Chapter 30: Having Money, But Not Much

Chapter30: We Have Money, But Not Much

A few hours later, in Han Shui City, a secluded dwelling near the city's edge.

Xu Lie sat opposite Chen Jian, dividing a pile of gold that glowed with a soft light into two portions, large and small, then said to Chen Jian:

The gold here totals 2,160 grams, all from our recent Chuan Sha expedition and the loot from the 'trade' in Xia Ma Town.

The larger pile weighs 1,500 grams; I'll give it all to you, an advance on your bounty.

After deducting the transport fees you promised and the payment to that girl for the ballistic calculator, and applying an eighty‑twenty split, your bounty still leaves 4,000 grams of gold, which I will pay you upon reaching Jin Ling and receiving the reward.

By then, all our financial questions will be settled.

When he finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded and said:

Quite fair—how should we price this property and these two batteries?

Consider it a gesture of friendship from the Holy Blood Hall; we'll cover it.

Xu Lie waved his hand generously and continued:

I've already had Li Shi purchase a batch of basic supplies; they'll arrive shortly.

Don't think of this as a transaction; as I said, this hunt succeeded so smoothly largely because of your efforts—we merely ran errands.

Thus, within our means, we are also willing to offer some recompense.

Then thank you.

Chen Jian showed no affectation, partly because he knew Xu Lie's words were true, and partly because he had already discerned the other's intention to win him over.

In this strange world, our squad has yet to find its footing; if a greater power seeks to court us, why not go with the flow?

Even if our ideals differ, that is a matter for another day; it does not prevent him from taking advantage now.

And upon seeing Chen Jian's reaction, Xu Lie also let out a relieved smile.

He had genuinely feared these Chosen Ones would reject his goodwill, but fortunately they were not so unapproachable.

Thus, he promptly continued:

You probably saw the value of gold back at the market just now.

Roughly speaking, one gram of gold can buy a day's food and water for an adult; its value is based on that logic.

However, because gold is too heavy and hard to divide, most people do not use it directly in trade—it serves merely as a measure of value?

So, if you need to buy small quantities of goods or conduct everyday transactions, the best approach is to first exchange gold for more divisible items—such as bullets, metal, cloth, and the like—and then use those items for trade.

The prices of these goods are basically stable, there are always buyers, and even if you take a loss, it won't be huge.

Understood.

Through Xu Lie's words, Chen Jian gained a basic grasp of this world's monetary economy.

Clearly, this world is at the tail end of a barter economy's development; the concept of using gold as an equivalent has emerged, yet in actual transactions, due to various issues, gold has not yet been directly and widely employed, so one must still go through an extra step.

Still, having an equivalent is already good; though it is a bit cumbersome, at least the logic of money is established, so one won't be completely in the dark.

If it were pure barter, that would be a death sentence.

Thus, Chen Jian signaled Lei Jie beside him to put away the squad's share of gold, then asked:

What next? Where are you planning to go?

We too intend to rest in Han Shui City for a while, perhaps a month or two?

We will take on some new hunting missions; if you're interested, you can join us.

While speaking, Xu Lie rose to his feet and said:

In short, our lodging is right across the street; if you need anything, come find me anytime.

All right, I need to go back and sleep; tomorrow I'll show you around Han Shui City properly.

So, goodbye?

Goodbye.

Chen Jian instinctively reached out his hand, while Xu Lie raised his left hand forty‑five degrees upward diagonally, then drew it to his chest and bowed, saying:

May the Holy Blood protect you.

Chen Jian was startled by that gesture, coughed, hesitated a moment, then finally saluted him.

Xu Lie turned and left; the four people in the room stared at each other.

Shen Yue was the first to speak:

Where did they learn that gesture? Could these Holy Blood adherents be remnants of the Life Source Project?

Forget it.

Chen Jian waved his hand and said:

Even if the little moustache is mighty, he can't control East Asian affairs; it's probably just a coincidence.

Let's not dwell on that; bring out everything and take stock of our supplies.

At the command, everyone sprang into action.

Next, they removed the camouflage from all their gear and placed each item on the floor of the room.

The other three counted them off one by one, while Chen Jian repeatedly tallied and updated the inventory on his PDA.

The electronic devices are basically fully charged; that's not bad—electricity is scarce, but not as dire as I imagined.

It mainly comes down to the condition of the equipment.

Special Equipment 1: tactical nuclear warhead, status unknown.

Special Equipment 2: six sleeve‑arrow micro‑missiles (no launcher), damaged, awaiting repair.

Special Equipment 3: unidentified model mechanical exoskeleton, damaged, awaiting repair.

Thermobaric grenades, three.

Fragmentation grenade, one.

9×19mm submachine‑gun rounds, sixty‑five.

5.8mm rifle rounds, two hundred sixteen.

12.7mm sniper rounds, twenty‑nine, of which twelve are incendiary‑tipped.

7.62mm general‑purpose rifle rounds, ninety‑one—though most were taken from those homemade guns, so reliability is lacking.

DCV05‑type 5.8mm whisper‑quiet pistol rounds, four.

Other miscellaneous items we won't bother with—shells, rifled barrels, and the like.

After all combat materiel had been tallied, Chen Jian shook his head, set down his PDA, and said:

We're really dirt‑poor with just this stuff; even a close‑quarters battle would be a stretch, let alone taking on those monsters.

But the good news is, we have money.

According to Han Shui City's rates—one gram of gold buys two to three 7.62mm rounds—our current funds are fairly ample.

But it's not ample by much.

Shen Yue let out a self‑deprecating laugh:

“1,500 grams of gold, converted by basic commodity prices, would be worth at least 150,000 RMB in our era, yet it can only buy over three thousand rounds of ammunition.”

“Damn, that’s over fifty times the price—even the Americans wouldn’t dare play like that.”

“What else do you want? What era is this anyway?”

Chen Jian glared at Shen Yue, then said:

“In short, what we need to do now is to turn this money into equipment and supplies as quickly as possible.”

“Especially the 7.62 mm ammunition—we must stock enough for Shen Yue’s machine gun.”

“Furthermore, we should try to find new heavy weapons as best we can.”

“Lei Jie’s sniper grenades and my LG6 are almost impossible to resupply, but we are desperately short of heavy firepower, so we’ll have to scavenge whatever junk we can.”

“But let’s leave it for tomorrow; it’s too late now.”

While speaking, Chen Jian glanced at his watch—it was already past seven.

Outside, the power‑less Han Shui City was gradually sinking into darkness; the dim candlelight spilling from building windows gave Chen Jian a sense of peace.

Someone knocked on the door; Chen Jian opened it to see Li Shi, who had brought the living supplies.

His expression remained respectful; after delivering the goods, he performed the same “Holy Blood Salute” as Xu Lie and then turned and left.

Chen Jian lit a candle, set the night watch roster, then collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

He had been utterly exhausted lately.

A week of drills had already nearly drained his stamina; to his surprise, after the drills ended he found himself transported.

One battle after another—looking back now, it felt like a dream.

In his hazy state, Chen Jian truly began to dream.

He dreamed he was back at Zhurihe, using the cover of sand and wind to roar forward in a Dongfeng‑type armored vehicle straight into Commander Man Guangzhi’s headquarters.

Inside the headquarters, Man Guangzhi laughed unrestrained; seeing the Dongfeng vehicle closing in, he raised his hand and a tactical nuclear bomb fell from the sky.

With a deafening boom, Chen Jian and his vehicle were flung to the ground.

When he struggled to his feet again, his hand was already gripping the 1911 pistol placed beside the bed.

“Explosion!”

Chen Jian, rolling beside the bed, snatched up a nearby helmet and put it on, while Shen Yue, on watch, already had his rifle trained on the window.

“There’s a blast about a kilometer out, preceded by a whistling sound—like a mortar!”

His words had barely left his lips when a shrill whistle sounded again from the air.

Then a shell landed on the edge of Han Shui City.

“Boom!”

The explosion rang out; Chen Jian expected the whole city to erupt in chaos, but in fact nobody seemed to care.

“What the hell does this mean??”

Chen Jian grabbed the radio; before he could speak, Xu Lie’s voice came through the earpiece.

“Chosen One! Chosen One!”

“I’m here!”

Chen Jian answered immediately, while Xu Lie spoke calmly:

“Don’t worry—it’s just a high‑level demon of the Blood Skulls harassing us; they’re weak, firing wildly and posing no real threat.”

“The city guards will handle it; you just rest easy”

Rest easy?

Chen Jian gave a hollow chuckle.

Now he could feel safe, but there was no need to rest.

These so‑called “high‑level demons” are probably a bit smarter than the water ghosts he’d seen before; they can even use weapons.

But only to the extent of “being able to use” them.

Since that’s the case, it would be better to hand your weapons over to those who need them more!

(End of chapter)