Chapter 31: 2.6 Billion

Ye Yuan entered the weapon shop.

Behind the front counter sat only a single “Dwarf” wearing a white lab coat and a monocle.

Referring to him as a dwarf was not entirely accurate.

He was not a magical creature of any kind; he simply had the face of a middle-aged man but a height shorter than the teenage Ye Yuan.

If one ignored his proportions, he was no different from a normal human.

However, since he was sketching and writing on a workbench while tending the shop—just like a dwarf running a blacksmith shop in a Western fantasy world—it was easy to feel a sense of déjà vu.

“Hello, do you sell bullets here?”

Ye Yuan spoke first.

“What kind of bullets?”

The middle-aged dwarf looked up.

“Bullets for this gun.”

Ye Yuan was not sure if he would recognize a Beretta, so she pulled out the handgun and placed it on the counter.

“Physical firearms from a primary civilization… I have a handgun here that is also suitable for a lady. It uses compressed air to fire and has an effective range of 200 meters. It removes the limitation of ammunition and costs only fifteen Silver Coins. Are you interested?”

The dwarf in the lab coat put down his work and pulled a silver handgun from a storage cabinet behind him to show Ye Yuan.

“I’m not interested…”

In truth, Ye Yuan was very interested.

No ammunition limits meant that as long as it was not damaged, her ranged weapon problems would be solved once and for all.

However, as soon as she heard the price of fifteen Silver Coins, her desire to buy it was instantly extinguished.

“My apologies. In that case, let me examine your gun, and I can print the bullets for you.”

“Please do.”

The Beretta was placed on the workbench.

A handheld scanner connected to a computer emitted a blue light for a few seconds, and the specific data was generated directly on the screen.

“Hmm… Due to the design limitations of the gun itself, I cannot configure special ammunition for you. Ordinary brass lead-core bullets are one Silver Coin for 100 rounds. What do you think?”

“Give me 150 rounds and a new magazine for two Silver Coins.”

“Very well. That will be 150 rounds in total. Please wait a moment in the shop.”

Ye Yuan was not entirely sure about the purchasing power of Silver Coins, but she knew that the value of a single Train Coin was certainly not low.

Otherwise, Train Coins would not appear in single digits in treasure chests; even a Silver Chest only yielded four Train Coins.

However, the reason bullets on Earth were cheap was primarily because they were backed by the machinery of the state and produced in mass quantities on assembly lines.

As a guarantee for survival, 150 bullets would last a long time.

Spending two Train Coins was acceptable.

While she waited, Ye Yuan wandered around the shop.

The business scope of this weapon shop was truly extensive.

The merchandise included not only longswords and armor, bows and crossbows, and firearms, but also drones and various high-tech weapons she could not recognize.

The prices were marked on nameplates.

Most were settled in Silver Coins, but there were also Gold Coins she had never seen before… as well as a type of shiny Purple Coin.

***

Mu Bai heard a light, ethereal girl’s voice.

She looked up to see a silver-haired, red-eyed young woman.

“He… Hello. The price tags are right here. The crossbow is one Silver Coin, and the Martial Arts Scroll is five Silver Coins.”

Being looked down upon by such a beautiful silver-haired girl made the already nervous Mu Bai even more flustered.

Unable to introduce the products clearly for a moment, she could only hold up the two price tags to make it easier for the girl to see.

She had decided on the prices long ago.

Although they were a bit of a “lion’s mouth” overcharge, she was prepared for people to haggle.

Perhaps she would even make a bit more than expected.

Unexpectedly, the girl’s next words made Mu Bai’s heart skip a beat.

“Are you a ‘Player’?” the silver-haired girl asked, leaning forward.

“What… Player?”

Mu Bai calmed down instantly, pretending to be confused.

Mu Bai guessed that being a Player probably was not a major issue, but the fact that the other person guessed her identity at a glance made her very wary.

“Hee, no need to be nervous. I am too~”

The silver-haired girl made a playful shushing gesture, her lips curling upward.

Mu Bai breathed a small sigh of relief, though she still did not let her guard down completely.

“How did you recognize me?”

“It’s simple. Survivors risk their lives for resources every day. Most of those who have lived this long have experienced several life-and-death crises, so their expressions are subtly different from the others here… Besides, a little girl like you selling either crossbows or a Martial Arts Scroll while lacking the physique of someone who has trained—that’s very strange, isn’t it?”

“…”

‘You’re the little girl! Your whole family consists of little girls!’

“Alright, alright. I’ll take this Compound Crossbow. There’s even a bolt I can use as a sample… One Silver Coin, right?”

“Yes, thank you for your business.”

Mu Bai took a deep breath and put on a professional smile.

The girl did not even haggle; she was a golden customer.

“Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s add each other as friends. What is your Chat Room initial?”

The girl waved her hand and opened her System Interface.

“The initial is c… number c0721. You can search for Mu Bai. Is there some meaning behind the number?”

Mu Bai felt that this girl was not simple and might know some information she did not yet possess.

“There’s no special meaning, but I happen to be e9999. I think you can guess what that represents.”

The silver-haired girl pursed her lips and shrugged.

Mu Bai understood instantly.

With twenty-six English letters and 9,999 numbers following each initial, and 10,000 people in each Chat Room initially…

Did that not mean this game had swept up over two billion people?

Based on information from the Chat Room, most Survivors were mentally mature and physically healthy.

Earth had just lost more than half of its young and middle-aged population!

And… knowing this, she could roughly estimate how many Survivors were left.

“Oh no, I can’t send the friend request…”

The girl frowned slightly.

“Don’t bother. You can’t add friends from different Chat Rooms.”

Mu Bai only just remembered this and shook her head.

She had tried to add several of her good friends from school before, but she could not find them at all.

According to the regional division, even if they were not in the same Chat Room, their ID initials should have been the same…

In any case, Mu Bai did not think they were lucky enough to all escape this catastrophe.

“How disappointing… My time is almost up. I have to go.”

The girl sighed.

“Mhm.”

Mu Bai did not feel much about it.

She did not know the girl before this, so there was nothing to miss.

“I hope we can meet again… Even if it’s hard, you have to work hard to survive. When you see Players at other Stations, don’t trust them easily.”

The silver-haired girl spoke with a hint of pity in her voice.

She reached out and ruffled the Little White-Haired One’s hair before turning to leave.

Mu Bai: ?

‘Did I agree to let you rub my head?’

‘It’s all messy now!’

After checking the Train Coin the girl had handed over before leaving, Mu Bai felt much better.

‘Whatever. At least I got paid. I’ll barely forgive you.’

If she had put this in the Train’s trading market, a crossbow without bolts probably would not even be worth half a Silver Coin…

The girl must have had a way to manufacture bolts if she bought it.

After the encounter with the silver-haired girl, the nervousness of being noticed by those around her had vanished.

Mu Bai waited for the next customer while secretly observing the other stalls.