Chapter 160
Su Jing tapped the product listings on the communicator's "Number One Store Under Heaven," and the icon for "[Second-Tier Armor-Piercing Rounds (Compatible with Laser Guns)]" instantly lit up, with the following text: "Price: 5 points/round, Limit of 10 rounds per person, Stock: 1000 rounds."
This was the amount she had melted down overnight, hoping to alleviate the survivors' crisis in dealing with the Iron-Shelled Beetles. However, she didn't expect that as soon as she clicked "Confirm Listing," the system notification sound would start ringing out frantically.
"Ding! User 'Zhonghuaguo-Chenyang' has purchased 10 Tier 2 Armor-Piercing Rounds, deducting 50 points!"
"Ding! User 'US-Lily' purchased 10 Tier 2 Armor-Piercing Rounds, 50 points deducted!"
"Ding! User 'Black Wolf Stronghold - Scarface' purchased 10 Tier 2 Armor-Piercing Rounds, 50 points deducted!"
In less than 3 minutes, the stock of 1,000 armor-piercing rounds was depleted, and the system chat area was instantly flooded with messages.
"We got it! Finally, we have bullets to shoot down beetles!"
"Who missed out? I was too slow. Anyone want to resell? I'll offer double points!"
"@IamTheGodofWealth, could you please put some more items on sale? There are still 20 people at our location who haven't managed to get one!"
Xiao Jin squatted beside the communicator, its dark eyes fixed on the scrolling messages. Suddenly, it wrinkled its nose, grabbed Su Jing's trouser leg with its little paws, and said in its mind, with a wary voice, "Su Jing! That guy is selling at a high price! He's the one who just bought 10 rounds of 'Black Wolf Outpost - Scarface.' He said, 'Armor-piercing rounds in stock, 10 points/round. Contact me privately if you want them. I only buy supplies!'"
Su Jing immediately opened the private chat screenshot in the chat area—it was sent by "China-Wang Qiang," and the message from "Black Wolf Stronghold-Scarface" was clearly visible in the screenshot.
It also included a transaction record: someone traded half a bag of compressed biscuits for two armor-piercing rounds.
Her face darkened, and she quickly switched to the order records in the store's backend. After filtering through them one by one, she found something unusual: five accounts, including "Black Wolf Stronghold - Scarface", "Black Wolf Stronghold - Wolf Cub", and "Black Wolf Stronghold - Tiger", each bought 10 armor-piercing rounds at almost the same time. The delivery addresses all pointed to the same temporary stronghold on the west side of the ruined city, which was obviously a deliberate hoarding and resale.
"Not only the Black Wolf stronghold, but also three accounts from the 'Yellow Sand Gang' have each bought 10 rounds. They're currently shouting in the chat, '15 points per round, don't ask if you're not buying.'"
Su Jing swiped the screen, her eyes turning cold. "Opening a shop is to help those who truly need it, not to let these petty forces profit from disaster."
She gave the order into the communicator: "Number 5, blacklist all 8 accounts related to 'Black Wolf Stronghold' and 'Yellow Sand Gang' and prohibit them from shopping in the store; immediately close the product listing channel of 'Number One Store Under Heaven', issue an announcement stating that hoarding is a violation, and will only allow limited order purchases to users with essential needs in the future."
Robot No. 5 immediately took action, and a red announcement popped up on the store's homepage: [Due to some users maliciously hoarding and reselling goods, the store will be temporarily closed from today. The second-tier armor-piercing bullets will only be available to users who provide "proof of monster attack" and have an urgent need for them. Each person is limited to 3 bullets to prevent hoarding.]
After the announcement, the complaints in the chat area decreased, and more people began to criticize the Black Wolf stronghold: "No wonder I couldn't get anything, they hoarded it! They deserved to be blocked!" "Support 'God of Wealth'! This is how you deal with these people who profit from national disasters!"
After finishing her business at the shop, Su Jing looked at the armor-piercing ammunition box in the corner of the operating room—there were still 200 spare rounds left inside, which she had specifically kept to test their effectiveness in actual combat.
She grabbed the laser gun, loaded the armor-piercing magazine, and then loaded 50 spare rounds for each of robots 1 and 2: "Robots 1 and 2, come with me to the ruins to kill the iron-shelled beetles and test the effectiveness of the armor-piercing rounds in actual combat. We'll also collect demon cores along the way. Robots 3 and 4, stay at the villa and continue to reinforce the protective netting to prevent the beetles from getting close. Little Jin, you come with me and help identify the beetles' weak points."
"Okay! I can smell the beetle's 'weakness'! The softest smell is from its belly, which must be the part of its abdominal carapace you mentioned that has the thinnest shell!"
Little Jin excitedly jumped into Su Jing's backpack, only peeking out with its little head, clutching a mini collection box in its arms. "This time, we're going to collect as many demon cores as possible. You said demon cores can make your superpowers stronger, so you can make even more powerful weapons!"
As soon as she stepped out of the villa, the 70°C ground temperature made the fabric of her heat-insulating suit gleam. Su Jing sprayed a full bottle of herbal cooling spray to barely block the heat wave.
At the entrance to the abandoned city, several iron-shelled beetles were gnawing on an abandoned truck. Their feet had poked small holes in the metal panels of the truck. When they saw Su Jing and her group, they immediately turned around, their eyes flashing with ferocity, and quickly crawled towards them. Their feet made a "crunching" sound as they crushed the gravel, as if in a show of defiance.
"Number 1, aim at the abdomen of the foremost beetle and fire in bursts with armor-piercing rounds!"
Su Jing gave the order, simultaneously raising her laser gun and aiming it at the beetle on her right. Robot No. 1's mechanical arm steadily rose, and a pale blue armor-piercing bullet, trailing a plume of flame, shot out, striking the beetle's thin abdominal shell with a resounding "bang."
With a crisp "crack," the beetle's shell was pierced, and it let out a piercing screech. Its body twisted violently, and its legs flailed wildly. Soon, it stopped moving, and a dark demon core rolled out of its chest cavity. The communicator popped up: "[Killed a Tier 2 Iron-Shelled Beetle x1, obtained a Tier 2 Demon Core x1, containing high-level mineral energy, which can be used to unlock new superpower characteristics]."
"It worked! It really penetrated!" Su Jing breathed a sigh of relief and pulled the trigger of her laser gun. The armor-piercing bullet hit the abdomen of another beetle, with the same remarkable effect.
Xiao Jin poked his head out of the backpack, his inner voice filled with excitement: "I told you the belly was the weak point! Their 'softness' is concentrated there! There are two more behind you, they're trying to sneak up behind you and ambush you!"
Su Jing immediately turned around, aiming the laser gun at the beetle that had circled behind her. The moment the armor-piercing bullet was fired, the beetle suddenly used its legs to protect its abdomen. The bullet casing grazed its legs, leaving only a white mark.
"Number 1, use the laser gun to sweep its legs and force it to expose its abdomen!" she shouted. Robot Number 1's laser beam instantly swept towards the beetle's legs. Although it did not penetrate, it was enough to distract the beetle. Su Jing seized the opportunity and pulled the trigger again. The armor-piercing bullet accurately pierced the gap in the beetle's abdomen, and the beetle crashed to the ground.
In less than half an hour, all five iron-shelled beetles were killed, and the collection box contained five second-tier demon cores, each twice the size of a first-tier demon core, with a dark luster.
Su Jing picked up a demon core, and a faint blue supernatural power emanated from her fingertips. She could clearly feel that the energy inside was even more concentrated than that of the Azure-Patterned Serpent Demon Core. A faint message popped up on her communicator: "New supernatural ability feature to be unlocked."
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