Cave Refuge-Chapter 161 - 160: Ye Liuyun’s Request_1

"Seeing as you’ve put it that way, I’ll cut to the chase. Given our relationship. I have a favor to ask, you absolutely cannot refuse," said Ye Liuyun.

Listening to Ye Liuyun’s lengthy preamble without getting to the point, Dong Tianyu grew impatient and interrupted directly, "Alright already. If you keep prattling on, I’m going to get food. We can talk after we eat."

Once he heard Dong Tianyu’s remark, Ye Liuyun was afraid he would get carried away by the night, so he directly stated his purpose for coming: "I need some saltpeter."

Upon hearing Ye Liuyun’s request, Dong Tianyu was not surprised. To be honest, despite the constant rising outdoor temperatures, it wasn’t a drastic catastrophe for Daxia as they had endured the initial electromagnetic pulse which destroyed most electronic equipment.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that even under current circumstances, the high temperature’s impact on Daxia is lesser than that during a flood.

After the electromagnetic pulse ended, Daxia’s skilled artisans were constantly manually creating all sorts of replacement electronic parts. With time, some fundamental lathes had already resumed working.

Take, for example, Pengcheng. Although the Pengcheng Thermal Power Plant has not fully resumed operation, the existence of the biogas pool has led to some large Refuge Centers starting to use some electrical equipment.

Even though the available power can’t drive large-scale equipment yet, some low-power apparatuses can already be used. Although they are still in the early stages of dealing with the heat, most survivors are optimistic about their chances of safely pulling through this catastrophe.

Admittedly, it would be better to endure comfortably, so saltpeter has become the hottest selling item during this time.

Saltpeter has a wide range of uses, whether for making explosives or for medicinal purposes, or even for some specialized parts manufacturing.

Despite Pengcheng being a 5A level scenic area and a historical and cultural ancient city, in recent decades, it has actually transitioned from a resource-based city to a heavy industry city. Therefore, the original stock of saltpeter wasn’t bad.

However, the last disaster was a flood, and when the floodwater submerged the entire city, the saltpeter stored in the warehouses dissolved in the water and completely disappeared as the floodwater receded.

So now, there’s not much saltpeter left in Pengcheng. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

In fact, if the outdoor temperature doesn’t continue to increase and could stabilize around sixty degrees, the temperature in the Refuge Centers would only fluctuate around forty degrees.

While people will still feel uncomfortably hot, if they grit their teeth, they should be able to persevere.

After all, and in contrast to the past, they are not entirely helpless, waiting for fate to take its course even during a severe drought.

Although most electronic devices are damaged and the power system is yet to be fully restored, the impact of the flood on above-ground constructions is not extreme. Most fundamental buildings weren’t destroyed, and with a bit of repair, they could be used again.

Furthermore, the current situation is different from the past. Even if the underground rock layers were quite thick, with the use of civil well-drilling equipment, it’s possible to drill down a hundred meters in a day.

Pengcheng is not a city lacking in water. Its groundwater veins are abundant. As long as wells are dug deep enough, people in the refuge centers can survive for quite some time, even if there’s no immediate access to the waterways, thanks to the stored water in the shales underground.

Ultimately, when the survival pressures aren’t too great, survivors start to concern themselves with the quality of life.

"How much saltpeter can you consume?" asked Dong Tianyu confidently.

Listening to Dong Tianyu confidently say this, Ye Liuyun did not show a surprised expression, but he asked skeptically, "Do you have a large stock of saltpeter? I actually don’t need much, just two or three tons."

Naturally, while he casually said he didn’t need much, Ye Liuyun’s heart was roaring, "Now that you have shown your cards, I must stand my ground. If you dare to be overbearing, then let’s see who’s more afraid."

However, what Ye Liuyun didn’t anticipate was, after stating he needed two or three tons, he thought Dong Tianyu would cave and say he didn’t have that much, or simply quote a sky-high figure to force him to retract his demand.

But, contrary to his expectations, Dong Tianyu neither caved nor quoted a high price, instead, he offered a reasonable price which was sixty percent higher than the market average.

Although saltpeter is in short supply in the market, the quoted prices during trading could offer some reference.

The price did not decrease even when bought in large quantities, but it was much better than not being able to buy any at all.

After hesitating for a while, Ye Liuyun clenched his teeth and stomped his foot down, retorting to Dong Tianyu in pain, "This time I will take on the entire lot."

Ye Liuyun knew that this trade might exhaust his entire savings, however he steeled himself to seize the opportunity and decided to go all-in.

Either he’s going to hit the jackpot or he will suffer big losses (homophonic words play in Chinese)

Although Ye Liuyun was taking a huge gamble, what assured him was that even if he lost everything, he wouldn’t starve to death because he had people like Master Ye and Robinson William to fall back on.

However, while Dong Tianyu had a large stockpile of saltpeter, he couldn’t possibly give Ye Liuyun as much as he wanted. After all, saltpeter was now more expensive than gold.

"If you get a couple of hundred kilograms, that would be pretty good. You are demanding way too much. With such a big appetite, you’re going to burst one day."

Hearing the figure reduced from two or three tons to a couple of hundred kilograms, the pressure on Ye Liuyun has significantly decreased.

Afterall, there are few people who dare to bet all they have. Most people like to talk big without actually acting on their words.

But with such a reduction in saltpeter, it doesn’t satisfy Ye Liuyun’s appetite, hence he pleaded, "My good brother, didn’t you say earlier that I could ask for any amount?"

"Yes, you can ask for any amount, but there is no guarantee you will get everything you want. If you try to swallow too much, you’re just going to choke."

On listening to Dong Tianyu’s scolding without any hesitation, Ye Liuyun didn’t reply. Instead, he quietly asked, "The usual method?"

"Hmm, the payment method will still be the same as usual."

Nowadays, cash has become useless. Before the catastrophe, just owning a bank card, regardless of the balance, generally allowed one to obtain money from various channels.

However, after the catastrophe, it seemed as if the officials had forgotten to restore the value of currency, not granting financial properties to paper currency. It was left to ferment outside letting messages spread quickly.

After it fermented, many survivors took the opportunity to spend all their paper money quickly, leaving some penniless survivors, as planned by the officials, slowly transitioning to using contribution points.