Chapter 73: Picking Up Money Along the Way

The tracked robot began to turn again, covering the tire tracks on the ground.

Before long, they had completely entered the mountain range.

As they climbed along the narrow path, the terrain gradually rose.

Fortunately, the tracked robot was an all-terrain machine, so this kind of road condition couldn't stump it at all.

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue sat comfortably on the back of the robot.

Furthermore, Cao Xing took a handful of nuts out of his backpack and shared half with Liu Muxue.

The two of them chewed on the nuts while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the snow-capped mountains.

Looking at this scene, they didn't seem to be going on an expedition at all; rather, it looked like they were here for a sightseeing trip.

They hadn't gone very far when Cao Xing suddenly noticed that there appeared to be signs of a battle on the road ahead.

Two or three carriages were overturned on the ground, looking completely devastated.

On the cold snow, pools of fresh blood were particularly glaring.

Swish!

Assam was the first to draw his longsword, entering a state of alert.

Cao Xing said, "Assam, go investigate and see what happened up ahead."

"As you command, Lord."

Upon receiving the order, Assam instantly controlled his Frost Wolf and charged over.

Before long, he returned and reported, "Lord, that was a human caravan traveling ahead of us. They seem to have been attacked and have been completely wiped out."

Cao Xing frowned and asked in confusion, "A chamber of commerce? Could it be Hilton and his group?"

Assam shook his head, "No, it's a carriage from the Giant Chamber of Commerce. I saw a fist emblem on it."

Cao Xing nodded in realization.

The Giant Chamber of Commerce was one of the three major chambers of commerce, on par with the Black Lion Chamber of Commerce and the Moon God Chamber of Commerce, which Hilton had mentioned before.

"An attack? Do you know who did it?"

Assam nodded, "Judging from the battle traces at the scene and the footprints on the ground, they must have encountered Forest Yetis."

"This is a ferocious and violent monster that will attack humans when it cannot find food in the snow."

Cao Xing frowned, "How strong are the Forest Yetis?"

Assam pondered, "Creatures like Forest Yetis vary in strength, but most of them are not very powerful."

"It is said that they are the guardians of the Mountain God."

Cao Xing nodded.

Upon hearing from Assam that this group of Forest Yetis wasn't very strong, he gradually felt relieved.

Otherwise, he would have taken his people and run away on the spot!

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Let's go and take a look."

Then, he approached the three overturned carriages.

And when Cao Xing saw the things on the carriages, his eyes lit up immediately.

Inside the overturned carriages, there were several cargo boxes, which seemed to be loaded with various miscellaneous goods.

Cao Xing walked down directly and came to one of the carriages.

A system prompt appeared.

[Giant Chamber of Commerce cargo box discovered. Open it?]

Cao Xing clicked 'Yes' immediately.

[Opened successfully.]

[Obtained Maitina Rose Wine * 32]

[Obtained Vizima Champion Spirits * 30]

[Obtained Goat Milk * 7 cans]

[Obtained Yak Meat * 372]

[Obtained Pickled Fish in Citrus Juice * 172]

…

The first carriage was mostly loaded with food and some alcoholic beverages.

In this frozen world, these supplies were extremely precious items.

They could be sold for a very high price in those towns.

And when Cao Xing saw the descriptions of the two types of alcohol, his eyes lit up again.

[Maitina Rose Wine: Consuming it instantly restores 400 HP and increases Spirit by 10 for 300 seconds, but there is a 50% chance of entering a Drunken state.]

(A red wine favored by some knights; selling it in the territory tavern has a chance to attract some powerful knights.)

[Vizima Champion Spirits: Consuming it instantly restores 300 HP and increases Strength by 10 for 300 seconds; there is an 80% chance of entering a Drunken state.]

(A strong spirit favored by some Polar Warriors; selling it in the territory tavern has a chance to attract some powerful warriors.)

…

"Huh? It can actually increase attributes and also attract powerful knights and warriors?"

Cao Xing was overjoyed; just from these two points, he could tell the value of these two types of alcohol.

And the key point was that he had an SSS-grade talent.

If he consumed them, he might be able to permanently increase his attributes!

…

Cao Xing even wanted to down two bottles on the spot.

However, drinking these beverages would cause him to enter a Drunken state.

Therefore, Cao Xing could only wait until he returned to the territory to test them out.

The first carriage alone had yielded a bountiful harvest.

And there were still two more overturned carriages nearby.

Cao Xing couldn't help but feel even more expectant.

He went to the second carriage, and a system prompt appeared.

[Giant Chamber of Commerce cargo box discovered. Open it?]

"Yes."

[Opened successfully.]

[Obtained Intact Snow Wolf Skin * 7]

[Obtained Intact Deer Skin * 8]

[Obtained Woolen Fabric Roll (White) * 12 bolts]

[Obtained Linen Fabric Roll (White) * 15 bolts]

[Obtained Silk Fabric Roll (Green) * 13 bolts]

…

Cao Xing was overjoyed once again.

"Good heavens, this is actually filled with all kinds of fabric!"

With this fabric, he could mass-produce some cold-resistant clothing in the [Tailor Shop].

At this stage, the value of a piece of cold-resistant clothing went without saying.

In the market, many Survivors might not even be able to trade for clothes, even if they offered weapons and equipment.

Cao Xing could completely use this fabric to make clothing and then trade it with other Survivors for precious resources!

"However, there are actually green-grade fabric rolls in here."

"Could it have some special effect?"

Cao Xing checked it.

[Silk Fabric Roll (Green): A type of fabric roll favored by nobles, with a lightweight texture and strong cold-resistance.]

(When crafted into clothing, there is a higher probability of adding an extra Charm attribute.)

After reading the description, Cao Xing nodded and put it away.

He then went to the third carriage and clicked to open it.

[Opened successfully.]

[Obtained Coins * 47203]

[Obtained Magic Energy Stone * 172]

[Obtained Special Pet Ration * 17 (Green)]

[Obtained Refined Iron (Blue) * 72]

[Obtained Amber Pebble (Green) * 12]

…

Another huge pile of precious materials had been accounted for, along with a huge sum of over 40,000 coins.

I have to say, this feeling of picking up money is really great.

Cao Xing was almost falling in love with this feeling.

"No wonder those raiders like to rob chambers of commerce; the returns are just too high!"

"However, it's a pity that the resources of this caravan don't compare to Hilton's."

You have to know that at Hilton's place, he had seen two purple-grade pieces of equipment alone, plus hundreds of thousands of crowns, potions, and so on.

On second thought, Cao Xing felt it was only natural.

After all, Hilton had brought a large group of guards, plus two Tier 3 elite guards.

With such powerful guard strength, he wouldn't be wiped out by a group of Forest Yetis.

Then, Cao Xing checked the attributes of the two new materials as usual.

[Special Pet Ration (Green): A specially made ration containing a large amount of animal organs and eyeballs. It is favored by various pets. After feeding, it increases Loyalty by 1 point. The feeding limit for a single pet is 5 times.]

(Note: Although the ration is good, don't feed it too many times~)

[Amber Pebble (Green): Can be embedded in weapons to increase weapon attack power by 5 points.]

(The amber, buried deep underground, seems to carry some kind of faint power.)

…

"Huh? This pet ration can also increase loyalty?"

Cao Xing chuckled, then directly took out a piece and threw it toward Dabai.

Dabai also subconsciously opened its mouth.

The next moment, Dabai's pupils suddenly widened, as if it had encountered some kind of delicacy, and it gobbled it down greedily.

At this moment, a system prompt appeared.

[Your pet: Dabai has consumed the Special Pet Ration. Loyalty +1, Satiety +3.]

Haha! It really did increase loyalty!

Cao Xing began to continue feeding it.

After the fifth feeding, the system prompted: Feeding limit has been reached.

And Dabai's loyalty had reached 95 points; the mount function would be unlocked soon.

At this time, Dabai was still looking at Cao Xing with eager eyes, seemingly extremely longing to taste that delicious treat again.

Cao Xing patted its head and said, "You can't eat too much of this stuff in one day. I'll feed you next time, be good."

Dabai understood his words and reluctantly turned its head away.

Thus, all the supplies inside the three carriages had been collected by Cao Xing.

Looking at the overturned carriages and the bloodstains on the ground.

Cao Xing said, "If there is a chance, I will slay that group of Forest Yetis for you. Let that be the payment for me taking these supplies."

After saying this, he led everyone to continue moving forward.

Along this narrow mountain path, Cao Xing and his group advanced about another two kilometers.

Along the way, whether it was out of fear of Dabai's massive size or because of the number of people in their group.

Cao Xing was not attacked by those monsters.

Half an hour later, they had penetrated about three kilometers deep into the mountain range.

The terrain here was already very high, with an altitude of at least over 800 meters.

Cao Xing opened the map again and glanced at the distance to [Mount Telo].

Then he said, "Almost there. We will arrive at Mount Telo soon. This is the place where Nive and her sister got separated."

"From now on, everyone observe the surroundings and see if there are any traces of fighting or escaping."

After all, Nive's sister was being hunted by trolls at that time, and in order to escape, she might have fled out of the Mount Telo area.

Hearing Cao Xing's order, everyone began to observe their surroundings.

As for Sarah, she disappeared from where she was and began to explore all around.

The team searched while moving forward.

They soon arrived at [Mount Telo] on the map.

This was a high mountain also covered in thick snow, with some birch trees and shrubs sparsely growing on it.

The terrain was extremely steep; a normal person wouldn't be able to climb up at all.

"This place is so steep, how did those caravans get through?"

Cao Xing couldn't help but ponder this question.

Mount Telo was the only way to pass through the Borealis Mountain Range. If they couldn't cross this mountain, they would have to turn back, detour dozens or even hundreds of kilometers, and waste a lot of time.

At this moment, Assam reported, "Lord, there is a narrow path ahead that seems to lead through Mount Telo."