Chapter 21: Chapter 20: A Real Piece of Work
Using Bone Sabers and Curved Sabers to chop down trees was a real hassle, and painfully slow. Luckily, the Undead, in their tireless spirit, worked relentlessly, felling the trees and hauling them back into the Mobile Fortress by brute force. The system then immediately activated, converting the trees into wood.
Trees of varying lengths and widths were uniformly converted by the system into square blocks and stored in the Warehouse. Each block counted as 1 unit of wood. Since every tree varied in size and thickness, the amount of wood yielded from each was also different.
The groves on the Wasteland were generally small and didn’t contain many trees, but after some effort, it was still quite easy to gather several hundred to a thousand units of wood. This was enough to cover the materials needed to build the Warrior Training Camp, with plenty left over in stock.
Under the moonlight, a group of hard-pressed Undead furiously chopped down trees, hauling them back to the Mobile Fortress again and again. By the time dawn approached, the Warehouse held over 700 units of wood. Li Ziyu then had the Undead transport some water from a nearby pool into the Warehouse as well.
The Undead didn’t need to eat or drink, but Li Ziyu did. Besides, water was a resource, so it was best to store some, just in case.
Just before sunrise, the Mobile Fortress departed from the small grove—which now looked as if it had been gnawed on by a dog—and headed back out into the Wasteland, finding a relatively safe place to enter Hibernation Mode.
Li Ziyu didn’t dare hibernate next to the grove. A grove was prime real estate in the Wasteland. Who knew what kind of animals would wander over after sunrise? It was possible that Fierce Beasts or Magical Beasts might show up, since the daytime sun was strong and they would be seeking shade.
The grove not only offered shade from the sun but also had a pool of water, making it the perfect resting spot.
Staying far away from such places was the only way to be truly safe.
The sun rose, heralding a new day. The Mobile Fortress had already burrowed underground, entering Hibernation Mode. Aside from the Undead standing guard, the rest of the Skeletons also entered a dormant state.
The Undead didn’t actually need to rest, but entering this dormant state allowed them to consolidate their Soul Fires. They could absorb stray Soul Energy from the air to strengthen their Soul Fires, so it offered some benefits.
Since the Mobile Fortress didn’t hunt on the surface during the day, there was nothing for them to do once underground, so they naturally entered this dormant state.
Li Ziyu flopped onto his White Bone Throne and let out a long sigh. ’Last night was so busy. I’m exhausted.’ (The Undead: Listen to this guy. Was *he* the one who was busy all night?) He casually opened the system’s chat interface and selected Conscience Merchant.
[Private Message]
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Have you collected any Skeletons?
After sending the message, he waited for a while. Just as Li Ziyu was starting to drift off, Conscience Merchant replied.
Conscience Merchant: ...Why are you messaging me so early? It’s immoral to disturb people’s sleep, you know?
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Does business care about the time? Aren’t you open 24/7?
Conscience Merchant: Are you a dog? Try acting like a decent person for once!
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Woof?
Conscience Merchant: We could still be friends if you stopped being a jackass!
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: So, was it moral for you to send people over while I was sleeping last time, disturbing my sweet dreams?
Conscience Merchant: ...Ahem, that was an accident...
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Woof?
Conscience Merchant: Okay, okay, my mistake last time. Look, pal, collecting Skeletons isn’t that fast. The deadline you gave me was too short. I’ve gotten some, but not many.
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: How many?
Conscience Merchant: Around 20 sets.
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Are you milking a cow or something? You have the nerve to tell me you only have 20? Am I not your biggest client?
Conscience Merchant: Pal, are you even listening to yourself? Getting 20 in one night is already pretty good! How many did you expect? Don’t other people need to sleep?
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Hmmm... You’re right. I was being impatient.
Conscience Merchant: So, do you still want them or not?
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Get some more today. We’ll trade in one batch tonight.
Conscience Merchant: Got it.
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: By the way, do you have any Stone?
Conscience Merchant: I do. 35 units of food for 1 unit of Stone.
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: Not buying. I’m going to find A Large Iron Hammer. He sells it cheaper than you!
Conscience Merchant: Pal, don’t be so hasty, we can negotiate the price.
Don’t Want to Get a Driver’s License: 3 units of food for 1 unit of Stone?
Conscience Merchant: Pal, you should just go find A Large Iron Hammer. See if he smashes you with his Hammer.
After the banter with Conscience Merchant, Li Ziyu was in a great mood. A smile on his face, he confirmed the trade for that evening and then promptly fell asleep.
Sleep was still the best. In your dreams, you could have anything.
While Li Ziyu was sound asleep, Conscience Merchant couldn’t get back to sleep. He sat up and vigorously scratched his messy, dust-filled hair. His eyes were bloodshot from being woken up.
"That Undead City Lord is inhuman,"
He closed his eyes to calm down but couldn’t help but curse out loud. Anyone who was sleeping soundly and got woken up for no reason wouldn’t be in a good mood.
He couldn’t get back to sleep, so he might as well get up. He decided to wake up the other Gophers. ’If I, the City Lord, am awake, my subordinates can’t still be sleeping. How unsatisfying would that be? Since I couldn’t sleep well, none of you will either. You can all keep me company.’
The Gophers were woken up one by one, completely clueless about what was happening, their faces a mixture of confusion and stupor.
Conscience Merchant stood before a group of disheveled, bewildered-looking Gophers. He let out a huge yawn and ordered, "Yaaawn~ Get to work, get to work. Collect Skeletons. And while you’re at it, check how much Stone we have in the Warehouse available for trade."
The closest Gopher rubbed his eyes, looked at Conscience Merchant, and stammered, "Lord City Lord, it’s too early. The people in the various Tribes aren’t even awake yet. We can’t trade with them even if we go over now."
Conscience Merchant smacked the Gopher on the head and said in a tone of exasperation, "You dolt! If we go early and wait, it shows our sincerity!"
If it weren’t for the tear glistening in the corner of his eye from his recent yawn, that sentence might have been more convincing.
However, the Gophers were extremely loyal. Conscience Merchant had given them a good, resource-rich life, and they were willing to trust their City Lord. Since the City Lord had said so, it must be right.
The Gophers weren’t particularly clever, often appearing simple and good-natured. They only knew to do whatever their City Lord told them to do. He wouldn’t harm them, so there was no need to doubt him.
And so, Gopher City stirred into action. The Gophers mobilized, heading out through the extensive network of tunnels they had already dug, making for the Tribes they were able to contact.
In the few days since crossing over to this Otherworld, Conscience Merchant had used his business acumen to get acquainted with many Tribes. However, the ones he could connect with were all small- to medium-sized, with few members and little strength. The larger Tribes wouldn’t even give a small-time Merchant like him the time of day.
Conscience Merchant rubbed his temples and chewed on a cool leaf. A jolt ran through him. It was the leaf of a plant similar to mint, but far more refreshing. A small bite was enough to clear one’s head.
He sat down on a Beast Hide, opened his recent chat log, and read it carefully. He felt that something was off, that something was different from before.
Change meant opportunity!
After reading it over and over a few times, Conscience Merchant’s eyes suddenly lit up. It was the tone. The tone was different.
In their recent exchange, the Undead City Lord’s tone had clearly become much more assertive. Something must have happened last night. The Undead City Lord must have acquired a batch of resources, and those resources were most likely food!
This discovery delighted Conscience Merchant. It meant he could acquire even more resources through trade, especially the trade involving Skeletons. All sleepiness was instantly dispelled, replaced by a heart full of joy and excitement.
