Chapter 30: Beginning the Planning, Selling Equipment

Without defensive gear, the survivors suffer high damage when venturing out at night, and without weapons, they struggle to acquire gold coins.

Chen Fan, however, can solve all these problems—as long as people have gold coins to make purchases. Furthermore, since it costs five thousand gold coins just to expand a single plot of land, relying on hunting monsters to accumulate wealth would take far too long. Therefore, he needs to start harvesting gold coins from the survivors; only in this way can Chen Fan build an empire of his own.

While the furnace was firing, Chen Fan opened the world chat channel and edited a message:
"Selling various weapons, equipment, tools, etc. Prices vary by item, starting as low as 20 logs or 10 gold coins."

As soon as this message was sent, the chat channel fell instantly silent. A second later, messages flooded in like a torrent:
"Holy crap! Logs can be traded for weapons?"
"I love Chen Fan! He's actually trading weapons and gear for the most easily collected materials!"
"Seriously, and for those haters who were trashing Chen Fan earlier, don't you dare buy anything. If you do, I’ll look down on you."
"What is his motive? Is it just because we’re all human?"
"I don’t think he has a motive. He must see how miserably we’re living and wants to help us with his modest efforts. After all, he’s the one who taught us how to craft those tools earlier."
"Suddenly, I feel like I was narrow-minded before. I’d like to apologize."
"Enough talk, sitting here waiting for boss Chen Fan to list his items."
...

The chat channel was in a heated frenzy, with everyone debating why Chen Fan would do this. Naturally, there were a few cynical voices, but the majority of the discourse was leaning in Chen Fan’s favor.

Those who were searching for Chen Fan’s location became even more excited and were speeding up their search, especially those in the same district as him. They had already agreed beforehand that whoever found Chen Fan’s location would immediately post the coordinates in the regional channel.

As for how to identify Chen Fan’s residence, it was not difficult; one only needed to look for any conspicuous exterior structures in the vicinity. Anything with an exquisite or unique appearance was, in all likelihood, Chen Fan’s territory. After all, in the current situation, whoever could afford to live in a spacious wooden house was almost certainly him.

On the other side, Chen Fan naturally noticed the cynical comments, but there was nothing he could do for now; he simply made a mental note of those individuals.

He walked outside the wooden house and saw Rem still busy. "Rem, do you know how to build a wooden house?"

Hearing his voice, Rem stopped what she was doing, turned, and smiled upon seeing Chen Fan. "Of course, Master. Rem can do anything."

"Then help me build a small wooden house, six by six by seven," Chen Fan said, pointing to the open space to the right of the main cabin. "Right here."

Rem bowed respectfully. "As you wish, Master."

She returned to the cabin, retrieved the materials, and began construction. Chen Fan watched quietly from the side. Soon, a small six-by-six-by-seven wooden structure appeared. It looked much like a newsstand, with doors on both sides and a crafting table placed in the center. A three-by-three window was cut into the front, with a half-block ledge installed beneath it so items could be displayed. Two large chests were placed on the left and right sides inside the cabin for storage.

Rem then crafted wooden slabs to pave the floor of the small cabin. Finally, she decorated the window with three display frames, placing a stone sword, a stone axe, and a stone pickaxe inside them respectively. With that, the shop was complete.

"Master, is this what you wanted?" Rem asked, wiping sweat from her brow.

Chen Fan nodded with satisfaction and gave Rem a thumbs-up. "Well done, Rem." He had originally intended to build it himself, but after a moment’s thought, he realized his clumsy construction skills would only be embarrassing.

"Master, this is only what Rem should do," she said with a respectful bow.

Chen Fan waved his hand and asked, "By the way, Rem, how much food do we have now?"

"Our current food reserves are enough for four people for five days. If we aren't very active, we could stretch it to about ten days."

"Alright, keep using bone meal to accelerate the crop growth," Chen Fan paused. "Come inside with me for a moment."

"Yes, Master."

Chen Fan glanced at the farmland; the wheat had grown significantly. The two returned to the cabin, and he took out all the finished items from the furnace. As he withdrew them, several experience orbs flowed into his body, raising his level to 35.

Chen Fan went to the crafting table and first synthesized iron equipment for Ram and Rem, consuming 48 iron ingots and leaving 28. After tossing the gear to Rem, he asked her to deliver the set to Ram. Rem accepted the equipment, curtsied, and turned to head toward where Ram was stationed.

Chen Fan then began crafting leather tunics, which were the most cost-effective and highest-defense items among leather gear. Combined with his previous stock, he produced 17 leather tunics and one iron chestplate, curious to see if anyone could afford the latter. Without further ado, he listed 12 items for sale, keeping five for offline transactions. After all, he needed to have stock available in case someone passed by his territory; if he didn't have any merchandise, he wouldn't be selling a thing.

Leather Tunic: 80 gold coins each
Iron Chestplate: 500 gold coins each
Stone Sword: 20 logs each
Stone Pickaxe, Stone Axe, and Furnace: 20 logs each

Since some people had already crafted these, he was targeting those who hadn't. Once the items were listed, Chen Fan prepared to head to the world chat to advertise. But when he saw the content, his expression fell, and he muttered to himself, on the verge of tears:

"I sold them too cheap!"

"Brothers, look at the trading platform! Boss Chen Fan listed gear, they're practically dirt cheap, except for the iron chestplate."
"What are gold coins? I've never even encountered one."
"To the person above: you get gold coins from killing monsters, and you can trade them with wandering merchants."
"Boss Chen Fan is so kind. The wandering merchant dares to charge 100 gold coins or a stack of stone for a single stone sword."
"Holy crap, you speed-clickers! The leather tunics are already sold out?"
"I managed to snag one. It actually increases defense by 3 points! I love it!"

Chen Fan closed the world chat channel. This batch had been a loss; he hadn't realized how wealthy they were now. Just as he was pondering this, the sale of the iron chestplate caught his attention.

[Your item "Iron Chestplate" has been purchased by Gu Feng. 500 gold coins have been received.]

"This person is interesting," Chen Fan murmured.

Atop a high mountain stood a sizable two-story wooden house, covering an area of about 40 by 40. In the open yard, a dozen men were busy with their assigned tasks. Some were focused on chopping logs, others were patiently gathering stone, and a few were bent over, working in the fields cleared not far from the house.

The interior of the cabin was simple and slightly cluttered. A man with an eyepatch sat on a chair in the center of the room; this was Gu Feng.