Chapter 186 The Lion Speaks
After seeing off several people, He Ping looked at Tao An anxiously and asked, "Are you really okay? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? I heard others say it was very painful."
"No," Tao An held her hand for examination and said gently, "It did hurt at first, but then he absorbed that crystal core for me, and after that, everything was fine."
"So magical? Did you realize what the crystal core is?" He Ping asked.
Tao An shook his head. He was on the verge of collapse at that time and had no time to think.
"It would be nice if there were more," He Ping sighed, but seeing that Tao An was now fine, she didn't want to force it.
"I'll go ask tomorrow. If they still have any, we'll buy another one and use it for your upgrade." Tao An was thinking about this the moment he got through it smoothly.
"Is this... okay?" Everyone wants to live in peace, and He Ping is no exception.
"You'll know if you try it," Tao An said.
**
The next morning, Lu Weiyi left the base early and returned to the camping area.
With this batch of jade in hand, the space expanded a lot, and only a small half of the unevenness remained. Lu Weiyi estimated that if he did this four or five more times, he would be able to completely repair the space.
I wonder how big the area will be by then?
Lu Weiyi, Dean and Zhuang Aiyi were sitting at the entrance of the tent to bask in the sun. There were two cups of pearl milk tea on the folding table. They were bought from a milk tea shop when they passed by it, and they had been keeping them there ever since.
When I got up in the morning to study, I cooked something like taro balls, added various fruits, and made milk tea of different flavors for everyone to have as snacks.
It's a sweet thing. In the past, no one among a group of grown men would drink it. But now, they all drink it with relish.
Being in another base, the group could not separate to ensure safety, and most of them were bored or resting nearby.
It's a rare free time, so everyone is relaxing.
There was a coffee machine on the corner of the folding table, which was humming. After a while, a cup of coffee flowed out of the white porcelain cup underneath. Lu Weiyi took it and handed it to Zhuang Mingxu who was drawing a space material distribution map.
"You don't mind the trouble by redrawing it every time." Lu Weiyi took a sip of the chewy pearl and said slowly to Zhuang Mingxu.
"If you don't worry about it, and I don't worry about it either, then that thing that exists in space might be completely forgotten by you in no time," Zhuang Mingxu replied, taking a sip of the bitter coffee, savoring the aftertaste, but his hands were moving quickly.
Thinking of something, he lowered his voice and asked, "Have you put the batch of mutant snakes you got some time ago into your space?" If they are still in the jade space, they would have become smelly after so long.
"Let them go," Lu Weiyi said, "Should we exchange those mutant rats for other meat, even at a cheaper price."
Lu Weiyi felt a little bit traumatized by the dark thing and didn't want to eat it.
"You decide and see if there is anything they want to exchange at their base," Zhuang Mingxu said with a smile, "Now that we have the jade, when will we leave? I asked someone about it, and the people who moved from the Xiangning City base are only a few hundred kilometers away from here."
"Let's go to the trading market this afternoon to see if there's anything we need. If not, we'll leave," Lu Weiyi said.
**
Just before noon, the youngest sister came over and said that Tao An wanted to invite a few people to dinner to express his gratitude.
"To get information," Zhuang Mingxu said in a low voice.
"Then Ning Yuan, go ahead and see if there is anything we need in the afternoon." Lu Weiyi was not interested in other people's food, especially when he had no shortage of everything in his own space.
Brother Xi said that they were going to have hot and sour noodles for lunch today. With the slightly cool temperature of around 10 degrees, just thinking about eating a mouthful of spicy noodles made me drool. Who would want to care what others eat?
"Okay," Ning Yuan was just about to see what other people's families were serving to their guests, "Who's going with me? I'll take you to see other people's trading markets in the afternoon."
"I, I'll take Dean for a walk," Antonio said immediately.
There were three places, no more, no less. When Ning Yuan was about to set off, he noticed that the youngest sister's eyes were constantly on Lu Weiyi. It seemed that Lu Weiyi was the target.
Ning Yuan said with a smile, "Let's go, our captain generally doesn't go to any occasions."
The youngest sister pursed her lips, did not dare to force, and changed the subject with a smile.
"Ningyuan" Zhuang Mingxu suddenly shouted.
Ning Yuan turned and walked over. Zhuang Mingxu whispered, "If they ask about the crystal core, just say there is only one. But you can sell it to them. Tell them what it is, and you can decide the price."
Ning Yuan pointed his finger at Zhuang Mingxu, with an expression that said "you're so bad", made an OK gesture, and left.
With a relatively easy way to upgrade, Tao An would not think that the other party's claims of being a B-level mutant were false. He had something to ask of others, so he was well prepared.
In addition to the stir-fried vegetables of various flavors on the table, the most eye-catching ones were a lotus leaf chicken, a serving of hot pot lung slices and a dish of pickled fish. Just the smell made Ning Yuan's mouth water.
Seeing that Lu Weiyi was not among the visitors, Tao An just raised his eyebrows. Considering the hospitality at this table, Ning Yuan took the initiative to give way, "My captain has children to take care of, and he never attends social events. Please forgive me."
"I understand. We are just expressing our gratitude. It doesn't matter who comes," He Ping said, inviting the three to the table. "But your captain is so young. You wouldn't know that he already has a child that big."
"I like children, there's nothing I can do about it." Ning Yuan finished his polite remarks and pointed at the fish on the table. "We haven't seen fish since the end of the world. I didn't expect you still have this thing here?"
"This is just a coincidence. There is a pond near us. There are quite a few mutant fish in it. They taste good. You can try them." Tao An poured a glass of wine for each of the three people and said.
"He's underage," Antonio made an excuse to push the wine in front of Dean.
He Ping immediately brought over a bottle of juice.
"Then I won't be polite. I almost forgot the taste of fish," Ning Yuan said. Turning around, he saw Antonio had unceremoniously picked up a piece of fish with chopsticks, picked out the fish bone and put it on Dean's plate.
Dean, with a little golden hair, had never suffered any hardship after the end of the world. He was well fed with all kinds of delicious food and drinks every day. He grew taller and his face became more handsome. He squinted his eyes and smiled endearingly at He Ping who was looking at him, his little mouth bulging with food.
After three rounds of drinks, everyone had almost finished eating. Tao An then told them the purpose of his trip and that he wanted to buy another crystal core.
With Zhuang Mingxu's words as a basis, Ning Yuan did not show any surprise and said bluntly, "We only have this one left."
Even though Tao An and He Ping were mentally prepared, they couldn't help feeling regretful. Ning Yuan observed their expressions and said after a moment, "However, I can tell you what the crystal core of that thing is. This will allow you to look for it in the future."
Tao An and He Ping looked at Ning Yuan at the same time, and saw that Ning Yuan looked as if he had seen nothing. He said to Dean, "Dean, how does this mutant fish taste?"
"Great," Dean gave a thumbs up and said regretfully in his fluent Mandarin, "No, eat more."
"You can eat as much as you like if you like," He Ping said with a smile.
Dean shook his head. "I don't have superpowers, so I can't eat too much mutant animal meat." He shrugged his shoulders and suddenly looked at He Ping with sparkling eyes. "Can I pack it up? For my friend to try?"
"...Of course, I'll have someone send a few mutant fish over so that we can all have a taste." Tao An smiled and poured another glass of wine for Ning Yuan, "Um..."
"Thank you very much, Brother Tao." Ning Yuan did not let him finish what he wanted to say and continued, "To be honest with Brother Tao and Sister Ping, we were thinking of replenishing some things at the base on our way north. Do you have any way to get large quantities of supplies?"
"...What supplies do you want?" He Ping asked.
"Some crop seeds, medicines, oil, soy sauce, vinegar and condiments, and meat. Our team is full of grown men, and they can't survive without meat," Ning Yuan said with a look of disappointment on his face, and then patted his chest and said, "The price is negotiable. We'll take as much as you have."
After telling the news halfway, he turned around and started buying supplies. Is this buying? This is fucking clear that I want to send...
How much more do you need...
What a huge mouth!
Tao An felt a little regretful for inviting these people over. Looking at He Ping in front of him, he reluctantly swallowed his anger and said with a smile, "Okay, okay."
During the meal, Ning Yuan fully demonstrated his potential as a profiteer. Tao An was feeling extremely suffocated, but he had no choice but to accompany him.
In one afternoon, Ning Yuan, under the pretext of selecting supplies, took away half of the mutant fish in Tao An's pond. He then went to the market and bought up all the mutant and ordinary meat he could find. If he couldn't find a place to sell something, he would even ask Tao An directly.
At dusk, Tao An's face was so ugly that it could not be described. Antonio felt that if he continued like this, this man would probably kill someone. Ning Yuan finally said with great compassion, "That's enough."
"Brother Tao, please send someone to help me so that we can go get the crystal core together. Our captain is a very trustworthy person and will never fail to repay a debt. You can rest assured." Ning Yuan kept talking. Antonio and Dean who followed him were just guests. Of course, Antonio felt that he might also have the responsibility of a bodyguard.
Apart from the mutant fish that were packed in a container on the pretext that they would no longer be fresh after death, the other miscellaneous supplies filled four large trucks.
There were five mutant chickens and ducks that were as big as ostriches, each weighing more than a hundred pounds. There was also half a mutant cow, at least 700 kilograms, plus a freezer full of ordinary pork. The truck was filled to the brim.
Oil, soy sauce, vinegar and various flavors of bean paste side dishes were loaded directly into a truck. Of course, these were not all owned by Tao An, but also included those taken from other teams. As for the one who paid, it was naturally Tao An.
The other truck was filled with medicines of all kinds. The last truck was filled with seeds and potatoes and sweet potatoes that Ning Yuan specifically requested. It took almost several teams to fill half a truck.
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