I opened a section for fan fiction, where any dark fan fiction pieces written could be collected if they were good enough. …… “Exactly!” Ye Chen nodded.

“As long as they are Level 10 and above, I’ll write down the purchase price for you.” He picked up the document and a 2B pencil from the table, quickly sketching out a table. Level 5 to 10 corpses: 2 bottles of Level 1 Gene Serum!

Level 11 to 15 corpses: 4 bottles of Level 1 Gene Serum! Level 16 to 20 corpses: 8 bottles of Level 1 Gene Serum!

Level 21 to 25 corpses: 16 bottles of Level 1 Gene Serum! Anything higher follows this progression.

Ye Chen had decided on these figures after careful consideration. Generally, it took about 10 Level 10 zombies to yield a chance of dropping one unit of Level 10 base material, which equated to about 50g.

Converted, this meant 25,600g worth of Level 1 base material. Two bottles of Level 1 Gene Serum equaled 300g!

If a person killed 10 Level 10 monsters, collected the remains, and then sold the materials, they could net 3000g—a rather profitable venture. Based on material estimation, the materials required varied depending on the shape of the weapon being manufactured.

Some monsters were robust; one claw could yield two or three broadswords. Others were slender; it might take two or three carcasses to forge a single battle saber.

A weapon forged from the claw of a Level 10 monster, enhanced with other materials, would cost, at most, 500g to 1000g in base material, yet it could be sold for ten, even over ten, times that price! A person capable of killing a Level 10 monster with firearms would reluctantly spend around ten thousand in base material to acquire a powerful melee weapon.

This way, when encountering a monster of equal physical strength, they could engage in close combat without wasting precious ammunition. After all, some firearms had a lower rate of fire than the movement speed of certain monsters, making them easy to evade, especially zombie variants that could continue functioning even riddled with bullet holes, as long as the head remained intact.

A single bullet cost the equivalent of 20g—extremely expensive. Hunting in the wilderness with firearms had one major drawback: the inconvenience of carrying vast amounts of ammunition.

Handguns were manageable, but machine guns consumed bullets like water flowing downstream. Ye Chen paused, then added another clause: Level 10 monster corpses must weigh a minimum of five tons!

Level 15……10 tons! Level 20……15 tons!

Level 25……20 tons! Corpses weighing less than the corresponding threshold would be purchased at a reduced rate!

If they exceeded the threshold, there would be no bonus—take it or leave it! After finalizing the terms, Ye Chen reviewed the document meticulously, ensuring no loopholes, before handing it to Xu Tianguo.

He knew exactly how many people this acquisition plan would drive into a frenzy. At present, these zombie carcasses were treated like trash, abandoned haphazardly in the wilderness, yet they could now be converted into valuable base material.

Even if he had set the price slightly lower, people would still sell to him, but to rapidly gather all the remains, Ye Chen chose not to haggle over such minor profits. “Acquiring Level 10 corpses at two bottles of serum each?” Xu Tianguo was astonished by the listed price.

He asked with alarm, “If the price is this high, won’t we run into resource depletion?” His concern was understandable; the table made even him feel tempted, itching to rush out into the wilds and haul back the monster corpses littering the landscape. Ye Chen replied calmly, “No matter.

You just focus on acquiring them; I will handle the funding.” “Alright!” Xu Tianguo gave him a resigned look, then pondered for a moment. “Shouldn’t we rent a warehouse first to store these corpses?” Ye Chen nodded.

“I’ll leave those matters to you. I’ll take you to withdraw the funds now.

Make sure the warehouse you choose is large—the bigger the better. Once you find a location, pay the rent directly under your name.” Although presenting the General’s Order granted a thirty percent discount at all publicly run establishments within the Base City, doing so would allow the Information Department to trace the massive zombie corpse acquisition back to him with a simple check.

“I gave you some Gene Serums last time; what levels have you all reached now?” Ye Chen asked casually, leaning back on the sofa. The batch of base material he had given Mo Feng for decomposition and crafting had been successfully converted into roughly 150,000 bottles of Level 1 Gene Serum.

Any single piece of high-grade base material could be broken down into several kilograms of Level 1 base material energy. Each bottle could enhance an ordinary person’s strength to match that of a Level 1 individual; 10 bottles could elevate a regular person to a Level 1 New Human.

150,000 bottles meant the potential to cultivate 15,000 Level 1 New Humans. He had given Xu Tianguo 2,000 bottles.

“The four of us have all reached Level 1 Constitution, and we have 1,588 bottles remaining,” Xu Tianguo replied quickly. Ye Chen nodded.

“When you have time, you should also venture into the wilderness to hunt ordinary monsters and hone your combat skills.” These individuals he had taken under his wing faced a vastly different environment than in his previous life; lacking some of that rigorous testing, over time they might develop complacency. It was uncertain whether these people could reach the heights they attained in his past life; for now, he could only say they possessed the potential to become powerhouses!

This so-called potential... was the innate Talent they would awaken upon reaching Level 100!

For instance, Xu Tianguo’s Talent was Wind, one of the Seven Supreme Talents! Huang Tianci possessed Gold!

Zhou Zicheng was slightly less fortunate; his Talent was mid-tier, named Combustion! The strength of the Talent mattered greatly.

Weaker Talents, like Flight, were nearly useless once one mastered “Qi Strength,” rendering the ability utterly redundant! …… Afterward, Ye Chen left with Xu Tianguo and arrived at a branch hall of the Commerce Department.

“There’s a line forming ahead,” Xu Tianguo noted, seeing queues at several windows—some for information checks, others for mission registration, and so on. “No matter!” Ye Chen stated flatly.

“Follow me.” He walked directly to one of the windows, where a large man was idly chatting with the beautiful girl inside, teasing her with one off-hand remark after another. This annoyed the people waiting behind them, but they dared not cause trouble.

The beautiful girl’s smile was strained as she awkwardly handled the man’s persistence, yet she couldn't afford to turn cold, lest she be cornered by someone like him in a dark alley after her shift ended... “Move aside,” Ye Chen said coldly.

The big man slapped the counter and turned around with a fierce expression, glaring at Ye Chen. “Who the hell are you, trying to cut the line?

Kid, don’t you want to live?” Relying on the perceived justification of his position, he wasn't afraid of Ye Chen; this branch hall belonged to the Commerce Department, and causing a scene here was akin to declaring war on the Base City! Once he left, the city was vast; he could go anywhere without fear of being followed.

Ye Chen glanced at him but ignored him. He took a step forward, positioning himself squarely between the brute’s legs, and subtly shifted his weight, forcefully crowding the nearly two-meter-tall man aside.

He then presented the General’s Order from his pocket to the young woman and produced the Blood Wind General’s Business Card. “Help me check the balance in this account.” The big man, who was about to rush over and start cursing, froze the moment he saw the General’s Order.

His eyes widened, and the finger he pointed at Ye Chen trembled uncontrollably; he couldn't speak. Fortunately, his reaction was swift; he quickly retracted his finger, bowed ninety degrees, and managed to say with a near-wail, “I did not realize it was Your Excellency, the General.

Please forgive me; I won’t trouble you further. I’ll disappear immediately…” With that, he fled the branch hall without looking back, cursing his terrible luck for running into a General and nearly getting himself killed.

As long as there was justification, a General had the authority to kill within the Base City—that was their privilege! Others, even if wronged, were forbidden from fighting within the city limits—this was the principle of “only the officials are allowed to set fires, while the common folk aren't even allowed to light lamps.” The beautiful girl gasped when she saw Ye Chen’s General’s Order, quickly rising to salute.

“Greetings, General!” Within the Base City, any personnel from departments lower in rank than the Military Department were required to salute those above them. The Military Department held the highest status among all the divisions.

This was respect shown to the frontline warriors! After all, fighting monsters, battling threats, and safeguarding the Base City relied entirely on these soldiers!

Without the military, the Base City could never have been established. “Hurry and check,” Ye Chen stated, frowning slightly.

The young woman flinched, dared not delay further, swiftly took the card, and began querying the system by account number. After a short while, she stared at the computer screen in utter astonishment, exclaiming, “There are eighteen bottles of Level 20 Gene Serum in total?” Eighteen bottles of Level 20 Gene Serum displayed on the system as: Converted, this amounted to 3,133,440 bottles of Level 1 Gene Serum!