Chapter 15: Peddler Grade C Awakening

Two upgrades; the first was in my previous life when I collected too much scrap, which unlocked the space upgrade function, and the system upgraded once along with it.

The second was at the point in time when I was reborn. Could it be that my death triggered the upgrade, or... was it really the system that caused me to be reborn?

Liu Mu wanted to ask for clarification, but the system seemed to intentionally avoid this question, answering a whole lot without a single useful word. It forced her to first consider the card she had just drawn.

Godly Tycoon? It doesn't sound like a bad thing, and if it means something equivalent to the "God of Wealth," that would be even better.

"Activate it," Liu Mu said, clutching the card. She didn't waste much time on decision-making; she had always known what she should do—to act rather than just daydream.

【Awakening 'Peddler Grade C'. Awakening complete. Congratulations, Host, you are now a wealthy Peddler. Please initiate trading activities as soon as possible, as it will be more beneficial for stage advancement.】

【First-time ability awakening. The system rewards the Host with the initial skill: Profit-Driven. This skill can automatically generate a list of the most profitable items and data for maximizing profits after understanding the current regional market.】

"Then how do I upgrade?" Liu Mu didn't expect any combat-oriented skills; she only thought she still had to persist in training herself to ensure her own survival.

【Earning profit (including but not limited to currency) will allow you to upgrade. The more you earn, the faster you upgrade.】

Her body trembled briefly. After recovering, a transparent panel appeared before Liu Mu's eyes, displaying her current wealth and total profit. It also provided a detailed explanation of the Peddler path, which included many grayed-out skill icons; currently, only 'Profit-Driven' was lit up, and the others all required meeting certain conditions to be unlocked.

At the same time, a strong urge to do business and make big money emerged in her mind. She didn't know if it was a side effect of the path or if she had always craved the accumulation of wealth.

But clearly, there was no way to do business right now; she hadn't even encountered a single person... eh, a wounded person without purchasing power doesn't count as a person.

Although she had been chattering with the system for a long time, Liu Mu's movements in recycling the steel were not delayed in the slightest; all in all, the whole thing took no more than ten minutes.

Next, it followed logically that she should consider how to start doing business and making money.

She had had specialized sales channels for collecting scrap before, but now that scrap trading was temporarily unfeasible, she could only open up new goods. As for how exactly to open them up, she still had to think it over carefully.

However, just like that, the fatigue that had accumulated in her body over these two days vanished, and she was once again a full-of-energy recycler.

"Continue! It's all mine, all mine alone!"

Liu Mu was too excited and forgot about the person Niu Boyi had found. She also didn't expect that after the other party drank water and ate the Compressed Biscuits, he would actually come back to life. He not only noticed her stealing steel billets with a wave of her hand but also saw... her raving alone.

Li Gang also felt himself; the injury was mainly on his left leg. As his body recovered slightly, it became agonizingly painful; it must be a fracture. There were also quite a few other abrasions, but compared to these external injuries, the weakness was the most fatal.

Fortunately, he had just retired last month, and his body still maintained its previous conditioning. If it had been any other ordinary person going through this, they probably would have died in the first few days. But this didn't mean he wasn't afraid; the feeling of being hot and hungry, waiting for death underground, was truly terrible.

Just as Li Gang was thinking about bandaging his left leg first, the Military Dog that had discovered him earlier actually brought over a Steel Pipe as thick as an arm. "Woof, woof, woof."

The Military Dog nudged Li Gang's leg with its front paw, and the latter hissed, cold sweat breaking out from the pain.

"You want me to bandage my injured leg?"

Compared to the needle-like pain, he was even more surprised that this dog actually knew about his injury and even knew what was needed for bandaging.

Even military dogs aren't this smart, right?

"Thanks," Li Gang said, gritting his teeth as he sat up. He untied the rope that had pulled him earlier, used it to bind the Steel Pipe to his left leg, and secured the fractured area.

This action made his mind clear from the pain. "Brother Dog, do you know what happened? Was it an earthquake? Why hasn't anyone come to rescue us after so long?"

"It wasn't an earthquake," Liu Mu said as she returned and saw the young man chatting with her dog. "It's the end of the world. Do you want lunch or not?"

Liu Mu sat down on a collapsed concrete slab nearby. "Didn't you see the things falling from the sky? The entire Earth was ignited and burned for over ten days. You being able to survive is a blessing from your ancestors."

She pointed at the tricycle and then at the sky, and Niu Boyi immediately took the order to fetch food.

"The end of the world?" Li Gang looked carefully at the other person's mask from behind his own, but he couldn't see anything clearly; the other person's mask was covered in dust. "Ma'am, are you joking? Our factory was hit by something at the time, and I fell into an abandoned cooling pool, so I don't know..."

"Wait a minute!" Liu Mu heard something incredible and immediately leaned over, pressing down on the young man's shoulder. "Brother, you said this place was hit? Where was it hit?"

The Seven-Day Burning—no, perhaps 'Ten-Day Burning' is more accurate now—was caused by that thing called the 'Giant Sun', but what fell to the ground wasn't very large, so the temperature rose and fires started everywhere, but there was no earthquake.

"Let me think, it should be over at the Third Factory Area," Li Gang wasn't sure himself, but he was startled by Liu Mu's appearance. He was certain that this girl was probably not a good person; her rummaging around here must be to steal steel.

But he was too weak now and temporarily lacked the ability to protect public property; he could only wait for an opportunity to control the other party and then call the police.

"Third Factory Area?" Liu Mu looked around, unable to distinguish which factory area was which anymore. "Brother, give me a precise direction, or else let Niu Boyi carry you, and we'll go see what exactly it is?"

The dog wearing a mask looked a bit larger than an average local dog, but to carry a 150-jin big man like him... "It probably can't carry me."

"How could that be? You have to believe in Niu Boyi's strength; it's a fighting dog among wolfdogs!" Liu Mu wouldn't give him a chance to refuse. She directly signaled Niu Boyi to come over, stretched out her arm, and to the man's utter astonishment, gave him a bridal carry and placed him on the dog's back.

"This, this, this, this..." Li Gang's face turned bright red. In his life, other than his mother and elder female relatives, when had he ever been held by another woman?

The 1.8-meter-tall man was so embarrassed he almost suffocated.

"Stop 'this-ing', let's go," Liu Mu pressed his hand onto Niu Boyi's head. "Move whichever hand indicates which way to go; my dog is sensible."

Li Gang tried hard to steady his breathing so he wouldn't lose his composure and slide off the dog. This girl was simply too heaven-defying; no wonder she dared to come to the Steel Factory to steal steel all by herself. Incredible.

Urged on by Liu Mu, Li Gang finally moved.