Chapter 31: Trading for Magic Source Stones

Today was the first day after the novice period ended. She would likely encounter some new situations, and today’s treasure chests would definitely contain desert-related resources. She absolutely couldn’t miss out!

However, the minigame could only last for three days. Waiting until the day after tomorrow carried too much uncertainty, so it seemed she could only start it tomorrow!

Having made her decision, Mo Yubai agreed with Xiao Ling to hold off on starting the game for now, and then the two of them set off together!

Sure enough, now that the novice period was over, all kinds of monsters began to appear on the highway.

There were scorpions, ants, venomous snakes, and wild dogs. Even a cactus by the roadside suddenly shot out needles. Fortunately, Mo Yubai was driving fast enough that they all ended up embedded in the asphalt instead.

Seeing this, Mo Yubai couldn’t help but raise her guard, keeping a close eye on the road ahead.

With the novice period over, the daytime treasure chests now occasionally had one or two guardian monsters beside them. The number of chests had also decreased, dropping from two or three a morning to just one.

However, the quality had improved. That single chest was a Silver Treasure Chest.

When she opened the Silver Treasure Chest, two highly venomous tail-dance snakes suddenly lunged out from inside!

As they spat venom at Mo Yubai, she dodged to the side. The liquid sizzled as it hit the gravel, sending a shiver down her spine.

She raised an eyebrow. Instead of rushing to kill the snakes, she tried to collect the venom in a glass bottle.

To her surprise, the moment the venom mixed with the sand and entered the glass bottle, it vanished. It seemed she couldn’t exploit the monsters from the highway chests after all.

Since she couldn’t harvest the venom, there was no point in keeping the two snakes alive. Mo Yubai raised her hand and struck. Her throwing knives sliced through the air, easily killing them.

She approached the Silver Treasure Chest to check the rewards. She hadn’t expected to find so much cotton.

Snake-skin Boots x2, Sleeping Bag x2, Antidote x4, Hemostatic Medicine x2, Disinfectant x2, Ergonomic Chair x3, Professional Sandproof Suit x1, Hair Tie x12, Brown Sugar Ginger Tea x6, Cotton Clothes Blueprint x2, Cotton x24, Linen x6, Cotton Cloth x4, Space Stone x2, Nail x1, Glass x2, Rubber x5, Iron Block x8, Battery x2.

It looks like it’s going to be very cold tonight, Mo Yubai thought. I should make a set of cotton clothes later just in case.

She drove for another hour or so. By then, it was around twelve-thirty in the afternoon.

After getting out of the vehicle, Mo Yubai decided to just pitch a tent. The wind and sand outside were simply too intense; opening one’s mouth meant getting a mouthful of sand!

She fried five eggs, chopped up some wild green onions to sprinkle on top later, and added boiling water to stew some fish soup.

Taking advantage of the free time, Mo Yubai lay down inside the tent and opened the chat channel, intending to do her usual lurking. However, she noticed a new group chat on her game panel.

It turned out to be a small group created by Zhu Ou, which contained only a single message:

“Sister Mo, Sister Wen, now that the group chat system is unlocked, I’ve set up a small group for the three of us! We can chat together from now on!”

Mo Yubai let out a soft chuckle. Ou Ou certainly moved fast. She then opened the main chat channel to see if anyone was selling anything good.

“Holy crap, why are all the monsters on the highway today? I wasn’t paying attention and almost got bitten by a venomous snake that leaped onto my vehicle.”

“Venomous snakes are relatively easy to spot, but everyone must watch out for ants! I was riding my electric scooter when some ants crawled up and bit me. Luckily, I got some antidote ointment from a chest and applied it to the wound immediately. I’m feeling much better now.”

“Looks like I need to upgrade to level four as soon as possible. I’m so jealous of the big shots with enclosed vehicles. That’s way safer!”

“Everyone, watch out for the chests too. I opened one today, and there were actually two monsters inside!”

“Limited-time sale: heat-insulating protective cover for Electric Tricycles! Only accepting blueprints or water!”

“Zhao Facai, you really are a bloodsucker! Everyone is roasting to death in this weather. We go through at least one bottle of water a morning, and water is in critically short supply, yet you only accept blueprints or water. You’re a total profiteer!”

“Exactly! Sweating so much under such intense sunlight without replenishing water will literally kill you. He’s trying to send us to our graves!”

“Selling an electrolyte drink blueprint! Only accepting rare upgrade materials and water!”

“My inventory space is running out. Does everyone else have enough space?”

“Ran out long ago. But Silver Treasure Chests contain Space Stones, which can expand your inventory space.”

“I got something called a Magic Source Stone from a chest today. Does anyone know what it’s used for?”

“That’s a material used to upgrade to an Intermediate Workbench. Most people don’t even have a basic Workbench yet, so it’s not very useful right now. Still, you could ask Big Shot Mo or Zhao Facai if they want it. They might buy it.”

“The Player Mutual Aid Group has been established! You can send a private message to join our newly formed group. Let’s help each other reach the end of the highway!”

Just as Mo Yubai saw the message about the Magic Source Stone and was about to click on the sender’s avatar to send a request, his friend request popped up first.

She accepted immediately!

“Big Shot Mo, are you buying Magic Source Stones?” Sha Ruhai hadn’t expected the big shot to accept his request so quickly. It seemed this stone could fetch a decent price!

Instead of answering directly, Mo Yubai asked, “What do you want to trade it for?”

Sha Ruhai thought about it. Big Shot Mo had tracked down and killed Zhang Wenbo in person just because he spread rumors about her. She didn’t seem like a young girl one could easily push around. Consequently, he didn’t dare to make an outrageous demand, asking cautiously, “Big Shot, could I trade it for water?”

Mo Yubai felt a sense of relief. She actually really wanted the Magic Source Stone, but if he had tried to take advantage of her, she wouldn’t have hesitated to use a tracking coin to pay him a personal visit!

“Sure. I’ll trade one Magic Source Stone for a wooden bucket of drinking water, which is about 12 liters. However, you’ll need to give me an additional five pieces of glass or rubber to cover the cost of the container.”

For those willing to trade fairly, Mo Yubai wouldn’t treat them poorly. After all, if you were too stingy, people wouldn’t come to you the next time they had something good.

Sha Ruhai looked at the message from Big Shot Mo in pleasant surprise. He decisively rejected Zhao Facai’s offer of a two-liter water trade and replied eagerly, “No problem, Big Shot! I’ll pay with five pieces of rubber!”

Mo Yubai looked at his reply in a good mood. “Alright. My policy is always to receive the goods first before sending mine out. If you agree, we can trade now.”

Sha Ruhai stared at the message, feeling conflicted. After some thought, he sent: “Big Shot, I’m a bit uneasy. How about we use the Trading Market and split the tax fifty-fifty?”

Mo Yubai raised an eyebrow, indifferent. “Either way is fine. Up to you.”

She tapped the small plus sign at the bottom of the chat box and selected the Trading Market.

[Do you wish to use the Trading Market to conduct this trade?]

[Yes.]

[Please select the items you wish to trade and the method of tax payment.]

Mo Yubai selected a stone vat from her inventory. For the tax payment method, she chose resources over gold coins.

[This tax will be shared by both parties. Your share is 15%: 1.8 liters of water and one piece of wood. Do you agree?]

Just as Mo Yubai was about to click agree, she suddenly saw another message from the other party.

“Never mind, Big Shot, I’ll just send the materials directly to you. The Trading Market tax is way too high—it actually wants to charge me five gold coins! Anyway, you’re a big shot, so you probably wouldn’t try to cheat a nobody like me, right?”