Chapter 256 I Picked Up Trash on the Battlefield of National Fortune 12
Countless gazes, a mixture of curiosity, greed, and awe, were fixed on Zhou Jue's stall.
Zhou Jue acted as if nothing had happened. She bent down, slowly folded the gray cloth that was spread on the ground, and put it back into her storage space.
Then she stood up, pulled up her hood, and turned to leave.
"This...this is it? They're closing up shop already?"
"We've earned 3,000 points, enough for us to work for a year. Why would we need to set up a stall?"
"This NPC is so cool, he just gave up 4,000 points like that."
The pharmacist next to him, number 44, still had a blank expression on his face, a mixture of shock, jealousy, and bewilderment.
He watched Zhou Jue's departing figure, opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he couldn't squeeze out a single word.
He felt as if those "experiences from his predecessors" were slapping him across the face.
Ignoring the whispers behind her, Zhou Jue quietly blended into the edge of the market and headed towards the exit.
Just as she was about to leave the market area, she paused slightly.
She sensed it.
A gaze, devoid of the greed and burning desire of those around him, but rather a profound scrutiny.
She glanced at him discreetly out of the corner of her eye.
In the shadows at the far corner of the market sat an old man.
The old man, dressed in a faded old-fashioned training uniform, leaned against the wall with an old Tang sword wrapped in cloth lying across his lap.
He was looking down, using a cloth to wipe the blade over and over again with great concentration.
He didn't seem to be looking at anyone, but Zhou Jue knew that the gaze was coming from him.
"Host, we have detected a huge demand from Dragon Kingdom players for 'Stamina Recovery Potions,' 'Healing Potions,' and 'Equipment Repair.'"
The system's voice rang in her mind at just the right moment.
“Your Blue Abyss Lake water, after dilution, can be perfectly disguised as a ‘stamina recovery potion.’ Your spiritual spring water, after dilution, can be used as a ‘healing potion’ at almost zero cost.”
Zhou Jue did not stop walking, but he already understood.
As she walked, she pretended to observe her surroundings, circled around, and from another angle, stealthily approached the corner again.
The Fang of the Sea was activated, and the old man's voice resounded.
"Pricing it at one thousand is a precise grasp of the wolf cubs' pain points."
"Is refusing Aziz's offer of 4,000 points a rule-breaking move, or simply a matter of not caring about the points?"
"Is it because of the rules that it's first-come, first-served, or is it intentionally helping players from the Dragon Kingdom?"
"But so far, no NPC has refused points; they're probably mostly trying to help players from the Dragon Kingdom. But why? We need to test this further."
"This person... or rather, this NPC, acts in a methodical manner. We can try to make contact, but we must remain highly vigilant and classify them as a top-level observation target."
"If it's truly an intention to help players from the Dragon Kingdom..."
After listening silently to the old man's account, Zhou Jue felt a ripple in his heart.
[Data search in progress... Host, this person is called Jiang Zhe, codename 'Old Jiang', one of the first players in the Dragon Kingdom, former staff officer of the Dragon Kingdom's strategic command, and now the brain of the Dragon Kingdom on the battlefield of national destiny. Wow, he's a big shot!]
Sure enough, this old fox was incredibly astute.
She didn't linger and quickly left the player town, returning to the small, quiet room that belonged to player 0714.
As the light from the teleportation faded, the first thing she did was open her bracelet and check her points balance.
[Points: 3488]
A huge sum of money.
She immediately opened the National Fortune System Shop, and a dazzling list of products popped up.
[Advanced Disguise Module]: Can simulate the appearance and basic behavior patterns of any NPC below Grade A for 24 hours. Price: 8000 points.
[Space Expansion Permit (Level 1)]: Increases personal storage space by 100%. Price: 10,000 points.
【Universal Repair Fluid (Concentrated)】: Can completely repair one piece of damaged equipment below Grade A. Price: 15,000 points.
......
[Planet Barrier: Can completely conceal an entire planet. Price: 99,999,999 points]
Zhou Jue was delighted to see the planetary barrier, but when he saw the score, his heart sank.
I was just one cent away from a hundred million. It turns out that with all my money here, I'm still penniless.
She couldn't afford any of the truly good things.
It seems that the business of selling garbage needs to continue to grow and strengthen.
...
the next day.
The familiar teleportation sensation returned, and Zhou Jue once again appeared on a brand new set of ruins as the battlefield cleanup NPC-0714.
D-4, abandoned industrial area.
The bracelet screen lights up.
Today's mission: Clean up the 'radiation contamination sources' in area D-4.
[Danger Level: Medium]
Zhou Jue pushed her little cart, the wheels making a creaking sound as they rolled over the ground.
Her divine sense instantly enveloped an area spanning several kilometers.
She soon made a discovery.
Inside a massive factory that had collapsed halfway, a five-person team was struggling to fend off a horde of monsters, their backs pressed against a huge metal furnace.
He is a player from China.
Their equipment was very poor; the most conspicuous protection they had was just a few metal plates strapped to their vital areas.
The energy beams emitted by the weapon in his hand also seemed weak and feeble.
They were attacked by a group of monsters that looked like hyenas and emitted a ghostly green glow.
"Radiation predators" are a Class C pollutant that is fast-moving, numerous, and extremely difficult to deal with.
"Captain! I'm out of energy!" A young girl's voice trembled with tears.
"The shield is about to shatter! We can't hold on any longer!"
"Damn it! Let's fight them!"
A sense of despair spread through the squad.
As Zhou Jue watched this scene, his mind raced.
Taking direct action is definitely not an option, as it would expose our identities.
Lure the monster over, then kill it with the purifier?
No, that would be too much of a commotion and too deliberate, which wouldn't fit her "ignore the players" robot persona.
We must use a more natural and "reasonable" approach.
She quickly came up with an idea.
She calculated the angle and distance, then pushed her jingling little cart towards the factory building at a leisurely pace.
Her route would pass right by the outside of the furnace where the small team was hiding.
Inside the factory, the Dragon Kingdom squad, who were locked in a fierce battle, also heard the noise.
What was that sound?
"Clanging and banging...it sounds like...a stroller?"
"Could it be..."
One of the team members risked his life to peek out, and when he saw the figure pushing the cart and wearing a gray uniform, his face instantly lit up with ecstasy.
"It's that cleaning NPC! It's 0714!"
"We're saved! Quick! Lure the monster over there!"
The captain grabbed him, his face grave: "Don't move! The strategy says we can't provoke him! He'll only deal with his targets, he won't care about us!"
"What are we going to do? Just watch him walk by?"
Everyone's heart was in their throat.
They watched helplessly as the gray figure drew closer and closer.
Just like the guide described, the NPC was oblivious to their fierce battle; all he saw was the trash on the ground.
Hope, just ignited, was extinguished in an instant.
Zhou Jue pushed the cart to a pile of discarded mechanical parts outside the factory.
The timing is perfect.
She tripped "inadvertently" and her whole body swayed suddenly.
The small cart in his hand also shook violently.
With a loud bang.
A brand new bottle filled with white liquid, called "purifying agent," rolled off the shelf of the car.
It bounced twice on the ground, drew an arc, and silently rolled into the gap between a pile of parts.
That location was less than a meter away from the Dragon Kingdom team inside the factory.
Zhou Jue seemed completely unaware.
She steadied herself, straightened the cart, and continued pushing it forward, disappearing into the other end of the factory without looking back.
Inside the factory, there was a deathly silence.
All the members of that Dragon Kingdom team stared dumbfounded at the bottle that rolled to their feet, then at the receding figure, their minds blank.
The next second, a cold, mechanical voice rang in Zhou Jue's mind.
[Warning: The quest item 'Purifying Agent' for NPC-0714 has been detected as missing.]
[10 points will be deducted based on the remaining uses of the item.]
The quest items have been reissued.
Zhou Jue glanced down at the brand-new purifier that had appeared out of nowhere in his car, and then used his divine sense to perceive the team behind him. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the team erupted in ecstasy at surviving a disaster and cheers for turning the tide of the battle.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, hidden beneath her helmet where no one could see.
With a cheerful expression, she stretched out her long-handled tongs and picked up a "broken chip" that was shimmering faintly at her feet.
[Recycling successful, points +18.]
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