“Ants moving houses?”
Li Ye carefully considered his words and couldn’t help but ponder.
Before long, he grasped Lin Wu’s meaning.
“So you mean collaborating with the ruined-city communities, having them help search for goblin coins and artifacts?”
“Yes, these communities know the city layout well, and since they have large numbers, they’re ideal for carrying out this task.”
“Imagine community members collecting coins in every street and alley, then bringing them back to the Tomorrow aboard like ants—that should work.”
Li Ye pictured the scene and couldn’t help but grow excited.
“Alright, let’s do as you suggest!”
But afterward, during a search, the Tomorrow’s convoy unexpectedly discovered another survivor community called ‘Friday.’
Li Ye immediately boarded Convoy Two and quickly located the Friday community.
The Friday community’s leader was a poised, short-haired woman in her mid‑thirties, nicknamed “Can‑Opener.”
When she saw Li Ye displaying a range of Level 1 weapons and Level 1 crop seeds, her eyes lit up and she began caressing them lovingly.
“I suppose a mobile city of your size probably isn’t short on resources?” she said, glancing longingly at the Level 1 ATV behind them. “Our community’s materials are pitifully scarce, none of us have any Level 1 items, so I’m afraid we can’t trade with you.”
Li Ye smiled and shook his head.
“I’m not asking for anything from you.”
“As long as you help us collect goblin coins and artifacts, we’ll process those Level 1 items for you for free, and we can just gift you the Level 1 crop seeds.”
“Is that really all?”
Stunned, Can‑Opener’s eyes flickered with fervor.
In terms of familiarity with the city layout, the Friday community was among the best, so gathering materials came naturally to them.
And if simply collecting coins and artifacts could earn them all these quality items for free, it would be a windfall!
So she quickly mobilized her community members.
An hour later, Li Ye tallied their haul.
235 goblin coins, 3 artifacts.
He nodded excitedly—it really worked, this ‘ants moving houses’ approach!
“By the way, do you know where in the city there’s a gallery or museum?” he asked, turning to Can‑Opener.
She thought for a moment before replying.
“There’s a museum in the city center, but it was completely destroyed in a major earthquake several years ago and is now just a ruin.”
“Is that so?” Li Ye couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Nonetheless, he dispatched a convoy, led by members of the Friday community, to that museum ruin to see if any undamaged artifacts could be salvaged.
To his surprise, a few minutes later, he unexpectedly encountered Sir Henry.
It turned out this neutral boss would move randomly through city ruins and warmly greet everyone he met—except goblins.
Li Ye quickly checked the current item exchange list.
【Level 2 Vehicle – Assault Infantry Combat Vehicle “Storm” (hidden item): 28,000 contribution, redeemable quantity: 1】
【Level 2 City Accessory – Universal Work Claw: 21,000 contribution, redeemable quantity: 1】
【Level 1 Defensive Structure – Goblin Fortress Blueprint: 2,000 contribution, redeemable quantity: 0】
【Level 1 Crop Seed – Cabbage: 1,200 contribution, redeemable quantity: 0】
【Level 1 Firearm – Goblin Bandit Machine Gun Blueprint: 1,600 contribution, redeemable quantity: 1】
【Level 1 Artillery – Shadow Cannon Blueprint: 2,500 contribution, redeemable quantity: 0】
【Level 1 City Accessory – City Sail: 1,900 contribution, redeemable quantity: 1】
【Level 1 Weapon – Steam Bed Crossbow: 2,200 contribution, redeemable quantity: 1】
【Level 1 Alloy: 10 contribution, redeemable quantity: 1,730】
【Light Crystal / Molten Crystal / Frost Crystal / Wind‑Erosion Crystal / Shadow Crystal: 2,000 contribution, redeemable quantity: 4】
His eyes widened instantly.
Not even three or four hours in, Level 1 fortress blueprints, Level 1 artillery blueprints, and Level 1 crop seeds had already been redeemed.
Some Level 1 alloys and ore‑vein crystals were also redeemed.
Li Ye wiped the sweat from his brow.
At this rate, all the Level 1 items and resources would be gone in less than a day—the pace was insane.
“We need to speed this up!”
He immediately turned to Can‑Opener.
“Can you contact other communities?”
Within ten minutes, with her introductions, Li Ye met the leaders of two more communities.
But when he offered them the same deal he gave the Friday community, the two leaders exchanged glances and shook their heads.
“Frankly, other mobile cities are offering more.”
Upon closer inquiry, he learned that both the Tomorrow, even other mobile cities, and even the Tarot Alliance had begun wooing these communities.
No one was stupid—they naturally knew how useful these communities were at collecting.
So prices began to spiral.
Some mobile cities offered to process Level 1 firearms and vehicles for free, others just gave them away.
The Tarot Alliance was the strongest—they offered to process Level 1 artillery and Level 1 heavy machine guns for free, and even offered 3 crystal coins per goblin coin.
After all, they were an alliance of twelve predatory cities; they had far more resources than typical mobile cities.
In comparison, the Tomorrow’s offer seemed quite mediocre.
On learning this, Can‑Opener’s eyes flickered; she seemed to be considering switching sides.
Li Ye thought for a moment, then smiled.
“I promise—I can give you more compensation than they can.”
Because compared to those competitors, he held a unique and powerful advantage.
That was intelligence.
He knew precisely how many days before the Wasteland Zone would collapse, its entire terrain, all nearby mobile cities, convoy and survivor numbers, and adjacent areas.
Seeing Li Ye so confident, Can‑Opener and the two other leaders exchanged glances and, half-believing, nodded.
“In that case, we’ll continue cooperating with you.”
Under Li Ye’s coordination, members from all three communities mobilized, frantically searching the city ruins.
With the new dawn, Li Ye tallied the totals.
13,628 goblin coins, 23 artifacts.
And last night, the entire ruined city echoed with artillery and gunfire.
Warring factions had plunged into chaos.
To Li Ye’s astonishment, a few minutes later he encountered Sir Henry again.
“What do you have left now?” Sir Henry asked.