Early the next morning, before the sky was fully bright,
Grom, the dwarven leader, excitedly ran over to Council Hill.
To prevent Lin Gui and his companion from slipping away, the Fortress Lord had specifically given him some time off,
instructing him to keep a close eye on Lin Gui during this period and not let them leave quietly.
He knocked on the door.
Opening the door was Theia, her silver hair sticking up in all directions.
She looked thoroughly depressed, her long ears drooping.
She had thought that, following the plots of her novels, she could use alcohol to initiate a wild night of passion and fast-track their romance,
but instead, she had ended up knocking herself out first.
“Morning...” Theia drawled, her voice trailing off.
Grom peeked past her shoulder into the room.
“Where is the kid Lin Gui? And that little human girl?”
The room was empty, with no sign of anyone.
Theia sighed and gave a vague reply.
“They went to get some cash.”
“Get cash?” Grom blinked. “You mean... the salvage station?”
Theia nodded.
“Yeah, that place where you can sell demon materials and pawn things.”
Grom's expression grew even more peculiar.
“Then why didn't you go with them?”
Theia pouted.
“If I didn't stay here to keep watch, who would have told you where they went?”
She turned around and grabbed her coat draped over the back of a chair.
“Let's go, let's head over together. Lin Gui is going to need your help setting up his post office.”
Shield City's salvage station was located in the middle tier of the mountain's interior,
close to a busy ore transport route.
Before they even drew close, they could smell a pungent mix of odors.
Rust, blood, rotting flesh, and the sharp sting of cheap disinfectant.
A heavy metal door stood wide open.
The edges of the doorframe were blackened with soot, and several strings of dried demon heads hung from it.
A crooked wooden sign was nailed to the lintel,
scribbled in Dwarven.
“We buy everything, we pawn everything.”
At this moment, the entrance to the salvage station was completely packed.
Dozens of dwarves crowded around, standing on their tiptoes to peer inside,
their buzzing chatter merging into a loud hum.
“Out of the way! Make way!”
Grom bellowed in a gruff voice, using his bulky frame to force a path through.
Theia followed closely behind him, curiously poking her head out.
The interior of the salvage station was much more spacious than it appeared from the outside,
looking like a modified, semi-natural cavern.
Storage niches were carved into the rocky walls, stuffed with all kinds of bizarre items.
In the center sat a massive stone table,
its pitted surface stained with dark splotches.
“Do you take everything here?” Lin Gui asked.
His voice wasn't loud, but it cut clearly through the noisy salvage station.
Behind the counter, a dwarf sat on a specially made high stool.
This allowed him to look directly at the standing Lin Gui at eye level.
Crossing his arms, he replied gruffly,
“That's right, human.”
“What do you have to sell?”
As he spoke, he curiously glanced behind Lin Gui.
Several wooden crates hovered silently in the air, half a foot off the ground,
perfectly stable.
The surrounding dwarves were staring as well,
their eyes darting back and forth between the wooden crates and Lin Gui.
Dwarves who could use magic were rare to begin with,
and one who could maintain Levitation so steadily and for so long...
was practically unheard of.
Many had gathered precisely because they were drawn by this sight.
Lin Gui didn't say much. With a wave of his hand,
the lids of all the wooden crates opened simultaneously.
The items inside floated out one by one,
landing in an orderly fashion onto the stone table.
The last thing to fly out was a massive object,
wrapped in ice-blue magic and emitting wisps of cold air.
With a dull thud, it landed on the tabletop.
It was pork.
An entire hind leg of a pig, frozen rock-solid,
with distinct layers of fat and lean meat that looked firm and fresh.
Lin Gui pointed at the pork and asked,
“How much do you think this is worth?”
Instantly, the entire salvage station fell dead silent.
The dwarf behind the counter stared with wide eyes.
The onlookers outside did the same.
Dozens of eyes stared fixedly at the piece of meat.
The sound of gulps swallowing spit echoed one after another.
Before the counter dwarf could speak, the crowd of dwarves behind him suddenly erupted.
“I'll give you three hundred gold!”
“Four hundred! Cash on the spot!”
“Five hundred! Plus three pieces of refined iron!”
The bids grew increasingly urgent and louder.
A few dwarves even squeezed forward, reaching out to touch the meat.
The counter dwarf slammed his foot onto his stool, standing up and roaring,
“Get the hell back! This is my territory!”
He swung the iron hammer beside his desk, slamming it repeatedly against the tabletop.
“If anyone else pushes, I'll throw them out myself!”
At that moment, Grom and Theia finally squeezed through the crowd of dwarves.
He immediately spotted the mountain of supplies piled on the table,
as well as the frozen pork that everyone was fighting over,
and froze in his tracks.
“Did... did you bring all this?”
Standing beside him, Theia looked around at the excited dwarves, completely baffled.
“Isn't it just meat?”
“Why are they acting like they've seen a divine artifact?”
Grom turned his head, his expression complex.
“Long-eared girl, you don't understand.”
He lowered his voice, pointing at the rocky ceiling above.
“We are a frontline war city-state; we don't raise livestock.”
“And the cursed demons from the Silent Sea outside... they aren't edible.”
“As for the demons in the forest behind Shield City, their meat is absolutely rancid.”
“The one we roasted for you last night, didn't you throw up from eating it?”
“When it comes to fresh meat, the Fortress Lord would never let such things occupy our precious transport space.”
“A single piece of frozen pork...”
He looked at the bright red flesh on the table.
“In Shield City, you could easily trade it for a piece of Stellar-tier equipment.”
Theia covered her mouth in astonishment.
Stellar-tier equipment? Was it really that exaggerated?
Lin Gui was also quite surprised by this. Then,
under dozens of longing gazes, he silently recalled all the frozen meat, letting them float back into the wooden crates.
He left only the other supplies piled on the stone table.
Dry rations, medical supplies, outdoor gear...
These things were of no consequence to Lin Gui.
Perhaps because Shield City's resources were too scarce,
the exchange prices were actually much higher than he had anticipated.
His coin purse quickly swelled up again.
With his pockets full, he felt much more confident in his next steps.
After leaving the salvage station,
Lin Gui brought up his plan to build a post office to Grom.
The dwarven captain patted his chest and readily agreed.
Leveraging his authority in the city, he quickly selected a location.
It was situated in the middle tier, close to the main thoroughfare, making it highly convenient.
He also brought along several dwarven artisans who excelled in construction.
“They're all top-notch,” Grom said with a laugh, though his eyes drifted slightly.
He quietly pulled the foreman aside and whispered his instructions.
“Listen, drag the work out.”
“No need to rush. Take your sweet time.”
The foreman, a white-bearded old dwarf, pointed at the blueprint Lin Gui had chosen and asked in confusion,
“We're building it according to what that human wants?”
“This tiny job won't even take a day to finish.”
“We were born warriors, we've got plenty of strength.”
Grom puffed out his beard and glared.
“This is an order from the Fortress Lord.”
“Just use all your slacking skills and drag it out.”
The foreman looked hesitant, but he still nodded in agreement.
The construction began, but the progress was outrageously slow.
Two dwarves would carry a single stone slab,
stopping and starting while constantly adjusting their posture.
The dwarf laying the bricks would place one,
then take a few steps back to admire it for half a minute.
Lin Gui watched silently, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
He had long expected something like this.
Turning around, he retrieved several pieces of pork from the wooden crates.
The frozen slabs of meat emitted wisps of white vapor.
He lifted a piece, waved it toward the workers, and spoke in a clear voice,
“Finish this before the sun sets,”
“and everyone gets a piece of pork as a reward.”
“If you can finish it a few hours earlier, I'll add another piece!”
For an instant, the air seemed to freeze.
Then, immediately after:
“Roar!!!”
The eyes of the previously slacking dwarves instantly turned blood-red.
They threw down their tools and lunged toward the building materials.
Grom stomped his feet in a panic.
“Wait! How dare you?! What about the Fortress Lord's—”
But no one paid him any attention.
Meat! That was fresh meat!
How long had it been since they had eaten a proper barbecue?
It had been nothing but damn demon meat, demon meat!
Stone slabs were hoisted at lightning speed, and the brick walls rose at a pace visible to the naked eye.
The foreman roared as he swung his hammer,
“Hurry up, boys! Tonight, we're having authentic Blackstone barbecue!”
Grom stood with his mouth agape, utterly speechless.
Rate on N.U.
