Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 433 - 226 Gathering_2

Chapter 433: Chapter 226 Gathering_2

Invincible Base is currently constructing fish ponds and has already bred a fair number of fish, though it remains unclear what impact a zombie onslaught might have on the fish ponds. Raccoon Cat, being a farmer and an elder at Invincible, has a rather comfortable life within the base. The biggest contention within Invincible Base at the moment is whether to move the base during the summer.

Field operators hope to relocate the base to the outskirts of the county or the suburbs, using the city as a support for obtaining more resources. The administrative staff are not opposed to relocating the base, but they hope to move to a location that is conducive to production.

At this moment, Shadow has set up a trading area on an empty plot of land in the commercial district square. In the trading area, Lin Wu raises a homemade flag that reads, "Shadow buys Outpost Cards." On the side, Shana is dealing with players who have come for negotiations and inquiries, most of whom are without Outpost Cards and are primarily consulting on other trades and recruitment matters.

A figure clad in a black ninja outfit with a hood and a mask approaches Lin Wu, pinching an Outpost Card between two fingers. Lin Wu glances at the card and, without lifting his head, points to the side, "Get in line."

The masked person becomes enraged, "What kind of attitude is that?"

"I’m only responsible for waving the flag, not for offering apologies," Lin Wu states, and then looks at the masked person with surprise and asks, "Nightmare?" Right, his base is in Left County’s Southward Town.

As the words fall, nearby players become restless and immediately swarm together, hurling curses instantly. Their target is not Lin Wu, but Nightmare. All of the players are from Southward Town.

Shadow is unaware that Nightmare has become public enemy number one in Southward Town, which began with a conflict that sparked between the town’s leading base, Chibei Corps. Nightmare killed half of Chibei’s members, including their leader. In an act of vengeance for their Boss, the Chibei remnants lured Nightmare into an ambush with the help of about a dozen player friends, and they killed Nightmare.

After being revived, Nightmare unleashed retaliation on Southward Town, indiscriminately shooting any player from the town, an event which went down in history as the ’Two-Day Southward Slaughter.’ In two days, he killed over 40 players and looted the backpacks of some. This initiated a war between the players and Nightmare, a conflict that has persisted since spring and is ongoing, with Nightmare having been killed over five times but having caused the death of players over two hundred times.

This has forced the Southward Town players to venture outside with great caution, moving only in groups and fully armed. They know Nightmare will come back to life; their goal is to plunder Nightmare. Firstly, it’s lucrative, and secondly, repeated lootings would naturally weaken Nightmare’s strength, eventually rendering him a nobody. Yet, they could only kill Nightmare and never succeed in corpse looting.

Due to Nightmare’s troublemaking, life has become harsh for the players in Southward Town, with many starving to death and their numbers dropping by 30%. Hearing Nightmare’s notorious name at the scene, the players from Southward Town subconsciously prepare themselves for a fight.

Nightmare is not at a loss, though, having robbed plenty of goods from the players. However, the players are short on rifles and rifle ammo, having mostly procured pistols and pistol bullets. Thus, with one losing and the other gaining, Nightmare’s Safe House has accumulated a truckload of pistols, but assault rifles are scarce, especially since the rifle ammunition is nearly spent. His purpose for attending the fair this time is to trade his pistols and pistol bullets for assault rifle ammunition.

Naturally, Shadow is the one with the largest ammunition stockpile, and Nightmare wrapped himself up like a zongzi (rice dumpling) to get close to Lin Wu for trade negotiations, not expecting Lin Wu to not only lack enthusiasm for his job but also to see right through his disguise. Fortunately, the market protects all players, so they can only spew curses, and no one can physically harm Nightmare.

Lin Wu, unable to watch this go on, reminds, "Complain about them, why don’t you? I’ve done it before with you, and it was quite effective."

"You did that?" Nightmare’s eyes bulge, realizing he should thank Lin Wu for breaking him of the habit of swearing. But he feels no gratitude. No one wants to be under Dawn’s 24-hour surveillance, just to be thrown into solitary confinement the moment they utter a curse word.

As for that time he got robbed by Lin Wu, Nightmare, and Maya, Nightmare didn’t blame Lin Wu, knowing full well that the mastermind was Nightmare. But with his current strength, Nightmare didn’t dare to provoke Nightmare. Plus, Blood Meng didn’t want to return to North Town, the place of sorrow, so the matter was left unresolved.

Stone, who has been watching the excitement, whispers something to Horse Soul. Horse Soul replaces Lin Wu in greeting Nightmare and leads him aside to talk. Stone takes over for Shana, letting Shana haggle with Nightmare. The trading principle: anything can be traded except for people.

The Outpost Card can be used to occupy a firepower point—a barrage of artillery fire is exhilarating to think about. Alternatively, it could be used to take over water infrastructure, providing an endless water source for the base. Or, it can showcase one’s wealthy status by letting the card rot away in the warehouse.

Lin Wu continues to wave the flag. Little Knife is selling basic clothes on the side, made by the tailor Shana from fabric synthesized from scraps. One set of clothing is exchanged for ten pistol bullets, three 5.56 bullets, or two 7.62 bullets.

Su Shi’s stall is dedicated to pistols and pistol bullets, buying up rubbish. Scrap cloth, scrap iron, electronic components, etc.

Maya’s stall is buying rare treasures, various plugins, blueprints, assorted cards, and quest clues.

Shana rushes back, pulling Stone over to Maya, saying, "He has two Outpost Cards, each for a hundred 5.56 bullets or seventy 7.62 bullets."

Maya responds, "That’s pretty much what we have in our inventory." After Lin Wu’s attack on the Alliance, they had brought back four guns that should have come with 120 bullets, but the despicable Corpse Looting had made deals with guns that either had an empty magazine or didn’t come with one at all. Only the two rifles Lin Wu acquired himself were full.