Chapter 41: Income

Ying Li stayed at camp the entire day. He only took Xiang Ye out when evening approached.

Luo Qiming and the others had already returned. Seeing this scene, their mouths watered like a three-thousand-foot waterfall.

Before, they thought Ying Li simply took Xiang Ye out to look at the scenery and take photos, so they hadn’t envied it much.

After all, they were thoroughly sick of the wilderness scenery.

But now, things were different.

It turned out Ying Li took Xiang Ye out for extra meals! And the food those two ate was exceptionally good!

Why couldn’t they be Guides? If they were Guides, would Captain Ying treat them this well too?

Luo Qiming couldn’t help but speak: “I wonder if Captain Ying will bring meat back today.”

Hu Xiangyang said: “Probably not. That meat can’t be cheap. Captain Ying can’t afford to feed it to us every day.”

“True…” Luo Qiming sighed.

Shi Tai said: “Captain Ying seems to have bought a lot of meat. Is he a bit loose with his money?”

Hong Mayi, usually a man of few words, spoke up: “We live hunting in the wilderness. We might lose our lives any day. Living in the moment is good, and besides, there might come a day when we can’t even buy meat anymore.”

The others thought about it and agreed.

If you don’t spend the money you’ve earned, didn’t you earn it for nothing?

If they had Captain Ying’s skill, they’d want to eat meat every day too.

Meanwhile, Ying Li was killing two Mutant Beasts on the spot. He took out some of the meat and had Xiang Ye help clean it.

Xiang Ye could now clean a large chunk of meat at once, so they could eat fresh.

One of the two beasts tasted good, but the other’s flavor wasn’t great. They ate all the good-tasting meat themselves and saved some of the less tasty meat to bring back for Luo Qiming and the others.

Even the “less tasty” meat was far more delicious than the meat sold in the Upper City District!

At the very least, Luo Qiming and the others ate it with immense satisfaction. Luo Qiming even remarked that Ying Li didn’t need to buy such good meat for them—just giving them some trimmings or offcuts would be enough.

Ying Li: “…” Fine. Next time, he’d bring back some trimmings.

Over the next few days, Ying Li continued hunting in the nearby area.

After becoming an A-Rank Sentinel, the scouting range of his mental power had expanded dramatically. He could spot traces of B-Rank and C-Rank Mutant Beasts from a great distance. The B and C-Rank Mutant Beasts within a 200-kilometer diameter of their camp thus met disaster.

Every day, Ying Li could bring back several B-Rank or C-Rank Mutant Beast carcasses for Luo Qiming and the others to process. Coupled with the beasts Luo Qiming’s group hunted themselves…

By the seventh day, their haul was already substantial. If they got any more, the truck wouldn’t be able to hold it all!

“You all rest tomorrow and organize the spoils. I’m heading out,” Ying Li announced.

Luo Qiming and the others agreed.

The next day, Ying Li first went to collect a dozen jin of vine sap, then headed for Freedom City.

Only a few days had passed since his last visit, but Freedom City had changed dramatically.

Before, although Ding Hua managed Freedom City in an orderly fashion, she hadn’t possessed a strong drive to truly improve the city.

Her mental sea was already damaged. She would die within a few years. The other Sentinels living in Freedom City were the same.

They just wanted a relatively stable environment where they could peacefully pass their remaining years.

A group of people on the verge of death wouldn’t be thinking about building a thriving city.

But after talking with Ying Li, she had a new goal.

If Ying Li could succeed, the people of Freedom City might have a chance to return to Starlight City.

If they could return to Starlight City, they could find Guides to help soothe their mental seas. With luck, they could even form mental bonds with Guides.

They had a future to hope for again.

Once a person has a goal, they’re willing to do all sorts of things!

Ding Hua reorganized Freedom City, rooting out and killing those hidden criminals, lawbreakers, and wrongdoers.

She also led her trusted confidants in repairing some robots, and had those robots thoroughly clean the entire city.

A Sentinel’s learning ability is formidable. Ding Hua felt that if they studied hard and purchased some equipment, they might even be able to repair the various systems beneath Freedom City, restoring the air filtration and water purification systems it once had. If that truly happened, ordinary people could live in this city!

This city could also attract more Sentinels.

But accomplishing all this was incredibly difficult. Right now, she lacked everything.

“Everyone, our lives are approaching their end. In these last few years, do you want to achieve something great?”

“We can build Freedom City into a real home, a warm harbor for those who come after us!”

“Let us work together to build this place into a true city!”

…

Ding Hua, as an A-Rank Sentinel feared by those great families, was by no means lacking in capability.

She had long since beaten the Sentinels of Freedom City into submission. Now, she painted them a grand vision.

She said she would lead them to establish a real city, a place where they could thrive and multiply, where ordinary people could live.

They might not be able to live the lives they wanted in this city, but their names would be engraved in the city center. They would be the city’s founders.

The Sentinels of Freedom City had no future, living mostly in a daze. The greatest thing they pursued, the most they could pursue, was simply to eat and drink their fill.

Now that Ding Hua had described a beautiful future, they naturally felt a yearning for it.

They too wanted their names inscribed in the heart of this city, to be remembered forever.

As a result, these people became highly motivated. In just a few days, Freedom City’s appearance began to change.

Seeing Ding Hua, Ying Li said: “City Lord Ding, this city has changed a lot!”

“It has changed a lot, but if the subsequent resources can’t keep up, it won’t be long before it reverts to its old state,” Ding Hua stated.

She could use words and mental suggestion to fill the city’s Sentinels with motivation for a short time.

But if the city didn’t truly improve, then over time, these people would lose their drive.

As she spoke, Ding Hua placed a list in front of Ying Li.

Ying Li picked up the list and saw it was filled with the names of various pieces of equipment. He recognized some; others he didn’t.

“I’ll find a way,” Ying Li said. Then he handed a vacuum-sealed bag, the kind used for storing Mutant Beast carcasses, to Ding Hua. “This is a gift.”

Inside the bag was the dried meat he had cut into small pieces, seasoned again with salt, and processed further.

The seal on the bag was excellent, revealing no scent whatsoever. Plus, Ding Hua hadn’t used her mental power to scan what Ying Li brought, so she had no idea what was inside.

She took the sealed bag and opened it. Immediately, her eyes flew wide in shock.

Inside the sealed bag was dried meat! At least two hundred jin of it!

Ding Hua put a piece into her mouth.

Even if it was Mutant Beast meat, a single small piece wouldn’t kill her, an A-Rank Sentinel. Most importantly, she felt Ying Li wouldn’t give her Mutant Beast meat.

And indeed, it wasn’t.

This dried meat had no seasoning except salt. It was also baked a bit too dry, making it very tough.

But that level of toughness was nothing a Sentinel couldn’t easily chew through!

So incredibly chewy! Such amazing flavor!

Unable to resist, Ding Hua ate another piece. Then a third, a fourth…

After eating ten pieces in a row, Ding Hua asked: “Can you supply meat like this long-term?”

Ying Li replied: “I can, though I can’t guarantee exactly which type of meat will be provided.”

“How much does this meat cost?”

Ying Li did a quick calculation, converting the price based on the cost of pork in Starlight City, and stated the price of the Mutant Beast meat.

For ordinary people in the Upper City District, this price was astronomical. But for an A-Rank Sentinel like Ding Hua, it was extremely cheap.

She was always out in the wilderness, hunting Mutant Beasts whenever she had the time. She possessed a massive amount of crystal cores.

She also didn’t need to remit a portion of her earnings to any great family, didn’t have to pay taxes or rent, and didn’t have a Guide to support.

She had plenty of crystal cores.

Ding Hua pre-ordered two hundred jin of dried meat, paying half upfront as a deposit. She also paid for the dried meat Ying Li had given her today as a gift.

Although Ying Li said it was a gift, she couldn’t take advantage of him.

Ying Li didn’t refuse and accepted the crystal cores Ding Hua gave him.

He would need these crystal cores as leverage when he helped Ding Hua connect with suppliers for equipment.

Ying Li told Ding Hua that this meat could only be given to her trusted confidants to eat, then took his leave.

Ding Hua also felt the existence of this meat couldn’t be widely known, let alone allowed to circulate publicly.

If someone took the meat for testing, they would trace its origin back to Ying Li.

Come to think of it, this meat was especially good and incredibly chewy. It must be beef, right? It was just too fragrant!

Back when she was in Starlight City, she’d only ever eaten it once. After all, Starlight City only raised a few cows, slaughtering at most two a year.

Returning to her office, Ding Hua continued eating.

When her trusted confidants came to find her, they saw her eating non-stop. They were stunned for a moment, then hurried over to her. “City Lord, where did you get this meat? The smell is incredible!”

If Ding Hua weren’t so overwhelmingly powerful, they’d be tempted to snatch it right out of her hands!

Ding Hua said: “This meat comes through a special channel. You can eat it here, but you cannot take it outside. Eat up, then get back to work properly.”

“We’ll definitely work hard!” they shouted, their mouths practically watering.

Ding Hua shared some meat with them. After eating it, they set off to work with high spirits.

The City Lord had said: if they did a good job, tomorrow she’d share more dried meat with them!

For that dried meat, they’d give it everything they had!

On the other side, Ying Li constructed a protective shield around himself with his mental power, preventing anyone outside from hearing the sounds inside the tent. He then placed the obtained crystal cores inside the tent for Xiang Ye to see. “You earned all of this!”

Xiang Ye was overjoyed, his mood complex.

In such a short time, he had become a wealthy person.

If only he could have awakened sooner…

No, don’t think about that. His current life was wonderful!

“Xiang Ye, to avoid attracting attention, the money from these crystal cores can’t be given to you yet. I’ll give it to you later,” Ying Li said.

“Big Brother Ying, you don’t need to give me money! You brought back the Mutant Beast meat. I just used that meat to train my mental power. Without you, this meat couldn’t even be sold. You should keep the money,” Xiang Ye immediately replied.

Ying Li smiled but said nothing more. He had already decided that when the time was right, he would give every single thing belonging to Xiang Ye into Xiang Ye’s hands.

That day, they packed everything up. After a night’s sleep, just as the sky began to lighten, they set off back to Starlight City.

The truck was piled high with goods, completely full. Once they reached Starlight City, Luo Qiming and the others followed Ying Li’s instructions, selling off their haul in batches at the Surface Exchange.

As for the items unsuitable for sale—like the hide and bones of B-Rank Mutant Beasts—they kept them all on the truck. Then Ying Li drove the truck to the auto repair shop run by Boss Lin.

Boss Lin was in the modified vehicle business. He had channels to acquire the equipment Freedom City needed.

But getting Boss Lin to take on this new line of business required a special introduction.

Upon seeing Boss Lin, Ying Li said: “Boss Lin, let’s talk privately.”

Ying Li’s expression was serious. Boss Lin led him into a soundproofed room.

The room held nothing at all. Ying Li scanned it with his mental power and confirmed there were no listening devices nearby.

He spoke: “Boss Lin, I received word that someone is setting a trap targeting your daughter.”

Boss Lin’s mental power abruptly exploded, filling the entire room.