Cave Refuge

When the transport plane reached the airspace above Kyoto, most people in the cargo hold crowded by the windows. This journey might be one of only two opportunities in their lifetimes to observe Kyoto from the sky, with the next chance being on their return trip.

As the transport plane descended, it attracted several ancient flying creatures hunting nearby. However, before the people in the cargo hold even noticed anything amiss, a number of missiles launched from the ground had already killed them.

Kyoto was indeed worthy of its name. Had such an incident occurred in Pengcheng, Pengcheng’s response would probably be just like the line from the Nine Solar Divine Art, "Let the strong be strong, the gentle breeze sweeps the hills; let him be arrogant, the bright moon shines over the river."

It seems quite impressive, but translated into plain language, it means not fighting back when hit or talking back when insulted.

Although there was a minor incident as the transport plane landed, the landing process was ultimately not affected.

After the transport plane landed smoothly, the rear cargo door opened. Since there was still some time before the trade fair, everyone present had the option to decide whether to proceed with the direct handover of the goods they carried.

If they chose to hand over their goods, they would receive a voucher attesting to their ownership of the goods. Later, during the trade, they could simply take the voucher to the designated location to conduct the transaction.

This method had its pros and cons. The advantage was that it ensured the authenticity of the trade on both sides since all goods had already been entrusted to the Kyoto officials; hence, Kyoto would provide guarantees for any post-trade issues.

Of course, the officials didn’t offer this help for free. For each transaction, they would charge a service fee of five percent of the assessed value of the goods from both parties involved.

Besides entrusting the goods to the officials, one could also choose to carry their goods with them. In such cases of free trade, the officials wouldn’t provide any guarantee, naturally saving the five percent service fee.

However, with the free trade option, it was up to individuals’ abilities to avoid trading traps or product quality fraud.

In addition, the officials announced a rule that stated during the return trip, the goods registered for transport could not be of the same category as those brought from Pengcheng on this trip.

In simple terms, it was to prevent the scenario of registering high-quality items, hitching a ride to have fun, but ultimately not trading and taking the same items back.

Since Dong Tianyu was unfamiliar with the place and it wasn’t convenient to utilize the capability of his Schrödinger’s backpack at any time, he simply handed over his items to the officials’ staff, which also saved trouble.

Nevertheless, because strawberries were fresh produce, Dong Tianyu specifically inquired about the storage conditions for strawberries during the handover. Hearing his inquiry, the staff responsible for receiving Dong Tianyu’s goods confidently told him:

"Rest assured, there are also quite a few people who, like you, have brought fresh produce. So, you needn’t worry about the storage conditions.

Moreover, since the item’s price was already determined before boarding the plane, after we complete the handover, I will reassess the value of your goods together with the appraiser who initially assessed them.

No matter whether the price of your goods changes during the reassessment, we will publish the results within two to three working days at the trade center, and you can check them there using your voucher.

If the published price varies significantly from the initial assessment at the time of boarding, you can contest it, then request a second assessment by a more specialized appraiser.

Once we have agreed on the assessed value, should any damage or loss occur due to improper storage, we will compensate you double the assessed value."

After understanding the staff’s explanation, Dong Tianyu no longer worried about the preservation of the strawberries. After all, even before the catastrophe, freshly picked strawberries could stay fresh for three to five days without any issues, let alone the strawberries produced by the Hundred Fruit Tree, which could remain as lustrous as when freshly picked even if carelessly placed on a table for about a week.

The handover of the food additive concentrate was much simpler; as long as the external packaging remained intact, the product was unlikely to spoil due to poor storage conditions.

After Dong Tianyu completed the handover of his items and received the handover voucher from the staff, he left the transport plane only to find out that Madeline Ye Liuyun was already waiting for him at the exit.

Seeing Dong Tianyu approaching empty-handed, Madeline directly said to him, "I forgot to remind you. During the handover, you don’t have to give them everything. Keep some with you; it’s not only convenient for trading but also allows you to promote what you have beforehand."

Hearing this advice, Dong Tianyu patted his backpack and said with a smile, "Who said I only brought those things? I could have brought more."

Hearing Dong Tianyu’s response, Robinson William glanced at Dong Tianyu’s backpack and shook his head somewhat speechlessly.

Although the backpack Dong Tianyu always carried was large, Madeline had long noticed something unusual about it after spending a considerable amount of time together.

No matter when or what was needed, Dong Tianyu always seemed to pull the right item out of his backpack, which could be overlooked once or twice, but not this time.