Chapter 5: The Silver Ring and the Gift

"Silver equipment?" Zhang Feng's heart stirred, his eyes narrowing as he examined the ring.

Another man said, "Friend, this ring will definitely satisfy you. If it weren't for our subpar equipment, we wouldn't be offering this silver piece in exchange."

"Right, friend, think it over. This trade won't do you wrong," the four men took turns tempting Zhang Feng with their words.

"I won't trade my equipment, but I do have some items I've acquired that I could trade with you," Zhang Feng said, taking out two bone knives, a serrated blade, and a couple of pieces of the Speed Set's bracers and armor from his storage ring.

These items were essentially useless to him now.

Apart from exchanging for some money, he had no intention of keeping them.

If he could trade them for the silver ring, that would be quite good.

The four men's eyes lit up upon seeing the equipment Zhang Feng presented.

For them at this stage, the difficulty in killing bugs was due to the lack of good equipment.

Compared to holding onto a single silver piece, these several pieces of bronze equipment were exactly to their liking.

However, the leader of the group swallowed hard and said, "Friend, I think what you have here is valuable. But it's still not enough for a silver piece. Could you add a bit more? Or how about the knife or crossbow in your hand?"

Zhang Feng shook his head firmly and said, "I've said I won't trade my equipment. But I can add some Earth Coins if you're willing to trade."

"How much will you add?" One of the four couldn't wait to ask, but immediately regretted it.

Such eagerness implied to Zhang Feng that they were also short on money.

Zhang Feng could not have missed the implication, but he pretended not to hear and said, "Five hundred Earth Coins. I don't have much money either; I need to keep some for myself."

"Too little," the four men shook their heads in unison, "Friend, add a bit more. Five hundred Earth Coins won't be enough for the five of us to split."

Zhang Feng fell into contemplation, hesitating for a long while before gritting his teeth and saying, "A thousand, max a thousand, I don't have much left either."

Zhang Feng's pained expression, as if he was going all out, was meant to convey that he didn't have much money left and couldn't add more.

After another round of whispered discussions, the four men finally agreed, "Deal."

Zhang Feng took the ring, and the group immediately began to divide the weapons and equipment. A thousand Earth Coins, essentially a coin the size of a fingernail, was treated with great importance by the four men, clutched tightly in their hands.

"Friend, you're straightforward. If we have items next time, we'll definitely trade with you again," the leader laughed heartily.

As the four men divided the equipment, they excitedly discussed their gains.

Zhang Feng, meanwhile, picked up the ring and used his reconnaissance ability.

It was an unidentified item.

Zhang Feng directly used an identification scroll, and the silver light on the ring became even more dazzling.

Ring of Glorious Honor:

One of the Glory Set.

Quality: Silver (two stars)

Attributes: Increases strength by 20 points, agility by 10 points.

Special Attribute:

Rebound Aura - Reflects 30% of the physical damage from the same level as the holder. For every level higher the enemy is, the reflected damage decreases by 10%.

Special Ability: Lockdown.

Zhang Feng held the ring, feeling as if he had been struck by luck.

Another set, and it was a silver set.

Now the attributes of a single ring were almost surpassing his complete bronze set.

The improvement in attributes with each quality level up was incredible.

It would be a shame not to wear such equipment, especially considering the money he had spent.

With the ring on, his agility finally broke through to a 50% increase.

This meant he could attack once every 0.5 seconds, wielding three strikes in a single second.

This attack frequency was lethal to first-level bugs.

He was confident that even against elite bugs, he could kill them on his own.

Holding a knife in one hand and a crossbow in the other, he felt a sense of power over life and death.

"Friend, seeing that you're also wealthy, let me tell you about a trading place. It's a safe camp we've cleared out. There you can see many people who have survived the first-level battlefield. You can also trade for many items there."

The leader pointed out a park a few kilometers away from Jincheng University on the map for Zhang Feng.

Zhang Feng looked at the map and said, "Are there many people there?"

"Many. It's also a survivor's camp where those without strength can seek refuge," the leader nodded and bid farewell to Zhang Feng.

"Thank you, I'll check it out," Zhang Feng was delighted. He finally knew that he wasn't alone in the first-level battlefield.

There were still many people alive here, which was good news. At least during breaks from fighting and leveling up, there would be people to talk to and a safe place to rest.

"So long," the four men bid farewell to Zhang Feng, armed with their new weapons as they charged towards the bugs in the distance.

Zhang Feng looked at the coordinates and decided to level up to the second level first.

The world had changed, but the principle of strength reigning supreme remained. To not be bullied, the best way was to become stronger.

Bug after bug fell to his blade, and Zhang Feng's experience accumulated little by little.

After the first thousand bugs fell to Zhang Feng's blade, a white light finally shone upon him.

Level two.

Zhang Feng was literally sick of chopping bugs.

Counting from the start at the school, it took a thousand bugs to level up. Heaven knows how many it would take for the next level.

Level two:

Second Talent Unlocked:

Hamlet's Gift - Selling items will give an additional 15% monetary reward, and when purchasing items, a 15% discount will be applied.

A typical VIP-level treatment.

Perhaps even ordinary VIPs couldn't get such discounts everywhere.

But Hamlet's Gift had no restrictions; both selling and buying would benefit from the talent.

Once again, he felt like he'd been hit by a pie from the sky.

This feeling was damn good.

With future purchases cheaper and sales earning more, why worry about money?

Money to be made meant motivation.

Amassing enough wealth was another way to increase strength.

Zhang Feng calculated the time; there was still a day and a half until the insect tide Li Qian had mentioned.

If he couldn't avoid the insect tide, he would need strength and energy to face it.

Zhang Feng returned to the supermarket, cooked a pot of hot meat soup, had a satisfying meal, and then headed towards the survivor's camp mentioned by the others.

Along the way, Zhang Feng acquired a few more pieces of the Speed Set and several weapons.

But this time, he didn't sell them.

After hearing the others, he hoped to exchange for something useful at the camp.

As he approached the camp, he saw a massive encampment surrounded by iron fences.

Tanks were on alert outside the fence, and on the watchtowers, warriors holding firearms vigilantly scanned the surroundings.

Inside the fence, military tents were set up, and at noon, with the rising smoke from cooking fires.

When Zhang Feng appeared outside the camp, he was immediately spotted by the soldiers on the watchtowers.

His equipment immediately drew the soldiers' attention.

The camp hadn't been established for long, but they had seen many survivors, and only a few could be considered well-equipped.

Each one was a powerful individual, a master not to be underestimated in the camp.

Zhang Feng's arrival also quickly caught the attention of many within the camp.

In the tents, heads poked out, but some shrank back in fear upon seeing Zhang Feng's equipment.

These were just ordinary weak and sickly people with no real combat ability.

In the camp, some warriors like Zhang Feng looked at him with trepidation.

"Who is this? Is he from the Chen family, Li family, or Zhang family?"

"That's a set, I heard that only the Chen family's girl has completed the Agility Set."

"What, a set?"

"Damn, I heard that the price of sets is quite high now. Someone is willing to exchange a kilogram of gold for a set."

"Shit, money is nothing now, gold can't be used as equipment."

The crowd discussed, watching as Zhang Feng walked into the camp, their gazes following.

Zhang Feng asked around and found out where the camp traded items.

It was a gathering place for warriors, located in the southeast corner of the park.

There were more people gathered here than Zhang Feng had imagined, over two hundred, trading or setting up stalls.

The usually bustling gathering place fell silent when Zhang Feng appeared.

The Speed Set on Zhang Feng's body was particularly eye-catching, with a green glow enveloping his entire body, causing many people's eyes to burn with desire.

Anyone who had been on the battlefield or understood games would not lack the eye for equipment.

This was a set of bronze equipment, and its ability bonus must be significant.

There were not many people like this in the camp.

Especially appearing here, it was definitely not for a