The original count of 132/10,000 had suddenly transformed into 135,954/135,954.
The population had instantly increased by over a hundred thousand people. What was once a small neighborhood of ten thousand had expanded into a massive district of over a hundred thousand.
The channel name had also changed from 'Abandoned Forest' to 'Abandoned Land,' though the designation for Zone 666 remained the same.
So this was what a normal region was supposed to look like, Lan Qingyou thought.
She couldn't help but criticize the system once again.
“Hahaha! The merger finally happened!”
“Wait, isn't that Yang Wei? I remember this guy—didn't he embezzle hundreds of billions, get his whole family killed, and then hide in prison just to survive?”
“That news story? I remember it. That was from a few years ago, right?”
“Good grief, another bunch of criminals?”
“They don't call it the Abandoned Land for nothing. I bet this place is specifically used to lock up criminals from Earth.”
“Only a hundred thousand people? That seems low. The Federation should have at least a hundred million 'free spirits' like us.”
“Who said there can only be one Valley of Villains like ours?”
“...You actually have a point there.”
“I’m from the Middle Section of the Abandoned Beach in Zone 668. To all my new friends in the merged region: if you meet someone named Yasuda Naoko and she tries to talk to you, whatever you do, do not engage! That scumbag is a cross-dressing freak who will trick you into trusting him, then kill you in your own home to steal your supplies!”
“Everyone watch out for a monster named Sherlock Cloudley. When you buy something from him, he includes a set of instructions—do not sign them! That’s a high-interest loan contract! That guy’s talent is making people sign contracts!”
“If you trade with a guy named Aditi Singh, make sure you double-check the item names. This guy loves using items with nearly identical names to scam you out of your goods.”
Pfft!
Lan Qingyou, who had just been about to take a sip of water, nearly choked when she saw the fresh warnings flooding the channel right after the merger.
“Holy hell! There are even bigger pros out there!?”
Meanwhile, the people from the original Zone 666, who had been planning to expose Lan Qingyou, Shang Chuan, and Xin Tianle, felt their tempers flare even more as they read these messages.
They had intended to tear off the 'evil masks' of those three.
But as it turned out, not only was their own zone a mess, but the other zones were just as 'colorful.'
As a result, a bizarre sense of 'competitiveness' suddenly surged in the hearts of these whistleblowers.
What was a little cross-dressing deception, a few loan contracts, or a trade scam compared to them?
No way!
If they were going to be 'evil,' the villains of the Abandoned Forest had to be the most evil of them all!
Thus, these guys began a massive propaganda campaign against Lan Qingyou, Shang Chuan, and Xin Tianle.
To be fair, they started out being relatively factual.
Whether it was Lan Qingyou’s opportunistic pricing, Shang Chuan’s profiteering, or Xin Tianle’s utter lack of shame, their descriptions were mostly accurate. Even Lan Qingyou, who was watching the show, didn't bother to argue.
After all, she didn't see herself as a profiteer; she simply charged a price 'proportional' to the value of her potions.
However, as the conversation progressed, these people began to make up rumors just so they wouldn't be outdone by the newcomers from the other zones.
And the rumors grew more outrageous with every post.
“That’s nothing! So what if he swapped one type of seaweed for another? That’s just you not looking closely enough. If you’d looked, you wouldn't have been scammed. Look at us! After everyone’s week-long oil lamps went out, that Lan Qingyou woman immediately put out Glow Potions and sold them at a premium! So many people were forced to burn firewood just to have light!”
“That doesn't sound right. I just looked at her shop—fifty healing potions for one book seems pretty generous.”
“Generous my ass! Do you know how much a book cost back then? Five basic units! I was stupid enough to sell two. I lost so much!”
“Wait! There are potions?! I'm going to buy some right now.”
“It’s already over. They’re long gone. Even that profiteer Shang Chuan is out of stock.”
“I’m so jealous of you guys. Your starting point actually had an alchemist.”
“Jealous? We paid for it with our lives. The world consciousness just mentioned a region with only a hundred-odd people left—that was us in Zone 666. Are you still jealous?”
“Never mind. I suddenly regret being merged into Zone 666.”
It was true.
Out of ten thousand people in a zone, Zone 666 had only a hundred-plus survivors.
A one-percent survival rate... anyone who saw that would shake their head in fear.
“Psh, at least her prices are just high—you can still actually buy things. Look at Sherlock. Right now, at least a fifth of the people in our zone have become his slaves because they accidentally signed his papers.”
“Did I kill too many protected animals in my past life? Why was I assigned to a place like this?”
Some people began to question the very meaning of their existence.
On one side, you had a one-percent survival rate. On the other, a one-in-five chance of being enslaved. How was a lowly poacher supposed to choose?
Should he just perform a 'drop dead on the spot' act?
“I’m telling you, Shang Chuan is the real profiteer. He’ll sell you a single wooden plank for the price of ten. As long as he can make a profit on the margin, he doesn't care if you live or die.”
“Hey, where’s that guy? Come out and tell us about Xin Tianle. You’re the only survivor, after all.”
“Forget it. That guy just said he found Xin Tianle’s new shelter. He’s probably camping outside her door right now. He won't see you calling him.”
“Fine. Anyway, that’s the gist of it. Don’t mess with the Witch of the High Tower, and try to avoid dealing with the profiteer directly if you can.”
“You guys too. You’d better not trade anything with that merchant named Sherlock, and definitely don't sign your name on anything, or you'll be sold before you even know it.”
“And watch out for that Yasuda Naoko guy. Though, the people from the original Zone 666 probably don't need to worry—after going through something that tragic, surely no one would fall for a 'honey trap,' right?”
“Hard to say.”
“Hard to swallow.”
Initially, everyone had been arguing and trying to outdo each other by claiming who had the biggest villain.
But as they kept talking, the victims eventually started banding together for mutual comfort.
Lan Qingyou, one of the subjects of their discussion, watched the whole thing with a look of utter bewilderment.
“Wow. I’ve seen 'misery Olympics' before, but this is the first time I’ve seen people competing over who has it more 'evil.' Has Zone 666 evolved from a Valley of Villains into a Sea of Villains?”
Lan Qingyou grumbled to herself, feeling quite indignant.
Seriously, she had simply followed the basic principle of alchemy—equivalent exchange. How was that her fault?
It wasn't.
Feeling piqued, Lan Qingyou decided to stop paying attention to the chat.
She still had rewards to claim, and getting her rewards was far more interesting than reading this nonsense.
The first thing she looked at was the books; that was a no-brainer.
Although they were called rewards, the books were still the same ones available elsewhere—aside from the functional books with the 'Basic' prefix, the rest were just various essays and miscellaneous notes.
This time, however, Lan Qingyou didn't suffer from her usual indecisiveness. She went straight for 《Basic Golemcraft》.
She had already gained a preliminary grasp of some of the disciplines required for golemcraft, and she could slowly piece together the rest.
Furthermore, during the three days of the mana tide, she had realized something: if she ever encountered another emergency like that, she would likely be just as overwhelmed as before.
But if she could research and create a golem to act as her assistant, wouldn't things become much easier?
At the very least, she could hand off repetitive tasks like prepping ingredients, grinding, and stirring, freeing her hands to research more advanced subjects.
After this ordeal, she had seen the truth clearly.
If she wanted a way forward, researching potions and alchemy was the best path—it was the choice with the greatest uncertainty, but also the greatest rewards.
After redeeming the book, Lan Qingyou suppressed her urge to flip through it and moved on to selecting her magic.
Rate on N.U.
