Chapitre 20: Shortage of money?

"Ah, this..."

Ming found it hard to believe when he saw this. Spending 5 apocalypse gold coins just to buy a pencil?

Could there really be someone spending their money buying this?

He then checked the information on those items.

[Pencil (Seller: Apocalypse *** Guild)]

[Starting bid: 1 apocalypse gold coin, buy it now for 3 apocalypse gold coins]

[Bidder: Apocalypse Guild **]

"So that's how it is~"

Ming immediately understood after seeing that both the seller and the bidder were members of the Apocalypse Guild. This was 'money laundering'.

They were transferring the scattered money from the entire guild's members to one person, a way to raise a powerful account.

Apocalypse gold coins are not physical objects, but a type of virtual currency. There was no free face-to-face trading available yet, so to concentrate scattered gold coins on one person, they could only use this method of posting by guild members and then buying by guild members to brush all the guild's gold coins onto one person.

Sure enough, it's all use the Loophole.

At this moment, Ming remembered that he still had a bunch of useless whiteboard equipment and green-quality staff with top attributes.

He should sell the whiteboard equipment now because he definitely wouldn't get a good price for it in the future. After all, the market was currently in a state of "price without market".

With this in mind, he immediately posted several redundant whiteboard items on the trading post.

A whiteboard item in the Apocalypse store costs 10 apocalypse gold coins, so he put up his for a quick sale at 9 apocalypse gold coins.

As soon as he posted it, it was immediately bought.

Then he continued to post, continued to be bought out, and people started shouting in the chat area.

"There's someone selling equipment!"

"wow, There are actually people with too much equipment to sell?"

"I only get useless junk from killing zombies, how come there are people who can get so many pieces of equipment."

"Damn, is all one person, guess who it is? He's quite famous!"

"Could it be the 'short and fast' Ming?"

"Holy cow, how did you guess that!"

"Damn, how did he get so much equipment? How many zombies must he have killed?"

"It's not necessarily about killing a lot, but rather his incredible luck."

"Boss, do you need a follower, a gentle and soft one?"

"Short and fast, the name fits."

"+1"

"..."

Looking at the chat area, Ming shook his head gently, "You guys, one day you will know my normal size."

No, the normal Ming.

In less than a minute, more than ten pieces of whiteboard equipment were sold out, earning more than 100 apocalypse coins. Along with the original nearly 400 gold coins, there was still a huge gap from that purple quiver.

"I can only try it, hope to meet a fool... a destined person."

Ming posted the green staff.

[C*SNOW* Staff]

[Physique +3]

[Strength +1]

[Agility +1]

[Spirit +10]

[Excellent Property: When casting ice-type abilities, damage increases by 2%]

[Starting Price: 700 Apocalypse Coins, Direct Purchase Price: 3000 Apocalypse Coins]

The price he set was the result of a long period of thinking. If the starting price was too high, it might scare others away, so he only set it at 700.

After all, a purple-quality quiver only costs 2000 apocalypse coins in the Apocalypse Store. His staff is green, two levels lower, but it is a magic weapon and has an excellent property, which makes it more practical than the quiver that serves as an off-hand item.

So after weighing it, he decided to set the direct purchase price at 3000 apocalypse coins.

The reason why Ming set the direct purchase price so high was simple - to prevent it from being instantly bought if the price was too low, which would be a big loss.

He was hoping that if someone was to auction it, every additional coin earned was lucky.

In fact, after his observation just now, he found that guilds and 'merchants' should not be short of money, which could be seen from their 'money laundering' actions. If they really want to buy, it is not particularly difficult for them.

"Damn! he posted another green staff!"

"Really~ His luck is too good, why did I kill so many zombies, and only exploded a whiteboard knife, but he posted dozens at a time? And directly posted a green weapon, and it's a staff with a rare drop rate?!"

"I just want to know if Ming is still recruiting little brothers."

"Recruit little brothers? You can forget it, does this apocalypse need little brothers? What's needed are little sisters."

"What does the person above mean? Are you saying that a mature woman like me is not welcomed?"

"Mature women are great, are you the type who wears glasses, a small suit, and a hip-hugging skirt? Do you also hold a teaching whip in your hand?"

"..."

Looking at this, Ming felt increasingly funny, were all these people experts in yellow jokes?

————

Somewhere in a manor.

Andrew stared at the screen in front of him, his eyes fell on the staff Ming had posted, and the family members around him were also sitting next to him, all looking at the staff on their screens.

A young woman with a good figure and snow-white skin opened her rosy lips with some disbelief and said, "This Ming actually posted a green-quality weapon. It's very difficult to get weapons and equipment, especially those with excellent attributes. Doesn't he know that?"

"Marie ~"

Andrew was very fond of his granddaughter. "The reason he posted it for auction must be for a reason."

"Huh?" Marie looked at her grandfather with confusion.

The people of the family also turned to the patriarch, casting eyes seeking an explanation.

Andrew chuckled and continued, "The first reason is that he has a lot of such weapons and equipment."

Hearing this explanation, everyone in the family was shocked. It was one thing for him to auction off non-attribute weapons, but to directly post attribute equipment, and weapons at that, even their Andrew family, as a large family in U City, had managed well after the apocalypse, preserving a large amount of strength.

During this period, they had killed several elite zombies and helped Marie had completed a hidden task, only then did they acquire a green-quality longsword, even if they were short of money, they would not sell this weapon.

The only possibility for Ming was that he had so many of these things that he didn't care about them, and would directly auction off attribute weapons. Thinking about this, everyone naturally felt a mix of envy and jealousy.

"Rich enough to casually sell attribute weapons, looking back at his title, it's not as simple as having good luck, this guy must have considerable strength," Andrew said.

"Yes, indeed, even if his luck is good, it's impossible to get an attribute equipment by killing one zombie, he must have killed a considerable number of zombies."

"At least a few hundred, I guess."

"If he has more attribute equipment in his hands, how many elites has he killed? How many hidden tasks has he completed?"

"The rules of the apocalypse game state that the drop rate for team kills is low, and the drop rate for solo kills is higher. Could he be alone?"

"If alone can kill so many zombies, then his strength is indeed very strong."

Everyone began to discuss, and their evaluation of Ming reached a new height.

"Of course, he might just be simply short of money!"

"Short of money? Short of money to buy things? The items in the Apocalypse Store don't seem to be as good as what he's selling, right?"

"Is he thinking about buying the virus-blocking agent?"

"It's very possible!"

Andrew smiled and said, "Since he's selling, then we'll buy. From the beginning of the apocalypse to now, we've already saved up 3000 gold coins, enough to buy it."

At this point, he stood up and faced the family members, "We buy for two reasons. The first is to enhance our strength, and the second is, if Ming really needs money, we'll do him a favor, so he'll remember our kindness. Making friends with someone who has both strength and luck will definitely bring benefits that money can't compare."

"Benefits?"

"What kind of benefits can there be, we don't even know where he is."

"Yeah, if he's thousands of miles away, what use is he to us?"

Marie stood up and said, "If I'm not wrong, Grandfather is looking at Ming's strength and thinking about establishing a long-term exchange relationship, also for the sake of being able to trade with him individually in the future."

"Yes, well said."

Andrew said, "No matter what era, information is the most important. Whether he is a lone ranger or has a team behind him, we, the Andrew family, are businessmen. Businessmen only do one thing, and that is trading."

---

In a certain underground base.

"General, the kid Ming hasn't replied to us yet, he's completely disregarding our Special Warfare Zone 2. Isn't it too proactive for us to make such a big move to win him over?"Robert, standing opposite Simon, said somewhat angrily.

"You're wrong if you think that way."

Simon laughed and tapped his pipe, saying, "The reason I had you guys make such a big move to flood the chat was not just to win him over."

"Huh?" Robert, although he had been with the general for many years, sometimes he still couldn't guess his thoughts.

"It seems you still don't understand." Simon took a puff from his pipe and exhaled smoke, saying, "What I'm having you do is simply use this incident to let more people know about our existence, know about our strength, know that we need capable people."

"But why mention only Ming when flooding the chat? Why not change it to 'everyone'?"

Robert frowned, still somewhat confused.

"Everyone?" Simon smiled slightly, "The times have changed, it's the survival of the fittest. Our current priority is to become the fittest, to better protect ourselves and those around us."

"But... what does that have to do with only mentioning Ming?"

"Of course it does. You need to understand Ming as a filter."

"Filter?"

"You... everything about you is good, except that you're slow to understand."

Simon pointed at the man in front of him with his pipe, seeming quite disappointed, "The reason we only mention Ming's name is to let everyone know that there is a threshold for Special Warfare Zone 2's recruitment. Not just any riffraff can join, understand?"

"I see."

"Of course, if that kid comes to us, that would be a pleasant surprise."

Simon took another big puff from his pipe and after exhaling the smoke, he said, "Besides, in the apocalypse, given the current situation, survival will become increasingly difficult. When he can no longer hold on, he will naturally think of us. After all, we were the first ones to try to win him over."

"General, I don't mean to discourage you, but what if the kid is already dead?"

Robert, straightforward by nature, continued to speak his mind, "After all, the long night has already passed 24 hours, and some of our best people have had accidents."

"I've told you before, a person's good luck is also a kind of strength."

Simon blew out a ring of smoke, pointing to the screen in front of him, and laughed, "Go take a look at the weapons and equipment category in the free trade area. He's alive and well."

"Huh?" Robert didn't understand and looked at the screen in front of him with confusion. Following the old general's instructions, he opened the weapons category, where a green-quality weapon was prominently listed.

And there was only this one.

He looked at the listing person, it was Ming. He was taken aback and said incredulously, "This kid is directly listing a green-quality weapon? And this top-quality attribute is not bad, he's direct selling such a good thing, doesn't he need it himself? Doesn't he know how precious weapons, especially attribute weapons, are?"

"Heh heh~"

Simon took a puff from his pipe and laughed, "Green-quality weapons are usually dropped by elite or higher mutated creatures. As you said, just a few days into the apocalypse, he's listing such a good weapon, it can only mean that he has something better and doesn't care for this one. Do I need to explain the implications of this?"

"I see~" Robert nodded silently, letting out a long breath, "This means he has killed a certain number of elite mutated creatures."

"Since he's listing this weapon, we might as well do him a favor and buy it. It'll let him know that we're genuinely trying to recruit him, and it'll also replenish our weapons and equipment."

As Simon said this, he suddenly thought of something, "By the way, looking at the top attribute of this staff, it seems to fit very well with that girl in your team... what's her name, the one who can cast ice spikes?"

"Ina, she has high psychic power and has learned the Ice Spike skill."

"Yes, that's her, buy it for her. I heard that when small teams go out for training, she's always the first one to charge. We need more brave soldiers like her in this era."

"Yes, yesterday during individual training, she was the one who gained the most, outperforming all the male soldiers in their squad. This girl is a tough one."

Robert's face lit up with pride when he mentioned this; after all, she was a soldier he had trained. He then excused himself, "I'll go to the finance department and have them purchase it."