Time was pressing.
Chen Yu had to race against time. While Black Bean and the others were considering, he also had to continue preparing for future developments.
His plan had many steps.
Perhaps, in the future, there would be situations where plans wouldn't keep up with changes, but what would absolutely not change was the effort to gather resources as much as possible.
Abundant resources would ensure the ability to respond to all changes with unchanged strategies.
"It's probably not an exaggeration to call you a rich landowner now, is it?" In the projection, Jiang Yaqing smiled, her lips pursed, her beautiful eyes filled with amusement.
Following Chen Yu's footsteps, she had taken a look at the scale of Chen Yu's current strength.
She was very envious.
Other survivors were developing their camps, and many indigenous cave dwellers hadn't even been contacted. Chen Yu had already established an entire city.
Indigenous cave dwellers and survivors worked within the city, and the entire city was thriving.
Countless people would feel envious upon seeing it.
"Then what do you want?"
Chen Yu, who was inspecting the city, let out a laugh.
"As you can see, my city is still in ruins and in great need of money. I might look a bit well-off, but in reality, I'm living frugally. If you're looking to squeeze some profit from me, you'd better abandon that idea."
"Get lost!"
Jiang Yaqing cursed with disdain.
"Look at how stingy you are. I just want you to give me a discount, is that too much to ask?"
"Sister, how do you want me to give you a discount?" Chen Yu whispered, his voice low. "What I'm doing with you now is a transaction of tens of billions, even hundreds of billions of resource points. How about this: I'll give you some rebates. If you can sell 10,000 sets of equipment for me, I'll give you a 2% rebate. For 100,000 sets, it's 3%. For 1 million sets, I'll give you 5%."
Jiang Yaqing: "..."
"Wow, you're not even willing to do that?"
Chen Yu exclaimed, widening his eyes. "I'm selling perfect-grade sets, 500,000 resource points per set. If you can sell 1 million sets, I'll give you a 5% rebate, which is enough for you to live on for a lifetime."
"You're talking nonsense!"
Jiang Yaqing in the projection immediately showed an expression as if she wanted to devour Chen Yu.
"1 million sets. Do you think all the survivors in the entire cave can pool together that many resource points? Chen Yu, you have the nerve to say that."
Chen Yu spread his hands, not bothering to refute.
If they were to be serious about it, it would be quite simple for all the survivors in the cave to pool together 500 billion resource points, which translated to only 5 million gold coins.
Was that a lot?
It seemed like quite a sum indeed.
Only exceptionally large cities would have an annual tax revenue of 5 million or more. Smaller city-states and towns might not even accumulate 5 million gold coins in several years of taxes.
But so what?
The cave lacked equipment, and survivors lacked equipment even more. Chen Yu was now an equipment dealer; would he worry about not being able to sell his equipment?
If it weren't for his good relationship with Jiang Yaqing, he wouldn't have offered her such a good deal.
"Alright, I'll help you promote it." Jiang Yaqing frowned in the projection. "But you need to adjust your rebate. For 10,000 sets, you have to give me a 1.5% rebate. You eat meat, at least let me have some soup."
"Fine, but it has to be fast."
Chen Yu's eyes held a hint of solemnity as he spoke softly.
"After the cave plane fusion is completed tonight, I will also provide you with some conveniences to make your sales on your side easier."
"I don't need water; I can exchange it for resources."
"You can also use currency!"
"You know it too. It's the gold coins we obtained before. One gold coin can be exchanged for 50,000 resource points."
"More than that, surely." Jiang Yaqing in the projection chuckled. "Would you do a losing business? Those gold coins are definitely worth more than 50,000 resource points. Leave this matter to me, and I'll bring you good news."
"I'll leave it to you."
The video ended, and Chen Yu stretched lazily.
To survive in the cave, it was absolutely impossible to rely solely on his own strength.
A single plank cannot support a house.
Everyone should understand this principle.
Relatively speaking, Yu Pu did not possess the good connections that Jiang Yaqing had.
His personality was also rather honest.
If Chen Yu directly gave him resources, he might not accept them, and he had no channels for selling equipment. Chen Yu would consider providing him with some support in other ways.
For example, by purchasing his coal mines.
Coal mining.
Yu Pu's strength had not yet manifested. If he rashly traded with indigenous cave dwellers, he might be ambushed and robbed.
If he didn't sell them externally, they would just be a pile of coal mines. By purchasing his coal mines, Chen Yu would allow him to obtain sufficient resources to expand his own influence. This was a win-win cooperation.
It was the same with Jiang Yaqing!
He also had to provide as much cooperation as possible to his current allies, Jiang Yaqing and Yu Pu, so that they could also expand their influence as quickly as possible. This way, they could better deal with the difficulties they would face in the future.
"Chen Yu."
Barbara's voice reached his ears. Chen Yu turned to see her alone, which surprised him.
"Where's Sona?"
"She's got some things on her mind and needs some time alone," Barbara replied casually. "Black Bean and the others have already made their decision."
"How did it go?"
"They accepted."
After receiving the answer, Chen Yu fell silent for a long time before slowly looking up.
"Did you persuade them?"
"No." Barbara shook her head, then smiled with a hint of wistfulness in her eyes. "Honestly, Chen Yu, I truly envy you. You have such a loyal group of people who are devoted to you right the moment you entered the cave. If my Demon King's Castle had subordinates like your people, perhaps I wouldn't have lost."
"At times like this, I truly wish they would doubt me once," Chen Yu murmured.
It was this trust that led Black Bean and the others to resolutely make such a choice. This trust was a heavy responsibility for Chen Yu.
He absolutely could not betray this trust.
"Let's go."
Sighing, Chen Yu returned to the side courtyard of the camp.
What greeted his eyes were pairs of bright, determined gazes. From those eyes, Chen Yu saw unwavering conviction.
"Are you ready?"
Chen Yu spread his palm.
Within the ancient general-commanding tiger tally in his palm, a faint luminescence had already appeared. At this moment, he would not offer any further persuasion.
To persuade them further would be an insult to Black Bean and the others who had already made their decision.
They were willing to trust him with their lives, and Chen Yu would not betray their trust with hesitation.
There was no response.
Chen Yu saw eyes that were already prepared to face anything.
"Good, I await your triumphant return!"
Holding the tiger tally, a sharp glint flashed in Chen Yu's eyes.
"Summon the generals!"
Instantly, the general-commanding tiger tally flared with light, and its dazzling radiance enveloped the side courtyard. When the light subsided, Black Bean and the others, who had been standing in the courtyard, had their eyes closed and were sitting on the ground. Only their foreheads glowed with streaks of golden light.
"Fusion requires time; it seems it has already begun."
"I wonder how many of them will survive."
Barbara whispered from the side, while Chen Yu tightly gripped the tiger tally, gazing at their figures.
"I believe in them."
"That's true. You trust each other, and you believe miracles will happen." Barbara smiled. Chen Yu also looked up at the hazy gray sky, then opened Kailin's chat page. "It's getting late, and the cave plane will fuse soon. Inform everyone to put down their work tonight and get a good night's sleep."
"Prepare to welcome a new chapter that begins tomorrow."