Chapter 6 – From Today Onwards, I Will Be in Charge of Setting the Rules for the Market!

An Ran stood up from her seat.

She walked over to Chen Xi, whose face was pale from excessive mental energy consumption.

When it came to medical matters, this young medical genius set aside her shyness and nervousness, her expression turning focused and serious.

[S-rank Talent ‘Hymn of Life’ activated!]

A soft, gentle emerald-green glow, like a sprouting bud, lit up in An Ran’s palm, carrying a reassuring breath of life.

She gently pressed her palm against Chen Xi’s forehead.

Chen Xi’s body trembled slightly. She felt a cool and comfortable energy rush into her mind, dispelling all fatigue and pain.

[Your Stamina -1. Chen Xi’s mental energy restored by 20 points.]

A system notification appeared before An Ran, and Chen Xi immediately displayed her restored attribute panel for everyone to see.

[Mental Energy: 70/180]

“Oh my god!” Gu Qingyan’s mouth formed an “O” shape once again. She looked at An Ran and Chen Xi, then at the ice-cold Lin Wanqing beside them, and muttered to herself.

“This… this is practically a perpetual motion machine!”

A perfect perpetual motion machine for resources, the kind that would drive any player mad with envy!

Lin Wanqing sold gasoline in exchange for a large amount of basic supplies.

Chen Xi used [Matter Reconstruction] to decompose those basic resources into pure energy.

When Chen Xi’s mental energy ran low, An Ran used [Hymn of Life] to restore it.

And the stamina An Ran consumed could be replenished through the food that Chen Xi could construct at any time!

This was a perfect, nearly flawless closed loop!

“Not nearly, it can already loop infinitely.” Lin Wanqing pushed up her glasses and corrected in her cold voice.

Her gaze swept over the two core components of the perpetual motion machine, An Ran and Chen Xi. There was no excitement in her eyes, only calmness.

“Theoretically, given enough time, we could use one can of gasoline to buy the resources of the entire world.”

She said this as casually as if discussing the weather, but it sent chills down the spines of everyone else in the bus, including Su Ziyun.

For the first time, they understood so intuitively just how terrifying a team of all S-rank talents could be, perfectly synergized.

While everyone was still immersed in the shock, Ye Chen’s voice rang out.

“I just took a look at the vehicle panel.”

He shared a light screen with everyone.

[Happy Family Unit]

Level: 1

Member Count: 9

Speed: 30 km/h

Durability: 50/50

Modification Slots: 2

Upgrade Requirements: Wood ×100, Leather ×50, Iron Ingots ×100

Upgrade Rewards:

1: Speed increased to 40 km/h

2: Durability increased to 70

3: Defense slightly increased

4: Obtain any blueprint ×1

5: Modification Slots +2.

Current Function: Decompose

Decompose: Can break down large items into basic materials. For instance, an ordinary table can be decomposed into wood.]

“Our energy is more than enough to construct these materials. Should we upgrade the vehicle first?” Ye Chen looked at Su Ziyun and asked the question.

Upgrading the vehicle meant better defense and greater safety, something that everyone understood.

Su Ziyun nodded and turned to the team’s chief economist. “Lin Wanqing, what’s your opinion?”

“I oppose it.”

Lin Wanqing gave a negative answer almost without hesitation.

“No upgrade today.”

Her voice was decisive.

“Why not? We have the capability now. Upgrading the vehicle level and increasing defense, isn’t that the optimal choice?” Qin Lan asked with a frown.

“No.” Lin Wanqing shook her head, a glint shining in her eyea behind the lenses.

“Compared to the negligible sense of security that a vehicle upgrade brings, I value something else far more.”

“Market monopoly!”

“We started the by holding a scarce strategic resource—gasoline. The window of opportunity for exploiting this information and resource gap may only last one or two days.”

“I need one day.”

Lin Wanqing extended one fair finger, her tone calm, but the content of her words was arrogant to the extreme.

“Give me one day. Through a series of operations like selling high and buying low, I can completely disrupt the market prices of all basic supplies in this region and establish a new currency system with ‘gasoline’ as the anchor.”

“At that point, we will no longer be mere resource traders, we will be the rule-makers. All one million-plus survivors in this region will become our miners, yielding to our every demand.”

The inside of the bus fell into dead silence.

All the girls stared at Lin Wanqing as if she were some kind of monster. Their brains could barely keep up with this capitalist’s line of thinking.

While everyone else was still stuck on the first level thinking about “how to survive,” she was already operating in the stratosphere, scheming how to use capital to enslave the entire world.

Su Ziyun took a deep breath, forcing down the shock inside her.

She didn’t make a decision immediately. Instead, she turned her gaze to Ye Chen.

“Ye Chen, you are the Bus Captain.”

Her voice carried an unprecedented seriousness.

“Although I am your teacher, you have the highest decision-making authority in this team. Some decisions must be made by you alone.”

This was the first time Su Ziyun had explicitly handed the decision-making power to Ye Chen on such a major issue.

Everyone’s gaze instantly focused on him.

Ye Chen felt the weight of that pressure and understood Su Ziyun’s intentions.

He looked at Lin Wanqing’s eyes, shining with self-confidence, then at the shock and hesitation on the others’ faces.

He knew this was the first major decision he had to make as Bus Captain.

“I agree with Lin Wanqing’s plan.”

Ye Chen’s voice was clear and firm, with no hesitation whatsoever.

“Risk and reward go hand in hand. But our team’s advantage lies in having specialized talents. I trust her judgment.”

The corners of Lin Wanqing’s mouth curled up almost imperceptibly.

A gleam of approval and encouragement shone in Su Ziyun’s eyes. She was very satisfied with Ye Chen’s decisiveness.

“Very good.”

She nodded, then raised the second and even more crucial question.

“Then, as Bus Captain, what are your thoughts on how our team will function going forward, and how resources will be distributed?”

This question was even more sensitive and more important than the previous decision.

It would determine whether this team could maintain cohesion over the long run.

Ye Chen fell silent.

He looked at the eight women before him.

There was the calm and wise teacher Su Ziyun, the rational and cold Lin Wanqing, the quiet Chen Xi, and his childhood sweetheart Gu Qingci, the one he felt the deepest guilt toward…

Every one of them was a unique genius. Every one had her pride.

He thought of that somewhat strange vehicle name—”Happy Family”.

Perhaps that was the answer.

“My idea is very simple.”

Ye Chen raised his head, his gaze sweeping across each person one by one. His voice was sincere and earnest.

“From today onwards, we are a family.”

“All of our resources, whether obtained through talents or acquired through trade, belong to the team’s common pool, to be uniformly recorded and allocated by Lin Wanqing.”

“As for item distribution, there is only one principle—distribution according to need.”

“Any equipment or item, as long as it suits someone and can maximize its potential, it goes directly to that person. No discussion needed. No trading required.”

“We are a single entity. Any individual’s strength represents the strength of the entire family. I don’t want any rifts between us caused by resources.”

“Does anyone have any objections?”

After finishing, Ye Chen quietly waited.

The bus was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

The expressions on the girls’ faces gradually shifted from initial scrutiny to relief, and finally to a warm sense of acceptance.

Ye Chen’s proposal completely dispelled any lingering reservations in everyone’s hearts.

“I have no objection,” Qin Lan was the first to speak, her tone relaxed.

“I agree. This is the most efficient model.” Lin Wanqing nodded in agreement.

“I… I agree too.” Gu Qingci looked at Ye Chen, a moving light shimmering in her eyes.

“Unanimously passed.”

Su Ziyun smiled and made the final summary. Her gaze towards Ye Chen was filled with deep approval.