Free Web NovelChapter 127: Chapter 121: Wilderness Encounter
November 29th. There was one day left until the end of the seventh rule.
Guan Tong sat in the small courtyard, regulating his breathing. He channeled his Psychic Power, guiding its flow to the tip of his right index finger. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
A faint glow manifested at his fingertip. One second, two seconds... After eight seconds, the glow finally dissipated into specks of light.
Guan Tong wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. Even though he had only been channeling his Psychic Power for less than ten seconds, the effort required immense concentration and precise control.
Compared to the one or two seconds he could previously maintain, lasting nearly ten seconds as the rule’s end approached was already good progress.
He had exchanged messages with Shi Jingyi a few times over the last few days. She told him he was progressing quickly and that, at this rate, he could probably achieve a complete Psychic Power Flow throughout his entire body within about three months.
Three months wasn’t an incredibly long time. But in the era of the Apocalypse Rules, three months could span two or three different rules. In the words of some netizens, it was "like living two or three lifetimes."
That wasn’t an exaggeration. Every time a rule ended—especially a survival-type rule—it left people with the feeling of having survived a great catastrophe.
Passing each survival rule was like living through a terrifying disaster, and it had a huge psychological impact.
This was also why many people chose to live one day at a time, adopting an "eat, drink, and be merry" lifestyle.
Then there were those who loved excitement and challenges, who treated the rules like a game. Surviving each rule was like clearing a level. If they were still alive after all forty-nine rules ended, they would have beaten the game.
Guan Tong’s mentality fell somewhere between the two.
He wouldn’t just give up and let things fall apart, nor would he treat the rules as a game. For him, it was enough to do what he should and what he could to the best of his ability. After giving it his all, he could accept any outcome.
After finishing his daily training, Guan Tong stood up, stretched his limbs, and began to walk along the mountain paths.
Walking had always been a way for him to relax. He found it especially enjoyable after moving to the mountain, where the absence of the city’s hustle and bustle left him feeling content and at ease.
He was also pleased that Yu Hong and Zhao Yu, the pair camped at the foot of the mountain, hadn’t tried to come up to find him during this time.
He had been wondering how he would convince them to leave if they couldn’t resist coming up the mountain. It seemed now that he had been overthinking it.
After a loop around the mountain, Guan Tong returned to his cabin feeling refreshed and opened his computer.
On the Ascender’s Home website, following the success of the first commission, other people had started to post their own requests over the past few days.
However, most of these commissions were ignored because they offered too little value.
For example, someone posted a request to buy a non-disposable offensive item, but they were only offering 200-300 Sublimation Coins.
It was obvious no one would take a request like that. A non-disposable offensive item would sell for at least 1,000 Coins on the open market. Why would anyone sell it to you for a third of the price instead of listing it there?
Another person posted a high-paying request, looking for someone with a "regeneration" ability to heal their severed arm and make it grow back.
The reward for this request might have been high, but the requirements were too demanding. The "regeneration" ability was definitely a niche one. Someone with it might exist, but they wouldn’t necessarily see the post. And even if they did, they might not be willing to help.
Even if the two parties reached an agreement, Guan Tong couldn’t arrange a meeting if they weren’t in the same location.
Although Shadow could transport people just as it transported goods, the two were entirely different concepts. "Transporting people," in particular, would partially expose the secret of Shadow, and Guan Tong wasn’t willing to do that for any reward.
However, there was one new commission that caught Guan Tong’s attention.
The requester, like "Black Stone" from before, was someone surviving in an outdoor camp.
They needed a shipment of shelf-stable food with a long expiration date transported from the city to their camp. For this, their entire camp was willing to collectively pay three thousand Sublimation Coins.
Guan Tong noticed that someone had accepted the request just ten minutes after it was posted.
The person who accepted claimed to be a supply warehouse administrator in the city. They were willing to sell food for Sublimation Coins, on the condition that the site administrator could handle the transport.
Both the requester and the acceptor @’d the site admin in the post, which had also garnered quite a few replies from other users. freewebnovel.cσ๓
"Selling food from a supply warehouse? Dude, are you not afraid of getting caught?"
"You might have the guts to accept this request, but I doubt the site admin has the guts to transport it for you."
"Are you kidding me? I also work at a city supply warehouse. All the food stock is inventoried. What are you going to do when the numbers don’t add up later?"
Guan Tong agreed with the points made in the comments.
The previous case with "Wind-like Sky" selling off Anti-Speech Masks had been understandable. Those masks were left behind after people in the Gathering Point died, the officials wouldn’t reclaim them, and "Black Stone" didn’t mind that they were secondhand. All those factors were what made the transaction possible.
Even if the officials eventually tracked down "Wind-like Sky," he would at most get a stern reprimand. It was highly unlikely they would charge him with a crime.
But selling off reserve food from a supply warehouse was an entirely different matter. That was the kind of offense that would land you in jail even in peacetime, let alone during the Apocalypse Rules era, which was already under wartime management. If discovered, the perpetrator would absolutely be dealt with severely, strictly, and swiftly by the authorities.
Guan Tong wondered, ’Is this guy claiming to be a warehouse administrator really willing to take such a huge risk for a few Sublimation Coins?’
But even if this guy was determined to take the risk, Guan Tong would never accept the transport job.
