Invincible Black Tornado: "Yes, 70 cans of meat, two materials, Trading Hall. I’ll list them now, but it’s limited to one per person."
Sweet Donut had been sitting calmly just moments ago. After all, it was just chili sauce, and she never ate spicy food. Though she felt a bit envious, it wasn’t enough to upset her too much.
But when she realized Invincible Black Tornado was about to list something else—and it was meat—she instantly couldn’t take it anymore...
Sweet Donut: "@Invincible Black Tornado, big bro, wuuu, please take me off your blacklist! I just complained once and didn’t say anything else. I’m literally starving..."
Light Fills the World: "@Sweet Donut, there’s no need to beg him. We can survive just fine on our own. People like him, who only care about profit, aren’t worth dealing with. He’ll bring about his own downfall."
Light Fills the World: "He just doesn’t get it. In this survival game, only by uniting can we go further. Such narrow-mindedness, impossible to reason with. This is why education matters."
Sweet Donut was speechless. She really wanted to distance herself from this idiot... She was purely dragged down by him. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been blacklisted.
Everyone rushed to the Trading Hall to camp out, leaving the chat room completely silent.
By the time they returned, excited after snatching up the meat cans, they flooded the chat with thousands of messages in seconds. No one noticed the occasional small fry popping up.
Qi Xu then released another 75 boxes of oat milk, all exchangeable for any basic material—no restrictions.
Finally, there were still 975 buckets of instant noodles left. This kind of food—salty, soupy, and filling—was bound to be fought over even more fiercely.
With a shelf life of 25 days left, Qi Xu hesitated before listing them.
First, he announced in the group: "I still have 100 buckets of instant noodles. Anyone with green fur, blueprints, special item cards, or batteries can DM me to trade."
"Qiu Qiu, help me block anyone just begging for freebies."
"Got it."
Ten strands of green fur could be exchanged for one bucket of noodles. If the green fur wasn’t enough, the difference could be made up with other basic materials.
Although Bubbly Girl Guo Degang had previously collected a batch of green fur, those who weren’t desperate for supplies had chosen to hold onto theirs, so many still had stock.
But now, things were different. It had been four straight days without any food appearing in loot boxes, and no one knew how much longer this would last.
Almost no one dared to gamble.
So nearly everyone with green fur traded with Qi Xu. On top of that, he also acquired several blueprints—treasures players usually kept as last resorts. If not for sheer hunger, no one would’ve traded them away.
The one Qi Xu was most satisfied with was the [Universal Bullet Blueprint]. His pistol had seen a lot of use lately, and if not for his reluctance to rely too much on firearms, he’d have burned through all 200 bullets by now.
Besides that, he also obtained the [Washing Machine Blueprint], [Tang Sword Blueprint], and [Electric Kettle Blueprint].
Every blueprint required an overwhelming amount of materials... Qi Xu wasn’t in a hurry to craft them, mainly because he had no space left.
Right now, the truck bed only had room during the day. At night, once the mattress was laid out, many items had to be stored in his backpack—and even that was almost full, with only 170 slots.
Ten of those slots were reserved for preserving dishes made by the Chinese Master Chef.
All the blueprints could be stored in a single slot, taking up no extra space. With only six slots left, Qi Xu planned to organize his inventory later and clear out unnecessary items.
But soon, he changed his mind.
No Spice No Joy Little Cutie: "Invincible bro! Do you still have chili sauce?! I just want chili sauce! I wasn’t craving it before, but now I can’t stop thinking about it—so much that I’m crying, wuuu! I can trade you this for it!"
The item info displayed was none other than the backpack expansion card Qi Xu had been longing for—a whopping 100 extra slots.
Qi Xu had kept five jars each of chili sauce and meat sauce, originally planning to try them himself. But now... Who cared about tasting them?!
Invincible Black Tornado: "I’ll give you five jars of chili sauce, five buckets of instant noodles, five cans of meat, and five boxes of Tetesu pure milk for your backpack expansion. Deal?"
No Spice No Joy Little Cutie: "Absolutely! Oh my gosh, yes! Hahaha, I thought I could only get chili sauce or noodles, but you’re offering everything! Wow, I love this! I’ll come to you first if I get more good stuff later."
Seeing the agreement, Qi Xu sent the items over.
After using the backpack expansion, his total slots jumped to 270—enough to last him a while longer.
Qi Xu kept scrolling through DMs, trading instant noodles with anyone who made a serious offer and wasn’t just looking for handouts.
Basic materials were always welcome. Starting from upgrading to a Level 4 vehicle, not only did the required materials increase in variety, but the quantities also soared past the hundreds for almost every type.
The more materials he stockpiled now, the faster he could upgrade once he collected enough vehicle upgrade fragments.
After trading away nearly 300 buckets of noodles, Qi Xu stopped seeing any valuable offers.
A quick tally showed he’d exchanged the soon-to-expire food for: "Iron ×189, Wood ×133, Glass ×196, Plastic ×113, Copper Pipes ×131, Cotton ×139, Fabric ×16, Electronic Components ×9, Wires ×28, Stone ×158, Batteries ×33..."
Qi Xu was willing to help fellow players in need, but if someone tried to trade a single material or play the pity card, he wouldn’t budge. He had no patience for guilt trips or moral blackmail.
He’d been through the toughest, most hopeless times too—but back then, he’d never met a generous big shot like himself.
So he felt zero remorse. After all the hustling, his workout time had been cut short, so he hurriedly squeezed in a few sets.
Qi Xu’s sudden act of kindness seemed to reignite hope in everyone.
Even though loot boxes still spat out monsters daily, people now felt like they had a lifeline, gritting their teeth and pushing through.
Then, on the afternoon of the ninth day since the official game began, everyone noticed the loot boxes seemed to have returned to normal.
At the very least, even if monsters appeared, there were supplies too—and not just scraps, but generous amounts.
Qi Xu’s head was spinning. His screen had been buzzing nonstop all afternoon. At first, he thought it was trade requests, but it turned out to be nothing but gifts!
By nightfall, he’d received at least 30 "Accept Gift?" notifications.
Many had survived solely because of Qi Xu’s "one material" food sales. When they saw food reappear in the loot boxes, some broke down sobbing.
.........
