Chapter 130: Good Intentions

Several people at the door approached Hong Haocheng. A young man with a straight posture couldn’t help but ask him:
“You just mentioned your friend. Was there anyone else in that living room at the time?”
“Of course, there were many. Like…”
Hong Haocheng opened his mouth wide, but in the end, not a single word came out.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on his chest.
Hong Haocheng lowered his gaze to his chest as well. The moment he was about to utter those names, a faint, circular glow appeared, resembling a simple silver-white ring.
{Do not reveal their information. For every name you speak, one person will die.}
The voice of an unfamiliar woman—echoing directly in his own mind…
Hong Haocheng felt fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
“I forgot,” he said reluctantly.
A flimsy excuse. But the people around him didn’t press him, easily letting the matter slide.
……
The Lost Frequency Zone.
After more than a day of spreading messages, the number of people at the Macro Party’s Construction Supply Camp increased the following day. Two teams had even arrived before dawn.
Hearing that some had already entered the forest, the newcomers, who had planned to haggle, immediately bought two tokens without a word and headed out. Not long after, they returned and purchased three more, carrying a shiny-furred beast cub they presented as a gift to the people from the Macro Party.
Seeing the little furry creature, wide-eyed and trembling, yet still letting out “woof~ woof~” threats at everyone, Ning Yang and the people brought by Shed Master Song were all delighted and began teasing it.
“Be good, from now on, you’ll eat and drink well with us.”
“Woof!”
“It came from an A-level overlapping zone, so let’s call it Little A.”
Little A, who looked like a wolf puppy, bit down with a “woof” on this person’s hand.
The crowd burst into laughter.
By noon, the crowd in front of the temporary camp grew larger, and general goods began to gradually sell slowly.
People from dozens of miles away, hearing that other daily necessities were also being sold here at cheap prices, began setting out in groups from several nearby small to medium-sized shed areas, even those with limited time, bringing along their own “handicraft specialties,” initially forming the semblance of a small market.
On Saturday afternoon, Hub Town.
Zhu Yin arrived at the entrance of the meeting room, took down a newly delivered mail newspaper, and indeed saw a familiar name on the last page.
— Major Framework Construction Mover Team, 15 points.
It was barely enough to make the rankings, which was also the score of most mover teams that made it onto the list.
“Next week will mark the fifth week since Yang Zicang went in.”
Zhu Yin murmured to himself. Looking up at the elegantly and retro-finished wooden corridor, he saw two administrators of Hub Town walking over from the hall passage.
“Deputy Town Chief, it’s the 10th today. Are you going back to your city to prepare for new recruits?”
“If you don’t go back by the middle of this month, then we’ll go,” said the other.
Zhu Yincang nodded, “I’ve already arranged things on the city’s end last month; you can go back this month. I’ll keep an eye on the town here.”
“We’ll leave you to it, Deputy Mayor.”
“Actually, Hub Town can function normally with or without us; there’s no need to worry too much,” he added. “If anything comes up, I’ll contact you; crossing an A-level staggered zone only takes half a day.”
“Then we’ll leave it to you, Deputy Mayor. Our space has been stable for half a year; this month, we need to start stabilizing a new space.”
Although successfully stabilized alternate spaces can last permanently, the corridors connecting them with Hub Town grow increasingly unstable and usually collapse within about a year.
Thus, city representatives entering Hub Town by stabilizing A-level staggered zones typically need to consider starting new A-grade topography stabilization work every six months. Stabilizing the terrain doesn’t always succeed; a single failure means a month of work wasted, so they must leave extra time.
A day passed quickly. On Sunday morning, Yang Zicang had just woken up when he heard a voice in his heart—a thought-call from some entity in the Spectrum-Lost Zone.
[You have given birth to fame, within the Spectrum-Lost Zone.]
“This is the advantage of having my own enterprise.”
The young man couldn’t help but sigh. The shed landholders and trade vehicle leaders who had paved their way probably went through this every week, easily leveraging their influence to gain newfound fame.
The temporary market he had set up outside these mountains over the past few days’ efforts might continue to generate fame values for him steadily in the months ahead.
[Your fame value this week has exceeded 10; it is currently 25.]
Yang Zicang frowned.
This time, he had operated under the banner of the construction transport team. Yet, just like the last time, the team had barely gained a reputation; he had only slept one night and, upon waking, found that the reputation had already climbed past twenty.
“Forget it. It doesn’t really matter either way.”
Muttering to himself, Yang Zicang yawned, lifted the bedsheet, and sat on the edge of the bed. He rubbed his eyes and took stock of his surroundings.
Perhaps because several weeks had passed, the other party had grown familiar with him, and he no longer felt the stare of being watched as in those first few weeks.
“Woof.”
The faint commotion outside the thick tent drifted in.
“Little rascal, don’t run! Hey, someone catch it—that thing burned the rope clean off!”
“Ouch, it bit me! Pay me back my three days of sequence time!”
“Go ask Aya for that.”
As he lifted the curtain and stepped out of the tent, the row of large wooden huts ahead was already bustling with activity, like an exhibition fair starting up.
Not far to the left and right, more tents were pitched—some as temporary bases for teams heading into the mountains, others as collection stalls set up by people from nearby small shed districts.
These folks also took the chance to peddle small local specialties, such as woven rattan baskets, self-forged iron tools, or common weapons.
The water wells, ordinary foundations, ice houses, and other Forgetting Engines made from materials supplied by Zhuyin and the headquarters had been continuously shipped since the time he worked as a itinerant trader. Some of these were now displayed and sold here, attracting the attention of numerous small and medium shed leaders.
For this reason, Zuofeixian had buried a water well here, and the sweet spring brought joy to everyone, making them think even more highly of the Great A-Fang Goods Team. Even though it’s just a temporary base, they willing to bury a water well here that produces such high-quality water, leading many to develop a different idea—maybe this place could be preserved long-term.
Therefore, the reputation of the Great A-Fang Goods Team became even more prominent.
On the wasteland.
“Damn it, this Jiao operator between the systems is really not a good thing. I barely scraped together over two hundred system days by begging and borrowing, and then he goes and sells early.”
Many who were still foolishly waiting for next Tuesday’s sale, upon hearing that people had already paid high prices to enter, had long since been cursing the Great A-Fang Goods Team for breaking their promise while flocking to set off like a procession of refugees.
Voices denouncing him were everywhere.
“What’s the deal? Only you take those profiteers at their word. When I heard he said it wouldn’t open for sale until next week, I smelled something fishy right away, sure enough.”
“It’s not that. I was afraid that bastard might pull something like a limited supply on the day itself. Do you think we, limited to buying at just the usual price, could even snag any? It would definitely get marked up.”
The travelers hurrying along fell into deep thought.
“Are you saying you’re worried about him pulling off a hunger marketing scheme?”
A man carrying a backpack walked along while saying angrily, “Damn it, we should all boycott it together!”
“Come on, do you think those top-tier powerhouse folks would be stupid enough to let latecomers snatch opportunities to trek into the mountains?”
A man riding on an animal mount cleared his throat:
“Hey, let me tell you something. Actually, that cargo team from the big client countain includes people who use psycho-attack abilities. This is a secret, so don’t go blabbing it.”
“Good heavens, really? How did you find out?”
On hearing this, most of the people in this traveling group turned to the man on the ride, listening as he began a vivid and detailed explanation—as if seeing the debacle himself—of how the people at the Dusk Shed had been bested two days earlier.
And the real proprietor of Dusk Shed was still kept completely in the dark about the whole thing.
In Wuyou Goods Market, Shed Master Wuyou put down his chopsticks, picked up a napkin, and wiped his mouth.
Glancing at the sky outside his window, he estimated that YangZicang should be awake by then. A folded crease of light shot out from his chest, successfully making a connection as he anticipated.
“Good morning, Master Zicang.”
{Good morning, Shed Master Wuyou. Have the materials been prepared for me?}
“Yes, yes! Oh, it has to be you, Master Zicang. If it were me handling this kind of living off the mountain resource deal, I wouldn’t be nearly this resourceful. I’ve had someone deliver it to you—it’s just one cartful. Ha ha, don’t think it’s too little, pal. I’ve made and formed it into incense pellets for you.”
For a whole cartload full of incense pellets, a warmth surged in YangZicang’s heart. This was a kind deed done by Wuyou for free; YangZicang himself had barely used any sequence-time cultivation.
{Thank you, Shed Master. My little business is nothing compared to yours, Shed Master Wuyou. I’ll pay you a visit another day to offer my thanks in person.}
“Haha, you trusted me enough to give me that recipe for free. If I didn’t even lend a hand in return, how could I call myself an immortal who lives forever without aging?”
After a round of mutual flattery, Shed Master Wuyou then ordered his men to personally deliver the pills made from locally purchased herbs. With Wuyou’s strength, covering a distance of several hundred kilometers certainly wouldn’t take long.
After disconnecting the line, one of the women by the table—a plump, voluptuous one—spoke up:
“Shed Master, this Mr. Yang is truly generous. To give away a recipe for such powerful incense pills just like that… he really trusts us.”
“That’s right, especially in times like these. He doesn’t even worry that we might steal his business. And this is worth many, many tens of thousands of cycles,” added another person at the table.
The Shed Master appeared quite pleased; Yang Zicang had helped him save a lot of face in front of his own people:
“That’s why a friend like him is worth keeping. Ah, I’ve earned so many long cycles in my life, yet the more I have, the lonelier I feel when I think about the years ahead. In the days to come, if I can be accompanied by friends like this, it would truly be a blessing.”
He stood up. “Let only me and Supervisor Hao know about this incense pill recipe. If we come across similar places in the future, we’ll explore them on our own. Remember, don’t spread this around—it’ll only invite trouble.”
The charming women at the table laughed and said, “We understand.”
On the other side, Yang Zicang had just put down his bowl and chopsticks after finishing breakfast when he received a connection request from Boss Zhuang of the Dufrequency Inn.
“D*mn, first-class party, you kept me in the dark so well. I invited you to do a job, but you went off to claim territory and sell tickets instead. What’s up, not giving your big bro a break?”
Yang Zicang scratched his head, having long since forgotten about this guy.