Old Fox Quark sat behind the counter in his shop with half a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He looked relaxed but his eyes showed a trace of satisfaction.
The settlement was nothing much. Compared to Safety Sector No. 17, it was like a garbage dump. The environment that never saw the light of day all year round had a foul stench, and the disgusting residents were mostly greedy yet cowardly like rats. It was no wonder they could only live underground.
Even so, Quark was unwilling to leave the settlement even though he had the qualifications to live in Safety Sector No. 17.
He wanted to earn money, a lot of money, and then find a few reliable fellows to send him away from this godforsaken place.
What was Safety Sector No. 17? The world was huge and interesting. Quark had seen the world, so he had his own ambitions and pursuits.
Exhaling a puff of smoke, Quark felt slightly bored. The tobacco left behind by the old civilization might be good, but it could not relieve the irritation of sitting in a daze for half a day. The 'rats' of the settlement 'had been out for the past few days, and if this continued, he would have to consider leaving early.
It was at that moment that three long knocks and one short came from the iron door. It sounded a little hurried.
Quark's eyes shone as he thought about business.
He did not hire anyone, so he went to open the door himself. When he saw it was Tang Ling standing in front of the door, a smile hung on his face.
Most of the people in the settlement were rats, but there were always exceptions, such as the kid in front of him who always brought him some surprises.
Of course, Quark had been investigating Tang Ling in secret. He wanted to know why the kid always brought him surprises. The investigation was not entirely fruitless, but the results were still uncertain.
All in all, the kid was a lucky guy.
A lucky guy would not be hated no matter where he went.
"Let me guess, what did you accidentally discover this time? Is it some 'stones' that I need or some miscellaneous items that I specified? "Quark asked Tang Ling eagerly.
Tang Ling did not answer. Instead, he squeezed into Quark's shop and went straight to the counter.
Quark understood. Bang! He slammed the iron door shut and went behind the counter.
Before Quark could speak, Tang Ling took out the thick tree trunk that looked like his weapon from behind him.
"You want to trade this?" Quark's expression turned a little sour. This kid was acting so mysteriously. All he took out was a normal tree trunk. He did not remember this thing having any value.
Tang Ling did not say anything as he untied the rope on the tree trunk. The tree trunk was split into two, and one of the halves was obviously empty. Tang Ling took a bottle out and placed it on Quark's counter.
"Level 3 drinking water," said Tang Ling.
Quark's eyes shone. This area had been dry for too long, so water had obviously become the most precious resource. Even the lowest, barely edible Level 5 drinking water had become a scarce resource, let alone Level 3 drinking water.
Commoners might not dare to drink such water, but the pampered adults in the Safety Sector needed it.
With that thought in mind, Quark unscrewed the cap, carefully dipped his finger into the water in the bottle and put it into his mouth.
There was no stench of pollution and it was very clean. It was comparable to the standard water of the old civilization, Level 3 drinking water.
"In exchange for what?" Quark went straight to the point.
"Same rules, food, meat!"
"The non-polluting kind? You have to know that although water is precious nowadays, non-polluting meat has always been a hard currency. This bottle of Level 3 drinking water can only be exchanged for, hmm, 2.5 catties at most. "Quark blinked.
Tang Ling lowered his head in silence. As a matter of fact, this bottle of Level 3 drinking water could be exchanged for at least 5 catties of non-polluting meat or even 12 catties.
However, Tang Ling had no other choice. Out of the entire settlement, Quark was the safest place to trade. He would not forcefully trade or rob, and most importantly, he kept his mouth shut.
He seemed to have a powerful background. No one in the settlement dared to touch him, and no one dared to touch the things he traded from him. Those who had bad intentions were all dead without exception.
"No, low-polluting is fine." Tang Ling went silent for two seconds before he made up his mind. The feeling from his chest was getting stronger, and he could not delay it any longer.
"Hmm?" Quark raised a brow but did not ask further. In the next moment, he said straightforwardly, "If it's low-polluting meat, I can trade for 10 catties."
"Mm-hmm."
After Tang Ling agreed, Quark took the bottle of Level 3 drinking water and went through the secret door behind the counter. A while later, three dried black-toothed rats were thrown on the counter.
Tang Ling wanted to take the meat, but he hesitated for a while. He pushed one of the dried black-toothed rats over and said, "I'll trade this for 2 catties of non-polluting meat."
"I'm on the losing end." Quark shook his head.
Tang Ling looked at Quark stubbornly. The cold sweat on his forehead had somehow gathered into beads of sweat and dripped down his face.
"Fine, I'll trade it to you." Quark finally compromised. Judging by the kid's appearance, he might have suffered some internal injuries in order to get the Level 3 drinking water. He should give him some clean meat to replenish his strength, just in case he lost his life to trade with Quark the next time.
Soon, Quark prepared everything. Tang Ling stuffed the clean meat into the empty tree trunk and carried the two dried black-toothed rats out of one of the secret doors on the other side of Quark's shop.
"This kid, can he still be alive next time?" A trace of sympathy appeared in Quark's eyes, but he quickly calmed down. He picked up the unfinished cigarette and lit it up before he sat behind the counter leisurely.
**
The secret door in Quark's shop was connected to an absolutely safe underground sewer.
Under normal circumstances, other than traders, no one would appear in this place.
There were three such passageways, so Tang Ling was not worried that he would run into someone else in the random passageway he chose.
Squatting in a dark and secluded corner, Tang Ling was drenched in cold sweat. His hands were shaking as he grabbed the dried black-toothed rat and gnawed on it.
The black-toothed rat's meat was not tasty. Other than the special smell of being polluted, there was also the smell of the underground sewer that he could not get rid of.
Other than that, it was dry and hard. Even if it was stewed, it would take a long time, let alone being dried.
However, Tang Ling gnawed on it greedily. Even though his teeth were bleeding, he did not slow down at all. He even swallowed the bones whole.
That was not enough. He still needed meat.
Tang Ling, who had eaten half of the black-toothed rat in the blink of an eye, was still very hungry.
He kept eating. A dried black-toothed rat that weighed around six to seven kilograms was cleaned up in less than ten minutes.
Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, but in the next second, he continued to eat without hesitation. The hunger that came from his chest was like a frenzied whirlpool.
It made Tang Ling feel like if he stopped, he would be eaten by himself in the next second.
A few more minutes passed. Other than Tang Ling's gnawing noises, there were no other sounds in the quiet passageway.
It was not until there was less than half of the two dried black-toothed rats left that he finally stopped.
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