"Almost forgot—I'm a girl now. Good thing I reacted fast."
Bai Cheng couldn't help but grumble in frustration. "But not having toilet paper is seriously the worst."
She pulled up her skirt with some embarrassment. After confirming that the coast was clear, she walked over to pick up the green treasure chest.
The process went smoothly.
Perhaps because this was a chest from the Silent Night, the beast guarding it had vanished with the dawn.
Once she was back on the rail cart, Bai Cheng eagerly opened it.
Clasping her hands together, she muttered a prayer: "Water filter, water filter…"
[Opened Uncommon Treasure Chest: Obtained Wooden Hunting Bow (Blueprint) ×1, Beast-Repelling Powder ×1, Beast-Attracting Powder ×1, Scrap Iron ×2, Salt ×1.]
"That's it?" Bai Cheng raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.
Still, it wasn't bad. At least it was much better than a common chest.
But… why is there no water filter yet?!
She took out the brandless 500g bag of salt. "This is probably the only decent thing here."
After all, every living being needs to consume salt. It's a crucial strategic resource.
"Half a kilo… that'll last a while. Next time I roast meat, it'll taste amazing with this."
As she spoke, her stomach growled loudly.
She glanced at her inventory. She was out of food. Last night, Tang Yan had traded away all her hyena meat for water.
Originally, Bai Cheng had planned to trade half for water and half for compressed biscuits.
"Damn protagonist bastard! How did he even get a water filter?!"
That was the only explanation she could think of for why he had so much water.
But Bai Cheng wasn't worried. Right now, water is more valuable than food. She could easily trade for even more supplies than before.
Still, she wasn't in a hurry. For now, she only ate two chocolate bars to stave off the hunger.
"Beast-repelling powder and beast-attracting powder?" She picked up the two small packets of powder that looked like a drying agent.
The names alone made their purpose obvious.
[Beast-Repelling Powder: Upon usage, no creatures will approach within a 10-meter radius for 5 minutes.]
[Beast-Attracting Powder: Upon usage, it will lure all nearby unknown wild beasts for 2 minutes.]
"Huh, these ain't bad. One can drive beasts away to secure treasure chests, while the other can gather them for food and employee cards."
Bai Cheng was already scheming how to maximize their effects.
As for the wooden hunting bow blueprint, she checked its crafting requirements first.
[Name: Wooden Hunting Bow (Blueprint)]
[Materials Required: Fine Wood ×4, Leather ×2, Deer Tendon/Cow Tendon ×1]
[Description: A simple wooden bow that can be used for hunting. Using it unlocks the recipe for wooden arrows.]
[Evaluation: The range is short, but at least it's a ranged weapon.]
Biting her finger, Bai Cheng muttered, "Doesn't seem cost-effective."
A wooden bow with wooden arrows, paired with her lack of hunting skills and physical strength, was it really useful?
"And where the hell am I supposed to get deer or cow tendons?"
Encountering those animals was pure luck, and even if she did, killing them was another matter.
Unlike predators, they didn't chase prey aggressively.
No matter how she looked at it, this thing couldn't compare to her Fatal Edge in the slightest.
After weighing the pros and cons, Bai Cheng decided to trade it away.
"Late-game survival might depend on employees anyway. Strengthening myself isn't that important."
She set the blueprint aside and turned to look at the screen.
Only then did she notice the unread private message waiting for her.
"Who's this?" Curious, she tapped it only to be greeted by a familiar, handsome profile picture, with the name Tang Yan beside it.
Her face darkened instantly. "What the hell does this old man protagonist want?"
She had zero goodwill toward him.
Tang Yan: "What do you need? Food or water? I need wood."
Bai Cheng froze. She hadn't expected him to initiate a trade.
The message had been sent over three hours ago, at around dawn.
She smirked.
This is Karma, ah.
Bai Cheng: "Employee card."
Tang Yan: "You still want employee cards?"
Tang Yan: "Fine. I'll give you a discount this time. How about 180?"
Bai Cheng laughed and replied:
Bai Cheng: "50. Take it or leave it."
Tang Yan: "Are you kidding me?"
Just like he had done before, Bai Cheng left him on read.
Clearly, Tang Yan was baffled by her demand for another employee card.
But given their unpleasant history, they weren't on friendly enough terms for small talk.
Within minutes, he replied.
Tang Yan: "Deal."
Closing the chat, Bai Cheng grinned.
"Serves you right, you old man."
Gathering 50 pieces of wood wouldn't take long.
But instead of rushing to chop trees, Bai Cheng browsed the trade listings, only to be disappointed.
No one else was selling employee cards.
However, a woman named Lin Qiuyue was flooding the market with water.
A quick glance showed at least ten trade offers from her, exchanging water for other supplies, but at outrageous prices.
[Trader: Lin Qiuyue]
[Item: 500ml Freshwater]
[Request: Carnivorous Animal Employee Card, Empty Bottle ×1 / Compressed Biscuit ×6, Empty Bottle ×1…]
Almost every listing was accompanied by an empty plastic bottle.
"Another profiteer. Damn it." Bai Cheng clicked into the public channel and found that everyone was cursing Lin Qiuyue as a scammer, while she continued to shamelessly promote herself.
"Everyone, I've found a water source. I won't stay here for long—it's first come, first served!"
"Damn profiteer! Why don't you just rob us?"
"Yeah, how do we know that the water is even safe? Everyone, don't trust her! Stagnant water is toxic. You could die drinking it!"
"Why won't you reply to my DMs? Isn't my signed overalls worth a bottle of water?"
Although everyone was cursing Lin Qiuyue, their actions spoke louder than words. They were buying her water at lightning speed.
Bai Cheng ignored the channel and listed her wooden hunting bow blueprint.
As for her demand, it's an employee card, of course.
Nothing else interested her. Besides, this world was nothing like the novels and games she knew. Resources were limited, and hoarding was impossible.
The only remotely humane feature was the ability to submit the train upgrade materials in advance.
Grabbing her iron axe, Bai Cheng cheerfully hopped off the rail cart to chop wood.
"Another busy day ahead~"
But when she swung the axe at a thin tree, it left a massive gash, and the trunk was already wobbling dangerously.
Bai Cheng paused, then delivered two more strikes, snapping the trunk in an instant.
[Durability -1]
She was stunned. "Three swings for one tree?!"
And the durability also decreased!
Wouldn't chopping trees during the day speed up the axe's upgrade progress?
Bai Cheng immediately went wild. Soon, not a single sapling remained before her.
At the same time, the iron axe in her hand flashed with a blue light.