Chapter 12: Upgrading to Off-Road Tires
Ryan didn't reply to the message but began weighing his options in his mind.
He muttered to himself, "This blueprint is indeed crucial, and the off-road tires shouldn't have any trouble selling…"
Even though making a single tire requires 12 pieces of rubber, four tires only amount to 48.
Ryan entered the trading post again.
After filtering for rubber, he found about 50 pieces available in the trading post.
This quantity was indeed sufficient, so Ryan began acquiring it directly. Through exchanging some materials, he quickly gathered the rubber available on the market.
This way, he could be well-prepared.
Ryan understood that he had potential enemies.
Moreover, the hidden merchant guild was already capable of manipulating item prices.
Ryan had chosen to sell the goggles at that time, accumulating a large wave of goodwill, which would surely lead to resentment.
Even this trade of blueprints could be a setup by them.
If he bought the blueprints only for the price of rubber to skyrocket, the loss would be significant.
So, caution was definitely warranted.
After acquiring a sufficient amount of rubber, Ryan returned to the private message interface.
[Leo: Hey Ryan, where are you?]
[Leo: Please hurry up.]
Ryan completed the contract signing, and the system panel displayed that the transaction was successful.
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Off-Road Tire Blueprint]
[Contract Agreement Effective: Player Ryan must pay Player Leo for 4 Off-Road Tires within 2 hours]
[Remaining Time: 1 hour 59 minutes]
In the next second, the Off-Road Tire Blueprint appeared in Ryan's hands.
"Phew, I finally got this blueprint." Ryan stood up and quickly moved to the workbench.
He didn't waste any time and directly used the blueprint.
[Off-Road Tire Synthesis Formula Unlocked]
Ryan opened the workbench interface and began searching for the synthesis method for rubber, quickly locating the option for off-road tires.
[Off-Road Tires (1 set): Required materials rubber x12]
Ryan retrieved the materials and selected the synthesis option.
In an instant, the rubber on the table vanished, and the system panel appeared again.
[You have obtained: Off-Road Tires x4]
"Huh? Why are there 4 tires?" Ryan was momentarily taken aback, then a look of ecstatic joy spread across his face. So the 12 on the blueprint means a set of 12!"
This was indeed a stroke of luck, it felt like finding a hidden treasure.
Leo probably thought the same as he did, interpreting the 12 pieces of rubber listed on the blueprint as being needed for a single set of tires.
That's why he felt he couldn't make them and considered selling them for cash, hoping to trick another buyer if possible.
Thinking back to when Leo was urging him to sign the contract, Ryan couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let's get the tires swapped on my vehicle first." Ryan clicked on the off-road tires in his system warehouse.
[Would you like to replace the off-road tires?]
Ryan clicked confirm.
As the off-road tires disappeared, the small truck shuddered slightly.
It was almost instantaneous, like changing the vehicle's power supply, and the text on the system panel updated.
[Vehicle parts replacement successful!]
[The replaced tires have been stored in the system warehouse.]
The rubber of the off-road tires was thicker, so the overall height of the vehicle was raised as well.
Ryan stood up, walked through the partition door, and sat back in the driver's seat, eager to test the new setup.
He started the small truck and slowly drove toward the side of the road.
He didn't recklessly drive straight into the snow, instead, he used the headlights to assess the road conditions.
"Okay, everything seems normal." Ryan nodded, and after confirming there were no ditches, he drove the truck slowly onto the gravel road.
The truck's high beams illuminated the darkness ahead, while the silent, pure white snowfield reflected the dazzling light.
The thick off-road tires rolled over the snow, leaving two deep tire tracks behind.
So far, the tires showed no signs of slipping.
After driving for a while, Ryan became bolder and started to increase his speed.
The bumps and vibrations of the vehicle were noticeably reduced compared to the earlier trip transporting beef during the day.
Ryan exclaimed, "This is definitely different, these off-road tires are amazing!"
After completing his test, Ryan happily drove the truck back onto the road.
Suddenly, a system panel popped up.
In his private messages, Leo was getting a bit anxious waiting for the tires and food, so he began to urge Ryan.
[Leo: Is my steak ready yet?]
[Leo: Just process it a little, I can't start a fire over here.]
[Ryan: Hold on, it'll be ready soon.]
"Oh right, I still have two steaks to prepare…" Ryan stood up and began to cook the food.
He had been so eager to test the newly swapped tires that he hadn't finished his own dinner.
When he opened the partition door and returned to the cargo area, he found that the remaining half plate of beef had already been cleaned up by the gray wolf.
The gray wolf wagged its tail happily as it saw Ryan return.
"Buddy, you bad dog!" Ryan lifted his foot and aimed a kick at its rear.
The gray wolf nimbly dodged but clearly knew it had done wrong, lowering its head and looking contrite.
Ryan pointed toward the partition door and said, "Go outside."
Buddy seemed to understand Ryan's words.
It darted through the partition door and returned to the passenger seat, curling up and lying down, clearly having claimed that spot as its own bed.
Ryan let out a wry smile. "I was careless, this wolf eats more than I expected…"
Buddy really did have a big appetite.
In this one meal, it had devoured two large pieces of beef, probably totaling around 2 kg.
It's worth noting that this beef could be exchanged for quite a bit of resources at the trading post.
But then Ryan thought, Buddy was quite smart and seemed to understand what he said.
Moreover, being a wolf, it had some basic hunting skills.
Ryan already envisioned how hunting with Buddy in the future would make taking down large bison much easier.
So, in a way, the amount of meat consumed wasn't too much.
Buddy was essentially working for him, so it was worth the investment.
…
Ryan got back to preparing the steaks.
With no seasonings or butter available, and having already used the canned chicken, he could only roast the meat now.
He used the lit candles in the barbecue grill to start cooking and drying the beef.
Feeling bored, Ryan scrolled through the chat room.
After dark, it was dangerous outside, so everyone had begun to settle down for the night.
The chat room had quite a few features, players could even upload photos and videos, somewhat like TikTok.
As long as there was a platform to showcase their creativity, people's imagination seemed limitless.
Many players had even started to become vloggers.
There were not only those sharing wilderness survival tips but also others speculating about the origins of this game world.
At that moment, Ryan stumbled upon a live stream.
He raised an eyebrow and thought, "Wow, this system can even stream live?"
He quickly found himself drawn in.
The live stream was titled [Late Night Dance Party], and the host's ID was Candy.
On the screen, there was a woman with a stunning figure dancing.
The female streamer was standing in front of a truck, using the headlights to illuminate herself as she danced for the live stream.
It seemed like she wasn't wearing any clothes at all, but was wrapped in a thick comforter, looking as if she had just been pulled out of bed and dropped into a survival game.
However, her comforter was unzipped, and underneath, it appeared she was only wearing lingerie.
With her dancing moves, glimpses of her cleavage peeked out.
The chat room was going wild with comments.
[So sexy, babe, it's making me so thirsty…]
[Goddess, please reply to my private message!!!]
[Wow, I never expected to see a live stream in this survival game.]
[Sigh, I couldn't help but donate my dinner money today.]
"Wow, thank you to the handsome guy for the donation, love you!" Candy said, looking at the system panel as someone gifted her a piece of chocolate.
She leaned closer to the panel, flashed a sweet smile, and blew a kiss through the screen.
Candy flirtatiously reminded, "To all the brothers in the live stream, the top three donators can have a one-on-one video chat with me after the stream tonight!"
This female streamer was definitely a professional, and her skills were impressive.
However, this kind of suggestive content held no appeal for Ryan.
What concerned him was—how could this woman be so bold as to leave the vehicle when it was already dark?
Ryan frowned and couldn't help but send a comment.
[Ryan: Seriously, it's so late and you're still outside, aren't you afraid of dying?]