Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57 Goblin Merchant

Chapter 57 Goblin Merchant

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“How dare you!” the goblin merchant roared, his expression darkening in an instant. The friendly look he’d worn just a moment before twisted into something vicious and cold. He gave a light but deliberate tap of his cane on the ground.

“Boom!”

A menacing bolt of purple lightning came crashing down from the sky, striking the hard rock floor right in front of the buzz–cut guy.

The solid rock melted on the spot, leaving behind a smoking crater that hissed with residual

heat.

The buzz–cut guy’s legs buckled beneath him, and he fell flat on his backside, his face draining of every last drop of color. If that lightning had actually hit him, he would have been reduced to a pile of ash right then and there.

“In my territory, you play by my rules,” the goblin merchant said with a cold snort. Then, just as quickly, his expression shifted back to that sleazy, ingratiating merchant smile. “All right, all right. Peace is good for business. Since everyone’s here, let’s kick off our pop–up sale!”

“Pop–up Sale?” Riley thought, her heart skipping a beat.

This sounded like a special NPC event. A once–in–a–lifetime opportunity, the kind that came along maybe once in a thousand runs.

Normally in games, you could only trigger something like this in specific dungeons at specific times, and the odds were incredibly low. The stuff sold at an event like this was bound to be top–tier–the kind of gear you couldn’t find anywhere else.

“Come on, let’s go check it out,” Riley whispered to TartKing, tugging at her companion’s sleeve.

TartKing still hadn’t snapped out of her daze, but Riley walked right out of the shadows anyway, pulling her along.

Since this was an auction run by an NPC, it counted as a safe zone. Anyone with enough cash or trade goods could join in without fear of being attacked.

When the others spotted Riley and TartKing emerging from the shadows, they shot them dirty looks. But under the goblin’s intimidation, no one dared start any trouble. The few lone survivors also mustered their courage and decided to stay. After all, nobody wanted to pass up a chance like this.

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15:02 Thu, May 7 T…

Chapter 57 Goblin Merchant

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“Excellent! More customers!” the goblin merchant said, nodding happily and waving his hand in a grand gesture.

Four display tables materialized out of nowhere in front of everyone, each one holding an item protected by a shimmering, glowing cover that seemed to pulse with energy.

“First item!” the goblin merchant announced, pointing at the first table. “The Network Tablet!

“It works without any network restrictions,” he explained. “You can browse all the major websites. Of course, the network is just backup data from before the game started. The only real visitors are survivors who are using this kind of device.

“Starting bid: twenty Frost Tokens! Or materials of equal value.”

Riley’s breath caught in her throat.

A tablet? With internet access?

This was a great find.

With this, her free time wouldn’t be boring anymore. Not that she had all that much free time to begin with, given how dangerous the apocalypse had become.

But she had to get her hands on this. Who could say no to a tablet with internet in the middle of an ice age?

“Twenty–five tokens!” one of the buzz–cut guy’s men called out a bid before Riley could even open her mouth.

“Thirty!” Another survivor player gritted his teeth and raised it.

“Forty!” The buzz–cut guy clearly recognized the value too and jumped the bid with a confident shout. D

Riley checked her inventory.

Before this dungeon run, she had picked up a hundred and fifty tokens from achievement rewards.

But it looked like she wasn’t the only one who had completed hidden achievements. The others had stumbled into a few of their own as well, and they had some tokens saved up, too.

Just as she was hesitating, she was pleasantly surprised to discover that after the goblin merchant appeared, the strange items that dropped from regular mobs–things like skulls and magic crystals–could be used in place of Frost Tokens.

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15:02 Thu, May 7 ↑

Chapter 57 Goblin Merchant

“Skeleton Skull–Value: 2 Frost Tokens

“Mage’s Magic Crystal–Value: 3 Frost Tokens”

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Riley had collected quite a few of these while farming mobs. In total, they were worth eighty- nine tokens.

“Forty–five,” she said calmly, now that she had that backup.

All eyes immediately turned to her.

The buzz–cut guy narrowed his eyes and sized her up.

Riley was wearing bloodstained work coveralls with hatchets strapped to her belt. She looked a little beat up, but her calm, confident attitude made him wary.

“Forty–six!” he shot back, not backing down.

“Forty–seven,” Riley replied, her face remaining blank and unreadable.

“You…” The buzz–cut guy ground his teeth. “Fifty! That’s everything I’ve got. If you go any higher, I’ll—”

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