Thanks to GreenKiTea for the ko-fis. Enjoy the bonus chapters.

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After nightfall, the surroundings remained bathed in a gloomy crimson glow, punctuated by the occasional eerie wail of zombies.

Jian Xingyi frowned, rising to his feet as he scanned the area warily.

Truth be told, he felt he… had actually improved! Back when everyone was first trapped in this game, he’d panic and flee at the sight of a single zombie. But now he felt confident.

First, he now possessed a real firearm—an A-grade one at that. Second, the previous elixir of life had been so overwhelmingly potent that, if not for the generous rewards and Shuixi’s exceptional skill, it would have left him with lasting psychological trauma. Having survived the zombie horde and with the assurance that large-scale zombie swarms were unlikely anywhere on Peace Mountain except the mysterious tombstone area, Jian Xingyi felt considerably more at ease.

Jian Xingyi drew his gun, cautiously scanning the surroundings.

Standing near the waterfall, the roar of the water itself was deafening, forcing him to listen intently.

“Sss…”

Jian Xingyi followed the sound, drawing closer to the waterfall. He felt puzzled.

He was already standing at the riverbank. Beyond lay only water. Zombies couldn’t swim, could they? And the current beneath the waterfall was fierce enough to overwhelm a human, let alone a zombie.

Splash—

In a split second, Jian Xingyi snapped to attention, spinning around and firing wildly.

“Bang!” Two zombies behind him were shot dead by his hail of bullets. But in the same instant, he lost his balance and tumbled into the water.

The current here was fierce. Jian Xingyi had no intention of becoming the next Haihai. He scrambled frantically to climb onto the rocks. Unable to stand steady, he crawled on the stones, gasping for breath, his heart still pounding as he looked toward the shore.

Two zombies lay sprawled by the riverbank. Only then did Jian Xingyi realize they had emerged from a blind spot behind the stone wall near the waterfall.

This area… had numerous stone walls and hidden spaces!

Jian Xingyi scanned carefully and spotted a small opening beside the water curtain. Faint, flickering points of light within it could be tapped.

This spot was already quite close to the mountaintop. Could it be… 01 and 02?

Jian Xingyi felt a sense of wonder.

No way… Could he really be that lucky?

He took a deep breath, mustering every ounce of strength to fight against the current. He swam behind the waterfall and scrambled to his feet.

Sure enough, a small space lay beyond the curtain. But the waterfall was immense—without those glowing points, Jian Xingyi would never have found this hidden cavern amidst such torrential currents.

Jian Xingyi wrung the water from his clothes, enduring the thunderous roar and spray of the falls as he scanned his surroundings. Several pure white flowers bloomed on the stone wall. These flowers were simple and unassuming, appearing almost… as if in mourning.

Particularly since the small space contained several white bones.

Jian Xingyi didn’t know if the flowers were truly mourning, but looking at the bones, he bowed slightly, pressed his palms together, and apologized for his abrupt intrusion.

Then, Jian Xingyi activated his skill.

[Collection Successful, Absorbed [Essence] x11]

[Collection Successful, Absorbed [Essence] x12]

As before, the flowers granted him the Peace Mountain Trio: rice, radish, and wheat seeds. The essence points gained were neither excessive nor meager, totaling 38 points.

He now possessed a total of 48 points.

Jian Xingyi attempted to find another path leading out from this small cave behind the waterfall, but found none.

One side was a water curtain; the other three were solid rock walls.

Jian Xingyi lowered his head in thought. This didn’t make sense… There had to be a path he hadn’t discovered.

After all, none of the tombstones he’d found earlier had been reached by conventional routes—including those blasted open or accessed through memory bubbles.

Earlier, Haihai had given him some gunpowder from Blue Sky and White Clouds. So Jian Xingyi clasped his hands together in apology once more, moved the white bones aside, plucked the flowers to place on the bones, then aimed at one of the walls… and blew it open!

BOOM!

BOOM—!

After violently blowing open all three walls, Jian Xingyi discovered they were solid. The explosions only kicked up mud and dust, leaving the space in utter disarray.

But… it wasn’t a complete loss!

On one wall, Jian Xingyi found a peculiar magic array.

A literal magic circle.

After a significant portion of the wall crumbled away, Jian Xingyi saw an eerie, glowing circular diagram etched into the stone.

It contained numerous symbols and characters that Jian Xingyi couldn’t decipher, though much of it was missing.

Jian Xingyi used a shovel to clear away the obstructing mud and stone, straining to decipher a line of text.

“The end is also the beginning, the beginning is also the end. Return to the place of origin…”

Hm…?

What does that mean?

Jian Xingyi instinctively touched the center of the circle.

Whoosh—

The next moment, he felt himself sucked into some kind of space.

Jian Xingyi braced himself.

Perhaps, like with 05 last time, he needed to activate a special space to enter the ritual…

Jian Xingyi closed his eyes, anticipating what scene would greet him.

“You… aren’t ready yet.”

“Cannot enter…”

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Jian Xingyi opened his eyes.

He looked around. Hmm, the familiar courtyard, the familiar house.

“…”

Wait, isn’t this his home?!

Jian Xingyi was dumbfounded.

Glancing at the potatoes bulging out of the ground in the courtyard, he was startled at first.

So many potatoes!

Then…

Huh?

How did he get teleported back home?!?!

Huh?!?!

Jian Xingyi felt like crying, but had no tears left.

This is just cruel.

Even if he couldn’t enter, they could at least not reset him to factory settings… He’d planned to spend the night and head to the mountain peak!

This wasn’t just the power going out during the climax of a movie—it was like they’d taken the TV away entirely.

Jian Xingyi sat down in the yard and sighed heavily.

No big deal. He’d just come back to check on his crops and prepare for crafting. Peace Mountain could wait.

Now that his crops were ripe, he first synthesized the double-pickled radish and pickled bamboo shoots from the Lava Volcano, then harvested the feed for the sheep pen and gathered the watermelons.

Observing the remaining potatoes and lychees, Jian Xingyi found them increasingly fascinating.

The visual impact was entirely different when viewed through the terminal versus seeing them in person.

He had planted six plots of potatoes across his expansive B-grade farmland. Already high-yielding, they now swelled with the seed bonus, bursting open and tumbling onto the ground.

His yard seemed overrun by potatoes!

Good heavens…

A potato even rolled to Jian Xingyi’s feet.

He couldn’t help but feel grateful his home was remote. Had this been at the Guild Center, with people constantly passing by and seeing his potatoes… trouble would surely have arisen.

Some were starving, others fretting over their next meal, while he’d practically uprooted his potato homeland.

Well, truly worthy of being the King of Apocalyptic Food!

It took Jian Xingyi quite some time to gather up all the potatoes. Having just returned from Peace Mountain and then laboring in the fields, his lack of exercise left him aching all over.

He patted his back and turned his attention to the lychee trees.

He’d spent two B-grade plots to grow these lychees. The trees themselves were substantial, lush, and healthy, yet each bore only a single cluster—and that cluster held just three fruits.

Why was this?

Was this seed’s yield inherently so meager? Could it be improved?

Jian Xingyi plucked them with utmost care.

They were too precious to eat or sell, yet fruit spoils if left too long.

After pondering, he spent 2,000 dawn coins in the mall to buy a preservation box, reluctantly storing the lychees inside.

Its rarity made sense—after all, 100% accuracy… that bonus was truly god-tier!

He could easily save them for eating during zombie hordes, grinding combat power, or running dungeons.

After handling the lychees, Jian Xingyi began fretting over how to sell the potatoes.

He opened the synthesis machine and was immediately startled.

He had originally unlocked all recipes, being a full-compendium collector, but after transferring into the game, ingredient shortages had locked them all.

Now, with potatoes added, he saw two or three rows of recipes unlocked all at once.

Potatoes… really had so many ways to prepare them!

Jian Xingyi sat down to study them carefully.

The most basic was baked potatoes, which came in many variations. You could wrap a whole potato simply and bake it, or bake it elegantly as an accordion potato. You could add various fillings before baking, or prepare them cold, pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried… Just stir-frying alone offered countless possibilities. They could also be processed further into chips, fries, mashed potatoes, cakes, or meatballs…

As Jian Xingyi looked on, he couldn’t help but swallow repeatedly.

Just looking at them made his stomach growl.

Jian Xingyi immediately synthesized a baked potato to eat, pondering as he took bites.

With six fields full of potatoes now, how could he maximize sales?

But the moment the food touched his tongue, all thoughts vanished.

“Mmm…”

Jian Xingyi squinted his eyes in bliss, swaying his legs contentedly.

He’d assumed that potatoes that reached S-rank through sheer quantity would taste like ordinary staples, even when simply roasted. But to his surprise, the first bite revealed a crispy exterior and tender interior—soft and sticky, melting slowly in his mouth while retaining a satisfying texture. A subtle fragrance and sweetness filled his senses, leaving him utterly satisfied…!

Jian Xingyi was thrilled, though the only downside was that he had no seasonings besides chili peppers. While his synthesizer could turn seawater into salt, where on earth would he find seawater? Otherwise, these potatoes would be even more delicious!!

After finishing, Jian Xingyi licked his fingers and let out a satisfied burp.

Alright, alright, alright. Truly worthy of the title “King of the Apocalyptic Foods”—this fullness is absolutely top-notch!

In that case, I’ll make two kinds.

200 boxes of basic baked potatoes, each can holding at least two to three potatoes depending on size—a simple, brutal tool for filling bellies.

100 boxes of stir-fried potato chunks with meat. Using the game meat he’d swiped from Sisi—though it tasted far better and more refined after his touch—this would satisfy both hunger and taste buds, delivering both carbs and protein.

Food from Grade B fields requires no synthesis time—just click to eat. Still, he had to manually click. Since he’d have to wait for the carrots and bamboo shoots to synthesize anyway, Jian Xingyi decided to take a quick shower and then crash.

Exhausting!

Thankfully, he didn’t have that troublesome dream again that night.

The next morning, after tending the fields, eating, and resting, the carrots and bamboo shoots had fully matured. That afternoon, Jian Xingyi… once again stunned everyone.

72 jars of mixed pickled carrots, 1000 dawn coins per jar.

16 jars of pickled spring bamboo shoots with chili, each priced at 2500 dawn coins.

40 watermelons, each priced at 3000 dawn coins.

200 boxes of roasted potatoes, each priced at 1000 dawn coins.

100 boxes of stir-fried potatoes with meat, each priced at 2500 dawn coins.

Players in the Peace Mountain region were stunned.

It was clear—Jian Xingyi truly intended to feed them all.

Peace Mountain Marketplace section.

[Holy crap… Xinghe is insane! Where did he get all this food?! And the variety keeps growing!]

[He’s the ultimate doomsday tycoon! Making that much in one go and never worrying about food or drink—I’m jealous!]

Jian Xingyi did the math carefully. With only five days left, he’d already earned 660,000 out of the 1.6 million. If he sold everything this round, he could get… 682,000!

That would total 1,282,000, meaning he’d only have 318,000 left to earn.

The old Jian Xingyi would have worked himself to death for 200,000 yuan, nearly losing his life in the process.

But the new Jian Xingyi? Ha! A mere 318,000 yuan? Who’s he looking down on?

…Of course, that’s assuming this batch sells out.

Jian Xingyi felt a twinge of nervousness, hoping he wouldn’t be proven wrong.

This batch of food was indeed a bit excessive. While the previous batch wasn’t large, it had been harvested just two or three days prior—after all, his fields yielded crops every two days.

He hoped the Peace Mountain region could absorb it all. Otherwise, he’d have to slink off to Lava Volcano to sell it.

Though his merchant rank hadn’t reached Level 2 yet, he could have listed it in the Lava Volcano region using the advance payment system and transaction fees. But he hadn’t done that.

He was still locked in a tug-of-war with Wildfire. Unless they agreed to double—or even more—the commission rate, he wasn’t moving.

Why bother selling cross-region if the profit margin was low?

But…

Jian Xingyi dared to stand firm against Wildfire mainly because he had a little confidence.

That confidence came from Grapevine Peak.

How to put it… There weren’t many guilds across the entire server. After all, compared to founding and managing one, most players preferred joining existing ones. Especially after the last reshuffle, Level 20 guilds were hard to come by. So if Wildfire Scorching Plains, ranked tenth, could pay him that much, Grapevine Peak—at the very least the top guild in the server—shouldn’t be short on funds… right?

After listing the goods, Jian Xingyi returned to tending his fields. Aside from swapping the two lychee plots for watermelons, he planted the exact same setup as before.

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

Simultaneously, the shop kept emitting notification sounds, signaling constant sales.

Jian Xingyi worked with renewed vigor.

Meanwhile, players in the Lava Volcano Zone… were devastated.

[Crying… While the neighbors are living life, we’re barely surviving!]

[Xinghe really isn’t selling anymore…]

A flood of Lava Volcano Zone players poured into the Peace Mountain Zone, wailing and pleading.

[Big Shot Xinghe!! Look at us!]

[Waaah, I’m crying, this food looks way too delicious! I want to eat it so bad!!]

[Huh, weren’t they acting all cocky earlier… blocking Xinghe and coming here to argue with us? They broke down this fast?]

But the Lava Volcano Zone players couldn’t care less about that now. All they could see was food, and they were crying with regret.

[srds, it’s not that Xinghe won’t sell… Didn’t we hear Wildfire didn’t want to pay the transaction fees?]

[Yeah, the Long Live for a Hundred Years Guild mentioned it. Wildfire just refused to pay, even though they split the food 80/20 with Xinghe.]

[Huh???]

The Lava Volcano players were genuinely stunned now.

Holy crap, did we just get stabbed in the back?

Once they grasped the situation, they were utterly dumbfounded.

[Hold up, if I’m getting this right: Xinghe wanted to sell food in our zone and demanded commission from Wildfire. But Wildfire refused to pay because they weren’t worried about food shortages—they already hold 20% of Xinghe’s new territory’s food supply, right?]

[So Wildfire eats Xinghe’s gourmet food themselves, but sells us subpar beast meat!]

[Are they afraid Xinghe’s arrival will hurt their sales? How selfish! So disappointing…]

[Not necessarily. Maybe it’s simpler—they just don’t want to part with the money…]

[What money are they stingy about?! Then they shouldn’t take Xinghe’s food! They keep saying they’ll stand with our region’s players through thick and thin, that as our region’s leader, they’ll protect us—is this their idea of protection?! My defenses are shattered!!]

Lava Volcano players rushed back to attack Wildfire.

Liehuo woke up to find himself drenched in abuse, utterly dumbfounded.

Uh…

Is Xinghe really that resourceful?!

Liehuo paced frantically.

This… Could it really come down to accepting Xinghe’s proposal?

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Just as Jian Xingyi finished tending all the crops and prepared to head back to Peace Mountain, he received a message from Liehuo.

Liehuo: [Um, about that… we can renegotiate the double commission fee!]

Xinghe: [Too late.]

Liehuo: [?]

Xinghe: [Now I want five times.]

Liehuo: [???]

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, Liehuo would’ve been thrilled with just double the fee earlier.

But Liehuo kept refusing time and again. Now…

Jian Xingyi received not only Liehuo’s message, but also one from Firelight.

Firelight: [Xinghe, long time no see! Here’s the thing—I need your help with two matters. First, I just learned that you not only cleared the Nectar and Jade Liquor dungeon but also unlocked the special ending. I’d like to discuss the details with you—specifically, how to unlock the ‘Unafraid of Lava’ achievement—to update our strategy section. Rest assured, we won’t ask for this for free. We’ll offer you some special rewards, or you can request whatever you want from us.]

Firelight: [Second, the Guild Administrator at Grapevine Peak held a meeting. Initially, we didn’t participate much in the food rush—after all, others might need it more than us, and we have other means to survive. But later, we discovered your food reserves are substantial enough to supply many people, even the entire region. So we’d like to ask if you’re willing to partner with us?]

Firelight: [This partnership would involve you regularly supplying us with food. Based on your restocking frequency—every two days—we’d pay you double the mall’s price. In return, we’d provide you, or your guild if needed, with reasonable protection within our means. After obtaining food, you’d simply designate it for us via private trade.]

Firelight: [What do you think of this proposal? If you need any adjustments, let me know. We can also discuss it in person.]

Jian Xingyi: “……!”

Wow…

Partnering with Grapevine Peak!