, the difference between people is even greater than the difference between people and dogs!"
Listening to these discussions, Zhou Jue hid in the shadows, feeling somewhat strange.
She never imagined that her alias of picking up trash would become so well-known among gamers.
Just then, another person spoke up again, revealing information that surprised Zhou Jue even more.
"Everyone, please be quiet."
He looked around and said solemnly, "Just now, the command center sent us a very important message through the last contact of the month."
"The Supreme Command Center has confirmed that NPC-0714 is indeed a special entity that can be used by us."
"The instructions from above are that if we encounter him again on the battlefield, while ensuring our own safety and avoiding provocation, we can try to lure the monsters we can't fight into his area. This could be a crucial opportunity for us Dragon Kingdom players to increase our survival rate during the newbie phase!"
This "strategy guide" from the official Dragon Kingdom website was like a bombshell, causing all Dragon Kingdom players to go wild.
Hidden behind the crowd, Zhou Jue was inwardly churning with turmoil. Her actions had actually risen to the level of national strategy? Would that attract the attention of the nation's strategic battlefield?
This puts a lot of pressure on me.
It seems I'll need to hone my acting skills when picking up trash and discarding props in the future, and make sure I can convincingly portray a "heartless cleaning machine."
She quietly slipped out of the crowd and continued wandering around the town.
Now, she has a more intuitive understanding of the players' needs.
Life-saving items are the hard currency.
She walked into the town's commercial district, where shops lined the streets, offering everything from equipment stores and pharmacies to material shops.
However, at the entrance of each store, there were many players, all sighing and looking like they had been constipated for ten days or half a month.
Zhou Jue walked to the entrance of a pharmacy called "Gaia's Gift" and peered inside.
The store shelves were filled with brightly colored medicines, which shimmered enticingly under the lights.
A player, covered in wounds and limping, walked to the counter after just finishing a mission.
"Boss, give me a bottle of the lowest-grade 'Stamina Recovery Potion'."
The NPC shopkeeper with a goatee behind the counter didn't even lift his eyelids, lazily holding up five fingers.
"50 points."
"What?!" The player's voice instantly rose: "A potion that restores 20% of your stamina costs you 50 points? You might as well just rob us!"
"Take it or leave it." The goatee-bearded shopkeeper picked at his ear. "Next."
The player was so angry his face turned green, but looking at his empty stamina bar, he gritted his teeth, spent 50 points, took the small bottle of potion, and left cursing.
"Damn it, this store is a vampire! I risked my life to earn 180 points this time, bought two bottles of medicine, repaired a weapon, and now I have nothing left!"
“Who says otherwise?” one of his companions complained. “My shield cracked, and when I asked at the ‘Dwarven Forge’ next door, they said it would cost 150 points to repair. I suspect these NPCs set their prices so we’ll never be able to save up any money!”
Zhou Jue listened silently, already having made up his mind.
Official store, high prices, monopolistic operation.
The player base is short on points and desperately needs them.
This market environment was practically tailor-made for her.
This stamina recovery potion and her Lan Yuan Lake water have the same effect! She can even disguise ordinary spiritual spring water as a repair potion!
The "loot" she possessed, the "Shadow Essence," might be contaminants that the official team needs to deal with, but what about the players?
The items dropped by A-rank and B-rank monsters, even if they are just materials, are absolutely valuable.
There's also food, but it costs a lot of points to eat here.
A bold business plan slowly took shape in Zhou Jue's mind.
After learning about the market price, she turned around without hesitation.
She opened her bracelet interface, brought up the map of the player town, and quickly found an area marked "Flea Market" in a secluded corner.
The map caption reads: Free Trade Zone, where players and NPCs are allowed to set up stalls.
This is the place.
She pulled her hood up tighter, started walking against the flow of people, and headed towards that corner brimming with business opportunities.
It's time to open our first business.
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