Meanwhile, in the pitch-black forest on the other side.
The square lantern on the rail cart cast a warm glow, dispelling the surrounding darkness and illuminating the sharp, cold features of a short-haired young man.
Standing at the front of the cart, he shifted his gaze away from the screen.
At his feet lay five fresh pieces of hyena meat. Without hesitation, he tossed them to a massive crocodile waiting beside the cart.
"If the creatures of the Silent Night weren't inedible, I wouldn't have to waste resources trading for food."
His expression remained indifferent, as if the matter meant little to him.
"Looks like it's impossible to obtain a steam engine before reaching Station One. After gathering supplies, I'll need to hurry."
With that, Tang Yan closed his eyes and rested on the cart.
Below, the crocodile continued its relentless slaughter of Silent Night creatures, while the screen flooded with EXP gain notifications…
Meanwhile, Bai Cheng had just made a major decision.
"Someone who can trade so much fresh water for food right at the start, and even has an employee card…"
"If they already have water and food, why would they need my hyena meat?"
Her eyes fell on the Fierce Tiger Employee Card in her hand, and a realization struck her.
"It must be to feed his employee. That explains everything."
Not that Bai Cheng particularly cared. They were all survivors, and for now, there was no hostility between them. At most, she might be a little envious.
And the major decision she had made… is to become a hardcore lumberjack!
That's right. In the early stages, aside from food and water, basic resources like wood were crucial. Especially since it was a necessary material for upgrading the train.
Employee cards might be highly tempting to survivors, but at this stage, no one could afford the exorbitant price of 200 pieces of wood.
Well, unless someone neglected crafting tools and spent all their time chopping trees nonstop to gather enough materials for the trade.
So, if Bai Cheng wanted to get her hands on Tang Yan's employee card, she had to start collecting wood immediately.
"It's nighttime, and I'm right in the middle of a forest—this is the perfect opportunity!"
Otherwise, relying solely on the sparse little trees during the day to gather 200 pieces of wood for an Antelope Employee Card would be a terrible deal.
Still, 200 pieces of wood for one card felt a bit steep. Bai Cheng decided to try haggling first.
Bai Cheng:
"Serious offer. Can you lower the price?"
The message seemed to vanish into the void. Several minutes passed before she received a slow, indifferent reply.
Tang Yan:
"Fixed price. If you don't want it, someone else will."
Bai Cheng's face darkened. She tried negotiating again, but this time, he didn't even respond.
"Damn, playing hard to get?"
Bai Cheng was furious, but she had no choice. She needed that card, and the other party seemed to have her completely figured out.
Grudgingly, Bai Cheng grabbed her stone axe and stepped off the cart, relying on the firelight to see.
Fortunately, the trees here were thick and densely packed. Even within the three-meter safe zone around the rail cart, plenty of trees stood within reach.
With no immediate danger to worry about, she swung the axe down with full force.
Thud!
The tree trunk didn't budge, while the axe nearly slipped out of her grip. At the same time, a notification popped up:
[Your current tool level is too low to chop this tree!]
[Durability -1]
"…??" Bai Cheng stared in disbelief. "Are you kidding me!?"
All these trees at night, and I can't chop them down?
"Unbelievable! How dare they crush a lumberjack's dreams?!"
Frustrated, she immediately opened her Book of Cheng and switched her upgrade target from the employee card to the stone axe.
Employee cards just needed to be collected and synthesized. She could just switch back after she gathered them all.
[Stone Axe: 0/8]
"Use up the durability?" Bai Cheng raised an eyebrow. "The upgrade method is really simple…"
After all, the stone axe couldn't chop nighttime trees. Each swing would reduce its durability by one.
Bai Cheng immediately started swinging the axe, and its durability was depleted in an instant.
The stone axe shattered, flashing with a green light.
[Iron Axe: 0/30]
The new axe in her hands felt heavier, smoother, and sharper, its blade glinting coldly.
The upgrade condition was still durability depletion, but then she realized—
"If I can chop trees now, doesn't that mean I'll have to cut at least thirty?"
"And this is only green-tier!" She nearly cried.
[Name: Iron Axe]
[Tier: Green]
[Durability: 30]
[Description: A decent tool. Can also be used as a weapon.]
Complaints aside, Bai Cheng didn't stop working.
With a powerful swing, the iron axe left a finger-width gash in the thick trunk.
"It works!"
Motivated, she continued hacking away.
Each strike deepened the gash, until the trunk finally gave way, crashing toward the ground!
However, before it could hit the ground, it had completely dissolved into pieces of wood mid-air, scattering across the ground.
Bai Cheng quickly gathered them. After counting, she had 20 pieces of wood!
If she included the randomly dropped branches, each tree would yield over 20 pieces of wood.
Although the number was fewer than she had hoped, and the chopping conditions were harsh, there were simply too many trees!
More importantly, no other survivor could chop trees right now. Only she could do that!
That alone put her far ahead of everyone else, and Bai Cheng was satisfied with that.
"I can't track the time, but with my current strength, I need about fifty swings per tree. Add in the time it takes to collect the wood, and each tree takes roughly ten minutes."
She frowned. That didn't even account for the time she needed to rest. Her chopping speed would only slow down over time.
"And if I pile up too many pieces of wood, I might not be able to push the rail cart."
Items listed in the trading system didn't disappear, so she couldn't exploit it to transport goods.
"This is a problem…" Bai Cheng sighed.
Looking around, she saw only four trees within the cart's safe zone. Including the one she just chopped, even if she cut them all, she wouldn't even reach 100 pieces of wood.
But if she loaded that many onto the cart, she would never be able to move it again.
"Should I relocate and relight the campfire?"
She rubbed her chin. But with only a lighter's flame, she wouldn't be able to see well enough while moving the cart.
Tree density along the way became another problem.
Half an hour later, Bai Cheng had chopped two more trees.
With the extra branches, she now had 66 pieces of wood.
They piled up in the cart, taking up most of the space and significantly increasing its weight.
She stopped chopping and tried to push the cart.
To her surprise, it wasn't as difficult as she feared. The cart inched forward slowly.
She didn't need to travel far. As long as she could reach more trees, that was enough.
After moving ten meters, the campfire's glow behind her grew faint, obscured by layers of trees.
She lit a new fire, confirmed that there were five trees within range, and resumed chopping.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The rhythmic strikes echoed through the night like a melodious symphony.
Two and a half hours later, all five trees around the safe zone were gone.
This time, Bai Cheng had accumulated a total of 184 pieces of wood.
[Iron Axe: 7/30]
For the final 16 pieces of wood, she scavenged for branches at the edges of the safe zone.
"Finally, 200 wood!"
Wiping sweat from her brow, exhausted and sleepy, she dragged herself to the screen.
A triumphant smile spread across her face as she initiated the trade for Tang Yan's Antelope Employee Card.