Chapter 34: No Business Without Deception

"It's such a scam! One light machine gun bullet costs 0.5 subway coins. 200 bullets would be a full 100 subway coins. This is outrageous!"

Zhao Kuo stared at the trading market, rolling his eyes incessantly.

The price of bullets was terrifyingly high. The thought of spending 100 subway coins for just 20 seconds of firing from the vehicle-mounted light machine gun made Zhao Kuo's head ache.

Sniper rifle bullets were even more ridiculously expensive, costing 7 subway coins per bullet—completely unreasonable.

Even though Zhao Kuo still had over 3,000 subway coins, he wasn't about to be swindled like this.

After some thought, Zhao Kuo decided to open the chat channel he hadn't used in a long time.

Surprisingly, the chat channel was buzzing with activity.

"Listen up, I just opened a chest and got a dragon! It wasn't big, just about the size of an arm, but it ran away."

"Stop lying, man. Dragons are mythical creatures. Even if they exist, it's not something you'd encounter now!"

"Yeah, yeah, and I got a life-sized Miss Bo Duo from a chest."

"Where, where? Bro, let me borrow her!"

"Haha, I didn't get Miss Bo Duo, but I did get a 1:1 replica of Miss Aoi. Jealous, huh?"

"Ew, disgusting men. Ladies, we can't let these gross men have their way."

"I don't care, I like men. Abs boys, DM me!"

"You ​*******"

"..."

Looking at these meaningless conversations, Zhao Kuo sighed.

But he could understand. In the dark and lonely environment of the subway world, people needed ways to vent their fear and loneliness. Dolls were indeed a good option.

After some thought, Zhao Kuo edited a message and sent it: "Bulk purchasing all types of bullets. Can pay with subway coins or materials. Those with stock, send screenshots to me."

After sending the message, he didn't linger and immediately closed the chat system.

Zhao Kuo didn't want to waste energy on pointless chatter. Besides, he knew he'd soon be flooded with private messages from random people—some begging for items, others just rambling.

It was better to spend some time playing with Little White to ensure its loyalty didn't drop from neglect.

Meanwhile, Tang Yingying was engrossed in a novel. She had become obsessed with a tragic story called The World Started Loving Me After I Died, which was about a person who committed suicide, and their family began to miss and reminisce about their good qualities. The story had Tang Yingying sobbing uncontrollably. If Zhao Kuo hadn't moved quickly, she would have hugged him, tears and snot all over him.

It was pretty gross.

It seemed he needed to set some ground rules with Tang Yingying soon. This couldn't go on!

If only she were a campus beauty. Even if nothing happened, at least it would be pleasant to look at her.

Tang Yingying noticed Zhao Kuo's prolonged gaze and looked over, asking, "What? Can't I cry over a heartfelt story?"

"Nothing. I just think in this environment, we should read something more uplifting, like Wu Long Yuan or something," Zhao Kuo suggested.

"Oh, I see. We don't have Wu Long Yuan, but we can buy some at the next station," Tang Yingying nodded, then suddenly asked, "If I died one day, would you miss me?"

Zhao Kuo frowned slightly.

This was a tricky question. To be honest, Zhao Kuo had always considered himself a selfish person. Even his seemingly generous actions were ultimately motivated by the pursuit of greater benefits.

But when Tang Yingying asked this question, he felt an inexplicable pang. Then he thought of Gu Shan and Luo Ping'an, whom he hadn't met yet. If they were gone one day, he would probably feel sad too.

Zhao Kuo turned his head and said, "Don't say such unlucky things. If you must say them, say them when you're alone."

"Pfft, coward…" Tang Yingying pouted.

But when she hid her face behind the novel, a hint of loneliness flickered in her eyes.

After playing with Little White for a while, Zhao Kuo finally opened his private messages. Filtering out the meaningless ones, two messages caught his attention.

He opened the first one. Fortunately, it was from a fellow countryman named Ji Bochang.

Ji Bochang: "Boss, I can supply light machine gun bullets in bulk. Up to 100 bullets per day. What's your target price?"

Ji Bochang… what a name.

Zhao Kuo couldn't help but吐槽 internally.

The other party didn't directly quote a price but instead threw the question back to him. This guy was quite clever.

Without hesitation, Zhao Kuo replied: "0.5 subway coins for 10 bullets. That's my target price."

Soon, the other party responded.

Ji Bochang: "Boss, you must be joking. On the trading market, one light machine gun bullet sells for 0.5 subway coins. 10 bullets for 0.5 coins? That's way below the cost price. 0.2 subway coins per bullet is the lowest I can go."

Zhao Kuo smiled slightly, knowing this was far from the other party's lowest price, just like a certain black market merchant's price for charcoal back then.

But Zhao Kuo didn't reply immediately. Instead, he left Ji Bochang hanging and opened the third private message.

After all, very few people could afford to use light machine guns, and the market for light machine gun bullets had always been stagnant, with supply far exceeding demand.

Apart from a few merchants hoarding them, there was basically no interest.

This was why Ji Bochang had offered 0.2 subway coins per bullet. He must have stockpiled a lot and was desperate to sell.

In that case, the one in a hurry wasn't Zhao Kuo.

Zhao Kuo's guess was correct.

At this moment, Ji Bochang was like an ant on a hot pan. He had been incredibly lucky, actually obtaining a permanent light machine gun bullet blueprint from an intermediate chest.

With just one unit of gunpowder and one steel sheet, he could produce 30 bullets.

Although one unit of gunpowder and one steel sheet cost 1 subway coin to purchase, 30 bullets at the current market price would fetch a total of 15 subway coins!

A tenfold profit.

So Ji Bochang invested all his subway coins and spent several days producing a whopping 1,500 light machine gun bullets.

Unlike top players like Zhao Kuo, ordinary players like Ji Bochang had limited subway coins and had to budget carefully.

But to Ji Bochang's surprise, after a whole day, not a single bullet had been sold!

With his fuel running low and the freezing cold outside, Ji Bochang was truly panicking now.

Seeing that Zhao Kuo hadn't replied, Ji Bochang felt like crying. After some hesitation, he sent another message:

"Boss, how about 0.1 subway coin per bullet? This is really the lowest price. Any lower, and I won't even break even."