A few hours later, in a secluded house near the edge of Han Shui City.
Xu Lie sat opposite Chen Jian, dividing a pile of gold that glowed softly into two portions of different sizes, then said to Chen Jian:
"The total weight of this gold is 2160 grams, all of it comes from our trip to Chuansha, as well as the 'trades' in Xia Ma Town."
"The larger pile weighs 1500 grams, and it's all yours, considered as an advance on your bounty."
"After subtracting your previously promised transportation fees and the cost to buy the ballistic calculator for that girl, with an 80/20 split, you still have 4000 grams of gold remaining in your bounty. I will pay you when we reach Jinling and receive the reward."
"By then, all our financial issues will be settled."
After he finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded and said:
"Very fair—what about the cost of this property and these two batteries?"
"Consider it a gesture of friendship from the Holy Blood Temple; it's on us."
Xu Lie waved his hand generously and continued:
"I've already sent Li Shi to purchase some basic supplies, which will be delivered a bit later."
"No need to see it as a transaction. As I said, the success of this hunting mission is mostly thanks to you. We were merely errand runners."
"So, within our means, we're willing to offer some compensation."
"Thank you very much."
Chen Jian accepted gracefully, partly because what Xu Lie said was true, and partly because he had long noticed their intention to recruit them.
In this unfamiliar world, their team had not yet gained a foothold. So, if a bigger force wants to entice them, why not go along with it?
Even if they had different ideologies, that was a matter for the future; it didn't prevent him from reaping some benefits now.
Seeing Chen Jian's reaction, Xu Lie also smiled relievedly.
He had feared these chosen ones would reject his goodwill, but fortunately, they weren't that unapproachable.
Thus, he spoke up again:
"Earlier at the market, you've probably seen the value of gold."
"Roughly calculated, 1 gram of gold can purchase about a day's worth of food and water for an adult. Its value is defined by this logic."
"However, because gold is heavy and hard to divide, most people don't directly use gold in transactions—it's just a... measure of value?"
"So, if you need to buy some small quantities of supplies or make some daily trades, the best way is to exchange the gold for goods that are easier to divide, like bullets, metal, cloth, and then use those for trading."
"The prices for these goods are generally stable, and buyers are never lacking. Even if you're at a disadvantage, it won't be too much."
"Understood."
From Xu Lie's words, Chen Jian gained a basic understanding of the monetary and economic system in this world.
Evidently, this world was at the end of its barter economy, having developed the concept of gold as a currency, but in practical transactions, due to various issues, gold hadn't yet been directly and widely integrated into the trading process, requiring a few conversions in practice.
Nonetheless, having a standard of value was already a good start. Although a bit cumbersome, at least the logic of currency was established, preventing him from being completely in the dark.
If it were purely barter, that'd be life-threatening.....
So Chen Jian motioned for Lei Jie to put away the team's share of gold, then asked:
"And after this? Where are you planning to go?"
"We also need to rest in Han Shui City for a while, maybe one or two months?"
"We'll be taking on some new hunting tasks. If you're interested, you can join."
As he spoke, Xu Lie stood up and said:
"In any case, we're staying right across the street. If you need anything, feel free to come find me."
"Alright, I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow, when we wake up, I'll show you around Han Shui City."
"Well, goodbye then?"
"Goodbye."
Chen Jian instinctively extended his hand, while Xu Lie raised his left hand at a forty-five-degree angle and then placed it over his chest, bowing as he said:
"May the Holy Blood protect you."
Stunned by this gesture, Chen Jian coughed a bit, hesitated, and ultimately returned the salute.
As Xu Lie turned and left, the four people in the room exchanged looks.
Shen Yue first asked:
"Where did they learn that gesture from? Could these Holy Blood people be remnants of the Source of Life project?"
"No way..."
Chen Jian waved it off and said:
"No matter how powerful Little Huzi is, he can't control things in East Asia. It's probably just a coincidence."
"Let's not talk about that for now, get everything out and check the supplies."
Upon his command, everyone instantly sprang into action.
Next, they removed disguises from all their equipment, piece by piece, and laid them on the room's floor.
The other three counted everything one by one while Chen Jian called out the numbers and updated the inventory status on his PDA.
"The electronic devices are mostly charged, which is good. Although electricity is scarce, it's not as extremely difficult as I thought."
"It's mainly about the condition of our equipment."
"Special Equipment 1, tactical nuclear warhead, status unknown."
"Special Equipment 2, six wrist arrow micro missiles (without launcher), damaged, awaiting repair."
"Special Equipment 3, unidentified model of mechanical exoskeleton, damaged, awaiting repair."
"Thermobaric grenade, 3 pieces."
"Fragmentation grenade, 1 piece."
"9X19mm submachine gun ammunition, 65 rounds."
"5.8mm rifle ammunition, 216 rounds."
"12.7mm sniper rifle ammunition, 29 rounds, including 12 incendiary rounds."
"7.62mm general-purpose rifle ammunition, 91 rounds—though most are from those makeshift guns, with insufficient reliability."
"DCV05 5.8mm silenced pistol ammunition, 4 rounds."
"The miscellaneous items like shell casings and rifled guns aren't counted..."
Having finished accounting for all the combat materials, Chen Jian shook his head and put down his PDA, saying:
"We're broke as hell... With these supplies, we're barely equipped for a CQB, let alone facing those monsters."
"But the good news is, we've got money."
"According to the local rate in Han Shui City, 1 gram of gold can be exchanged for two to three rounds of 7.62mm bullets, so we have a decent amount of funds."
"Yet it's not that much..."
Shen Yue laughed self-deprecatingly as he said:
"1500 grams of gold, even based on basic prices, would be at least equivalent to 150,000 RMB in our time, yet it only buys over 3000 rounds."
"Oh man, that's a 50-fold increase, even America wouldn't go that far..."
"What more do you want? These are different times now."
Chen Jian glanced at Shen Yue, then continued:
"In any case, what we need to do now is quickly convert this money into equipment and supplies."
"Especially 7.62 ammunition, we must stock enough for Shen Yue's machine gun to use."
"Additionally, we need to find new heavy weapons as much as possible."
"Lei Jie's sniper grenade and my LG6 are almost impossible to find new ammunition for, but we're extremely short on heavy firepower, so we'll have to try and scavenge some equipment."
"But, let's wait until tomorrow; it's too late now."
As he spoke, Chen Jian raised his hand to look at his watch; the time was already past 7 o'clock.
The windowless Han Shui City had gradually fallen into darkness, yet the dim candlelight from the windows offered Chen Jian a sense of tranquility.
Somebody knocked on the door, and when Chen Jian opened it, it was Li Shi delivering the supplies.
With a respectful expression as he left, he performed the "Holy Blood Ceremony" like Xu Lie and then left.
Chen Jian lit a candle, arranged the night watch order, then collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep.
These days had been truly exhausting.
A week's training had nearly drained all his strength. Unexpectedly, after the training was over, he found himself here.
Battle after battle, now recalling it felt like a dream...
Half-awake, Chen Jian really started to dream.
In his dream, he returned to Zhurihe, taking advantage of the sand storm to drive a Humvee in a wild charge straight to Man Guangzhi's command post.
Laughing wantonly in the command post, Man Guangzhi saw the Humvee approaching, he raised his hand, and a tactical nuclear missile fell from the sky.
With a loud explosion, Chen Jian was knocked over with the vehicle.
When he got back on his feet, he was already clutching the 191 by the bedside.
"Explosion!"
Rolling off the bed, Chen Jian grabbed his helmet and put it on, while Shen Yue, who was on watch, already aimed his gun at the window.
"There was an explosion about a kilometer away, accompanied by a whistle before the explosion, like a mortar!"
His words just finished when a shrill sound rang out in the sky.
Following that, a shell fell at the edge of Han Shui City.
"Boom!"
The explosion echoed, and Chen Jian thought the city would be in chaos, but in reality, no one seemed to care.
"What the heck is going on?"
Picking up the radio, Chen Jian was about to speak when Xu Lie's voice came through his earpiece.
"Chosen Ones! Chosen Ones!"
"I'm here!"
Chen Jian immediately replied, to which Xu Lie casually said:
"No need to worry, it's just high-level Terror Demons from the Blood Skull causing trouble. Their combat strength is weak, and they merely shoot and fire haphazardly without posing a threat."
"The city's guards will handle it, so you can rest easy....."
Rest easy?
Chen Jian chuckled.
Sure, they could let go of the worry, but rest... that was unnecessary.
These so-called "high-level Terror Demons" were perhaps somewhat smarter than the water demons they had encountered before, even capable of using weapons.
But only to the extent of "being able to use" them.
Since that's the case... perhaps handing over your weapons to those who truly need them would be better!