Chapter 281: Hoarding for Speculation

Chapter 281: Chapter 281: Hoarding for Speculation

"It’s like they’re practically forcing us to upgrade our cabins!"

"Tell me about it. We’re already in a rush. These bugs might seem like a small threat, but they devour wood at an incredible speed! It’s only been a few days, and my mobile cabin is already half-eaten. A few more days of this, and my cabin will be gone!"

"Alright, alright. Before more people hit this benchmark and the price of Expansion Crystals skyrockets, everyone... if you need to make a trade, do it. You’re going to need them eventually."

This last message was sent after seven o’clock. And so, it was the first thing Seraphina Sinclair saw when she opened her eyes.

She sat up, clearing her head for a moment, then opened the trading channel to check the price of Expansion Crystals.

The prices of nearly all items on the trading channel fluctuated, but Expansion Crystals, a high-demand necessity, consistently stayed expensive.

But if the price was going to rise even more... buying some now seemed like a good option.

Seraphina Sinclair yawned again, her mind still fuzzy. Frowning, she thought for a moment and decided to stockpile a few anyway.

After all, the number of active survivors was still relatively small. Once that number grew, a price hike for Expansion Crystals was inevitable.

She scrolled through the trading channel a few times. Just as she selected an Expansion Crystal and hit the trade button, she found she was too late.

The item had already been traded to someone else.

Seraphina Sinclair pursed her lips and continued her search.

But something was strangely off. The same thing happened again—the moment she hit trade, the system notified her that she was too late.

Once or twice was a coincidence, but three or four times meant there was a serious problem.

Seraphina Sinclair stopped searching for Expansion Crystals. She refreshed the trading channel. A small circle spun on the screen a few times before the latest listings appeared:

Every reasonably priced Expansion Crystal that popped up instantly turned gray with a [TRADED] status.

The speed was unbelievable, as if someone were using a script to automatically snipe the listings.

But there was no such thing in this world.

Seraphina Sinclair narrowed her eyes.

This meant an organized group was systematically buying everything up.

She switched to the regional channel. It was peaceful; most survivors were oblivious to what was happening on the trading channel. But the small group chat that was closely monitoring Expansion Crystals had erupted.

"(Image) What’s the meaning of this?"

The image was a screenshot of several consecutive transaction records for Expansion Crystals from the trading channel. The speed of the sales was astonishing.

[Zane Pierce]: Shit! I was just about to grab two more crystals, and they were all gone the second I refreshed! Who the hell is that fast?

"Something’s wrong. This is completely wrong. This isn’t a normal transaction speed. I’ve been watching for five minutes—as long as the price is reasonable, it’s gone in a flash."

"Someone’s hoarding to control the price. And it’s not just one person, it’s an organized group. They must be constantly refreshing the page, or maybe they’re using some item we don’t know about."

"It looks like we’re not just being tested by monsters and bugs, but also by the business tactics of our fellow humans."

[Zane Pierce]: Business my ass! This is straight-up profiteering! And they definitely know we’re all desperate to upgrade right now—that’s why they’re intentionally buying everything up to jack up the price! Which means... that person has to be in this group chat!

The group chat fell silent for a moment, only to be flooded by an even greater wave of shock and anger.

"In the group?! There’s a traitor among us?!"

"Who is it?! Who did this? Got the balls to buy everything up but not to admit it?!"

"Damn it, they better hope I don’t find out who it is, or I’ll fucking kill them!"

Panic began to mingle with suspicion.

The sense of unity, forged by the shared threat of the bugs, began to crack.

Seraphina Sinclair watched the group’s uproar with a calm expression.

Zane Pierce’s guess was blunt, and almost certainly correct.

The people in this elite chat were the first to be aware of the bug crisis and the urgent need for Expansion Crystals.

If someone wanted to profit from an information asymmetry, this group was the perfect source of insider knowledge.

Besides having firsthand information, they would also need significant financial backing. And... to avoid becoming a public enemy, this person must have partnered with a number of others.

’If they’re really recruiting people, why haven’t they approached me?’

Besides, by hoarding these things, the moment they started selling, wouldn’t they be announcing to everyone that they had a massive stockpile of Expansion Crystals? In that case, wouldn’t they just become a walking vault in everyone else’s eyes?

Others might have to weigh the risks before making a move, but if Seraphina Sinclair were to act...

’Thanks for the free Expansion Crystals, fam! Appreciate the drop!’

The thought was fleeting, but it was absurd enough to make the corners of her own lips curl up.

Just as she was mentally speculating about who was behind it all, a private message chimed.

[Seaview]: Master Blacktiger, are you there? Is now a good time to talk?

The message notification sound was exceptionally clear in the silent cabin.

Seraphina Sinclair glanced at the sender’s name, her brow slightly raised.

’A private message at a time like this...’

A cold smirk touched Seraphina Sinclair’s lips.

’I was just wondering who was buying everything up, and now the mole comes knocking? Is he going to try and recruit me... or bribe me?’

[Blacktiger Ford]: Talk.

Short and to the point. That was her style.

Seaview seemed to have been waiting on the other end; his reply was swift.

[Seaview]: A straightforward person, Master Blacktiger. I know you’ve surely noticed the anomaly in the market. I won’t beat around the bush. A few friends from the group chat and I are behind the Expansion Crystal situation.

He admitted it directly.

And...

"A few friends from the group."

The emphasis was clearly on the phrase "from the group." It was a subtle way of conveying their strength to Seraphina Sinclair—a group of powerful players, for whom pooling resources to stockpile some Expansion Crystals would be a trivial matter.

Seraphina Sinclair’s fingertips lightly tapped the stone tabletop, waiting for his next words.

[Seaview]: We’ve amassed a batch of crystals and have been controlling their market circulation. The price will soon double, maybe even more.

[Blacktiger Ford]: So?

[Seaview]: So, I’d like to invite you to join us, Master Blacktiger. You won’t have to contribute any funds or do anything. We just need you to... remain silent and, when necessary, help us stabilize market sentiment. Of course, as compensation, we will provide an unlimited supply of Expansion Crystals to you and any friends you designate at our internal cost. On top of that, we’ll give you a ten percent cut of the final profits.

Seraphina Sinclair looked at this message and almost laughed out loud.

What a nice way to put it—"remain silent," and "stabilize market sentiment."

To put it bluntly, they wanted to use the reputation and Intimidation of "Blacktiger Ford," the top player from the newbie instance, to endorse their hoarding and price-gouging. At the same time, they wanted to deter any other powerful individuals who might be unhappy or want a piece of the pie.