Chapter 376: Chapter 376

"I won fifty thousand." Lingling looked down, also somewhat excited.

Tan Ke gave a thumbs-up. "We need to reevaluate the rating of your fighting chicken; it’s at least a B now."

Everyone had a new understanding of the fat chicken’s combat power, only then realizing that what Jing Shu said on the plane about the fighting chicken was true.

The companions, whether they believed in Jing Shu or simply placed bets, were all grinning now—it was indeed an unexpected windfall.

Due to the chaos at the scene, Jing Shu saw several people pull out guns as if aiming at the fat chicken, so she didn’t dare to linger. She exchanged nearly three hundred thousand Black Market Coins and quickly slipped away with her companions.

Upon returning home, Jing Shu donned her bulletproof vest and bulletproof hat. Even the fat chicken seemed aware of something and put on its steel helmet. When the fat chicken carried its trophies, Jing Shu felt it had grown a whole size bigger. When her eyes glanced over, she always felt something had changed about the fat chicken, but on closer inspection, there was no difference.

Forget it, never mind.

Joining Jing Shu in her return were a pile of carcasses: various leopards, wolves, eagles, wild boars, and so forth. Tan Ke and his group were incredibly envious.

For the first time, Snake Spirit spoke seriously to Jing Shu. "I’d like to exchange some Python Meat for Contribution Value, about half of it."

Looking over the meat scattered around, Jing Shu, who wouldn’t need to worry about food for a while, nodded. "Name your price."

"How about 500 Contribution Value?"

Her medicine was so precious and only worth 100 Contribution Value; the Python Meat wasn’t even as valuable as her medicine. Besides, that Contribution Value was indeed precious. From what she learned from Tan Ke, 500 Contribution Value could bring back a lot of goods to Huaxia.

Then, Lingling exchanged for some eagle meat, and Monkey exchanged for some wild buffalo meat. Only Tan Ke used 50 Contribution Points to exchange for a crocodile’s claw, saying that he would dry it and bring it back to his sister, who was a human-shaped tyrannosaur and liked such trinkets.

Unwittingly, Jing Shu had amassed another wave of Contribution Value, feeling that the supplies she could legitimately bring back to Huaxia were increasing.

Jing Shu winning so many Black Market Coins from the Black Market caused an uproar that very day. Whether for the Black Market or the public, everyone loathed that chicken, vowing to kill it and make it into roasted chicken by any means the next time they saw it.

To avoid the spotlight for a while, the whole team took a day to rest and recuperate. Meanwhile, Jing Shu was not idle; she roughly processed all the animal hides, preparing them for transport back home for further processing.

Snake meat was used for a clear snake soup stew, wolf meat for red-braised stews, and pork was made into braised meat to eat on the road. Beef was made into dried, hand-shredded meat; crocodile with ginger and onions became a home-style dish; and eagle and rabbit stewed together made a perfect pair. For this, Jing Shu had specifically ’hunted’ rabbits to make a pot of rabbit stewed with eagle. Finally, the leopard meat was roasted. She brushed it with a shiny layer of oil, sprinkled it with cumin, and waited until it was crispy and dripping with oil before adding sesame seeds. Tearing it by hand and dipping it into the green onions Jing Shu had grown made her teammates drool, questioning their life choices.

These were not the main points.

The real issue was: why did Jing Shu bring such a complete set of seasonings for a mission abroad during the apocalypse? Good heavens, who in the world did they offend?

Of course, not all ingredients could be eaten. For example, Jing Shu processed the giant lizard to take back to Huaxia as medicinal ingredients.

As for the fat chicken, the great contributor this time, it couldn’t be neglected. Although it ate so many disgusting things, they vanished without a trace after passing through its efficient digestive system. However, the eggs laid by the fat chicken that day were all exchanged by Snake Spirit to feed her snakes.

The next day, Little Black hired the same pickup truck from last time and began to exchange all the Black Market Coins in batches—small amounts, multiple times—for various kinds of rice, grain, and other supplies that were more abundant in the United States. Then he transported them to the truck and drove towards the dock.

Compared to Huaxia, where people were now so poor they could barely afford red worm cakes, even a small city in the United States had such abundant supplies. Everyone was truly envious.

Perhaps it was targeted at them, but on the third day, prices in the Black Market increased by 10%. However, this still didn’t deter their determination to continue exchanging for supplies. It took three consecutive days to exchange all the Black Market Coins for goods. It had to be said, the value of several hundred thousand Black Market Coins was indeed substantial.

At least all of these belonged to their private stashes, not mission items, so everyone’s enthusiasm was high. What was the purpose of them risking coming to the United States? It was precisely to gather more supplies in this apocalypse where everything was scarce.

But trouble still came. The Black Market issued a notice: due to an emergency, one team from the seven A-rank teams would be selected, promoted to an S-rank Mercenary Team, and then sent to complete a secret mission with a huge reward.

Yes, the Black Market used forced conscription. Anyone in A-rank had to participate in the competition. Jing Shu felt a deep malice from this.

"According to Little Black’s intelligence, this is indeed targeting us," Jing Shu said. "After all, we won a large amount of Black Market Coins, and the next day, the exchange for goods began. I’m afraid this promotion is just a front; their real aim is to openly kill us."

"No," another voice countered, "we received intelligence from Goat. Something did happen. Perhaps these Nobles really have something urgent to deal with, and that’s why they’re rushing to select the strongest team."

"Then let’s turn their scheme against them," Jing Shu said resolutely.

The plan was disrupted prematurely. Jing Shu didn’t know if it was because of her, but it didn’t matter anymore.

Tan Ke’s jinx actually came true. The competition to be held that day was a large-scale battle royale with dozens of people. Even the ’map’ had been modified. This time, everyone’s goal was simple: to "eat chicken"—to win, to be the last one standing, and to become the only S-rank Mercenary Team in the Black Market. Of course, these people had another goal: to collectively eliminate the Asian team!

With all the mercenaries unanimously determined to eliminate Jing Shu’s team, no one could afford to be reckless. Everyone brought their A-game. Luckily, this time their members wouldn’t be separated, which avoided embarrassing mishaps like Snake Spirit getting lost or Tan Ke falling into a pit.

The host felt somewhat melancholic. Money from the Black Market was indeed not easy to earn. But he still had to make his announcement. The spectators clapped and cheered, while the Nobles on the VIP platform began placing their bets, paying extra attention to the Asian Wizard team.

"Sister, what exactly are you planning? You’ve even dragged these Asians into this. Our plan cannot afford any mistakes!" George furrowed his brows, questioning Pei Qi.

Pei Qi, sipping red wine, smiled and said, "They don’t stand a chance in this game. Even if they survive and win, becoming the only S-rank team in the Black Market, they’ll have to fight a life-or-death match for us in the city center. If they win, we can escape from here. If they lose, well, then there’s really nothing we can do. We won’t be at a loss with this trade."

"Alright. Just make sure to keep an eye on them. These Chinese people have come here with ill intentions. I think they’re just after our resources." Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁

"With just those few people? That’s too naive. Don’t worry, I have everything under control."