Zachary unscrewed the bottle cap, and a rich aroma of alcohol instantly filled the entire private room.

Based purely on the smell, one could tell that the liquid in the bottle had a very high alcohol content.

If this were before the cataclysm, the only places a common person might encounter such a scent were at a hospital or a pharmacy, but now, not to mention the absence of ubiquitous pharmacies, even hospitals no longer used alcohol for disinfection.

Because of the earthquakes, what used to be fertile land had turned into wasteland, and with the resurgence of ancient creatures in the wilderness, no individual would venture to till the land there.

Most of the Plantation Areas in the wilderness were now regions designated by the Imperial Court based on the ancient military farming system; only the Imperial Court would undertake the ungrateful task of establishing agriculture in the wilderness.

After all, during the harvest season in the Plantation Area, a moment’s carelessness could allow ancient creatures to break in, and an entire season’s hard work would go up in flames overnight.

With less grain planted, naturally, the amount of grain available for brewing would decrease. Due to multiple rounds of natural disasters, most of the fine wines produced before the disaster had either been drunk directly or damaged for various reasons unless some were specifically preserved.

That’s why it was so surprising when Zachary took out a bottle filled with high-concentration alcohol from his backpack.

To be honest, although the price of alcohol is extremely high right now, if Zyaire really wanted some, he could still get his hands on it.

But to get his hands on alcohol as pure and high-concentrated as what Zachary held, the cost would definitely not be low. Although Zyaire could afford it if he bit the bullet, he definitely wouldn’t bring it out during his first meeting with Zachary, especially just for a simple meal.

It felt like going to the fast-food restaurant downstairs with a friend at noon, ordering two takeout boxes, and bringing along a bottle of Feitian Maotai—eating stir-fried dishes while sipping on Maotai.

It wasn’t that an ordinary person couldn’t afford Maotai. It’s just that even if one splurged on a bottle, it would typically be enjoyed at home with a table full of rich dishes. Ordinary people simply wouldn’t bring Maotai to drink while eating at a fast-food restaurant.

Zachary asked the shopkeeper for some distilled water and then mixed the alcohol with the distilled water in a proportion, a crude method of mixing drinks that left Zyaire watching in stunned silence.

Zyaire then regretfully said, "Actually, I think you don’t need to adjust the alcohol concentration; I could drink it as it is. You diluting it like this is such a waste." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Hearing Zyaire say this, Zachary immediately looked up and asked, "Really? Why didn’t you say so earlier? If I had known you were fine with high concentrations, I wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of mixing the drink."

However, Zachary’s hands didn’t stop while he was speaking; by the time he finished, all the alcohol from the bottle had already been poured into a huge glass.

Looking at the empty bottle, Zachary screwed the cap back on and then stuffed the empty bottle into his backpack. He then grabbed a chopstick and stirred quickly in the glass, allowing the alcohol and distilled water to blend rapidly.

Watching Zachary’s rough mixing technique, Zyaire’s temples twitched involuntarily. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but until Zachary stopped stirring, Zyaire hadn’t made a sound.

Zachary first poured a bit into his own cup and tasted it: "Hmm, I’ve added less water this time; the flavor is still quite strong. Zyaire, you try it. See if you can handle it. If you think it’s too strong, I can add more water to lower the alcohol level."

After saying that, he poured a small amount into Zyaire’s cup. Seeing only a sip’s worth of liquor, Zyaire wasn’t worried that Zachary had poisoned the drink and directly gulped down everything in the cup.

To Zyaire’s surprise, the alcohol actually tasted quite good and wasn’t as hard to drink as he had imagined.

"Let’s keep it this way, don’t dilute it any further."

After hearing Zyaire’s response, Zachary filled Zyaire’s cup to the brim and then did the same for himself.

The two of them passed cups back and forth and finished their simple meal with ulterior motives on both sides.

Despite the large portion of the four meat dishes, not to mention Zachary, who had the power of Cave, let’s talk about Zyaire. Even though he had become an Awakener, he still had the physical quality of someone in the Body Tempering Realm, so naturally, his appetite wasn’t much different from a Martial Artist in that realm.

As the two had their fill, Zachary didn’t get up but poured himself another cup of tea and savored it carefully.

For Zachary, he wasn’t in a particular hurry. After all, with today’s incident, the Trade Market would be hard to reopen anytime soon, so for him, whether the trade happened a bit earlier or later didn’t make much of a difference.

But for Zyaire, Zachary was the only one in this camp who could provide nutritional medication, so the scales were already tipped in his favor from the very beginning of the trade.

Zachary could afford to be patient, but Zyaire was getting restless. Seeing Zachary’s demeanor, Zyaire figured if they continued like this, they might draw out the negotiation until tomorrow with no result.

So, Zyaire simply lowered his stance and got straight to the point, saying bluntly, "If the effects of the enhanced nutritional supplements you’re carrying are as genuine as you say,

you don’t have to look for a dedicated buyer to exchange for our camp’s currency. Let’s just trade merchandise for merchandise. You give me one bottle of the enhanced nutritional supplement you mentioned, and I’ll give you the chance to pick an unknown treasure at the Curiosity House. What do you think of this form of trade?"