131: Chapter 131 Food Bought at the Risk of Life

Su Jie screamed in terror at the sight and instinctively closed her eyes.

She didn't dare to look.

She feared seeing her man torn to pieces by this pack of hungry wolves.

However, the expected screams and sounds of a beating didn't last long.

After only a few dull thuds and the crisp sound of breaking bones, the surroundings quickly fell silent.

Su Jie cautiously opened her eyes a crack.

The scene before her left her completely stunned.

The four burly men who had been so fierce just moments ago were now all lying on the ground, clutching their arms or legs and wailing in pain; not one of them could stand.

And her man, Li Taiping, was still standing where he was.

Holding the blood-stained steel pipe, his clothes weren't even ruffled, and his face still wore that same cold, expressionless look.

But for some reason, looking at him now, Su Jie didn't feel a hint of fear; instead, she felt... her heart racing.

So... so cool!

"Anyone else?"

Li Taiping's cold gaze swept across the room.

The survivors, who had originally intended to watch the show, instinctively lowered their heads at his glance, not daring to meet his eyes.

Even the Goatee Man, who had mocked him earlier, shrank into a corner, not daring to make a sound.

No joke, this kid was too ruthless.

Every strike targeted the bones; if you got hit, you'd likely spend the rest of your life in bed.

Li Taiping snorted coldly and ignored them.

He bent down and fished a bag of flour out from the arms of the burly, fleshy-faced man on the ground—the same bag the man had just gotten from the vending machine.

"You... what are you doing! That's mine!"

The burly man endured the sharp pain and roared indignantly.

"It's mine now."

Li Taiping said expressionlessly.

He hadn't killed anyone, nor was he robbing them.

These people had attacked him first; he had knocked them down and taken their things. In the logic of the apocalypse, this was called "spoils of war."

He was frantically testing the limits of this shop owner's bottom line.

As he put away the flour, he used his peripheral vision to secretly observe the closed door in the corner.

No movement.

Good.

It seemed that as long as no lives were lost, the so-called "boss" wouldn't interfere.

This discovery gave Li Taiping some peace of mind.

He walked over to another man wailing on the ground and searched him for a bottle of water.

In this way, like a general harvesting the fruits of victory, he scavenged all the supplies from everyone who had attacked him.

It was a bountiful harvest.

Besides flour and water, he also obtained other strange items and another roll of... parchment.

Another Upgrade Scroll!

Li Taiping's mood improved significantly.

He stuffed everything into the large hiking backpack Su Jie was carrying, and it instantly became heavy.

Su Jie looked at the pack full of food and water, then at the wailing men on the ground, and finally turned her gaze toward Li Taiping.

Her brain was a bit fried.

She couldn't understand how things had turned out this way.

One moment, they were the weaklings everyone coveted; the next, her man had transformed into a god of slaughter, knocking down all his enemies and taking their things in return.

This reversal was way too fast.

"Hu... Husband..."

She looked at Li Taiping and said stutteringly,

"Is it... is it really okay for us to do this?"

"What's the problem?" Li Taiping countered. "They made the first move."

"But... but the shop's rules..."

"Rules are dead, but people are alive," Li Taiping said calmly. "Here, whoever has the harder fist makes the rules."

After speaking, he ignored Su Jie and turned his gaze toward the Goatee Man shrinking in the corner.

The Goatee Man shuddered under his gaze, nearly wetting his pants.

"B-Big brother, it has nothing to do with me! I didn't lay a finger on you!"

He waved his hands frantically, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying.

Li Taiping didn't say a word, just walked straight toward him.

Terrified, the Goatee Man retreated until his back hit the cold wall, with nowhere left to go.

"Big brother, what... what do you want?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Li Taiping stood still in front of him and then did something that no one expected.

From his coat, he pulled out another pack of biscuits.

"I'll trade this for something of yours," Li Taiping said.

The Goatee Man was stunned.

Trade something?

He instinctively felt his pockets; besides a few useless stones, there was nothing.

"Big brother, I... I don't have anything to trade."

"You do." Li Taiping's gaze fell on his waist, where an old-looking brass compass was tucked.

"I'll trade this pack of biscuits for your compass."

The Goatee Man was even more bewildered.

This compass had been broken for a long time; the needle just spun aimlessly, making it completely useless.

He carried it purely as a memento.

Now, this god-of-slaughter figure actually wanted to use a life-saving pack of biscuits to trade for this piece of junk?

"Big brother, you... you're not joking, are you?"

"I never joke," Li Taiping's tone was exceptionally firm.

"Trade! Trade! Of course I'll trade!"

Without another word, the Goatee Man hurriedly unfastened the compass from his waist, offered it with both hands, and then cautiously took the pack of biscuits from Li Taiping.

He felt like he was dreaming.

The people around also looked at Li Taiping as if he were a lunatic.

They completely couldn't understand this man.

He was powerful and ruthless, but his brain seemed to have some real issues.

First, he traded food for useless scrap paper, and now he was trading food for a broken compass.

What on earth did this guy want?

Only Li Taiping knew the truth in his heart.

Although that compass looked old and worn, the patterns carved on it and the faint, almost imperceptible energy fluctuations gave him a strange sense of familiarity.

He had a strong intuition that this thing was definitely related to his ["Many Children, Many Blessings"]!

It was very likely the special material needed to upgrade to a fifth-rank warship—the [High-Precision Nautical Compass]!

Although there was no system prompt yet and he couldn't be one hundred percent sure.

But using a pack of biscuits to gamble on a possibility? This deal was a massive profit!

He toyed with the compass and the two Upgrade Scrolls in his hand, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly at an angle others couldn't see.

Not only that, he went on to trade his already scarce food for many more strange and eccentric items.

Compasses, wicks, motors, engines, steering wheels...

However, this "spendthrift" behavior of his seemed utterly incomprehensible to Su Jie.

Looking at the "junk" in Li Taiping's hands and then at the food in her backpack that had been bought with their lives, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.

Her man was strong and reliable.

But it seemed... his head really didn't work quite right.

...