Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 624 - 301 Factory

Chapter 624: Chapter 301 Factory

Second question: A had always been vending at a certain spot, but for a month, due to his wife giving birth, he didn’t set up his stall. B thought that A had given up the stall, so he occupied it. Again, a 5-point question.

Rushing over, Maya answered, "The market is about mutual benefit. We can’t just consider the vendor’s interest but must also consider the buyers’ needs. A occupied the stall without offering any goods for sale, which harmed the buyers’ interests, so it can be determined that B becomes the owner of the stall."

Result: -1 point, Maya objected and went to talk to the town leader.

The town leader first clarified that this was a subjective question with no right or wrong, then he explained his personal view. He said that Maya wasn’t wrong, the market’s interests should be considered. However, the market belongs to collective interests, while the stall represents individual interests. Personal interests must be secured first to ensure the collective’s. Therefore, in his opinion, the correct decision was for A to take back his stall, but if he didn’t vend, he must inform B, allowing B to take over, and not leave the stall vacant at will.

It couldn’t be said to be very reasonable, but in the special environment, this solution seemed not to be wrong. After all, with subjective questions, opinions vary among wise men.

"..." Maya was angry, even more annoyed by the presence of a gloating individual raising an eyebrow.

Next question, a two-point multiple-choice. One evening, a shepherd sought the town leader’s help, as his sheep was lost and likely entered the desert. A: Help him. B: Don’t help him. C: Lead the town’s enthusiastic citizens to search together. D: Ask for more details and search with the citizens after daylight.

Maya looked at Lin Wu, "I choose D." This was practically a no-brainer, choose whatever was most cowardly, whatever was most troublesome.

Lin Wu, "I choose B."

Got two knives!

Maya questioned, "Why?"

Lin Wu explained, "Three answers require searching for the sheep, only one does not. Since it’s a multiple-choice question, I choose not to search."

"I disagree." What kind of logic was that?

The town leader explained that the desert terrain is complicated, especially at night filled with many dangers. It was not wise to risk safety for a single sheep. By the next day, the sheep would either return on its own, or a search would be needed deep into the desert, under the scorching sun, where humans cannot walk far in the desert.

It was then that Maya understood that the rules here had no set bounds, not confined by any law or regulations. They only made the most beneficial and practical choices. After grasping the situation, Maya routed the competition, accurately answering 10 questions in a row and earning nearly a perfect score to win 30 knives.

Only when the train whistle blew did Maya realize too much time had been wasted. Nonetheless, without Maya’s command, everyone had been working diligently. Qinglang traded a bundle of wood for a searchlight, which could be installed on top of a certain carriage. By turning the crank below the searchlight, it could rotate 360 degrees and was very bright. Downside: After installing the searchlight, coal efficiency decreased by 2%.

The locals traded wood because trees were scarce here. Animal dung was the usual fuel, making the Orient Express’s stockpile of wood a major trade item in the town. Not only did they get a good amount of mutton, but also they gained the assistance of a former modification workshop worker, which improved the locomotive’s coal efficiency by about 1%. That wasn’t the point, though. The key was the route information the worker provided.

Take line 2 to reach the train modification factory. The factory was by the railway tracks, though he wasn’t sure of the distance. Since there was no station, the train wouldn’t stop automatically; they would need to stop manually. The worker was talkative, telling Qinglang, the negotiator, how to operate the crane to modify the train. According to the worker, the modification process was a mini-game, using the crane to add, remove, or completely destroy carriages.

Qinglang was kind-hearted. Although he knew the NPC was wasting his time with nonsense, he still patiently listened to the end. Had it been Lin Wu, he would have taken the information and left early.

Those with good temper usually aren’t unlucky. After patiently listening, the worker handed Qinglang a necklace. It was a necklace he bought for his girlfriend before getting captured, though ten years had passed, he hoped it could be delivered to his girlfriend.

Before departing, Lin Wu and the town leader shook hands to say goodbye. After the train had gone far, Lin Wu said to Maya beside him, "I didn’t expect a town composed of criminals to be the safest."

"Too many things happen by chance, and this isn’t a real town. But I’ve read a comic where there’s a town with a law: anyone can kill people in the street without punishment, and all the locals can carry guns. Yet that town with such a law had almost no public security cases, said to be because whoever kills without reason would be shot by others," Maya said.

Then, changing the subject, Maya asked, "Tell me, what’s the difference between a team made up of four good people and one bad person versus a team of five bad people?"

Lin Wu questioned, "What’s the difference?"

Maya said, "I don’t know what the difference is either, but I’d bet on the latter."

Lin Wu asked, "Because it’s fair?"

Maya, "Probably. A team of equally matched people has restrictions, a team of unequals lacks them. When good meets bad, the first to get hurt is always the good. However, nobody has ever conducted an experiment like this exile town, so you don’t need to think too much about it."

Shuihua on the walkie-talkie, "Maya, choose line 3 on line 1."

Maya, "Line 2, we’re heading to the train modification factory. If everyone’s okay, let’s head to the locomotive to assist Shuihua in spotting the factory."