["What do you need? Just a heads-up: I have no firearms left to trade."]
Ethan Ye tapped the light screen and sent the message.
He didn't receive a reply for a long while. Thinking the other party had decided against the trade, Ethan was just about to close the private chat when a message finally pinged.
Shangguan Yingxue: ["Sorry, I was just taking a shower."]
A shower?
Ethan looked toward his own water reservoir in silence.
How much water did this woman have to be that wasteful? Even he wasn't living that luxuriously.
["No problem. So, what are you looking for? You saw what I said about the guns."]
Inside Shangguan Yingxue's train, a young girl with waist-length black hair rose from a wooden tub that occupied nearly half the carriage. She pinned up her long hair, her pale blue eyes devoid of emotion.
["32kg Wood, 50kg Metal, and 40 Machine Parts. I assume you have these."]
Ethan raised an eyebrow. Instead of answering, he countered:
["Those materials are for a train upgrade, aren't they? Why are you so sure I have them? Even if I do, why wouldn't I use them for my own train?"]
["Because I hate trouble. I've collected some materials before contacting you, but it takes too much time and involves talking to too many people. I don't like it. As for why I chose you—I believe you're the only one right now who can produce different materials all at once. I've calculated that you've sold over twenty rifles. Aside from food and water, wouldn't the payment be various materials?"]
Her logic was sound, but not entirely accurate. Ethan hadn't sold twenty rifles; he had sold double that—over forty.
As for the resources she wanted, Ethan did indeed have them. However, he wasn't interested in trading them for just more water. His current stock was sufficient, and he'd even figured out a way to make it drinkable.
He'd seen the method in the chat room: friction fire, then boil. Regardless of the taste, boiled water generally won't kill you with dysentery. Of course, unless he was truly desperate, he had no intention of trying it.
Shangguan Yingxue fell silent for a moment. She dried herself off and sent a screenshot.
["This should be enough."]
[Water Purification Device] (Level 1) [Function: Filters and purifies non-potable water. Purifies 1kg per hour.]
Seeing the details in the screenshot, Ethan rubbed his eyes.
A water purifier?
This actually exists?
No wonder the woman was being extravagant enough to shower. She must have obtained this device at the first station. Even the wastewater from her shower could be filtered and recycled. Moreover, she didn't just have one; she likely had the blueprint, otherwise, she wouldn't be willing to trade a completed unit away.
["You have the blueprint?"]
["Is this device enough to exchange for the resources I need?"]
She didn't admit it, but she didn't deny it either. Ethan suppressed his surprise. A blueprint for a water purifier was undoubtedly precious, but that was her fortune. He was lucky enough already; there was no need to envy others.
["Yeah. Deal."]
The two finalized the trade.
Upon receiving the purifier, Ethan found it fit perfectly between the greywater tank and the freshwater tank of his reservoir. Once activated, the purified water would automatically drain into the freshwater side. It saved him a massive amount of hassle.
"Sublimation."
After so many uses, Ethan had a grasp of the rules. A small, Level 1 object wouldn't drain too much Stamina.
[Refined Water Purification Device] (Level 2) [Function: Purifies 3kg of water per hour. Can purify non-freshwater sources.]
He leveled it up once; the efficiency tripled, and it gained the ability to process non-freshwater—meaning even seawater could now be desalinated. Ethan was beaming with joy.
On a whim, he sent another message to Shangguan Yingxue.
["Are you ready to upgrade your train? Can you tell me what happens after the upgrade?"]
He was curious to see if other people's upgrade options were the same as his. Shangguan Yingxue hesitated for a bit.
["...Fine."]
A moment later, a screenshot appeared before Ethan.
[Level 2 Train Upgrade Options:] [1: Low-Level Carriage Blueprint (0 Train Coins)] [2: Welding Tool Set (2 Train Coins)] [3: Wooden Bed Blueprint (1 Train Coin)] [4: Increase Docking Time by One Hour (2 Train Coins)]
Options 1 and 4 were identical to his. The other two, however, were different.
"I see. The carriage blueprint and docking time are fixed. The other two are randomized, and the quality varies."
Shangguan Yingxue's random options were significantly lower in tier compared to his. Ethan nodded in understanding, only to see her send another message.
["Do... do you have any Train Coins?"]
["No."]
["Then, are you still buying water?"]
Ethan's mouth twitched. He might have bought some as a backup before, but now? Thinking about her showering and the recycler... buying from her now basically meant buying her bathwater.
["No."]
["Okay..."]
The conversation ended. Ethan knew she wanted to buy Train Coins from him to unlock her options, but he didn't even have enough for himself. He wasn't about to give them away.
Besides, he still had an unselected option of his own.
[Train Burst Acceleration Device Blueprint (5 Train Coins)]
This was one of the options unlocked when he hit Level 2. Five Train Coins would likely take an average person several stations to accumulate. But Ethan, having only just passed the second station, already had the capital to buy out everything.
[Purchased: Train Burst Acceleration Device Blueprint.] [Consumed 5 Train Coins.] [Remaining Train Coins: 4.]
[Train Burst Acceleration Device] [Construction: 50kg Metal, 200 Machine Parts.] [Post-Construction: Can consume materials to craft 'Acceleration Slugs.' Using a slug increases train speed to 3x base for ten minutes.]
Expensive. As expected of a 5-coin blueprint. However, he was only short on some parts—and he could afford to buy those.
With the second station behind them, the variety of items on the trading platform had increased. What most people needed right now was food and water. Luckily, he had food. Ethan might be picky about the compressed biscuits, but that didn't mean they weren't valuable to a starving man.