Chapter 277

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Chapter 277: A Big Pancake
Two months had passed unnoticed, and Zhang Mu returned to Luo Yang City looking tired but relieved. As he gazed at the familiar city, a small smile of relief appeared on his face.
The fifth Era Merchant task was finally completed!
Just like Zhang Mu’s memory and the information leaked to Zhang Mu by No. 37, the prices of goods between Shan Xi and Luo Yang in the Era Region were extremely stable in these two months. Even though the profits were not much, because of Zhang Mu’s top priority status, he was able to get a 20% discount each time, enabling him to barely reach the limit of ten gold leafs each time. It seemed like fate was favoring him, and there was never a Era Merchant task that fell short of expectations.
Therefore, during the two months of unobstructed roads, Zhang Mu did not rest at all. When he was tired, he would lie down on the back of a mutated wolfhound to take a nap. Obsidian Beetle, due to its physique and level, always kept up with Yuan Rui in tracking the accounts, with the only comfort being the occasional wind attribute beast core thrown out by Zhang Mu. Some were obtained from Long Qi, while a small quantity was from the batch of mutated beasts killed by the white tiger king previously.
However, with Obsidian Beetle frequently requesting overtime pay, the resources quickly depleted.
As soon as they entered the city, everyone’s faces seemed to be filled with joy. Upon inquiring, Zhang Mu learned that all of Wang Liang’s final batch of scouts had returned after two months, though only one person came back.
The exploration scout team from Jin Zhong City had the most pleasant experience, as Long Qi had taken over Jin Zhong City. Additionally, the group of mutated beasts there had once been gathered by the white fox, resulting in the scout team returning unharmed. However, the strength of the Shan Xi City evolvers also made Wang Liang give up on his idea, as there was no need to compete with humans now.
Fighting against the elements, the zombies, and the mutated beasts had already been challenging for humans. It would be hopeless if internal conflicts caused even greater losses within the group.
The return of only one evolver from the direction of Zhengzhou City highlighted a significant problem – their nearly complete annihilation, yet they managed to bring back valuable intelligence.
Within Zhengzhou City, there was no trace of mutated beasts, but there was a zombie horde numbering in the tens of thousands. It seemed as if there was an invisible hand controlling them. The evolver troops were lured into an area that did not appear to be within the horde’s range. By the time they realized it, it was too late.
Only one evolver, lucky enough to have been using the restroom and planning to catch up with the troop, survived. Terrified after witnessing his teammates being surrounded, he ran back to Luo Yang City with all his might.
When Wang Liang heard the news, he remembered what Zhang Mu had said before and gave up his impractical idea. Now he only had one last city left to plan for, Handan.
The number of zombies in Handan was still manageable, and there were signs of evolvers hiding in the city. It had not turned into a dead city completely, meaning that Zhang Mu’s mentioned unique individual had not evolved there yet. Otherwise, it would have surely wiped out all other life forms in its territory.
All the evolvers in Luo Yang City were excited because Wang Liang had offered a very tempting deal. The evolver who could kill a hundred zombies would receive a house of their own after completely capturing Handan.
With the population growing, everyone’s living space was strictly controlled, making living uncomfortable. Therefore, Wang Liang’s alluring promise before capturing Handan caught many people’s attention.
It is human nature to find a stable place to live and reproduce, just like birds building nests during mating season. With things stable in Luo Yang City and food temporarily sufficient, many evolvers were getting restless. Being alone was one thing, but it was hard to accept sharing a roof with one’s woman and others.
Wang Liang cleverly played on their desires, dangling the big reward in front of them. Now, the enthusiasm of all the evolvers in Era City had been completely stirred up by Wang Liang; the excitement on their faces was hard to conceal.
One hundred zombies might have seemed like an impossible goal at first, but the evolvers had slowly mastered their abilities.
Moreover, there were only a few thousand evolvers in Luo Yang City, and the number of zombies in the Handan horde was still below a hundred thousand. With the ratio of one to a hundred, the evolvers faced intense competition, which enhanced their performance significantly.
A hundred kills were not simple, but definitely not an extremely difficult task.
Zhang Mu walked along, nodding to himself in approval of Wang Liang’s cleverness. He shuddered at the thought – if he had wiped out a horde of zombies, how big of a house would Wang Liang give him?
However, even if it were true, Zhang Mu knew that no matter how strong he was, there would always be people trying to undermine him secretly.
When he returned to the camp, Zhang Mu let the exhausted Yuan Rui and mutated wolfhound sleep deeply, while he headed straight to the Era Store.
The Era Store was heavily guarded by Wang Liang’s men, and following Zhang Mu’s orders, only Era Sub-merchants were allowed in. In the past two months, the other three lower-ranking Luo Yang City Era Sub-merchants had already taken the lead and completed at least one Era Merchant task.
All of this was recorded as per Zhang Mu’s request. Even though they were all Era Sub-merchants, Zhang Mu couldn’t control them; otherwise, even as the top-ranked Era Sub-merchant, he would face the same consequences as the second-ranked, being punished by the Era Merchant.
This area was under Lin Cong’s direct supervision, as Wang Liang had transferred him here from the City Guard.
Learning from Lin Cong that the second-ranked hadn’t returned once in these two months, Zhang Mu fell into deep thought.
This person seemed to have completely given up. When would be the deadline for completing the Era Merchant task?
It doesn’t matter; his life or death has nothing to do with me.
Zhang Mu shook his head and looked towards the space where Era Store was located, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.
The idea of becoming a beginner Era Sub-merchant was truly tempting.
I’m Zhang Mu, here I come!