Chapter 161: The More You Inquire, The More It Costs

Poor Tongzi has almost scratched his head bald and still hasn't figured it out; the code clearly has no errors and runs stably, so where on earth is the "BUG" that made this servant taste the flavor again?!

The system's matters are left unsaid; for most survivors, this is a very strange disaster.

"Did you notice any abnormalities?"

"Nope."

"No disaster? I don't think there's any abnormality either?"

"The sky is neither hot nor cold, the wind is light, there's no earthquake, no rain—very odd! Extremely odd!"

"No natural disaster?"

"How could that be?!"

Such dialogue has been playing over the regional channel nonstop since after midnight last night.

Cheng Shuili sometimes truly wonders whether her peers are all robots; otherwise why repeat the exact same words over and over?

Perhaps the essence of humans is that of a repeat machine.

But for Cheng Shuili, this disaster is far better than the previous ones.

Previously they were all weather‑related disasters, constantly affecting people; her food supply was ample, so this famine feels to her like no disaster at all.

Come to think of it, she finally had a few days of peaceful living.

The vehicle's air‑conditioning, which had been on for a week, finally shut off, and that silly smart AI whined, "Finally I can rest, thank you, master!"

Even though it was clearly a mechanical voice, Cheng Shuili felt the AI sounded oddly sarcastic; she twitched her brow but didn't turn it back on.

After handing the driving to Su Rui, Cheng Shuili finally had to admit she was truly bored.

Yesterday's bread and today's bread both sold, happily bringing in another 4,920 Game Coin, and with the mileage rewards from the past two days, she now has Game Coin left!

She has calculated that number three times herself; it's not distrust of the system, it's just sheer boredom.

The regional channel goes back and forth with those few sentences, wave after wave of people asking the same question.

Cheng Shuili really considered just posting a statement, publicly announcing what this disaster is.

But soon she was relieved she hadn't done so.

A gullible buyer came to trade with her, and there were two of them at once.

【Bu Xiang Shang Ban】: Mr. Wu Ya, we want the detailed information on this disaster; name your price.

Although the words are polite, that address is really irritating.

Before Cheng Shuili could reply, she received a message from Chen Qing Shan.

【Qing Shan Yuan Xing】: Second Water sister, I represent our organization and wish to purchase the detailed information on this disaster. Since we're a bit familiar, could you make it cheaper?

Now that's not being honest.

How are the two of them familiar?

And… Cheng Shuili pulled both chat windows out; aren't these two from the same place?

What's going on? Aren't they communicating?

Cheng Shuili doesn't know; at this moment, her conversation with the two is being constantly synced in front of everyone in the organization.

Zhu Xuan's expression darkened when he saw Chen Qing Shan's address; he truly hadn't expected the famed Wu Ya to be a woman, nor that Chen Qing Shan was so familiar with Wu Ya!

That is quite disadvantageous for him.

The organization's decision mainly referenced whose advice, and originally there was no dispute.

But Chen Qing Shan is so ambitious; he silently clinched first place in the epic Instance, making a huge splash across the whole region!

With such fame, those with intent naturally won't waste it.

These people already didn't respect Zhu Xuan much; previously there were no better options, so they had to lie low under his command.

Now Chen Qing Shan has been pushed into the spotlight, so they naturally can't sit still.

Coincidentally, information about this disaster is all over the place, and the organization has split into two factions.

Zhu Xuan advocates holding fire, believing there may truly be no disaster, while Chen Qing Shan insists the system can't err and that hidden danger lurks beneath the calm.

The two sides can't settle, and finally decide to jointly contact Wu Ya to purchase intel—first to prove who's right, second to judge who can bring more profit to the organization based on this deal!

Thus the dramatic scene of Cheng Shuili receiving two messages simultaneously arose.

All this Cheng Shuili should have been completely unaware of, but alas she has Guang Hui as a subordinate.

Although Guang Hui is no longer a spokesperson, the resources that were once uniformly stored with him haven't moved; first, sorting them out is too troublesome, second, many players have already died, so that portion can't be returned even if they wanted to.

Therefore, he still occupies a spot on the wealth leaderboard.

Zhao Hong, while not exactly pivotal in the organization, is a figure who can slip into the core. So most information is clear to him, and he also knows the reason for this transaction.

As for leaking information to Cheng Shuili…

The words can't be said that harshly.

In Zhao Hong's view, this trivial matter that doesn't harm anything tells Cheng Shuili there's absolutely no problem.

For Cheng Shuili, how they argue has nothing to do with her, and who rises to power also doesn't concern her.

Because she holds something in demand, anyone must trade with her.

She cares more about which of the two is easier to talk to.

Compared with the haggling Chen Qing Shan, Cheng Shuili obviously prefers Zhu Xuan.

Cheng Shuili's fingers lightly tapped the screen, a playful smile curling her lips. She first replied to 【Bu Xiang Shang Ban】.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: 60 Vehicle Upgrade Material Fragments, give me the items first, then I'll tell you the information.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: Don't talk about whether it's pricey; I know your numbers aren't small, this price is definitely cheap.

In less than ten seconds, the other side replied.

【Bu Xiang Shang Ban】: Please wait a moment.

【Bu Xiang Shang Ban】: Waiting is impossible.

Cheng Shuili opened the dialogue box with Qing Shan Yuan Xing.

【Wu Ya Zuo Fei Ji】: 61 Vehicle Upgrade Material Fragments, considering the little "friendship" we have.

Chen Qing Shan's face was turning green.

Chen Qing Shan truly didn't expect that the price Wu Ya asked him for was actually higher than Zhu Xuan's!

Zhu Xuan also didn't expect things could turn around like this; his gaze fell on that "1", and he let out a light laugh.

This "Number One" was far more interesting than he had imagined.

Zhu Xuan could guess that the other side must know that he and Qing Shan are from the same organization. And the two prices quoted by the other side only indicated one thing: no matter how many of you come to ask, if you want to trade, this is the price; not a single fragment is cheap.

Even "the more you ask, the more expensive!"

Zhu Xuan understood that he had gotten the advantage of asking the price first.

But Chen Qing Shan didn't get it; he only felt he was being played, a surge of anger rushed to his forehead, making his whole face turn bright red!

He kept his fingers on the keyboard, and it took him a long time before he managed to type out a sentence.

【Qing Shan Yuan Xing】: A bit cheaper.

Cheng Shuili: "......"

What a pitiful language library.