Chapter 35:

“How could anyone want to keep gray rats?” You Yi found it hard to understand, finally speaking out after walking a distance.

Yun Shan: “When the profits are big enough, there’s nothing people won’t do.”

“Notify the guard team to increase surveillance,” Lu Ming lowered his gaze, pondering for a moment, then looked at You Yi.

You Yi nodded in agreement.

The group continued on their way. Along the way, they noticed several people either carrying gray rats on their backs or pushing carts, struggling to transport the rats to the camp center.

The resourceful ones swiftly turned it into a business.

“Ox cart, 20 points per trip, anyone need help?”

“One-star strength-type ability user, can carry 2 gray rats at once, available for hire for just 5 points!”

“Selling healing potions, handmade, effective and affordable.”

Yun Shan glanced around.

The so-called ox cart was a cart pulled by oxen companions. It could carry gray rats as well as people.

The one-star strength-type ability user was selling their strength, helping to transport goods, somewhat like a porter.

The potion-making players took advantage of the event to make a profit.

She knew very well that not only was there a long line of people every day at the Red Maple Pharmacy buying Healing Potions/Revitalizing Elixers, but even in other pharmacy in the camp, and even player-run pharmacy/clinic, they were crowded with people.

The demand for healing potions reached a frenzy, with every shop selling out of stock.

In the midst of this, a person stood in front of the potion-making player and inquired, “How many healing potions have you made in total? How effective are they?”

“Definitely effective! Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare to sell them.” Of course, the potion-making player wouldn’t speak ill of their own products, only praising the healing potions to the skies.

After a brief trial, the person nodded, “The effect is quite good, I’ll take them all.”

The potion-making player was overjoyed, receiving the transferred points and smiling broadly.

It was outrageous.

Yun Shan thought to herself as she watched the person try the potion. Clearly, its effect was only average. Yet, they directly bought it, obviously not valuing the points as money.

Just then, Xie Shaoting approached, looking at the buyer with approving eyes, seemingly praising him for being resourceful.

Yun Shan, “…”

Playing along.

This gentleman clearly didn’t care about a small amount of money.

In fact, Yun Shan strongly suspected that the booming sales of healing potions were closely related to Xie Shaoting – he splurged, buying up all the healing potions on the market, causing others to rush to purchase them as well.

When acquaintances meet, there’s always a greeting.

“Where did the young rats come from? They’re so small. It’s the first time I’ve seen them,” Xie Shaoting’s gaze was fixed on the rats, unable to look away.

Yun Shan replied, “They were just born.”

When they first landed, the gray rat offspring were no bigger than half a fist. After a good meal and a nap, their size expanded like inflating a balloon.

So, all along the way, whether carried or shouldered, everyone was hunting the big guys. Like You Yi, stringing a bunch of them with a grass rope was a unique sight.

Xie Shaoting’s eyes lit up, “Are they for sale?”

“These aren’t mine…”

In Yun Shan’s view, NPC confiscating illegally obtained items from players would surely be seized outright.

However, Lu Ming glanced at her and firmly stated, “They’re all yours.”

Yun Shan, “…”

Alright, thanks, wealthy boss.

She looked at Xie Shaoting, “For sale.”

“Or exchange the rats for grains?” Xie Shaoting was about to instruct his subordinates to prepare the exchange items when Yun Shan asked, “Apart from grains, what else do you have?”

Xie Shaoting smiled confidently, “Points, land, shop usage rights, equipment, materials, medicines, herbs, manpower, beast offspring… Anything you can think of, I have it.”

As he spoke, his subordinate handed over a list. It detailed all the exchangeable items and their respective ratios.

“Manpower can also be exchanged?” Yun Shan’s expression was odd.

Xie Shaoting, with such a grand setup, had no intention of hiding the truth. He pointed to his subordinate, “Company secretary, after entering the game, continues to work as a secretary, handling miscellaneous matters for me.”

“My hired bodyguards, seventy percent of them have entered the game, working from nine to five, following my orders.”

“Besides my own staff, I’ve also hired many talented NPC personnel. If you need them, I can lend them to you.”

Upon hearing this, Yun Shan remained speechless for a long time.

In fact, shortly after returning to the game after the car accident, she had heard from Han Jiaqing that some people were paying to hire game players as employees, paying regular salaries monthly and making them work eight hours a day.

However, until now, she had never seen anyone spending money as lavishly as Xie Shaoting.

Considering the scale of his staff and the range of his assets, he must have spent quite a sum of money, right?

As Yun Shan’s thoughts fluctuated, she heard Xie Shaoting casually mention, “I entered the game early and formed a guild. Ninety percent of its members are employees from real companies, and the remaining ten percent are virtuous and highly paid NPCs.”

Yun Shan, “…”

Running a company in the game under the table, you are truly remarkable.

This is the rhythm of maximizing the advantage of RMB players.

“You’re good at selling medicine, you can exchange it for three months’ use of a shop. It’s not easy to obtain these. I had to give gifts, build goodwill, and put in a lot of effort to obtain three of them.” Xie Shaoting had been regularly obtaining gray rats from Yun Shan these days, in significant quantities and exceptional quality, intentionally building a good relationship with her, which is why he suggested her to choose a three-month shop usage right.

However…

Yun Shan shook her head, “I don’t need the shop usage right.”

Throwing the crafted medicine into the trading market, it sold out instantly, without worrying about promotional activities or after-sales issues.

Renting a shop to run her own store would be more trouble than it’s worth.

Recalling the hot sales of the Concentration Incense, Xie Shaoting was speechless for a moment before saying, “You don’t need that, then.”

In the central area of the camp, the commercial street was already established. Many players had made up their minds to purchase/rent shops to thoroughly establish their brand reputation.

Selling goods in the trading market?

The items were too diverse, and there was too much competition, making it very challenging to stand out.

But Yun Shan didn’t have this concern.

The goods she personally crafted were of good quality and reasonably priced, so buying them meant earning. Moreover, being well-known early on, NPCs had all heard of her name. Whenever her products were put up for sale, they immediately attracted NPCs to compete for them, heating up the atmosphere.

For her, the shop usage right was indeed not very useful.

“In that case, what do you want?” Xie Shaoting threw the question back to Yun Shan.

Considering the rare opportunity, Yun Shan asked directly, “How many three-star flying-type beast offspring do you have?”

Xie Shaoting, “…”

Regardless of the species, the protection of offspring was strictly enforced.

One and two-star offspring were fine, with higher numbers and lower combat power, making them feasible to capture.

However, three-star and higher were a different story.

When their offspring were captured, parents would sometimes become enraged and unleash their unparalleled power.

Compared to ordinary beast offspring, flying-type offspring were even rarer. Adults could rely on their speed advantage to escape with their offspring because they couldn’t be defeated.

In general, capturing high-level beast offspring was a thankless and laborious task, especially for flying types.

“Five three-star Red Falcon offspring,” Xie Shaoting spoke with complex emotions.

Those were battle pets he had prepared for himself. He had planned to raise them carefully, hoping to succeed in forming a contract.

However, before he could develop a bond, he had to give up the offspring due to the autumn hunting event.

Considering the value of the 10,000 contribution points registration code, Xie Shaoting calmly added, “If you want them, I can give them to you.”

“Deal!” Yun Shan pondered for a moment, adding a condition, “In addition to the Red Falcon offspring, I also need a batch of herbs.”

Xie Shaoting: “Alright.”

As long as the gray rats were delivered, everything else was negotiable.

Despite Yun Shan being alone and not being part of any guild, when it came to gray rat hunting ability, she outperformed most guilds.

After finalizing the details of their collaboration, Xie Shaoting bid farewell and left.

Yun Shan gestured for You Yi to hand over the gray rats to the secretary and said, “Start keeping a record, and exchange for the Red Falcon offspring when we have enough.”

“Okay,” the secretary said as she recorded the information.

Lu Ming observed the entire transaction and asked after it was done, “Why did you trade with him instead of going to the responsible party to exchange rewards?”

Yun Shan didn’t dwell on it, “The rewards are indeed generous, but they don’t have what I want.”

The most coveted registration codes that she had received ten of before, she had no intention of exchanging them in this event.

A four-star Black Vulture offspring sounded good, but the price was too high.

Three-star offspring were all land creatures, but she wanted a flying creature.

As for grains and herbs, let alone the option to exchange for them.

So, Yun Shan took a detour and exchanged for the needed items from players.

She felt that achieving her goal was what mattered, without being concerned about the means, but Lu Ming seemed to think otherwise.

As they hurried along, he remained silent, wearing a contemplative expression.

Yun Shan had no idea what he had realized.

Exchange Point.

The event organizer was standing in the usual spot.

Normally, players/residents would line up in an orderly manner, waiting to exchange the gray rats for contribution points.

At this moment, the line was extremely short, with only three players and five NPCs waiting in line. Others were chatting quietly nearby.

Yun Shan observed for a moment and noticed that whenever a player arrived carrying a gray rat, they would be intercepted and after a brief conversation, the beast would be handed over to someone else, while the player would leave happily with equipment/materials/points.

This behavior wasn’t limited to players, as NPCs were doing the same.

Only a very few people could resist the temptation and firmly stood in front of the event organizer with their gray rats.

You Yi looked around and realized, “Someone is buying gray rats.”

Was this a loophole?

Before he could come up with a reason, numerous gray rats were delivered into Xie Shaoting’s hands, and he took the initiative to line up to submit them personally.

You Yi: … Unexpectedly, they are acquaintances.

Lu Ming stared at Xie Shaoting, quickly calculating the rate of exterminating the rodents. Then, he turned around and indifferently said, “Let’s go.”

Yun Shan watched the scene before her with a smile in her eyes.

In the previous life, without the autumn hunting event and the registration code reward, Xie Shaoting’s performance was quite in line with the portrayal of an “ordinary wealthy individual.”

In this life, with a different plan to exterminate the rodents, led by Xie Shaoting, the entire player community erupted with great enthusiasm for the autumn hunting event!

For players, registration codes may be very important.

For Lu Ming, being able to solve the rodent infestation with a few registration codes made this deal worthwhile. It’s no wonder he felt at ease seeing Xie Shaoting take charge of the rodent extermination work before leaving.

“The miraculous power of wealth.”

Yun Shan strolled back to the estate, waiting for the wolfhounds and the falcon to provide their prey.

***

On September 11th, at dusk on the sixth day of the autumn hunting event, Xie Shaoting successfully accrued 10,000 contribution points and exchanged them for “1 registration code”.

The data on the list was immediately updated –

1 registration code = 10,000 contribution points. (Can be exchanged 9 times)

When the players saw this, they went crazy.

This was a miracle belonging to RMB players!

***

At the same time.

Xie Shaoting received a system prompt, “You have obtained 1 registration code.”

[Note 1: Each registration code can only be used once.]

[Note 2: Please use it within 7 days, or you will automatically lose eligibility.]

Having finally obtained what he wanted the most, Xie Shaoting felt overjoyed, his face radiant with a brilliant smile.