31: Chapter 31 Extreme Tension, Equivalent Exchange in the Wasteland

The cold wind on the snow plains howled, whipping up gusts of white-out snow that battered the hard scrap-metal armor of the Polaris.

Barely fifteen minutes had passed.

From the bottom of that lv.3 fortress-class Mobile City parked a few kilometers away, the dull roar of machinery echoed once more.

A command vehicle twice the size of a standard off-road vehicle, its entire body encased in thick black armor, crushed the snow and sped toward the Polaris, flanked by two escort vehicles.

"A big fish has arrived."

Lu Chen looked at the monitoring panel and curled his lip coldly.

The command vehicle came to a steady stop ten meters away from the Polaris.

The car door opened, and a pot-bellied middle-aged man stepped out, wrapped in a gray mink coat. Two fully armed guards supported him as he moved with difficulty across the ice and snow.

The man wore an exquisite filter mask on his face, revealing only a pair of small eyes that glinted with shrewdness and greed.

He was Fernan, the manager of this low-to-mid-level caravan from the Winter Trade Alliance.

"Is it the pauper in this junk car who brought out the top-quality clean meat?"

Fernan glanced disdainfully at the Polaris's rough welds and rivets.

He tried his best to maintain the dignity of a superior, but the inadvertent glance he cast toward the car door betrayed his inner urgency.

The demand for fresh, high-quality food from those big shots above was simply insane.

If he could secure this batch of clean meat, his status within the Merchant Alliance would definitely climb a notch.

"Listen, drifter inside!"

One of the guards beside Fernan shouted loudly.

"Our caravan's Manager Fernan has come in person to trade with you! This is the blessing of several lifetimes for you, so hurry up and open the door to bring the goods out for inspection!"

"Beep."

The communicator on the exterior of the Polaris lit up with a red light.

Lu Chen's cold and hard voice came through.

"No need for the 'blessing.' Business is business. If you want to see the goods, tell that fat man to walk to my observation port himself. I'm not in the habit of letting a pack of dogs with guns surround my vehicle."

Fernan's eyelids twitched.

He had seen many drifters; usually, they would kneel and grovel upon seeing a caravan of their level.

Where was the slightest hint of fear in the guy before him? His words were as hard as iron plates.

To survive after an ice storm driving such a modified tracked vehicle and having top-quality meat on hand—this was a tough character.

"Interesting. It's been a long time since I've seen a seller with such backbone on the wasteland."

Fernan pushed the guards aside and trudged through the deep snow to the side of the Polaris, stopping before an observation port protected by thick bulletproof glass.

Click.

The internal shutter of the observation port was pulled open, revealing Lu Chen's cold and hard face.

Fernan glanced at Lu Chen through the glass and spoke arrogantly.

"Young man, I heard you have top-quality Mutant Beast clean meat? The Merchant Alliance's rule is to inspect the goods before making an offer. If you can produce ten catties of Snow Bear meat of that quality just now, I can buy it for a hundred low-grade sourcefire coal crystals, or a thousand Merchant Alliance circulation points."

A hundred low-grade coal crystals? Converted to Truth Points, that was only five hundred.

While this price seemed like a fortune to low-level drifters, in Lu Chen's eyes, it was practically treating him like a beggar.

"A hundred coal crystals? Manager Fernan, with this attitude of shooing away a beggar, where is the sincerity?"

Lu Chen scoffed.

He didn't care for nonsense; he directly picked up a piece of top-quality Snow Bear meat weighing a full twenty catties from the nearby cutting board. The fat marbling was distinct, and with a thud, he slapped it against the glass of the observation port.

The plump texture and the fresh color that couldn't be hidden made Fernan's eyes widen instantly.

His breathing became rapid.

Twenty catties!

Meat of this quality, in the core area of the fortress, could see its price increase tenfold or more!

"This is just the appetizer."

Before Fernan could recover, Lu Chen made a move so bold it was insane, a move that could be called flaunting wealth on the wasteland.

At some point, a palm-sized object appeared in his hand.

It was a bright emerald green! There was even a crystal-clear drop of water hanging from it!

"Ca... cabbage leaf?!"

Fernan's fat-laden face crumpled with excitement.

He lunged toward the glass, his small eyes locked firmly onto the cabbage leaf in Lu Chen's hand.

A low growl like a hungry wolf's came from his throat.

top-quality clean meat was a luxury.

But on this ice plain where not a blade of grass grew and which had been devastated by the Frost Calamity for a century, fresh green plants were priceless treasures!

The vitality and vitamins it contained were something no Sourcefire Engine could replace.

"How... how do you have such a thing! Even fortress-class Mobile Cities struggle to grow such fresh vegetables!"

Fernan's voice became shrill and cracked.

"With me, nothing is impossible."

Lu Chen's fingers pinched the emerald green cabbage leaf, clearly holding the Merchant Alliance manager's lifeline.

"Now, Manager Fernan, can we renegotiate the price?"

Lu Chen withdrew the meat and the cabbage leaf from the glass, his gaze cold and sharp as he looked directly into Fernan's greedy eyes.