Chapter 19: Spore Town in the Rotting Lands

As usual, Li Ye quickly analyzed the intelligence. First was the first piece of information. There was a temporarily stationed survivor caravan 15 kilometers away. For a Mobile City the size of the Tomorrow, the resources of a caravan were hardly worth noticing. The difference between the two was like that of a whale and tiny fish in the ocean. Moreover, the caravan didn’t have any Level 1 blueprints or Level 1 weapons—resources Li Ye needed—so he only glanced over it and then skipped this ordinary-level intel. The second piece of information, however, was quite interesting. To the west of the Wasteland Zone lay the Level 1 zone known as the "Large Basin Zone". It would take a month to travel there. This was a new area Li Ye had learned about after the Eternal Night Zone. But overall, Li Ye had no plans to head to the Basin Zone at present. After all, in terms of development, the Wasteland Zone was sufficient; there was no need to go to another Level 1 zone, especially when it required a month-long journey. His primary target was still the Eternal Night Zone; the Basin Zone could, at best, serve as a backup option. The third piece of intelligence took him by surprise. Once again, a new Level 1 Mobile City appeared in the report. This Mobile City had defeated two others in combat. In the wild, battles between Mobile Cities were intense even when it was one-on-one. A one-versus-two battle put one at a complete disadvantage. It meant facing double the cannons, heavy machine guns, and raiding squads. Yet the Vanguard managed to win. This meant that the Mobile City undoubtedly had an excellent lord, outstanding combat personnel, and precise coordination. “So many monsters out there!” Li Ye couldn’t help but sigh. The Crimson Hound alone—with two Level 1 cannons and nearly a hundred fighters—had already astonished him. Now another city, the Vanguard, had shown up. At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel envious. This time, the Vanguard had swallowed the resources of two Mobile Cities, which meant its strength would skyrocket significantly. The fourth piece of intel was about Roland Fortress. Li Ye was surprised to learn that Roland Fortress wasn’t as united as he had imagined; it was rife with internal conflict. The fifth piece of information piqued his interest. “There’s actually a neutral Monstrous Town in the Rotting Lands?” he was astonished. The previous encounter with the Kobold caravan had already given him a taste of the benefits. He immediately set the Tomorrow’s destination to the Rotting Lands. Just as he was about to head to the cockpit to issue the command, Li Ye’s gaze unintentionally fell back on the first piece of intel. A new idea suddenly came to his mind. This caravan might not have what he needed—but he could sell something to them! He still had Peregrine Falcon Assault Rifles, after all. These Level 1 weapons were highly sought-after. With his mind made up, he ordered the Tomorrow to head southwest. When the caravan saw a Mobile City heading toward them, they were dumbfounded. Seated by the campfire, they all put down their food and quickly retreated toward their vehicles. Just then, the Tomorrow emitted two long whistles and one short one. The caravan leader paused and said, half-believingly, “That’s a request for communication. Let’s see what they want.” A few minutes later, the two sides met. Li Ye observed the caravan and found that it had four off-road vehicles, two buses, and two trucks—a fairly sizable setup. He promptly displayed the Peregrine Falcon Assault Rifles he had brought. The caravan members’ eyes lit up at once; to them, Level 1 firearms were undoubtedly rare and valuable. Though the caravan didn’t have many Crystal Coins, they did have over 700 units of iron ore, more than 300 units of coal, and over 100 units of fuel in the trucks. They had gathered these not long ago and had planned to sell them in a town. After some bargaining, Li Ye agreed to process six Peregrine Falcon Assault Rifles for them at a rate of 50 units of iron ore per rifle. As for the bullets, he processed them for free. In just a few exchanges, he easily earned 300 units of iron ore. Not only that, Li Ye also planned to sell the caravan Blueheart Potato Seeds—after harvesting Blueheart Potatoes, he had used potato chunking to create over a dozen bags of seeds. However, the caravan leader shook his head and refused. Li Ye was puzzled at first but quickly figured it out. Unlike Mobile Cities, caravans had no land for farming; their main food supply came from town trade. For caravans, two things were most important. One was fuel to keep them moving at all times in the wild. The other was weapons to efficiently kill monsters. In the wasteland, caravans, fortresses, Mobile Cities, survival squads, and bounty hunters all had their own ways of surviving. After the trade, the two sides parted ways. On the road, Li Ye passed by a freshwater lake marked on the map and refilled his water supply. By noon the next day, the Tomorrow arrived at the Rotting Lands. The Rotting Lands were far larger than Li Ye had imagined. After searching southwest for quite a while, he finally found Spore Town. This small town sat in a sunken area illuminated by bioluminescent ferns. Its buildings were giant mushrooms with hollowed-out centers, and the ground was covered in a springy fungal mesh. The residents of Spore Town were mushroom people of various shapes and colors, all busy with their respective tasks. When Li Ye saw the two massive figures on the outskirts of Spore Town, his heart sank—there were already two Level 1 Mobile Cities here. These two cities were parked on either side of Spore Town and didn’t appear to be allies. “Better go check it out first,” he thought. Through the bulletin board at the entrance of Spore Town, Li Ye and his team learned the following intel. First, Spore Town would be open for only three days, after which all contact with the outside world would cease. Second, as a neutral Monstrous Town, all factions were forbidden from engaging in combat within a one-kilometer radius of Spore Town. If anyone broke this rule, they would become enemies of all Spore Town residents. Additionally, Spore Town was hostile toward the Antmen who occupied the Rotting Lands. Third, the town’s magistrate would offer a variety of rare items for sale. To purchase these, one needed to accumulate Contribution Points. The ways to earn Contribution Points were as follows: [Kill a normal-grade Antman: 5 points] [Kill an elite-grade Antman: 20 points] [Kill an elite captain-grade Antman: 100 points] [Kill a Wild BOSS-grade Antman: 2000 points] [Capture an Antman stronghold: 50 points] [Capture an Antman-controlled mine/forest/quarry: 200 points] [Capture an Antman town: 500 points] [...]