Chapter Twelve: Being a Good Person
The convoy halted outside the valley, preparing for the next stage of negotiations with the people from Shelter 364.
The drivers turned their vehicles around, forming a protective circle. Some of the crew got out and unloaded numerous copper and gold plates from the trucks, constructing a sealed defensive perimeter.
Given the mutual distrust, the only way to conduct such trades was through low frequency, repeated exchanges in small quantities. Both sides needed to meticulously inspect each other's goods, which consumed considerable time. With so many rounds, the process grew even longer. Such lengthy dealings couldn't be conducted inside the vehicles.
As the leader of the convoy, Lang Wei naturally didn’t bother with these menial tasks. He lounged comfortably in his cab, enjoying the air conditioning and leisurely flipping through a book.
After a while, the man in copper armor approached again.
“Boss, after receiving the first cultivation manual, that guy says he’s ready for the next trade, but he wants something a bit better this time.”
“Do you really need to ask? Just pick a slightly better piece of trash for him, but double the gold price,” Lang Wei replied carelessly.
“Brilliant as always, Boss. At this rate, we’ll clean out this shelter’s gold reserves with barely a dozen worthless manuals,” the copper-armored man flattered.
Lang Wei grinned smugly. “Heh, these guys are both unfortunate and lucky. They have no idea what the world outside is like—clearly they’ve been sealed away too long and don’t even know basic market prices. But if we can rob them blind of their gold with mere scraps of manuals, I can’t be bothered to risk storming the shelter.”
“Exactly! If they were strong, they’d come out openly to trade, and wouldn’t be so clueless about the value of these trash techniques. Truth is, you could buy every common repelling technique on the market for half a pound of gold,” the copper-armored man chimed in.
“Enough. Just follow my orders, clean them out bit by bit. I’m going to read my novel now,” Lang Wei said impatiently.
“Yes, yes, Boss, you have a good rest,” the copper-armored man replied, scurrying off.
From then on, the remote-controlled little car became the medium for all exchanges.
The copper-armored man observed closely and discovered the small car emerged through a thick drainage pipe next to the gilded gate—clearly, the other side was extremely cautious.
“Hmph, be as careful as you like, you’re still going to be cleaned out by us. Sure enough, as long as we can find these sealed shelters, it’s a gold mine. A few tattered manuals can be traded for so much gold,” the copper-armored man muttered disdainfully as the transactions continued. “If I get my hands on a hundred kilos of gold this time, I’m definitely asking Boss to upgrade me to gold armor. This copper suit is not only clunky, but it’s downright embarrassing…”
……
Meanwhile, inside the shelter.
Fan Bei was reading The Father of Systems. On the first page of “System Creation,” the trashy repelling technique he’d just traded for had already appeared.
“Available initial skills for the system: Nameless Meditation Technique (Incomplete), Basic Dog Claw, Basic Bite, Mysterious Sense of Smell, Basic Exorcism Fist (Incomplete).”
When he focused his mind on a skill, detailed cultivation instructions would appear, with illustrations and even animated demonstrations.
Of course, Fan Bei had no desire to practice dog claws or biting, so he ignored those and concentrated on the newly acquired “Basic Exorcism Fist (Incomplete).”
“Damn, they’re ruthless—just a basic-level manual, and even that’s incomplete…” After reading it thoroughly, he confirmed it was pure rubbish and cursed under his breath.
After reading through the first incomplete manual he’d acquired, he chose to continue trading with these people.
Kilo after kilo of gold disappeared, bought for nothing but incomplete, basic-level manuals—not even a single intermediate one, let alone something advanced.
These people were not only greedy but downright deceitful; some manuals were even marked by The Father of Systems as “Unusable.”
Fan Bei suppressed his anger and endured, unwilling to expose himself. After all, by asking to trade for cultivation manuals, he’d already revealed the shelter had been closed off for many years.
He’d considered bluffing with The Father of Systems, but there was no time to properly understand these techniques. If the other side interrogated him, he’d be exposed anyway—better to quietly accept being swindled.
The trading lasted from noon until sunset; only then did the small-scale, repeated, distrustful transactions finally come to a halt.
One hundred kilograms of gold were gone, exchanged for eleven manuals.
In the end, perhaps out of guilt, the other side finally provided an intermediate-level exorcism manual, but it came at the steepest price—twenty kilograms of gold, draining his reserves completely.
Fan Bei lay back on his bed, opened The Father of Systems, and fixed his gaze on the third page.
Judging by the time, the “Good Person” system should have activated…
To ensure the “Good Person” system’s jade would end up in the hands of the convoy leader, Fan Bei had deliberately placed it with the trade goods in a conspicuous spot.
The trigger was set for five hours later; only the leader would possess it for so long.
To ensure it stood out to the leader, he’d even consumed some mental energy to imbue the jade with a “cooling” property.
Of course, it was possible some bold individual might privately stash the jade, but anyone with such nerve would likely be on par with the leader, so the plan would still work.
……
As the sun set, outside the shelter in the valley, the vehicles formed a ring, with copper plates sealing the perimeter above and below—a fully enclosed temporary fortress.
Inside, lights blazed and the air was stifling.
The burly Lang Wei, a smile on his face, addressed the group:
“You’ve all worked hard these past few days, and I have a few words for you.”
The men, cross-legged on the copper plates, responded listlessly, “Thank you for your hard work, Boss.”
In this air, they were desperate to crawl back into their vehicles and sleep with the air conditioning on.
“I read a book today, and after everything that’s happened, I’ve finally had an idea.”
“Boss, what new wisdom do you have for us?” they dutifully prompted.
“From today on, we’re going to change our ways. And I—I’m going to be a good person…” The tall, burly man declared, almost tediously. “Also, I’m changing my name. From now on, I’m not Lang Wei. Call me Lang Sheng.”
Everyone stared at each other, rubbing their ears in disbelief. Some even tried to pull out a black rod, as if to poke the boss whom they’d never dare offend under normal circumstances.
“What are those expressions for?” the burly man snapped, eyes wide. “Do you think I’m joking?”
“No, no, Boss, you’ve always been a good person. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have survived till now, let alone captured a copper fortress,” replied the slender man who’d handled the daytime trades, now stripped of his armor, hastily flattering him.
“Hmm, that’s more like it,” Lang Wei—no, Lang Sheng—smiled in satisfaction, then corrected, “What do you mean, ‘captured’? It was my virtue and strength—people stepped aside willingly.”
“Of course, Boss always wins people over with virtue.”
Everyone chimed in, but their eyes said plainly: “The boss must be possessed by an evil spirit—maybe even a clownish one.”
“Hmph, a bunch of fools,” Lang Sheng scolded. “Don’t you realize that if we had a good reputation, those people wouldn’t have been so scared and hidden in their shelter during today’s trade?”
“Even though we swindled them, who knows what treasures they might be hiding? Things like Evil Spirit Cores—they’d never trade those with people they don’t trust. They’ll only offer common goods, to avoid arousing our greed… If we try to rob them outright, it’ll be a fight to the death,” Lang Sheng sneered.
“Oh, I get it now—brilliant, Boss!” the group replied, thinking they understood. “You’re going to play the wolf in grandma’s clothes, right? You could have just said so—we almost thought you were possessed.”
The man with the black rod quickly put it away and plastered on a smile.
Lang Sheng looked at them all, nodded, and his face broke into a gentle smile.
[Wolf in grandma’s clothes? In the future, I’ll turn every last one of you into Little Red Riding Hood! That way, my good person points will pile up quickly, and soon, I’ll unlock my own exclusive system! Hahaha, I really am destined to be the protagonist of a novel.
Those fools in the shelter—sealed away too long, never practiced a meditation technique above bronze level, their mental strength is weak, unable to see the jade’s true nature, and they’ve handed the protagonist’s fortune right into my hands!
But since I’m going to be a good person, I must repay every favor. I’ll start with fair trade…]
End of page.