Building a skyscraper to survive, all the female colleagues in the company begged me to carry them.

The system's voice suddenly rang out at that moment, echoing throughout the entire island:

[Congratulations to player 'Huang Tang' for completing the hidden quest: Protect Our Homeland!]

[Mission Rating: S-Rank! A victory against overwhelming odds, an epic triumph!]

[Special reward triggered: The Bell Keeper's Shop!]

Before Huang Tang could react, the world around him suddenly changed.

Countless clocks appeared out of thin air on the beach, in the sky, and on the sea.

There are old mechanical clocks, modern electronic clocks, pocket watches, wristwatches, grandfather clocks, cuckoo clocks... all kinds of sizes, densely packed together.

The hands ticked away, making a uniform sound.

"Click, click, click..."

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

A beam of light descended from the sky and landed in front of Huang Tang.

After the beam of light dissipated, a figure in a tuxedo appeared on the beach.

He was tall and slender, standing ramrod straight, his tailcoat spotless, and his bow tie perfectly tied.

But what's most striking is his head.

A round clock with Roman numerals on the dial and two hands slowly turning.

The bell keeper!

he came!

Looking at this familiar NPC, Huang Tang recalled his experience in the Dark Fairy Tale World.

Back then, in order to buy an eight-story blueprint, Liu Lingqing managed to haggle the price down to the point of exhaustion, selling it for five survival coins.

I wonder if the bell keeper has learned his lesson this time.

"Dear player," the Clockkeeper bowed slightly, "congratulations on completing the hidden quest with an S-rank rating. My shop will be open for you for one hour, where you can purchase any items you need."

Huang Tang cut to the chase: "How much are the blueprints for a thirteen-story building?"

As for nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers...

He wanted to buy it, but the price was astronomical!

The clock hands on the watchman's dial spun around: "Fifty Survival Coins. No bargaining."

Huang Tang made some plans in his mind.

He currently has 146 survival coins, and 50 coins can buy a blueprint, which is well within an acceptable range.

But every little bit helps.

He turned to look at the crowd and asked, "Where's Liu Lingqing?"

Chae Rim immediately understood and turned to find someone.

When the clockmaker heard the name "Liu Lingqing," the second hand on the watch face noticeably sped up.

It clearly remembered.

Last time in the dark fairy tale world, how did that smiling woman manage to haggle so hard she vomited blood?

Liu Lingqing quickly ran over.

She tossed her hair and gave the bell keeper a harmless smile.

"Long time no see."

The clockmaker's second hand sped up again.

"No matter how eloquent you are this time, I'm not lowering the price!" it declared first, stating its position. "Rules are rules!"

Liu Lingqing calmly walked up to the bell keeper, crossed her arms, and tilted her head to look at him.

"We're all old friends, don't be so formal." Her voice was soft and approachable. "Besides, I'm just helping you increase your sales. The more you sell, the higher your system's rating will be, right?"

The clockmaker's second hand paused for a moment.

It seems... that's the logic...

For the next twenty minutes, everyone witnessed a textbook-perfect bargaining performance.

Liu Lingqing first chatted with the clock keeper, praising him from various angles.

Before long, the clockmaker got a little carried away by the praise, and the hands of the clock started spinning faster.

Then Liu Lingqing changed the subject and began to complain about being poor: "Look at us, how hard it is for us to survive in this apocalypse. We don't have enough to eat or wear, and we still have to fight goblins. Do you know how many of us died in that battle just now?"

The bell keeper paused for a moment, then said, "As far as I know, you didn't..."

"Of course! Those dead zombies were our comrades too!" Liu Lingqing interrupted him decisively. "Do you know how heartbroken I am right now?!"

Bell Keeper: "..."

Huang Tang, who was listening nearby, was dumbfounded.

The clockmaker was clearly struggling to keep up, and the numbers on the clock face began to flash.

"10% off!" it said through gritted teeth.

"50% off," Liu Lingqing said.

"20% off".

"50% off".

"30% off! That's the lowest it can go!"

"50% off".

The clockmaker's second hand spun frantically.

"40% off! That's my absolute bottom line!"

Liu Lingqing thought for a moment, then suddenly changed her strategy: "How about this, 50 survival coins for two blueprints. That's equivalent to 25 survival coins per blueprint. How does that sound?"

The bell keeper hesitated.

"Two portions...this..."

"Think about it, selling two copies at once doubles your sales. The system's reviews will be amazing," Liu Lingqing coaxed. "And when you go back, you can tell your colleagues that you sold two blueprints in the apocalypse. How prestigious is that?"

The clock hands spun several times, and finally...

"make a deal!"

Huang Tang almost burst out laughing.

Fifty survival coins, two sets of thirteen-layer blueprints.

It's half the price of the original price.

Liu Lingqing winked at him, as if to say: How was it? Not bad, right?

Huang Tang gave a thumbs up.

"Wait!" Liu Lingqing turned to the clock keeper again. "We've been so patronizing your business, buying two portions at once, shouldn't you give us a little something extra?"

The bell-keeper was clearly frozen in place.

"What do you mean by 'twisting'?"

"Look, we're short of pistol bullets, submachine gun bullets..." Liu Lingqing counted on her fingers, "These things aren't worth much to you, just give me some."

The bell keeper remained silent for a long time.

Finally, it pulled a box of bullets from its pocket and put it on the ground.

"Five hundred rounds of pistol ammunition, five hundred rounds of submachine gun ammunition, no more!"

Before Liu Lingqing could say anything more, Huang Tang quickly stepped forward to stop her.

"That's enough, that's enough," he said in a low voice. "If you keep cutting the price, I'm afraid he'll blacklist us."

Then he turned to the clock keeper, smiling, and said, "Four sets! I want to buy four sets of blueprints for a 13-story building!"

The bell-keeper paused for a moment, then asked, "Four portions?"

"Yes." Huang Tang counted out one hundred survival coins from his system space and handed them over. "25 survival coins per share, four shares for 100 survival coins. This is the price we agreed on earlier."

Why not take advantage of the opportunity?

Once the bell-keeper learns his lesson, it will be difficult to buy it for 25 survival coins again!

and……

He believed that he could make a fortune as soon as he resold it!

The clock watcher stared at the hundred gleaming survival coins; the hands spun twice, as if making a final struggle.

Then it sighed, took out four blueprints from its pocket, and handed them to Huang Tang.

"Happy transaction." The bell-keeper's voice sounded quite pleased. "Looking forward to seeing you again."

"I'll definitely do it next time!"

Liu Lingqing waved enthusiastically.

The bell-keeper vanished in a beam of light.

Liu Lingqing turned to look at Huang Tang, spreading her hands: "Look, he even thanked us. It means we didn't bargain hard enough."

Huang Tang was both amused and exasperated: "That's enough! It was originally 50 survival coins per serving, but now I've bought four for 100. That's already a pleasant surprise!"

The women gathered around and all gave Liu Lingqing a thumbs up.

"Sister Ling Qing is amazing!"

"The Queen of Bargaining!"

"I'll be relying on you to buy things from now on!"

Liu Lingqing tossed her hair, looking calm: "Basic stuff, don't be silly."