Some were auctioned off by creditors because of their debts, some lost their freedom because they were captured by Marauders, and some were simply cloned products, while occasionally, a forgotten shelter facility was suddenly unsealed.
Chu Guang even heard that some scavengers sold themselves or their relatives because they couldn't survive.
In this wasteland, a slave who was about to reach the end of his life was more worthless than a two-headed cow that could carry goods.
At least the latter had more flesh.
"Please, please let me go." The man on the ground begged.
The brawny man glanced impatiently at the man who was kneeling on the ground.
"Even if I let you go, where can you go? I can help you end your miserable life here quickly. Don't make it difficult for me."
"Please, please..."
The slave could not say anything else.
"Wait a minute."
Chu Guang stepped forward and looked at the old man kneeling on the ground.
"How old are you?"
"51..."
He's a bit old indeed.
As far as slaves were concerned, this man was already old.
But from another perspective, it also meant experience.
Chu Guang continued to ask.
"What can you do?"
Seeing the hope of life, the old man turned around tremblingly, reaching out to hug the life-saving straw.
Seeing this, the brawny man quickly kicked him away and scolded.
"Don't touch the master's distinguished guest with your dirty hands, do you want to be hanged?"
The brawny man had a feeling that this group of people would do business with his master for a long time.
Although he had been kicked, the old slave didn't care about it at all. He didn't even look at the brawny man when he got up. He raised his wrinkled face and looked at Chu Guang.
"I, I can farm land, I know how to count, do carpentry, move things... I can do anything. Please, sir, please save me."
"You know how to count?" The brawny man sneered. "All you know is to count a few potatoes, and you call that you know how to count? Sir, don't listen to him. With his age, he can't do any work at all. This month we had two slave traders visit us, but none of them were interested in him."
Chu Guang took out a white chip from his pocket and flicked it into the brawny man's hand with his thumb.
"Is that enough?"
The brawny man nodded quickly with joy.
"Enough."
Although it was not a lot, it was still a chip, and the slave was not his after all.
After putting the chip into his pocket, the brawny man raised his shotgun and fired a shot into the sky, then picked up the bullet shell on the ground, bowed to Chu Guang, and happily carried the gun back to the farm.
The slave shrank on the ground and shivered, apparently terrified by the shot just now.
Chu Guang instructed a player to come forward, pull him up, and bring him in front of him.
"I bought your life, and now you work for me." He said in a commanding tone.
Finally recovered, the slave immediately wanted to kneel, but was stopped by Chu Guang.
"We don't do this. Put your right fist on your left chest to show loyalty. If I find out that you want to betray us, your heart will be gouged out and fed to dogs."
Chu Guang only said those words to scare the old slave. If there was really a traitor, they would be thrown into the Active matter extractor. There was no need to spend so much time and effort to punish them.
Although Chu Guang himself was a civilized man, after living here and observing for a period of time, he knew that some problems cannot be solved with civilized thinking.
The native people and the players were two different creatures from their roots.
For native people, he had to use native methods to manage them.
This was good for both parties.
"Yes, master," the old man lowered his head respectfully, showing a relieved expression. Then he pressed his right fist to his chest, "to offer you loyalty... My name is Luca, no, I don't have a name. Master, could you please give me a name?"
"You can keep the name Luca."
Chu Guang didn't want to waste time here. He beckoned to the players.
"Let's go."
"We have to go back before noon."
...
This trip as a traveling merchant could be said to have been full of rewards.
300 kilograms of struvite were exchanged for 3,600 kilograms of green wheat and shofar potatoes, and 100 kilograms of dried meat was exchanged for 500 kilograms of green wheat and 5 tools.
Although, Chu Guang wanted to quibble that venison was different from hyena meat. The former was rarer than the latter. After all, it was not always possible to encounter deer migration, but the other party said that in this case, they would only take hyena meat. Anyway, as long as it was not human flesh, all other meats were the same to them. So Chu Guang had to give up in the end.
However, Liu Zhengyue made a small concession for the sake of a long term trading relationship, allowing him to pick between 5 tools of his choosing or 500 grams of tobacco leaves to take away, which was regarded as a gift.
Of course, Chu Guang chose the tools, ending up with large pipe wrenches and fire axes. Even if he didn't need it, he could make steel and copper out of them after he took them back to the shelter.
In addition, 25 kilograms of smoked fish had been exchanged for almost 150 kilograms of waste metal.
Unlike the aluminum and steel alloys that could be seen all over the streets, these metals were good products containing copper and zinc.
Originally, Liu Zhengyue didn't want to sell it, but maybe because he thought that the merchants would not come for a few months anyway, it would be useless to keep them in the farm. So, after consulting his master, he nodded in agreement.
The noon sun shone overhead, and the shadows of the trees shook on the road.
Except for a strength type player pulling the caravan, the rest of the players were scattered around the caravan.
Occasionally seeing mutant cockroaches approaching, players would scream and rush up to beat them with sticks excitedly. They were even more excited than mutants.
If mutants could think, they would be stunned right now.
Who are the prey here?
The only thing Chu Guang needed to do was to stop their collecting habit. They would put anything they found in their pockets.
Although the mutant cockroach's stomach occasionally had some indigestible gadgets, and those lucky people could even find chips or bullets, the probability was really too small.
In most cases, there were only cockroach eggs.
Old Luca shuddered when he watched from the sidelines, presumably frightened by these people's actions.
He had never seen such a strange group of people. He couldn't understand what they were thinking at all.
But Luca knew very well that as a servant, he didn't need to think about this problem. The less he knew, the longer he would live, so he didn't say a word along the way, as if he didn't exist.
Leading the group back to the outpost base, Chu Guang, who had just arrived at the gate, happened to see the two brothers of the Yu family carrying their prey, gesturing anxiously with the players at the south gate.
Chu Guang's eyes lit up and he called out from a distance.
Hearing a familiar voice, the Yu brothers immediately turned their heads and waved with joy.
"Brother Chu!"
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