At that moment, someone raised an objection.
"Here we go. I knew someone was going to whip out the calculator."
"Guess all that studying fried their brain."
"They're limited edition — only 400 per day. If you think it's unfair, feel free not to buy. I'll thank you personally."
"Thank you, bro."
"Fully support this bro's crusade against pricing injustice."
"Honestly, trading an E-rank Monster Crystal Core for two potions is pretty fair. Allow me to go first."
"Easy for you to say — one spell from you can one-shot a wolf. That's pure profit."
"You've got a point, though. Trading crystal cores really is the best value."
"Alright, I'm going to trade for a few and stash them."
"Are there no 10 Mana Point potions? For someone like me with only 40 total mana, the extra is completely wasted."
"I've got 30 Mana Points and you don't hear me complaining."
"Perfect — just don't buy any."
Watching the heated debate unfold in the regional channel, Lan Qingyou smiled faintly. 'You might pocket a small profit, but I will never take a loss.'
As for the 10-point Crude Mana Potion — she could make those. All it would take was a deliberate slip-up during the brewing process. But there was no point.
The production costs were still too high, especially the time investment.
After a moment of thought, she posted another trade listing.
"Blueprint x 1 = Apprentice-Level Mana Potion x 10 (submit a trade request directly; only useful blueprints will be accepted)."
The filter from before had been genuinely amazing. The only problem was that the blueprint was single-use — once crafted, it was gone.
If possible, she wanted to collect more tool blueprints related to alchemy.
That would be far more efficient than cobbling things together one at a time.
If she had ten crucibles like her current one, her daily output would skyrocket.
"Whoa... one blueprint for ten potions?"
"That's terrifying. She's already developed this far?"
"A blueprint, huh? I actually pulled one from a supply box today. Submitting a trade request right now."
"Ten mana potions, here I come!"
Seeing what appeared to be a considerable number of people with blueprints, Lan Qingyou was surprised.
'I scoured over a dozen supply boxes in one night and didn't get a single one?'
'If it weren't for Gu Xiaobei, I wouldn't have even known these things existed.'
'No excuses — tonight I absolutely have to go out and hunt for a couple of hours.'
With that thought, Lan Qingyou opened the incoming trade requests.
Sure enough, there were plenty of offers. Everything from tables and chairs to nightstands.
But that also meant very few of the blueprints were actually useful for alchemy.
In the end, Lan Qingyou selected a wardrobe blueprint and a lantern blueprint.
She had clothes now, so a wardrobe was a natural necessity.
And she currently only had one lantern, which she had to carry up and down every time she moved between floors. Making another one would save her the trips.
"My blueprint got rejected. (Sad)"
"Same here. (Sad)"
"Haha, mine went through! Ten mana potions secured — my survival just got a whole lot easier."
"Must be nice being one of you lucky dogs."
"Lucky dog? I'll have you know I was kissed on the cheek by Lady Luck herself."
"@Lan Qingyou, I'm Mickey from Los Angeles. You've probably heard of me. I've already recruited fifty people. Come under my wing and I guarantee your safety."
Right in the middle of some people celebrating and others sulking, that message dropped like a bucket of cold water.
The lively atmosphere in the channel went dead silent.
"Giant Mickey — you still think you're on Blue Star? 'Guarantee her safety'? Sounds more like a threat."
"Ahahahahaha! Fifty people? Mickey, has the senility already kicked in? You're a joke."
"Machine Gun Jacksey, if you're homesick, I can arrange the trip."
"Just sit back and watch whether Lan Qingyou even acknowledges you."
"Times have changed, old ghost."
"Still dreaming about being the Godfather? Go to bed already — you've got foraging to do tomorrow, or you won't be able to afford Lan Qingyou's potions."
"He probably saw that Old York isn't around and figured he could throw his weight again."
"Oh right, Old York is 56 this year — just barely dodged the forced teleportation."
Crack!
Reading the mocking comments on the desk screen, a wiry middle-aged man — whose hair was slicked back immaculately even on the Kalim Continent — snapped the wooden stick in his hand clean in two.
"Godfather."
Below the desk, a group of men in grimy black suits stared up at him.
"Send half the people to find this Lan Qingyou. With her potions backing us, taking over the entire Abandoned Forest will be child's play."
"The other half keeps collecting materials for the Level 3 Shelter upgrade. We have to be the first to reach Level 3 and claim the reward."
Over fifty people crammed into a sixty-square-meter room — just imagining it was suffocating.
So the wiry middle-aged man known as "the Giant" — Mickey — waved his hand and dismissed his subordinates.
Once they had all filed out, Mickey finally rose from his chair.
He walked to the window and gazed into the night.
Being forcibly summoned to the Kalim Continent had been sudden, but for him, it was a golden opportunity for a comeback.
Ever since Old York had defeated him and driven him out of New York, he'd been searching for exactly this kind of chance.
And now, at last, it had come.
Chaos!
Only chaos could give a seasoned operator like him the room to truly thrive.
That was why, from the very first day, he had reached out to his old underlings and pulled them — shelters and all — over to his location.
He was fifty-three years old. The perfect age to go out and conquer.
......
"This is great."
Lan Qingyou couldn't help but stretch.
The "great" she was referring to had nothing to do with going out — she was talking about the exchange warehouse.
After tossing those potions onto the market, she'd been monitoring the channel's reaction. Once she confirmed that the overwhelming majority viewed the new potion favorably, she immediately turned her attention to the warehouse.
After all, each slot could only stack 999 base units of materials, and a ten-slot warehouse simply couldn't hold everything.
But when she switched the panel to the exchange warehouse, she discovered that the number of slots had already doubled from ten to twenty.
A full twofold increase — more than enough to store all the base materials she'd traded for.
That reminded her of the Level 2 Shelter upgrade.
At the time, she'd thought it only unlocked the ability to build new facilities. She hadn't expected such a massive bonus to be waiting for her.
Those villains in Villain Valley were truly awful.
Sure, upgrading to a Level 2 Shelter was somewhat challenging for any individual, but surely some people had managed it by now.
Yet every single one of them had kept their mouths shut — not a word in the channel — leaving her to discover this pleasant surprise only now.
'Fine. I'll keep quiet about it too.'
'I got rained on, so naturally I have to tear away everyone else's umbrella before I can feel balanced.'
'Let's go! Time to head out!'
'Off to the docks to score some... wait, no — out the door to hunt for supply boxes.'
'Let's see if I can pull a blueprint or something.'
"Hm?"
Lan Qingyou had just stood up when she suddenly froze.