Dan Xingyu knew full well that not a single person in this group was trustworthy. 

【God Has No Form: Stop messing around. Seriously, I’ve got a batch of Swift Meat—I’ll post it on the trading board.】

【My Withdrawal: Is it a batch? How much? If it’s not too much, why let it go to strangers?  The few of us will take care of it for you.”】

【God Has No Form: Hah, not many.】

【God Has No Form: Just a mere ten thousand shares. @My Withdrawal, are you ready to sell yourself to me and work like a slave?】

【My Withdrawal: …】

【The Sun Rises in the West: You call that a small amount?】

【The Future Is Long: Er Shen, you know I’ve always admired you.】

【God Has No Form: Mm, I know. But admiration comes at a price.】

【The Future Is Long: Er Shen, you’ve changed! In the past, in situations like this, you’d at least give your brothers a couple of bottles of water for free.】

【God Has No Form: I’m not giving you my own stuff for free—this is a sale, got it?】

Dan Xingyu knew that people in the group had been speculating that he had a well-connected player backing him.

At first, they might have thought it was some mysterious figure in the region. But once the Swift Meat appeared, those speculations naturally fell apart.

As they’d said, this wasn’t something that could appear in bulk in Zone 88.

At this point, they were probably either guessing that he had some connection to the local natives, or they were leaning toward the truth: he had most likely met players from other districts through some special channel. 

There was no point in keeping this secret. The sudden appearance of the secondary resource zone was a first for the players, and they had no experience with it. By the time the next resource zone opened, players with the cards would definitely be prepared in advance.

By then, entering the resource zone will be the best channel for players to exchange information and even conduct trades. The existence of “Zone 01 specialties” like swift meat is something that can’t be kept secret for long.

【God Has No Form: Stop guessing—it’s exactly what you’re thinking.】

【The Future Is Long: Holy crap, what do you mean? Did you really marry into a wealthy family?】

【God Has No Form:..】

【God Has No Form: It’s settled. In the trading section, 1 Beast Crystal for 2 portions. @The Future Is Long, if you’re buying, 1 Beast Crystal for 1 portion.】

【The Future Is Long: Even if you sell it to me at a high price! Even if you rip me off big time! I’m still going to reveal the truth! Er Shen, you weren’t genuinely asking for our advice at all! You were just here to show off!】

Zone 88 Regional Chat Channel:

【God Has No Form (Highlighted): Info · Swift Meat. Swift Meat is now listed in the Marketplace; those who need it can purchase it themselves.】 

【Toilet Paper: Holy crap, that’s equivalent to 10,000 bottles of 500ml mineral water! How did the two gods pull that off? That’s amazing!】

【Eternal Night: @God Has No Form, where did you get this? Can you give a discount for bulk purchases?】

【God Has No Form: No, I’ve set a limit of 2 sets per person.】

【Life Without a Phone Is Tough: Bought it! Thanks, Er Shen. I’ll always support you as the #1 player in Zone 88!】

Zone 88 now has nearly 70,000 players left. Anyone still active can participate in the Earthfire Dragon points event—no one’s short even a single Beast Crystal. 

Water resources in Zone 88—especially clean, drinkable water—are extremely precious. Even if God Has No Form were to sell them at a slightly higher price, there would still be a market for them.

But it’s the same principle as with the emerald crystal peach.

He surmised that these 10,000 portions of Swiftlet meat were all privately owned by Qiyu, meaning the player market in Zone 01 hasn’t even begun to be tapped yet.

Allowing more people to reap the benefits will be conducive to long-term development.

Of course, he didn’t deny that setting this price and implementing purchase limits would, while ensuring a profit, allow as many players as possible to buy this relatively “affordable” drinking water.

【Eternal Night: Hah, as if you’re the only one who can play the good guy.】

【God Has No Form: Second place, don’t be a sore loser. Take a look at the leaderboard—how come you’re 20,000 points behind me? Take a good look at yourself—aren’t you just not trying hard enough?】 

【Eternal Night: God Has No Form! Are you trying to piss people off on purpose, you bastard?】

【God Has No Form: If I really wanted to piss you off, I’d block you on the trading page—wouldn’t that drive you crazy?】

Players in Zone 88 are used to seeing the top two on the leaderboard bickering.

The feud between these two began as soon as the leaderboard was released.

The username “Eternal Night” has been active ever since he joined the survival game.

He’s a regular on the server chat, posting survival game guides, explaining the uses of certain items, and sharing when he’s gotten some awesome loot… and so on. 

Before long, a group of players had gathered around him.

Since he genuinely helped a lot of people, many started calling him “Night God.” He clearly relished this adulation.

In contrast, the player with the ID “God Has No Form” was a complete unknown in Zone 88 during the beginner phase. It wasn’t until the beginner phase ended and the Survival Challenge leaderboard appeared that everyone came to know of him.

Everyone assumed “Eternal Night” would be number one on the leaderboard—and he believed so himself.

But no one expected “God Has No Form”—a name no one had ever heard of—to burst onto the scene and take the top spot.

Later, the zone leaderboard was unveiled.

God Has No Form also claimed the top spot on the Combat Power Leaderboard.

At that moment, “Eternal Night” finally lost his composure. 

Because of the trend he started, all the top players in Zone 88 are called “X God.” His followers deliberately troll people in the chat channel:

【We’ve got Night God, Fish God, and Su God in our zone… What should we call the number one player?】

【God Has No Form—that name’s hard to say. We can’t very well call him “No-God.”】

【Haha, since there are two “Gods,” why not just call him ‘Er Shen’?】

Just as the group was making snide remarks, God Has No Form chimed in: “Sounds good. I like it.”

【God Has No Form: My title includes two “god” characters, so I take the top spot. Too bad Night God only has one “god” character—he’ll have to settle for second place.】

【God Has No Form: As you can see, having an extra “God” character really does make a difference.】

Everyone: “……”

【Two Dogs Down There: Look at my username! I’m the rightful, legitimate “Er Shen”! How dare you steal my nickname!】

【I’m Taking a Step Back: Why didn’t I say so sooner! If I’d known, I would’ve named myself “I’m Taking Three Steps Back”—then everyone could’ve called me the “Third God.” That way, I’d have easily snagged the top spot on all three charts!】

【The Sun Rises in the West: Based on this reasoning, I suppose I should be named “The Sun Rises in All Directions.”】 

……

God Has No Form thus inexplicably came to know “Two Dogs Down There” and the others. 

Later, after they got to know each other better, it evolved into a small group for fixed-price transactions, and “The Future Is Long” was added by Li Ergou. 

His very first words upon joining the group were:

【The Future Is Long: I often feel inferior in front of you all because my username is too ordinary.】

Since Swift Meat is sold in bulk with fixed prices and self-service trading—all handled with a single click—it’s not particularly troublesome.

The top-ranked player was doing a charity event—one Beast Crystal for two bottles of drinking water—and every player in Zone 88 who heard about it jumped on the deal.

Whether they’d already bought it or were simply too slow and missed out on multiple rounds, players were frantically calling out to “God Has No Form” in the zone channel, asking if there was any chance of a restock.

【God Has No Form: There’s a chance. Wait for updates.】 He sent Qiyu a communication orb right away.

When he answered the call, Qiyu was casting his third fishing line of the day.

The first time, he reeled in a clump of green grass. His survival panel showed it was a clump of seaweed on the verge of molding, with absolutely no value. 

Qiyu：“……”

The second time, he reeled in a wooden chest.

It’s just that the treasure chest is all beat up and doesn’t look like any he’s seen before. 

【Ragged Wooden Chest: A chest of little value—it might be empty, or it might contain low-quality items.】

Upon opening the chest, Qiyu obtained 1 bottle of spoiled wine and a stemmed wine glass with a chip in it. Qiyu silently set the loot aside, deciding to give it one last try.

It seemed his luck with fishing wasn’t very good today. He’d try one more time; if he didn’t catch anything, he’d call it a day. The communication orb lit up. Just as Qiyu answered the call, he sensed something.

He turned his head to see a flock of swifts flapping their wings as they flew toward him.

The slight frustration from his poor fishing results vanished instantly! New points and new Beast Crystals were on their way.

“Dan Xingyu, what’s up?” he asked cheerfully.

Dan Xingyu: “I’ve sold all the swift meat you sent me.”

Qiyu: “That fast?”

Dan Xingyu: “Of course! It’s already 43°C in our zone—43 degrees! Do you get it?” 

If players hadn’t increased their quality of life in this survival game, at this temperature—without air conditioning or cold drinks—and still having to go out and hunt Earthfire Dragons, a whole bunch of IDs in Zone 88 would have been deactivated. 

But even with improved quality, extreme heat is still extreme heat, and the body’s need for water increases.

Swift meat is not only valuable but also very convenient.

Think about it: when you’re in the middle of a battle, is it easier to pull out a bottle of water and chug it, or to just pop a concentrated capsule?

【Your friend “God Has No Form” has sent you a trade request.】 

【Received 51,000 Level 1 Beast Crystals.】

Qiyu was surprised: “That many?”

Dan Xingyu: “My rate is 1 Beast Crystal for 2 portions of swiftlet meat. The remaining 1,000-plus portions of swiftlet meat are my service fee.”

He claimed it was a service fee, but in the trade he sent, he was the one who paid the transaction fee.

In this survival game, transactions between players incur a 5% transaction fee based on the item’s value. In other words, for the 51,000 Level 1 Beast Crystals transferred, God Has No Form would have to pay 2,550 Level 1 Beast Crystals as a transaction fee. 

He didn’t even mention it.

Dan Xingyu continued, “Swift meat has a strong market in our region. You can buy as much as you want in your area—no matter the quantity, we can handle it.”

Water is essential for survival.

Moreover, temperatures in Zone 88 are still rising every day.

God Has No Form had no idea what the climate would eventually become.

Qiyu: “I understand.”

He didn’t mention any transaction fees either—just as he had sent the other party 103,000 portions of Swift meat without batting an eye, without asking for any guarantees, God Has No Form didn’t ask a single question.

He simply said, “I’ve just learned something new. I’ll send it to you when we’re having dinner.” 

God Has No Form replied, “Alright, I’ll hang up now. I’ve got another Earthfire Dragon coming my way.”

These past few days, due to their quest for points, their exchanges had always been rushed; it was only during meals that they could sit down together and rest for a while. As the call ended, Qiyu’s fishing rod suddenly went still.

He reeled in the line.

【Obtained Ordinary Trash Can x1.】

A light green rectangular item.

【Ordinary Trash Can: Furniture used to hold trash. Upgradeable.】

Trash cans aren’t exactly rare, but this was the first time Qiyu had ever seen an upgradeable one.  

A sudden inspiration struck him, and he pulled out the basic building upgrade blueprint he’d bought just yesterday from his backpack.