Chapter 24: Cozy Cotton Jacket? Testing the Waters at the Trading Center

Lin Mu raised his eyebrow as he examined the traded goods. They really were lucky this time, having encountered a generous customer.

Soon after, a video was sent over, showing the materials being collected.

"This person is meticulous, leaving no room for error. But to think you can even record videos with this thing—what else am I unaware of?"

He had first learned about taking photos from the regional channel; now, he discovered video recording through others. The rental function had also been revealed by this same person.

Lin Mu shook his head—he seemed to know nothing at all.

But it didn’t matter. What use were these functions anyway? Were they more valuable than his own materials? Than his own food?

Glancing at his vehicle, Lin Mu suddenly remembered something about traits and hurriedly sent a message.

"What is your vehicle’s level 2 trait?"

Shu Xin saw the message and immediately turned to Shu Yi. "Sis, he’s asking about our vehicle’s trait. Should we tell him?"

Shu Yi thought for a moment and nodded. "Go ahead and tell him. If he’s asking, it probably means everyone has something like this. We can ask him about his, too."

"Alright," Shu Xin quickly typed back.

"Our previous vehicle was a Jinbei van, its trait was [Massive Storage], with a 1,000-slot backpack. Now we've switched to an off-road vehicle, its trait is [Durability], increasing its defense by 200%, scaling with level."

Lin Mu rubbed his chin; these traits didn’t seem particularly impressive. A thousand backpack slots? He currently had only fifty-five...

Wait! That was already running out.

Lin Mu recalled the vehicle core—all materials were extracted from there—which meant upgrading the core would likely increase backpack slots. Maybe a thousand slots were useless for others, but for him, even that might not be enough.

As for boosting defense, his modification skills were more than sufficient.

Forget 200%, he could manage 1,000% if needed.

These traits... weren’t that useful after all.

"Big brother, what’s your trait?"

Lin Mu glanced at the message and replied casually.

"My vehicle’s trait is speed, raising the maximum velocity by 20%."

No one mentioned vehicle quality.

...

At five in the afternoon, Lin Mu encountered the third batch of supply boxes.

"Just as expected—each day adds a hundred kilometers to the distance. Looks like the next three days will still be one batch every five hundred kilometers."

Lin Mu shook his head. If this pattern held, with his current speed, he’d only manage one batch a day.

Thunk!

[Congratulations, you’ve opened a Black Iron resource box and obtained Comfort Cotton Coat Blueprint x2]

Lin Mu raised his eyebrow. Cotton coats could already be crafted at the workbench, couldn’t they?

[Comfort Cotton Coat Blueprint]: Fabric x5, Cotton x5, Plastic x1

This was somewhat different.

The materials required were much greater than those needed at the workbench.

He didn’t rush to hunt for more resource boxes; knowing there were no cars ahead, he wasn’t in any hurry.

Lin Mu opened the workbench and used two fabric and two cotton to make a default cotton coat.

He took it out—it was a simple short cotton coat, quite thin.

It would keep him warm, but judging by its thickness, it probably wasn’t very effective. Its warmth was less than half that of the coarse fur coat.

He turned the two blueprints into permanent ones, then made a coat using the blueprint.

The blueprint-made coat was mid-length, reaching about knee level, and much thicker overall.

But compared to his down jacket set, its warmth was far inferior.

[Comfort Cotton Coat]: Provides moderate warmth; works better when paired with an outer layer.

Lin Mu nodded; this was indeed much better than the default coat.

At least it claimed some warmth; the default didn’t even mention that.

Rubbing his chin, Lin Mu considered—he had no use for it himself, so what price would be suitable if he sold it?

After pondering for a while, he put the comfort cotton coat up for trade to see if anyone would buy it.

[Comfort Cotton Coat]: Exchange for Cotton x7 plus one undamaged garment plus any three pieces of trash

Garments could provide fabric, trash could supply other materials.

No matter how he looked at it, he’d profit.

"I'm a genius," Lin Mu muttered.

He believed that after the cold spell ended, this coat would likely become useless, at which point he could buy it back cheaply and convert it into materials.

Perfect!

After listing it, Lin Mu ignored it and continued opening resource boxes.

[Congratulations, you’ve opened a Black Iron resource box and obtained Stone x5, Gasoline 10L]

[Congratulations, you’ve opened a Silver resource box and obtained Small Refrigerator Blueprint x1, Universal Materials x1, Antidote x1]

Hmm?

A new item had appeared.

Antidote—was the next challenge going to be poisonous mist instead of extreme heat?

Lin Mu shook his head and dismissed the thought.

Whatever it was, he wasn’t going outside anyway.

...

His luck held all day. After collecting the last batch of boxes in the evening, Lin Mu hadn’t encountered a single wild beast.

He stretched lazily. "Time to eat."

[Ding! Successfully recycled one regular garment, obtained Fabric x5]

Just as he expected.

His idea was spot on: these could be sold, and he wouldn’t lose a thing.

Without hesitation, Lin Mu made twenty cotton coats and placed them in the trading center to observe the trading speed.

Let them trade slowly; after the snowy spell ended, that was when he’d truly profit.

Humming a tune, Lin Mu placed an iron pot on the stove, tossed in chicken, then added a packet of spices.

No rush to sleep tonight—he’d make stewed hen for dinner.

While waiting, Lin Mu opened the regional channel.

20,881!

Less than two thousand dead.

Most of today’s casualties were due to the weather; after all, some hadn’t killed savages yet.

If you killed the savages, you could actually endure the temperature, even if it was uncomfortable.

Of course, others died because they hadn’t used a stove—but who could they blame for that?

"At this rate, will the last day drop to minus one hundred degrees?"

"Damn! Can anyone survive that? Even with the current temperature outside, it’s already minus ten degrees inside my car."

"You guys really don’t use stoves? Or air conditioning?"

"Where do you get air conditioners?"

"..."

Lin Mu stared in disbelief at the messages—some people didn’t have air conditioning? Did that mean their vehicles hadn’t reached level three?

How did those without level three manage to get this far?

He wasn’t the only one confused; others who had obtained vehicle cores were equally puzzled.

As long as you opened boxes regularly, most could upgrade successfully, unless you had exceptionally bad luck.

Buzz buzz~~

Lin Mu looked up. From the right rearview mirror, he saw a gleam of light, drawing closer and closer.