Regarding Ethan Harris’s statement, Dong Tianyu strongly agreed. Even before the catastrophe appeared, the Imperial Court was only responsible for macro control, and the only thing they announced publicly was the guiding price. Although others might not accept it, the announced goods’ prices effectively acted as the floor price to stabilize market prices.

As the two walked and talked, they made their way into the deepest building within the bustling market.

After chatting for so long, their relationship had also become much closer, naturally bringing their manner of addressing each other one step closer as well.

"Little bro, I don’t know what you’re planning to exchange this time."

At this period, although the Imperial Court still held absolute ruling power in China, even in Kyoto, the role of money was significantly reduced. Although each base had its own credit currency, these were not interchangeable, and they were basically only usable within their own bases. Most survivors who were new to a base generally traded through bartering.

"Bro, what are the prices for meat and mixed grains here now?"

"Are you looking to buy or sell?"

"Of course, I’m selling!"

When Dong Tianyu mentioned he wanted to sell meat, Ethan Harris instinctively glanced at the backpack behind Dong Tianyu, then moved closer and whispered, "Little bro, if the amount you’re selling isn’t huge, could you consider selling it directly to me? Don’t worry about the price, I’ll buy it at the market selling rate."

Seeing that Ethan Harris was willing to buy at the selling price, Dong Tianyu showed a puzzled expression.

Ethan Harris noticed the look on Dong Tianyu’s face and, fearing Dong Tianyu might overthink, began to explain, "Little bro, to be honest, although our shop sells various types of meat, these meats aren’t just up for grabs. To buy those, apart from money, one also needs to provide Meat Tickets."

I’m not afraid to tell you, even though I work here, I only get a couple of Meat Tickets a month. What can a couple of Meat Tickets do? They’re not even enough to get stuck between the teeth.

Think about before the catastrophe, when grabbing a fast food meal at a roadside stand and asking for some meat dishes would at the very least include a few shreds of meat in it.

But now, even if you saved up a year’s worth of Meat Tickets, you could barely buy over one catty of meat—not nearly enough for anyone’s needs.

Before the flood disaster, even though meat was expensive, there were still plenty of Hunting Groups going into forests to hunt. Although the meat was pricey, it wasn’t limited. If one were desperate enough, they’d grit their teeth, stomp a foot, and spend some money to satisfy their craving. But now, satisfying a craving isn’t something that can be resolved by simply spending more money.

So little bro, if the meat you’ve brought isn’t much, consider it as helping your brother out."

Hearing this from Ethan Harris, Dong Tianyu didn’t immediately agree but instead changed the subject, "That’s a small matter, bro. What’s the current exchange rate between meat and Mysterious Cores?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

When Ethan Harris heard Dong Tianyu ask this, he was initially taken aback and then looked up at the LCD screen overhead and said, "The board lists all the purchase and selling prices of goods. I don’t need to mention much about purchasing; I’ll mainly explain what you need to watch out for if you want to buy particular goods.

Any item whose selling price includes a plus sign means it requires a corresponding ticket. Items without a plus can be bought directly. If you’re bartering, it can be ticket-free, but the quantity will be limited."

"Mysterious Core transactions currently don’t need tickets, but the base has set a daily purchase limit per person. However, now very few people actively buy Mysterious Cores. After all, those who really want them will actively go out to hunt in the wilderness. Most other survivors wouldn’t buy them unless they were activating a Companion Spiritual Treasure, and at other times, they wouldn’t go out of their way to buy one."

It’s not that Companion Spiritual Treasures aren’t appealing enough; it’s just that, unless they risk hunting in the wilderness themselves, most people’s finances aren’t enough to support the growth of a Companion Spiritual Treasure."

Although Mysterious Cores are very practical, now very few people buy them actively. However, many Hunting Teams, after obtaining Mysterious Cores, choose to sell them."

As more and more survivors are outside the base, our base’s Mysterious Core reserves are actually quite ample, so I feel the prices are quite appropriate now."

The current exchange rate between meat and Mysterious Cores is roughly 100:1, meaning one hundred catties of pork can be traded for one Mysterious Core."

Hearing this exchange rate from Ethan Harris, although Dong Tianyu’s expression remained unchanged on the surface, he was secretly delighted inside.

This price was not high for Dong Tianyu. Although Dong Tianyu could now single-handedly break through the smaller Mysterious Ships,

unlike the previous time when countless Mysterious Ships converged together, Dong Tianyu was destroying a Mysterious Realm and could seamlessly move to the next one. Now, the time Dong Tianyu spent daily on the road looking for Mysterious Ships was longer than the time he spent destroying a Mysterious Realm.

Thus, upon hearing the exchange ratio between meat and Mysterious Cores from Ethan Harris, Dong Tianyu felt very delighted internally.

Indeed, Dong Tianyu had many types of resources available for trade, but at this moment, his keenness on trading with food stemmed mainly from his desire to help the survivors as much as possible.

Although Dong Tianyu knew that most of the food he provided wouldn’t end up on the tables of ordinary people, it didn’t matter. The upper class consuming more meat from Dong Tianyu’s trades meant consuming less from other sources, effectively reducing the risk of ordinary people going hungry to some extent.