Following his footprints back, Chen Zhuo saved a lot of time on the return journey.
With a reference route, he was much more relaxed than when he came, enjoying the comfortable sensation of the breeze gently caressing his face as he walked.
The natural sounds around him—the rustling of leaves, the gurgling of the stream behind him, and the occasional chirping of birds and insects—added to the peaceful atmosphere.
He also checked the map from time to time to ensure he wasn't straying from his direction, and silently noted key landmarks along the way, preparing for his next visit to this area.
At six in the evening, the sky, already obscured by dust, finally darkened completely. At this moment, Chen Zhuo had just returned to the Shelter.
His clothes, having walked all the way back, were mostly dry. He pushed open the door.
He petted Taimei, who came out to greet him, and happily said, "The bread is all gone. Tonight, I'm treating you to roast pork."
"Cluck, cluck."
He wasn't sure if Taimei understood, but she seemed very happy, even rubbing against Chen Zhuo's pants twice.
However, before that, he had to check the messages from the morning to see if anyone hadn't responded to him.
This time, everyone had replied, but it was a bit regrettable that by the time Chen Zhuo responded to them that evening, the bandages had already been traded.
Only the iron pot blueprint and corn seeds remained.
First, he spoke with Zhou Heng, who was trading the iron pot blueprint.
"Chen Zhuo: Are you still selling this iron pot blueprint?"
"Zhou Heng: Oh, yes, I'm selling it, Brother, as long as you can give me water."
"Chen Zhuo: So, how much water do you want?"
Chen Zhuo still decided to let the other party name their price first. The advantage of doing this was to roughly gauge whether the other person was honest or liked to play tricks, and also to understand their psychological expectations, giving him the upper hand in bargaining later.
"Zhou Heng: This blueprint is green. Can I trade it for two bottles of your water?"
"Chen Zhuo: Are you sure?"
"Zhou Heng: Ah, then one bottle?" Zhou Heng asked uncertainly from the other side of the screen.
Chen Zhuo was initially a bit confused as to how a green blueprint could be offered at such a cheap price, but he didn't expect the other party to lower the price themselves.
This made Chen Zhuo wonder if the other party was born in an extremely water-scarce place like a desert.
He asked, "Is your Shelter built in a desert?"
To his surprise, as soon as he spoke, Zhou Heng on the other side seemed to have a sensitive switch triggered, and began to pour out his miserable experiences of the past two days to Chen Zhuo, as if he had forgotten his transaction with Chen Zhuo, and hadn't considered that he had only just met Chen Zhuo less than two minutes ago.
Essentially, he was originally a construction worker still working on a site, and like everyone else, he was brought to this world.
The difference was that most other people's spawn points came with resources, and even if they were difficult to obtain, it only took some time.
However, his spawn point was in the desert, with nothing but endless Yellow Sand and cacti. It had been three days, and his Shelter was still the initial wooden house.
He had also tried to walk out of the desert.
But without any landmarks, he blindly walked for a day, not only running out of water, but still surrounded by an endless sea of sand.
The only comfort was that yesterday he killed a lizard with an axe, which dropped a treasure chest containing an iron pot blueprint.
He immediately took the blueprint, which was useless to him, and put it on the trading market for water.
However, blueprints were simply not appealing to other Survivors in the early stage.
Most people were still relying on the bread and mineral water in their bags to get by. What kind of sense did it make to exchange precious water for an iron pot blueprint?
And it was an iron pot blueprint; even if they had it, they wouldn't have iron to make a pot.
Zhou Heng, who initially thought his luck had turned, felt a bucket of cold water poured over his heart when he saw that the trade had been ignored all day.
Only Chen Zhuo's appearance rekindled a glimmer of hope in him.
After pouring out his pitiful story in one breath, he felt much relieved.
But while he was relieved, Chen Zhuo was suffering.
The crop seeds on the other side were still waiting for him, but he didn't want to give up on this blueprint either, so he had to endure and listen to him finish.
However, he also felt a bit of melancholy; compared to Zhou Heng's predicament, it really made him feel very lucky.
He knew that he truly lacked nothing in terms of resources here.
Although he had the system's help, if he had also been born in a desert region, he believed that even with the system, it would be like a clever housewife unable to cook without rice.
Zhou Heng on the other side seemed to finally realize he had said too much to a stranger, and changed the subject back to the main topic.
"Zhou Heng: One bottle of water, just one bottle and I'll give you the blueprint."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Chen Zhuo said, "Chen Zhuo: I can give you two bottles' worth of water."
"Chen Zhuo: But if you find similar items again, you have to prioritize trading with me. What do you think?"
Almost instantly, a positive reply came from the other side.
"Zhou Heng: No problem, Brother. If I find anything good, I'll definitely contact you first... if I can survive this natural disaster."
He clicked on the trade, and Zhou Heng put up the iron pot blueprint.
"Trader: Zhou Heng, Item: Iron Pot Blueprint, Required Item: Water X1000ml."
Trade completed.
He immediately used the blueprint from his bag, obtaining the recipe for the iron pot, which required three pieces of iron to craft.
Before closing the chat window, Chen Zhuo also gave Zhou Heng a reminder.
"Chen Zhuo: I have a map in my hand that can clearly tell you that the terrain of this world is very different from our Blue Star.
Each area is distinct, like pieces of a puzzle fitted together. The area is roughly the distance between each Survivor's spawn point, 15 kilometers.
If you can escape the desert before tomorrow, perhaps you can use some terrain to avoid this natural disaster."
"Zhou Heng: Thank you so much, Brother Chen. If I can survive this natural disaster, my life will be yours."
Zhou Heng said with great gratitude. Although he wasn't very educated, his family had taught him from a young age to be a person who repays kindness.
He secretly swore in his heart that if he had the chance, he would definitely repay Brother Chen well.
Hearing the other party say that, Chen Zhuo didn't pay much attention. He was also acting out of self-interest, simply offering some help to Zhou Heng.
After all, the other party seemed like a relatively honest and sincere person, and trading with such a person would be much more reassuring.
He switched to the chat window of the corn seed seller.
"Chen Zhuo: Do you still have corn seeds?" He asked directly.
The seller, who seemed to have been busy, finally responded.
"Du Xin: Yes, as long as you have enough stones."
"Chen Zhuo: Alright, I have 10 stones here. Do you think these are enough to trade for your corn seeds?"
"Du Xin: These are 200g of corn seeds I have here. You'll need to give me at least 20 stones." The other party seemed short on time for haggling, and her tone was somewhat impatient.
"Chen Zhuo: But in this situation, there's no way to plant crops, is there?"
"Du Xin: How you plant them is your business. Anyway, I want 20 stones."
"Chen Zhuo: How about this, you sell me your seeds for 15 stones, and next time you want to trade seeds for stones, just come to me. I'll take as many as you have, at the same price."
Hearing Chen Zhuo's new price and conditions, Du Xin thought for a moment and agreed to the trade.
"With the corn seeds in hand, today's tasks are all completed. The only slight regret is not getting the bandages." However, Chen Zhuo was already very satisfied with this.