The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm

Chapter 71: Uproar Over Some Tasks

Following Zhang Mu and Wang Liang’s discussion on their collaboration, the orders issued down had everyone in the base exploding in an uproar, akin to pouring a bowl of tap water into a wok full of boiling oil.

“Say, did you hear? Boss Wang Liang said that the new Boss Zhang is going to assign us the task to hunt some mutated beasts.”

A short, stocky man in a short coat pulled another man beside him and said while looking at a blackboard that Wang Liang had somehow dug up. Atop, white, chalk-written words crowded the board; the evolver writing was an ex-teacher Wang Liang had found.

The crowd around the blackboard had gathered as a result of a yowl reverberating throughout the base that a sonic evolver had emitted to summon everyone over.

The guy that had been pulled was a lean youth with eyes glinting green. He was evidently very attracted by the last paragraph of the notice.

“A hundred kilograms of grain and twenty kilos of drinking water will be given in exchange for the specific coordinates to a mutated herd’s den. This is fifty times the wages we daily earn from the base! On top of that, if we are able to record the habitual patterns of mutated herds and provide more detailed information, we can get more remuneration. The person that comes with the most intelligence can receive a set of standard equipment just like the ones those two guards are holding. In fact, the ones given as a reward will have much better defense.”

“What incredible recompense! Qin Feng, hurry! Grab your weapon and let’s go!”

The man whom the lean youth called Qin Feng had an appearance that lacked some of the gracefulness of his name. Unlike his friend that got carried away by the promise of rewards, he appeared relatively calm.

“Remember! You may lose your life before you even manage to earn the prize! Have you forgotten how formidable those mutated beasts are? Hundreds of walking dead were stomped dead by just a few elephants.” He murmured.

“Also, that evolver we followed before, he was strong enough to summon water elementals wasn’t he? But so what? He still died after being pierced by the two-story-high elephants’ tusks, torn apart and cleanly devoured up by them.

“You can’t possibly have forgotten such a dreadful scene already, can you? If it weren’t for that car we hid ourselves under and the fact that we had kept our breathing light, we would long have become the dung those elephants pooped after being ingested as food.”

The lean youth and Qin Feng were sworn friends. Although the teenager was a little unreliable at times, he was extremely loyal to his friends. Hence, Qin Feng was willing to explain everything to him so tirelessly.

His friends previously blazing eyes, upon being reminded of the time when the two hid, their lives in the hands of lady luck, instantly dimmed down. It was as if he had been doused with cold water. Even his fervent heart lost its high morale instantaneously.

“Oh yeah, bro, you’re right. I must’ve lost my mind just now. Once on shore, one prays no more, huh. Back then, we had nearly rushed out with that arrogant water-type evolver. If you hadn’t pulled me back, I’d have died long ago. I never seem to be able to learn my lessons.” Knocking himself on his head, the lean guy said, irate and grumbling, “but we can get a lot in return! Just one piece of information is worth the amount that we painstakingly earn at the base for a whole month. I’m starving! The amount of ration we receive from the leader is so small that we need to eat frugally. We also need to work so hard on top of that. Exactly how are the food we’re getting going to fill us at this rate?”

It actually wasn’t Wang Liang’s fault though. It was because there was too little food in stock. As a result, he had to plan where every kilo of grains went carefully. His base would run out of food within two days if he let everyone feast extravagantly.

“We shouldn’t blame Boss Wang. We can clearly see the amount of food we have at the base; we only have that much and the awakened evolvers have priority.” Qin Feng consoled the distressed lean youth as a light flitted past his eyes, “However, if it is just to poke around for some information from a distance, the situation’s not as hopeless as they seem.”

Actually, the both of them were evolvers as well. However, they were in the same situation as Zhang Mu. They were the most basic and ordinary evolvers and only their physical strength and agility had slightly increased.

Nevertheless, if it was only scouring for information, it was possible for them to accomplish the tasks with their abilities if they were cautious.

After they received their pay, the hundreds of kilograms of food and water would be enough to support them for a long time. It was seriously annoying to only feel half-full!

Right now, this was definitely an opportunity for them!

When not engaged in direct combat, there wasn’t much of a differences between an awakened evolver and them. When battling in close quarters however, their injury and death rate was very high.

After listening to Qin Feng’s analysis, the youth’s extinguished enthusiasm was immediately rekindled, “Alright! Bro Qin, I’ll listen to what you say.”

“By the way, do you know anything about Boss Zhang? He seems to be a deep-pocketed man, sharing his tens of thousands of kilograms of food without hesitation. He even dares to take advantage of those mutated beasts, and a large one it seems yet here we are fretting about them coming to attack us.”

Qin Feng looked at the words on the big blackboard again. They were written in a powerful penmanship, a transcription of Zhang Mu original words, and emanated extreme confidence. Qin Feng smiled bitterly. “Right! There already exists a large gap between the awakened evolvers’ abilities and ours. But now, it seems that Boss Zhang is thinking that there are insufficient of numbers in our base for him to make use of.

“It is a truth that there would always be someone better than us. Here we are, struggling to find food and clothing in order to survive, while he’s already preparing to expand. How remarkable!”

Similar conversations sounded in every corner of the base. Zhang Mu’s sudden notice whipped up a huge thunderstorm in this quiet base, luring into its whirlwind every single man tempted by the profits.

If it hadn’t been Wang Liang’s instructions that all evolvers must finish clearing the walking dead before they do individual missions, even they would have dropped their tasks at hand to complete that assignment.

The hundred kilos of food and twenty kilos of water represented an immense fortune even to evolvers, more so to the ordinary people. What’s more was that if they could wear the set of standard equipment, they’d gain another layer of protection in this dangerous world. After all, not all menace could be warded off with only abilities.

In the meantime, the Boss Zhang that was been mentioned in every conversation was standing on the rooftop of a high-rise building. He stood close to the edge and watched Luoyang City under his feet, no one knew what he was thinking.

This time, Yuan Rui wasn’t beside him. It was Wang Liang who climbed this tall building with him. He complained to Zhang Mu in frustration. “Brother Mu, I issued that notice like you wanted but the evolvers who worked under me are almost all lured away by you. Even I, the leader of this base, wants to work for you now.”

“It’s sure good being rich!” Wang Liang said with a sigh.

Zhang Mu only smiled and said nothing in reply.

“However, Brother Mu, won’t the expenditure be very high? Are you able to afford the thousands of kilos of food at the moment?” Wang Liang asked Zhang Mu with anxiety. Although he had no idea of how much food the latter had on hand, he knew that Zhang Mu had made deals with the leaders of other bases as well as himself. Did he have lot left? If Zhang Mu wasn’t able to pay up, it’d be a big blow to his reputation.

“Don’t worry. As of right now, I’m able to cover this amount of food easily.”

After which, he glanced knowingly in a direction and said slowly. “Besides, after seven days, I can give you as much food as you want.”