Chapter 30: Hoarding Supplies

Having successfully obtained a new illustration, Lin Mu felt quite satisfied.

He did not examine the weapons and equipment in great detail, merely glancing over them. They were mostly ordinary iron-grade items, useless to him. He had already sold his own iron cavalry equipment for 200 copper coins, which was quite cheap.

Having checked the illustrations, blueprints, and equipment, it was time to look at skills and special traits.

The skill panel was surprisingly empty; there wasn't a single consignment listing. This left Lin Mu feeling quite deflated. He had been hoping for a surprise, perhaps a "divine skill" like Recruit, but there was absolutely nothing to be found.

After finishing with the skills and special traits, he found he had gained nothing. Luck was not on his side. Next, Lin Mu turned his attention to supplies.

The supply consignment page was much more extensive—over a thousand pages. It seemed players were working quite hard at gathering resources. Supplies were divided into several categories: food, minerals, timber, stone, and special items.

In Lin Mu’s territory, food production was incredibly abundant. Whether it was rice or aquatic products, thanks to the bonuses from his divine-tier scholar, the divine-tier village attributes, the fertile black soil, and the tireless efforts of countless farmers, his current food stockpile had reached nearly 2 million units.

To be honest, even Lin Mu was startled when he saw this figure. As an unconscientious lord, he hadn't known the specifics and hadn't asked.

Daily consumption was only a few tens of thousands of units, far less than the output. The territory’s food supply continued to grow, and the warehouses had been expanded multiple times just to contain it all.

Chang Yin had originally suggested that Lin Mu sell some of the grain on the market. However, knowing that grain prices were low in the early stages but would skyrocket later, Lin Mu had rejected the suggestion. He had shared some insights with Chang Yin, who was shocked by his lord's foresight. Though Lin Mu was unaware, Chang Yin had begun to hold him in higher esteem.

In the Mythical World, players were often unable to speak of real history to the natives; the laws of the world would automatically censor them. Attempting to exploit this or speaking of historical trajectories could even trigger lethal penalties—a lesson learned in blood and tears by many.

Lin Mu remained cautious in this regard. However, the world's laws permitted the sharing of advanced management techniques and vague, self-derived judgments based on current history, as many natives saw things more clearly than players—they simply chose not to point them out.

...

Lin Mu checked his copper coin balance; it had reached 7,162,100. It seemed his weapons had sold well. There were many wealthy players in the China region, haha.

These weapons could arm many people, and he would continue to sell such gear in the short term to bolster his treasury. He was, in a sense, providing momentum for the development of the China region, strengthening its foundation. As for whether others might eventually surpass him, while Lin Mu felt a hint of worry, he felt more relief. If he couldn't outperform others with all these copper coins and his unique advantages, he would have truly squandered his opportunities.

Grain prices were generally 5 copper coins per unit, cheaper than the 8 copper coins charged by official NPC merchants. Players rarely bought from them. Although some players had starved in the early days, they were unwilling to pay the high prices, so they eventually learned to stand on their own feet. Now, they even had surpluses to trade for copper coins.

However, since there were no other player territories in Dongye County, the grain market was stagnant, as if waiting for Lin Mu’s arrival.

Without hesitation, Lin Mu began to sweep the market, snapping up any grain priced at or below 6 copper coins.

10 units of rice, price: 57 copper coins;
27 units of meat, price: 1,630 copper coins;
157 units of wheat, price: 780 copper coins;
38 units of wild vegetables, price: 228 copper coins;
20 units of salt, price: 1,500 copper coins;
15 units of red carp, price: 90 copper coins;
180 units of grass carp, price: 1,080 copper coins;
10 units of fire carp, price: 1,000 copper coins;
200 units of mutton, price: 20,000 copper coins;
150 units of fire beef, price: 30,000 copper coins;

Lin Mu didn't mind the price for rare meats; it was a way to increase the variety of food for his subjects, which would slowly improve public order.

If there were professional chefs, rare meats like fire carp or fire beef could be turned into delicacies. With special ingredients, they could potentially create a "Feast" that granted attribute bonuses—for example, a [Fire Beef Feast] that increased combat power by 100 for one game day. Lin Mu remembered this clearly!

Unfortunately, the highest-level chef in his territory was only an advanced-level chef, unable to cook "Feast" grade foods or secret recipes.

In a world torn by war, where farmers were displaced and unable to farm, food would become a critical issue. Countless wars would consume astronomical amounts of resources. This was the collective experience of players regarding the game world.

Lin Mu knew the importance of grain. Many other players did too, but their pockets were empty, and they were all focused on buying black iron weapons.

Internally, grain stabilized the rear and kept the people content, preventing riots. Externally, it was the foundation of war. As the saying goes, war is fought with economy.

Having experienced the starvation and skeletal remains of the chaotic era, Lin Mu understood the value of grain. It was the second most important industry in his grand blueprint, right after his weaponry.

...

Grain prices were currently very cheap, and Lin Mu continued his sweep. Every unit bought now would earn him ten or twenty times more later. He could almost see mountains of gold flowing toward him.

1 unit, 20 units, 100 units, 1,000 units... 100,000 units... Lin Mu continued his rapid acquisitions.

After clearing out the grain priced at 6 copper coins or less, Lin Mu checked his balance: 6,505,011. He still had over 6 million copper coins, so he continued to sweep the market, hoping to buy everything if his funds allowed.

Slowly, the consignment pages began to thin out. Lin Mu had bought almost everything, save for absurd listings like 3 units of sable meat for 100,000 copper coins—he ignored such ridiculous price gouging.

After settling his inventory, he felt a sense of immense satisfaction. He was a pioneer with unparalleled advantages. Surely, no other player faction was as formidable as his!

His enterprise was slowly growing.

In total, he had acquired over 500,000 units of staple food and over 60,000 units of rare meat, spending over 4 million copper coins. He still had over 3 million left. Making money was easy, but spending it was just as fast.

The market had been essentially wiped clean of grain. In this interconnected world, news traveled fast, and this "tycoon" behavior shocked the players of the China region.

"What a tycoon! The player who built the world's second village must be from a major family with a strong backing and economic foundation. Only then could they establish such a perfect blacksmithing system to sell such top-tier weapons. A tycoon among tycoons, a starship among tycoons!"

"Truly heroic! Hero, please adopt me! I'm a soft girl, and I have a twin sister. We're easy to get along with, good at acting cute, and handle housework well! Contact me, tycoon!"

"Girl, I'm a tycoon too, contact me instead!"

"Hmph, if I find out where you are, I’ll visit your territory with my hundred thousand troops and bring you under my iron hoof!"

"Hurry and find them! This player is anonymous. We need to build relations and trade with them; it would be mutually beneficial."

"Strategy Department, Staff Department, analyze the location of this 'World's Second' player immediately! Find them and take control of this cash cow! I’m authorizing an extra 100,000 copper coins for the search!"

"Ah, why are they anonymous? If they were with us, we could promote them! The advertising value is priceless! Intelligence Agent No. 6, organize the team—find this person and buy exclusive information!"