This villain is too popular.

Chapter 427 Knowledge is also an equivalent [Two-in-one]

Early morning, outside the snack stalls next to the square in Changsheng County.

At the stall, the charcoal fire in the coal stove crackled, and the lard in the iron pot was smoking.

Beside the stall, an old man with a goatee was flipping a wok with a spatula, and the aroma of scallions and soy sauce instantly filled the air.

Smelling the fragrance that filled the air, Chen Kong and Mi Yao, who were not far away, both showed expressions of interest.

Although they had eaten some roasted food last night, it was barely enough to fill the stomachs of the two growing star envoys.

After a night, the two were starving.

Thinking of this, Chen Kong and Mi Yao exchanged a glance and then went to the stall together.

"Boss, how much are these noodles?"

When customers came in, they were two 'strangers' who hadn't seen each other much before.

But the owner, who had a goatee, was still very enthusiastic and said, "It's not expensive at all, just two small bills for a bowl? If neither of you have small bills from this county, you can pay with something else later."

Before Chen Kong could make a decision, Mi Yao suddenly spoke up, "Then give each of us a bowl."

"Okay, please wait a moment!"

Although Chen Kong wanted to say something, Mi Yao had already spoken, and it was too late for him to stop her.

After taking their seats, Chen Kong lowered his voice and said, "Mi Yao, aren't you worried that there might be problems here?"

"You actually think there's nothing wrong with this place?"

The sudden question left Chen Kong somewhat puzzled.

Upon seeing this, Mi Yao first glanced at the owner who was cooking noodles, and then looked back at Chen Kong.

"Kong, do you know what the most crucial thing is to beat a game?"

Based on his gaming experience, Chen Kong replied, "Operations?"

Mi Yao nodded, but then shook his head.

"While skill is certainly important, not every game relies on skill."

"Therefore, in order to complete a game, in addition to basic operation, you also need to understand the game's mechanics."

Mi Yao paused for a moment, then looked at the Changsheng County Square next to him, where everything seemed normal.

"Right now we know nothing about this place, and every game, no matter what kind of game it is, will have something like a tutorial at the beginning."

"Although I am not clear about the specific situation of Changsheng Island, the fact that it can maintain the current order, even if it is only superficial order, means that there must be some kind of 'rules' here."

"Once we can figure out what this rule is, it will undoubtedly make our next steps much easier."

Although Mi Yao's words made a lot of sense, Chen Kong couldn't help but ask, "But what does this have to do with us eating noodles?"

"Who said it doesn't matter?"

Mi Yao gave Chen Kong a meaningful look, then said in a low voice, "Just watch. I think we'll get some answers soon after we finish this bowl of noodles, but we'll definitely have to pay a price for it."

Before Chen Kong could ask what the so-called price was, a voice pulled him back to reality.

"Hey guys, your noodles are ready!"

The old man brought two large bowls of plain noodles to the table and placed them in front of the two people. The rims of the rough porcelain bowls were still covered with noodle soup, and white steam was constantly rising from them, making one's mouth water.

Instead of leaving immediately, the talkative old man pointed to the noodles on the table and said, "Gentlemen, don't underestimate these two bowls of noodles. They are Yangchun noodles, a specialty of Changsheng County, made with local well water and freshly milled flour. I guarantee you'll want more after you eat them!"

Upon hearing this, Mi Yao acted as if he were a starving ghost reincarnated, grabbing his chopsticks and shoveling food into his mouth. The hot soup burned his teeth, but he couldn't bear to let go.
"Wow, delicious! It's a hundred times better than the nutritional paste at our Tianwu Base!"

Without even looking up, he stirred the noodles in the bowl rapidly with his chopsticks, the lard from the noodles getting all over his mouth.

It's impossible to reconcile that rationality and wit when he was whispering with Chen Kong.

He's more like a nerdy guy with little guile and social experience.

Seeing this, Chen Kong simply stopped worrying.

He picked up a bowl of hot noodles and took a small sip.

As the hot noodles were eaten, most of the chill in my body dissipated, and the wound on my back from the rotting vine corpse seemed to hurt less.

You know what, this noodle dish is actually quite delicious!

A few minutes later, Chen Kong and Mi Yao looked at the two empty bowls in front of them with satisfaction and picked their teeth.

After doing all this, Chen Kong touched his pocket and found that he only had a star energy crystal and half a spare compressed biscuit in his tactical uniform.

Whether these items could cover the price of those two bowls of plain noodles, Chen Kong was unsure.

But given the current situation, he had no other choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Um, boss, we're from out of town and don't have any local currency on us. Can we use this as payment?"

He took out a high-level star energy crystal, which shimmered with a pale blue light in the sunlight.

Upon hearing Chen Kong's words, the old man's smile froze instantly. His goatee twitched, and his eyes, as if by magic, transformed from kind to cold.

"From out of town? Didn't bring any money?"

He slammed the iron spatula into the iron pot with a loud bang, startling several sparrows nearby into flight.

Seeing this, Mi Yao suddenly added, "Boss, this crystal is very valuable, much more expensive than your noodles."

"valuable?"

The old man, as if he had heard a joke, left his stall and walked over to the two men.

He looked down at the two of them, his face grim, and said, "In our Changsheng County, this thing you two brought out is not even as useful as a sweet potato!"

Halfway through his sentence, the old man's expression instantly turned from sinister to smiling, and a hint of greed appeared in his eyes.

“Since you don’t have the money, then according to the rules, you must provide the corresponding ‘equivalent’ to offset it.”

"Our rule here is that you pay for your meal, and if you don't have money, you can pay with something of equal value!"

As he spoke, the old man pulled out a wooden sign from under his stall, on which a few lines of crooked characters were written in red paint.

[Payment Rules: Payment can be made using small bills, large sums of money, or life equivalents. Life equivalents include 3 days of lifespan/1 bowl of noodles, 1 fragment of memory/1 bowl of noodles]

"Paying with your lifespan?"

Mi Yao looked up at the old man, his eyes sharpening.

"What if we don't want to pay for these?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a red 'danger warning' immediately appeared on the screen of the game console that Mi Yao had placed on the table.

"Not paying?"

The old man sneered and suddenly grabbed a carrying pole from behind the stall. The pole was covered in mud and dark red stains.

“Once you’ve entered Changsheng County and eaten our noodles, how can you not pay? Right now, you either pay up or you give up your lives!”

Shortly after he finished speaking, several citizens who had just finished buying groceries immediately gathered around.

Their vegetable baskets and hoes were secretly aimed at Chen Kong and Mi Yao, their eyes revealing the same greed and coldness as the old man's. Although, in terms of star energy fluctuations, the citizens of Changsheng County surrounding them were just ordinary people.

After encountering the powerful and mysterious elder Wilford when they first arrived on the island, both of them realized that the situation on the Island of Immortality was far more complicated than they had imagined.

Therefore, neither Chen Kong nor Mi Yao chose to act rashly.

Seeing that the two seemed hesitant, one of the people surrounding them stepped out and threatened, "Outsiders, don't be ungrateful. Trading a little of your lifespan for a bowl of noodles is a good deal!"

Faced with such obviously malicious words, Chen Kong was about to activate Star Origin·Void Pattern and sneak away with Mi Yao, but Mi Yao grabbed his shoulder first.

Amidst Chen Kong's questioning gaze, Mi Yao faced the crowd and calmly said, "We have no lifespan to give you, nor will we."

"But we won't eat this bowl of noodles for nothing. Give us some time, and we'll definitely find a way to pay it back, okay?"

Under normal circumstances, two bowls of noodles are clearly not enough to drive someone to their death.

However, the current situation clearly shows that the old man at the noodle stall and the others had calculated that Chen Kong and his companion couldn't come up with any cash and could only pay with their lifespans and memories.

The latter is something that is extremely rare for them.

How can we let Chen Kong and the others off so easily? After all, what if they actually manage to make money?

Therefore, without giving Chen Kong and Mi Yao more time to negotiate, the stall owner, an old man with a goatee, immediately shouted angrily, "Trying to find a solution? I think you're just trying to cheat us!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man with the goatee raised his carrying pole and swung it down at Chen Kong. The carrying pole whistled through the air and was much faster than the fist of an ordinary rotting vine corpse, which was not like that of an old man.

Faced with this sudden attack, Chen Kong dodged to the side, and the carrying pole crashed to the ground, leaving a shallow mark on the bluestone slab.

That one move was enough to show the old man's extraordinary strength.

Seeing that the old man with the goatee had already made his move, the other citizens of Changsheng County who were already unable to hold back also joined in!

The vegetable basket suddenly slammed onto Chen Kong's back, and the hoe grazed Mi Yao's ear.

In a flash, Mi Yao reacted swiftly, raising his hand to press a button on the game console. A pixelated light shield instantly deployed, blocking the incoming attack.

To Mi Yao and Chen Kong's surprise, Mi Yao's defensive methods as a third-level star envoy were quite impressive.

With the combined efforts of those around them, cracks quickly appeared on the pixelated surface of the light shield.

This means that although these people do not have star energy, their physical strength is already comparable to that of a level two star beast.

boom!
With a final, forceful slam from the old man with the goatee at the noodle stall, the light shield in front of Mi Yao shattered.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Kong made a decisive move.

His arms were covered in gold, and smaller bull horns grew from his forehead.

He grabbed the old man with the goatee's carrying pole and briefly controlled him.

But soon, the old man with the goatee broke free from the restrictions of the dust and launched another attack.

In an instant, the entire square was thrown into chaos.

Even at this point, Chen Kong still did not choose to kill.

Firstly, because he didn't understand the rules of Changsheng Island, he didn't dare gamble on the consequences of killing these people.

Secondly, although these people are strange, they are no different from normal humans in terms of their aura and appearance, and he does not want to easily harm 'ordinary people'.

But Chen Kong's hesitation was seized upon by the old man with the goatee, who forcefully swung his carrying pole.

The carrying pole struck his back, causing Chen Kong to let out a muffled groan. A mouthful of blood welled up in his throat, but he forced it back down.

Seeing that Chen Kong seemed to be on the verge of giving up, Mi Yao, who was standing to the side, also seemed to have made a decision.

But just then, at that very moment, a pale purple quantum chain suddenly shot out from outside the crowd, precisely entangled the old man's carrying pole, and with just a gentle pull, it knocked the old man to the ground.

"Who?!"

The citizens all turned their heads and saw Vivian standing outside the crowd, looking at everyone expressionlessly.

Upon seeing yet another stranger, the old man with a goatee, the owner of the Yangchun noodles stall, immediately said with a cold face, "Stranger, this is a matter for our Changsheng County. I advise you not to interfere."

"What if the rules are broken?"

"rule?"

Vivian sneered, pulled a wad of small bills from her pocket, and threw them onto the food stall.
"Two bowls of noodles, how much? Is this enough?"

Looking at the stack of small bills on the table, the old man with the goatee's expression instantly turned ugly.

Because the rules of Changsheng County do not say that you cannot ask others to pay for your money.

In other words, under the premise of equivalent exchange, as long as the other party can offer corresponding 'bargains'.

Regardless of where the bargaining chip came from, the transaction is now complete.

Based on this underlying rule, even though the old man with the goatee wanted Chen Kong and his companion's lifespan or memories more than the small bills, he still chose to pull out a few bills from the stack and looked at Chen Kong and his companion expressionlessly.

"Since someone has already paid for you, let's just leave it at that."

"Just be careful in the future, after all, you won't always be this lucky."

After saying that, the old man with the goatee turned around and went back to his stall.

The other people who came to 'help' also dispersed.

Before long, the square returned to calm.

Seeing that the crisis had passed, Vivian came to Chen Kong and helped him up.

"Let's leave here first. I'll talk to you about any problems later."

Seeing Chen Kong's hesitant expression, Vivian spoke first.

Judging from her expression, it seemed that she didn't think the square was a good place to talk.

Led by Vivian, the group quickly arrived at the only guesthouse in the county town.

However, unlike Tiandao, who can bring other people to check in directly, Vivian, who only booked a single room, couldn't bring Chen Kong and Mi Yao to her room.

However, she didn't need to do that, since the lobby of the guesthouse was already like a bank's lobby, one of the few safe areas in the area.

"Alright, ask me anything you want to know."

Upon hearing this, Chen Kong immediately asked a question that he was very concerned about.

"Vivian, where did you get all this money?"

"County bank".

"Can the banks here connect with the outside world and exchange money from outside?"

Vivian looked at Chen Kong and said seriously, "No."

"and you."

Vivian pointed to her head and said without hesitation, "Kong, the so-called memory is actually a very broad concept. Among the types of memory, there is something that is just as precious as experience, and that thing is 'knowledge'."

(End of this chapter)