20: Chapter 20 Make a fortune

Lin Tian's gaze fell back onto the Trading Platform. Looking at the remaining various types of beast meat and leather in his resource bar, he decided to carry out a new round of resource exchanges.

"I have to keep the wild boar meat; there are over a hundred people waiting to be fed tomorrow morning," he calculated in his mind. "As for the other meat and hides, while the market demand for food is high, I should quickly trade them for hard currency: wood, stone, and iron ore!"

He quickly browsed through the acquisition information, specifically selecting posts that were trading basic resources for meat. At this moment on the Eternal Continent, many lords were facing the dilemma of starving troops and declining loyalty, making fresh meat an absolute hard currency.

After an efficient "clearance sale," the panel notifications kept popping up:

[Transaction successful: Obtained wood × 950.]

[Transaction successful: Obtained iron ore × 50.]

[Transaction successful: Obtained stone × 50.]

"Done!" Looking at the surging basic materials in his resource bar, Lin Tian clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Added to what was left before, my wood has directly broken through the thousand mark!

Now I have wood × 1062, and the stone and iron ore are also quite abundant, enough to support the next wave of Fusion! This is what you call 'supporting war with war,' turning prey into the foundation of my soldiers!"

Next, he glanced at his Spirit Crystal balance. After the previous expenditures and the just-completed bartering, 245 remained.

"I need to plan this 'military budget' carefully," he thought while stroking his chin. "The Barracks can currently hold at most 105 people. We have 94 people now, so we can still squeeze in 11 more.

However... I still need to recruit more troops tomorrow. I'll see what the harvest is like tomorrow before considering whether to upgrade the level 1 Barracks to level 2, or build a few more level 1 Barracks to increase capacity."

He quickly made a decision: "I'll keep 106 Spirit Crystals and recruit 106 new soldiers first thing tomorrow morning! Push the total troop strength to exactly 200! Rounding it off looks better! As for the remaining 139..."

Two "regular customers" immediately appeared in his mind.

First, he contacted Master Blacksmith Li Zhenguo. This artisan lord, who possessed dwarf troops and iron ore, was a stable supplier of high-quality Refined Iron.

Lin Tian directly traded 100 Spirit Crystals for 100 units of Refined Iron. The transaction process was simple and efficient; after all, both parties had already traded once, so there was no need to haggle.

"Brother Li, the goods have been received, and the quality is as reliable as always! I'll come to you again next time I have a need!" Lin Tian sent a thank-you message.

"No problem, Brother Lin! I'm always at your service!" Master Blacksmith Li Zhenguo replied quickly.

Next, he opened Lord Su Wan's chat box. This lord, who possessed nature elves and moon birch spirit wood, had already become his exclusive supplier of high-quality wood.

[Lin Tian]: "Miss Su Wan, you haven't rested yet, have you?"

After a while, the other party replied, appearing to be busy.

[Lord Su Wan]: "Sorry about that, I was just arranging for the elves to tend to the plants and didn't see the message. Are you here to trade for moon birch spirit wood?"

[Lin Tian]: "Yes. But today is a bit special; I've traded all the meat I had on hand for basic resources. I'd like to trade with you using Spirit Crystals, is that okay?"

[Lord Su Wan]: "Just call me Su Wan, no need to be so polite. Trading with Spirit Crystals is naturally even better."

[Lin Tian]: "Understood. So, I'm offering 1 Spirit Crystal for 2 units of moon birch spirit wood. Do you think this ratio is appropriate? I know the purchasing power of Spirit Crystals might have dropped slightly."

[Lord Su Wan]: "(Sends a smiling emoji) I have no objections! By this calculation, I'm actually earning a little bit more, so of course I have no objections! How many do you want?"

[Lin Tian]: "Let's start with 78 units!" (He calculated that 139 Spirit Crystals were used to trade for 100 Refined Iron, costing 100, leaving 39. 39 at a 1:2 ratio would be exactly 78 units, spending it all perfectly.)

[Lord Su Wan]: "Alright, let's trade! Thank you for always taking care of my business! I'll give you two extra units this time to round it up to 80 units!"

[Lin Tian]: "How could I accept that!"

[Lord Su Wan]: "What's there to be embarrassed about? You're a regular customer! Just remember to come find me again next time!"

A flash of light passed, and 80 units of moon birch spirit wood, flowing with soft moonlight and fine wood grain, appeared before Lin Tian.

The transaction was complete, and Lord Su Wan seemed to remember something and sent another message.

[Lord Su Wan]: "By the way, Lin Tian, you've become 'famous' in the Regional Chat Channel? I see a lot of people discussing you, and it seems to be related to someone named Long Ao?"

[Lin Tian]: "(Sends a helpless shrugging emoji) I didn't really do anything; I just listed some items for sale and got targeted by a guy who thinks highly of himself. He wanted to get something for nothing, so I ignored him." He briefly explained how Long Ao had publicly shouted in the channel and tried to freeload off the card by offering a vassal slot.

[Lord Su Wan]: "(Sends an angry, pouting emoji) There are people like that? That's just... too self-righteous! Don't take it to heart; developing your own territory is the most important thing. Besides, no one can touch anyone else right now anyway."

[Lin Tian]: "Mm, I know, thanks for your concern!"

[Lord Su Wan]: "You're welcome! You are my stable customer, after all."

[Lin Tian]: "Hahaha! Well, let's leave it at that for now. You go ahead and get busy!"

[Lord Su Wan]: "Alrighty!"

After finishing the trade with Lord Su Wan, the last 39 Spirit Crystals in Lin Tian's hands were spent, but he had traded them for 80 units of urgently needed high-level Fusion materials and solidified a reliable supplier relationship, which he felt was very worth it.

Out of a sliver of curiosity, he clicked on the Regional Chat Channel that he had muted for a long time. Sure enough, that Long Ao had spoken again, still with that cold, arrogant, and brief tone:

[Long Ao]: "@Lin Tian, not replying? Very well, I've remembered you."

Below, there was another crowd of onlookers who loved chaos, jeering. Some mocked Lin Tian for being "timid and cowardly" or "ungrateful," while a few others felt that Long Ao was being too overbearing and that Lin Tian's refusal to respond was a wise move. It was noisy and foul.

Lin Tian just took a quick glance and then closed the channel interface expressionlessly.

"Remembered me?" He scoffed and stretched. "Remember me if you want; being petty is your business. I also remember that I'm going to eat wild boar meat tomorrow morning, and that's much more important than remembering you."

He didn't take this kind of impotent rage, separated by countless spaces, to heart at all.

If he had the free time to argue with a troll, he might as well spend it thinking about how to efficiently convert the 100 units of Refined Iron and 80 units of moon birch spirit wood in his hands into stronger combat power for his soldiers.

"Today's harvest has been full; now I'm just waiting for the final auction to end!"

Time quietly slipped toward 9:30 PM. During this period, every hour, a pleasant notification would pop up on the panel in front of Lin Tian right on time:

[Ding! Your auction item 'troop capacity +1 card' has been sold; you have obtained 150 Spirit Crystals.]

[Ding! Your auction item 'troop capacity +1 card' has been sold; you have obtained 145 Spirit Crystals.]

[Ding! Your auction item 'troop capacity +1 card' has been sold; you have obtained 145 Spirit Crystals.]

Three soft sounds, as pleasant as coins falling into a money bag. Lin Tian stared at the number of Spirit Crystals in his resource bar as it suddenly jumped from 106 to 546. His eyes widened instantly, the corners of his mouth curled upward uncontrollably, and he almost jumped off his hard wooden bed.

"I'm rich! This time I'm really rich!" He rubbed his face hard to confirm it wasn't an illusion, then excitedly rubbed his hands together like a squirrel that had found a giant pinecone. "546 Spirit Crystals! How many good things can I buy with this? Refined Iron! moon birch spirit wood! Blueprints! Potions! Recruiting troops!..." A strong desire to go shopping surged in his heart, and his fingers moved involuntarily toward the icon of the Trading Platform.