4: Collecting junk

In the initial stage, there was basically nothing; all resources were scarce, but everyone was definitely more short on food. Because having food allows you to recruit workers and farmers, this is almost the only way for all Lords to increase productivity.

On the trading platform, everything was being sold, but there wasn't a single piece of information about selling food yet.

Besides needing to eat himself, farmers, warriors, and tamed beasts all consume food. Without food, loyalty will drop drastically. If you can't feed them enough, they will directly betray and leave.

And recruiting farmers and soldiers requires a large amount of food.

So in the early stage, everyone was willing to exchange the good things they obtained for various reasons for some food.

A fast step leads to fast steps!

Even recruiting one more farmer at the start will make the gathering speed much faster than others, so on the first day, food must be the most valuable.

There are many things that can be exchanged for food, but Han Huohuo only wanted iron.

Nothing else was urgent.

It's just that at this stage, no Lord has started gathering iron ore yet, so iron ore cannot be exchanged for.

In the early stage, no one needs iron ore. Besides, iron ores are guarded by wild beasts. Most Lords only have one or two farmers at the start. How could they possibly defeat the guards?

There is no iron ore to exchange.

Han Huohuo scratched his head a bit, then looked back at his recycling furnace, and an idea sparked. Other people's recycling furnaces have a 50% loss, but his recycling furnace has zero loss!

His mind turned, and a plan came to him.

He shouted loudly in the trading forum: "Anyone need food? Selling food!"

"Duang, Duang, Duang, folks, look over here, selling food!"

To do business, you can't expect others to find you directly. You still need to do some promotion. Shouting loudly is the most simple advertisement in primitive society.

"Holy crap, someone's trading food?"

"Da Ge, you're not lying to me, right? What do you want to exchange for? Tell me quickly."

"I have good stuff here, I'll exchange it for your food."

"Do you want blueprints? I have an E-grade Spearman barracks blueprint, only exchanging for 100 food."

"Damn, an E-grade blueprint is also being used to exchange for food, and 100? Why don't you just rob someone, Da Ge? I have a taming skill scroll, I'll exchange it for your food."

"You're even exchanging a taming skill scroll? Are you crazy?"

"I'm willing, can you control me? I just hate taming any animals."

"......"

Hearing that someone was selling food, the trading channel immediately became lively.

Many people were working while staring at the trading channel, wondering what Han Huohuo wanted to exchange for.

"I exchange for all metal tools, anything goes, I exchange with high-quality food!"

"What? Metal tools? Do you want a large pot?"

"A large pot is fine too!"

"No! I was just saying, Da Ge, don't take it seriously."

"Get lost!"

Han Huohuo's private chat channel instantly became full of red dots, countless people clicked in.

Randomly opened one.

"Da Ge, I have a battle saber. It broke while hunting just now. Do you want broken weapons?"

Han Huohuo was stunned.

"Da Ge, Da Ge, I can sell it to you at a discount."

The person on the other side became nervous, fearing that Han Huohuo wouldn't want it. This saber was already broken, leaving it in hand was meaningless. Recycling it only yielded two iron, it was better to exchange for some food.

"This broken saber isn't worth much!"

Han Huohuo acted completely unhurried, even looking disgusted.

"Da Ge, just give me a little food, and this saber is yours!"

Han Huohuo calculated. Iron is still much more advanced than wood and stone. No matter how precious food is, it can't be more precious than iron, especially now when no one is gathering iron ore.

This should be the best time to exchange food for iron. By the second day, it probably won't be worth this much.

In terms of gathering efficiency, the time it takes to gather one iron can gather 10 food.

In other words:

One iron exchanges for 10 food.

One iron exchanges for 10 wood.

One iron exchanges for 5 stone.

These are the normal exchange rates.

This broken saber can be decomposed into two iron ingots. Normally, it could be exchanged for 20 food, but now it's the beginning stage, and food is the most precious.

"How about five high-quality food for one broken saber?"

This ratio was already very exaggerated. If others recycled this kind of broken saber, they could get two iron ingots, but here with Han Huohuo, he could get four iron ingots.

The person on the other side hesitated slightly: "Alright, this broken saber is useless to me anyway."

"Brother, you made a profit! My food can also increase loyalty!"

Han Huohuo encouraged the other party, then quickly completed the transaction.

[This transaction is too low in value, transaction fee waived!]

Uh!

According to the system's assessment, the broken saber was not worth much, and the transaction fee was even waived. This is great, saving gold coins.

After this transaction, Han Huohuo had a new idea.

He started thinking. If this were a good saber, it could probably be exchanged for fifty food, but once the saber is broken, it becomes completely worthless.

Because a broken saber needs to be smelted, a blacksmith shop needs to be built, craftsmen need to be hired, and then it needs to be forged into a new one. Not only is there a huge loss during the process, but gold coins also need to be paid to the craftsmen.

It's clearly not cost-effective.

It's better to sell it directly to himself.

If he specifically collected scrap metal, it would obviously be much more cost-effective than exchanging for intact iron tools! Moreover, trading scrap metal seems to save a lot on transaction taxes!

Understanding the logic behind this, he immediately modified the trading conditions.

"Specializing in recycling discarded iron tools, exchanging for food!"

"Holy crap, Da Ge, did you change your profession to collecting junk?"

"Tell me, is collecting junk more awesome than being a Lord?"

"Da Ge, I really have an iron pot. Are you forcing me to smash the iron pot and then exchange it with you?"

Han Huohuo's trading conditions left everyone confused. Those who exchanged intact iron tools for food asked for very high prices, and Han Huohuo refused all of them.

I don't want good stuff, I only collect junk. Things that are too good won't do!

The number of people trading instantly decreased.

"Da Ge, do you want this iron pole? I picked it up on the ground when I was gathering fruits. It's all rusty and seems useless, but it's quite big."

"Send it over for me to see."

[Discarded Metal Flagpole: This is an abandoned metal flagpole. Other than recycling, it has no use. A normal recycling furnace can recycle 10 iron ingots.]

"Oh dear, pure scrap? How about I give you 10 high-quality food?"

"10 is too little, bro. Can you give a bit more? This flagpole is super heavy. I almost died of exhaustion carrying it back to the camp. Only 10 food, wouldn't I lose a lot?!"

"Then 15, no more. This thing is completely useless! If you agree, it's a deal. If not, keep it yourself."

"Deal!"

Han Huohuo was secretly delighted. This thing was good. In his recycling furnace, it could directly recycle 20 iron ingots. He made a huge profit.

All sorts of discarded items, some high, some low.

Before long, all 80 high-quality food were traded. He didn't pay any transaction tax either, feeling very happy inside.

A pile of scrap metal was piled in front of the furnace.

Broken saber, flagpole, leaky pot...

Han Huohuo felt as sweet as if he had drunk spring water, and he sent these pieces of junk into the recycling furnace one by one.

Obtained 20 iron ingots.

Obtained 2 iron ingots.

Obtained 4 iron ingots.

.......

It was all decomposed in a short while. He obtained a total of 67 iron ingots. Adding the one iron ingot he had left before, he now had 68 iron ingots.

Han Huohuo calculated. Now he didn't have wood and stone, which wasn't good. These are basic building materials. He couldn't live in straw huts and wooden fences forever.

Returned to the Mecha Workshop.

He made two mechanical Wolves, and also made four mechanical workers. He assigned two workers to gather wood and two workers to gather stone.

Why not go directly to gather iron ore?

Because iron ore has guards. You have to take the mechanical Wolves to kill the guards first before you can gather. Cutting wood and gathering stone have no guards.

The mechanical workers looked like WALL-E. After receiving their tasks, they all went out and started gathering resources.

Walking with a rumbling sound!

Gou San stared at these mechanical monsters in astonishment, his gaze towards his Boss completely changed.

What kind of person is this?

Isn't this a born overlord?

Behind Han Huohuo stood a row of three terrifying mechanical Wolves, already looking quite majestic, like a ruler of the world.

Gou San felt his knees suddenly become very soft. Why did he want to kneel down?

"Let's go, continue hunting!"

This time, he went out with three mechanical Giant Wolves, walking with a swagger. Han Huohuo set his sights on the Mammoths.

One Mammoth has 300 to 500 food. This is a real food treasure.

He had three mechanical Giant Wolves in hand. Defeating one Mammoth shouldn't be a big problem, but defeating two would be a bit difficult.

It's okay, isn't there still Gou San? Han Huohuo turned to look at Gou San with a smile.

He had a foolproof tactic in mind.

"Come here!"

Seeing his Boss summon him, Gou San obediently ran over.

"Gou San, in a moment, you run over and lure away one Mammoth. I'll take the mechanical Wolves and kill one first, then you lure the other Mammoth back to me. Any problem?"

"Huh?" Gou San almost peed his pants: "I.... I go to lure away a giant beast? Perhaps..... it's not quite feasible?"

Han Huohuo patted his shoulder, encouraging him: "You're so agile and smart, absolutely no problem. Go ahead, it's okay, I'll back you up. Look at these mechanical Wolves, how mighty and strong they are. What is there to be afraid of!"