24: Large trades

Lu Yang watched all of this in a daze.

He just felt that Gao Feng didn't seem like someone from the apocalyptic world.

Although from Train Captain Gao Feng's previous actions, Lu Yang had some belief in his heart that he truly wanted to help others.

However, one must always be on guard.

Only after the Black Knight had completely disappeared from the enemy detection radar did the Xinhuo Train gradually stop and circle back to where the Black Knight had dropped the aid storage box.

That storage box was nothing special.

It was a standard storage box that a Level 2 Train could build.

The internal space was larger than that of an ordinary box.

Because it contained a lot of supplies, it took several people to carry it back.

As Train Captain Gao Feng had said, inside, besides 1000 units of tier 1 iron ore, 1000 units of tier 1 wood, 1000 units of tier 1 copper, and a green-grade 'Ceramic Anti-Acid Coating Blueprint,' there was nothing else superfluous.

Seeing this, a huge sense of admiration rose in Lu Yang's heart.

He truly admired Train Captain Gao Feng's character.

Such a person, eager to help others without expecting anything in return, was extremely rare, not to mention after the apocalypse, but even before it.

He was a guy worth befriending.

Moreover, wasn't he just looking to buy items that could cause damage to anomalies?

He also happened to have the Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifle.

He could just make Train Captain Gao Feng his first trading partner.

Given Train Captain Gao Feng's previous actions, trading with him would offer much greater security than with other trains.

From the worst-case scenario, even if a conflict occurred, even if the opponent was a Level 3 Train, as long as it was only one train, Lu Yang would have a certain ability to defend himself and counterattack; he wasn't afraid of the other party double-crossing him, as the Level 5 Repeating Ballista was not to be trifled with.

Moreover, Lu Yang was currently extremely short on resources.

Even if he had to take a risk, he had to try!

Thinking this, Lu Yang used the train radio to send a friend request to the Black Knight.

The note read: "Thank you, Train Captain Gao Feng, for your generous material assistance."

Below the text was a screenshot of a 'Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifle.'

Train Captain Gao Feng was purchasing items that could cause damage to anomalies at a high price in the regional channel.

Seeing this screenshot, he would certainly agree to the Xinhuo Train's friend request very quickly.

As expected.

Not long after Lu Yang sent the friend request, Train Captain Gao Feng accepted it.

Then, he called back with a new voice communication.

This was different from short-frequency communication.

Long-distance communication between friends also consumed resources.

2 units of tier 1 iron ore per second, paid by the caller.

This showed how eager Train Captain Gao Feng was to talk to Lu Yang.

As soon as the voice call connected, Train Captain Gao Feng asked, "Train Captain Lu Yang, is the screenshot you just sent real?"

Lu Yang nodded, "Train Captain Gao Feng, of course, it's real. Not only is it real, but to show my gratitude for your supplies, I'm even willing to give you a few Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles for free to try out. If you're satisfied with the effect, placing an order later is fine."

Hearing this, Train Captain Gao Feng seemed overjoyed.

"Thank you for your kindness, Train Captain Lu Yang, but I trust you, and the item's display information can't be faked. However, my demand might be quite large, requiring at least 100 units or more."

"As for the price, if it's tier 1, I'm willing to pay 1000 units of tier 1 iron ore per rifle. What do you think, Train Captain Lu Yang?"

Lu Yang fell silent.

He couldn't help but want to pinch himself.

Originally, he only intended to sell for 500, but Train Captain Gao Feng doubled it to 1000 with one mention.

1000x100, if the transaction was successful, that would be a large order of 100,000 units of tier 1 iron ore.

Lu Yang hadn't handled that much iron ore since becoming a Train Captain.

It truly felt like a windfall from heaven.

However, Lu Yang was not carried away by the sudden joy; instead, he calmed down for a moment before replying, "No, Train Captain Gao Feng."

Train Captain Gao Feng was puzzled: "Is the price too low? Or does Train Captain Lu Yang not have that many?"

Lu Yang shook his head: "My production line is tier 3, capable of producing up to tier 3 Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles. 1000 units of tier 1 iron ore per rifle is a bit too..."

Originally, Lu Yang wanted to say, if 1000 was the base price, would the prices for tier 2 and tier 3, which would increase accordingly, be too high?

Unexpectedly, Train Captain Gao Feng laughed heartily and interrupted, "So it's a price issue! Train Captain Lu Yang, you can rest assured on that. The price of 1000 is for tier 1 Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles. According to custom, tier 2 and tier 3 will naturally have higher prices: tier 2 for 2000, tier 3 for 3000. Can Train Captain Lu Yang accept these prices?"

After speaking, Train Captain Gao Feng's face was calm, but he felt a little apprehensive in his heart.

He was afraid Lu Yang wouldn't be able to accept it.

After all, items that could cause damage to anomalies were very rare.

Generally, producing such items would inevitably involve psionic-related materials.

If it was an item that could continuously damage tier 3 anomalies, let alone 2000 units of tier 1 iron ore per rifle, even 5000 units of tier 1 iron ore per rifle, many tier 3 Train Captains like him would be willing to buy.

But those were special psionic items.

If it was something like the Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifle, the price would be greatly discounted.

After all, the inherent upper limit of a flintlock rifle was there; its range and power certainly couldn't compare to special items.

Its biggest advantage was its large quantity, which could form a scale effect.

One bullet might not kill an anomaly, but a volley of bullets would still do significant damage, and Train Captain Gao Feng valued this point.

He just didn't know if Lu Yang would agree.

The answer, of course, was yes!

In fact, after hearing Train Captain Gao Feng's words, Lu Yang's heart was already surging with turbulent waves.

A tier 3 one cost 3000 units of tier 1 iron ore, almost half a mine!

Are all tier 3 Train Captains this rich?

Lu Yang hadn't been a Train Captain for long, and his horizons were still limited.

But not making money when there's an opportunity is foolish.

Anyway, the other party brought it up first.

He barely maintained his composure and said, "Since Train Captain Gao Feng has spoken, I naturally have no objection. I just don't know how many exactly Train Captain Gao Feng needs?"

"Cough, cough," seeing Lu Yang's seemingly restrained expression, Train Captain Gao Feng thought Lu Yang had reluctantly agreed, just reaching his psychological limit.

He replied with a hint of relief, "50 tier 1, 30 tier 2, and 20 tier 3, is that okay?"

Originally, he wanted to order more, but the current resource reserves on his train were limited.

There were several mining points waiting to be excavated, and gathering resources would take time.

50x1000 + 30x2000 + 20x3000 equals 170,000 tier 1 iron ore??

Quickly calculating this number, Lu Yang took a deep breath.

"No problem, the current raw material inventory is sufficient for this quantity."

"However, although the Xinhuo Train has enough materials to produce the Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles you need, it will take some more time."

"I'll send you half from my current stock first, and the rest will be delivered at the next Train Assembly. Does that work for you?"

In fact, with the production speed of a Level 5 flintlock rifle production line, a total of 100 flintlock rifles would not take more than a few hours.

But Lu Yang didn't want others to associate the Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifle with ordinary flintlock rifle production lines, even if there was only a slight possibility.

Of course, generally speaking, they wouldn't.

Just from the appearance, the Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifle differed greatly from an ordinary flintlock rifle.

The Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifle was entirely dark green, covered with silver-green patterns. All the patterns intertwined at the muzzle, converging into a shape similar to a tiny short sword, looking very high-end.

The more advanced the Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifle, the more complex and lifelike the patterns were.

This was also why Train Captain Gao Feng's starting price was 1000 units of tier 1 iron ore.

Because the item indeed looked high-grade.

It could make people feel that it was worth the price.

Unlike ordinary flintlock rifles, which looked like mere fire pokers.

Therefore, Train Captain Gao Feng readily agreed, "No problem."

"I was just about to say the same thing. Although the Black Knight's resource reserves are substantial, I need to keep enough emergency reserves, so the amount of resources I can currently spare is limited. These past few days, I've been planning to go excavate a few more tier 3 iron ore mines."

"Today, we'll trade half first, and the rest will be traded at the Train Assembly."

After some preparations, approximately a few hours passed.

Lu Yang sent over the first batch of Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles for the trade.

There were 25 tier 1 Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles, 15 tier 2 Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles, and 10 tier 3 Ghost Killer Flintlock Rifles.

Without any surprises, he exchanged them for 450 units of tier 3 iron ore and 2000 units of tier 2 copper.

Generally speaking, the exchange ratio between copper and iron ore was 1:2.

During the trade, although both Lu Yang and Train Captain Gao Feng tried their best to maintain composure, neither felt less joy than the other.

Both felt they had gotten a great deal.

Thus, the first transaction concluded with both parties highly satisfied.

Their favorable impressions of each other increased linearly.

After all, not everyone can mass-produce weapons that can harm anomalies.

And not every Train Captain of a Level 3 Train can trade equally with an opponent whose strength is far inferior to his own, without resorting to coercion.

In this wilderness, win-win transactions where both parties are satisfied, like those between the Xinhuo Train and the Black Knight, are actually very rare.

Most of the time, what plays out is the law of the jungle.

Higher-level trains bully lower-level trains.

Stronger trains bully weaker trains.

Take the Train Assembly a few days later, for example.

If the conveners were not the Black Knight and a few other Level 3 Trains that often helped other Train Captains.

But rather some unknown Level 3 Train Captains.

Then, only the Train Captains of Level 3 Trains would attend that Train Assembly; lower-level Train Captains might not even go.

After all, it's hard to figure out if you're going to attend an assembly for trade, or to become a dish on another high-level train's table.

This is one of the biggest harms the apocalypse has brought to this world—the loss of order.