Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Where the Hell Are My Cloaks?! (Bonus Chapter)

The wasted magic crystal left Bai Cheng deeply regretful. So, she had to see what kind of place the Altar of Spoils was guiding her to.

Without hesitation, she clicked[Accept], and the moving train’s trajectory immediately veered to one side.

Bai Cheng raised her wrist to check her watch. Originally, the train had been heading northeast, but now it had changed course to head north.

A green employee card lay quietly at the bottom of the screen, while the employee kill notifications had long since filled the entire display.

Bai Cheng withdrew her gaze and looked at Chi Yan in confusion. The latter quickly explained, "Young Lady, the only magical beasts wandering around the ridge were those Frost Wolves. This subordinate didn’t encounter any others."

She nodded, not dwelling too much on it, and instead focused on crafting the Frost Wolf pelts Chi Yan had brought back into wolfhead cloaks.

Twenty pelts in total yielded exactly five cloaks.

The cloaks were pure white, smooth and soft to the touch, with a snarling wolf’s head on the shoulder. Its upper jaw clamped firmly onto the fabric, giving off a fierce and imposing aura.

"Pretty cool," Bai Cheng muttered, casually swinging one around.

Then, she began upgrading one of them.

Although cloaks could be considered equipment, they were essentially still clothing. In other words, when they were upgraded to Legendary quality, they would be bound.

Fortunately, even the most basic cloak could block most of the cold erosion, and after a few upgrades, it would be more than enough.

Soon, a violet light flashed over the wolfhead cloak in her hands, signaling the upgrade’s completion.

Bai Cheng wasn’t particularly interested in it. Without even checking its information, she handed it directly to Yu Nian.

Canceling an upgrade before maxing it out counted as changing the item.

Last night, Bai Cheng had already hit a wall at Epic quality while helping Yu Nian upgrade her items. Now, after upgrading the cloak, she triggered another 24-hour cooldown.

For the next day, she wouldn’t be able to use the Book of Cheng.

But she didn’t care, as long as it helped Yu Nian.

Bai Cheng handed another cloak to Zi Yuan, ensuring that she would suffer less from the cold erosion.

As for the remaining three cloaks, Bai Cheng decided to put them all up for trade.

[Trader: Pioneer Bai Cheng]

[Item: Wolfhead Cloak ×1 (3 remaining, click to view details)]

[Request: Blue Employee Card ×2]

In Bai Cheng’s opinion, she couldn’t have been the only one attacked by Infinite Raiders in the Muddy Swamp. Other skilled Pioneers might have already obtained blue employee cards.

As for enhanced versions of employees like Ghouls and Wraiths, Bai Cheng always believed that they were still far inferior to true blue grade employees.

It was like comparing a rat to a rhinoceros. Both were white-tier, but the gap between them was as vast as an abyss.

Smart survivors wouldn’t recruit such employees, rendering those cards useless.

However, Bai Cheng didn’t think that any survivors had reached the snow mountain yet, so they wouldn’t understand the importance of the wolfhead cloak.

She was just listing them early, not expecting immediate trades.

After posting the trade offer, Bai Cheng busied herself again.

The scarcity of resources in the snow mountain wasn’t a coincidence. She suspected that supplies at future stations would only grow scarcer. Combined with the flower pots and seeds she had obtained earlier, the system clearly intended for survivors to become self-sufficient.

This time, Bai Cheng directly added the [Wild Growth] attribute to her train carriage.

A faint green energy instantly filled the entire carriage.

This attribute posed no harm to people or objects. It only affected plants, compressing their growth cycle to a fixed seven days.

Bai Cheng neatly arranged her six flower pots and planted them all with potato seeds.

"Roasted potatoes in seven days," she muttered, rubbing her hands in anticipation.

At the same time, she crafted the Explorer’s Pinky Ring. It was a small circular ring that didn’t produce any strange reactions when worn.

She examined it closely but found nothing special.

Shrugging, Bai Cheng moved on to upgrading her iron crates.

Five bronze ingots could upgrade one crate, and she only had enough materials left for three.

As blue light flashed, the patterns on the crates transformed into an antique bronze hue.

Their storage capacity doubled, reaching ten slots, which was equivalent to Bai Cheng’s backpack.

"Only four bronze ingots left," she sighed. "Nowhere near enough."

Finally, Bai Cheng constructed a refined leather bed. In this freezing weather, she wasn’t about to keep sleeping on the floor.

Despite the ’refined’ label, the bed was just a wooden frame with leather stretched over it and a thin layer of straw padding. It didn’t even have proper pillow.

Bai Cheng couldn’t fathom what was so ’refined’ about it.

She turned to grab the wolfhead cloaks, planning to use them as makeshift blankets.

But when she reached the front of the train, she noticed a private message notification. Leaning in, she raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Tang Yan: "The cloaks are too expensive. Two blue cards? Be reasonable."

Tang Yan: "How about one blue card? I’ll even throw in some valuable intel."

What surprised Bai Cheng was that someone was trying to trade for her cloaks at this stage, and it was actually Tang Yan.

"Has he reached the snowy mountains?" But she immediately dismissed the thought. In her estimation, Tang Yan’s progress couldn’t have surpassed hers.

"Did he get the information through some other means?"

Bai Cheng rubbed her chin. Still, she had no intention of lowering the price for him.

Bai Cheng: "Fixed price. No negotiations."

Tang Yan: "This intel is easily worth a blue card."

Bai Cheng: "How would I know if you don’t tell me?"

Tang yan: "I’m surprised that you made it to the snow mountain. Once again, I’ll extend my invitation. My team is strong, and as long as—"

Bai Cheng: "Cut the crap. Spit it out or get lost!"

Just as she was about to close the chat, she caught his final message.

Tang Yan: "Leveling has restrictions. I also know the purpose of the Pioneer Trial."

Bai Cheng’s eyes widened. "He knows that?"

For a moment, she began to doubt whether Tang Yan really hadn’t reached the snow mountain.

Still, she refused to budge. "Tch. Like I won’t figure it out eventually."

A glance at the detection desk told her that there were still a few hours before reaching the Altar of Spoils’ destination.

Not wanting to waste time, Bai Cheng stripped down to her undergarments, bundled herself under three wolfhead cloaks, and collapsed onto the bed.

"Finally, a proper good night’s sleep!"

Exhausted, she fell asleep almost instantly.

Time flew by. The sky darkened, and the snowstorm had stopped at some point, and the train had stopped as well.

Half-asleep, Bai Cheng suddenly felt an icy chill creeping over her body.

Instinctively, she reached for the cloaks to pull them tighter, only to grasp empty air.

The next second, her eyes snapped open.

"Wait—where the hell are my cloaks?!"