The reason for the speculation is very simple. When the natural disaster struck, the majority of the tea trees in the tea plantations should have died, but those major tea-growing provinces, presumably to preserve the seeds, would definitely have kept some.

Due to the flood, in order to preserve seeds, they would likely distribute a few tea trees to all the water bases. As for the tea frying technique, consider that before the disaster, even small workshops had begun to mechanize tea frying" - there were no professional tea fryers left.

At this time, due to the machinery not being repaired, the tea leaves one drinks are most likely fried by novices. The tea fryer could very likely be an Awakener with a Fire System ability and a non-combat profession since energy is currently a problem as well.

Official Liam was shocked by Dong Tianyu’s analysis, but he quickly regained his composure.

"I didn’t expect Mr. Thompson to be knowledgeable about tea. It’s unfortunate that our base’s tea fryer isn’t very professional. However, he is the only tea fryer in the base. With more practice, his skills should improve quickly."

"By the way, Mr. Thompson, I heard from Evelyn Harris that your Hunting Group has secured quite a lot of meat. Could you specify the amount?"

Since the tea leaves had not intimidated Dong Tianyu, by that time, Official Liam wasn’t inclined to beat around the bush anymore and directly asked the critical question.

Hearing Official Liam’s straightforward query, Dong Tianyu did not answer directly, but counter-asked, "It mainly depends on what price you are willing to offer. On my side, I have plenty of pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, and goose, as well as the meat of ancient creatures that appeared during the disaster."

Seeing Dong Tianyu so confident, Official Liam finally became serious, "I want ten tons of each type of meat. Do you have that much?"

Official Liam intentionally said it that way, not only to show the affluent state of his side but also to try to overpower Dong Tianyu in terms of presence, to gain the upper hand in the subsequent negotiations.

But Official Liam never expected that after hearing his demand, Dong Tianyu, without even a moment of hesitation, nodded and said, "That amount can be satisfied by you."

Hearing Dong Tianyu’s prompt and decisive response, Official Liam was somewhat incredulous and hastened to confirm again, "I meant ten tons of each type of meat, not ten tons in total."

"I heard you clearly, so my agreement was for ten tons of each type of meat."

Official Liam had not expected the large-scale deal mentioned by Ethan Harris to be so substantial.

"Mr. Thompson, I heard from Ethan Harris that you want to make the exchange using Mysterious Cores. Today, our purchase price has gone up to one hundred and forty jin for one core.

If you can actually provide that much meat, I am willing to let go of ten more jin, one hundred thirty jin for one core. How does that sound?"

Hearing the other party’s offer, Dong Tianyu showed a disdainful expression, "Official Liam, if that’s how you negotiate, I think there’s no need for us to continue this discussion."

Seeing Dong Tianyu about to stand up and leave, Official Liam signaled to Evelyn Harris with his eyes.

Ethan Harris, upon noticing Official Liam’s glance, immediately spoke to Dong Tianyu, "Bro, we’re talking business here, discussing business, and the point is to negotiate.

As the saying goes, ’ask for the sky, settle for the earth.’ If you’re not satisfied with our offer, you can speak your mind, and we can discuss it further."

Hearing Evelyn Harris’s mediation, Dong Tianyu did not continue to get up but sat back down and responded, "I understand the principle you mentioned, but the price your leader offered and my asking price differ too much. There’s no necessity to continue discussing."

Hearing Dong Tianyu say this, Official Liam had nothing to reply, but Evelyn Harris immediately pressed on, "What’s the issue? It’s not like we’re forcing a sale. Just mention your price, and we can discuss it slowly."

"My side is simple: eighty to one. If you’re willing, we can make the trade anytime."

After hearing Dong Tianyu’s offer, Official Liam’s face changed dramatically, but he quickly steadied himself, took a deep breath, and then spoke again, "Your price is outrageous. Our selling price is only one hundred to one. What you’re asking is way too high. It’s absolutely impossible."

At Official Liam’s words, Dong Tianyu merely shrugged his shoulders and then said to Evelyn Harris, "See, I knew you wouldn’t accept my price, which is why I was ready to leave just now."

"Brother, your price is indeed quite different from our set price. Can you consider raising it a bit? After all, this is a bulk transaction. You could earn more by selling to ordinary people, but that would require a lot of time."

"As they say, time is more precious than gold. If you have some time, it would be better spent on cultivation rather than wasting it on these trivial matters."

In response to Evelyn Harris’s words, Zachary retorted, "It won’t take much time. Buyers are easy to find. Perhaps your base is not interested in this meat, but other bases might be."

"Business is still ethical even if the deal doesn’t go through. If you really don’t want it, I can look for other Water Bases and see if they are interested."

"After all, any kind of meat is quite popular among the survivors at this time."

Hearing Zachary say this, Ethan Harris found it hard to rebut. Seeing the outcome, Official Liam could only say somewhat helplessly, "Why don’t we just take it according to the purchasing department’s selling price, one hundred to one? How about that?"

Although Official Liam had already raised the price, Zachary was still somewhat dissatisfied.

If Zachary were selling to an individual, he might be willing to compromise on the price.

However, when dealing with Officials or other enterprises, knowing that these enterprises have money, Zachary would definitely want to make them earn back what they spent, principal and interest included.

"I’m not very satisfied with this price either, but since you have already made a concession, it would seem petty of me to insist on the original price without giving any ground."

"Let’s do this, let’s not haggle over the price any longer. Ninety pounds for one Mysterious Core, if you agree, we trade, if not, I’ll leave and we can possibly cooperate some other time."

Hearing Zachary say this, Ethan Harris glanced at Zachary, then looked at Official Liam, who had fallen into thought.

After pondering for a while, Official Liam seriously said to Zachary, "The price you set is a bit high, and I don’t have the authority to purchase it directly. If I report it, I don’t know when it will be approved."

"How about this, I’ll arrange for Ethan Harris to show you around the base, you can take a tour first while I report this issue. No matter the response, I will contact you immediately. What do you think?"

Hearing Official Liam say this, Zachary could only nod helplessly.

Although he said that if he couldn’t negotiate a price here, he would look for other bases to trade with,

now it was difficult to find a new Water Base like the old times, purely by luck, unless he knew the specific locations of other bases.

Thus, although Zachary said he could talk or leave it, the reality was that both parties were keen to make this trade happen.

Watching Official Liam hurry off, Ethan Harris cautiously gave a thumbs up, then quickly lowered it.

"I’m not sure how long Official Liam’s application will take. Otherwise, I can take you to the recreation area." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Since all bases were constructed using the same blueprints, even though it was his first time at this base, he was as familiar with the layout as if it were the back of his hand.

Upon hearing Evelyn Harris say this, Zachary roughly guessed which area Evelyn Harris was referring to.

The ’recreation area’ mentioned by Ethan Harris was actually the protective layer. Although the Water Base appeared to be a small island, its structure was similar to a building. For safety reasons, a layer was intentionally left empty every few levels, serving as a firebreak layer.