The Great Merchant in the Cataclysm

Chapter 66: That Explains the Matter

Chapter 66 last edited by: Wynne, vbguy2011

After drinking ten bottles of Agility Potions, Wang Liang felt that his body became unprecedentedly light and quick, as though his innate ability wasn’t Earth-type but Wind-type.

Even so, he didn’t appear overly arrogant because the gaze Zhang Mu had on him was a calm one as before. He caught no intentions of Zhang Mu looking down on him seeing how was willing to sell him these potions. Also, since he had already consumed the limit of the number of Agility Potions one could consume, only Zhang Mu knew how many there were left.

Hence, he quickly reined in his emotion and propped his wire-rimmed glasses, returning to his normal demeanour. After that, he led Zhang Mu to the storehouse where the crystals were stored.

Zhang Mu sighed with emotion when he looked at the storehouse before him. It was several single-storey units with their walls knocked down before they were joined together to form a cluster of units. It wasn’t too shabby, but it definitely wasn’t large either. There were four guards on duty around the area. Zhang Mu noticed their attitude; it seemed that Wang Liang had indeed found some responsible people. He must have also realised that grain stocks were the foundation to the operation of every base.

After seeing Wang Liang, the guards parted way for them.

When Zhang Mu entered the storeroom, he realised that it wasn’t as simple as what he had previously imagined. Despite its small size, all the necessities were there. There were a variety of goods placed on shelves, all of them categorised and arranged in order.

The food was piled at a side with the sacks of rice stacking sky high. A box in another corner of the storehouse was filled with clothes, with the majority of the apparels being practical rather than aesthetic. Pretty much none of them was gaudy and useless.

Zhang Mu guessed that the large box right in the middle of the storehouse was the one Wang Liang said to contain the thousand crystals.

When Wang Liang went forward and opened it, sparkling crystals indeed filled the box to the brim, and hexagonal First-Ranked crystals at that.

However, the things on top of the white crystals instantly peaked Zhang Mu’s interest more.

They were dozens of animal cores!

But... how was it be possible? Wang Liang said that the current strength of their base was definitely not strong enough to hunt mutated animals. Moreover, mutated animals often stuck together, so they should be feeling thankful for not being attacked instead.

And then there was the zoo incident to top everything off; things were getting too strange. Zhang Mu thought for a while, before asking the question he was puzzling over. “Where did you get these animal cores from? Also, did something happen at the zoo?”

After his question, Wang Liang immediately became glum. “Didn’t you just return to Luoyang City? How is it that you know something happened at the zoo?”

Zhang Mu answered calmly. “I saw several rare animals I’ve only seen before in zoos on the highway when I was on my way back to Luoyang previously. Other than those in the zoo, there shouldn’t be any wild ones, so I figured something happened at the zoo.”

“Ah, then that makes sense. They were just driven out of the zoo, so it’s not surprising to see them on the highway,” Wang Liang explained, and smiled at ease.

Zhang Mu caught the key word and quickly asked: “They were driven out of the zoo? Who would have the ability to drive so many ferocious mutated animals away? Was it the Second Sub-Merchant or another evolver?”

Zhang Mu figured that he had to be more careful if the Second Sub-Merchant was actually that strong. If it wasn’t him but someone else ... Zhang Mu hadn’t heard anything about other evolvers being strong enough to do so in his previous life.

Wang Liang however didn’t know what Zhang Mu was thinking, and so, he said mindlessly. “Hence it can be said that both your questions stem from the same root cause.

“The animals were doing fine in the beginning, but on the third day of the catastrophe, a lot of mutated animals suddenly rioted, and so, a huge wave of mutated animals of all variety with terrifyingly large bodies surged out, killing everyone in their sight, including the walking dead.

“The ones that were most badly implicated weren’t us but those located nearest to the zoo in the south. They, including those who hid in their houses, were all gobbled up the moment the mutated animals surged out. After our people witnessed that, we were all ready to abandon this base and escape. However, a man in blue feathered robe appeared out of nowhere and gave a light tap. That light tap instantly blew all the mutated animals in front of him into dust. The rest of the mutated animals were probably afraid of him or something and escaped Luoyang City after.

“That person was too strong! We were literally on the verge of escaping before he appeared. I even wanted to follow him, but that person disappeared after that.”

When Wang Liang recalled the scene, his emotions dipped significantly, still experiencing the after-effects of the scare. After which, he looked at Zhang Mu in curiosity and said glumly: “You look surprised? The Second Sub-Merchant told me that the man is the Era Merchant in Luoyang City, you should’ve seen him before no? Did you not know he was that strong? Was it because he hid it too well in front of you? Speaking of which Brother Mu, don’t say I didn’t remind you but you should prop up a good attitude when you see him again.”

Of course Zhang Mu knew how strong Era Merchants were, it was just that he was a little surprised that the Second Sub-Merchant, despite not knowing that, didn’t appear very shocked. Also, he didn’t remember any Era merchant helping any human in his past life.

All Era Merchants’ stance were neutral. If they had been on mankind’s side, how would mankind get stuck in such a difficult position?!

But this time, No. 37 helped these people! And that really shocked Zhang Mu.

His only guess now was that whatever it was that had happened had crossed the line and was beyond his expectations. What was it that had happened though? Did one of his Sub-Merchants get killed right in front of the Era store?

Even if so, that outcome still wasn’t possible either; they wouldn’t meddle this much in their sub-merchants’ business.

Exactly how large a change had he brought to this city to make even No. 37 decide to interfere?

And, how exactly did the zoo incident happen? Despite his queries, Zhang Mu had no way of knowing.

He shook his head and decided to discard such thoughts; it served no purpose to hazard wild guesses. He should ask No. 37 about it when he visited No. 37 again a few weeks later.

Zhang Mu shifted his gazes to the animal cores, and he suddenly had an idea.

“Sell these animal cores to me.” He gazed at Wang Liang with a smile.

“Are they worth a lot?” Wang Liang, as someone who had survived the competitive workplace, was no hothead, so he naturally realized that Zhang Mu was very interested in these animal cores.

There was no need for Zhang Mu to purposefully say otherwise, after all, Wang Liang would figure it out sooner or later. Also, he found no reason to fall out with him over such little gains.

“Yes, they are very valuable,” Zhang Mu said honestly.

“I can sell you them, but you need to tell me how much they’re worth.”

“Okay. Evolvers with similar element types as the animal cores can consume them after hitting the ceiling in their current ability level to refine their abilities.” Zhang Mu explained to him devotedly; it was a favor done at little cost.

“So do you want food or weapons?” Zhang Mu asked, smiling.

“What? You have food too? How much food do you have? Several hundred grams? Several hundred kilograms? Is it comparable in worth to the weapons? Even if you have a lot, we have lots of mouths to feed in our large base.” Wang Liang asked mindlessly.

“What if I said I have ten tons of rice?”

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