Once these words were spoken, everyone fell silent, clearly resistant to the idea of asking Chu Xiu for help.
In reality, there was no real conflict between them and Chu Xiu, but people are inherently exclusive, and in an unsafe post-apocalyptic environment, this exclusivity can be greatly amplified.
Especially since they had just been bad-mouthing Chu Xiu, and now they had to ask for his assistance, it was somewhat awkward for them.
Guan Ke continued, "I know none of you like Chu Xiu, but those Bone Armors truly allow him to hunt Corpse Demons on his own."
"We've already accumulated a lot of corpses. If we can convert them into Equipment, it could greatly enhance the squad's combat power."
"Plus, some of the corpses are already starting to rot and need to be processed quickly."
After a long silence, Shen Zhuo sighed and said, "Understood, I'll go talk to him."
Minutes later, there was a knock on the door of the room where Chu Xiu was staying.
"Chu Xiu, are you there? I'd like to discuss the matter of refining Equipment."
Chu Xiu opened the door, and Shen Zhuo came in, carrying a box of neatly arranged venison.
This surprised Chu Xiu a bit.
He didn't stand on ceremony and reached out to accept it.
Though with his current physical state, he could go without eating until the Trial ended, lacking energy replenishment would definitely impact his combat condition.
The part Yun Lu gave wasn't nearly enough.
Chu Xiu calmly took a piece of meat and started eating: "I didn't expect there would still be wild deer in this place."
"We found it strange too," Shen Zhuo laughed, "and this deer was quite fat, not like it was living around here."
Chu Xiu took another piece and put it in his mouth, seemingly thinking of something: "Earlier when I observed the surroundings, I noticed the outskirts of the city were surrounded by forest, it might have come from there."
Shen Zhuo nodded: "I agree, this city seems a bit odd. Regular plants struggle to grow here, but once you leave, they aren't affected... By the way, how was your harvest today?"
"Didn't meet expectations." Chu Xiu said.
His response made Shen Zhuo show an "I thought so" smile: "Acting alone certainly grants complete experience, but there's too much to worry about, and the hunting efficiency actually decreases."
"That's fine in normal times, but today the density of Corpse Demons in the building suddenly dropped. Without Yun Lu's help, it's normal not to gain much."
"So, do you want to reconsider joining the team?"
Facing Shen Zhuo's repeated invitation, Chu Xiu shook his head.
"Alright," Shen Zhuo seemed a bit disappointed, but didn't force it, instead asked: "What level are you now? Level 2 or Level 3?"
Chu Xiu didn't answer, instead took a big bite of the venison, playing dumb: "Why tell me all this?"
Shen Zhuo laughed: "Just assume you got lucky and reached Level 3. Even with armor protection, every time a Level 3 Support Profession hunts a Corpse Demon, it's like playing with death."
"So, you should be urgently seeking ways to improve your combat power now?"
"I actually have a suggestion."
"Help you manufacture Bone Armor?" Chu Xiu asked.
"Exactly!" Shen Zhuo nodded, "The Corpse Demons we hunted, all their intact corpses have been painstakingly brought back. Including previous ones, there are a total of thirteen Corpse Demon corpses."
"This is quite a lucrative deal that can greatly alleviate your current predicament." Shen Zhuo said.
Chu Xiu rubbed his chin: "What price do you plan to offer?"
"How about 1 Cause and Effect Point per corpse?" Shen Zhuo sliced him a piece of meat, "For Black-haired Corpse Ghosts, add an extra fifty percent."
Hearing Shen Zhuo's words, Chu Xiu shook his head with a smile, then raised a finger.
"10 points per corpse."
"Ten Cause and Effect Points?" Shen Zhuo's brows shot up, his pitch rising by an octave, "Just for activating a Talent, why is it worth so much?"
Chu Xiu smiled and said: "My Talent isn't without limits; it heavily consumes my Physical Strength."
Shen Zhuo's brow twitched: "That's still too much."
Chu Xiu, well-prepared, said: "With a Black-haired Corpse Ghost's corpse, I can create a piece of Ordinary Quality equipment."
"You know, because of the Trial, sometimes Mortal Tier equipment sells higher than Warrior Tier, especially High Tier artifacts, the price skyrockets! Even Ordinary Quality equipment can easily sell for twenty or thirty thousand Huaxia Coins."
"And the recovery price for one Cause and Effect Point is between seven and eight thousand. Although it is a state-regulated item, you rich kids have your ways to get it, right?"
"Given the special times, me charging a bit more isn't unreasonable."
"True," Shen Zhuo didn't deny Chu Xiu's statement, "but you don't need to provide the materials, so it's pure profit for you. The price is just too high."
"Also, Cause and Effect Points are strictly regulated, much harder to get than you'd imagine, how could their value be based on the state's recovery price?"
"Moreover, we've already passed the most difficult phase. Survival isn't an issue even without your Equipment, just the upgrade speed would slow down."
"Today, we even found a Bone Sword, and many people came with their own Equipment, like Wang Long's Metal bat, Xinyi's sawed-off handgun, and so on..."
Chu Xiu didn't argue back.
Indeed, besides Yun Lu, who was penniless, others more or less had some Equipment.
The girl named Wu Xinyi seemed to come from a good family, even bringing a handgun.
However, due to its noise and limited bullets, she hadn't used it yet.
"What do you say?" Chu Xiu asked.
Shen Zhuo said: "I'm not fond of haggling, so I'll be straightforward. Three points for Black-haired Corpse Ghosts, two points for ordinary ones, that's my bottom line."
Looking at his forcibly calm face, Chu Xiu narrowed his eyes.
Liar.
He was nervous, his heart rate was ten percent faster than usual, his Adam's apple moved involuntarily, his body leaned slightly forward, indicating anticipation but also readiness to continue bargaining; his mental bottom line could at least increase by fifty percent.
Ah, how do I know these things automatically again?
Chu Xiu amusedly touched his forehead: "I'll give you my bottom line too, four and a half for Black-haired, three for ordinary, if you don't agree, forget it. I can't be bothered wasting Physical Strength, who knows what dangers lie in this world?"
As Chu Xiu's words fell, Shen Zhuo's face showed evident astonishment, he seemed to be thinking, how did he guess my inner price?
Immediately after, his face was full of conflict.
Mainly, Chu Xiu's offer targeted it too accurately. Though it was within his preset bottom line, agreeing so easily would leave him devastated.
But Chu Xiu wasn't anxious, Shen Zhuo now believed hunting inside the apartment would only become more difficult, prioritizing his safety, he would definitely painfully agree in the end.
Sure enough, after struggling for quite a while, Shen Zhuo tried bargaining again but, upon realizing Chu Xiu's firm stance, eventually had to concede.
After reaching a deal, Chu Xiu wasted no time beginning his task.
He went to the room where the corpses were stored and started refining Equipment based on their requests.
However, at this time, he let out a light "hmm": "Why are there only five Black-haired Corpse Ghosts?"
Shen Zhuo shrugged, "The Corpse Demons in the apartment building seemed to vanish today, we only killed two, the other three were stored from previous days."
Chu Xiu: ...?
Of course, Chu Xiu knew Shen Zhuo's harvest wasn't great, since he had slain most of the Corpse Demons.
But there shouldn't be only two.
He remembered, just the fresh blood trails he saw today exceeded four corpses in quantity.
Could it be...
Someone else in this apartment building is also hunting Corpse Demons?