Chapter 61: Weapon Obtained, Stone Gets Sick!

4 PM in the afternoon.Cheng Ye walked out of the checkpoint in a daze, looked up at the sky, and felt as if he were in another lifetime.

Who could have imagined that before stepping into the checkpoint this morning, he was still a poor wretch with a debt of 107 points.

After just eight hours, he could already pay off all his debts and still have some savings?

Wait, this comparison might not be obvious enough.

Converting it to earning a house in one morning and paying off a 30-year loan might be more appropriate.

Of course, now wasn't the time to pay back money, he needed to hurry and purchase equipment to resist the Stand-In Starfish.

With his sudden windfall, Cheng Ye didn't even bother to acknowledge the Western inspector who had just switched shifts with him, hastily completing the handover procedures before rushing out.

"Inspector Cheng!"

Carson, who had been squatting at the entrance, waved excitedly and ran over, "The car is ready. Where would you like to go for resource trading?"

Cheng Ye pulled back his wandering thoughts and looked at the small pickup truck parked not far away:

"Do you know the transcendent materials store near the Great Wall?"

"I know! Of course I know! I dream of getting some transcendent materials to sell there!"

Carson rubbed his hands excitedly, "The Great Wall trading post is within 300 meters of there. I'm very familiar with it."

"Then let's go to the Great Wall trading post."

Cheng Ye nodded, followed Carson into the car, and settled into the passenger seat.

Indeed, the front row of this small pickup was much more comfortable than the big van, with excellent seat support, far exceeding the BYD Qin he often took rides in before transmigrating, comparable to an Aion Y.

After feeling around carefully, he discovered that the seat surface seemed to be wrapped in mutant beast hide, which explained the comfort.

"This is deer hide I got a long time ago. The quality was too poor, so I used it myself," Carson leaned forward from the back seat to introduce it, "Sir, it's rare to see an Eastern inspector like you at the North Station."

This was naked probing, which Cheng Ye naturally understood.

For buffer zone residents, whether bottom-tier scavengers or higher-level caravan leaders, the more inspectors they could curry favor with, the more comfortable their lives would be.

"I'm rather special, I can go to both South Station and North Station, wherever I want to go."

Drawing pie charts, who couldn't do that?

Cheng Ye said cheerfully, "My defense pass ID is 96061. If you encounter any trouble in the future, just give me a call. As long as it doesn't involve matters of principle, helping with small favors is no problem."

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"

Carson repeatedly expressed his great joy.

Although he knew in his heart that the definition of "small favors" completely depended on Cheng Ye's subjective judgment, so what? Since Cheng Ye had opened this door, it meant he didn't reject their flattery.

That was enough!

Many independent operators simply didn't have this opportunity to build relationships, which was why they remained stuck in place.

Chatting along the way, Carson talked endlessly about interesting stories from the ruins and recent conditions of several surrounding settlements.

Although Cheng Ye was curious, to maintain his experienced persona, he forcibly suppressed his urge to ask follow-up questions.

The small pickup soon merged onto the main road and joined two large vans.

This was Cheng Ye's first time riding in a "private car" to the main city area, which felt quite uncomfortable.

The attention rate was simply too high, instantly attracting hundreds of focused gazes wherever they went.

It was even more attention-grabbing than modern supercars.

Fortunately, although water barrier isolation strips were set up along the route to divert crowds, vehicle controls were relatively lenient.

They traveled smoothly without obstruction and soon arrived at the Happiness Great Wall bus station.

The driver skillfully turned the wheel, and the car entered an alley, winding back and forth before finally stopping in front of a shop hidden deep in the alley.

[Great Wall Material Purchase and Sales Station]

"Sir, this place only serves caravans and doesn't accept ordinary independent scavengers. Caravans basically all have vehicles, and to ensure privacy, the station is set up in this kind of corner," Carson noticed Cheng Ye's confusion and quickly explained enthusiastically:

"Moreover, the purchase prices here are one point higher than other places. We're always happy to trade here."

No wonder he was so happy, turns out he could get an extra point!

Cheng Ye immediately understood, thinking that next time he had something similar, choosing this place would indeed be good.

First, it was truly discreet, and second, caravans were willing to cooperate.

Getting out of the car, walking into the purchase station, the process was surprisingly simple.

Cheng Ye handed over his badge and swiped it, and the staff at the purchase counter began counting the goods without a word.

In less than half an hour, the goods were settled and the payment was immediately credited.

[New Era Year 35, June 30, 17:03, duty bonus transferred '34' contribution points]

[Balance: 119 points]

[Note: Duty work, consignment sales (Great Wall Material Purchase and Sales Station)]

"Sir, do you need to go anywhere else? I can have someone drive you?"

"No need."

Declining Carson's kind offer, Cheng Ye walked through the alley with light steps, unable to help whistling a couple of times.

Indeed, people don't get rich without windfalls, horses don't get fat without night grass.

The Hidden Ice Snake gave 57 points, plus the income from the convoy and Bloodthirsty Rat, his earnings surged by 119 points in one day.

If the Corrupt Vine reward was settled, after buying a complete set of equipment, he might even have some left over!

First, go to the transcendent materials store to get the weapon.

Seeing Cheng Ye coming up the stairs, Master Liu reached under the counter and pulled out a small square box:

"Inspector Cheng is really lucky. This 'Cyclone Spike' happened to be made when Old Song got the itch to work. Take a look."

"Old Song?"

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow and hurried to the counter in two quick steps.

He didn't know who Old Song was, but judging from Master Liu's tone, his craftsmanship must be extraordinary.

Lightly pushing the box with his fingertip, a flash of cold light suddenly burst forth.

"Good blade!"

Regarding cold weapons, Cheng Ye actually didn't have much concept.

In his view, the training short blade that Liu Bi had applied for him was already sufficiently amazing, absolutely a divine weapon in modern times.

But when this Cyclone Spike was placed before him, he truly understood what distinguished quality meant.

The 3g of Fire-Iron might sound like very little, but after being integrated into the forging, it made every arc of light on the blade edge glow with a pale orange halo, like the rising morning sun.

A heart-stopping sharpness surrounded the blade, as if it could cut even air in half.

Below, the specially treated skin-friendly nylon handle also felt exceptional.

Cheng Ye couldn't help reaching out to grasp it. The moment his fingertips touched it, it felt like his arm had extended forward, with absolutely no sense of stagnation or obstruction.

"Good blade!"

Cheng Ye lightly swung his wrist, feeling the enhancement brought by the Fire-Iron, and couldn't help sighing again.

No wonder countless people in ancient times would fight bloody battles over a precious blade. Such a handy weapon had truly captivating charm.

"Works well, doesn't it?" Master Liu showed a genuine smile. Seeing Cheng Ye's repeated praise, he also began grinning foolishly.

A precious blade matched with a hero.

Although Cheng Ye looked quite young, the love in his eyes couldn't be hidden.

If such a sharp weapon fell into the hands of someone who didn't appreciate it, that would truly be a waste of natural resources.

"There's also a scabbard below. Originally you would have had to pay for it, but Old Song got the itch and helped you forge it too."

Master Liu spoke while taking out a very impressive metal scabbard from the bottom of the box.

Although the scabbard body wasn't carved with dragon patterns or phoenix feathers, just a simple mountain range pattern winding along it, combined with the faintly red lustrous surface, it emanated an indescribable mystical feeling.

"You must remember, when not in use, you must keep the blade in the scabbard. Weapons forged with transcendent materials must be stored in specially made scabbards, otherwise their special properties will continuously dissipate and disappear."

"Good!"

Cheng Ye nodded in agreement, took the scabbard and tested it, finding it indeed fit perfectly.

"I wonder who Old Song is?"

"An old friend of your father's."

Master Liu waved his hand, "Old Song told us not to reveal too much to you, only saying that giving you this blade would repay the favor he owed your father."

"Mm."

Cheng Ye was stunned for a moment, then nodded lightly.

He had originally thought that Cheng Long had only accumulated connections at the checkpoint, not expecting there to be old friends involved in the inner city too.

If it were the original owner, these favors probably couldn't be cashed in at all.

But falling into his hands, they became real assistance, benefiting him greatly along the way.

"By the way, Master Liu, you mentioned before that this Cyclone Spike can also be reverse-connected to a steel pipe to become a three-edged spear. I'd like to forge a spear shaft now. How much would that cost?"

Cheng Ye put the Cyclone Spike into his backpack and took out the meteorite iron the four brothers had given him two days ago: "Take a look at this ore, can it be used for forging?"

"Oh, it's black stone?"

Master Liu took the ore, pulled out a hammer and tapped it lightly twice, observed it for a while, then evaluated: "Good quality, sufficient for making a spear shaft."

"Black stone?"

"This is a derivative of the transcendent curse underground in our Shi Province, one of a kind."

Master Liu explained, "After the land was contaminated, many stones also mutated. Outsiders like to call this 'stones getting sick.' Mutated stones occasionally carry special properties. This black stone of yours looks like it was dug from deep underground, its special property should be 'hardness.'"

"How many contribution points is it worth?"

Master Liu held up one palm, and Cheng Ye's heart jumped.

A person's luck is limited, could he really have struck it big today?

First running into the Hidden Ice Snake, now this ore could also be worth a good price?

"50?"

"Not that much, just 5 points."

Master Liu quickly shook his head, "This is even a friendship price considering your face. If scavengers brought it, I'd give 2 points at most."

He paused, tapping the black stone with his fingertip: "Don't think this thing is very hard, it's extremely troublesome to forge. Stones contaminated by transcendent curses have special structures. If you're slightly careless during quenching, they'll crack. Nine out of ten blocks have to be scrapped."

"Besides, who still values purely hard materials nowadays? Anyone with a bit of ambition uses composite transcendent materials. This stuff was only treasured by scavengers at the beginning of the New Era."

5 points, that was fine.

Cheng Ye secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a spear shaft, as long as it was usable.

After all, only when actively dealing with infected entities would middle-distance combat be needed. The short spike form was completely sufficient at the checkpoint.

Moreover, the "hardness" property granted by the transcendent curse was just right for a spear shaft.

"Forging fee is 10 points, still considering your face, I gave you a 50% discount."

"Can I continue to owe it? The reward for catching the infected entity hasn't been settled for me yet. I'll pay you together next time I come?"

"Sure, as long as you're not asking me to waive it, you can settle it in a month."

Master Liu smiled. His straightforwardness wasn't because of the inspector's status, but because of Old Song's attitude.

Even Old Song was willing to repay a favor to this inspector. Now that he could have this person remember him a favor, what wouldn't he be willing to do?

"Um, according to the current schedule, come pick it up in two days."

"Alright."

Taking the pickup slip, Cheng Ye picked up his backpack and walked out of the shop.

The evening sunlight slanted down.

He squinted toward the horizon, feeling that this warm light was particularly comfortable.

Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction.

Even if the starfish outbreak was unavoidable, his probability of survival was far higher than before.

This was the confidence to take root in the wasteland!