Chapter 57: Light Dust-Filter Respirator

Suli’s gaze lingered on the [Blueprint: Lightweight Dust-Filtering Respiratory Mask] and the [Windproof Goggles]. Combining this with the panic-inducing messages she had just seen in the chat lobby, the silhouette of the "spore dust storm" crystallized in her mind.

This was an opportunity!

She took action immediately, listing a brand-new item in the trading hall:

[Trading Hall (Region 888)]
[Doomsday Outlaw Selling]

Custom [Lightweight Dust-Filtering Respiratory Mask (Fitted)] Exchange Rules (Choose one):
Material Customization: Provide the core materials required for crafting: [Glass x1], [Fiber Grass x4], and [Basic Metal Sheet x3]. Additionally, pay two to three miscellaneous supplies as a crafting fee.
Equivalent Exchange: If unable to provide the core materials, other equivalent supplies may be used for exchange.
Remarks: Limited quantities available, first come, first served. This mask effectively filters suspended particles and unknown spores in the spore dust storm, ensuring smooth breathing.

This listing was like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting the long-suppressed regional channel.

[Chat Lobby - Region Channel 888]
"Don't Want to Name It": "Holy crap!!! A dust-filtering mask!! Outlaw-dada can even make these now???"
"Kite and String": "Oh god!! A literal lifesaver!! I was just assigned to the edge of the Gobi Desert, and the wind is already picking up, blowing sand mixed with weird stuff all over my face!! Want to buy! I'll trade with materials!"
"Dreamlike Geometry": "Brother Outlaw! Thank you so much! I hadn't even noticed my chest yet, but when I saw the news about the spore dust storm, my whole body went numb! I have glass and fiber grass! Going to dig up grass right now!"
"Marshmallow Bear": "Wuwuwu... The great god is simply an angel! I'm in the desert zone, and without a mask, I'd really suffocate! I'll trade with fire-type fragments and stones!"
"Wilderness Lone Ranger": "Reliable! Now this is what I call a big shot! Grab yours while supplies last, brothers, charge!"

The transaction notifications beneath the trade listing began to jump frantically. The material requirements and "crafting fee" set by Suli were extremely reasonable; for players in urgent need of saving their lives, this little bit of sacrifice was totally worth it.

A massive wave of grateful messages flooded the screen, especially from players who hadn't unlocked the Silver Chosen Chest or had failed their unboxings. Their gratitude toward Suli knew no bounds.

However, amidst the gratitude and a buying frenzy, an extremely sharp and intensely aggressive comment suddenly popped up:

"Shadow Merchant": "@Doomsday Outlaw Heh, what a 'Doomsday Outlaw'! More like an 'outlaw' cashing in on a disaster, right? With a spore dust storm right on our doorstep and everyone's lives hanging by a thread, you're taking advantage of the situation to gouge people! A lousy mask costs an evolution stone fragment and so many materials? Do you know how many people can't even afford a meal? You're sucking the blood of your compatriots! Using other people's lives to pad your own inventory! Have you no conscience at all?!"

As soon as this moral kidnapping remark came out, the channel fell silent for a fraction of a second.

Before Suli could reply, and before anyone else could start cursing, countless counter-arguments and exposures surged up like a tsunami:

"Nickname Failed to Load": "Talking out of your ass! @Shadow Merchant I just came back from your stall! Aren't you also selling a few face-covering cloths made of inferior fabric? A lousy strip of cloth costs a fire-type evolution stone fragment! It's twice as expensive as Outlaw-dada's mask! How do you have the face to spew garbage here?"
"I Hate Higher Math": "Yes, yes, yes! @Shadow Merchant! That's him! I went to check out his stall, a 'dust cover' with vague functional descriptions, and he dared to sell it for that much! Outlaw-dada clearly stated it's a 'dust-filtering mask' with blueprint verification! And the price is way more grounded than your crappy rag!"
"Dreamer on the Keyboard": "Harious! Case closed! @Shadow Merchant, are you the black-hearted profiteer here? Seeing the Outlaw big shot put out proper, high-quality goods at a more reasonable price than your trash has left you unable to make a profit, so you're freaking out, huh? What kind of high-and-mighty moral guardian are you pretending to be?"
"Edge of the Cloud Big Club": "Screenshot taken, screenshot taken! What the person above said is right, 'Shadow Merchant's' stall lists the 'dust cover' at: [Fire Evolution Stone Fragment x1] or [Water x10 + Food x10]. Compare it for yourselves, everyone, and see whose heart is truly black!"
"Wind and Rain Return Journey": "Tsk tsk tsk, so typical. When you're crooked, you want to muddy the waters to drag down the big shot who is genuinely helping out. @Shadow Merchant, get lost! Stop being an eyesore here!"

The chat lobby was instantly submerged in mockery and exposures directed at the "Shadow Merchant."

His petty, sordid intentions and overpriced, inferior goods were completely stripped bare. The items he had listed previously were selling dismally, and now that his business had been utterly hijacked by Suli's high-quality, reasonably priced hard goods, he had jumped out in a fit of rage to engage in moral blackmail, only to be crushed into the mud by the enraged masses.

Suli watched the rapidly scrolling messages on the light screen, a cold curve touching the corner of her mouth.

She couldn't even be bothered to type a reply to refute the "Shadow Merchant," simply ignoring this clown. Hypocritical and greedy individuals like him were not uncommon in the Beast-Taming Survival Game, and getting collectively attacked was nothing less than he deserved.

Her fingers operated rapidly on the trading panel, confirming one trade application after another, pocketing the materials while sending the crafted [Lightweight Dust-Filtering Respiratory Mask] to various players.

Every mask sent out meant one more force capable of resisting the impending spore dust storm.

Although it required a small cost, the supplies gained from this fair trade would further strengthen the confidence of herself and little Tuanzi to survive.

The storm was coming, and only strength and preparation were the greatest reliance.

...

On the other side.

Every sarcastic remark, every piece of evidence-like screenshot acted like a poisoned whip, fiercely lashing across the Shadow Merchant's face, tearing away the carefully maintained "merchant" mask he relied on for survival.

He sat stiffly in his crude "safe house"—a tattered tarp tent supported by a giant boulder. Outside, the howling prelude of the spore dust storm had already begun, whipping up sand, dust, and unknown particles that lashed against the canvas with a rustling sound.

The virtual light screen before him was a cold theater of mockery, while his face twisted in the shadows like an evil spirit.

"Damn Doomsday Outlaw... Damn bitch!" A suppressed, beast-like growl tore from his throat, his teeth grinding together with a rattling sound.

Those messages thanking the "Outlaw Great God" acted like the most grating noise, repeatedly stimulating his nerves.

Humiliation!
Unprecedented humiliation!

The persona he had painstakingly cultivated, the small fortune he had accumulated by exploiting information asymmetry and inferior goods, were instantly pierced and pulverized the moment this damned "Doomsday Outlaw" brought out genuinely effective dust-filtering masks and sold them at a "fair" price!

He had been reduced to a street rat, beaten by everyone in the regional channel!

What made it even harder for him to accept was the loss of profit!

His stalls displaying the [Dust Cover] could previously fool a few fools lacking information or panicked by urgency, but now trade requests had completely ground to a halt.

With the threat of the spore dust storm looming right in front of them, anyone would rather spend a little more to exchange for a genuine, high-quality mask! His financial lifeline had been ruthlessly cut by this outlaw!

"She's cutting off my livelihood..." The Shadow Merchant's eyes were bloodshot, flashing with bone-deep malice and madness.

"Why..." he muttered to himself, his knuckles turning white from gripping too hard. "Why should all the benefits go to her? She has to die... As long as she dies..."

A mad thought wrapped around his heart like poisonous ivy.

He lunged fiercely toward the tiny, inconspicuous [Rusted Iron Box] hidden in the deepest part of his sleeping bag.

This was no piece of junk picked up from the roadside; it was something he had dug out from a corner crevice during an extremely dangerous, time-limited solo instance by exhausting all his life-saving props and nearly losing half his life!

With trembling hands, he opened the box. There was no food inside, no water—only a card exuding the scent of rust and blood quietly resting there.