Chapter 117: Buying Copper Coins

"I see."

Huang Yunshuo nodded. Rooster Gogo-Ro was the main boss of the siege army. His core mission for this defense was twofold: first, to ensure Stone Platform Town was not breached, and second, to kill Gogo-Ro. Ideally, he wanted a solo kill, and the higher the damage dealt, the better.

The first task provided by the divine artifact's lifetime mission offered a reward of 1% completion progress, which could be exchanged for one low-level divine artifact essence!

"Has that guy still not come over?" Huang Yunshuo asked. To the south of the castle lay the territory of small animals. From the small hill behind the Sloth Forest, the distance was probably several thousand meters. How on earth was he supposed to get across? With such an overwhelming number of small animals, it was impossible to kill them all; he could only wait for the boss to approach on its own.

"I'm not sure. Anyway, I’ve delivered the message, so I’m going back down to help."

Clutching the worn-out iron sword Huang Yunshuo had given her, Zhao Shengsheng ran toward the stairwell, eager to rejoin the fray.

It was evident that the pressure on the defenders was immense. Swarms of small wasps covered the edges of the castle walls like a thick carpet; they were numerous, tiny, fast, and fierce, making them exceptionally difficult for players to deal with.

Below them, a large number of hyperactive little white geese were playing "human pyramid," and every now and then, dozens of them would charge into the first floor of the castle, causing utter chaos among the players. By the time they were finally dealt with, the cost was at least a hundred player deaths.

Sloth knights roamed outside, constantly looking for an opening to attack the castle walls. Further away, macaque knights scurried about, shrieking provokingly, but they couldn't find a way to charge up due to the lack of space.

Three hundred meters away from the south wall, a group of small roosters stood ready. A rough glance suggested there were at least ten thousand of them. Every ten small roosters were led by a more aggressive, hyperactive one, their feathers shimmering under the sunlight, making them impossible to ignore. Behind the rooster swarm were many tents, and every so often, a humanoid monster could be seen passing by.

"I wonder if we can actually hold out." Huang Yunshuo sighed. Compared to humanoid monsters like the small roosters or the stuttering Liu, the creatures currently attacking were nothing special, yet the players were already under immense pressure.

In this short time, the death toll of players in Stone Platform Town had increased by another 20,000.

Huang Yunshuo rode on the ramparts and fired a rocket at the base of the wall. For him, the small wasps were just tools for farming copper coins and materials. At the moment, he was positioned at the top of the 20-meter-high castle; the wasps couldn't fly that high, so they could only be hit without being able to retaliate, making for a very comfortable farming experience.

"Big Huang, the ground outside is covered in copper coins and materials. Do you want to find a way to go pick them up?" Ye Piaoxue messaged him privately.

He looked at the battlefield ahead and realized that the dense clusters of monsters, especially under the feet of the wandering piglets, were littered with dropped copper coins and materials. Some were in small piles, others in large ones. A rough estimate suggested there were thousands of piles. If all of these could be collected into his bag...

Huang Yunshuo swallowed hard. He wanted to, but the area below was too dangerous; he didn't dare go down easily and could only watch helplessly.

"Actually, our main concern right now is those sloths," Ye Piaoxue said. "If there were a way to exhaust their supply of nuts and lure them away, we could launch a counterattack. We wouldn't just be able to retrieve the loot outside; it would also stop us from being so passive."

"Don't even think about a counterattack. We’d likely get our heads smashed in the moment we leave the city."

The sloths were holding 12 nuts each. If they really started throwing them, they would run out in no time. But while the idea was sound, how to guide them to waste their ammo was the problem. He couldn't exactly pull off a "straw boat borrowing arrows" trick—he had no boat, no river, no scarecrows, and no oars.

"I'll look for an opportunity. Even just exhausting them a little would be good."

He remained on the ramparts, his rocket launcher continuously firing at the monster groups below. The small animals were packed so densely that they formed a solid mass, both horizontally and vertically. A single rocket would deal thousands of damage in total, sometimes even two or three thousand.

Huang Yunshuo wasn't just firing blindly. He made sure that any area he shelled received a follow-up shot. This way, all the small wasps hit would definitely die, and the jumping little white geese would be left half-dead, making it much easier for the players to finish them off.

He swept the rocket launcher from one end of the wall to the other and then back again. When he finally snapped back to reality, he realized he was running low on rockets.

"I'm almost out of ammo," Huang Yunshuo complained in the Brotherhood chat, preparing them for the situation while worrying about where to get another batch of rockets.

"Boss, we'll support you!" someone shouted.

"Are rockets bought directly from the shop, or are they crafted? How much are the material costs?" players who didn't understand his weapon asked.

"52 copper coins per set, six rockets per set, enough for ten seconds of firing." He shook his head listlessly, not really expecting the players to be able to help.

"..."

The chat fell silent instantly. It was clear that everyone was shocked by the price.

Since the siege began, the price of copper coins had started to drop. The market rate on the black market had generally fallen to 150, with lows of 140 or even 130, but even so, copper coins remained a strong, hard currency. People could hardly imagine that Huang Yunshuo was firing dozens of rockets a minute, each one worth nearly 10 copper coins.

"How about we pool the copper coins we have for you?" Yu Shiyin asked enthusiastically, and her suggestion was met with support from many others.

After all, everyone had seen the power of Huang Yunshuo's rocket launcher. By plowing the south wall from one end to the other and back, they could immediately feel the pressure easing. The most annoying small wasps, for which they had no effective counter, were being wiped out by Huang Yunshuo almost single-handedly. He was simply too fierce.

"Keep your copper coins; don't worry about me." Huang Yunshuo shook his head. He would figure out the copper coin problem himself.

What was the fastest way to get copper coins?

The answer was simple.

Buy them.

Huang Yunshuo was actually happy that the market price of copper coins was dropping, as it lowered the production cost of his rockets. As the price continued to fall, there would eventually come a day when he wouldn't have to worry about the cost of his ammo anymore.

He sent a private message to his fourth cousin.

"Do you have copper coins?" Huang Yunshuo asked.

"150 per unit, as many as you want," his fourth cousin replied.

Get lost.

Tang Long clicked the X on the chat window directly. Why would he ask her to buy at 150 when there were plenty of people on the black market selling for less? What a rip-off.

After a moment's thought, he opened the interfaces for "Your Yida" and "Night Flows Light Like Frost."

These two definitely wouldn't be short on copper coins; after all, not everyone was as crazy about burning money as he was with his god-forsaken profession.

"Do you have any copper coins?" he messaged them both.