Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Collaboration, Speculations About the World

”First, there are a total of nine people, including you and me, who currently possess the silver treasure chest. How do you plan to persuade the other seven to join this organization?”

Perhaps Ji Chaoyang had anticipated that Xu Xin would ask this question, and he responded with a relaxed tone, ”Among the other nine, the ones in the third, fifth, and seventh positions have been in communication with me since the novice protection period. They also obtained the silver treasure chest with my help, so we only need to take care of the remaining four people. The key to this matter actually lies with you.”

”Me?”

Hearing Ji Chaoyang’s words, Xu Xin was secretly alarmed.

There are only nine people who have obtained the silver treasure chest, including Ji Chaoyang himself, and amazingly, four of them are related to him!

This person is truly a big shot!

”That’s right. If you join our organization, then in District 188, only we will be able to craft metal weapons, armor, and tools. You’ve seen those things, right? The performance of green-grade items can basically match or even exceed previously crafted blue-grade equipment.

Currently, metallic minerals like iron ore are scarce, and there are only two of us, so our production capacity is insufficient. So if we declare publicly that the metal tools we produce at this stage are only available for trade within the organization, what do you think they will choose?

They, being among the top ten in the event, definitely want to become stronger. Not to mention, within our organization, we are all powerful individuals, and the exchange of resources and information is bound to be more efficient than exploring on their own.

Moreover, our organization doesn’t have any mandatory requirements; it’s all benefits without any drawbacks, so why not?”

Goodness, it’s a monopoly, isn’t it? Smells a bit capitalistic.

Xu Xin nodded silently. Ji Chaoyang’s words made sense. Even Xu Xin himself would unquestionably join such an organization. As mentioned, the only limitation might be the unified pricing of goods.

But there are nine people with silver treasure chests, which is quite a number. Compared to setting their own prices with increasing undercutting, unified pricing has more advantages.

”What’s the second question then, how will organization members communicate with each other?”

Ji Chaoyang laughed and said, ”You’ve probably interacted with very few people in the past few days, Xu Xin.”

”Not that many, indeed.”

”After the novice protection period, the treehouse opened a feature similar to group chat, and currently, each person can only join one group chat. I was already in the same group chat with those three who obtained the silver treasure chest. We can form a new group chat.” Ji Chaoyang explained.

”Can I ask how you helped them find the silver treasure chest?” Xu Xin was very curious about this because his process of obtaining the silver treasure chest was quite odd, and he wasn’t sure if others had a similar experience.

”Of course, you obtained your silver treasure chest from the stream, right?”

”Yes.”

”I just told them that my silver treasure chest was in the stream. I advised them to explore along the stream and be cautious of the monsters in the stream. You must have noticed it too, right? The place where the treasure chest is located, the stream’s flow slows down a bit, and the sound of the water is slightly different.”

The stream flow slows down? The water sound? Xu Xin frowned, trying to recall.

Nope, the stream was still as turbulent, and he hadn’t paid much attention to the water sound. Could it be that the terror crocodile he encountered was different from others?

”Are all the silver treasure chests in the stream?” Xu Xin continued to ask.

”I don’t know. There are actually a few others in that group chat, but only those three found the treasure chest.”

”What kind of monsters did you encounter in the stream? I ran into a crocodile.” Xu Xin concealed the fact that the crocodile didn’t attack him, probing tentatively.

The terror crocodile didn’t attack him and even handed him a silver treasure chest, which made Xu Xin feel increasingly odd.

”On my side, there was a massive turtle the size of a round table, lying at the bottom of the stream. When I got close, it suddenly attacked me. Fortunately, I reacted quickly and blocked it, but it still bit my weapon in half.” Ji Chaoyang’s tone was somewhat pained, ”That was a blue-grade weapon! Luckily, the turtle was torn to pieces due to the treehouse’s protection, or I might have been in trouble too.”

Indeed, the terror crocodile Xu Xin encountered was different.

A turtle the size of a dining table is indeed enormous, but it would be nothing more than a morsel for that crocodile.

What exactly is that crocodile? It doesn’t even show up as a red dot on the map.

When he was in the underground world, all those monsters appeared on the map. Could it be that this giant crocodile isn’t an underground creature?

”So, Xu Xin, are you interested in starting this organization with me?” Ji Chaoyang asked, seeing Xu Xin silent for a while.

”Pleasure to cooperate.” Xu Xin replied.

”Haha, pleasure to cooperate!” Ji Chaoyang laughed, clapping his hands. ”Once the time is right, I’ll establish a group chat and pull you in. By the way, can we video chat? I don’t know what you look like, and some things are better discussed face-to-face.”

”Of course.” Xu Xin was also curious about what Ji Chaoyang looked like.

The video call connected, and Xu Xin finally saw Ji Chaoyang’s appearance. He looked like a cultured young man, with clear features and a neat hairstyle, wearing the same newbie set as Xu Xin. However, unlike Xu Xin, his clothes seemed much cleaner and tidier, likely specially taken care of.

”You’re quite handsome.” Ji Chaoyang commented, a bit surprised by Xu Xin’s appearance, perhaps because it didn’t match his mental image of him.

”Honestly, I initially thought you’d be the brawny type.” Xu Xin responded with a smile.

”Haha. From now on, we’re partners. Let’s talk about things only we two know.” Ji Chaoyang’s expression turned serious, ”Xu Xin, what do you think about those monsters in the underground world?”

”In the future, we’re definitely going to confront them. This might be the very reason we’re in this world.” Xu Xin expressed his view, ”Even now, if we’re outside the protection range of the treehouse, we’ll be attacked by these underground creatures. They’re everywhere, and relative to beasts, they are our true enemies.”

”I agree with you on that, but Xu Xin, have you ever considered that the monsters attacking us on the surface and those from underground might not be the same group of monsters?”

”What do you mean?” Xu Xin knitted his brows together.

”You should have noticed that while the monsters attacking us on the surface and those from underground are similar species, there’s a huge difference in their sizes. The monsters from the underground world are noticeably larger.”

”Yes, that’s indeed the case.” To be honest, Xu Xin thought the crocodile wasn’t small, but considering its unique nature, he nodded in agreement with Ji Chaoyang’s observation.

”Plus, after observing by the cliff for some time, I found that those underground monsters don’t seem to have the ability to soar thousands of meters to the surface.”

Xu Xin’s brow furrowed even more: ”You’re suggesting that the monsters attacking us aren’t those from the underground?”

Ji Chaoyang pondered for a moment before speaking, ”The monsters attacking us might also live underground, but not in the underground world we see; instead, they’re in the soil beneath us. We should view these two kinds of monsters separately.”

Gradually, Xu Xin’s thoughts became clearer: ”You’re suggesting that there are currently three types of monsters: terrestrial beasts, mid-sized monsters in the soil, and large monsters underground?”

Even though they’re referred to as mid-sized monsters, they’re still much larger than beasts; that Cannibal Flower, for instance, is like ten meters tall.

”Correct, and in my opinion, the monsters in the soil beneath us seem to be miniature versions of those from the underground world, possibly artificially placed here.”

Xu Xin’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated, ”The purpose being to familiarize us with the underground monsters in advance?”

”Exactly.”

They looked into each other’s eyes, seeing a trace of panic within.

They’re probably just a bunch of lab rats.

Xu Xin suddenly thought of the skeleton underground.

They’re not the first people to come to this world. Before them, others had arrived earlier.

Were those people survivors or the ones controlling this world?