Chapter 65: Quite Productive!

These banknotes were definitely an unexpected windfall for Tang Zhen. If there were more, it would be an even bigger pleasant surprise.

Therefore, Tang Zhen pursued the topic with the silver-haired girl, asking, "Do you have many more of these paper strips? If you do, you can bring them all to exchange with me for food."

Seeing that Tang Zhen was genuinely interested in these scraps of waste paper, the silver-haired girl waved her hands excitedly and asked once again, "I have a lot of these paper strips. The ones Xiao Wei gave you were given to him by me. If I bring all of them to you, can you give that to me as a gift?"

The silver-haired girl carefully pointed her finger behind Tang Zhen, her eyes filled with longing. Tang Zhen turned his head and saw that it was a Cold Steel katana he had bought online.

This weapon cost several thousand, something Tang Zhen wouldn't have bought in the past. However, after obtaining twenty million from selling jade, he had become wealthy and unrestrained, purchasing it on a whim though it had never tasted blood.

Regardless, this could still be considered a fine weapon.

The silver-haired girl seemed to know the value of a fine weapon, understanding it could never be exchanged with a pile of worthless paper strips. In her view, this should be a very unreasonable request. She hoped this exalted cultivator would not be angry, because she really, really wanted that katana.

If Tang Zhen knew her thoughts, he would definitely sneer. This Cold Steel katana was indeed expensive, but the waste paper she spoke of could buy a whole pile of them.

The blond-haired giant beside her changed his expression upon hearing this, and scolded the girl in a low voice. In his view, this request was simply too absurd. However, Tang Zhen signaled him not to speak and instead turned his gaze back to the silver-haired girl.

"What do you want it for? Wouldn't food be better?"

The silver-haired girl hesitated for a moment, glanced at the blond giant, and then softly said, "I want to give it to my father. With it, when we encounter large groups of monsters again, Father and everyone will be much safer."

Tang Zhen fell into deep thought. The blond giant also possessed tier-2 strength and was the highest-cultivated person in this camp. If he had a decent weapon, he truly wouldn't have been left in such a disheveled state earlier by the bloodthirsty goblins.

Upon hearing this, the blond giant felt a prickle in his nose. The sturdy man was on the verge of tears, yet he managed to suppress the moisture in his eyes. The look he directed at the girl was filled with profound gratification and deep affection.

Tang Zhen nodded and asked with a smile, "I don't know your name yet. Can you tell me?"

"My name is Lisa, Mr. Cultivator!"

"Alright, Lisa, I agree. Now go and fetch your things, the more the better!"

Tang Zhen said with a smile, though a golden radiance flashed in his eyes.

***

Lisa was overjoyed upon hearing this and eagerly ran outside, returning shortly after.

She was dragging a rather battered, large leather suitcase. Reaching Tang Zhen, Lisa directly opened the tattered case.

Tang Zhen saw stacks upon stacks of banknotes neatly placed inside the suitcase. The banknotes near the edges of the case were rather severely damaged, but the vast majority in the middle remained completely intact.

Staring at the suitcase full of banknotes, Tang Zhen remained expressionless. Seeing this, Lisa grew apprehensive inside, unsure whether Tang Zhen was satisfied with these paper scraps.

How could she know that aside from pleasant surprise, Tang Zhen felt an even deeper sense of profound bewilderment? Because this box of banknotes came from the world he was familiar with, yet why had they arrived here, and what had they experienced in the meantime?

Filled with questions that he could only keep bottled up inside, finding no reasons and unable to discuss or analyze them with anyone, this state of mind left Tang Zhen somewhat depressed.

After staring blankly at the box of banknotes for a while, Tang Zhen still unbuckled the sword and handed it to the apprehensive Lisa.

Lisa excitedly took the sword, caressed it carefully a few times, and then passed the Cold Steel katana to her father, the blond-haired middle-aged man who served as their leader.

The wanderers cheered and jumped for joy upon seeing this. Their camp's strongest leader now possessed a fine weapon, which would vastly increase their combat capability. This was a tremendous blessing for them!

The blond giant's hands trembled slightly as he stroked the Cold Steel katana in his grip as if it were a precious treasure, his eyes brimming with excitement.

Feeling the sharpness of the blade's edge, the blond giant believed that when he used this weapon to hack at the bloodthirsty goblins, he would effortlessly slice them in half with a single blow.

Tang Zhen glanced at the blond giant's uncontrollable excitement and sighed inwardly. He could tell the middle-aged man possessed decent strength; if he left this place and joined the exploration team of the wanderer town, his life certainly wouldn't be reduced to such dire straits, nor would he be so ecstatic upon obtaining an ordinary weapon.

Perhaps he simply couldn't bear to abandon the men, women, and children of this camp, which was why he chose to stay here.

However, a weapon that seemed quite remarkable in the eyes of the blond giant failed to catch Tang Zhen's eye. Leaving aside the fact that he could bring cold weapons made of special steel from his original world, even the weapons in his storage space suspected of being demonic artifacts far surpassed that mass-produced OEM product in sharpness and toughness.

Glancing at the blond giant whose excitement had slightly subsided, Tang Zhen asked Lisa, "Where did you get these paper strips? Are there more?"

"There are, but it takes taking huge risks to get them. I wonder what else you plan to use for the exchange?"

Before Lisa could speak, the blond giant preemptively took over the conversation. Sensing that these paper strips were useful to Tang Zhen, he wanted to see if he could secure some benefits for the camp.

***

As the leader of the entire wanderer camp, his thoughts were completely understandable. In his view, Tang Zhen was a wealthy man; even the scraps falling through his fingers would be enough for those starving children to eat their fill.

As for the debt of saving their lives, he would definitely repay it, but that was entirely different from plotting welfare for the camp's elderly and young.

Tang Zhen glanced at the blond giant, used his eyes to signal the visibly displeased Qian Long not to act rashly, and then smiled at the blond giant, speaking in a clear voice, "Let's make a deal. As long as you bring me two more piles of paper strips like this, I will give you ten more weapons of equal sharpness. How about that?"

The blond giant was wild with joy. Ten identical weapons could never be bought without a huge pile of brain pearls; this time, he had struck it rich!

Without the slightest hesitation, the blond giant reached out and struck a fist against Tang Zhen's, laughing heartily, "It's a deal! I won't let you suffer a loss either. If there are any extras, they all belong to you; just give me ten weapons. It's a promise!"

Tang Zhen smiled as he extended his hand and bumped fists with the giant, cementing the agreement, which had to be honored.

"My name is Tang Zhen. Happy cooperation!"

"My name is Tyson, and I am the leader of this camp!"

Both parties reached an agreement and stated their names, leaving each other quite satisfied in their hearts.

Tang Zhen didn't know what Tyson was thinking. What he considered was how many banknotes he could acquire from this transaction. It was obvious that this money came from the Wild Tower, but how much more could be found remained uncertain.

However, Tang Zhen had to try, because this was one of the ways for him to rapidly accumulate capital.

The twenty million obtained last time seemed like a huge sum, but once the Tower City was established, if he wanted to expand it in a short time to a level others spent centuries achieving, it would require a massive infusion of capital—money would certainly flow like water. Therefore, Tang Zhen was severely lacking in funds!

Tang Zhen sat chatting with Qian Long and the others who had gathered around, while Tyson, Lisa, and the rest sat on the other side, excitedly discussing how to go about finding the 'waste paper strips' that Tang Zhen desired.