Capítulo 25: Chapter 25: An Unrefusable Collaboration
After listening to Ryan, Leo felt a bit conflicted.
It reminded him of the time he traded blueprints for the hunting knife with Ryan.
When he first encountered that small herd of wild cattle, his ample outdoor hunting experience led him to believe it was a rare opportunity.
If he could hunt a buffalo, he wouldn't have to worry about food for at least a month.
Back then, he was indeed shortsighted, completely failing to consider that unlocking the blueprints would allow him to mass-produce items and charge players a fee.
Now it was too late to regret, what could have been a chance for a windfall had slipped through his fingers.
And that person was none other than Ryan, standing right in front of him.
What drove Leo to the brink of despair was—
This guy was now practically trying to steal his blueprints outright!
Leo sighed softly, "But I never intended to sell it in the first place..."
The very thing he least wanted to see had happened.
From the very beginning, Leo didn't want Ryan to get his hands on those blueprints.
He knew that any player with a bit of business acumen would be tempted by those blueprints.
"I don't lack resources." Ryan said firmly. "With this collaboration, the only thing I'm interested in is that blueprint. You can think it over."
Ryan was determined to get that blueprint.
After all, in this survival game, aside from water and food, fuel was an essential resource for every player.
Due to the rules of the safe zone, every player had to keep moving forward.
Moreover, after a day of testing, Ryan discovered that fuel didn't refresh frequently in the supply crates.
By observing the trading post a little and calculating the amount of fuel listed alongside the number of players, one could actually come up with a rough estimate.
Ryan's most immediate impression was—
The daily fuel produced from supply crates might not be enough to meet the consumption of all players.
Right now, it was still the early stage of the game, and the difficulty level was relatively low.
However, if some time passed and the administrators began to increase the rate at which the safe zones shrank, players would consume fuel at a much higher rate.
There would definitely be players who would die outside the safe zone due to a lack of fuel.
So, running out of fuel was simply not an option.
Moreover, such a commodity could be easily controlled.
Ryan did not want to face that kind of danger, so it was better to be prepared.
Leo scratched his head, he could see Ryan's firm attitude.
After weighing his options for a moment, he spoke again, "How about this? I'll add 50 more pieces of beef jerky to the original offer. No, 60 pieces! That should be enough for you to eat for a month!"
Ryan was left speechless. "What do you think I'm eating?"
He began to doubt whether this middle-aged man in front of him had any common sense.
Was he really pulling out this jerky just to eat it?
At this moment, Ryan was eating the jerky partly for safety, keeping Buddy alert to the surroundings.
The other half of the reason was to imply that he wasn't lacking in food.
Leo sighed, Ryan had noticed his dilemma.
This guy was not good at business negotiations.
Feeling like he could help him weigh the pros and cons, Leo began to understand.
Ryan continued to press his advantage: "And you see, to create that fuel extraction workstation, a large amount of resources is required. Do you really think that even if you get the blueprints, you'll be able to produce many of them in the short term?"
At that moment, Ryan's system panel opened up.
It was Candy, who had been delayed, sending another message.
Ryan flipped the system panel around so the other party could see clearly: "Look, Candy just messaged again."
"What do you think I should say in response?" Ryan threw the question at Leo.
In truth, from the moment he grasped the contents of the blueprints,
Ryan had already firmly taken control of the initiative in this transaction.
Leo suddenly realized that he had no choice but to agree to Ryan's collaboration.
Because once Ryan shared his plans with Candy, everything would become meaningless.
Leo forced a bitter smile: "I give in, let's do it your way."
Though he felt some resentment, he mostly felt a sense of resignation.
Perhaps this was indeed a win-win choice.
Ryan smiled slightly and then tossed the jerky aside, extending his hand toward Leo: "Then let's have a pleasant collaboration."
Buddy, who had been hiding in the truck, ran over, grabbed the jerky, and lay down to start chewing on it.
This scene stunned Leo.
He looked on in disbelief: "Is that a wolf?"
Ryan nodded: "Yes, but right now it's my pet dog. Don't worry, he's very well-behaved."
"Even if he's well-behaved, he's still a wolf!" Leo took a small step back.
He didn't believe Ryan's nonsense, as a professional hunter, he knew that a gray wolf of that size could hunt prey multiple times larger than itself.
Leo suddenly felt a wave of fear.
If that gray wolf had decided to attack when he was sitting in that spot earlier, the consequences would have been dire.
Even with his rich hunting experience, he wouldn't have been able to mount an effective counterattack in an unprepared situation.
The only possible outcome would have been having his neck bitten through by the wolf's sharp teeth.
Leo felt a sense of relief.
Even though Ryan had taken the compound bow, he felt somewhat dissatisfied.
But he also acknowledged that Ryan was his lifesaver.
He kept that gratitude in mind. So even during negotiations, he had never entertained any ill thoughts.
Leo clearly realized that—
If the negotiations broke down and he had malicious intentions, wanting to kill Ryan and take his resources.
Then the first to die would definitely be himself.
Leo also smiled sincerely: "Well then... here's to a pleasant collaboration."
After shaking hands, the two began to formulate their follow-up plans.
Ryan said seriously: "Let me make one thing clear."
Ryan: "For the follow-up plans, you must follow my arrangements. You are not allowed to act independently."
"Okay, we'll do it your way." Leo replied without objections.
From their previous interactions, Leo could indeed sense that this young man before him had top-notch courage and adaptability.
He might even be slightly stronger than himself.
At that moment,
Buddy, who had been lying on the ground sleeping, suddenly perked up his ears.
Buddy immediately got up and came to Ryan's side.
Ryan exchanged a glance with him and understood that Buddy sensed something was happening outside.
Leo also noticed the sounds coming from outside.
He put a finger to his lips to signal silence, lowered his breathing, and pulled out his hunting knife, readying himself for a fight.
"Vroom, vroom, vroom..."
The sound of a motorcycle stopped not far away, very close to their location.
Leo recognized the familiar sound of a motorcycle and said in a hushed voice, "It must be those scavengers coming after us again."
Ryan felt a bit puzzled: "How did they manage to escape from the zombie horde on motorcycles?"
Actually, he had been wondering about this since Leo's escape earlier.
When the scavengers had chased them out, they had weaved through the zombie crowd and even fired a shot at their vehicle.
At that moment, things had been chaotic, and Ryan hadn't thought too much of it.
But now, upon closer reflection, it was clear that those scavengers had some method to avoid being attacked by the zombies.
Leo spoke up: "That group of scavengers smelled terrible, they had a stench of death."
Ryan recalled some scenes from movies: "Maybe they haven't bathed in a long time and smeared themselves with zombie blood, that might mask their human scent."
"It must be like that." Leo said softly. "I'm going to the driver's cabin to check the situation outside."
Leo got up and entered the partitioned door, while Ryan quickly opened the system panel.
He adjusted the panel settings to "visible only to me" and then activated the live map.
The scene outside the truck was clearly presented before Ryan's eyes.
The source of the sound was indeed those scavengers.
Fortunately, they had not discovered the location of Ryan's small truck.
Instead, the group parked their motorcycles in a line.
The five individuals had a very clear target, they were heading toward the nearby motel.
Ryan switched his view to the courtyard of the motel.
Inside the walls, the parking lot had another player's small truck.
It must be another player Candy had tricked into coming, trying to gather more loot.
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