Chapter 212 - 211: Three Days Later

Chapter 212: Chapter 211: Three Days Later

「Three days passed in a flash.」

On the first day, Yuan Guang dragged Gu Su all over the Doomsday Ghost City, making sure they did everything there was to do. He also successfully promoted the products from Gu Su’s Graveyard Demon. By now, everyone in the Doomsday Ghost City knew that Gu Su had good things to offer.

For the remaining two days, he didn’t go out again. He stayed put in the Graveyard Demon, repairing what was broken and patching up what was damaged.

The cracks in the surrounding walls were filled in, and all the metal sheets that had been corroded into gaping holes by Dragon Blood were repaired using Blood Waterflea and Strong Root Grass. Though the patched areas were a mismatched patchwork of dark and light, their Defense Power was more than sufficient.

The empty artillery platforms were now fitted with newly purchased White Quality Artillery, their muzzles angled outwards and glinting coldly in the setting sun.

The Trading Post and the Doomsday Tavern were also completed during these two days.

The Trading Post was built right next to the Yin Soul Shop. The two buildings, one new and one old, stood side by side, complementing each other quite well.

The Trading Post wasn’t large. From the outside, it just looked like an ordinary room built into the wall. A metal plate was riveted to the doorframe, engraved with the crooked words: "Yellow Springs Toll Collection Office #103." The lettering looked as if someone had casually scrawled it with a welding torch.

A yellowed piece of paper was posted by the door, densely packed with the current day’s purchase prices for supplies.

Mushrooms, poisonous insects, chicken blood, Beast Skins, and bones were all clearly listed. The prices were a notch higher than the market rate, but not absurdly so.

At the very bottom of the paper, a short phrase was written in red ink: "Bulk quantities negotiable, no upper limit."

’Of course, Gu Su knew that the prices for Beast Skins and bones were a favor from Yuan Guang; they weren’t really worth that much.’

’Mushrooms and chicken blood, however, were essential supplies, so their prices were genuinely that high.’

The door was unlocked, left slightly ajar. Pushing it open revealed an empty interior, with only a narrow table set against the wall. On the table sat an open, empty wooden box.

Several rows of nails were hammered into the wall, holding blank paper slips and a charcoal pencil.

The rules were simple. If Gu Su wanted to sell something, he just had to put the materials in the box and close the lid.

When he came back the next day, the items in the box would be gone, replaced by the corresponding Gold Coins.

If he wanted to buy something, he would write his request on a slip of paper, nail it to the wall, and come pick up the goods early the next morning.

The slip of paper would be collected, and the goods would appear, ready for an immediate exchange of cash for product.

No one knew how the materials were transported out, nor how the goods were delivered.

The box was just a box, the door was just a door. The room inside was always empty, without a single soul in sight.

But not a single transaction had ever gone wrong.

The Doomsday Tavern, on the other hand, was built to the right of the main gate, in a spot visible as soon as one entered.

This area was originally part of a room in the wall designated for a Combat Outpost. However, since the Mire Hut had been moved up, both the Combat Outpost and the Mire Hut were relocated to the lower level on the right side of the wall, leaving this space vacant.

Now, several rooms within the wall had been combined by knocking down the partitions. The entire Doomsday Tavern now totaled twenty-five square meters, just meeting the minimum size requirement.

However, the space was barely five meters wide and two-and-a-half meters deep, making it hard to even turn around when crowded.

The original wall had been damaged previously, so it was now patched together with metal sheets. The seams were crudely welded, with sharp burrs still sticking out in places.

A window had been cut into the wall, framed with a porthole salvaged from a spaceship. The glass was long gone and hadn’t been replaced, with only a thick cloth curtain hung to block the wind.

The door, also welded from metal sheets, CREAKED when pushed and had to be yanked hard to latch shut.

Inside, a narrow bar stood to the left. Its countertop was pieced together from cabinet boards salvaged from a Mobile Castle, the wood surface pitted and uneven, still scarred with knife marks.

Behind the bar sat a few pots and several ceramic jars. The pots held simmering chicken and mushroom soups, while the jars contained roasted chicken, mushrooms, and a few unidentifiable side dishes.

The heat and aroma mingled, filling the cramped space.

To the right stood ten chairs, spaced only half an arm’s length apart. When seated, patrons would be elbow-to-elbow and knee-to-knee.

There were no tables and no spare floor space. Once the chairs were full, there wasn’t even room to stand in front of the bar. Customers had to hold their food in their laps and nurse their drinks in hand.

But the tavern had everything it should, with one exception: there was no alcohol. Its only other drawback was how cramped it was.

Ten chairs were crammed into such a small space; when full, it was hard to even turn around.

But that was the nature of a Doomsday Tavern. A Level 1 structure that could guarantee seating for ten people to eat was already considered decent.

’You could hardly expect it to provide sleeping quarters, too.’

Of course, Gu Su wasn’t stingy. He made sure to provide all the necessary amenities. He even stationed two Elite Skeleton Warriors at the entrance to ensure the players’ "safety."

Today was the appointed third day.

First thing in the morning, Gu Su took the Mushroom Cloud Skull Badge from his coat and hung it on the metal frame directly above the main gate.

The badge wasn’t large, but it was conspicuous hanging over the gate. Its metal surface gleamed with a dim luster in the morning light, the skull—formed from a twisted mushroom cloud—gazing motionlessly out over the ruins beyond.

The moment the badge was hung, it began to emit a bright yellow signal.

Not long after, the buzzing of an engine drifted from the distance.

A ten-seater electric cart emerged from the far side of the Doomsday Plain. Its body was grayish-green with peeling, mottled paint. Steel pipes had been welded to its bumper, and several large crates were strapped to the roof.

The logo on the front of the vehicle was a mushroom cloud, identical to the badge Li Li had given him.

Gu Su stood at the main gate and waved his hand behind him.

The great doors of the Graveyard Demon swung open slowly. Vines on either side retracted like living things, lowering the ramp at the entrance—a platform cobbled together from a trailer bed.

The wooden planks on the ramp had been compacted, and simple guardrails were nailed to its sides. When lowered, it was just wide enough to allow a heavy truck to pass through.

The ramp hadn’t seen much use lately, however. Gu Su’s vehicles could now all enter and exit via the Deployment Pods beneath the walls, no longer needing the ramp to access the ground level of the Graveyard Demon.

As Gu Su finished lowering the ramp, ten players hopped out of the vehicle one by one. Their movements were crisp, their expressions composed.

Unlike the flamboyantly dressed and eccentrically adorned players one might find in a bar, these ten looked remarkably normal. They wore no exaggerated makeup or bizarre accessories. Their attire was simple and practical, with every detail reflecting their respective character classes. It was obvious at a glance that they were serious players.

One of them strode up to Gu Su, extended a hand, and grinned.

"Hello. You must be Gu Su. I’m Jin Chang, a Plague Hunter and the leader of the Golden Fortune Squad."