Chapter 19: Spore Town in the Land of Decay

As always, Li Ye began a swift analysis of the intelligence.

First was the initial piece of information: there was a convoy of survivors temporarily camped 15 kilometers away. Given the sheer scale of the mobile city Tomorrow, the resources of a single convoy were truly beneath his notice. The disparity between the two was akin to a whale and a school of tiny fish in the ocean. Furthermore, the convoy lacked the Level 1 blueprints, weapons, or other resources Li Ye desired, so he merely glanced at it before skipping this ordinary-level intelligence.

The second piece of information was quite interesting. To the west of the Wasteland Zone lay the Level 1 "Large Basin Region," which would take a month to reach. This was another new region Li Ye had learned of, following the Evernight Zone. However, all things considered, he had no intention of heading to the Basin Region for now. After all, when it came to development, the Wasteland Zone sufficed; there was no need to venture to another Level 1 region, especially one that required a month of travel. His primary target remained the Evernight Zone, and the Basin Region could at best be considered a backup option.

The third piece of information took him by surprise. This time, a new Level 1 mobile city had appeared. This mobile city had taken on two opponents simultaneously and emerged victorious. In the wild, 1-on-1 duels between mobile cities were already fierce, and being outnumbered 2-to-1 put one at a total disadvantage. It meant the enemy had double the artillery, heavy machine guns, and harassment vehicles at their disposal. Yet, the Vanguard had managed to win. This undoubtedly meant that the mobile city possessed an excellent commander, outstanding combat personnel, and precise coordination.

"There really are a lot of monsters out there!" Li Ye couldn't help but exclaim. The Crimson Hound, with its two Level 1 cannons and nearly a hundred combatants, had already stunned him; he hadn't expected another one like the Vanguard to appear. At the same time, he felt a surge of envy. This time, the Vanguard had annexed the resources of two entire mobile cities, meaning the strength of this Level 1 city would skyrocket.

The fourth piece of information concerned the Roland Fortress. Li Ye was surprised to see that the fortress was not as monolithic as he had imagined, riddled with internal conflicts instead.

The fifth piece of information piqued his interest. "A neutral monster town can actually appear in the Rotten Lands?" he wondered in surprise.

The previous encounter with the Kobold convoy had given Li Ye a taste of the benefits. He immediately set the destination for Tomorrow to the Rotten Lands. Just as he was about to head to the cockpit to issue the order, his gaze inadvertently fell back on the first piece of information. A new idea suddenly struck him. This convoy might not have what he needed, but he could sell things to them! After all, he had Falcon assault rifles on hand, and such Level 1 weapons were highly sought after.

With his mind made up, he ordered Tomorrow to set off toward the southwest.

When the convoy saw a mobile city heading their way, they were dumbfounded. Sitting around their campfire, they dropped their food and scrambled toward their vehicles. Just then, Tomorrow sounded its horn: two long blasts and one short. The leader of the convoy stopped in his tracks, saying with skepticism, "That's a signal for communication. Let's see what they want."

A few minutes later, the two parties met. Li Ye observed the convoy and found it consisted of four off-road vehicles, two buses, and two trucks—a not insignificant scale. He immediately displayed the Falcon assault rifles he had brought. The eyes of the convoy members lit up instantly; for them, Level 1 firearms were undoubtedly the rarest and most desirable goods.

The convoy didn't have much in the way of crystal coins, but their trucks carried over 700 units of iron ore, 300 units of coal, and 100 units of fuel. They had collected these recently and originally intended to transport them to a town to sell. After some bargaining, Li Ye processed six Falcon assault rifles for them at a price of 50 units of iron ore per rifle. As for the bullets, he included them as a free service. In one fell swoop, he had easily earned 300 units of iron ore.

Not only that, but Li Ye also intended to sell them Blueheart potato seeds—after harvesting his Blueheart potatoes, he had produced over a dozen bags of seeds by cutting the tubers. However, the convoy leader shook his head and refused. Li Ye was initially confused, but he soon understood. Unlike mobile cities, a convoy had no fields to grow crops, and their primary food source was trade in towns. For a convoy, nothing was more important than fuel to keep moving in the wild and weapons to effectively kill monsters. In the wasteland, every convoy, fortress, mobile city, survivor squad, and bounty hunter had their own way of surviving.

After the transaction was complete, the two parties went their separate ways. Along the way, Li Ye stopped by the freshwater lake marked on his map to replenish his water supply.

By noon the next day, Tomorrow arrived at the Rotten Lands. The region was far larger than Li Ye had imagined, and it was only after searching the southwest for quite a while that he finally discovered the Spore Town.

The small town was nestled in a depression illuminated by bioluminescent ferns. The houses were giant, hollowed-out mushrooms, and the ground was covered in a highly elastic fungal network. The residents of Spore Town were mushroom people of various colors and shapes, busy with their own affairs. Upon seeing two behemoths beside the town, Li Ye's heart skipped a beat—they were two Level 1 mobile cities; someone had arrived before him. The two mobile cities were parked on opposite sides of Spore Town, and they did not appear to be allies.

"I might as well go and take a look," he muttered to himself.

Through the notice board at the entrance of Spore Town, Li Ye and his crew learned the following:

First, Spore Town would only be open for three days, after which it would cease all interaction with the outside world.

Second, as a neutral monster town, all factions were prohibited from fighting within a one-kilometer radius of Spore Town. Any party that violated this rule would become an enemy of all the town's residents. Furthermore, Spore Town was an enemy faction to the Ant-men who occupied the Rotten Lands.

Third, the town's administrator would offer a series of precious items for sale, but to purchase them, one needed to accumulate contribution points.

The ways to accumulate contribution points were as follows:
[Kill an ordinary Ant-man: 5 points]
[Kill an elite Ant-man: 20 points]
[Kill an elite captain Ant-man: 100 points]
[Kill a wild boss-level Ant-man: 2,000 points]
[Conquer an Ant-man stronghold: 50 points]
[Conquer an Ant-man-occupied mine/forest/quarry: 200 points]
[Conquer an Ant-man town: 500 points]
[...]