Chapter 258 Exclusively Published on Jinjiang: Disembarkation and Sightseeing
"Hey, bro, why didn't you choose the thorn vine? It's strong and looks a lot like the vampire vine."
As soon as the outsiders left, Li Tuo couldn't help but mutter to Li Jing, "With the thorn vine, our fighting power will be among the best in the village. It'll make our dad proud."
Li Tie glanced at him and said, "I don't need the boss to use this to make me look good. It's his freedom to decide what contract your brother wants to make. Don't try to instigate me."
Li Jing remained firm in his stance and was not swayed by Li Tuo.
"Thorn vines are good, but succulents are not bad either. They can also play a supporting role by paralyzing enemies or prey. Besides, I prefer to stay in the ground to study planting, so it doesn't matter if my combat ability is a little weaker."
No matter how difficult the disaster, it will be over in two or three years. What use is strong combat power then?
Mutant succulents are different; once they no longer need to fight, they can be sold to pay off debts, providing a long-term source of income.
Wu Yinyin also supported her husband's decision.
Li Tuo, being a bachelor, can only think about his own pleasure, but people with families can't do that; safety should always come first.
The other successful contract holders didn't have many thoughts on this; they were just enthusiastically trying to control the newly acquired mutated plants.
Zhang Chengming, Xiong Mao, and others were eager to test the waters with them in a match.
"There's no rush to fight. Right now is a good opportunity for a friendly spar," Lu Xuan said to them.
Zhang Chengming asked in confusion, "What do you mean? What opportunity?"
Lu Xuan looked at the superhumans in the village and said, "Before His Majesty left, he hoped that you, or rather the superhumans in each town, could have a competition to test your skills."
"A duel?"
"All people with superpowers are participating?"
The belligerent Xiong Mao was the first to excitedly shout, "Great news! I was just getting tired of fighting with our own people all the time."
Lei Yan frowned. "Do we have to fight all the ability users? Wouldn't some ability users be at a disadvantage if their abilities weren't combat-related? And Chenchen is still so young."
There's also Lu Qing. Although water-based superpowers aren't entirely without combat capabilities, Lu Qing doesn't usually participate in battles. During hunts and beast attacks, she stays in the rear like the other women.
He was worried about letting her participate in this exchange competition.
His reminder made Ye Lin and Zhang Chengming a little anxious.
The former is because Ye Jing's enhanced hearing is of no help in direct combat, while the latter is because she thought of Zhang Dafu.
Lu Xuan said, "Participation in the exchange competition is based on resources. Those who are not suited for combat or are not interested in sparring can simply watch."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
"As for the younger ability users..." Lu Xuan's gaze swept over Lu Chen, who seemed quite eager to try, "Just like everyone else, decide for yourself whether or not to participate. Don't come back crying if you get beaten up."
Lu Chen immediately shouted, "I won't cry! I won't lose!"
Although he is only at level two, his gravity ability is very advantageous in both dodging and attacking. Even if he can't beat everyone, defeating more people is not a problem.
Mei Cheng and Zhang Dafu's abilities were not suited for combat, so neither of them planned to participate. They both said to Lu Chen, "We'll cheer you on!"
The exact start date and rules of the exchange competition still need to be discussed, and it is estimated that it will be two or three days from now at the earliest. Lu Xuan only told those who wanted to participate to prepare in the next two days and did not say anything more.
The others, however, planned to disembark after dinner and wander around.
The midnight sun hadn't ended yet, and from the cruise ship they could see that people were still coming and going in front of the dock, and the vendors showed no signs of packing up. It was a good opportunity to get familiar with the surroundings.
Half an hour later.
Dozens of men, women, and children from Yunlu Village disembarked from the cruise ship in a grand procession.
As soon as the group appeared on the street that had spontaneously formed in front of the dock, they attracted a lot of attention, and one could vaguely hear people whispering among themselves.
"They're from Yunlu Village, they've come down!"
"They look so healthy; they must never have gone hungry."
"They weren't ordinary people to begin with. Haven't you heard? There are dozens of people with superpowers in Yunlu Village. The Emperor has bestowed titles upon them, and among them are probably quite a few newly promoted nobles."
Others, with their outgoing personalities, would directly greet the approaching villagers, saying, "Would you like to take a look at my goods?"
He pointed to several baskets of lively seafood in front of him and said, "These fish and shrimp are the freshest goods brought back by people who went out to sea an hour ago. If you want them, I can give you a better price. Grain, nutrients, meat, and vegetables can all be traded."
Seeing this, the other vendors around also started trying to attract customers.
"Look, look! Fresh shrimp and crabs, all so lively and energetic. Just steam them a little and they'll be a delicious dish. Buy more and we'll even give you some extra!"
"Fresh seaweed is excellent in soups and salads, and it's so cheap that you only need one nutritional supplement per pound!"
"Scallops, fresh scallops, not only do they contain scallops that are perfect for making soup, but if you're lucky, you might even find pearls inside."
The villagers didn't directly say they had plenty of seafood; instead, they strolled around with great interest.
The vendors selling seafood in front of the dock are either relatives or friends of fishermen, or they are professional resellers who buy fish at low prices from fishermen and then resell them at a higher price.
Seafood is the easiest resource for them to obtain now, and the prices are mostly not expensive, unless you come across delicacies like lobster or abalone, but you can hardly see any of these high-quality seafood on the whole street.
Lu Xuan, who also went to sea, guessed that these kinds of high-quality seafood would likely be sold to wealthy people as soon as they were caught.
As the villagers strolled around, they would chat with the stall owners, who didn't mind that the villagers didn't buy anything and answered their questions enthusiastically.
An old man said, “We don’t have the skills to hunt. My eldest son and grandson went out to sea, and my youngest son went to help build the city wall. I’m too old to do heavy work, so I can only help my son sell seafood. During the tsunami, we only took the essential supplies with us. Now we are missing many things, so we have to work together as a family to replenish our supplies as soon as possible.”
The middle-aged woman next to me sighed, "I've lived all these years and never eaten seafood. Occasionally, I'd come across dried fish in the city, but the price was so high that I couldn't afford it. Now, I'm eating seafood with nutritional supplements every meal. I don't know whether to laugh or cry."
"It's good enough to have something to eat."
Another middle-aged man clicked his tongue and said, "My neighbors are really unlucky. Every time they eat seafood, they get rashes all over their bodies. The worst case was when their grandson almost suffocated the first time he ate it."
The people of Yunlu Village were not surprised by this. Miao Jinfeng said with great experience, "That family is allergic to seafood. Everyone's constitution is different. They will develop rashes when they eat certain foods."
Of the more than one hundred people in their village, some were allergic to seafood. And it wasn't just seafood; some people also couldn't eat the mangoes that Lu Xuan later brought back, which were rare fruits.
For example, his eldest grandson Li Kangbao, and Liu Yu from the Liu family who makes tofu, both feel unwell after eating them.
Miao Jinfeng, Granny Lin, and other elderly women chatted with the various stall owners for a while before remembering that they also needed to find a place to sell their goods, and then reluctantly ended their chat.
They felt bad for taking up a lot of people's time, so they took the initiative to ask the stall owners what supplies they needed and bought some delicious seafood.
The stall owners were even happier, and they excitedly told X what they needed at home.
Finally, when asked where in the city he could buy a TV, he kindly gave him directions.
The north bank where Yunlu Village landed was adjacent to Feng County's territory, and the number of people there was relatively small compared to other towns, leaving some space between the tents.
However, since it was a temporary move, the planning wasn't very good, and it still looks messy at first glance.
Lu Chen, Zhang Dafu, and the children followed their parents, their eyes occasionally falling on the children peeking out of the tent. They noticed that most of the children were dressed in tattered clothes, with sallow faces and tense expressions.
Mei Cheng and Mei Xue, who had previously been known for not announcing good news, were driven out, especially deeply.
But they didn't show any compassion and offer food; they simply stayed quietly by their family's/friends' side.
Upon arriving at the commercial street, the area was much more spacious than the residential area. It was just past lunchtime, and the sky was still bright. The street was bustling with people buying and selling goods.
This place is different from the dock. Although there are places selling seafood, they mostly sell other items.
Salt, sugar, nutrients, cloth, pickles, fresh meat, hides, firewood... they sell everything they eat, drink, wear, and use.
Zhang Chengming and other young men had all come to Fengxian to sell things before. Many of the street vendors and pedestrians recognized them, and their eyes lit up as soon as they saw them, and they flocked over.
"Mr. Zhang, you've finally arrived! I'd like to buy a larger tent, do you have any in stock?"
"I want two blankets."
"Brother Li Jing, give me two hoverboards."
"I want a hoverboard too."
"Do you buy kayaks? I want one that can seat four people."
The women originally wanted the men to sell the goods while they went to browse elsewhere, but seeing that there were so many customers that the men couldn't handle them all, they had no choice but to stay and help.
These guests have everything they need, but the most in demand are equipment for going out to sea and hoverboards.
There have been people trading hoverboards before, but the proportion was not large. After all, while these things are amazing, they are not necessities. But this time it's different.
The hoverboards are selling like hotcakes; within just one hour, hundreds of people wanted to buy them.
Zhang Chengming and the others didn't prepare that many goods, so in the end, they exchanged them directly with Lu Xuan.
The viewers in the live stream were all very surprised.
Why are so many people suddenly buying skateboards?
[Having just survived the tsunami and settled down, instead of thinking about stocking up on food, all you're thinking about is skateboarding?]
These ancient people were much more practical than us. How could so many of them buy impractical things? It's obvious they were terrified by the tsunami.
During a tsunami, even if there are boats available, the waves can be too big and they might capsize. Since the ground is unsafe, people naturally want to fly into the sky to save their lives. They certainly can't afford hovercars or flying vehicles, so they can only buy hoverboards.
In fact, it's not just the disaster victims who have this idea. Not long ago, when Lu Xuan, the new emperor, and Ye Feiluan were doing business, they also sold a lot of hoverboards.
It's clear that whether you're in a position of power or a position of power, people sometimes think in the same way.
The villagers stayed on land until 9 PM before reluctantly returning to the boat.
For the next two days, they continued to travel around the ground, visiting Yangshan to catch up with Old Master Chen and others, and also to Luochuan, Licheng, and even the capital, while continuing to do business.
That's not all.
On the third day, the polar day ended and night fell again. The cruise ship was brightly lit, and the dreamlike scenery, like a fairy ship, attracted countless onlookers from the disaster area.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yunlu Village opened the commercial area on the cruise ship.
Out of curiosity, ordinary disaster victims rushed to board the ship, marveling at its luxury. Meanwhile, wealthy merchants, nobles, and people with supernatural abilities from various towns who had received advance notice spent lavishly on supplies in the villagers' shops.
In particular, Lu Xuan specially prepared two medical pods to provide medical services for visiting guests, which almost drove many people who had only heard of the medical pods but could not get a number to go crazy.
Just as the cruise ship in Yunlu Village was becoming increasingly lively, the new emperor finally set the date and rules for the exchange competition among superpowered individuals.
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