Chapter 28: Bargaining Too Little, Feeling a Bit Shortchanged

What did he just see? What on earth was that third option? Lin Mu rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn’t mistaken—it really did say to use fifty iron ingots. He had thought that with this upgrade, there would simply be an extra slot and some kind of targeted enhancement. But now he realized he could input more materials at once, and a new direction for modification had been revealed to him. Could this be the true way to use the modification skill?

He tried putting more than one iron ingot into a single slot—and it worked! Rubbing his hands together, Lin Mu took out one iron ingot, placed the anti-skid chain for the rear wheels inside, and then loaded fifty iron ingots into the rear slot. Only one option remained: modify to tracks.

What was there to wait for? Of course, he’d go ahead with the modification! Admittedly, it was a hefty cost—fifty iron ingots at once. But if there was one thing he wasn’t lacking, it was materials. He had over three hundred iron ingots, nearly four hundred in total.

A crisp chime sounded in his mind: [Ding! Modification is recommended while parked.]

Lin Mu gently brought the vehicle to a stop, then tapped confirm.

The vehicle shuddered. Moments later, through the rearview mirror, Lin Mu saw the left side of the vehicle had transformed—tracks now encased the two wheels, and extra support wheels had appeared within the tracks. He modified the right side in the same way.

He started the vehicle again. The speed gradually climbed, but when it reached fifty kilometers per hour... it wouldn’t go any faster!

Lin Mu’s mouth twitched. Was this the maximum speed now? In this icy, snowy world, it made sense—traction was limited. Even in its original state, the car couldn’t go faster than sixty or seventy kilometers per hour. But what about once the harsh weather ended?

This needed to be clarified. He had to ask the system.

“Hey Panel, can my wheels be restored?”

[Please check the vehicle information yourself!!]

Lin Mu clicked his tongue. Those two exclamation marks—was the system getting annoyed? Was he really asking so many questions?

He only dared complain inwardly. He’d never say such things aloud—who knew what the one who started this game might do to him if he got on their nerves?

He obediently opened the vehicle information. A new line had appeared: form transformation. The wheels could now switch between tires and tracks.

Lin Mu stroked his chin and pondered as he read. “Form transformation? Could it be that others will also gain this ability in the future?” Although his modification skill was unique to him, that didn’t mean others couldn’t modify their vehicles. Or perhaps, similar car parts might eventually appear in supply crates.

After all, this was a strange new world—anything was possible.

“I’d better stock up on more materials. Who knows what could happen—I need to be prepared.” With that thought in mind, Lin Mu opened the trading center and checked on the padded jackets he’d listed.

This time, sales were much slower; it took two whole hours to sell out. Considering this was a district of almost twenty thousand people, that it took two hours to complete a sale showed his price was already at its limit. Luckily, there was no rating system for this, or he suspected he’d have been cursed out by now.

“I hoped to earn a bit more, but it seems I’ll have to stick to the original price.” Still, no matter how he calculated, he wouldn’t lose out.

Without hesitation, Lin Mu listed another hundred jackets. Compared to a base of twenty thousand people, it was barely a drop in the bucket.

Ding! A message popped up.

It was from the person who’d previously rented his firearms.

“Hey there, do you want a blueprint for a small refrigerator? I’m offering it cheap.”

Lin Mu raised his eyebrows. How many blueprints had this person sold already? Did they open every crate they found? Their luck was almost too good to be true.

“Yes, name your price.”

“Ten iron ingots, two copper ingots, two electronic components, and one liter of purified water.”

Honestly, this wasn’t expensive. After all, it was a blueprint. But bargaining was always part of business.

“My friend, that’s a bit steep, isn’t it? In this freezing weather, what would I do with a fridge?”

Shu Xin frowned at the reply. She felt the price was already low. As time passed, blueprints were becoming more valuable.

“Sis, what should I do? He’s trying to haggle.”

“Add a bag of salt. See if he’ll accept.”

“But we only have two bags left. Salt is really hard to come by.”

“Don’t worry. This should be a new supply item—we’re bound to find more eventually.”

Shu Xin nodded. “I’ll ask him. If he already has some, we’ll lower the price.”

She added the salt to the offer.

Lin Mu paused at the mention of salt. He’d almost forgotten—salt hadn’t appeared yet. For a person, water and salt were the most vital resources. Go without food, you might be hungry for a while; go without water, and dehydration sets in quickly. The same went for salt—a lack of it leads to fatigue.

He’d been lucky so far—most of his food contained some salt, so he hadn’t noticed the shortage.

“Deal!” he replied.

He still had a packet of salt in his seasoning kit, but it would run out eventually.

The trade was made. Lin Mu immediately made the small refrigerator blueprint permanent.

“When the weather heats up, I’ll sell them for double,” he mused.

He examined the bag of salt. There was no design on it, just a label: 250 grams.

“Looks nice and fine. Not bad at all.”

…

It took him seven hours to cover the three hundred kilometers.

“Snowy days are a real nuisance—if I wait much longer, it’ll be dark.”

When he finally laid eyes on the silver supply crate ahead, Lin Mu was moved almost to tears. At last, he’d made it.

Thunk!

[Congratulations! You have opened a Silver Resource Crate and received: 250g refined salt x2, Heater Blueprint x1, Medium Pure Water Collection Device Blueprint x1.]

“…”

He’d just made a loss! He should have bargained harder for that trade!

Oh well, consider it charity.

It was still one crate per kilometer.

Lin Mu drove on, delighted by the abundance of materials and supplies. Even though he came across more blueprints later, he already had enough.

Thunk!

A golden resource crate opened, and three figures appeared.

Lin Mu’s lips twitched. He’d thought that in weather like this, these things wouldn’t show up anymore—but here they were.

[Snowman]

[Danger Level: A]

[Advice: A slight effort from you is already more than they can withstand.]

He liked hearing that—if only the panel would say it more often. But, alas, it was just data; it would never flatter him.

A long blade extended from the front of his vehicle. With a few swift swings, he cut down the three snowmen.

[Ding! Congratulations, player, for slaying three Grade A Snowmen. You have received: Snowman Hide x3.]

“Newly enhanced weapon really pays off—so nimble, it’s as if I’m controlling it myself.”

He’d strengthened his weapon using more materials, but Lin Mu still wasn’t satisfied. Its lethality was too limited. If only he had real firearms. Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to make them himself...

Lin Mu stroked his chin. “If I make a steel tube myself, attach it to the vehicle, and then use the modification skill…”

It didn’t seem impossible.