Chapter 533: Chapter 390 The Path Opens Again
The price of pure grain is currently quite high, especially the original mixed grains, which are much more expensive than the alternative grains that appeared after the disaster.
The so-called alternative grains are actually a small portion of grains mixed with some edible plant roots and stems, ground into powder, and, with a bit of technology and hard work, formed into grain bricks. These food bricks can fill the stomach but have little nutritional value, and consuming too much is not good for one’s health.
Nevertheless, even under such circumstances, during times of food shortage, alternative grains were also supplied in limited quantities.
During the revival period of ancient creatures, because small ones were relatively easy to hunt, meat was more readily available, and thus the use of alternative grains gradually disappeared from the market.
However, with the arrival of the Bug Race, the outdoor Plantation Areas were destroyed by the Bugs Clan, and ancient creatures that were once easily hunted were driven to near extinction by the Bug Race.
Under such circumstances, many cities across China gradually faced a food crisis, and alternative grains once again appeared on people’s tables.
At this time, for Dong Tianyu to be able to offer mixed grain bricks, Yara and the others believed that he must have had a strong backing, for otherwise he couldn’t have easily produced so much food.
In fact, the twenty tons of grain bricks occupied just barely over ten cubic meters in volume, so they didn’t take up much space.
Similarly, the unrefined ore Yara and the others provided was quite heavy, so even twenty tons of it only amounted to just over ten cubic meters, which could be conveniently traded in Dong Tianyu’s courtyard.
After completing the trade and seeing off the three of them, Dong Tianyu waved his hand, collecting the ore into the Cave. With a thought, the ore inside the Cave quickly sank into the ground below, directly absorbed by the earth veins.
As the twenty tons of ore were completely absorbed by the Cave, the upgrade progress bar jumped again, and now the Cave’s upgrade progress had reached twenty-three percent.
Looking at the turtle-pace progression, Dong Tianyu felt somewhat helpless. After all, this twenty-three percent was not just from the recently absorbed ore but also included the previously decomposed curiosities, which still constituted the majority.
At this point, Dong Tianyu could only let out a helpless sigh. Now that offering ordinary materials to the Cave no longer advanced the upgrade progress, only items imbued with spirituality could improve the Cave’s upgrade progress.
Such items included corpse of large ancient creatures, mutated plants, ores with spirituality, curiosities, and certain special items containing spirituality.
These things were hard to come by in the Saxon County Camp, which was rather isolated and didn’t have the frequent trade relations with other cities like Kyoto did.
After the completion of this trade, Dong Tianyu checked the Cave for long-accumulated goods that hadn’t been used but still had some value, intending to exchange them with Yara and the others for more items that could increase the Cave’s upgrade progress.
After completing the trade, Yara and her companions didn’t keep all the grain bricks but kept a portion for themselves before transporting the rest to their family.
Those chosen by their families to conduct the trade were no fools. Even though the ore came from the family, they were sure to take their cut for handling the transaction—otherwise, why bother with all the hassle?
However, they weren’t excessively greedy and only retained ten percent of the bricks, transporting the rest by plane to their family.
Although they didn’t declare it openly to their families, the families surely understood such matters. Yet, as this was an unspoken rule, everyone turned a blind eye and remained good friends.
After all, their families were very satisfied with the trade ratios reported by Yara, and Dong Tianyu was equally pleased with the ore he received. Moreover, the three individuals, who had profited handsomely just from some smooth talking and networking, were even more satisfied.
This sort of transaction that left all three parties satisfied could indeed be considered a win-win-win scenario.
Just as Dong Tianyu was preparing to convene a second trade, a new wave of Bug Race invasions began, with the spatial portal expanding to its maximum as soon as it appeared.
This time, the Plasma Bug didn’t use Plasma Bombs to clear its path before emerging from the portal but instead brazenly stepped through.
Perhaps knowing that ordinary fighters had little chance of inflicting significant damage, Kyoto switched tactics. Rather than dispatching a nuclear envoy right from the start, they activated Missile silos and bombarded with missiles directly.
Unfortunately, although this approach theoretically had a high chance of success, in practice, it had little effect because while the portal had opened, the Plasma Bug hadn’t brought any troops with it.
But the Flying Bugs, which had disappeared in the previous two portal traversals, now reappeared midair. As the missiles struck, the Flying Bugs fearlessly lunged at them, detonating the missiles by gnawing and ramming into them.
Consequently, seeing that the missile explosions failed to cause effective damage, Command Headquarters halted further bombing runs and ordered the pilots to stand by at the airfield.
Watching this unfold, those at Command Headquarters realized they couldn’t destroy the spatial portal and prevent the Bugs Clan’s reinforcements, leaving them no choice but to watch helplessly on the monitors.
