CHAPTER 962: CHAPTER 960: ISN’T THIS JUST A PIECE OF CAKE?

"Who’s looking for me? I thought I heard someone behind me say I was handsome!" Just at that moment, Zhang Menglong happened to walk into the resource acquisition hall.

"Mr. Zhang, we respect your strength, so we’re willing to go by your rules, but you can’t just take us for idiots, can you?"

"Yes, Mr. Zhang, a Level Five energy crystal can only sell for tens of millions of cosmic coins, and the price is only a fifth of what’s outside. Aren’t you pressing the price too low?"

"Mr. Zhang, you want to make money, to earn our luck flame, we have no objections, but you have to leave us a way to survive!"

Though full of resentment inside, the Treasure Hunters could only express their discontent in this somewhat pitiful tone, not daring to curse outright on the spot.

"Well..." Zhang Menglong scratched his head, "You can’t calculate like this. I’ve minored in economics. The value of a commodity is influenced by supply and demand relationships. How could it always remain unchanged?"

"Let me finish, if what I say is unreasonable, feel free to refute," Zhang Menglong posed as someone who "speaks reasonably".

"This place of ours, is it the treasure vault left by the Zuda Civilization or not?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"According to the cosmic situation, how much do you say it costs to produce a Level Five energy crystal?" Zhang Menglong asked.

No one could answer such a professional question.

"I don’t really know either," Zhang Menglong laughed, "But think about it, it costs money to develop a mine, right? It takes money to maintain its safety and stability, right? It costs to mine, doesn’t it? And logistics and storage? But after all that effort, there might only be one Level One energy crystal in a raw stone, right?"

No one retorted these words. Although Level Five energy crystals circulate quite a bit in the universe, it’s only based on a huge baseline, and the ratio of Level Five energy crystals in a universal energy crystal vein is extremely low.

"So, in cosmic civilization, a piece of Level Five energy crystal can fetch billions of cosmic coins, is that reasonable? It’s reasonable!"

"But you should think, in this Treasure Hunting Space, it’s different," Zhang Menglong said, "Look at this, I’ve done some data analysis!"

Zhang Menglong opened a file, "During the days of the Beast Tide, my Black Warriors hunted down a lot of fierce beasts. Let’s take these Level Five beasts as examples. I must have killed no less than several million if not tens of millions, right?"

Zhang Menglong actually had no interest in those Level Five beasts. His orders to the Black Warriors were to hunt beasts at the Level Six lifeform tier or higher, but the aftermath of every battle always managed to accidentally kill thousands of unlucky Level Five beasts.

This was also something those Treasure Hunters witnessed firsthand. In those days, besides questioning their existence, all they did was watch the light points representing treasures left after Zhang Menglong’s Black Warriors finished their rampant slaughter.

"Based on the data I’ve gathered, Level Five lifeform-tier beasts have a drop rate of more than 5% for Level Five energy crystals, meaning you can get at least one Level Five energy crystal from every 20 beasts. If this drop rate appeared in a game on Earth, it would be considered a conscientious company. I feel like getting Ma Hua and Ding Sanshi to learn a thing or two."

"And that’s not counting the other materials that drop!" Zhang Menglong showcased more data, "Less than 20% of the beasts drop nothing. Isn’t that earning one with every kill? So if my purchase price is a bit lower, what’s the problem?"

What Zhang Menglong said was indeed the truth, but now they all felt like they wanted to slam something onto Zhang Menglong’s head.

He talked as if those Level Five lifeform-tier beasts were well-behaved puppies and kittens, that as soon as the Treasure Hunters found one, the beasts would just lie down waiting to be killed?

A Level Five peak-tier beast’s combat power far exceeds that of ordinary human Treasure Hunters and can even threaten those on the Summit Ranking. Saying it could beat 99% of human Treasure Hunters is no exaggeration, right?

Taking down a single Level Five peak beast requires at least a dozen regular Treasure Hunters working together, and battles could last for hours. Managing to hunt one in a day is quite an accomplishment, and if they encounter a herd, they’d have to flee.

Especially now, just after experiencing a Beast Tide, finding a lone beast is incredibly difficult!

They risk their lives to acquire a Level Five energy crystal, sell it for tens of millions of cosmic coins, and once divided among everyone, each wouldn’t even get a million cosmic coins, not even enough for a night’s stay!

What are they doing? This is unproductive work. They’re just working for Zhang Menglong! And they realize they are nothing but laborers!

"Mr. Zhang, what you’ve said is correct," a Treasure Hunter smiled bitterly, "but where are Level Five beasts that easy to hunt?"

"Level Five beasts are hard to kill?" Zhang Menglong looked very surprised, "Really? Are you not up to it?"

"Are you killing beasts with your mouth?" Everyone was about to retort when they remembered Zhang Menglong’s ability to instantly defeat several experts on the Summit Ranking, and that for him, perhaps talking could indeed kill.

By coincidence, at that very moment, a thick scent of blood wafted in from the hall’s entrance. Three young men in Ritian Sect cloaks walked to the appraisal center, noisily dumping their loot.

Due to their daily large energy consumption, these Treasure Hunters have to rely on consuming large quantities of energy to sustain their stamina. The medicines are for critical survival, while ordinary compressed food is tasteless. Beast meat, rich in energy and cookable into tasty dishes, becomes the best choice.

Here, the purchase price for a Level Five peak beast is 1 to 5 million cosmic coins, almost a fifth of market price.

Suddenly, the intense scent of blood spread again, and the beast corpses piled up like a small mountain.

"Hello, you have a total of 127 Level Five peak beast corpses here. Calculated at an average price of 3 million each, that totals 381 million cosmic coins."

"2 elementary Level Six beast corpses, totaling 20 trillion cosmic coins."

"127 heads? Three people killed 127 heads?"

"And two Level Six elementary beasts? Did they open a slaughterhouse?"

"There’s also this." Another young man brought out a pile of items dropped from the beasts.

"12 Level Five energy crystals, 3 Level Five martial weapons, 7 Level Six medicinal plants, and some metals. Please wait, I need to calculate the mass and unit price."

...

"Hello, a total of 20,102.2 billion cosmic coins have been transferred to your account."

"Thanks, boss!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, earning from the dean for the first time, it’s really thrilling!"

"If it hadn’t been for that one Level Seven flying pig, we could’ve killed a few more."

"Dean, get us a VIP card. We want to order an ultra-luxurious presidential villa suite!"

"Scram, scram, damn it, don’t disturb my business!" Zhang Menglong shooed the trio away like pests.

"Gou Dan, starting tomorrow deduct two zeroes when settling their account. With them earning this way, I might go bankrupt!"

"The dean’s really trash, can’t handle it, and you truly lack the strength!"

"Shut up!"

"You see," Zhang Menglong turned back to the others, "these three are just at the Level Four life form peak genetic level, yet they easily earned tens of trillions of cosmic coins. Killing a few beasts is no big deal! Is it not as simple as having a hand?"