The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

As Su Mu was pondering how to handle the scroll, his communicator vibrated.

Lin Xiaohe's message popped up: "Su Mu, I only have one Ghost Crystal here. I got it from a Ghost Bat I was lucky enough to kill on the cable car. I can bring it to you if you want."

Seemingly worried that she couldn't help, she added, "I asked around the channel, but no one was willing to sell. Everyone said it's too difficult to get the Mysterious Crystal at night, and they all want to keep it for themselves. It's infuriating!"

Su Mu could picture her expression when she said that; she was probably frowning, her tone carrying an indescribable displeasure, clearly trying to ask on someone's behalf but being silenced by those people. He replied, "No need, you keep it. I'll figure out a way to handle the Ghost Crystal."

Lin Yuwei's message arrived shortly after: "Are you short of Ghost Crystals?" Su Mu replied: "Yeah, I'm far from it."

Lin Yuwei replied quickly: "I have a few Ghost Crystals on me, which I can give you. I can also help you contact a few guild leaders, and we can probably get a few dozen together."

"However, I have something I can use in the trade, but you'll need to repay me with something else." Su Mu thought for a moment and replied, "No need. Keep your things for yourself."

Before he could figure out the specifics of the transaction, several guild leaders had already contacted him. They were all people he had met before when they were clearing monsters on the outskirts of Ash City.

The offers were all similar: the Mysterious Crystal could be traded, but Su Mu needed to offer something of sufficient value in exchange.

Alternatively, if Su Mu were willing to help them, they would be willing to exchange their Ghost Crystals. Su Mu went through the names of those guilds in his mind and realized that several of the ones he had a grudge against—Zhang Peng, Wang Chen, Zhao Hongyuan—were not among them.

They probably figured out that Su Mu wouldn't sell to someone he had a grudge against.

Among the guilds that contacted him, some were ones he had never even met before. They were probably from other guilds who had heard about his previous achievements and wanted to take the opportunity to befriend him.

"It seems I can only trade with a major guild." Su Mu thought to himself. At present, only those major guilds can afford to take out two hundred Ghost Crystals at once.

As he was pondering who to contact, his communicator vibrated again.

This time it was Zhou Zhenguo. Su Mu was somewhat surprised.

He was deeply impressed by Zhou Zhenguo... When everyone was only concerned with their own survival, he organized a team of ordinary people and led them to level up under the protection of the military; while other guild leaders were racking their brains to expand their power, he was always trying to find ways to help more people survive.

In Su Mu's view, he wasn't really suited for this world. Because he always wanted to protect everyone, but this world was precisely the kind that would devour those who protected everyone.

Zhou Zhenguo's message was brief, but it surprised Su Mu: "Su Mu, I want to trade our guild's resources for that scroll with you."

Su Mu didn't reply immediately. He knew how much resources Zhou Zhenguo had... Although his guild had a considerable number of members, most were ordinary people, and they probably wouldn't have many rare crystals to offer. He couldn't understand why Zhou Zhenguo would ask for help at this time, especially to exchange the entire guild's resources for a scroll he himself didn't need.

Zhou Zhenguo seemed to sense his silence and sent another message: "I know you might find this strange. But after this battle, I've realized one thing... This world is no longer the world we knew. The power of a group is important, but in critical moments, the power of an individual can also determine life and death."

Zhao Derong bought everyone time to escape. Those two thousand soldiers gave their lives for ours; I still remember those scenes vividly. I wanted to rush forward, but I didn't even have the strength to stand up.

Su Mu looked at the message and remained silent for a moment.

He recalled Zhao Derong's last smile, and Bai Liuxi's words when the teleportation array lit up. Those thoughts were like nails stuck in his heart, impossible to remove.

He originally thought that Zhou Zhenguo would always stay with that ordinary team, be a pure guardian, not take shortcuts, not take risks, and always protect people in the safest way.

But now it seems that the sacrifice of Zhao Derong and those soldiers changed him.

"Has it changed?" Su Mu muttered to himself, "From a guardian to someone who wants to have power...maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing."

He opened the reply box: "You can trade your guild's resources for it. But I need two hundred Ghost Crystals. How many can you provide?"

Zhou Zhenguo's reply came quickly: "We can produce 220 of them right now. The cable car reel is currently worth about 300 Ghost Stones. The rest can be paid to you in installments... at the market price plus some interest. As long as I'm alive, I won't renege on this debt."

Su Mu thought for a moment and replied, "Okay. Interest will be 10%, payable in three installments."

Zhou Zhenguo didn't hesitate: "Deal."

"it is good."

Transaction complete

Su Mu put away the communicator, and the final piece of the puzzle for the transaction in his mind was finally complete.

Although Zhou Zhenguo couldn't produce the equivalent amount of Ghost Crystals and could only pay the difference in installments, Su Mu felt more at ease than selling to those guilds with ulterior motives... at least he knew Zhou Zhenguo wouldn't stab him in the back.

After the transaction was completed, Su Mu placed the scroll and the strange crystals that Zhou Zhenguo had paid for on the table, then opened the cable car upgrade interface. He first put the steel ingots, bulletproof glass, and the two hundred strange crystals into the upgrade slot, and then the system popped up a prompt:

[The cable car has been detected to hold additional building materials. The following materials can currently be attached with the following attributes:]

1: Tusks of the Giant Boar (Green): After installation, you will gain the "Armor Penetration Passive"... When the cable car is attacked by physical attacks, there is a 15% chance to reduce the attacker's armor value by 10% for 5 seconds. This effect can stack twice.

2: Ice Staff (Purple Lv12): After installation, you will gain the "Frozen Passive"... When attacked, there is a 15% chance to freeze the target for 1.5 seconds.

3：火之法杖（紫色Lv12）：安装后可获得「灼烧被动」......被攻击时20%概率给攻击目标附带灼烧状态，每秒损失缆车护甲值10%伤害，持续3秒。

4：冰之法杖（紫色Lv12）、火之法杖（紫色Lv12）。安装后可获得「冰冻被动」......被攻击时15%概率冰冻攻击目标1.5秒。「灼烧被动」......被攻击时20%概率给攻击目标附带灼烧状态，每秒损失缆车护甲值10%伤害，持续3秒。

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