The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The First Reinforcement After No. 37 heard Zhang Mu’s words, he looked at Zhang Mu seriously and asked him with uncertainty, “How do you know of the existence of crystals?” Of course, Zhang Mu wouldn’t tell him the truth.
He just nodded and answered, “I was chased by several walking dead. Fortunately, I was carrying a sword at that time, which I just bought for my collection, so I used it to kill them all. Accidentally, I cut off one of the walking dead’s neck and found this thing you call ‘crystal’ in its nape. I kept an eye on the crystals because I found similar pentagonal crystals in all of the walking dead’s necks. I thought that maybe I could use them in some way so I took off all of them and put them in my backpack.” A faint surprise surface on No. 37’s face, but his expression immediately returned to normal. He shook his head and laughed, “An accidental discovery? Your luck and courage are far beyond my imagination. The low prices on the first day of the new era plus the discount you get… Thinking that I have to give you such a low price, my heart hurts! However, the rules are the rules. You deserve it. Well, you can look the list of goods and choose some now.” Bang! Bang! Bang! No. 37 put his hands together, then the little stars between himself and Zhang Mu began to rearranged themselves and emit dazzling rays that rapidly scanned Zhang Mu’s body. Once these strange rays stopped moving, Zhang Mu saw the familiar list of goods again. The familiar sound of system lightly, but clearly appeared in Zhang Mu’s ears. “Drip! Drop! Drop!” “Verifying the merchant’s authority: Trainee Sub-merchant No. 1.” “Trade Date: The first day of Paradise Era.” “Discount: All the goods bought today will be 50% off.” “The prices of the goods have been automatically generated.” The serie of voices echoed in Zhang Mu’s ears like the most beautiful music in the world. He quickly glanced over the list carefully. None of the goods nor the introduction had changed, but their lowered prices made Zhang Mu’s heart pound with joy. “Five thousand grams of dry food and a kilogram of water. 1 crystal for a hundred units. Ten thousand units are exchangeable.” “First-rank agility potion: It can increases 20% of an adult user’s speed and flexibility. The exchange limit is 10 units at a time. One crystal for one unit. Ten units are exchangeable.” “First-rank strength potion: It can increases 20% of an adult user’s strength and explosive power. The exchange limit is 10 units at a time. One crystal for one unit. Ten units are exchangeable.” “First-rank steel weapon: The merchant can choose the type. The exchange limit is 10 units at a time. One crystal for ten units. Ten units are exchangeable.” In Zhang Mu’s past life, when he saw this list, the prices were ten times higher than now. For example. Zhang Mu had saved fifty first-ranked crystal at that time, but could only buy five units of agile potions. Now, there was only one voice in Zhang Mu’s heart. He wanted them all! However, he knew that he hadn’t seen the most important thing yet. If he could buy it with the current discount… he would buy it at any cost! If he could buy it, he wouldn’t waste his crystals tobuy foods and weapons, because he knew he could find them somewhere else with a little effort. His eyes scanned through the list of good. As he thought, that “thing” was still there! Seeing the object’s simple description on the list, Zhang Mu’s breath began to accelerate. As if it was a Pandora’s box, it deeply attracted his eyes with irresistible temptation. “Second-rank evolution potion. It can help a first-ranked human increase his probability to evolve to the second rank. Eighty first-ranked crystals for a unit. One unit is exchangeable.” In Zhang Mu’s past life, he was scared by its price: 800 first-ranked crystals for a unit. At that time, he thought that the era merchant must be insane, because only that could explain that why it had such a high price. However, several months later, after knowing that an ordinary person had evolved to the second rank and swept away all the forces in his city, all the sub-merchants, including Zhang Mu, immediately realized the value of evolution potions. However, their price had increased immeasurably by that time. No. 37 noticed Zhang Mu’s expression. He thought that Zhang Mu was scared by the price, so he explained, “Don’t think that it’s too expensive. Its actual value is far beyond your imagination. You…” Zhang Mu’s eyes suddenly brightened up. Under No. 37’s surprised gaze, he drew out a bag from his backpack, poured out all the crystals he had collected and said, “I want it! Just take my crystals!” After a few seconds, No. 37 finally realized what just happened. He couldn’t keep his noble temperament and asked Zhang Mi with surprised, “Ten second-rank crystals? The debugging period had just started and you have killed ten second-rank walking dead within the first few hours?” “Yes, there are many monsters around my house, so I solved them together,” Zhang Mu said with an innocent look. “Since the evolving potion is the most expensive good, it must be unusual. Well, after purchasing it, No. 37, I will use the remaining crystals to buy 10 units of agility potions. It will be very exciting to be two times faster than anyone. Here are the ten second-ranked crystals. Please count them.” Zhang Mu said with a straight face and handed over the crystals to No. 37. He really wanted to have these goods as soon as possible. No. 37 smiled as if he was deeply impressed by Zhang Mu’s luck. He waved his sleeve, drawing a graceful arc in the air, then Zhang Mu’s crystals disappeared instantly. At the same time, the sizes of the two stars in front of Zhang Mu reduced again. They turned into two lights and flew into Zhang Mu’s ring. “Check your ring. If there’s nothing wrong, I’m going to send you out.” No. 37 said with a reluctant look. It seemed that he really didn’t want to see Zhang Mu again, after saying that, he turned around and didn’t look at him. Seeing this, Zhang Mu hurriedly concentrated his mind to the ring’s surface, visualizing its inner space. As he imagined, he saw that ten small glass tube filled with light red liquid and a big glass tube of blue liquid had been put in a corner of the ring, just beside the local goods Zhang Mu just bought. Zhang Mu ordered the ring to take out the big glass tube and it instantly appeared in his right hand. His whole body trembled with excitement. Finally, he got his hands on this thing! However, the second-rank evolution potion could only display its full effect when the user had reached the limit of the first rank. Zhang Mu was still an ordinary person that hadn’t even reached the first rank, so he couldn’t drink it now. He carefully put the second-rank evolution potion back to the ring, then took out the ten first-rank agility potion, asking No. 37, “Can I use them first then go out here? Let me try the effect, otherwise, it won’t be easy for me to run away. Your shop has been surrounded by walking dead.” “Well, in fact, it’s not allowed, but… it’s your first trade… Ok, you can drink them here.” No. 37 turned back and motioned Zhang Mu to be quick. After seeing this, Zhang Mu immediately unscrewed the caps and poured the liquids into his mouth. Each tube of liquid was about 50 ml. Zhang Mu drank them all at once. One second later, Zhang Mu clearly felt that a warm stream was continuously melting in his stomach. The hot feeling gradually spread to all his limbs and bones. Five seconds later, A familiar, long-lost feeling of relaxation was released all over his body. They deserved to be called “agility potions”! Zhang Mu’s speed was two times faster than ordinary adults now! Zhang Mu was too excited and only wanted to test his current physical quality as soon as possible, but No. 37 suddenly opened his mouth. His words were as cold as a basin of cold water in the winter. “Number 001, remember your trainee sub-merchant’s task. You have to strive to earn ten gold leaves within half a year. If not, your gold leaves will be taken back and there will not be any reward for you. I promise you wouldn’t want to know how many crystals you will have tp pay to compensate the gold leaves you can’t earn at that time. Oh, and if your crystals aren’t enough to compensate your lose, your Merchant’s Ring will automatically drain your life. So, don’t try to escape. Also, after failing for three times, your identity as a sub-merchant will be automatically lost… Of course, on the premise that you’re still alive at that time. Remember, no one can owe Era Trade Caravan even a single piece of crystal!” After No. 37 finished, the space disappeared together with him. Dazzling lights suddenly appeared and forced Zhang Mu to close his eyes. After that, a moderate power firmly pushed Zhang Mu’s whole body away. After Zhang Mu opened his eyes, he found that he was standing about five meters away from the white light column. Zhang Mu shook his head and smiled, trying to check his ring again, but he suddenly felt that he just forgot something. Owooooah! Owooooah! Owooooah! Hearing the familiar voices, Zhang Mu finally remembered what he just forgot. The walking dead were still around the era shop!