Chapter 211: Black Market Trading Center

How to establish effective foreign trade channels had Zhong Xi stumped.

It was certain that a trade model combined with the Painful Painful Minghun could bring considerable extra income, but the situation in Monster World was far too chaotic.

Integrity meant nothing; only martial force was the key to solving problems.

Without showing deterrent power, no matter how trustworthy you were, you'd still get robbed.

Conversely, if one had enough strength, there was no need for trade at all — it was better to just rob, the returns were higher.

Therefore, trade had to be carried out in a manner of "using weakness to deter the strong."

Only the weak needed trade; the strong always used force to drain the pond dry.

And Monster World had a pond that could never be drained.

If the Divine Hall Guild provided martial support behind him, the small tribes in the sea regions wouldn't need to fear.

A united warband that had come out of the newbie village crushing nearby small sea tribes was simply a steamroll.

But the Divine King clearly wouldn't pay him any attention.

He was just an ordinary player with a main Painful Painful Minghun level of 42, backed only by a group of fishing-party players who posted screenshots and bragged all day.

Asked which areas in the sea regions could catch big fish, each and every one of them was an expert, holding the most detailed sea-region fishing maps among the player factions.

They were especially skilled at crafting fishing rods, choosing fishing lines, using bait... contributing massive amounts of spiritual fish ingredients to the player army, and serving as the main suppliers that allowed spiritual-chef players to craft all kinds of spiritual food.

But to ask them to go fight.

They could only step up to goof around and cast a couple of rods during mass player gatherings; their combat power was honestly at the bottom of every Geliu Sect's Liu Wan Fa.

Although there were powerful elite players among the fishing party — after all, to catch powerful sea creatures, strength was also a key factor.

But such players made up only a small portion of their group.

Wanting to obtain safe shelter from the fishing-party group was not realistic.

As for other player warbands, unless he offered attractive enough benefits, no guild would bother paying attention to him.

Suddenly having a goal made fishing instantly lose its appeal.

After reeling in his rod, Zhong Xi sat in a rattan chair, gazing at the sea and falling into thought.

Thinking about how to establish a trade system built around the Painful Painful Minghun as its core.

After a long while, unable to figure it out, he decided to go on the forum and post seeking help from netizens.

Summoning the forum interface, he spent half an hour composing, and published Ji De Xiang Fa in the form of a post on the forum.

【Everyone come in and discuss — how can we maximize the income from the Painful Painful Minghun?】

OP: Need Milk at Midnight.

Content:

Since the Painful Painful Minghun appeared, I've always felt this Painful Painful Minghun is extremely powerful.

But no matter how I think about it, I can't come up with a reasonable way to use it.

There's only one core issue — we can't view Monster World's landscape using the peaceful, stable trade models from reality.

The extra 8% income looks like a lot, but in practice it might not even be higher than hunting output.

Unless we can establish long-term, stable trade connections with the various tribes of the sea regions, gaining continuous wealth growth through trade income + the wealth aura income from the Painful Painful Minghun.

The future growth model would become: establish trade with more races, gain more extra wealth-aura income.

This is essentially a growth path in itself.

You can view the increase in trade partners as territorial expansion; in the future, wealth will inevitably rise with it.

In the future, it might even form a "Merchant Stream" Liu Pai Wan Fa.

But to become a merchant, you need martial protection.

In a Monster World where the weak are prey to the strong, commerce is inferior to robbery.

The gains from plundering a tribe far exceed those from doing business.

Players have countless forces they can plunder; there's no need to obtain income through commerce.

From the world's background, commerce is actually a very foolish growth model, only suited for players who lack strength but want to make big money.

So the problem returns to the starting point — how can players without enough strength form martial deterrence against foreign races?

I'd like to ask everyone, is there any way to solve this problem?

Comment section:

Invincible Wind Fire Wheel: A systematic commerce model definitely can't be played — just like the OP described in the post, if you have strength you go rob, and if you don't have strength you can't establish stable trade either. But you could reference the NPC model commonly seen in other games, becoming a "mysterious merchant" who wanders between the various islands of the sea regions, conducting trade with the tribes on the islands through occasional refreshes.

Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms: The mysterious-merchant Liu Pai Wan Fa requires huge investment. Thirty thousand Shou Shou Jili is just the startup capital to purchase the Painful Painful Minghun; buying goods also costs money. Assuming goods are sold at cost price to earn the extra 8% income, you'd have to sell ten thousand Shou Shou Jili worth of goods to earn 800 Shou Shou Jili. You'd need to prepare several tens of thousands of Shou Shou Jili as startup capital to buy goods to sell to foreign races, so overall startup capital needs to be at least fifty thousand and up... The key point is, foreign races don't necessarily buy your goods.

Pillar Holding Up the Sky: Besides the initial capital, you also have to invest enormous time costs. Sailing on the sea takes time — often several hours, even several days. Since you've chosen to become a mysterious merchant, you'd need to equip a high-quality vehicle to improve travel efficiency, right? That's another investment. The time spent traveling back and forth between major sea regions would be enough for hunting-party players to earn several hundred, even several thousand Shou Shou Jili. So the mysterious-merchant model is too hard to start — it's all places to spend money, and it's not as stable as hunting.

Happy Powder Sausage: I have a plan — tame a Wonder Butterfly to gain space-jump ability. That way you can save tons of travel time, shuttling between major islands raking in money, earning a fortune daily (sneaky. jpg)

Unfilial Son Why'd You Hit Me: I thought of another extra cost — doing business requires expanding your spatial bag space, which is also a considerable expense... OP, form a discussion group, I'm also very interested in the Merchant Stream Liu Pai Wan Fa, let's pool our ideas and figure something out.

The forum players gave many ideas.

But most were unreliable.

Some players suggested setting up a stall to sell grilled fish.

At normal prices, an ordinary spiritual grilled fish sold for 20-90 Shou Shou Jili.

Calculated at an average price of 55 Shou Shou Jili, selling 100 grilled fish per day would earn 440 Shou Shou Jili in extra income daily.

The payback period was too long, and it also required investing a lot of time — better to just leisurely fish in the sea regions.

Zhong Xi felt the only reliable suggestion on the forum was the mysterious-merchant Liu Pai Wan Fa.

But this Liu Pai Wan Fa also had an unsolvable problem — sea-region sailing efficiency was too low.

Spending tons of time, the income from selling goods was also extremely unstable.

According to normal logic, as the principal grows, the profit from each trade can also continuously increase.

A principal of ten thousand Shou Shou Jili and a principal of one hundred thousand Shou Shou Jili obviously create different profits from trade.

But this is merely an idealized business model.

Although the Monster World is a game, unlike goods in simulation management games that yield full payment upon every sale,

for example, if one carries one hundred thousand Shou Shou Jili to a foreign tribe island, the small tribe on the island might only want goods worth ten thousand Shou Shou Jili and need nothing else.

This leads to profits from long journeys being unstable.

Wealth growth does not necessarily bring higher returns.

Because market demand and player supply differ.

It is far less stable than the profits brought by hunting.

Unable to think of a solution to the problem, Zhong Yi decided to follow the forum players' idea, form a merchant group, and brainstorm solutions together.

After building the chat group, he sent invitations to players in the post who had ideas.

Before long, dozens of players had joined the chat group.

Zhong Yi also decided to start his first trade journey.

Gritting his teeth, he spent the three thousand Shou Shou Jili he had painstakingly saved to purchase the "Gold Coin" Painful Painful Minghun; after decomposing the Li Man Painful Painful Minghun in the third Star Meridian slot, he upgraded the Gold Coin Painful Painful Minghun to level 20.

The extra profit increased from 8% to 12%.

With 7,623 points of Shou Shou Jili remaining, he decided to set off immediately and play the role of a mysterious merchant.

Summoning the map function and enlarging the sea area scene where he was located, he chose to sail southwest.

There lay an island occupied by a foreign tribe, "Night Sky Island."

After the four-hour voyage ended, the small boat approached the shore, turned into pixel light points that covered Zhong Yi, and generated a set of black light armor.

He leaped onto the shore and looked up.

Before his eyes lay a lush forest of bone trees.

Tall and straight bone trees were arranged in an orderly fashion, their white leaves rustling in the gentle breeze.

Walking along the beach toward the island's interior, colorful shells were scattered sparsely on the sand.

Just as he prepared to enter the jungle, he saw a figure sprinting toward him at extreme speed, a flash of cold light enlarging before his eyes.

With Gao Da rising, Zhong Yi suddenly threw a punch at the attacking figure.

The Gao Da condensed into a fist shadow in the air, blasting the attacking figure backward with a single punch, causing him to crash into a bone tree and slide down.

"Cough... cough..."

Zhong Yi clearly saw the attacking figure.

The opponent was about 1.5 meters tall, holding a long spear polished from bone, with his body covered in symbols painted with unknown pigments.

He was now staring viciously at him.

The analysis ability activated at this moment.

【Night Sky Tribe Warrior: Night Wolf】:

Hunting Level: Level 29

Target Introduction: A new-generation warrior of the Night Sky Tribe, currently on an island patrol mission.

"Friend, don't fight; I have no ill intentions."

Remembering he was here to do business, Zhong Yi decisively dispersed the Gao Da surrounding his body and raised both hands to show he meant no harm.

His words were translated by the Challenger System and directly understood by Night Wolf.

Night Wolf, however, raised his head with a wary expression, crouched slightly, and seemed ready to spring into action at any moment to attack him again.

"I advise you not to make trouble; if I really wanted to kill you, you would be dead already."

Seeing that Night Wolf still had the desire to fight, Zhong Yi couldn't help but complain.

"What is your purpose in coming to our Night Sky Tribe island?"

"Doing business."

"Doing business?"

"That's right; I want to ask what goods your tribe needs; I have a way to bring them to you."

Hearing this, Night Wolf looked confused and said:

"Giving as a gift?"

"Take me to see your elders; your pig brain probably can't understand, and I'm too lazy to waste words on you." Zhong Yi couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"You insult me." Night Wolf's face turned red with suppressed anger.

"Hurry up and take me to see your elders; if you talk nonsense again, I'll really slaughter you." Zhong Yi spoke viciously, then suddenly threw a punch to his right.

The released Gao Da Painful Painful Minghun smashed a bone tree to the ground with a crash.

"Fine." Seeing this, Night Wolf nodded vigorously.

This made Zhong Yi completely convinced.

Truly the Monster World; a kind tone cannot solve problems; fists are the core of negotiation.

Before long, Zhong Yi followed Night Wolf to the Night Sky Tribe's territory.

Laid out before his eyes was a magnificent white waterfall.

A huge curtain of water roared down from a hundred meters high, crashing against rugged rocks and splashing up layers of white foam.

The Night Sky Tribe village was scattered around the waterfall; the architectural style was ancient, and most houses were built from logs and stones.

Strange symbols were carved all over the nearby walls, and statues painted in various colors stood along the way.

Just as he entered the Night Sky Tribe territory, Zhong Yi was surrounded by a group of Night Sky Tribe warriors.

The analysis swept over them; the Night Sky Tribe warriors' average hunting level was around 40. If a fight truly broke out, he would surely die.

The upcoming negotiation would have to rely on his tongue.

His fists were no longer effective.

At this moment, the Night Sky Tribe warriors retreated to both sides as a figure leaning on a cane walked toward him.

The analysis swept over, and Zhong Yi learned the other's identity was the Night Sky Tribe's elder, also the person he would negotiate with next.

He saw the Night Sky elder stop before him, lift his head, and speak to him with a complex expression:

"My tribe is under the protection of the Ice Gaze Tribe and cannot provide any resources for your people."

Hearing these words, Zhong Yi's mind was full of question marks.

The other party had obviously misunderstood something.

During the subsequent exchange, both sides gradually understood each other's thoughts.

Zhong Yi also understood why the Night Sky elder had said those words at the beginning.

In fact, there was trade between the tribes of the Cangxing Sea, but this trade was more accurately described as exploitation; the two trading parties were more like masters and vassals.

For example, the island where the Night Sky Tribe resided could produce a spiritual plant called "Crunchy Fruit." After the Ice Gaze Tribe discovered this island, they did not wipe out the Night Sky Tribe completely.

This was because the Ice Gaze Tribe knew that if they wiped out the Night Sky Tribe completely, the "Crunchy Fruit" produced on the island in the future would have to be planted, cared for, and harvested by the Ice Gaze Tribe members themselves.

In their eyes, the Night Sky Tribe posed no threat, so they chose to establish a trade relationship with them.

But this was a one-sided trade.

Every so often, the Night Sky Tribe had to offer a batch of Crunchy Fruit to the Ice Gaze Tribe, receiving only verbal protection from the Ice Gaze Tribe in return.

But to Zhong Yi's ears, the so-called protection was nothing more than another explanation for protection money.

If a major disaster truly occurred, the Ice Gaze Tribe would certainly not stand up for the Night Sky Tribe.

But the Night Sky Tribe was powerless to refuse this trade relationship.

Behind the Night Sky Tribe there was no racial cooperation organization like the Earth Alliance; the price of not paying was the extermination of their entire tribe.

So when the Night Sky elder heard he had come to trade, he instinctively thought another tribe had come to collect protection money.

Upon learning the details, Zhong Yi immediately explained his purpose and his idea of trading goods for goods.

This idea obviously seemed too advanced in the eyes of the Night Sky elder.

Unable to understand that in the Monster World there was still a power willing to conduct trade in this manner, it was truly absurd.

But after Zhong Yi explained his idea, the thought that floated into the Night Sky elder's mind was:

This outsider probably has no background behind him; otherwise, why choose to conduct trade through a goods-for-goods method?

The Night Sky elder, whose tribe's resources were always scarce, instantly had a greedy thought.

"I would like to know your origins."

"Is it important?" Seeing the Night Sky elder's tone shift from humble to calm, a sentence surged in Zhong Yi's mind: The weak draw their blades against the weaker.

Facing the oppression of the Ice Gaze Tribe, the Night Sky Tribe could only make humble offerings.

This was not kindness, but a choice forced upon them.

But when facing a target weaker than themselves, humility could turn into greed, and could also turn into a slaughter blade.

Zhong Yi did not hide his thoughts either; he looked at the Night Sky elder with a helpless expression:

"Old elder, your thoughts are exposed too obviously. I just want to conduct normal trade with you. Don't start trouble right away... Anyway, behind me is an existence you cannot provoke. I can wipe out your entire tribe with a wave of my hand. Understand?"

The old elder was somewhat embarrassed; he laughed twice in a strange tone to ease the atmosphere, then asked:

"Outsider guest, our island only has Crunchy Fruit; there are no other spiritual resources."

Speaking thus, the old elder signaled his tribesmen to bring the Crunchy Fruit.

Zhong Yi's analysis swept over and discovered this was a Level 2 spiritual plant; the price to sacrifice Beneath Di Zhao was 219 points of Shou Shou Jili.

Assuming the trade was conducted at the original price, deducting the trading hall's 5% transaction fee and adding the 12% extra profit, he could earn a 7% profit from it.

Of course, conducting direct trades with other players without going through the trading hall could guarantee a 12% profit, but the process was more troublesome.

Before conducting the trade, Zhong Yi voiced the thought in his mind:

"Old elder, tell me first, what does your Night Sky Tribe lack right now?"

After a brief silence, the old elder began to describe the tribe's predicament.

Zhong Yi summoned the forum interface and recorded the keywords of the content described by the old elder.

After organizing, three categories of tradable goods were derived.

The first category: food.

There was still enough space within the island to accommodate more Night Sky Tribe members, but the tribe's population growth was limited by food shortages, so they could only maintain their current scale.

The second category: spiritual ore.

This was also an important resource affecting the Night Sky Tribe's combat power improvement; without spiritual ore, they could not forge enough weapons, equipment, or even fishing tools.

The third category: medicine.

There were many poisonous insects on Night Sky Island; the Night Sky Tribe was often troubled by poisonous insects. Tribesmen bitten for a long time did not live long, so they needed goods that could detoxify.

After clarifying the tradable goods, Zhong Yi summoned the Shangcheng panel.

After careful thought, he spent 1 point of Shou Shou Jili to purchase a can of grain, opened it, and handed it to the old elder.

"This is food. How many Crunchy Fruits do you think it can exchange for?"

The old elder, having received the can, lowered his head to sniff lightly, frowned slightly, then used his finger to scoop a piece of meat from the can, put it in his mouth, and chewed.

His complexion suddenly changed; he spat it out onto the ground forcefully and looked up at Zhong Yi with an expression of disbelief:

"Is this also food?"

Zhong Yi:...

Although the taste of the grain can was not great, it was the main food for players during the Player's Early Phase.

"Eating this thing is worse than gnawing on leaves," the Old Clan Chief said angrily, his face flushed red.

The Old Clan Chief's words made Zhong Yi instantly realize the problem.

This is not Earth; the definition of food is not merely to fill the stomach.

On second thought, it made sense; with the island's dense vegetation, how could there not be enough food?

The Old Clan Chief was clearly referring to spiritual food.

So he decisively changed the item, purchasing an energy paste produced by the Against-Tide Legion, selling for 11 points of Shou Shou Jili in the Shangcheng.

Taking the energy paste, the Old Clan Chief's gaze roamed over him, seemingly searching for a spatial artifact, before taking a doubtful bite.

This time, the Old Clan Chief's eyes lit up, followed by an excited nod:

"The energy content of this food is very high; our Night Sky Clan needs it greatly."

"Can I exchange it for a few Crisp Ka fruits?"

The Old Clan Chief did not answer directly; holding the energy paste in his hand, he muttered incantations, and a white mist spread from his palm, covering the paste.

"Based on the food's energy content, give me 15 sticks, and I will give you one Crisp Ka fruit."

This reply made Zhong Yi instantly beam with joy.

His internal reasonable price was around 200 Shou Shou Jili.

Yet he did not expect the other party to ask for only 15 sticks of energy paste; a cost of 165 Shou Shou Jili could yield a Crisp Ka fruit worth around 219, and with the Coin Painful Painful Minghun trait bonus after the trade, the profit was higher than imagined.

What Zhong Yi did not know was that in the production of such energy food made from mixed spiritual materials, certain losses were inevitable during the process.

The Old Clan Chief was not stupid; the price he offered accounted for potential production losses, which is why he set the price at 15 sticks.

Having confirmed the other party's intent to trade, the next step was how to trade.

Giving it directly, Zhong Yi feared he would not get the goods back; it was better to inspect the goods first.

He still had 7612 Shou Shou Jili on his person, enough to buy 693 sticks of energy paste.

"Old Clan Chief, this is our first trade; if you give me 46 Crisp Ka fruits, shall I give you 693 sticks of energy paste?"

"Agreed, follow me," the Old Clan Chief nodded without hesitation.

Following the Old Clan Chief to a house built of piled stones, the Old Clan Chief pushed open the door; immediately, a rich, fresh fragrance hit his face, and inside were piled Crisp Ka fruits wrapped in leaves.

Zhong Yi's heart pounded; suddenly, he understood why plundering was the main theme of the Monster World.

The trading process was troublesome, and the profit was not high.

But plundering was different; this was a path to sudden wealth.

At this moment, the Old Clan Chief entered the house and began carrying out Crisp Ka fruits, placing 46 of them before Zhong Yi.

Zhong Yi did not hesitate either; after opening the Shangcheng to browse and buy, he waved his hand, and 693 sticks of energy paste piled up before him.

But just as he prepared to pick up the Crisp Ka fruits from the ground, the Old Clan Chief's withered, thin hand grabbed his wrist:

"Guest from outside, regarding the spatial device on your person, how many Crisp Ka fruits can it be exchanged for?"

Seeing the greed on the Old Clan Chief's face, Zhong Yi could not help but sigh:

"Old Clan Chief, I know what you are thinking; do you want to gamble with the lives of your entire clan?"

Seeing the calmness in Zhong Yi's eyes, the Old Clan Chief's expression wavered, and finally, he withdrew his hand resentfully.

The greed in his heart briefly gained the upper hand, but was ultimately suppressed by fear, daring not to gamble the clan's future on present gains.

Zhong Yi appeared calm on the surface, but inside, he was panicking terribly.

If he were robbed, over 7000 Shou Shou Jili would be gone.

That would be more painful than killing him.

Once back in the small dark room, he would have to cry for three days to recover.

Putting the 46 Crisp Ka fruits into his spatial satchel, Zhong Yi turned and left, accompanied by a Night Wolf.

During the journey, he summoned the Trading Hall and began listing items.

He listed one Crisp Ka fruit for consignment at a price of 220 points of Shou Shou Jili.

The profit from 46 Crisp Ka fruits, minus fees, was 9614 points of Shou Shou Jili; with the Coin Painful Painful Minghun trait bonus, it became 10767 Shou Shou Jili.

After deducting costs, the profit was: 3155 points of Shou Shou Jili.

A huge profit!

He now had to sell the Crisp Ka fruits as quickly as possible, then return to continue trading with the Night Sky Clan.

He would strip the Night Sky Clan of all Crisp Ka fruits beyond their required tribute, then wait a few months for the Crisp Ka fruits to ripen before conducting the next round of trading.

Facts proved that the mysterious merchant route was completely viable.

One round of trading could guarantee earnings of tens of thousands.

The only problem was that security was not very high.

Even such a weak clan as the Night Sky Clan dared to have designs on him; if he encountered a powerful clan, they would likely attack directly.

Not long after the small boat left the island, the Trading Hall prompts rang continuously in his mind.

The 46 Crisp Ka fruits were sold out in just five minutes.

This made Zhong Yi feel he had left too early; he immediately turned back to the Night Sky Island, preparing for the next round of trading.

Trading continued until the next day.

The Old Clan Chief was completely baffled throughout.

He could not understand why this fellow who called himself a merchant had to rest for a while after every trade completion before continuing the trade.

Why couldn't the trade be completed all at once?

The next day, after Zhong Yi left the island, all tradable goods of the Night Sky Clan had been bought up by him.

The total profit reached: 31700 points of Shou Shou Jili.

The positive flow of wealth generated 38 coins for him; after sacrificing to Beneath Di Zhao, he received 3800 points of Shou Shou Jili.

Wealth surged, giving Zhong Yi confidence in the trade routes.

Facts proved the mysterious merchant route was simply a shortcut to riches; making money was too easy.

Summoning the map, he began selecting the next island.

Two days later, Zhong Yi landed on Volcano Island.

It was an island covered in active volcanoes, with heat waves rolling through the air.

Having barely managed to land, Zhong Yi was not so lucky this time; before he could contact or communicate with the alien races on the island, he was quickly sent back to Emperor's Tomb Village.

Enraged, he cursed loudly, feeling he had wasted a huge amount of time.

But after the anger passed, he shared his situation in the "Merchant Group," then began scrolling through the chat logs of group members.

He discovered that group members had already summarized three methods to gain extra profits through the gold coin's Painful Painful Minghun trait over these days.

The first method, group members called: Goblin Merchant.

The name Goblin Merchant originated from the early era of Earth, that is, the era before entering the Earth Alliance.

At that time, there were also game players on Earth, playing mobile games and PC games.

He did not understand the history of that time, only knowing that goblins were then a description of a monster in Huan Zuo Pin, and were often used to refer to those greedy, shrewd players skilled in business and hoarding wealth.

This name, through the changing of eras, has been passed down to the present.

Goblin players are very similar to Hamster Party players, but the characteristic of Hamster Party players is hoarding goods, reluctant to use various resources, enjoying the sense of security brought by the growth of supplies.

Whereas Goblin players love wealth appreciation.

So the name "Goblin Merchant" carries both a mocking tone and a meaning of recognizing their business acumen.

The Goblin Merchant gameplay does not produce goods; it earns profits by buying low and selling high, operating the Sold Items listed on the Shangcheng.

For example, hoarding Iron Shell Beetle silk early on, then selling it at several times the price when the price rises, earning huge profits from it.

The Goblin Merchant gameplay requires players to monitor the price fluctuations of items on the Xing De Shang Pin in real-time; it requires sharp judgment on market changes; if played poorly, it easily leads to losses.

The second method, group members called: Mysterious Merchant.

The Mysterious Merchant is a role commonly existing in many games, a special NPC designed by the game officials for fun.

The Mysterious Merchant's trading method has three significant characteristics.

The first characteristic is appearing at random locations and random times, giving players a sense of anticipation and increasing fun.

The second characteristic is that the Jia De Shang Pin sold by the Mysterious Merchant are difficult to obtain through regular channels in the game, such as rare equipment, special materials, limited props, and so on.

The third characteristic is time-limited trading; mysterious goods generally stay in one location for a limited time, then disappear, and players easily miss them.

The Mysterious Merchant gameplay requires players to act as merchants wandering everywhere to contact alien races in different regions.

Sell goods that alien races cannot obtain through normal channels, then earn profits from it.

Just like Zhong Yi selling the energy paste developed by the Backward Tide Legion to the Night Sky Race; this is a special product the Night Sky Race cannot obtain from other channels.

The third method, group members called: Trade Merchant.

This gameplay has the highest difficulty; it requires a team, or even several teams cooperating to carry it out.

Negotiating with those powerful races to establish stable trade channels is an upgraded version of the Mysterious Merchant mode, increasing one's own bargaining power through cooperation between players.

Currently, all players in the group are playing the "Mysterious Merchant" mode.

Among these three modes, the least stable is the Goblin Merchant.

Price changes of items on the Xing De Shang Pin are affected by multiple factors; especially sudden updates will cause the price of a certain item to surge, which is unpredictable.

Version updates are too fast; players find it hard to seize opportunities.

Moreover, this gameplay is not favored by mainstream players.

In the Monster World game, all players are a whole; the behavior of reselling goods internally will inevitably be condemned.

After reading the content of the document summarized by group members, Zhong Yi scrolled the chat box down to the latest.

Learning that he was killed by alien races on Volcano Island, many group members immediately stated they had similar encounters.

Completing a transaction normally is not easy; it shows that the Night Sky Race capable of safely conducting transactions is just an isolated case.

The most miserable player went to three islands, all ending in death.

Races with some strength, facing the arrival of invaders, will naturally strike first.

Even if you are given time to state your ideas, the alien races think only of plundering the resources you carry on your person, not letting you continue the transaction.

Just as Zhong Yi and the group members were troubled about how to establish a stable trade model.

A group member who had never spoken suddenly sent a long string of content:

Buying Shou Shou Jili: Brothers, I have an idea.

After testing these two days, I have reached a conclusion: the profits brought by the gold coin's Painful Painful Minghun trait can be shared.

Everyone can understand it this way: assume a single transaction is completed by 10 players together, then these ten players can share the extra 8% profit brought by this revenue (divided equally).

It is equivalent to hunting in party mode, where party members share hunting rewards.

Essentially, the interests between merchants are conflicting.

Assume a player discovers an island capable of continuously producing trade revenue.

Then other players can also go to this island to conduct trade, or even lower prices to intercept the continuous revenue that should belong to the first discoverer.

So how to bind everyone's interests together is a problem we must consider.

Otherwise, it will only bring endless involution, or even armed conflict.

Here I provide a suggestion for cooperative win-win.

North of the Colorful Mist Coast lies an uninhabited island named "Dream Island."

I think players with ideas can together form a merchant guild, then establish a black market trading center on Dream Island.

Doing this has three benefits.

First is traffic acquisition.

Once the trading market is established and reaches a certain scale, news of the Dream Island trading market will spread rapidly among the various races of the sea.

Clients capable of establishing trade will come to us proactively; thereafter, we won't even need to search for clients, yet will continue to receive a steady flow of customers.

This is equivalent to establishing a stable channel for traffic acquisition.

It also saves the extra Shou Shou Jili cost of upgrading vehicles and saves a vast amount of time spent crossing the sea to search for clients.

The second benefit is shared profit.

All players are members of the guild; only when the guild grows larger will the collective benefit increase, and the profit distributed to each player's hands will also be greater.

As for how profits are distributed, a shareholding system can be used for division.

Example: Suppose player A explores and discovers a trading island capable of stable profit generation. During this period, player A informs the island's residents that they can travel to Dream Island for trade in the future. Then, when the alien races on this island come to Dream Island to trade, the profits generated will constitute player A's shares, counted into the total profit. When monthly distribution occurs, what percentage of the total profit does this portion occupy, and how much of the total profit is taken as a share (tentative).

If during this period alien race powers appear that were not registered but came to trade due to the trading market's influence, the benefits they generate will also be distributed to all members of the guild according to a percentage.

With shared interests, expanding the trading market will become the goal of every player in the guild.

The third benefit is concentrating funds.

Concentrating funds allows the guild to rapidly expand market scale, attract more alien race powers to trade, and enhance attraction to the alien races.

Secondly, it also enables us to establish trade with those powerful races.

For example, if a certain race needs a specific expensive resource, a single player cannot provide sufficient funds to purchase it, but collective fundraising can solve such problems, allowing our start to be higher.

To summarize: with Dream Island as the core, we concentrate our strength to build a black market trading center.

Besides trade between us and the various races, we can also provide a trading platform for the various races of the sea to exchange resources with each other.

In the early development stage of the trading center, everyone needs to go to various islands to solicit customers.

This effort will be compensated according to the proportion of subsequent customer flow occupying total revenue; later, as the scale expands and customer sources are continuous, revenue will only grow higher and higher.

After reading the idea of "collecting Shou Shou Jili," the group members exclaimed in amazement.

They felt this idea was completely feasible.

At this moment, a player asked the key question:

Cai Jiu Duo Lian: Brother's idea is truly excellent; after reading it, I only want to say awesome, but there is one problem still unresolved. Establishing a trading market is easy, but how do we prevent potential plunder risks? The Monster World is fraught with dangers. If powerful races learn that a trading market exists on Dream Island, storing various spiritual resources, it will inevitably attract plundering powers drooling with desire, wanting to devour all the resources on the island at once... If we encounter a sudden plunder event, how should we defend ourselves?

Shou Shou Jili:

Hmm, this is an inevitable risk problem.

In fact, the security issue cannot be solved no matter how much we guard against it.

Methods such as providing profits to seek protection from a powerful guild, spending Shou Shou Jili to purchase security weapons (arms dealers), and so on are all unfeasible.

Even if the Divine Hall Guild provides military deterrence, it is impossible to establish absolutely reliable security on Dream Island.

Leaving aside the fact that the core development direction of the Divine Hall Guild lies in the Emperor's Tomb Mountain Range, even if all members of the Divine Hall Guild were stationed on Dream Island, a super-powerful race might descend to plunder, beyond their ability to resist.

Once this happens, all resources placed on the island by the races coming to trade will be completely lost, easily causing the hard-earned reputation we have accumulated to collapse.

These past two days, I have mainly been thinking about how to solve this problem.

For this, I asked a senior elder within our clan and received an almost perfect solution.

That is the contract trading model.

Early-stage trading will be barter; later, once trust is established with the alien races, it can be switched to contract trading.

Take the Night Sky Race, traded with by the group leader last time, as an example.

In the future, when the Night Sky Race comes to Dream Island to exchange resources, they will directly hand over the "Crisp Fruit" they carry to us players. We players will register it, then store the Crisp Fruit in the spatial bag for safekeeping, and give the Crisp Fruit Race a record paper (the record paper is unimportant; even if forged, it does not matter).

After storage, the Night Sky Race has two choices.

They can directly sell the Crisp Fruit to us players, and we will directly pay them with the goods they need.

If they do not wish to sell to us players but want to trade with other races in the trading market, then we players will guarantee this transaction.

After both parties reach a trading consensus, we will take the resources both parties deposited with us out of the spatial bag, pay them to both parties, and deduct a transaction fee (suggest 5%; in the early stage, it can even be free to enhance influence during the initial development period).

Once this transaction is completed, we can not only gain fee revenue but also obtain the +8% profit bonus brought by the Gold Coin trait.

Suppose a powerful plundering power attacks during this period; the worst case is total annihilation.

But we players can guarantee the absolute safety of the goods.

After the crisis ends, we can travel to the island where the race providing the goods is located and return all resources from the spatial bag.

Everyone must understand that this is a world where trust between races is extremely low.

After we establish the guild, integrity needs to be accumulated bit by bit.

As long as there is one instance of returning resources, the races coming to trade will develop trust in our player clan, and trade will inevitably continue in the future.

This trust will also spread, causing more alien races to trust us, forming a consensus of trust.

Externally, an impression will form: the trading market established by the player guild cannot guarantee the personal safety of members of various races, but as long as they bring resources to the island, they are absolutely safe.

No means exist to plunder the resources they bring.

The spatial bag is the powerful guarantee of our guild's reputation.

Even in the future, races may voluntarily store resources with us, and we can even charge a "security fee" (provided the guild has already established a reputation and name echoing throughout the sea).

In the future, we can even set up a trading board on Dream Island, displaying the resources provided by various races in a scrolling format.

Changing the method of stall trading (placing contracts) into something similar to a trading hall, providing an efficient trading mode with selectable goods.

Trading parties may not even need to meet; simply place an order at the price set by one party, and players will connect to pay and exchange goods for both sides.

As for the construction costs of future island infrastructure, they will be deducted from the guild's total revenue, with everyone sharing the payment.

Including the cost of expanding storage space, everyone must contribute together. Select a few players everyone trusts, expand their spatial storage capacity, and have them assume the role of mobile warehouses within the guild.

Theoretically, this trading model holds immense attraction for the various races of the sea.

Besides us players, no power can provide them with absolute safety guarantees for their resources.

……

After reading the logically rigorous proposal for establishing a merchant guild, the group members collectively reached a climax.

They immediately voiced their admiration for the player who put forward the idea.

The construction of the black market trading center perfectly resolved a series of problems mentioned in their discussions.

If it forms a scale in the future, there will be no need to explore everywhere; they will simply lie down while other races come seeking them out.

Besides trade and transactions, the trading center could even expand into models similar to banks and intermediaries to generate revenue.

After reading the proposal, Zhong Yi decisively transferred the "Group Owner" title to the player "Shou Shou Jili".

He added: "We are all playing a game, but your understanding of the game and your conceptual abilities leave me far behind; you are worthy of the Group Owner position."

The other group members also expressed their submission.

Before the guild was even established, there was already a consensus on who would hold the position of Guild Master.

(End of this chapter)