Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 348 "The Restaurant" (55)

"Then, should we still take it to exchange?" Zhang Meng hesitated.

"We must exchange them, but we can't let her set the price, we have to." Qin Ziwen paced back and forth, then looked up. "Zhang Meng, when we get there, just tell them that we can exchange three aquatic artifacts for one Sky Fruit. I don't care about the quality of the aquatic artifacts, even a level one artifact will do."

If she insists on lowering the price, it's not impossible, but you can ask her to exchange information for it. You can ask her these questions.

Qin Ziwen picked up his water glass and took a sip. "Did you remember?"

Zhang Meng shook his head in shame, "I remembered the later parts, but I forgot the earlier ones."

"It's okay, I'll say it a few more times." Qin Ziwen put down his water glass.

After repeating this several times, Zhang Meng frowned, indicating that he had remembered it.

"Just remember that."

In the forest, by the campfire, the unicorn seemed to sense its master's mood and impatiently stomped its feet.

The one-clawed dragon looked at the unicorn with some fear.

This unicorn looks somewhat similar to Red Hare. Back in its home, it was often bullied by Red Hare.

"Is this the one-clawed dragon you've tamed?" The woman bent down, and just as the scabbard in her hand was about to touch the one-clawed dragon's back, the little beast let out a howl and darted away.

She raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly, "You look like a mouse."

Shi Hu glanced at the one-clawed dragon huddled in the shadow of the campfire, but remained silent.

But I felt a little unhappy.

No matter what, they raised them themselves, so they wouldn't allow outsiders to ridicule them.

As they were talking, a ripple-like pattern spread out from the portal behind them.

Zhang Meng strode out.

The woman said, "Have you reached an agreement? How so?"

Zhang Meng, who had been silently rehearsing his prepared remarks, trembled upon hearing this and instinctively spoke: "A transaction is not something that can be accomplished in a day. In the hope that our two sides can cooperate for a long time, my lord would like to befriend you, but the price needs to be more sincere."

Shi Hu wanted to beat this idiot to death. What are you doing? Are you reciting scriptures?

Xie Ya was also taken aback, then a hint of amusement flashed in her eyes as she looked at Zhang Meng with a half-smile: "The words your lord taught you, you must have memorized them wrong, right?"

"Impossible!" Zhang Meng exclaimed, sweating profusely, his neck stiff with arguing, "I recited it more than ten times, and I didn't miss a single word!"

Shi Hu secretly glanced at Xie Ya's expression and saw that there was no anger in her eyes, but rather a hint of interest. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This idiot probably stumbled upon the right path by sheer luck.

Just as Shi Hu had predicted, Xie Ya came from a mountain stronghold and was exposed to rough and uncouth men from a young age.

What I hate most is scheming that involves roundabout methods.

Zhang Meng's nonsensical remarks actually struck her as quite genuine.

"Alright." She straightened up. "One Sky Fruit for two Level One Aquatic Treasures. To be honest, I'm also reselling this stuff, so there's bound to be some loss in the process. I can't be expected to make a loss, can I?" Zhang Meng thought this made sense, but he remembered his lord's instructions and stubbornly refused to budge.

After holding it in for a while, he suddenly slapped his thigh: "That's right! There's also intelligence! My lord said that the price can be lowered, but we need to exchange intelligence for it. Anyway, we won't run into each other on the same map, so exchanging intelligence doesn't count as aiding the enemy!"

Upon hearing this, Xie Ya glanced at him with a half-smile, her eyes deepening: "That's not necessarily true. The second map of our mountain stronghold is this world right here. Since we can meet, there's a possibility that we'll be matched with the same map. Right now, you're only matched with the same batch of Transformation Abysses. But once you've experienced more worlds, things might not be the same."

Moreover, your lord is wrong about one thing. Within a homeland, intelligence has always been crucial—whether it's resource intelligence, map intelligence, or rare item intelligence, each has its own value.

She paused, her fingertips twirling the jade pendant at her waist, and said casually, "However, I'm in a good mood today. After the transaction is completed, I can answer two of your questions for free. Remember, deliver the goods first, then ask your questions. Don't try to get something for nothing."

Zhang Meng said in a low voice, "I want to inspect the goods first."

Xie Ya wasn't annoyed. She reached into her bosom and pulled out a small, three-inch-long yellow leather pouch. With a flick of her wrist, several large, round, and plump pearls rolled out, gleaming lustrously in the moonlight.

He picked one up and tossed it to Zhang Meng.

"Take it back to your lord and show it to him." Xie Ya stood with her arms crossed, a smile playing on her lips. "Whether it works or not, if it does, we'll use this as a bargaining chip."

Clutching the pearl, Zhang Meng returned home and approached his lord, recounting their conversation verbatim.

Qin Ziwen took the pearl and examined it for a while.

[Level 1 Rare Item] Lychee Jade Pearl (Can be inlaid in orchard-type buildings to enhance the taste and flavor of fruit)
After sensing it, I confirmed that it was an aquatic wonder.

This thing is both useful and useless. Under normal circumstances, one is enough; having more is a complete waste.

But no matter what, it's a rare item. As long as the Wonder Card can recognize it, Qin Ziwen doesn't care about anything else.

Qin Ziwen said, "Okay, take this bag. There are nine Sky Fruits inside."

As she suggested, we exchanged two rare items for one fruit.

As for those two questions, the first question is to clarify how many types of cards there are.

The second question is about the inherent racial differences between humans and monsters. Even among extraordinary beings, our physical strength is inferior to that of many large wild beasts. Ask her what methods can bridge this gap.

"The pearls are safe. Eighteen in total. Please count them." Xie Ya tossed out a small bag. Zhang Meng and Shi Hu huddled together, keeping a watchful eye on the group as they carefully counted the pearls.

"Go in quickly and hand it over to the lord," Shi Hu said in a low voice.

"Mm." Zhang Meng nodded, gripped the cloth bag containing the Sky Fruit tightly, turned around and disappeared into the teleportation portal that was rippling behind him.

Shi Hu clasped his hands in a respectful but not arrogant manner: "Now that you have accepted the fruits, I hope you will tell me the answers to those two questions so that I can pass them on to my lord."

“The first question,” Xie Ya held up a finger, “is that there are so many types of cards that I wouldn’t dare say I know them all. But…” She changed the subject and gave a key clue, “What I can tell you is that all cards are divided into three tiers: common, advanced, and ultimate. Taking building cards as an example, there are common buildings, advanced buildings, and ultimate buildings.”

"The answer to the second question is actually related to the first question. A tiger is born a tiger, and a monkey is born a monkey. This is an innate difference etched in their bloodline, which is almost impossible to change. As far as I know, even the ultimate building cannot change it."

But monkeys can use tools, and we can make weapons and build tools. The biggest difference between humans and wild animals is that we can use our brains.

Of course, if we're talking about improving one's foundation, as far as I know, there's a place that can do it. It's called "The Restaurant." As long as you can get a ticket to the restaurant, you can go there. I've heard that the food there can improve one's innate foundation, turning a monkey into a gorilla, or even a giant ape.

However, getting into the restaurant will be difficult. Tickets are incredibly expensive; it's said to be a marvel of architecture. A marvel is unique; only one can exist between any two Abysses at a time, making it even more precious than the ultimate structure. So, forget about it.”

(End of this chapter)