Chapter 166 - 151: Vegetables and Fruits = Hard Currency

Chapter 166: Chapter 151: Vegetables and Fruits = Hard Currency

Very soon, Rowan Rhodes began trading with Void Beast Atticus. Space Stones flowed continuously into her hands. In the blink of an eye, she had traded for 110,000 Space Stones. With every successful transaction, she gave Void Beast Atticus an extra Introduction fee. This directly proved to Void Beast Atticus that the big pancake Rowan Rhodes had promised him was completely real. Under these circumstances, Void Beast Atticus worked with increasing enthusiasm.

"Human, the next one is coming. Get ready to receive it," Void Beast Atticus said excitedly.

"Wait," Rowan Rhodes said. She now had another 110,000 Space Stones on hand, all acquired using Trading Coins and resources. She planned to use them for herself first. She wanted to upgrade her backpack slots to a certain level before considering trading any Space Stones away. After all, having enough storage space was the foundation for surviving on islands and diving into the ocean in the Sea Survival Game; it meant she would never have to worry about running out of room.

With that thought, Rowan Rhodes continued to "upgrade" her backpack slots. First, she spent 1,890 Space Stones to upgrade her remaining 189 slots—which had a capacity of 99—to a capacity of 999. Then, she spent another 99,000 Space Stones to upgrade all her backpack slots to a capacity of 9,999. As a result, she was left with 9,110 Space Stones. After some thought, she used 9,000 of them to upgrade nine of those slots, increasing their capacity to 99,999.

At this point, her backpack capacity was practically invincible. Flipping through her inventory, the corners of Rowan Rhodes’s mouth curled up involuntarily. This massive trade had consumed more than half of her Trading Coins and nearly emptied out her resources, leaving behind only some special goods and dropped items. However, for her, it was completely worth it. Because next up, it was entirely time for the harvest.

"Shall we continue? My friends over there are getting anxious waiting," Void Beast Atticus asked, his tone laced with a hint of urgency.

"That’s enough. Give me the Space Stones first," Rowan Rhodes replied straightforwardly. Aside from Trading Coins, she had virtually no resources left to trade with other players. What she needed to use now were the Space Stones.

Zelda Parrish, Skye Schuyler, and the others had worked diligently and "contributed" to her for so long; it was time to properly reward them. Without any empty gestures, Rowan Rhodes directly gifted one Space Stone to each of the players who had just traded with her. Setting the price at 1 Trading Coin was no different from a gift, after all.

Upon receiving the gifts, Zelda Parrish and the others were instantly shocked. So the Space Equipment everyone had been speculating about was actually Space Stones! They used them the moment they got their hands on them, instantly discovering the mechanics behind expanding their backpack slots. Their gazes toward the Space Stones immediately grew a bit more fervent. One Space Stone wasn’t enough to make a huge difference, but multiple Space Stones would be incredibly useful.

More importantly, Rowan Rhodes gifting them the Space Stones was undoubtedly a direct showcase of this Equipment, proving she had no intention of keeping it a secret. If she wasn’t hiding it, did that mean she was willing to trade the Space Stones? Most crucially, they really wanted to know how Rowan Rhodes had gotten these Space Stones. Did they come from the fourth island she had arrived at?

Just as many players were letting their imaginations run wild, trying to figure out the best way to ask, a new message from Rowan Rhodes popped up.

"Rowan Rhodes: Continuing to purchase vegetables, fruits, and gourmet food. Can be traded for Space Stones."

This was quickly followed by her purchasing standards. Seeing these words, the hearts of Zelda Parrish and the others skipped a beat. These were Rowan Rhodes’s purchasing standards, not theirs. When they made their own purchases, they could easily skim a little off the top for themselves. They all knew very well that this was a perk she was giving them.

Without hesitation, Zelda Parrish and the others first traded all the vegetables, fruits, and other resources they had on hand to Rowan Rhodes in exchange for Space Stones. Then, they leaked some of the news to the public. Once the regular players caught wind of this, they immediately sprang into action.

"Finally seeing the true face of the Space Equipment—so it’s Space Stones!"

"Aww yeah, I’m ready to use them! Off to trade for Space Stones!"

"One Space Stone can add one backpack slot!"

"I need this so badly! I’ve always felt my backpack slots were never enough and thought the Sea Survival Game was just being stingy. Turns out they were saving this for later!"

"Am I the only one curious about where she found these Space Stones? She’s traded out quite a few in just this short time! Did she poke a hornet’s nest of Space Stones or something?"

"For Equipment like Space Stones that can expand backpack slots to flow out in such massive quantities kind of goes against the game’s mechanics. I feel like Boss Rowan Rhodes might have a special channel."

"Every single time, Rowan Rhodes always manages to walk ahead of all the other players."

"Not just walking ahead, she always manages to obtain things that other players can’t get."

"I think so too. I feel like even if we found the exact same island as her, it definitely wouldn’t spawn this many Space Stones."

"Hey, I just thought of something! Wasn’t there a server-wide announcement earlier? It mentioned Rowan Rhodes making the first trade with the Native People. Could it be that she traded for these Space Stones?"

"It matches up! The possibility is incredibly high."

"So as long as we find the Native People, we can also trade with them for Space Stones?"

"That should be exactly right."

"Suddenly, I’m really looking forward to it."

"I’m a bit curious about who these Native People are. Are they humans like us?"

"We found an abandoned airplane before, which means there’s technology in this world’s background. They might actually be human!"

"Whether they’re human or not, it means we’re about to make contact with a new civilization. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing."

"Good or bad, we have to face it. At least for now, it’s a good thing, because we can trade vegetables and fruits for Space Stones! That’s such a steal."

"If that’s the case, trading with the Native People requires vegetables, fruits, gourmet food, and Trading Coins. Should we hoard them for ourselves first? After all, trading with Rowan Rhodes means going through a middleman! If we wait until we find an island to trade, won’t we get more Space Stones?"

"I support the person above. Whatever you do, definitely don’t trade!"

"Right, right! We should wait for the Native People to trade with them."

"..."

In the main chat group, a bunch of people were chiming in their agreement. In reality, however, this didn’t delay them in the slightest from trading with Zelda Parrish and the other purchasers. Waiting around for opportunities to knock on your door was something only an idiot would do. For the players, it was their Nature to get their hands on the Equipment first.

Moreover, many players felt that they might not necessarily have Rowan Rhodes’s capability to exchange for such a massive quantity of Space Stones. This was a sign of their esteem and recognition of her abilities.

The preparations many of the regular players had made previously were immediately put to use. Meanwhile, the regular players who obtained the Space Stones continued to excitedly initiate purchases within their own districts. Just like that, countless resources were gathered, beginning to flow endlessly toward Rowan Rhodes.

As for Rowan Rhodes, with her backpack capacity vastly over-expanded, she accepted every single trade initiated by Zelda Parrish and the other regular players without exception. After all, she could completely swallow it all up without relying on any external help. She even put all the Storage Boxes she had previously accumulated up for sale in the District 122 trading hall. After her backpack slots were upgraded, the Storage Boxes just seemed to take up unnecessary space, so they naturally had to be cleared out. Dismantling them would yield significantly fewer resources. Selling them, on the other hand, could recoup some resources!

Meanwhile, the players in District 122 also learned of Rowan Rhodes’s major move when Zelda Parrish and her group began using Space Stones to purchase vegetables, fruits, and gourmet food. Looking at the Space Stones, everyone’s eyes lit up. Then, spotting the unused space on their rafts, they instantly arranged large and small soil pots. Vegetables and fruits with short growth cycles became the top choice for many players, and crop seeds suddenly became popular again.

It could be said that the entire district was taking active measures. This situation wasn’t just happening in District 122; it was occurring in countless districts that had regular players. In this final hour or so of the viral natural disaster, the players erupted with unprecedented new vitality. Many players who had been hovering on the brink of life and death also used vegetables and fruits to trade for Antidotes, air purifiers, Air Purifying Masks, and Anti-toxic Equipment from other players.

Who could have imagined that there would come a day when vegetables and fruits would actually become hard currency!