Thanks to GreenKiTea for the Kofis. Enjoy the bonus chapters!

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Qiyu sent a private message to Civil Engineering Brother.

Civil Engineering Brother had previously lent him 400 units of wood, so he asked if he could repay the debt with other supplies of equivalent value.

【Civil Engineering Brother: Big shot, I was just about to talk to you about something.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: You might not check the regional channel much, but a lot of people are curious about the server-wide announcement you triggered today, and what exactly the “Wandering Merchant” is.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: I was wondering—are you interested in  selling the information you shared in the small group chat today?】

Sell the information?

【I Love Survival Game: Do you want to?】

He didn’t have time to deal with strangers.

【Civil Engineering Brother: Wow, man, aren’t you afraid I’ll steal your thunder?】

【Player “Civil Engineering Brother” has requested to enter into a “Trade Pact” with you.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: As a top-tier player,  I possess the ability to act on my own initiative to ensure fair trading and protect the interests of both parties.】

It’s this ability that gives him the confidence to propose a “selling intel” deal with Qiyu.

Otherwise, in a guild like “Temple of the Gods,” if one person bought the intel and shared it, wouldn’t everyone end up knowing about it?

Or, what if someone bought the intel from him, then acted as a middleman or posted it directly in the regional chat channel? Just thinking about it is sickening.

The “Trade Pact” sent by Civil Engineering Brother stipulated that he and Qiyu would split the profits 20-80, and that they would never conceal any transaction.

【I Love Survival Game: Let’s go with a 70-30 split.】

He knew full well that while the source of information was fundamental, Civil Engineering Brother had never hidden the fact that he could profit from these transactions. But constantly trading with people was, in itself, a very time-consuming and energy-draining task. 

Civil Engineering Brother didn’t beat around the bush; he simply shouted with genuine emotion, “Honored Godfather!” 

The price for the wandering merchant’s information was set at 20 emerald crystals, with wood as the preferred form of payment. The “thank-you fee” that people in the group had just transferred to him was exactly that amount.

【Civil Engineering Brother: Oh, right, Gaming Guru, there’s one more thing. If I sell information about the wandering merchant again, our relationship probably won’t stay a secret. People might start connecting the dots and realize there’s a link between the bright sunflowers I sold last time and you.】 

Qiyu looked puzzled.

【I Love Survival Game: Is there a problem?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Don’t you mind?】

He assumed the Gaming Guru had a very low-key personality and didn’t want to expose himself too much to the public. After a moment’s thought, Qiyu understood what he meant.

He remained silent: Usually, he didn’t speak or show his face, feeling that many things weren’t important and didn’t warrant his attention.

【I Love Survival Game: Could you help me with these matters?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: I get it! A gaming legend is so badass!】

Qiyu looked at the two basic building upgrade blueprints in his hands.

Currently, the buildings in his territory that could use these blueprints were: fences, water wells, and basic farmland. After some consideration, he chose to upgrade the fences and water wells.

【Basic building upgrade successful.】

【Premium fence: Can be freely disassembled and reassembled; self-repairs; durability 150.】

The fence’s upgrade far exceeded Qiyu’s expectations; since it could be freely disassembled and reassembled, its biggest flaw had been addressed. As for automatic repair, as long as he had enough wood on hand, he wouldn’t need to keep a constant eye on it. This was another extremely useful feature. The fence’s upgrade had him eagerly anticipating the water well’s upgrade as well.

【Water well (Green): Produces high-quality water; long-term consumption slightly improves Constitution.】

That’s it?

Qiyu drew some water from the water well, poured it into a bowl, and took a sip—it was crisp, refreshing, and sweet. Delicious.

After gulping down a whole bowl of water, he immediately felt it was well worth it.

Next, he fetched the alchemy puppet he’d acquired earlier.

The large device required an energy crystal card to operate. Qiyu currently had a total of 15 Dark-element energy beads and one Fire-element energy bead left. He combined five energy beads to create an energy crystal card, which he inserted into the slot at the back of the alchemy puppet’s neck.

He flipped through the alchemy puppet’s manual to learn how to operate it on the spot.

The doll’s pitch-black head flickered a few times, and it was officially activated.

According to the manual, there are several ways to control the alchemy puppet. The most troublesome method requires going through a series of cumbersome steps before the puppet will recognize its master.

Fortunately, magicians and others with high vitality could take a shortcut: they could infiltrate the alchemy puppet’s control core with their vitality and imprint their vitality mark there. Qiyu followed these instructions.

“Good afternoon, Master.” The alchemy puppet’s voice was an inorganic, masculine tone. 

Qiyu entered the commands “Protect the farmland” and “Guard the territory.” 

After testing it out, he found that although the alchemy puppet was just an ordinary alchemical product, it was quite agile and practical. 

He needed 25 dark crystals to craft alchemy puppets; 5 dark crystals are enough to make one.

Although he didn’t understand why such a strange, water-like, life-sized automaton existed, he was in a survival game—and in a survival game, the boss called the shots. 

He spent 5 dark crystals and 5 energy beads to craft an alchemy puppet and an Energy Crystal Card. He followed the same steps to activate it and entered the commands.

Two identical alchemy puppets now stood before him.

Next, he took the longsword blueprint, the armor blueprint, and the shield blueprint. Practice, practice… 

【Longsword: Standard issue equipment of the Kaila Empire. Crafting materials: Iron Chunks ×10.】

【Armor: Standard issue of the Kaila Empire. Crafting materials: Iron Chunks x10, Leather x3.】 【Headpiece: Iron Chunks x10.】

These blueprints were also dropped during that survival trial involving the alchemy puppets. At the time, Qiyu had thought the gear worn by those puppets looked incredibly cool. Now, he’s going to have them for himself! 

It’s no big deal that there are no iron chunks in his backpack. He still has plenty of unopened fine iron chests.

He dismantled five fine iron chests in one go, obtaining 70 iron chunks. 

He immediately crafted two sets of gear and equipped them on the alchemy puppets. 

The fully armed alchemy puppets exuded an overwhelming sense of menace, so Qiyu stationed them to guard the entrance to his territory.

That way, when he leaves the territory on his own, he’ll have an extra layer of protection.

It’s just a shame he didn’t have enough energy beads; he could only craft one more energy crystal card, which Qiyu planned to keep as a backup for now.

He couldn’t help but daydream: Once he’s wealthy enough, he’ll start by setting up 14 energy towers, then craft 28 alchemy puppets. That way, each guard post will have a configuration of 1 energy tower + 2 alchemy puppets, working in tandem with the fences. 

Then he’d fill the advanced magic energy towers to capacity—1,000 slots, all filled to the brim! Just thinking about it was reassuring.

It really gets him fired up!

The Survival Panel lit up—a friend had sent a message. Qiyu had just collected all the treasure chests from today.

He’d originally planned to save them to open together tonight, but after daydreaming about the future and getting carried away, he just couldn’t resist clicking them open. To his surprise, there was a reply from his friend.

【God Has No Form: Wow! It must be a really beautiful, gentle, and understanding little kitten.】 

【God Has No Form: I’m so jealous! I’ve never had a talking kitten before—just like Catman, who was my idol when I was a kid.】 

Qiyu felt that he was really easy to get along with. 

He praised Duo Ju in the 01 survival squad.

But the response in the group was lukewarm; everyone was more interested in the information about the wandering merchant. Civil Engineering Brother even asked about his well-being for no apparent reason.

It was just that, in his very first message, he mentioned his friend. 

However, he asked: 【I Love Survival Game: Who is Catman?】 

Since the guy was more than a decade older than him, it was normal that he hadn’t heard of Catman.

Dan Xingyu thoughtfully explained that he was the main character in a very popular animated movie, and he casually asked which animated character he liked best.

The other person didn’t reply right away. After about ten seconds:

【I Love Survival Game: I haven’t seen that animated movie.】

Dan Xingyu: …You smart-aleck, why are you so talkative! 

After finishing the monster, he saw the message from “I Love Survival Game” and realized that, for the first time since they’d met, the other person had used what could be described as a “lively” tone to describe something.

A cat—his friend.

Dan Xingyu had a strange epiphany: Perhaps—whether it was a cat, a friend, or a gift—they were all extremely rare presences in his life.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of empathy, so he used a sappy tone—as if he were coaxing a little kid—to soothe a grown man who was so much older than him.

As a result, by asking one thoughtless question, he inadvertently rubbed salt into the wound. Dan Xingyu, who knew that feeling all too well, felt even more heartbroken. 

Feeling a twinge of guilt, he tried to change the subject: “I bought some rice today. I’m planning to make fried rice for dinner. Would you like some?” 

Qiyu had no idea how much was going through the other person’s mind in that brief moment.

【I Love Survival Game: Yes!】