Cave Refuge-Chapter 258 - 254 Ye Liuyun’s Request_1

While Dong Tianyu was delighting in the advancement of his cultivation, the caravan heading to Salt City finally returned fully loaded.

However, compared to the initial departure with over a hundred cars, only half that number survived the journey. The fate of the disappeared vehicles was easy to imagine.

When Dong Tianyu went to the office building to visit his parents and join them for dinner, Ye Liuyun suddenly arrived. After exchanging pleasantries with Father Dong and Mother Dong, they perceived that he had matters to discuss with their son and excused themselves, giving him space.

After his parents left, Dong Tianyu playfully asked Ye Liuyun, "What a coincidence that you knew I was here. Did you make a killing from your trip to Salt City?"

Upon hearing Dong Tianyu’s teasing, Ye Liuyun broke into a bitter smile, "Made a profit? Although I didn’t lose— I barely broke even."

With an incredulous look, Dong Tianyu responded, "You must be joking. Even before the disaster, you could turn a small profit just by traveling from Pengcheng to Salt City. Now, after the disaster, running long distances is worth it and you’re telling me there’s no money in it? Who are you trying to fool?"

Seeing Dong Tianyu disbelief, Ye Liuyun sighed helplessly, "If it was all about merchandising, I would’ve made a fortune. But as you know, we were ambushed on our way there.

On our return, attacks were even more aggressive. Initially, only the trailing vehicles were targeted.

But the drivers at the end of the convoy were not fools. Before leaving Salt City, they formed a pact to unite against the attackers.

Initially, this agreement involved only the ten or so drivers at the end of the convoy. Because of their coalition, they successfully repelled a number of attacks during their return.

However, in Z City, they encountered a powerful group of bandits. Despite their combined resistance, the bandits managed to hijack all their vehicles.

This incident further terrified the drivers at the end of the convoy, prompting them to appeal to the officials leading the convoy, offering donated goods in exchange for a safer position within the caravan — one closer to the official vehicles.

After accepting their offerings, the leader reassigned their positions within the caravan. The new arrangements triggered panic within those at the end of the convoy, leading them to find the officials and seek a similar arrangement.

Ultimately, all the private vehicles, fearing being at the end of the line, donated most of their profits from the Salt City trip in a bid to earn protection from the officials and secure a safe return to Pengcheng.

As most of the drivers in the caravan were somehow connected to the higher-ups in Pengcheng, the leader was bound to keep his word once he accepted their offerings. He arranged for official vehicles to take the rear, letting private vehicles remain in the center of the convoy.

Nonetheless, attacks by the highwaymen continued unabated. However, because the officials were stationed at the rear of the convoy, they would pause and retaliate against any attack.

But despite these efforts, the frequency of the attacks seemed to increase.

Additionally, many of the private vehicles in the convoy were cobbled together, and malfunctions during long trips were pretty common. As such, several vehicles that broke down halfway were abandoned by the convoy.

Fortunately, the convoy contained numerous martial artists and most of the vehicles were not filled to capacity.

Thus when a vehicle was abandoned, they would first transfer its cargo and valuable parts."

Upon hearing Ye Liuyun’s explanation, Dong Tianyu understood why Ye Liuyun said he neither made nor lost money from the trip. But he was still curious and asked, "Isn’t your brother, Robinson William, part of the convoy? Why did you have to pay as well?"

Hearing Dong Tianyu’s question, Ye Liyun seemed to recall something, he tersely exclaimed, "I had the worst of luck. I ran into a sworn enemy. There was this guy in the official convoy who I hadn’t gotten along with even before the disaster.

I thought we wouldn’t cross paths again after the disaster, but to my surprise, he turned up reflecting in the official convoy, even holding some minor leadership position.

My brother being present and that we were using a vehicle from the West City District Headquarters, it seemed likely we could get away without paying. But this guy saw me and insisted on equal treatment for all non-official vehicles.

This was too much. In the end, I had to pay quite a bit for safety."

Dong Tianyu was speechless. In Ye Liuyun’s eyes, the other person’s fair treatment seemed like targeted prejudice. Was this someone so used to special treatment that he sees the lack of it as others targeting him?

But Dong Tianyu couldn’t really say anything. After all, when it came to choosing sides, he would rather favor a friend over fairness.

"Alright, I believe you came to see me for more than just to gripe about all this, right?"

"Right, I’m actually here to ask for a favor. Aren’t you buying up all sorts of metals? There’s a nationally renowned metal grinding processing center in the county to the north of Pengcheng. Most of the town’s residents are engaged in metal processing work, and I bet their metal reserves are not small."

Listening to Ye Liuyun, Dong Tianyu’s reaction wasn’t overly eager. After all, his own abilities had recently just leveled up. Even if he went there and swept up all the resources in the town, he doubted it would fully satisfy his upgrade progress.

Moreover, now that his abilities were not limited to the belly of Nameless Mountain, Dong Tianyu didn’t feel as desperate for an upgrade. Consequently, his desire for resources also lessened significantly.

"Just spit it out, what do you need?"

Seeing Dong Tianyu’s casual attitude, Ye Liuyun was unsure about his intentions.

However, he needed Dong Tianyu’s help at the moment, so he had no choice but to pluck up his courage and state his request.

"Primarily, I want you to drive me further north to Yutai. I’ve managed to get a car there, but I need to pick it up myself.

Due to the large number of vehicles lost during the long-distance trip, the officials have tightened vehicle management, and I can’t borrow a car from the West City District Headquarters.

I could borrow one from the Private Sanctuary, but after the trip to and from Salt City, I have doubts about the quality of their assembled cars.

This trip isn’t like last time, traveling with a convoy where if the car breaks down, you can hitch a ride with another convoy vehicle.

If the vehicle fails this time, we’d be stranded in the wilderness, crying to heaven and earth without an answer."