“Let’s go, Brother Zong. Xiao Juan is going to make some nice dishes tonight to help you recover.”

Looking behind him, Su Mo saw Sun Quan come up and give him an OK sign. Su Mo’s expression remained calm and composed. He only nodded slightly before moving his gaze away from the room.

A wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. If the Zhang father and daughter had no ulterior motives, then he, as a shareholder, naturally would not do anything to harm the Zhang Clan. But what if they had fallen for the murlocs’s lure and wanted to make something of themselves?

I’m sorry.

Su Mo had never shown mercy to his enemies. Only for the sake of his apprentice Zhang Bowen would he spare their lives. However, from now on, Zizai Liang Lane would have to be renamed the “Su Family Liang Lane.”

June 15th, Year 8 of the Doomsday Calendar.

As the Summer Harvest drew near, more and more migrant workers came to Mulberry Field Town to work. Even the formerly remote Gutian Third Street had drawn many “families” who came to stay because the rent there was relatively low. Su Mo realized he was supposedly working only when these people woke him early in the morning. They were like tourists. There were old people, teenagers, couples, and adventurers wandering the wasteland. Many strangers had only come together after entering the territory and renting a courtyard to share. Before this, they had not known each other at all.

“Hey, brother, would you like to try a local specialty? It’s Enchanted Tree Fruit from Pete Castle in the south of the New Continent. They say it beautifies the skin and boosts male vigor.”

Standing outside the courtyard gate, the two young men carrying sacks lit up when they saw Su Mo come out and hurried over to promote their goods.

“Oh? You come here to work as a cover for selling things?”

Su Mo took a mulberry-shaped fruit from the man on the left and, after confirming through the game panel that it was non-toxic, put it into his mouth.

Hiss.

At once an extremely sour juice burst in his mouth, followed by a sweet aftertaste that rushed up his throat. It was a truly unique flavor.

“Yes, we’re only allowed in during the summer and autumn harvest seasons each year. At other times, we’d have to buy an identity.”

“How about buying some? It’s very cheap, only three trade points per jin.”

Patting the temporary certificate hanging on his chest to show he was not an illegal immigrant, the man on the right smiled as he spoke.

“Okay, I’ll take all of these bags.”

“You want them all?” The two exchanged a glance and could see the joy in each other’s eyes. Tian Yuan Territory lay in a fertile area, and its people were wealthy, with extremely high purchasing power. In previous years, the goods they brought in from outside the territory had always sold in the end, but they were often pressed to lower the price. It was rare to meet a generous buyer like Su Mo, who did not even bother to haggle.

“Boss, how should we address you? My name is Gu Ziren, and this is my younger brother Gu Ziliang. We do business in the surrounding areas. If you need anything before the next autumn harvest, just let us know, and for a small handling fee we can bring it in for you!”

He told his younger brother to weigh the fruit, then pulled a crumpled business card from his pocket and handed it to Su Mo.

“My surname is Su.”

Su Mo took it and looked it over, then nodded and put it into his pocket with great interest. Given the limits of his own status, he had never imagined that someone would be clever enough to choose this kind of business. There was basically no risk involved, and it could even build some connections.

“Six jin in total, eighteen points, an honest price!”

After the weight was worked out, Su Mo opened the game panel and transferred the points. His directness made the two Gu brothers nod repeatedly, their faces beaming with unconcealed joy.

“Mr. Su, is there anything else you need? We have some more here.”

“Oh, let me see.”

Su Mo took the list from Gu Ziren, flipped through it for a while, and finally settled on more than ten kinds of supplies before heading off to the grain store, satisfied. At the same time, he became even more determined to take the lord’s seat as soon as possible and abolish this damned identity system. The ban on outsiders flowing in had indeed strengthened security within the territory and greatly reduced the difficulty of management. But it had also stifled opportunities for rapid growth. Official imports alone were not enough to meet the diverse needs of the people. The best approach would be either to loosen the restrictions moderately or to set aside a designated trading zone. As he observed these unfamiliar faces that had suddenly appeared, he mulled over how to develop his territory better.

Before long, Su Mo reached the entrance of Zizai Liang Lane. Compared with yesterday, the number of job applicants had hit another peak today, with four lines stretching onto the neighboring street. Fortunately, many of the planting workers had already been sent to the fields to begin preliminary harvest preparations, so the shop was not too crowded. He nodded to Zhang Bowen, who stood at the door already overwhelmed with work, and kept walking inside without stopping.

“Hey, Brother Zong, you’re here?”

Seeing Su Mo approach through the window, Sun Quan opened the door and came out, his expression clearly showing that something was off.

“What, you found something?”

“Yes. Zhang Min and Zhang Da, father and daughter, really did come into our lab again last night, at around two in the morning.”

“Something fishy is definitely going on,” Sun Quan said, pointing to a miniature camera hidden in a blind spot outside the lab, and then handed over a small tablet. With a tap, a video began to play.

Around 2:20 in the morning, two people in loose robes sneaked into Su Mo’s laboratory and did not come out until three. Afterward, they went into Sun Quan’s laboratory for more than twenty minutes before leaving. Although it was dark, their faces were unclear, and there was no sound of what they said, the hour and their actions clearly showed that the two were plotting something shady.

“I see.”

After watching the whole thing, Su Mo nodded and walked calmly into his laboratory. He took down the mask he had placed in the corner last night and imported its surveillance data. After playing only a short segment, he paused the video and took the energy stone sickle out of the drawer.

Where the Zhang Clan had spent a full twenty minutes clumsily taking the parts apart, it took Su Mo about a minute. The sickle came apart cleanly into seventeen different parts.

“This is...”

To make maintenance and upkeep easier, Su Mo had originally designed the energy stone sickle with only fifteen different parts. But now there were two more.

First, Su Mo picked up the long, thin thing on the left that looked like chewing gum. He set it in front of him and examined it carefully. At first glance it looked very ordinary. It could even be kneaded, and there was nothing unusual about it. He could find no writing on its outer skin. It had no suspicious smell, only a faint meaty aroma, like pork belly stewed until tender in a big pot.

“Appraisal!”

He focused his mind, and a panel popped up as the system’s green light seeped out.

[Miniature Bio-information Collector (High Quality)]

[Description: A bio-information collection device manufactured with a special “instrument.” When the user presses the dedicated fuse to detonate it, the bomb instantly releases a unique bio-inducing signal and automatically collects the pheromones passively released by all organisms within a fixed range.]

[Area of Effect: 500 meters (must be used in an open area with wind, otherwise the limited range will be greatly reduced)]

[Use 1: The pheromones can be used to make a custom tracker that accurately tracks a target within a ten-kilometer range, or provides approximate directional guidance within a certain range.]

[Use 2: The pheromones can be used for certain special purposes.]

[Use 3: Given enough pheromones, special devices for individual use can be made.]

[Comment: Silent fireworks, deadly enough!]

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