Chapter 139: Boss Sheep and Boss Yang

Weapons and food are the most important supplies during the Year of Natural Disasters—in fact, weapons are even more important than food. Because with weapons, one can obtain food; but with food and no weapons or strength, the food will simply be taken away.

Xia Qing opening her mouth to ask for so many weapons in exchange—she hadn't expected Yang Jin to agree. Even if he cut the amount in half, Xia Qing would be very satisfied.

She hadn't expected Yang Jin to not haggle at all and agree directly.

"Sure. Gasoline and generators went up in price last month, but since we're partners, I'll exchange them with you at the previous points. We still have some stock of bullets and grenades, also at the old points. Altogether it's... 261,352.4 points, rounded down to 260,000, which is 2,610 spinach seeds. Does that work for you?"

Xia Qing's heart soared, but she had to keep a calm face. "That works. But I can't guarantee delivery in three months. If the spinach seeds aren't enough by October, the remainder will have to be made up next May."

"Of course." Yang Jin agreed very readily. "If that happens, you'll need to make up an extra hundred Green Lantern spinach seeds next May."

Xia Qing nodded. "Okay."

Yang Jin moved on to the next deal. "You went a few days ago to watch Captain Tan lead people clearing out Territory Nine. You must have seen their newly equipped shoulder-fired light grenade launchers, right? This launcher has an effective direct-fire range of 300 meters, an 80-millimeter caliber, weighs 17 jin, each shell weighs 3 jin with 2 jin of explosive filler. It can blow vehicles and small helicopters sky-high. This is currently the most powerful weapon the state allows combat teams to possess, and it's best suited for strength-type Evolvers. I brought back a batch this time—I can give you one at a base price of 150,000. Do you want it?"

"I want it!" Xia Qing answered without hesitation, her eyes lighting up several degrees. With a light grenade launcher, even if someone came in an armored vehicle or helicopter to seize her territory, she could blast them away with one shot.

Before Yang Jin could even state his trade conditions, Xia Qing heard the footsteps of Boss Sheep outside the room. She immediately stood up. "Please wait a moment—my evolved sheep is here."

Xia Qing had her back to Yang Jin and didn't notice his small movements. Seeing Boss Sheep not come in, she stuffed another ration into its mouth and handed over the small basket. "Boss, go catch bugs and feed the fish first. Tonight I'll make you something good to eat."

Xia Qing, who had her back to the window, stood up and turned around, wishing she could cover her face and pretend she hadn't seen anything.

Xia Qing nodded. "After we harvest the spinach seeds, the spinach roots and stems can be traded, but the leaves during the growing process can't be, because I've already promised them to the Lord of Territory Seven."

"I just got back, so I don't know the specifics either. However, when Fire Phoenix received news of the incident in Territory Nine, she was furious and will come personally to clean up the mess."

"Okay." Xia Qing nodded immediately, taking the chance to ask about Territory Nine. After the incident in Territory Nine, Luo Pei had also become busy, and Xia Qing hadn't had a chance to ask what exactly happened over there.

Yang Jin began to discuss the price. "One jin of spinach with a Yi element content of six ten-thousandths yields eighty milliliters of juice. After purification, it can make one vial of premium nutrient solution, with a public market price of 2,000 points per vial. I'll purchase your spinach at 600 points per jin. Is that acceptable?"

"I only planted them two days ago—they haven't even sprouted yet."

Boss Sheep ignored Xia Qing, squinting its sheep eyes at Yang Jin inside the room, looking very displeased.

"The incident in Territory Nine has already drawn high attention from the Safe Zone. This entire territory is now under close scrutiny. You'd best not trade the original resources from within the territory with anyone besides me and Zhang San. There are still a few months before the spinach matures, so there's no rush. Think it over slowly, and contact me when you've decided."

Look at how well this person speaks, look at how beautifully this person smiles!

A deal where you get beaten up and lose money—we don't do that.

"I don't know what kind of potion Zhang San gave you, but it must be something good." Yang Jin's eyes were bright, his smile dazzling. "If you're willing to share half the potion with me, I'll absolutely give you a price that satisfies you. Once I figure out the potion's composition, we can cooperate to produce premium nutrient solution at a lower cost and raise the purchase price for spinach roots and stems."

"He said store at low temperature and drink the same day." Xia Qing understood what Yang Jin meant. "If we want to extend the shelf life, we need to add a preservative?"

Watching Xia Qing pull out a black iron lump and open it to take out the Use Yishi, Yang Jin praised her. "This is a protective casing you made for the Use Yishi? It looks like very good quality."

Yang Jin reminded Xia Qing, "They suspect the reason Zhang San came to this territory is because there's an important resource here that he needs, which is why Li Si has been collecting species from nearby territories for testing. Although their attention is still on Zhang San right now, you should also be careful—try to keep your actions consistent with other Territory Lords and don't reveal any flaws."

Xia Qing breathed a sigh of relief, turned and gave Yang Jin an apologetic smile. "Sorry, my evolved sheep has a pretty strong territorial instinct."

The trade was at a critical stage—Xia Qing didn't want Boss Sheep to get stubborn and fight Yang Jin. Yang Jin was an iron rooster who never took the slightest loss; if Boss Sheep butted him, how many supplies would he make her compensate?

Xia Qing stuffed a compressed ration into Boss Sheep's mouth and coaxed in a low voice, "This person is Brother Luo and Captain Hu's companion, here to do business. No need to compare strength."

This door wasn't the anti-theft door at home—Boss Sheep opening it would make a lot of noise. Xia Qing rushed to open the door before Boss Sheep could bang it open with its hooves, and asked gently in a low voice, "Didn't I tell you to stay home and entertain the guests? Why did you come over?"

Doesn't Brother Luo have one already? Why does he want to look at hers? Xia Qing muttered to herself, but she happened to have one in her pocket, so letting him have a look was fine.

Although her idol hadn't said so, Xia Qing felt the potion definitely couldn't be brought out for public trade. If she gave the potion to Yang Jin, she might very well end up on her idol's blacklist.

Boss Sheep saw Yang Jin stand up, lowered the hoof it had been about to paw the ground twice with in a show of force, and stepped back.

After finishing, Yang Jin added, "You don't need to worry too much. I've already set up a maze formation—as long as you don't actively reveal it, Fire Phoenix's people won't discover the existence of the spring."

By this calculation, one jin of spinach should yield five vials of premium nutrient solution, which should be 10,000 points. 600 was really far less than Xia Qing had expected.

Yang Jin didn't discuss the price directly, but asked first, "Did Zhang San say how long the shelf life of the spinach juice is after adding the potion?"

Before she had figured out how to phrase her counteroffer, Yang Jin poured her another cup of tea and asked calmly, "The internal trade price for spinach between the Safe Zone Planting Center and the Research Institute is about this number too. You think it's not appropriate—is it because Zhang San quoted you a higher price?"

Discovering that the evolved sheep Xia Qing called "Boss" was squinting and sizing him up, Yang Jin slowly stood up and faced this sheep with its fleece sheared all messy.

Boss Sheep squinted for a few seconds, then picked up the basket in its mouth and left.

Xia Qing simply stated it outright. "Third Brother said that after my spinach is juiced, adding one gram of the potion he gave me per fifteen milliliters makes a bag of nutrient solution even better than premium."

Yang Jin took the casing, unscrewed it, examined its thickness and weight, and gave a very sincere appraisal. "The fundamental purpose of a casing is to protect the Use Yishi. The one you forged is much higher quality than many of the attractive, lightweight casings traded in the Safe Zone. Polish it up a bit more, and selling it for 200 points would be no problem at all."

Xia Qing, feeling light-headed, tried to stay rational. "My three Yi Stones are all allocated—I can't trade them with you. But the spring water, I can."

"What I want isn't..."

Yang Jin had long anticipated Xia Qing would refuse. He leaned back in his chair and analyzed the current situation for her. "After the evolved spinach seeds mature, the roots and stems will wilt and spoil within two days, so they must be processed into nutrient solution immediately."

Before Yang Jin finished speaking, Boss Sheep's bleat came from outside the window. Yang Jin turned his head to look outside, then stood up.

"The shelf life of nutrient solution you make yourself by juicing and adding the potion is too short. It's suitable for when you need premium nutrient solution during the spinach growing process—process it immediately and use it the same day. For the large quantity of roots and stems harvested after the spinach matures, selling them off right away is still the most cost-effective."

Yang Jin nodded. "Can spinach leaves or roots and stems be traded? Of course, the roots and stems are after the seeds are harvested."

"Strong territorial instinct is a good thing—can guard the house." Yang Jin continued the trade discussion. "Your spinach has already been planted?"

The juice pressed from the roots, stems, and leaves of Green Lantern spinach with Yi element content exceeding five ten-thousandths is the main raw material for making premium nutrient solution—very valuable.

Yang Jin stated his needs directly. "Yi Stones and pollution-free spring water—may I see your Use Yishi?"

600 points? That was far lower than the price Xia Qing had estimated.

Finally, someone who recognized quality. Xia Qing simply handed the casing over, feeling proud inside but modest in her words. "This is my first time making one. I spent two whole days on it—nothing presentable, just something to make do with for my own use."

It could tell that she was more formidable than it. Although Xia Qing said it wasn't smart enough, it wasn't stupid either. Yang Jin's lips curved slightly, and he sat back down to continue drinking tea.

Xia Qing thanked him. "Thank you, Captain Yang. Besides spinach roots and stems, what else would you like to trade for?"

Xia Qing immediately shook her head. "No."

"Baa!"

Her idiot companion, Boss Sheep, had actually called the Head Wolf over.

So that stubborn thing hadn't obediently gone off with the basket to catch bugs earlier—it had gone to call for backup.

The backup it called was very good and very powerful.