Chapter 120: Bullying the Weak and Fearing the Strong
The woman didn’t dare to delay. She clutched the Soldier Food Rattan and ran home.
Moira Lynch stored the Extremely Hot Mushrooms from the stall in her Space Button.
Just then, people who had witnessed the scene swarmed over, all clamoring for Moira Lynch to help them.
The crowd gave Moira Lynch a headache. She decided to just sit down on the stall she’d just used and announced, "If you want my help, form a line. But let me be clear, I won’t take just anything in trade."
At that moment, Shane Rhodes and the others noticed the commotion. After coming over and quickly assessing the situation, they spontaneously started managing the crowd.
At first, some in the crowd refused to be managed and kept trying to push to the front. But when Shane Rhodes unleashed a bolt of lightning, they didn’t dare make a peep and all obediently got in line.
The first few people were straightforward. They took out precious metals to exchange for the Soldier Food Rattan and then gave Moira Lynch the goods from their own stalls as payment—mostly Extremely Hot Mushrooms.
As the weather grew hotter, these Extremely Hot Mushrooms became more and more common, to the point they were practically everywhere. You could pick them, and in the blink of an eye, new ones would sprout.
The problem was, although the mushrooms weren’t poisonous, they couldn’t be eaten when the weather was hot.
Someone who refused to believe it tried eating one and ended up cooked from the inside out.
For a long time after that, no one dared to touch those mushrooms.
It wasn’t until the base later announced that the mushrooms could be exchanged for food that people started gathering them frantically.
But as the weather got hotter and the mushrooms became more numerous, their price plummeted.
Before, a bamboo basket of mushrooms could be traded for a coarse grain pancake. Now, you couldn’t even get half a pancake for a whole burlap sack of them.
After seeing off another customer and storing the Extremely Hot Mushrooms, Moira Lynch called out, "Next."
A grizzled old man stepped forward and tossed a gold thumb ring in front of Moira Lynch.
Seeing this, Moira Lynch didn’t reach out to catch it, instead letting it fall to the ground.
The ring landed on the ground with a dull thud, suggesting it was quite heavy.
"Exchange this entire ring for Soldier Food Rattans. This old man knows exactly how much it weighs, so don’t you go thinking you can cheat me out of even a single vine."
As he spoke, the old man shot Moira Lynch a look with his beady, triangular eyes, as if to say, ’Don’t try any tricks on me. I see right through you.’
Moira Lynch looked at the ring on the ground, then back at the old man, but didn’t move.
The old man saw her inaction and assumed she was asking for payment. He immediately put on the airs of a superior elder and said in a lecturing tone, "Young people these days, truly one generation is worse than the last. I’m only asking for a small favor, and you still want a fee? People have no integrity anymore."
His words instantly drew the attention of many, and some even chimed in to agree.
’Even though the mushrooms aren’t worth much, you can still get a little food for them at the official exchange post.’
However, most people were looking at the old man with strange, complicated expressions.
’This guy is obviously a bully who preys on the weak. He sees she’s just a young girl and thinks he can push her around.’
Many of them had seen this same old man acting subservient and bootlicking when dealing with others.
Noticing everyone looking at him, the old man, far from feeling ashamed, seemed proud. He urged her loudly, "Hurry up and make the exchange! As an elder, I’m going to teach you a lesson today: people must know to respect the old and cherish the young."
Seeing this, Kai York was about to step forward and drag the old man away.
However, before he could act, Moira Lynch moved first.
She took a magnet from her Space Button and brought it close to the gold thumb ring on the ground.
With a distinct metallic CLINK, the "gold" thumb ring snapped firmly onto the magnet.
Seeing this, the crowd looked at the old man with a mixture of scorn and pity.
At first, they had just thought he was an old man trying to take a small advantage. It turned out he was trying to pull a fast one and get something for nothing.
The old man’s face turned pale, then dark. He never expected his "gold" thumb ring trick to be exposed.
To hide his panic, he pointed at Moira Lynch and shouted, "It was you! You secretly swapped my gold thumb ring!"
But hardly anyone believed him. After all, Moira Lynch hadn’t even touched the thumb ring from the very beginning.
Moira Lynch frowned at the scene. ’See? Trying to be a good person just causes trouble.’
’I shouldn’t have been soft-hearted and agreed to their requests. Extremely Hot Mushrooms are everywhere now, so I don’t need to collect them from these people here.’
Just then, Shane Rhodes and the others walked over, unceremoniously grabbed the old man, and tossed him aside.
Faced with three tall, strong men, the old man lost all the arrogance he’d shown toward Moira Lynch. He was a living demonstration of the phrase "bullies the weak and fears the strong."
After quickly finishing the exchanges for everyone, Moira Lynch returned home and deftly changed the accepted payment on some of her stall listings from precious metals like gold to Extremely Hot Mushrooms.
She had learned from the people at the market that Extremely Hot Mushrooms were extremely plentiful now; a single person could gather a whole burlap sack in a day.
She chopped the Soldier Food Vine into small sections and listed them for sale at the price of one section per burlap sack of mushrooms.
Even though it was just a small section, the Soldier Food Rattan was incredibly filling. Even a grown man would feel completely full after just a few bites.
The moment they were listed, they caused a sensation.
The items in the shop were gone the second they appeared.
Moira Lynch was thankful she had bought an automatic listing machine from the System Mall. Otherwise, at this rate, she would have ended up with a Qilin Arm.
Hearing the commotion outside, Moira Lynch asked curiously, "What’s going on out there?"
Kai York was sprawled gracelessly on the sofa. "What else? It’s that SoySauceDrunkard," he said. "They started accepting Extremely Hot Mushrooms for Soldier Food Vines, and now everyone’s gone crazy collecting them."
"That’s a good thing, though," Hugh Finch said. "Extremely Hot Mushrooms are everywhere. This will probably save a lot of people."
Kai York opened the [Don’t Miss It] shop and stared at it for a long time before asking, "Hey, you think this SoySauceDrunkard has a ton of hands or something? Look at this restocking speed."
"Probably everyone in the world is trading Extremely Hot Mushrooms for Soldier Food Rattans right now, but he’s still managing to keep all the shelves stocked. An octopus couldn’t keep up with him."
Moira Lynch: ...
About ten minutes later, Moira Lynch stopped listing Soldier Food Rattans and switched to animal offal.
The Extremely Hot Mushrooms in her space had already piled up into a mountain, and besides, she had run out of Soldier Food Vines.
If she wanted to sell more, she would have to wait for new vines to grow.
Moira Lynch looked at the vibrant Soldier Food Rattans in her space. With the enhancement of the Water Wood Stone, they grew extremely fast.
Moreover, the Soldier Food Rattans she had planted earlier were all beginning to sprout. It wouldn’t be long before they were fully grown.