Survival Game: Call Me an Honest Businessman

This dusty gray piece of iron was the currency that Li Zhi had seen on the auction board earlier.

However... while observing other people's transactions, she roughly figured out the value of this piece of iron.

These five small iron pieces aren't even enough to buy half the raw materials she had after being downgraded.

The dwarf seemed unsurprised: "Looks like you've already checked out the prices around here."

Li Zhi swallowed hard: "Senior, could you tell me how many black iron coins it would take to buy all the raw materials for a light crossbow system?"

After synthesizing the advanced blueprints, she adjusted the proportions of housing, armament, defense, and speed, which is also known as exploration.

These are: 10% for housing, 15% for weaponry, 35% for defense, and 40% for speed.

Planting was not considered.

She doesn't have the time right now, and every choice involves trade-offs.

Given the vast disparity in technological levels across the world.

What she perceived as armed might be no different from a child's slingshot to some races.

Therefore, we did not choose a large proportion of the weapons.

Instead, they focused on defense and speed.

If you can't beat them, run away. If you can't run away, you can use the merchant class's special abilities to teleport back to the anchor point you left behind.

Even if the proportion is small, there still needs to be some armed force.

It wasn't to defend against foreign tribes, but to fight against monsters that might lurk outside the wooden house, and to deter any humans we might encounter in the future.

After much deliberation, Li Zhi finally chose the light crossbow, which offered the best value for money, with an effective range of 300-500 meters and a precision firing range of up to 150 meters.

The drawings also provide detailed materials for different versions of the lightweight ballista assembled on the airship.

It includes semi-finished product version, component version, parts assembly version, and raw material version.

Li Zhi took a stroll around Black Iron Port, wanting to see which version offered the best value for money.

As a result, not understanding the jargon, it was difficult to even ask for prices in the raw material area.

But she also had some initial ideas:

The most cost-effective way is to buy lower-level raw materials from the raw material board, wait for the talent to upgrade, turn the raw materials into cards, then synthesize them into the materials needed to upgrade the flying boat, and finally upgrade the advanced flying boat.

However, the parts are too numerous and varied, and it takes a lot of time to find all of them. Then, it takes even longer to synthesize and upgrade them one by one.

Time cost is the most expensive cost.

Right now, what she lacks most is time.

Li Zhi abandoned the plan without much hesitation.

After touring Black Iron Port, Li Zhi finally settled on the following plan:

Besides directly purchasing materials that can be upgraded using talent synthesis, the rest should be purchased in large quantities, readily available, and relatively expensive materials. The money saved can then be used to buy larger components or assembly parts.

Combining the two offers the best value for money.

However, she still needed to find out more about the dwarf in front of her.

The dwarf showed no mercy: "If you know the value of the black iron coins, you're asking a question you already know the answer to. If you don't, I don't do business with fools."

Li Zhi was not ashamed at all when he was exposed in public.

She took out the remaining two thousand copper coins, placed the five iron pieces she had left over on the table, and pushed them toward the dwarf.

"Senior, I'll double the brokerage fee as an apology, and then I'll exchange this money. You can take me to find reliable raw material suppliers and craftsmen. As long as I buy all the materials on the list, you can help me pick out the components."

The dwarf's eyes held scrutiny and suspicion: "This should be all your money, right? A third of what you gave me could buy a decent spare part."

Li Zhi: "Isn't this an apology? Besides..."

She took a piece of red ore out of her backpack.

Observing the merchants' transactions, she witnessed bartering on more than one occasion.

On one occasion, she saw the craftsman, who had initially been dismissive, suddenly sit up straight.

A corner of the merchant's black robe fell away, revealing a rock about the size of a thumb, covered in red fungus.

"How much do you think this piece of ore is worth?"

pat.

The monocle fell to the ground.

The dwarf's breathing instantly became heavy.

She stretched out her wrinkled hand and touched the red fungus and ash on the surface of the red rock from a distance.

"You actually have red ore?!"

Her hoarse voice had taken on a sharper edge.

He looked up, and in his eyes, which weren't covered by glasses, flickered subtle emotions.

Li Zhi was shrouded in black robes, yet the hairs on his body stood on end.

At one point, she felt an extreme sense of crisis.

—Killing intent.

This dwarf wanted to kill her because of 0.1 unit of red ore?

Li Zhi felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

Yet, a sense of excitement arose within me.

The value of the red ore was far greater than she had imagined!

And she had a full 7 jin (3.5 catties) in her hand!

The dwarf misunderstood her trembling, slowly withdrew his gaze, and muttered to himself, "It's time. It's not surprising that the new race has had some extraordinary encounters."

She picked up the lens from the ground and pointed to the chair next to Li Zhi: "Sit down."

Li Zhi scrutinized her cloudy eyes.

After a moment's consideration, I decided to sit down.

The dwarf's gaze remained fixed on the red ore in Li Zhi's hand: "Do you have any more of this kind of red ore?"

Li Zhitai was excited, his voice trembling slightly, as he tightened his grip on the red ore in his hand: "There isn't any left."

The dwarf's suspicion lessened slightly, and he said in a hoarse voice, "This is a specialty of the Rock Nest Clan... A hundred years ago, the Rock Nest Clan was also an S-rank race. In the last hundred years, they have fallen to C-rank because of this red ore. If you have this and don't recognize the Rock Nest Clan, and you run into a Rock Nest Clan merchant, even if Black Iron Harbor forbids violence, they will definitely kill you."

Her green eyes gleamed eerily.

Li Zhi's hair stood on end as if he were being warned.

Dwarf: "Sell me this red ore, and I'll take you to the best raw material supplier for free and help you identify the best components. Of course... you can refuse, but you should know that 80% of the merchants in the raw material region are Rocknives."

Beneath the cloak, Li Zhi's eyes narrowed slightly.

Old fox.

They actually wanted to trick her.

However... it's still unknown who tricked whom.

Li Zhi pretended to put the red ore into his backpack, but stopped after hearing the dwarf's heavy breathing. He then asked in a somewhat wary and cautious tone, "How much can you give me?"

However, I had some doubts in my heart.

There might not be many transactions involving red ore here, but it's definitely not rare, otherwise she wouldn't have seen it.

Why did this dwarf look at the red ore in her hand as if he couldn't live without it?

Dwarf: "I'll give you 30 black iron coins."

Li Zhi said indignantly, "When I saw others trading this red ore before, they were trading finished products, and those finished products were priced at 500 black iron coins!"

The dwarf smoothly changed his tune: "Then I'll give you 480, and the remaining 20 will be the brokerage fee. I guarantee you'll get the best price in the raw materials area, and I'll also help you find the most reliable craftsmen."

Li Zhi took out the ore with some skepticism: "Really? But... I can't completely trust you unless you take me shopping first, and then I'll give you this stone."

She thought for a moment and added, "To protect the rights and interests of both parties, I will put it in the transaction transfer area."

The dwarf replied without hesitation, "Yes."

A verbal agreement between businessmen is considered a valid agreement.

A flash of light, and the ore vanished.

Li Zhi reached out his hand: "Where are my 480 black iron coins?"