Survival Game: Call Me an Honest Businessman

The curtain was lifted again.

Li Zhiyu put on a mask, and Big Pancake Sister, who came out with a frown, met his eyes.

Big Pancake Sister: "Shi Nan will be coming over later. If you want to do business, go to the South District. I'll have her give you a ride. This place is full of poor people; you won't be able to do business here."

Li Zhi: "What kind of business do you think is best to do here?"

"Business is bad for everything." Big Pancake Sister sneered, "A place that eats people can only tolerate businesses that eat people. Don't blame me for not warning you, leave now. You're lucky that place is in ruins. If you had come yesterday, you might have been sent to the slaughterhouse as soon as you stepped out of the teleportation array."

Li Zhi: "...Isn't this a slaughterhouse?"

Big Pancake Sister: "This is a hospital!"

She paused for a moment after speaking, seemingly remembering what she had said inside, and realizing that Li Zhi had most likely heard her.

"I also save people regularly. I can save those who can be saved by stitches and herbal medicine. How can that not be considered a hospital? I only cut off and sell the wounded because I can't save them. My knife is fast and precise, and the patients hardly feel any pain. Moreover, this money is what the injured people want to earn themselves. Even if they die, they can still bring some income to their families. Otherwise, they would die in vain, and their flesh would rot anywhere and there would be nowhere to bury it. Here, at least I can process them in batches."

Big Pancake Sister sat back behind the counter, talking as she carefully wiped the knife she had just brought out.

"Has it always been like this here? Doesn't the Beast Alliance care?"

Big Pancake Sister paused, then burst into laughter: "The Beast Alliance is too busy taking care of itself, clamoring to become slaves—no, subordinates—to some higher race. They have no say in us lower-class beastmen. Besides, didn't you just lift the curtain? Did you see tigers, tigers, and wolves inside?"

No.

Li Zhi remained silent, while Big Pancake Sister hummed a song:

"New merchant~ New warrior~ New prey~ We're all the same~ The slaughterhouse's prey comes in batches, and the adults' tastes change again and again~ How I wish~ I could also make a difference~ How I wish~ the adults' tastes wouldn't change~"

Li Zhi felt a chill run down his spine.

Big Pancake Sister held up a rag: "Here you are~ the new merchant, brought by Yang Shisan. Take him to the south."

As soon as the lion-like beastman entered, the brightness in the entire room suddenly decreased, and she alone blocked two-thirds of the doorway.

She stood at the doorway, sizing up Li Zhi.

However, he couldn't see her face through the cloak.

"Guide fee: 50 gold."

Li Zhi: "Nowhere else do you find such an expensive guide fee."

With a flick of her finger, a pistol appeared in her hand, twirling around her finger a few times.

Li Zhi: "And I don't want to go south. I just want to do some small business here. I want to ask how long it will take to clear that area of ​​ruins. I'd like to rent it."

Lion-clan beastman: "You... want to do business here?"

Big Pancake Sister also looked at Li Zhi in surprise.

"What kind of business can you do here? I'm warning you, you can do any business in the south, but here, you'll definitely get robbed no matter what you do."

Li Zhi tapped his cloak.

The silver patterns lit up slowly with her tapping, shimmering like stars, before gradually disappearing beneath the black cloak.

Lion-orc: "Level 5 Merchant!"

Her breathing became rapid.

As if he had seen some novel species, he strode up to Li Zhi and reached out to press her down so he could get a better look.

Li Zhi didn't even look up, and the hierarchy suppression began.

The lion-like beastman, whose size was almost three times that of Li Zhi, was imprisoned in place and unable to move forward.

Li Zhi: "Gather your tribal leaders together and tell them that a level 5 merchant wants to establish a peaceful trading zone here and open a hospital that sells weapons and provides medical treatment within the trading zone."

The lion-orc exclaimed in disbelief, "An arms shop?!"

Sister Big Pancake stopped wiping her knife and exclaimed, "A hospital?!"

Lion-clan orc: "Are you telling the truth?"

Li Zhi: "Really."

Just as Li Zhi was about to answer their other questions, the lion-clan beastmen vanished like a gust of wind, slamming the door shut with a bang.

Big Pancake Sister: "The Beast Market only has doctors in the South and East sections, but they're not professional doctors. They can only treat the simplest illnesses or stitch up wounds. What can your hospital do?"

Li Zhi: "My profession is being a collaborator with doctors."

Big Pancake Sister: "A doctor whose profession is a doctor?!"

"Um."

As soon as Li Zhi discovered there were humans behind the curtain, he added a link to the black market and sent a message to Little White Dove.

The white dove relayed the message to the official channels, and they have already replied.

A little white dove: [Your Majesty, this news is very important. The organization takes this matter very seriously and thanked us for selling the information to them at such a low price. They have also agreed to the cooperation you proposed, but some details still need to be discussed.]

Bai Ge's tone became serious.

This news is clearly important to the authorities.

Humans have been in the Apocalypse Continent for less than thirty days, and yet such a heinous act of harming their own kind has already occurred.

Whether it's to appease her, who knows the truth, and to show her the government's stance, or for the sake of future public opinion and the future of humanity, the authorities will definitely investigate thoroughly.

But Li Zhi believes that the reason the authorities attach so much importance to this is because she has provided an opening for the authorities to connect with the orc tribes.

Given the official strategy and methods, they should have been in contact with the orcs long ago.

However, according to information from either Ashe, Silverspeed, or other sources, there is actually no connection between the new race and the orcs.

This is not because the authorities have done nothing, but because humanity's current position on the Apocalypse Continent is too delicate.

The first step in any transaction is for both parties to accurately identify each other's location and resources before cooperation can take place.

Although humanity was initially rated as D, no one could determine its true level until the century-long rating was officially implemented.

This results in both sides only being able to determine the resources, but not each other's status.

Ambiguous status leads to difficulty in determining value.

The Newborn Species Protection Act places humanity in a position that is both protected and restricted.

When D-level races cooperate, their strength and technology are not significantly different. If a dispute arises, they can still exchange blows, resulting in a back-and-forth, win-lose situation.

Humans are currently protected by laws.

This has led to distrust when other races cooperate with humans.

—Who can guarantee that humans won't use protection laws to harm them?

Who will protect their interests?

Without safeguarding interests, in-depth exchanges will inevitably encounter numerous obstacles.

At this point, only a third party can break the deadlock.

Coincidentally, Li Zhi, as a level 5 merchant, possesses convincing professional skills and supply channels, and his racial level is C, giving him a level advantage and deterrent effect over orcs who are one level lower.

She provides channels and platforms to utilize official resources to complete her career path tasks. The government provides resources and uses Li Zhi's identity as a merchant to establish a base here and open up the orc market.

Win-win.