Others try to survive on an island, I try to survive on a raft?

Chapter 148 The Leader in Name Only

Steel and wood!

A more advanced currency!

"Holy crap! They actually found it?"

The burly man who had just been shouting about exchanging daggers suddenly widened his eyes, turning to look at Zhao Dezhu instead of Mu Qing, the leader, and said, "Brother Zhao! With this thing, can we exchange our coal for black coal?"

"When the cold wave comes, it's nothing! We can still sleep soundly in our cave!"

"Why bother with coal? That's too narrow-minded!" Another person exclaimed excitedly, slapping his thigh. "Let's just exchange it for third-tier sea beast meat! Eating it might even awaken our superpowers. Then what sea beasts would we be afraid of?"

"I think we should switch to muskets, or even explosives!" a bespectacled boy exclaimed excitedly. "With firearms, we can roam freely on this island, we could even rob that merchant ship!"

The more he talked, the more outrageous it became, and the more excited he got.

Mu Qing felt an urge to slam her fist on the table, but unfortunately, there was no space in front of her. She could only raise her voice: "Steel and wood are rare strategic resources. If we really find them, we should keep them or use them to strengthen the defenses of our strongholds. How can we exchange them all for consumables?"

However, her voice was quickly drowned out by the crowd's enthusiastic discussion. Only a few people glanced at her, their eyes filled with disdain, as if to say:

Women are just all talk and no action.

Finally, Zhao Dezhu slowly finished gnawing on the bone in his hand, let out a burp, waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, stop thinking about it. We haven't found the trunk yet, what good are leaves?"

He glanced at Mu Jing, whose face was grim, and chuckled as he tried to smooth things over: "Once we actually find Gangmu, we'll discuss how to use it. Of course, we'll have to let Sister Mu make the decision then, since she's our leader and we have to follow the rules, right?"

His words gradually calmed the restless crowd around him.

"Yes, yes, Brother Zhao is right. We'll talk about it later."

"Listen to Brother Zhao, let's eat the meat first, eat the meat!"

Mu Qing stood there, watching the group of people who were once again immersed in their meat-eating frenzy, and felt a chill in her heart.

Her position as leader has slowly become a mere figurehead.

Zhao Dezhu's statement, "We'll discuss it later," translates to:

I won't argue with you now, I'm giving you face, but who we listen to later is uncertain.

She glanced at Zhao Dezhu, then at Chen Yao who cared about her, pursed her lips, sat down, and began to eat the roasted venison.

Chen Yao secretly sprinkled some herbs she had brought back from her adventure today on the venison, making it smell even better and taste even more delicious, which made her feel a little more comfortable.

But soon, she vaguely heard someone say something like, "They're just eating, not doing any work and still eating. Who do they think they are?"

Suddenly, the meat in her hand didn't taste good anymore.

She quickly finished eating.

Instead of joining the bonfire party and the ensuing revelry, she climbed the suspension ladder to the cliffside outpost, lit a small torch, and began to settle accounts.

The delivery is due tomorrow. We need to figure out how much stock is left, what needs to be exchanged, and their loan capacity.

She has a lot of work to do tonight, but no one knows or cares.

The next morning, Su Jin's Ark arrived as promised.

Su Jin stood at the bow of the boat, looking at the mountain of baskets piled up on the shore, feeling very happy.

These are all pure, natural, and green foods that have not yet been subjected to industrial pollution.

Lin Xuan pushed up her glasses and glanced at the pile of sugarcane. In her eyes, these things were more precious than gold: "This batch of sugarcane looks good and should have a high sugar content. I'll refine the sugar later, which will not only improve everyone's meals but also help make new types of gunpowder."

"Well, besides making more powerful shells, I'm also thinking of making some throwable explosives as backup weapons."

Hearing this, Su Jin was very satisfied and waved his hand, saying, "Then it's up to you. You can try to improve the sugar water later. The sweet water is quite delicious. It would be best if you could make some 'fat man's happy water' (a popular soft drink for couch potatoes)."

"I'll try my best, but—it should be fine." Lin Xuan pursed her lips. After all, she was a chemistry major, so making some drinks was a piece of cake for her.

Immediately afterward, Li Yuanyuan also came over, her eyes shining as she looked at the baskets of potatoes next to her: "The potatoes are good too. These potatoes are really big. We can make potato noodles or slice them and fry them into potato chips, and then store them away."

"When the cold wave comes, this will be our instant noodles at sea. One sip of hot soup and it will be a precious ready-to-eat food."

Shen Qiaoqiao stared at the baskets of wild fruits and vegetables, drooling: "Those pineapple-like wild fruits can be canned, and those purple wild vegetables, once dried, become preserved mustard greens. They'll be a perfect match for steamed meat later, aren't I right, Sister Yuanyuan!"

"No hair!"

The two foodies were in complete agreement, and the group on the boat were plotting how to devour all the supplies, while the atmosphere on the shore was a bit awkward.

With dark circles under her eyes, Mu Qing had clearly not slept all night. She forced herself to be energetic and stepped forward: "Captain Su, this is our repayment for this loan. Including interest, it totals 300 units of sugarcane, 500 units of potatoes, and some wild fruits and timber. Please take a look."

After saying that, she turned around and waved to the group of lazy people behind her: "A few of you, carry the stuff to the beach and get ready to deliver it."

Nobody moved.

The burly men were still squatting on the ground, smoking their homemade cigarettes, sharpening knives, or bragging, as if they hadn't heard Mu Qing's words.

Mu Qing frowned, raising her voice slightly: "What are you standing there for? Move the things over there first!"

Still no one moved. Some even rolled their eyes and muttered, "What's the rush? It's not like the big ship is going to run away."

The scene was very embarrassing.

Only Chen Yao and the two young people hesitated for a moment before helping.

But they weren't a hunting party after all; they hadn't eaten sea monsters, so their strength and stamina were inferior, and they were panting heavily after only a few moves.

Just then, Zhao Dezhu, who had been sitting on a large rock picking his teeth, stood up, dusted himself off, and roared, "Are you all deaf? Didn't you hear Sister Mu? Hurry up, don't keep Boss Su waiting!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the men who had been slumped over like dead pigs jumped up immediately, carrying baskets and lifting levers with remarkable speed. While working, they smiled obsequiously, saying, "Coming right now, coming right now! How can we disobey Brother Zhao's orders!"

Mu Qing stood there, her face dark, her fists clenched tightly, and she even wanted to leave, but she ultimately held back.

Su Jin took in all of this from the ship.

He didn't speak, but pursed his lips, a half-smile on his face. His eyes swept between Zhao Dezhu and Mu Qing before finally settling on the pile of supplies.

"Lin Xuan, Ru Ying, received the goods."

"Yes."

The two girls worked swiftly, lowering the slings and collecting and counting the goods basket by basket, without uttering a single wasted word, demonstrating maximum efficiency.

After the first round of transactions was completed, the atmosphere eased somewhat.

The second round then began—discussing new business.